Callin' In Sick [Closed]

Crack.  The sound of thunder slammed across the otherwise quite streets.  What little light tried to permeate the city distorted by the rain and mist, it was a very dark evening in Karakura.  The sun had long gone and night was settling in.  Not so late that even late partiers were going to bed, but the first wave of Karakura residents was hitting the beds.  There were many with varying opinions.  Some people loved the rain.  Some people hated it.  Some people didn't care.  However, there was one particular group of people that was different from the others.  Few fit into this group, but to them, rain was an excuse for self-pity and wallowing in misery.  As if they didn't want people to think they were wallowing unless they had SOME reason, any excuse at all.  Most were harmless, at least to anyone who wasn't themselves.  They would go to bars, into alleys, anywhere they could get away with it and begin to drink or inject themselves into a stupor.  They made bar owners and drug dealers money, but otherwise were nothing but a pathetic hassle.  Born from self-pity and loathing, before the stupor begins it many a time escalated in violent ways.  Perhaps they had reason to be sad, but no one would argue they had no self control or ability to channel their feelings properly.  There was one bar in particular that was in for a treat.  A rather average man sat in a rather average location and drank his 10th shot from a rather average, but strong, alcohol.  This mediocre man was not large, but he still looked like he could hold his own.  Muscle, but not overbearing or excessive.  Tall, but not excessively so.  His hair was short, but as far as short hair styles went it's length wasn't super short or long enough to almost be medium.  He was drunk, very drunk.  He may have been drinking before he even got to that bar.  However, he'd seem like anything but average after he decided to send another man through a table.

"I aught'a kill you!"  He shouted at the rather large man he had sent through said table.  The other man was large and covered in muscle, but otherwise harmless.  The poor man didn't know what he had accidentally gotten himself into.  A mere suggestion it was.  Stop sitting in the bar drinking yourself silly.  You aren't a pathetic man, so don't drink like one.  These words of advice fell on deaf, or rather drunk, ears and things had turned sour.  The average man stood over the other and began to slam his fist repeatedly into his face.  "I'll teaf you to call meh vamin!"  The man's speech was slurred.  Something in the large man's skull may have cracked.  Two more men began to try and pry him off, but he elbowed both of them in the forbidden zone as hard as he could.  His strength was great for his size so they ended up going down.  Quickly grabbing one of the bar stools, he slammed it over one of the downed men's heads.  "Dun frek wit me!"  He was destroying  the place quickly, if not stopped soon the bar owner might have been forced to shut down temporarily until she can get more tables and chairs and repair potential damage to the walls, bar, and just about anything.  The offending ne'er-do-well was actually a man from the organization known as the Vizard Squadron, unarmed and in a gigai.  However, it was quite obvious that he was breaking every code the leader put in place when it came to conduct.

Somewhere else in Karakura, a rather tall blonde man walked through the rain.  It was a tad windy out, so the combination gave him quite the chill.  Wearing a light coat to keep warm over his usual clothes, the man, no Vizard, was utterly soaked.  He didn't mind too much, if it wasn't for being stuck with this wind chill, it'd be quite refreshing to be out and about.  He took a deep breath as he walked, hands casually in his pockets.  Every so often there was a tad skip in his step.  He was just generally in a good mood.  Today seemed like a great day.  Who knows what would happen.  No hollow attacks, no crimes were even reported.  He had nothing to do and he was reveling in the peace.  This Vizard, the leader of the Vizard Squadron Snopy Saika, was wondering if he should hit a restaurant and grab a bite to eat.  Maybe fast food would be easier.  When he got home he might enjoy some music, or hell, even just sit in front of the fireplace.  One great thing about this rain is it'd make the fireplace even more heavenly.  That's when his codec began to ring.  With a slight click he answered the call.  "I hope this is important Yumi."  He liked Yumi and all, she was a good worker and not bad to talk to, but she had a slight problem of calling him over insignificant things that he doesn't need to deal with.  Her definition of emergency was just different.  "It actually is important this time.  I'm actually downtown...and Yukie has gone crazy, he's tearing up the bar I'm in front of!"  Yukie?  He called out sick.  Was he really out drinking again?  Snopy let out an incredibly irritated sigh.  Not only did he lie and not do his work, but now Snopy's nice day now had to involve damage control, compensation to the bar owner for destruction, and an incredibly pissed off boss chewing out his subordinate.  "I have to deal with this crap again, where is he?  And expect a small bonus in your next paycheck since you're off the clock."  Again, even if she called over trivial things, she did her job well and a bonus has been overdue.  He knew she couldn't stop him since she was actually a normal human, one who could see spirits and that was it.  Once he got the location he cut the transmission and began to head to stop his crazed subordinate.

