Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Eh?" Hiroko's question had surprised Rei, and she stared at him for awhile before breaking out into a small smile. "No, it's purely my... mental barriers." Rei left the sentence vaguely. Feeling less awkward now that she got to know Hiroko- san a bit more, Rei gladly took up his offer.
"But alcohol is not my strong point, so a mere glass of water shall be fine with me." She glanced briefly at Hiroko's hand before tentatively accepting it.

Rei smiled a bit, silently breathing a sigh of relief.
Well, that was.... easier than I thought..... Less pressured now that she felt more comfortable, Rei let the other shinigami guide her toward the exit door.

((Exit with Hiroko))

Alder, the squad's Vice Captain, quickly stepped from the line of trees into the training grounds. "Ah....a face I haven't seen in a while!" the Vice Captain commented on Shinzou's absence. "Back when I'd just entered the squad, I recall watching you and Amatsu battle Mock....those were the days." His voice was relaxed and mellow, as if he had no difficulty whatsoever speaking to someone he didn't even know. Matter-of-fact, he actually enjoyed doing so. "I already realize that you probably don't know who I am, and the time for introductions now is as good as any. My name is Alder Xenoforth, and I am the Vice Captain. I already know your name and rank; I studied the list already." Alder gave Shinzou an encouraging grin.

Alder chuckled at the mention of the Kitsune. The only real memory the Vice Captain had of her was when she had accompanied him to the Squad Four Barracks after his duel with Mock. "I can't say I've seen her around. However, I'm sure, like everyone else, she's in and out of here at times. I've been quite busy, since my promotion wasn't too long ago....With Mock off on his mission on Earth, no one has the skills to teach the new Shinigami, so I've been training in as many fields as I can in order to become a better teacher for all of you."

"Because I'm not an official Kidou instructor, I actually cannot help you with Kidou training, though I've learned all the ones you can use." Alder said sadly; it had been one of his more obvious goals to get the green flag from Yamato in that department. In fact, every training he'd done was an attempt to become more captain-like. That way, even in Mock's absence, the squad could learn as much as they could without his help. "Actually....not even I know what Mock's doing down there. From what I can tell, it's obviously something that only a few captains know about." The Vice Captain grimaced at the thought of not even knowing what his own captain was up to. "If you ask me, it's a load of bull. If I'm going to take care of this squad, don't you think I should at least have some peace of mind?"

"Sadly....a lot of disappearances in this squad have occurred since you left. At first, we thought you went MIA as well...." At the mention of a spar, the Vice Captain's spirits quickly brightened. "I haven't been in a fight for a long time...I'd love to." Alder merely drew his blade, and stood in his-oddly-trademark position of nothing. The Vice Captain just stood there, as if daydreaming or thinking about something completely irrelevant to the fact that someone was getting ready to fight him. "Anyway....you can begin whenever you wish. I've never been a 'fight starter'. I usually let the fight come to me." He said plainly, focusing his attention back on Shinzou.

Kyo entered the training grounds and looked around, he could see a few people standing around talking. Briefly he considering going over to make comversation, but then thought against he. he wasnt sure if he was in the mood for company, besides he figured they would probably be a little unnerved by his beastly appearance. He sighed, before moving towards an unoccupied area of the grounds and drawing his zanpakuto. He held it up to look at it, thinking about how he could better commune and unite with the blade's spirit.