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In front of the forest of Sokyoku Hill as a very large open lot. One which would likely go unnoticed to most, even as they moved towards the center point of the Seireitei, and this would be the spot which Juri led Raizen to. Once there, she stopped in front of it and began speaking. "I don't know if you know this, but before I was the leader of the Onmitsukidou, I was specifically a special guard to the Kumori Household," she started. She'd always imagined this moment for the lad, and now that she could give him this thing she felt really proud of him, though the moment was kind of bittersweet as it meant the end of her time as his caretaker. "Actually, I was your mother's personal guard. She gave me one final task, before she died and it was to turn this place over to you when you were ready," with that statement she pressed her hand out against nothing but with the use of her Reiatsu a pulse happened around the space, it shattered reality revealing a very elaborate estate which covered a huge amount of land. "This is yours."
"I figured as much, considering your constant presence in my childhood," said the following Raizen, who recalled many instances in his youth when he would undergo lesser training regimens with the woman. She'd brought him to an open lot, but Raizen knew better than to make assumptions about what stood before him. There was no way she would purposefully lead him to nothing. She eventually went on to reveal what truly filled the space, and what Raizen beheld thereafter was something truly large. The building's fore showed the insignia he remembered seeing on the garbs of his own mother once upon a time, leading Raizen to understand what this place was. "The house of Kumori..." he spoke softly, making known his understanding. "My mother tasked you with giving me my family's home?"
"Hmm, I suppose I was around a lot more back then..." she said thinking about it more. She'd often trained the young man a bit in combat, and probably had at least a little bit to do with how far out ahead of his peers he was. It seemed though that upon unveiling this place he seemed to gain a greater understanding of its meaning. "Hai," she said at his recognition of the place, it seemed though he went on question the task she'd been given. "A bit more than that, officially she tasked me with making sure you grew up alright, and told me when you were ready you could take over the clan and remake it how you saw fit," she said speaking rather fondly of the boy's mother. "But, she was really specific, because of course I was fine with helping look after you, but I didn't know how I was supposed to know if you would be ready. And she said if you became Captain, that you'd be more than ready," she said softly. "It's actually been really fun, watching you grow up, and I knew when I saw you take over the Kidoushuu in your haori. Making major changes by your own will, that you'd be alright."
"That's a very specific condition to be met. I don't know whether to call it faith in her child, or carelessness that made her find that reasonable. Though, I suppose faith in you is a good middle ground," he asserted. This was turning out to be quite the eventful day; all in a matter of hours, Raizen had managed to become engaged, become a Captain, become Kidou Corps Commander and Grand Chief, take a Vice-Captain, and apparently become the official head of a noble house. Of all the things he'd been part of today, this was by far the strangest. "It's... quite large. Frankly, I don't find it very fitting for a family consisting of a single person. Even with the addition of one other, it is going to be ridiculous."
It seemed Raizen could really find the full sense in his mother's decision but decided to settle on something which could be considered the middle ground, which was faith in her guard to know when the time would be right after pretty much leaving the girl in charge of her son post her death. Juri smiled quite a bit just then, "Well, I suppose, I'll take it as a compliment. But she believed in you, was very sure about you actually~" she said of Raizen. Juri spent a lot of time in the personal confines of that woman within this house and she knew the woman believed in this boy's destiny for whatever reason. As such she'd never even bothered to question the boy's skills nor his abilities. When he went on to explain that the size of this home was a bit ridiculous and that it was strange, she could only chuckle. "Well, the people make the home, if it's large it can feel full and if it's small it can feel empty... depends on who you have with you..." she said in a moment of ambient wisdom most likely wouldn't expect from her. But she'd been part of this house, when it'd been full and it'd never felt right. And then still looked after just Raizen and his mother and that had seemed much warmer. After thinking about this a moment her eyes widened because she realized she'd just skimmed over something else the boy'd said. "Wait, you said one other? Are there other congratulations in order here?" she asked seemingly confused by this very new and very unknown information.