This was going wrong in some of the worst ways possible.  There was destruction of property.  There was injury of people.  Everything Snopy couldn't stand to see needlessly was being needlessly done.  He was running as quickly as he could in his gigai, and even pondered leaving it.  However by the time this thought came around it would have slowed him down to find a safe place to leave his body temporarily just so he could run faster.  As he got to the bar, he was just able to see Yukie slam a poor fool into the ground.  On another side of the bar there seemed to be a woman on the ground, injured. Yeah, this had gone on long enough.  He didn't know why, but Yukie was advancing on her.  Did she somehow trigger the rage in the first place?  Or was she just an incredibly unfortunate victim?  He didn't want to find out through observation, instead it was time to intervene.  Yukie went over to the woman, raising his fist up, appearing to plan on punching her straight in the head.  That would be bad, especially seeing as her head would likely strike the wall behind her.  As the fist went to close on, suddenly it stopped.  Grabbed onto his arm was a hand, and behind him the tall blonde Vizard spoke up.  "Calling out sick so you can get drunk, destruction of other people's property, and causing bodily harm.  Congrats Yukie."  Snopy then put his hand on Yukie's back, and used it to propel Yukie off the ground before slamming him back into it behind him.  "I'm officially ticked off."

Snopy looked at the bar, it was a wreck.  A lot of money would be needed to fix it, and the bar owner was going to get it one way or another.  "What the hell is wrong with you!"  He shouted.  "How did yu knw I wash hair?"  This was getting more aggravating by the moment.  "I got a call from Harvey the Wonder Hamster!"  Snopy called out sarcastically.  Seriously, he caused such a ruckus the question would have been how LONG before he found out.  The Vizard Squadron had enough members that enjoyed a nightlife that SOMEONE was bound to see what happened in this bar.  "What gave you the audacity to think that any of this was a good idea?"  As he said that Yukie suddenly caught Snopy off guard by jumping up and punching Snopy clean in the face, sending him a few feet back stumbling before falling on his ass.  "Ow."  He called out half halfheartedly.  That was almost...painful.  It stung a little sure but it wasn't a big deal.  His gigai wasn't as weak as Yukie's, shame that it looked like a power draining gigai was the only thing that would hold Yukie back all the way.

Standing up, Snopy rolled his arm in a circle for a bit as a bit of a stretch.  Yukie began to speak some thing about everyone thinking he was nothing and looking down on him.  When he finally finished Snopy shook his head.  "Oh yes, and punching, slamming, or otherwise injuring people or ruining their things tooootally makes them agree with you."  With another sarcastic remark Snopy took up a stance that said "I am fucking done."  "I've been understanding as much as I could be, but you've poked and tested me over and over.  Quite frankly, you ARE pathetic."  Snopy moved in, dodged a fist, and did a rather average punch.  Average as in the execution wasn't great, but this guy was so drunk it was more than enough.  "Everyone feels sorry for themselves once in awhile, but you seem hellbent on spreading that misery to everyone you see!"  Snopy then proceeded to use the drunken man's weight against him, turning a charge into a faceplant into the floor.  

"You could have just tried to relax, controlled yourself.  I could have gone about my relaxing evening, the bar owner could have kept this place running as usual.  The bar patrons could still be drinking, hanging out with their friends, flirting with and likely being shot down by the lovely lady whose injuries, I'm gonna take a wild guess, were caused by you."  Snopy held Yukie to the ground.  "There will be repercussions for your actions, the tamest of which being the cost of all this damage coming out of YOUR paycheck."  At that moment Yukie fought out from under Snopy's grip and managed to flip him onto the floor.  Another punch straight to Snopy's face with yet another half hearted "ow".  Yukie punched three more times before Snopy regained his sense of surroundings and threw Yukie off of him.  Standing up, it seemed this wasn't done.  Feeling his face, some blood was dripping down.  Hopefully not much more damage would come to the bar or it's patrons in the time it took to subdue the man without using special powers.

Unfortunately his attempt at self defense almost got the woman he had protected hurt. Whoops, that was definitely his bad. Still, someone else pulled her out of the way so no harm done thankfully. Now he'd be more careful when throwing people around. This situation was surprisingly sticky. He had very limited power in this gigai, even though it was a of a high quality. If he left his body it'd look like he vanished to all normal people, so that was out of the question. If he forced out a spell, even though a weakened spell would be more than enough if it landed, it'd again, reveal he wasn't normal. Yukie threw another punch, but Snopy carefully ducked under it before throwing an open palm strike at his gut. Snopy attempted to flip his foot behind the back of Yukie's knee to force it to buckle, band once again the drunkeness of the otherwise more skilled (martial arts wise) Yukie caused him to take the kick with no proper counter. His leg buckled and he collapsed down, and as Snopy's leg returned to the ground he lifted his other up and did a swift upward kick to Yukie's face, which was coming downward due to his falling. In the end, Snopy was going to win. It was only a matter of how long Yukie could hold up resistance.

