Kumori Manor

[Apollymi]

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~"

[Bloodedge]

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."

[Apollymi]

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.

[Bloodedge]

"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?"

[Apollymi]

"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..."

[Bloodedge]

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."

[Apollymi]

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.