"Hmm. I suppose... you're very right about that," he said of the very prolific clause presented by Juri. He took a few steps forward, moving onto the porch where he would stand to face Juri. Her question of whether more congratulations were in order would be met by a scratch of the head and a light chuckle. "Hai hai. Just before Nijo Kenpachi's rampage, I became engaged to Michi. I'm almost bothered; have you been slacking on your duties as caretaker and stealth specialist? This trivial information should have reached you already."
Raizen seemed to accept the woman's prolific statement in stride and given what she knew of the young man, she supposed he'd use it a bit better than most. Moving right along it seemed that Raizen had become engaged this afternoon to the Seventh Division's Vice-Captain a young woman named Kyoyama Michi. He went on to say he thought she might have been slacking on her duties as she wasn't already privy to this information. "Oi oi, it's been a busy afternoon. And I don't know if you noticed but I was on the front lines of that Nijo Kenpachi situation. And with you basically becoming the equivalent of two Captains this afternoon, I haven't had time to read the reports yet." she said in a joking manner, but she was quite serious. "That information isn't exactly trivial anyways, and I definitely don't just stalk you or anything~" she concluded her little joke and gave the young man a firm pat on the back. "Congratulations Raizen." she said and with this her work here was done. "Oh, don't worry about the house upkeep, there was a clause if it ever popped back up to have several rounds of people paid to help with the upkeep of it. Chefs, maids, general servants and such. All normally used for the nobles so you'll get your privacy. And if you want a personal guard detail for the property you can have that as well and all that... but, I know you've had a lot going on today and you probably want to get back to it. So I'll let ya' go, Ja ne, Raizen~" the woman said and given she was no longer needed for conversation she'd disappear by using Shunpo from this spot.
Another day, Raizen returned to the Kumori estate via the family's old private Senkaimon. He brought with him the red-haired 5th Seat of the 12th Division, Niwatoko Benihime. The path let out in the courtyard, where there were various guards assigned not from the Onmitsukidou, but from the Kidoushuu instead. "Ah. They're here now. Good," he said in passing as he guided the woman toward the manor's interior. A large library was within, and in this room were many tomes obviously taken from elsewhere in the building; they were placed in stacks on a table, and were quite recently used, despite the shelves all being filled to capacity. "Do you have any other curiosities we should go over before we have a look?"
Upon exiting the Senkaimon Benihime would find herself standing on a property she'd never actually seen before, though upon looking around it for major landmarks she'd decided that she'd definitely been in the area. "Personal Senkaimon, random huge estate, Kidoushuu guards... You really were quite busy, Kumori-taichou~" she said seeming to find this an amazing development for whatever reason. "Sugei..." she mumbled as she took note of the various Kidoushuu guards whom were placed around their homes. She'd heard nobles tended to favor the Onmitsukidou, but she figured given Raizen's own apparent like of Kidou his guards made a bit more sense for him. Soon enough she was being lead through the property getting an impromptu visual tour as they headed for the library. Once inside she looked at wall to wall full bookshelves her eyes widening at the sight. She was a seeker of many things and craved knowledge. She didn't like not knowing things and a room like this so full of things it was possible she didn't know seemed to make her giddy. "Sugei, there's so much here. Like... I could know everything~" she said only to think about it more, when questioned directly about things she could only shrug. "Hm, most curiosities I have are related to what we're looking into right here, and the Hollows with the spider marks, but I've done enough of that for one day... " she mentioned with a chuckle. "Anyways, I need to know what you know... so what have you done so far?" she asked seemingly content to dive head first into the research aspect of her day that wouldn't almost get her killed.