The fight continued, fairly even except Snopy slowing gaining the advantage. Eventually Snopy managed to position himself in-between Yukie and the woman who had been hurt. He stood just a little in front of her and would let Yukie through, another strong hit and she'd be in trouble. Soon, Snopy heard police sirens. That was...both convenient and inconvenient. They would finally end this fight, but Yukie was too dangerous to be put in prison under normal circumstances. Snopy unloaded another punch into Yukie and while he was down quickly called Vizard Squadron with a click on his codec. "Yukie is about to be taken to prison, I need special operations to locate him once he's jailed and force him into a power draining gigai, as well as a seal that locks him into it. Permanently." He said it in a low voice, most patrons would not have been able to hear him, while anyone really close who listened closely. They'd need to hear all of it and know what it meant to be any more than confused though. Yukie seemed startled by the sirens, so Snopy moved forward and punched him in the gut, grabbed him by the hair, and threw him down. "Someone help me hold him down for the police." Two other patrons came over and helped Snopy keep him on the ground.

A couple of police officers entered the bar, and immediately pointed their guns at Snopy. Admittedly he had someone pinned to the ground, but it was quickly explained by the others that the one on the ground was the one they wanted. The cops lowered their pistols as Snopy and the other patrons lifted Yukie and handed him over to the police. From the looks of things now that his bodily activity slowed from being restrained, he may be losing consciousness. Snopy let out a sigh as now that was finally over. He hoped anyway. He would find the owner when he got the chance, but for now he looked around. Most patrons were okay, though one dude seemed to be in some serious pain. "Shall I call am ambulance?" The man seemed like he thought that was excessive, but nodded quickly after a movement caused excessive pain. Snopy went over to one of the cops and asked if he could get an ambulance. Once the cop nodded, Snopy turned to the woman who had been injured, and almost injured a few times during the fight. "You okay? You look pretty beat up." He asked. He looked her up and down, avoiding the urge to stop and "look" at several parts of her body. She was injured, that came first. "Would you happen to have a first aid kit around here? Think you need first aid?" Snopy looked around the bar and observed the destruction. "God damn it Yukie. Getting wasted, hurting people, and damaging that much property. Why didn't I see this coming..." He shook his head. Now was not the time to dwell on that. He turned to the woman. "The name's Snopy by the way."

The woman was muttering to herself something angry, anger issues? Granted she did just get beaten up. Snopy would be...actually he has been beaten up, so bad example. Eventually though the other woman nudged her and she finally noticed. With a hm she looked up to Snopy. Upon asking if she was okay, she said she was fine and didn't need a first aid kit. Still...why did he just ask that? He wasn't sure who she was, and if she was just visiting the bar she wouldn't know. Yet she ended up going to get it for him. Wait, did she work here? He introduced himself and her immediate response was to mention it was an interesting name. "My mother had interesting taste." He casually mentioned, which did explain somewhat how the name came to be. He left it at that, this random woman didn't need to know more of that story. He didn't feel like divulging that personal information, and she wouldn't feel like listening to it, so it was a win win. The dull tone made it even more obvious she was in a bad mood. Still, she politely gave him her name.

Then things were made clear. She responded, calling Yukie a piece of shit, fitting. She also asked if things were being replaced before she was forced to shut down. Ah, so she owned the bar. Suddenly it made sense. What were the odds that the person he'd go to check up on was the owner, that made life easier. "Ohhh, you own this place. Funny...I never expected a bar owner to be so pretty." Seriously though, sue? She was sure quick to jump to that subject. "Well, you COULD sue. Greedy, I'm already paying 100% of the repair costs and you still want more eh?" He said that less sarcastically and more humorously. Now came the next question, Yukie hit pretty hard. She was slammed into a wall. Then when he asked if she was okay, she said he was fine. How? Snopy in his gigai could take a hit better than someone of her frame under normal circumstances. That's when he noticed something. He sensed something...faint. Actually, it felt almost like a shinigami. Yet...no he had to be imagining it. No shinigami's energy should be so faint. Even if they could, why would a normal shinigami be running a bar? The odds were so slim, there was no reason this should be one. Still he felt something from her. Love? No you silly-willy, energy. She must have been a faintly powered human. Normally the oddness of the feeling would make him try and solve it, but she'd need to show evidence of being dangerous before he'd need to pry like that. Plus humans often reacted poorly to powers. Must be a chemical imbalance or something, maybe they should see a doctor when they have the time.

