Welcome to Gaia! ::

Lee stood in peace watching the city move around them and feeling the calming wind blow through his hair. It was so peaceful that he knew such a thing was not meant to last. Peaceful things were never meant to last for long. Especially not for a Shinigami or Hollow. They were forever destined to continue the dance of death that they had started and never stopped. Sure there were moments when the song ended and they had to pause in the dance but there was always another song. Always another dance. Always another death. It was a depressing thought really but Lee knew it to be true and didn't dwell on it. He had already learned to accept the peaceful calms and knew to cherish every moment with those he cared about. Even if he hadn't been getting many moments to cherish. Sighing for a moment he heard the sound below that signaled others were getting up and the day would officially press forward at an astounding rate. The battle drawing ever closer. The dance waiting to be renewed before more death took place. He had once been told the position of Kido Corps Taicho was meant to be a position of peace. At the time he had believed such foolish declarations but the moment he took the position he learned otherwise. To think there was a peaceful position among them was to believe in fairy tales. Not even Elisia was allowed peace being the Medical Captain. If she didn't have a chance at having a peaceful life who did? No there was no peaceful position in the entire gotei thirteen. However Lee would be more than willing to over exhert himself and let her stay behind if he didn't know she was needed. Even if Yuki could heal just as well the commander would be occupied.

His train of thought continued in the same manner until he heard Eriko speak up behind him drawing him out of his train of thoughts. Or maybe not behind him either way she was nearby and turning towards her he felt the same longing he had felt with Nu. Taking in her appearance he was pleased to see she was as beautiful as ever. Oh and her luscious and beautiful lips that he ached to touch. He ached to close the gap and press his own against hers as he had done on many occasions. It pained him to keep such distance but it would be more painful if she wasn't the one he loved more and he added to her confusion. Even if he could almost feel the ache coming from her own lips wishing for the same thing. It was not meant to be and this was not the time. "Eriko-chan. I am doing well today. Just trying to enjoy what little peace we have left before returning. However I do think I might head back below. Make sure Suzume-fukutaicho is ready." Giving her a kind smile and moving towards the re-entrance to the apartments below he hesitated. It would be rude to leave so quickly. "You are welcome to join me if you like. I would not be opposed to the company." There that ought to suffice and it would give him a chance to further catch up. After all she had not asked him about his choice yet. Though now that he thought back to it he felt bad for leaving like he did with Nu. He would apologize later. He just didn't want to see the disappointment in her face as he told her he had not chose. Moving down the steps Lee honed in on his Lieutenant rather quickly and moved towards her. Then as he got closer he heard Tetsunosuke talking to her about respect without really showing any in Lee's opinion.

Had it been any other Shinigami Lee might have been inclined to let it go and let them handle it. However it was not any other Shinigami and it was most certainly his Lieutenant. Watching Tetsunosuke leave Lee voiced out loud though in a hushed voice just in case Eriko chose to follow. "Excuse me. I think I need to have a word with him." If Eriko had not followed it could easily been taken as him speaking to Tadashi or Suzume. Moving past his Lieutenant without acknowledgment and kept his eyes trained on Tetsunosuke's back until they were outside and out of earshot of the others. They were outside the barrier which made Lee curious how Tetsunosuke would get back in. He was in no mood to let the vizard back in right now. Lee cleared his throat to let Tetsunosuke know he was there before speaking up. "Tetsunosuke Harasawa-Taicho I would appreciate if in the future you held your tongue and treated my Fukutaicho with this respect you are talking about. She is allowed to have her own personal opinion. Though I must say you are not helping your case much by displaying such anger. It makes me wonder if perhaps you are not in the right state of mind for this battle. You would also do well to remember that you were not the only one to lose people in the battle. So don't you dare go thinking otherwise. We as Taicho are supposed to be above getting worked up over something so simple. I myself let my anger get the best of me the night Hibiki-Taicho was turned and we saw how that ended. Or have you learned nothing from our time here? Anger does nobody any good including yourself. She was not insinuating that you have made no sacrifices nor have any of the others. Nor was she saying that she has no respect for them. She was just voicing her natural and understanding apprehension. As much as it pains me to say this. You should take a leaf out of Hei's book and accept being a vizard. Or better yet Hibiki's book. He most certainly didn't volunteer or have any type of warning and you don't see him randomly lashing out at people. Reign in your anger. You think nobody knows what it's like? Your wrong. You don't have to have an inner hollow to know what you are going through."