"I haven't worked out a deal with the Onmitsukidou yet. I intend to have Han-taichou send me the best of the best, just as she was once assigned to this house." Once the pair entered the library, Raizen took one of the larger tomes from the aforementioned table, and took it to a couch to sit upon as he opened it. Once again, he sat with his right leg crossed over his left, with the book opened in his left hand. Now that he knew what Benihime wished to learn, he could begin properly. "The spider marks, I imagine are connected to a very powerful Hollow that resides solely in Hueco Mundo. It absorbed Soutaichou's Shikai while we were there, so I imagine it does that with many. It may be marking other Hollows in its 'family' to absorb them for their power later. But, that doesn't matter." As he looked into the book in his left hand, Raizen felt that he would likely be best off admitting to the method that would prevent Benihime's fate. "This manor was not scanned when the Kumori family was executed. Because my mother, and eventually myself, were left alone, there were many pieces of their old work left around in secret places. The method they eventually used to almost perfect Hollowfication, is what I think could be used in your situation. It's no secret now that I was born some sort of Shinigami-Hollow hybrid, but I've found out how that happened. My Hollowfication has a direct connection to myself, and to my Zanpakutou. Basically, if you were to Hollowfy, it would be like a game of tug-of-war between you and the Apocrypha, with your Zanpakutou as the rope."
"Sou ka," the girl said of the man's apparent plan to get himself some people from the Onmitsukidou as well. He also went on to explain his thoughts about the spider marks and their connection to the random influx of Hollows. "That's... gonna suck later, especially with them holding grudges... Even though I am definitely of the opinion that they started it," she said knowing they were at the very least looking for her still and likely anyone else who'd managed to kill any number of them. Though admittedly she'd done it on purpose to get their attention that didn't mean that she hadn't thought about the consequences.
As they moved along Raizen picked a tome apparently related to whatever idea he had about her present situation and went on to explain that near perfect Hollowfication apparently discovered by his clan. This made her brow raise just a little, but it was at least a tiny bit interesting. She took to the couch as well sitting beside the man and peering over his shoulder at the readings ever so often so she'd keep up with the ideas involved. He went on to say that it was apparently his plan to use this sort of method on her as well, to create a lasting bond between herself and her Zanpakuto that couldn't be interrupted by whatever deal was struck between her previous incarnation and Apocrypha. "Sou ka, I understand now why this could end up getting me executed... You were only really pardoned because you were born that way though. If you go around handing such powers out, you're just as likely end up on the chopping block again as I am..." she said as her head fell back. Still the idea was a novel one, and though risky it seemed to be a better option than permanently crippling her own abilities to avoid death. "Hm, I am assuming this almost perfect method has something to do with those Bakkoutou? Seems like by all information given your family really likes making weapons~" she said, having said information because she'd been the one helping out the Captain of the 12th Division when working on his previous case.
Raizen's gaze briefly left his book when Benihime took a seat next to him on the couch. In this moment, he looked toward the redhead, but he returned his attention to the book soon after. "It does involve them, but there were other experiments done to give Hollow powers to Shinigami. There's an infection of some sort that was attempted, but it seems to have failed on its attempts. Every subject suffered Soul Suicide, and none of the Kumori dared try it on themselves. I have no interest in replicating this infection method, but I believe I could easily use Mugen's power to inject Hollow abilities directly into another soul, and maybe even stabilize them the way I've done for myself. Still... there has to be some other way. I'd like to go for destroying the Apocrypha, but the most likely scenario in the event of that actually working would be a total loss of power. Back to square one, then."
Benihime allowed herself to gaze at the ceiling for a few seconds while Raizen explained in greater detail the different methods created by his Clan for Hollowfying Shinigami. It seemed that most methods didn't work and resulted in Soul Suicide and none of the clan members actually wanted to try it on themselves. This got Benihime to thinking about her own research into the nature of souls. "Should have tried it on themselves, might have worked out better..." she muttered as she related this idea to another in her head. "It could simply be a matter of the souls not really being strong enough in the first place. When I was developing the serum to allow for high speed regeneration in Shinigami there were several different things to overcome. Since it was based on Hollow abilities I did a lot of research into how they functioned and I learned that most things concerning them and their abilities begin and end with the base amount of Reiryoku they possess. When mimicking their abilities or trying to give them to others. It likely worked out that the Souls they used in the experiment, couldn't take the influx of power and burned up without it ever having been possible for them to use the power in the first place. At least that is how it works in the case of regeneration." she said seeming to find it amusing. It also seemed that Raizen would have liked the idea of simply destroying Apocrypha but that would in the best case also rid the young woman of her powers. "Hai, I considered that a possibility as well, or maybe figuring out how to separate Yakouboku from Apocrypha will work instead, though I have no idea how one would even go about such a thing, though admittedly that's only been an idea for a few minutes." she said going ahead and voicing the last possibility she hadn't given.