After a bit of being quiet, Snopy spoke up once more. "Look it's not your fault this place is a wreck. I'll pay for everything. Just don't try and lie about the expenses." He shot her a serious look. "I prefer not being walked all over." With that warning out of the way, he returned to his more laid back attitude. Yes, he wasn't against giving people money if they needed it, but he didn't like people who lie and cheat people. Hell, he'd be more inclined to give a person extra money if they didn't try and get it than if they did. He began checking her for injuries as non-intrusively as possible. "You took a hit right? I have to say, you're pretty durable to not be seriously injured right now. It's like you're not even human." He chuckled a little, it was just a little joke. She seemed fine so the first aid kit was unneeded. "Well, now that that's out of the way. What's an attractive woman like you doing running a bar. Excluding this little incident, this place looks like it was well run. You open it up yourself?" As much as he believed she was just a human, he still was curious to see what he could find out. He wouldn't force anything out of her, but maybe she could shed some light on why she felt a little off.

Okay, so this woman didn't seem to have a sense of humor. That much was obvious. He made a joke and she thought he was actually calling her greedy. Snopy sighed. He was here with this serious and pissed off woman because Yukie thought he could hold 50 shots of liqueur. He could be home, he could be anywhere else. Nope, he was conversing with someone who seemed downright miserable. "True true. It was a joke, relax." He simply continued to be agreeable anyway. If this woman was miserable fine, but he wouldn't be miserable himself. Though he did almost wish he could improve her mood. Maybe this was just how she was, but if she really was unhappy with her life he'd rather be a factor in improving it than wrecking it. "I'm sorry if you got the wrong idea, didn't mean to offend you." He did move on shortly after to his "warning" and Kanna didn't appreciate it. Not surprising, looking at it as a big company to a small personal business no, he wouldn't be walked over. That isn't what he meant.

"Not quite what I meant. I like to help people, and sometimes people like the help a little too much." Normally she would win, sadly people were corrupt and Snopy could probably win the defense. He didn't want to have to though. He was already paying her the entirety of what was damaged. He began to check her for wounds. Snopy wasn't blind, he caught her little wince earlier. However, she pulled back incredibly fast the moment he made contact. He looked up at her. It dawned on him that attractive women tend to have a problem involving strangers attempting to grope them. He shook his head. "I see you wincing, you're in pain, or at least seem like you are. I was trying to determine if you had any wounds. I had avoided your torso and head so you wouldn't get the...wrong idea, but I see that didn't work." He scratched his head.

The conversation continued, and he got around to asking about how she got the bar. She didn't exactly answer his question of whether or not SHE opened it up or not, but he got something. Better than no answer he guessed. "It's definitely something to do, but don't tell me this is all you do." She made it sound like she HAD nothing else in her life. Maybe she didn't though. "Well if it makes you happy, who could argue." He looked at her once more, though not in any way that looked like he was really checking her out. She was beautiful, he wondered if maybe she was a much nicer person when not dealing with a situation like this. He had failed to notice it but she was soaked from the rain. Yeah, she must have been outside until just before he got there. "You're soaked, you want a towel or something? Don't want to catch a cold. I'd offer my coat but it's...just as soaked." He took a deep breath. "Alright as beautiful as you are, I'll belay the flirting for now since we do have something important to discuss. How much do you estimate this will cost? I can write you a check now or go get cash if you'd prefer it. Feel free to over estimate a little, just in case. That way you'll have enough even if it costs more than you'd expect. If the estimate is wrong, I can give you more once you find out how much more you will need." He pulled out a pen and a now rather soaked pad, which probably couldn't be written on. He sighed the moment he saw it. "Er, well either way. By the time we're done you should be able to go back to your normal life no problem."

This woman was completely mistaking everything he said and seemed to have him mistaken for some spoiled rich asshole.  He wasn't gonna say he had a harder life than her, cause maybe hers was much much harder.  However he puts his blood, sweat, and tears into trying to keep people safe and help them.  When he made jokes, he wasn't doing so because he "had the money".  He does so because a laugh can make a situation more tolerable, or even entertaining when it was something less serious.  Replace what he lost?  True, he could replace material objects.  Yet he's lost plenty of something that actually matters.  He doesn't know what she's lost, but fact of the matter was everyone has dead people.  Everyone's lost loved ones.  He knows how to get up and try to make the best of the bad situation.  He raised his eyebrow.  "If the ability to laugh is tied to wealth, then something is wrong."  He shook his head, almost disappointed at her attitude.  Not annoyed, or angry, but disappointed.  The conversation went on, but apparently he hit a sore spot.  This woman went from being downright angry to being depressed.