It was Lee's way of scolding him for speaking to his Lieutenant like that and at the same time trying to get the man to see his life wasn't that bad. Sure he had been forced to undergo hollowification however Lee was inclined to feel more sorry for Hibiki. Not only had the man been forced in a very forceful way yet even afterward Hei had drove him harder than the others. Giving the man one final look of disapproval he turned around and headed back up to the apartment. When he arrived at the edge of his barrier he simply adjusted it for a moment or two to get back in before letting it close back up. He had scolded the man but done so in a way he didn't think would further Tetsunosuke's anger. If anything it should get him to actually sit down and think about things. Hei had basically said he would reverse the hollowification after everything was said in done. Though certainly in a roundabout way. Returning upstairs and back to Suzume and Tadashi and if she was present eriko Lee gave Suzume a stern gaze. "I trust you are ready for things to begin anew Suzume-fukutaicho? How has your training been progressing?" Turning to Tadashi Lee gave him a nod of acknowledgment. "You as well Sakamoto-fukutaicho." While Lee didn't know all that much about Tadashi he had encountered the Lieutenant a few times and none had been pleasant. That did not mean he was going to be rude however. "How is Hibiki-taicho doing? I haven't spoken to him in quite some time." It was a question he was curious about since the captain had been pushed so hard. Then again if it was anything like with Suzume and him Tadashi may not know. Lee certainly hadn't been able to speak much with Suzume. 'You really should fix that Lee-kun. While you don't have to be as close to her as you are to Eriko and Mitsuru you need to establish a better bond.' Lee gave her a small inner sigh that said it was his intention all along.

(Edited)

After somehow having her leading role switched so that she was the one being dragged down to the lobby, Tsukiko pulled her hand free from Elisia's grasp as she loosened her grip. Quickly settling into being able to properly stand upright, which had been hard while being tugged along at an unnatural pace, Tsukiko adjusted her clothes and hair and stood idly as everyone spoke. After Yuki brought up the fact that they should have still been in bed with each other, Tsukiko's cheeks turned a light shade of red- almost pink- and she turned away slightly to hide her embarrassment from the others that were gathered there. Upon her mother's suggestion, Tsukiko nodded silently to her while watching Senka out of the corner of her eye, who was holding Nu in a death grip while spewing a fit of giggles at her excitement of holding the kitty. If it had not been for the normal, not-so-pleasant bodily functions of every Shinigami and Human, she would have definitely been 100% adorable. Despite those, she made up for them by being ridiculously cute. It would be enjoyable to take care of her for the day.

Expressing her farewells to Elisia, Yuki, Senka, and Nu, Tsukiko quietly slipped away and made her way towards the stairwell, disappearing inside as she made her way to the second floor, exiting there and traversing the long hall to their room. Once she was at the door, she turned the handle and made it inside and whisked herself towards the storage room where she perused the shelves for Hei's "tools". Earlier, she had already picked up one of his drugs, one that could render an African Elephant completely numb in minutes, but now she was back for more. For a few minutes, she scanned the shelves while plucking multiple corked bottles off the shelves and cradling them in her arms. Once she was done picking out what she knew Hei needed, she left the room, shutting the door behind her, and left their apartment as well, making her way towards Hei's apartment to deliver the poisons and drugs to him so that he could do what he would with them.