"That seems to be precisely the case. All of the subjects were random extras on missions; Shinigami most likely to die when no one is paying attention anyway. For all their precautions to avoid being discovered, they failed in the end. What a waste." Raizen had begun flipping pages, scanning this book at an increased pace. Something was beginning to bother him at a deeper level, and he couldn't quite place what it was yet. This feeling was an annoying one. Either way, Benihime had another option to offer; one which would be better overall than the others discussed, if it were possible. "That sort of thing would be optimal. I'm afraid, though, it's wishful thinking. Kyougoku are too reliant on the memories within them, and as long as they have those memories of an existing thing, they have a connection. Even I can't erase the memories of a dimension."
It seemed that what Benihime had discovered about Hollows seemed to have applied also to whatever research had taken place by the Kumori long before. Raizen also somehow seemed bothered as he continued turning the pages of the book at an increasing rapid pace. The girl's eye flickered to the corner to see this and her left brow rose beneath her bangs. "Did that book upset you, or is it that compelling a read?" she mused almost as if she didn't expect an answer. Moving right along, the idea of separating Yakouboku from the darkness which was Apocrypha was only wishful thinking as it appeared as long as there was something living with memories connected to it, it couldn't properly be destroyed. "Really? I'm like the only one alive with any memories connected to it. A singular point of connection, even if you couldn't erase the entire dimension's memories. Seems like you would be able to erase mine... causing a clean break between us and Apocrypha," she said thinking about it. "Which seems like the most painless thing... ya' know aside from the likelihood of me losing everything I currently am in such an exchange~"
"No, it's nothing like that. I actually have no idea why, but I am very bothered by something. It's a feeling I've had around you before," he admitted. Whatever the case, Benihime wondered about the erasure of her own memories in place of the Apocrypha's. "From how the tale is written, that wouldn't apply either. That sort of thing would require erasing your Zanpakutou's memory of its own power, but if it learned those powers again, Apocrypha would continue to demand those memories. It's looking more and more like Hollowfication is the only method, but I'd rather not subject you to that."
Benihime was soon rather shocked as Raizen actually provided her an answer to the question she'd asked only in jest. The girl's eyes widened and she leaned away from the man, and then rather suddenly she began laughing, it was simply too funny and out of nowhere for her to avoid it. After a few seconds she seemed to get herself together while scooting a bit further away from the Captain on this couch. "Alright, I... didn't expect you to actually answer me. That was just out of nowhere... gomen," she said as she rubbed a hand over her face to help rid her of the sudden surprised laughter. "I'm pretty sure I know what you mean though. It's part of the reason I was okay with avoiding you," she said assuming that because of their similarities they'd likely experienced similar feelings around each other. Moving right along, it seemed that the more they discussed the more it was seeming like this Hollowfication was the only real option which would make sense of the impending doom the young woman faced. And even beyond this it seemed like an option Raizen didn't really want to take. "Alright, well it's looking like the best option besides the obvious super caution to give more time to think of something better. You know, the not using my Zanpakuto, not leaving the Seireitei so as not to put my life in unnecessary danger... that sort of thing. Though it sounds like that would become exceedingly tedious... it would give a bit of time," she said before adding one more thing. "Though now I am curious about it, because you don't want to do it. So, elaborate if you will~"
Raizen raised a brow when he realized the woman had distanced herself physically. If he had anything to say about this, it remained unspoken, as there were more pressing matters at hand. Most specifically, there was the matter of fixing Benihime's future problem by one of few means. She questioned why he preferred not to use this method of Hollowfication on her. To Raizen, the reason was apparent. Benihime, however, didn't seem to see things from the perspective he expected her to. "The way you hunt Hollows makes it obvious. That scar you hide is from a Hollow. It's the reason you have that emptiness. I wouldn't subject you to becoming the thing that I assume slayed the rest of your family."