He wondered what she had gone through for this to happen.  "Sorry.  I see I've said something wrong.  Sorry, I didn't know."  That's when the conversation moved to money.  She seemed to know the prices all too well.  Snopy went to write it down, but his notepad was drenched.  As she showed him where one he could use was, she asked what company he worked for.  "I run it, it's...security basically.  Our job is to do basically the exact opposite of what my former subordinate did to this place.  I'm compensating because I'm not going to charge someone who didn't hire me.  I personally don't need a reason to help people.  My workers do need money though."  He explained.  He was half lying, but truth was that was kinda how it worked.  He sat back and let Kanna and, Iris he thinks he heard, converse shortly before it returned to money.  Truthfully though it didn't.  He watched as she seemed to be...frightened with the hug, and went on to locking up the bar.  Suddenly she fell.  Snopy moved forward.  "Woah, are you o...kay?"  He stopped as he saw her crying on the ground.  He almost wanted to say something, but it wasn't his place.  He caused it by choosing his words poorly, which to be fair he had no way of knowing.  Either way, he had no room to go and comfort her.  She then asked him to go.  She opened the door and told him to just go.  "Alright...I'm sorry."  He ripped out the page he had written on in the notepad, put it on her counter, and then proceeded out the door.

As he began to walk away from the bar he turned around.  He sighed.  "If I had only known, I would have chosen better words."  Sure, maybe her behavior in some aspects were unwarranted.  However when someone was sad, he felt bad.  He could tell she wasn't sad about something stupid, so he felt bad.  He looked up to the rain.  "Sound traveling far and wide, a stormy day betide."  With that he began his trek home, but as he made it about twenty feet down the alley, the young woman from before stepped out. "Don't leave her alone..." Iris spoke up as she stepped out of the shadows, "I know she's hard to get along with, but... but if you only knew her pain..." Iris looked like she was ready to cry, but pushed that back quickly. She regained her composure and continued on. "The only thing she has is that bar and people destroy it all too often. She fixes it over and over again; Three times since I've worked there and that's only been six months. She has the worst luck and she forces herself to go through it on her own... Please..." Iris bowed politely, pleading with him, "She will not allow me in, I know that, but she needs someone to be there right now. I fear that... she's going to do something stupid... The bar is never open on Sundays..."

Snopy listened to this woman as she intervened.  He didn't go to speak up but instead quietly listened to this woman's pleading.  Seriously, if this woman Kanna obviously trusted more than him couldn't get to her, how would he.  Yet he almost froze up as she finished the statement.  "Hold on...but she told you to come back on Sunday..."  Snopy's face shifted to one that could only say one thing, "OH SHIT".  That's because he's seen and heard of this kind of thing before.  "If that means the same thing today as it usually does...shit!"  Snopy turned and went to run back to the bar, stopping for only a moment.  "Lets hope we're wrong."  Snopy then continued running.  As he got to the bar he heard something very distinct.  No one knew the sound better than him or pirates, that was the sound of ignited gunpowder.  Fuck, you have to be kidding me!  Snopy threw the door open, which seemed to still be unlocked for some reason.  He ran in and looked, shouting "Kanna" once, until he saw her...

What he had found was better than he expected, but only marginally.  Kanna's body laid on the ground, but the lack of a spirit body proved she hadn't died.  Not only that, there was no blood.  He went to run over to her, but as he drew close she began to push to her feet.  She looked...dead.  She looked as if she had put a bullet through herself and had reanimated as a zombie.  Still, she was medically alive.  He let out a sigh of relief as Kanna put the gun away.  "Oh jeez, when I heard that gunshot I thought..."  He cut himself off there, the end of that statement was obvious.  Her only words at first were that it wouldn't work.  It wouldn't work?  He spoke low.  "Wouldn't work?  For it to not work she'd have to be in a g...uh, aaaaaanyway."  He cut himself off again, that was not a topic that needed to come up.  Kanna rested her head on a dresser as she explained exactly why he came back.  Well, she asked but she knew the answer.  As she tilted her head toward him he merely responded.  "Yeah."  She seemed to have accidentally said what she said.  Yet she acted like Iris didn't have a reason to be worried aside from Kanna's slip of the tongue.  She looked lifeless, and as she said there was no need for worry.

Snopy didn't flinch, and he didn't budge.  As she began to undress he began to speak up.  He might have waited to pick his words, but he needed to make sure she was aware he was still there before she got naked.  Now if he saw her nude, it was her fault, because he HAD to say something about this.  "You're telling me Iris was scared for no reason?  People don't get scared if they don't have a reason to.  Yeah, you didn't kill yourself today.  Yet you had that gun out, and you pulled that trigger."  He crossed his arms.  "Don't even try to pretend she has nothing to worry about.  That girl was holding back tears for a reason.  And I can see it.  That lifeless look in your eyes, that look that says you died inside.  I've seen it before, the last person who had those eyes wasn't so lucky."  He had a stern, yet worried look on his face.  "No, I don't know you.  That's true, but that doesn't mean I don't care whether you live or die."  Snopy rubbed his neck as if he had a kink in it.  "When Iris...said what she said...I actually got scared.  I know you don't know me, and probably don't trust me, but I don't feel comfortable just...leaving you here alone." He didn't know how she was going to react, but it probably wasn't the best. He hoped she wasn't going to flip out, though she seemed too lifeless to do it. "I don't know what I can do to help, but...I still have to try."