------

Hei could only stare in disbelief as Yokozuki droned into a short explanation on what his problem was. He heard it all, but the majority of his issue simply went into one of his ears and poured out of the other. Not only was it eight in the damn morning, but Yokozuki was as annoying as they came- a barbarian in Hei's eyes. Initially he could bring himself to care, and he expressed this very clearly through a stare of indifference that lasted for several painful minutes, and during this time, he gave off an aura that was basically telling Yokozuki to not say a a word while Hei contemplated just how stupid he really was to come to him of all people for a favor. Finally, however, Hei took notice of his unease and the corner of his mouth spread into a small smirk, as his unease was quite amusing to him. He replied with a swift and very rapid shut of his apartment door, right in his face, before he turned away and retrieved the nearly empty bottle from his medicine cabinet, only to return to the door, pry it open and promptly hurl the bottle at his face, then slam the door in his face again. "Damn idiot." Hei muttered while he disappeared into the bathroom and discarded his clothes to step into the shower.

------

As Tsukiko made her way to Hei's apartment, she caught wind of the end of Hei and Yokozuki's confrontation, and arrived just in time to see Hei hurl something at his face. Approaching quietly, Tsukiko cast Yokozuki a small bow before quietly entering their apartment and shutting the door behind her. She could hear that Hei was in the shower, so she chose to set the bottles down on the kitchen table and sat down at it herself while she awaited his return.

[Joint post, ho!]

Tadashi Sakamoto

9th Division Lieutenant

Tadashi looked at Suzume with a mixture of pity and surprise. Tetsunosuke's outburst seemed to affect her much differently than how it had affected him. He began to feel angry at the Vizard Captain again - how could he let his emotions get so easily out of control? Suzume hadn't even said anything that offensive, yet the end result of his temporary lapse of fury had left her in tears. Sakamoto was stricken with the urge to say something comforting to her, but didn't want to seem patronizing. So, instead, he just settled with a somewhat pained glance in her direction and murmured," It's not your fault," with a genuine honesty. He did blame Tetsunosuke for letting his weakness in controlling his emotions get in the way.

He then turned to Lee and fixed his face to its standard expression. "My training has been progressing well,Masashi-taicho," he said politely. It was also a lie, since he was constantly upset because he didn't have the same 'privelage' of being occupied by the sort of training the Vizard Captains went through. Instead, he was limited to strenghtening his zanpakuto powers in the meditative trips into his Inner World. Kido practice would be difficult when the building's movable boundaries were limited as they were, and he didn't practice Hakuda apart from basic training. His shunpo was still as polished as ever, though, and he could take solace in that.

Now regarding the question about Hibiki, Tadashi simply told Lee that he hadn't had much contact with Hibiki either. It's not like there were any squad procedures to go through in their place of exodus.

Tetsunosuke Harasawa

Sixth Division's Captain

◥

Tetsunosuke was sitting at the park bench with his head in his hands which were propped up on his knees. His feet flat on the ground and his eyes covered, he was sitting and thinking about what he had said to Suzume. He didn't regret how he told her how he felt about her distrust. "What's wrong with them?" Tetsunosuke rose back from his position and leaned against the back of the bench. The scenery was shaded by tree with light reaching through the branched and leafs. Tetsunosuke was looking up at the sky, the leafs were changing colors and had a nice look to them. He felt relaxed for a moment, and was able to crack a small smile due to the weather and climate.

"Goodbye Tetsu. You were my greatest friend in all of the Gotei 13."