Benihime soon was confronted with something very different from what she expected as his reasoning. Among all the things she'd expected anyone to realize she hadn't expected that her behavior was easy enough to follow that he'd know that she was hunting Hollows and beyond that why she was doing it. Her eyes widened in that instant as she couldn't keep the shock from her own face, she then went on to let them close as she shook her head a bit. "I didn't expect that to be the answer..." she said having not bothered to think of it in such a way herself. "I didn't even consider that could be the answer... Nothing against you, but I tried very hard to make sure no one would put that much together," she said thinking about it more, it hadn't been that long since the death of her parents and siblings. Even so, he knew so much for someone she'd barely spoken to in her life. She'd gone out of her way to not explain what had been happening in her life to anyone, so that she could finish in the Academy and enact her vegeance that she didn't realize anyone could have figured it out on their own. "Arigatou gozaimasu, but to be fair, I definitely killed that Hollow that day, and dozens of others in the days that followed, even before I left the Academy. Vengeance didn't fill that void, I doubt anything else negative I could fill it with would help either... I don't hate Hollows or anything, and I'd rather have the time to figure out how to fix it than die holding on to an anger I can't quell," she mentioned knowing she was well past the point of enjoying killing Hollows anymore. She really needed to find something else to do with her time, and in order to do that she needed time, she wanted it even.
"Do I really need to say it again?" he asked, alluding once more to the similarities between them. He'd briefly been in a similar state at one point in the past, making even the most minute signs blatantly obvious to the man. He finally closed the book he'd been looking at all this time, and placed it on a table next to the couch as he stood. Apparently, Benihime thought nothing of becoming a Hollow, compared to the alternative. Raizen sighed, thinking he'd also rather avoid endangering this one; however, he could likely draw the ability to subdue this Hollow right away and make it easily disguised if she chose to go through with the process. He still needed a proper answer before doing anything, so he stood before the woman while facing her, aiming to be straightforward about the situation. "I could Hollowfy you right this moment by entering your inner world. Is this what you want?"
"I suppose not, I should have assumed as much," the girl said. Still it was very strange to imagine one with such a similarity to herself existing in this world, someone who knew how she felt because he'd also felt that way. The girl's heart skipped a beat at the thought, and she got that terribly uncomfortable feeling, like a nagging itch in the back of her mind. She was somewhat annoyed and found herself palming the back of her head with her left hand as a result. Soon enough Raizen had put the tome he was reading down and turned to face the girl, calling her on her decision which she was apparently fine with making. Looking at the man in such a direct way was a bit much and required her to go quite still. "Look, I wouldn't be bothered by it, to me the sentence is the same regardless and requires the same amount of secrecy I've always had but..." she paused. "It seems counter-productive for me to help get you out out of an execution and then become the sole reason you could be executed again," she finished thinking about it more. "If you're okay with the risk, then I am fine with it. But you definitely have no reason to assume such a risk for me..."
This woman's only issue with the Hollowfication was apparently the fact that she'd worked toward clearing Raizen's charges, and going through with this idea would properly make him a criminal in the eyes of the Central 46. Raizen placed his right hand on his hip while looking toward her with a raised brow. He'd already committed to the possibility of having to do this, and he did not even actually see the consequences as something to be bothered with. The next words he said would not come normally; instead, they came only when Raizen forced his way into the forest of Benihime's inner world once more. "If you're going to be argumentative about it for that simple reason, then I must say I have no reason not to do so, either. Just blame that annoying feeling," he said while holding out his right hand. A cloud of darkness emerged from beneath and around him as the eyes opened in the sky, and he awaited the acceptance of his offered hand. "When I was last here, I told Yakouboku I wasn't afraid of the darkness. She put me under the impression that you weren't, either."