As the conversation moved, Kanna did not stop undressing. This was NOT what Snopy expected. For the shortest of moments, he wondered if she was gonna file a harassment suit and say he did it on purpose. That thought went pretty quickly because she didn't seem petty enough to try something so bitchy. He didn't avert his eyes, he still had things to say and he wanted to look her in the eye as he did...not...no...a few feet higher. There you go. Eyes. He kept his composure, well except a deep red quickly flushed over his face. He was a little...surprised, and as much as he tried not to see it like that due to the circumstance, he liked what he saw. The redness peaked once the bra came off and her rather full assets were in clear view. As she turned, she countered him, stating quite clearly she didn't think she needed a lecture. Procuring a brush, she gently brushed her hair as she told him she wasn't stupid. "I suppose you're right, you definitely don't strike me as stupid. Still..." He kept moving on about how he himself was worried, and he was countered with a rather strange response. She asked if he wanted to spend the night. It was hard to say no while she was practically butt naked, but he would ignore the impulses caused by THAT fact. Even stranger, she both accepted that fact and gave him permission to stay there. "Really...huh, I thought that would take more...convincing."

He shrugged, this was a strange day. "Well, I guess I can just sleep on the floor. I've slept on worse." The floor wasn't exactly comfortable looking, but it'd do. He walked over to the bench, which he might be able to sleep on, but he might fall off over night and that'd be less than fun. He looked back at her, up and down her body, but the look on his face wasn't one of a man looking at the naked body of an attractive woman. "I can't help notice...you have a lot of scars. If you don't mind me asking...where'd they come from?" He asked, curious. If she was a shinigami, then that could easily explain it. But he still thought there was a good chance she was a human, if so then, where did they come from. It was then that it struck him. "And can you explain why you're so...calm. You're walking around practically naked in front of someone, a man no less, that you have JUST met." He was genuinely curious as to how she could be so calm. He had a small smile that just screamed "I have no idea what to think right now so I'm smiling until I figure it out." "Seriously, you just met me. Not that I should complain..." He swallowed a bit. "Just most women wouldn't be so...open."

Kanna seemed COMPLETELY uncaring about whether he stayed or not.  She flat out stated she wasn't scared.  He found it hard to believe with how she had acted earlier that she wasn't, but then again, only the tiniest bit of fear remained when it came to a bullet in her brain, and that fear seemed like it was hanging by a thread.  As she went into the bathroom to wash up, Snopy took some of the cushions from the bench and positioned them on the floor along the wall.  Now he'd be slightly more comfortable, but not risk falling off the small bench.  Hey, he was 6 feet tall, most benches were small to him.  He took off his coat and found somewhere that seemed like it wouldn't cause water damage, and hung it to dry. The rest of his body was soaked, but he would live with it.  If the coat dried, it could soak up the rest of the water once he put it back on.  Well some of it anyway.  He wouldn't be 100% dry until he could change.  When she came back though, she explained the source of the scars.  Knife...curling iron...broken mirror...ring.  Wait what?  "Wait what?"  Those were very VERY strange objects to have scars from.  If it was just ONE of them it wouldn't be so weird, but having several scars from such odd objects made him wonder.  "...clumsiness?"  He said really confused, he was trying to comprehend.  Realistically all the hints were there, but domestic abuse wasn't something he had much experience with, personally or with friends.

Then Kanna began to ask about why he thought it was strange she was naked.  She mentioned that he probably watched porn and her body wasn't that big a deal.  Well true, as much as he wished she hadn't brought it up (prompting some kind of response), he did indulge some.  Yet what was this about her body being no big deal?  "Well of course I like seeing naked woman...wow that sounded classy.  But yes I like seeing them, but I'm not used to people not...caring.  And what is this about your body being no big deal?  You're gorgeous."  She was really a beautiful woman, he would not deny that.  Still she said he could look.  He was trying to resist his more primal urges, but if he had a chance to indulge with someone's permission, he would indulge.  Thus he dropped the idea of averting his eyes since she really didn't care.  Yet...one thing.  She said she didn't want to be touched.  That didn't sit wrong with him.  Her TONE sat wrong with him.  She sounded...desperate almost.  Like she wanted anything but to be touched.  Wait wait.  Knife?  Curling iron? A broken mirror?  Ring?  Knives are weapons.  Curling irons would need to be pressed with force or she'd need to be shirtless to burn like that.  A mirror breaking and wounding like that...someone might have to be thrown into it.  And a ring...a punch would do that.  His eyes widened, his jaw dropped.  "Those scars...those weren't...accidents were they?"  He sat there slightly horrified.  "How exactly did you get those...who did that to you?!" He pushed his jaw back into place to close his mouth. He wasn't sure if he was horrified, pissed, or what. He tried to keep any emotions from surfacing until he knew for sure if this assumption was correct.