The voice of Kyoshiro filled his ears and head as his heart leaped in his chest. His eyes shot up with suspense as he jerked his head to look around himself. Nothing, a panting Tetsu wasn't to astounished to see Masashi Lee appearing before him. He knew that the man was readying a lecture for his ears. Tetsunosuke spared him a look as Lee cleared his throat. The man was so formal, and had such arrogance about him. Furrowed brows were the quickest response to Lee's comments about Tetsu's respect. This man was a basic walking contradiction to himself, and he had the audacity to even speak how he felt in front of him. A clenched month Tetsunosuke rose from his bench and held a tight fisted grip. "I don't need the likes of someone like you, Masashi-san, lecturing me about how I should act." Tetsunosuke rose his voice slowly. "You expect me to step down and not stand up for what I hold true in my heart? You're so incapable to standing for your own beliefs; when a man, such as Hei, does something you're against, you resign yourself to cowardice. Masash-san, admit it, you're a weakling when compared to me. I will never stop living for what I stand for and what I believe in." Tetsunosuke's voice was sharp just like before when speaking to Suzume, but he wasn't yelling. A dullness underlined the bottom lids of his eyes, he looked like he hadn't slept when that wasn't the case. "You're a pathetic Shinigami." Tetsu finished as the both of them parted ways. He turned and walked the opposite way of Lee. Tetsunosuke had a scowl on his face as he took steady strides. Each step was taking him further and further from the now unknown apartment location.

◤

The gods trembled
The demons flocked

During his soul searching, Hibiki once again entered his inner world, this time; however, it was of his own volition. Sitting down on the rooftops of one of the rundown wooden houses, Hibiki sat there motionless, trying to calm himself down for the battle ahead. He’d have to deal with his inner hollow whether he liked it or not, and it was quite difficult, seeing as how the person in question was standing ominously behind him ”I’m meditating, go away.” muttered Hibiki. Waiting for a few seconds, he noticed he still hadn’t done so, much to his annoyance ”I said, leave me alone--“ ”You’ve got a visitor.” interrupted the hollow, surprising Hibiki as he thought he had isolated him rather successfully. Deciding that it would be rude to simply stand around, he prepared to leave ”Hibiki” spoke his inner hollow ”Don’t think you can just tell me what to do, you hear me? Compared to me, Kaze’s lenient, understand?”

Ignoring his hollow’s threats, Hibiki opened his eyes back in the Human World, just in time to hear Akane’s comment on his being stoic. Which he found to be odd, as it implied he seemed to be emotionless, which was quite far from the truth, regardless he kept quiet about it. Nodding to acknowledge Akane, he wondered why the man went to the rooftop, before realizing it was probably for the same reason he himself came up. Akane’s first statement didn’t catch Hibiki’s attention that much; however, his blindness definitely did the trick. Glancing at the man as he told his story, Hibiki imagined how hard it was for him. Seeing the man look at him, Hibiki wondered if he sensed him staring at him. He didn’t mean to, but it was rare to come across a blind man pretending to not be so, and doing a rather good job at that. His guess was confirmed when Akane stated his heightened spiritual sense made up for his blindness, something that reminded Hibiki about a movie called Daredevil he watch not too long ago. As Akane closed his speech, Hibiki waved off his offer, before realizing that he would probably have a hard time noticing it.

”No thanks, never smoked, cuts in on my expenses.” Hibiki jested, hoping to lighten up the mood ”And thank you for your speech, it was quite helpful.” stated Hibiki, smiling before nodding to Akane. Stroking his hair back, he leaned further back onto the rooftop’s railing until he was facing the sky as his elbows supported him ”I suppose when you look at our mask as a weapon, it lessens the weight. In fact, you could say it removes it entirely. But that’s not the case, it’s alive, you can feel it squirming inside you like some damn parasite.” spoke Hibiki looking at his palm before moving it away ”It’s a sacrifice, a necessary sacrifice, I suppose, to bear it inside you. Captains Nu and Hideki, they volunteered to undergo the process of hollowfication, they weren’t afraid to have this... thing, living inside them. If it meant it would save Soul Society, they were up to the challenge. I’m not.” spoke Hibiki, his words came out laced with fear, and they were ”In a way, I suppose between the two of us, you’re the more fortunate one, Akane. You have the courage to bear it. Neither of us chose what happened to us to happen to us, both of us were victims of fate. Only difference is, you have the mindset to turn that negative into a positive, me, I still have yet to find out if I can do that.”