After her last speech there came a bit of a pause and a change in posture from Kumori Raizen. Soon after he'd actually make a proper reply and it would come only after they'd entered her inner world. Doing so she stood among the darkness of the forest and felt it teeming with more life than had been there previously. Beyond this Raizen went on to pick apart her logic by stating that he had no reason not to do this thing, he was offering her. "I feel like I owe people apologies. I can imagine that it's actually like this dealing with me~" she said seemingly amused. To be honest she seemed to be fine with this entire thing, it was after all, the best possible option to fix her most daunting problem. Benihime then looked towards the sky and saw eyes opening in the darkness, and beyond this a cloud of darkness at Raizen's feet as he extended a hand towards her and mentioned an earlier conversation had with her Zanpakuto Spirit. A bit of a smirk came to her face. "Iie, I'm not afraid," she commented as she reached for his outstretched hand taking it and stepping into this darkness and waiting for what was next.
"I wouldn't be too surprised," he said as his outstretched hand was taken. The dark aura surrounding Raizen then produced a white carbon copy of himself with black sclerae and an inverted color scheme to his Shihakusho. This was the manifestation of Raizen's Hollow power. When Benihime admitted to not being afraid of the "darkness" Raizen mentioned, he grinned. "Good. Then accept it." Just as this was said, the Hollow side of Raizen produced a white version of Raizen's Shikai, which it intended to use the spear tip base of to run through the redhead's torso. To do so would mean spreading its Reiryoku, and therefore its color scheme, into the wound which one could only feel if they did not open themselves up entirely to the attack. "Gomen. I know this is a bit of a rude thing to do after you've invited me inside you. First dates aren't usually this bad for me, I swear."
Benihime was soon getting to witness the manifestation of Raizen's Hollow powers, which came forth as a white copy of himself. This was something she hadn't expected and given such she was somewhat excited by the prospect. "Sugei~ I always wondered what that would look like," she seemed amused which was probably for the best, considering she'd been told to simply accept the darkness, which she assumed meant she'd be assaulted. And she was rewarded with this line of thought by the white copy of Raizen running her through with its weapon, spreading its Reiryoku into her, but surprisingly enough she felt no pain. Likely because Raizen was one of the few individuals in the entire world she trusted and present moments not withstanding she did this blindly. He went on to apologize for the rudeness of this particular intrusion, in a rather suggestive way, which made a bit of a smile come to her face. As her body and clothing scheme began to invert. "Oh? Well, I didn't expect to be stabbed, but I'm a nice girl and I'm going to let you make it up to me~"
Following the stabbing and apparent spread of Hollow Reiryoku into Benihime's inner self, the Hollow over Raizen's shoulder receded into his body once more. The whiteness would continue to spread along the woman's form until it fully assimilated with her, eventually creating a Hollow spirit of her own in a similar manner to Zanpakutou imprinting at a rapid pace. Benihime's own Reiryoku would be mixed into that of Raizen's Hollow to complete the process. While waiting for this to occur, Raizen chuckled through a response to the redhead's most recent clause. "Oh, are you? I assumed you leaned more to the naughty side, frankly. So, what would you suggest I do to make up for this rudeness?"
As the Hollow Reiryoku spread, Raizen's inner Hollow returned to its host, leaving the girl to assimilate with the given Reiryoku. As this happened Raizen chuckled a response to the girl's previous flirtatious statement and went on to ask how he could make up for the rudeness of his previous act. A wicked smirk spread across the girl's face as this inverted color scheme drained the tan from her person and produced pasty white skin. "Oh me? I'd suggest the next time I invite you inside me, you aim a bit lower with something more personal~" her own statement confirming this streak of naughtiness Raizen apparently thought she possessed. But before she could say anything else the process finished and her own Reiryoku mixed with that of Raizen's Hollow leaving the girl's inner self with the visage of her white Hollow self.