At first when he asked if it was clumsiness, she mentioned it was sometimes. Sometimes? What about the other times? Still, when he made the classy joke he elicited a chuckle from Kanna. A chuckle? So there was life inside that body after all. Somewhere deep down. Yet the comment on how good she looked seemed to kill it. What the hell? It's like her self-confidence was so low she found it insulting to be called attractive. Then she offered to tell her life story. Well maybe not all of it, but he was interested. From there, she began to explain. Ah, she was married. Was being the key word. Wait, he would punish her when she did things wrong? What was she supposed to be, a dog? Hell, most people treated their dogs better than that. She began to point out where she got each scar. Lets see. Scar 1. Stupid. Scar 2, stupid. Scar 3, stupid. Scar 4, scar 4 was the worst. It wasn't just stupid. Well they were all more than stupid. But Scar 4 was caused by a whole new brand of stupid. Like a new never discovered species of stupid. HE cheated on HER? Why does SHE get injured?

Snopy was almost pale by the end of her story. "That's...that's..." He swallowed a bit. "Awful. You were supposed to be his wife, not his slave! Though...sorry, I suppose you knew that already." He sighed, taking a few deep breaths. His fist was clenched and anger was lightly formed on his face. He couldn't stand what he heard. It made him furious. "I almost wish I could meet the bastard...I'd love to punch him something good." He took a deep breath. Then another. He was just trying to calm himself, being mad right now would do nothing since the object of his anger wasn't here. He looked up at Kanna. "I didn't know what your life was like before, but now that I know...you deserved better. You deserve better." Snopy couldn't comprehend it, the cruelty that someone could inflict upon the one they are supposed to love. Realistically though, if he loved her, he would have only touched her with the hands of love, not violence. "I guess that explains a lot." He looked up and looked her straight in the eye. "You can do better than him. You deserve...better than someone like him." He was stuck in a loop with how much this bothered him. "So...is that why you don't like being touched? But you know...not all men are assholes like that. Not everyone would hurt you like that...though I can't blame you for worrying."

Kanna has told others the story, since she apparently knows the reaction well. Any sensible person would react that way anyway. Kanna seemed to ready up to go to bed, so this conversation would end up coming to a close soon. That's when she told him where her ex-husband lived. Wait that was a rich neighborhood, he knew them well. He was rich. "Punching him there will be complicated." He scratched his head. "When I have some spare time I'll find a way." He knew how he'd do it already anyway. He'd leave his gigai and go stealth spirit punch him in the face. Cameras cannot catch that, not normal human ones. And if somehow her husband could see him, who'd believe that Snopy snuck past all the cameras and hit him without being seen in one. Hell, Snopy had ways to get around every possible problem. While it was sarcastic, she did tell him he had no way of knowing what happened in her past.

The worst came when she explained why she didn't want to be touched. She saw herself as dirty, unclean, impossible to clean. She was below the dirt, below the worms in the dirt, below Kami, below Popo's stool, and below Popo. The more she talked, the more he died a little. "If you just heard a loud crack, that was the sound of my heart breaking." He just continued to look at her. "You're worth way more than that. Even if you argue, that fact won't change." Of course she was probably thinking the same thing about his opinion, but now they did need to sleep. She then asked if he really wanted to sleep on the floor, offering an alternative. It was a large bed. And for her own sake she could put pillows between them, yes he wasn't falling for that "for your sake" implication she was putting forth. "I figured you wouldn't want that...but if you're okay with it, then that's fine." Snopy would then move to get in, while Kanna most likely placed the pillows between them. It was way more comfortable than his floor bed. "Alright...I guess I'll see you in the morning, good night." It took him a little time to get settled, but after today he fell asleep pretty quickly. He would have no sweet dreams tonight though, instead even his sleeping mind couldn't filter out what he had learned today. This woman needed help, and something told him he was the only one who cared enough to try, besides Iris at least. But even she may have given up when she sent him. One thing he did know, even if he woke up first the next morning, he would stay until Kanna woke up at the very least.