A short silence fell between them, until Hibiki broke it with an audible smirk. Scratching his head, he rubbed his eyes a bit before continuing ”But, I guess thinking about negative things is just like feeding them.” he stated, standing back up as he stretched his arms ”You put up with your blindness longer than I’ve put up with my inner hollow. With that said, I guess I don’t have the right to complain. But I do have the right to pound someone in once this mess is done. And I suppose I can make do with that consolation prize.” chuckled Hibiki, thanking Akane once more for his time.

A sliver of light found its way through the window where it decided to make itself a pest by landing right in Blake’s eyes. After a few moments, he groaned and rolled over, but it was a futile effort as he was already awake. He sighed and threw back his sheets before rolling back to the edge of his bed and placing his feet on the floor. Across the room he could see ERIS sitting Indian-style on the floor, being as she didn’t sleep he knew she was simply in a standby mode to pass the time until he woke up. This fact was immediately proven by her instant reaction to his awakening. The servos inside her body could be heard whirring as she turned her head to look at him. “Finally awake are we?” she asked. Blake yawned and stretched before answering. “Yeah I’m awake,” he replied simply. ERIS nodded and quickly rose to her feet before speaking again. “Good. Today will be a day of intense battle and I would not advise going into combat without a well rested mind and body.” She made her way over to the door then took hold of the handle before turning her head to look at Blake once more. “That said, it is also advised that you have a meal to fuel your body and increase stamina, and while not a necessity, I would suggest you take a shower.” Blake ran his hand through his tangled mass of hair as best he could. “Yeah yeah, I’ll take a shower. You go ahead and make breakfast. Try to keep it down. I don’t want to wake up Captain Akiyama if she isn’t already awake.” ERIS nodded her compliance of his orders before opening the door and making a beeline for the kitchen where she quietly began to prepare breakfast for the two Shinigami she was housed with. Due to her precise bodily movements she was eerily quiet yet fast while she began making French toast, eggs, and bacon. Blake was already putting on a pair of mesh shorts and a t-shirt, being as he slept in only his boxers, as she left. He may tend to be a bit less than tactful at times, but Blake was by no means inconsiderate and walking around his shared apartment with a female roommate whom he had only known for a few months would be quite inconsiderate. Even though she was kind enough to accept him as her roommate without any verbal opposition, he had to wonder if she was really okay with it. After all, he was an outcast and a bit of an enigma among the group, the fact that he can’t speak Japanese well causing him to keep to himself mostly only compounded this fact. Had it not been for ERIS’ translations and teachings, Blake wouldn’t be able hold any kind of conversation with his compatriots.

As he grabbed the hanger that had his freshly cleaned and pressed clothes on it, no doubt ERIS’ work while everyone was asleep, his mind returned to their goal for the day, defeating the Sephira and regaining the Seireitei. He barely even remembered the Seireitei, yet they were all so powerfully shaken by its loss to these Sephira they spoke of. Despite this, he wasn’t opposed to helping them fight to regain a home that had been his long ago as well. He couldn’t deny that he was extremely excited about being on the battlefield again. Ever since World War II he had been working mostly as a US spy and getting little to no combat experience unless something supernatural came into play. Had Hei not shown up at Area 51 with Nu and Tsukiko, he had no doubt he would still be there awaiting orders which would more than likely never come as the CIA had given up pursuing psychic methods of information retrieval which meant that there were no more handlers that could see him. Luckily for him a few of the scientists at least acknowledged his presence and even talked to him, despite the fact that he could only respond through writing. Without that little bit of interaction he would have no doubt slipped into insanity, especially during the trying period of trying to tech-harden his Zanpakuto. He had been training to ensure he wasn’t rusty when the time came to face this enemy he had no experience in fighting against.