"Hoh?" he replied as a more devious grin crossed his face. For all the times Raizen had initially made such comments, his cheeky words had now become something of a back-and-forth with this redhead. Somehow, though, their discussion seemed natural to Raizen. "Well, color me an idiot for the spearing. Next time. You'll have to exemplify, of course; I get the feeling you don't mean I should fire Kidou at your bellybutton." Now that the transformation had completed, Raizen reached out to Benihime's right shoulder with his right hand. A clean sweep to the right would rip the Hollow half from Benihime's inner self, separating it to give it its own form.
This conversation seemed like the sort of thing which shouldn't be present in 'a life or death, we are committing crimes against humanity' sort of situation. Even so, Benihime couldn't say she minded this line of speaking. In fact, it felt more right than trying to decide how to sit beside the man on the couch. Soon enough another line of cheeky commentary would come, immediately followed by a swipe which would separate Benihime from her Hollow inner self. This would leave rise to the redhead speaking all by her lonesome in reply to Raizen. "Like I said, I'll let you make it up to me, and since you need examples I'll make sure you get several, no Kidou necessary~" It would be after this was said by Benihime that her Hollow would open up its mouth and speak for the first time. "Oh, get a room."
"Several, you say? Hoh. It's my lucky day, then," Raizen replied with a raised brow. His hands were on his hips at this point, and his attention remained pinned on Benihime. Soon, though, the Hollow recently born into Benihime's inner world spoke. These words caused Raizen to look through the corner of his eye at the spirit. "Hush now; mommy and daddy are talking. If you're jealous, I could bring Shiro out for you to play with," he said before his gaze returned to the redhead. "Children. They grow up so fast."
"Oh definitely your lucky day you have no idea," the girl said with an eye roll. Of course, soon after her Hollow spoke for the first time, and it was something a bit amazing. She could almost palm her face at the words, but given what she was currently doing she totally understood the conflict of the newest incarnation of her inner self. But Raizen took care of this shushing the spirit with some rather cheeky words. The spirit itself was so taken aback that it managed to look surprised. "He just hushed me, they made me... and hushed me..." said the spirit, it honestly didn't know what to do but figured wherever it would end up, would soon be obvious. At the idea that children grow up so fast the redhead nodded. "That was almost instant, fast doesn't begin to cover it. Chatter aside this little one wasn't even fun to make~" mentioned Benihime. Her Hollow seemed to think about this more. "Look she wants to live, I want to live, can we put me in whatever dark corner you plan to drop me in so I don't have to listen to any more of this?" such a statement caused a bit of laughter from Benihime. "Well, maybe not too grown up yet~" Even so Benihime seemed to grasp in general how this entire situation was to work out, and since real subjugation wasn't really necessary for something so easily accepted."Am I right to assume I can just..." she didn't really ask she reached out for the Hollow version of herself and absorbed it back into her person, not really suppressing it but making it one of her accepted self parts, like her Zanpakuto.
"You're making this more and more interesting. I'm intrigued," he stated. The speech of Benihime's Hollow was laughable, but Raizen had nothing to say about it outright. He did, however, have more words to share with Benihime after her statement about their "child" being less fun to make than it could have been. "I'm inclined to agree. I was having more fun trying to figure out how lucky I apparently am," he said, as if to call out Benihime's earlier statement. The redhead went on to absorb the Hollow into herself to finalize the change, and in that moment, Raizen severed the link between himself and her inner world. He next spoke while standing in front of Benihime by the library's couch, as he had been when this Hollowfication process was initiated. "Well, that was a painless ordeal. How do you feel?"