The morning was a nice change of pace, the sun shone through as the rain had ceased to fall overnight. Though the gloom, rays of light penetrated through to light the city. It was the perfect setup for a peaceful morning, of course that didn't happen. When Snopy first woke up, he decided to just lay there a bit. He didn't want to wake Kanna, so he figured he'd just lay there for a bit. Once some time had passed he'd have tried to get up and move over to the bench. That isn't what happened. Suddenly Kanna shot up out of bed, turning to him. He casually directed his glance in her direction. "Mornin." She fell back and hit the floor. With that Snopy shot up, leaned over, and looked down to her. "Are...you okay?" He asked a little concerned. As she shot up into the air, he pulled his legs out from under the covers, placing them over the side of the bed, now sitting. He had his upper body twisted slightly, and his head turned, so he could still see her. Her robe was open, giving him a nice view of her body, albeit a little sad now that he knew where the scars on her body came from. The words that came out of her mouth were simple. "You're still here?" Plus a stutter on you're.

He yawned as he stood up and moved over to the bench, before promptly sitting down. This gave him a better angle with which to look at her while speaking, rather than twisting his body to speak. "Of course I am." He stated promptly. Remembering how he had set up a "floor" bed, he grabbed one of the cushions on the floor and placed them under him on the bench. That was more comfortable. He raised his hands high in the air in a stretch, and with a satisfied sigh brought them back down. "Even if you aren't exactly thrilled I'm here, I couldn't just bail out on you." Snopy was groggy, so only just now he realized one reason she might be surprised. It wasn't uncommon for a man to sleep with a woman, then leave before she even wakes up without saying a word. Granted he didn't "sleep" with her in the way that meant, and the scenario was totally different. "I said I was worried about you and I meant it, it'd be rude and disrespectful to you if I just left without a word." A cloud which had blocked the sun for a few moments parted, and the sun came shining in directly onto Snopy. He noticed how bright it became around him and could only think "Well that's strange". "So, how are you feeling this morning?"

Well, that was comforting.  He blinked a few times.  Seriously he wasn't even sure if he should be offended or not.  Like on one hand her husband seemed to transform her thought processes into her being worthless and pathetic with his abuse, so he could almost understand the expectation.  But at the same time, rape?  Snopy would never put anyone through that.  He knows how upset he'd be if someone had sex with him without him wanting to, and with women there's a whole other slew of complications and details that can make it easily all the worse.  They could get pregnant for one.  Still, it probably wasn't Snopy's problem because he was way too strong and most people who COULD kill him would end up vaporizing his body in the process.  Besides, sex is better with consent anyway.  Literally half, if not more, of the fun in it would be gone if the other party was not consenting.  He blinked a few more times.  "Umm...that would be ruuude."  He spoke up, still obviously trying to process whether or not he should really be offended at such an accusation.  When she finally responded to his question, she mentioned she had a headache.  "Maybe you should take a hot shower, those often help with headaches.  If that doesn't work a tall glass of water helps."

Perhaps she was taking his advice, because she withdrew into the bathroom and shut the door.  Granted she was incredibly cautious.  What?  Did she still think he was going to do unholy things to her?  He was about to turn to head out for something really quick, but then he heard it.  She seemed really paranoid.  Like holy hell she was freaking out.  "I...see you REALLY don't trust me."  He spoke through the door.  "Look just try a hot shower and see if that soothes your nerves.  Imma head outside really quick, I think I need some fresh air."  Snopy then left the room, walked down the stairs, and headed out the door.  He wasn't going for fresh air though.  He quickly pulled out his cell and dialed a number.  "Hey, Akihisa.  It's me.  ...no, they're still doing fine.  Her?  Yeah she's still a total sweetheart.  Anyway, I'd like to order...yeah...uh-huh.  One of every item on the breakfast menu.  Don't worry, I know plenty of people who have a huge appetite.  Great."  Hanging up the cell, he quickly ran off.  Surprisingly, within 15 minutes, he was coming back up the street with a mountain of boxed up food in toe.  He quickly headed back inside.  "Kanna?"  He called, searching until he ended up in whatever room she was in, excluding the bathroom.  "I got food.  I didn't know what you liked so I just got a little of everything."  He would find somewhere to set the boxes down and then promptly set them down.  "Eat what you like, whatever you don't have I'll take."

Just then Snopy  got a ring on his codec.  Clicking the button to answer, he began to listen.  "Snopy here...uh-huh...uh....huh...uh-huh...can you hear me?  You can?  Okay, uh-huh."  Suddenly he'd cringe back as he was screamed at right in the ear, Kanna could probably hear it.  "Well you're in a bad mood.  Look I'll be right there.  Explain to me why 2 people with Shika...sh...er, two people with your skill can't stop that thing from killing innocent people.  You know what never mind, your first priority is to save as many lives as you can.  I'm on my way."  Snopy hung up the codec and turned to Kanna.  "Help yourself to whatever you like.  I've got to go, I am needed at work.  I'll talk to you soon, since I do still need to pay you for the repairs."  With that Snopy left the bar, running down the street at a speed few would expect, but was still humanly possible.