In a swift movement he pulled the hanger with his clothes off the closet door and opened his room door. Taking note of how eerily quiet ERIS was as she was cooking, he made his way to the bathroom. Blake wasted no time in the shower. The heat of the water loosened his muscles for what was sure to be a long day. He didn’t know if he was going to die today or not, but if he did, he had every intention to take at least one person with him. After twenty minutes he exited the shower and dried off. He wrapped his towel around his waist and began to brush his teeth while looking at his image in the mirror. He still had to comb his hair, but that wasn’t too much of an issue. After a few minutes of brushing, he spat out the toothpaste and used a little water to rinse any residual foam from around and out of his mouth. 5 more minutes and he was fully dressed and ready for the day. Blake combed his hair then opened the door back to the main room of the apartment where he could see ERIS had already finished cooking breakfast and had set up the plates with some orange juice to drink. “Your food is ready. Eat up,“ ERIS said as she began to clean the dishes she had messed. Blake nodded then began eating.

After ten minutes the fork clanged to the plate suddenly, followed by the clack of the glass on the counter as Blake finished his meal in record time. He wiped his mouth and yawned with a stretch. “Alright,” he said as he cracked his neck. “Now it’s time to work the kinks out of these old muscles of mine. Would suck a** to get a cramp in the middle of a fight, don’t you think?” This question came with a chuckle from Blake as he walked into the living room and performed a series of stretches to ready his body for the coming day. After he’d finished his stretches he looked over at ERIS who was already looking back at him as she knew what he had in mind. There was one more ritual they did before to warm up for a day of strenuous activity. It was a bit like tag. The point was to avoid being touched by your opponent while touching them yourself. The first person to touch the other wins. It was a perfect way to sharpen your senses before a battle. “Ready? 3….2……..go!” Blake took an early start and jumped off the balcony landing on the ground a few feet to the side of Elisa and Nu. “Good Morning,” he said in Japanese to them with a smile and slight wave. Then just as suddenly as he had appeared he was off again as ERIS came crashing down from above causing a cloud of dust. “Gonna have to be faster than that!” Blake shouted back at her as he dashed backwards away from the spot he’d been standing in, of which ERIS was now the sole occupant. ERIS scowled than dashed after him with her hand extended. Blake stuck his tongue out to taunt her and nearly bit it when he bumped into something suddenly.

Curious as to what he hit since he knew the wall was much further out than that, Blake turned to see that he had bumped into Tadashi in his haste. He chuckled in embarrassment then nodded and offered up a simple statement of “I’m sorry.” Whether or not Tadashi would accept the apology, he would have to wait to find out as ERIS was hot on his tail still. Blake used a Shunpo to move up into the air just as ERIS’ hand passed through his disappearing form stopping inches from Tadashi’s chest. Not offering any word to the either Tadashi or Suzume, she turned and looked up at Blake who was now looking down on them from his perch on an airwalk platform. “You know I can’t use Shunpo, Blake. That’s cheating!” she shouted angrily. Blake shrugged and shook his head. “Says the one who can read my mind anytime she wants to see what I’m gonna do next. I think Shunpo is fair game.” ERIS let out an audible growl before dashing up towards Blake who Shunpo’d away once again, but ERIS adjusted her trajectory with an airwalk platform and was keeping up with him step for step. The pair slowly moved towards the roof of the complex, Blake disappearing and reappearing in a new location with ERIS already there ready to grasp victory with a touch. After the series of near misses Blake appeared standing on the railing near Hibiki. He gave the other man a simple wave as a greeting as he had to keep his full attention on ERIS lest she try something crafty. “Whew, that was close! I forgot you were fast enough to keep up with my Shunpo when you got serious,” he said to her followed by a laugh.