"I bet~" she said as her Hollow seemed to be having problems with realizing what her 'parents' were actually like. Soon though they were moving on with Raizen agreeing that their general conversation during this ordeal was way more fun than the ordeal itself. "Extremely, but you'll find out soon enough~" she said cheekily. After this, Benihime finished absorbing her Hollow and as such would soon find herself outside of her inner world back on the couch in the library of Raizen's home. The Captain of the 10th Division was soon standing in front of her, mentioning the painlessness of this entire situation and asking the woman how she felt. Given what she'd just done, she took a second to get a feel for her own Reiryoku and found it to be massively improved, not by the smaller increments she'd gotten used to, but way more than she could have imagined, a laugh escaped her in this moment. "Kukuku~ I feel amazing~," she said seemingly excited by potential prospects. She imagined all the things she could do and simply couldn't contain her excitement. Beyond that, there was the gratification of not having looming death over her shoulder which helped the girl feel much more normal in these moments. "Arigatou," she said as she stood, not taking a step forward or backward. Seeming to have that annoying sensation resurface rather suddenly.
"Good," he said. Raizen was also getting a feel for this woman's energy, even going so far as to call upon spirit ribbons. Hers was the typical red of a Shinigami, but a much deeper inspection allowed Raizen to view it in a darker hue; she had indeed been fully Hollowfied and become a hybrid like himself. With the redhead now standing before him, he raised a brow once more. Her thanks resulted in a shake of Raizen's head. "Iie. You'll likely have no problems now. Do something amazing with your life."
Raizen got a feel for the woman's energy which let her know their little experience had gone over well. They'd managed to turn this young woman into a hybrid as well, and it seemed that there would be more possible benefits than negative ones. Still, that nagging feeling which happened in the back of the girl's mind but instead of taking the step backwards which she would have taken to avoid this feeling, she took a step forward. His words were ones she shared with other people on a fairly regular basis. "It feels weird to be on the receiving end of that kind of statement..." she said thinking about it more she realized she'd taken the step towards the man making it almost impossible not to touch him in this moment. 'Why did I step forward? I should have taken that step away...' she thought seeming to struggle with this idea she knew she couldn't continue to deal with this feeling. "I... should go... "
Following Raizen's statement, Benihime took an additional step toward him. This was nothing all too strange, given the conversation they'd been having during Raizen's time spent in the redhead's inner world, but there was strangeness to come. Shortly following the step forward, Benihime stated that she should be going. The way this was spoken made the purpose of said statement more than obvious, and Raizen noted this rather quickly. "Oh? Then what would all of that banter have been for? How many times will that annoyance return in the future? Maybe this alteration to your destiny has broken whatever bound us to these endless meetings, but what if it didn't? Surely you've come to these conclusions as well."
Benihime seemed to consider at least what Raizen was saying. And though she'd stated she should be going, she really didn't want to. This got to her to wondering if it was really okay to completely shun about half a fate, in order to make her life livable and likely more enjoyable. In this moment she realized, that if she felt this way, Raizen probably felt this way too. Perhaps they owed it to themselves to not argue so much with the world around them and allow this to happen. "Yeah, I would be lying if I didn't say I had that same line of thought... we might be a bit too much alike..." she said but she didn't move away, she allowed herself to relax into his body, her left hand trailing up his neck as she stood on her toes to bring their lips together. This was something she needed to do, she needed to know if this was really why that annoying feeling kept popping up in the back of her mind, every time she saw him.
"Of course you would be," was Raizen's retort. Frankly, he'd been going with the flow, so to speak, this entire time. He'd been told of these 'examples' by Benihime, and in spite of his own marital status, he found himself keen on discovering what she meant precisely. Within moments, Benihime was physically upon him, pressing their lips together. Raizen used this time to reach for the back of her neck with his left hand as he sank into the moment of this embrace.
If the girl had any commentary about this, she lost it. In this moment, as they embraced she felt she belonged right here. Like she was meant to fit into this exact place in front of him and it was hardly anything to be upset about. Though she had already admitted to avoiding this man on several occasions she couldn't even think of why this had been a good idea initially. This kiss would find itself gentle at first, prodding even before the crimson haired lass allowed lips to part and aimed first slip her tongue into his mouth. They were already here and she was starting to get lost in this moment as her other hand soon found itself slipping between layers of clothing as she aimed to feel his skin against hers. Deft fingers would begin opening the various layers which made up this man's clothing and she hadn't even asked.