ERIS smiled evilly at him. “Oh you thought that was me being serious?” Her hands and feet began to crackle with lightning as she spoke. “No. That was just me playing catch up. Now…I’m serious.” There was a thunder crack and a trail of lightning that extended from where ERIS had been standing to the railing at the corner of the building where she now was. Blake’s eyes widened. It had been a while since their game had gotten this intense and he’d forgotten that ERIS’ dashes couldn’t just keep up with his Shunpo when she was serious, but they were faster to the point where it seemed that she was using Shunpo herself. Had it not been for the fact that she left a trail of electricity in her wake when she moved at full speed, it would be hard to tell the difference. Blake didn’t have much idle time as she was already running down the railing towards him. Reacting at the last possible moment, he flipped over her, but didn’t have time to launch a counter-attack as she was already turning for a second strike. Blake ducked as ERIS’ hand passed mere centimeters above his head. The missed strike was followed instantly by a leg sweep forcing Blake to jump back over ERIS. After landing on the other side of her he went to touch the back of her head, but she moved it to the side before he could make contact. ERIS tried to grab him as she spun to face him again, however, she found herself grasping at nothing but air as Blake used Shunpo once again this time appearing on the railing next to Eriko who was looking over the railing at the courtyard below.

“Heya, Captain Akiyama,” he said looking at her with a wide childlike gleeful smile. He was thoroughly enjoying the game and while the smile was genuine, his apparent inattentiveness was really a ploy to put ERIS on the attack as long as she hadn’t read his thoughts to see what he was up too. ERIS’ hands and feet became charged with lightning once again as she prepared for another full speed dash. “Holding a conversation in the middle of our fight?! How foolish of you, Blake!” The railing dented suddenly as ERIS pushed off it leaving a trail of crackling lightning as she moved towards Blake with her hand outstretched. She was surprised to see Blake turn his head towards her then suddenly seem to fall away. Blake was happy to see that she had fallen for his trap hook, line, and sinker. As ERIS moved towards him, he let himself fall backward over the railing, licking his index finger as he did. Blake touched ERIS’ forehead with his wet index finger as she moved over him then hooked one foot to the railing while using the other to kick off the wall with enough force to spin him back up so that he could land on top of the railing. He then turned to face ERIS who was now standing in midair with her arms crossed pouting. “Hahaha, those hands of yours might glow with an awesome power, but on this day it is I who has grasped victory,” Blake jested. ERIS finally sighed before saying, “Fine fine, you win. You didn’t have to lick your finger before you touched me though. I would’ve known.” She walked back over towards the railing where he was before turning her attention to Eriko. “Good morning Akiyama-taicho. I have prepared breakfast already if you desire something to eat. Your plate is stored in the oven so that it may remain warm and there is fresh orange juice in the fridge. I made French toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon. If you would like something else, let me know as it is the least I can do for you so graciously putting up with Blake.” Blake didn’t recognize most of what ERIS said to Eriko, but he did recognize his name. “You aren’t telling her bad things about me are you?” he asked as he hopped down from the railing. ERIS moved her eyes to look at him, “Who knows?” she said plainly before turning her attention back to Eriko. Blake sighed and shrugged, “Oh well. Nothing I could do about it if you did anyway. I’m gonna go holler at Captain Kirisho. I didn’t get to give him a proper greeting earlier. Later ladies.” Blake gave them a half wave as he walked away from them towards Hibiki. He paused momentarily as he formulated a sentence in his mind before speaking. "Kirisho-taicho! Good morning. How do you this day?" He felt that something was off about that last sentence, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Though if it was, he hoped that Hibiki would get what he meant and return his greeting.

((TL biggrin R - Blake woke up and got cleaned up while ERIS cooked then they played a game of tag during which he said hello to Elisia & Nu, bumped into Tadashi and apologized, waved at Hibiki, and said hello Eriko before winning. Then, ERIS told Eriko about her breakfast being ready and Blake went to talk to Hibiki again.

IMPORTANT NOTE: They're only speaking Japanese during the italicized quotes. If you character doesn't understand English then they don't understand most of their exchange.))