A Strange Meeting

He thought about this, and smirked. "The best and worse, good combination." Arata laughed and nodded in fake understanding. He most definitely like Izueo. "You need to rest? Well, I gladly offer my tree, but if you are not the one to enjoy climbing, I know a few places where it is easy to rest and relax in private." Arata said warmly as the corners of his mouth witched into a rather delightful smile, illuminating his face with its kindness.

Izueo smiled a bit, finally letting himself fully relax. "That sounds great, thanks." He smiles, "I can climb, but I can't be arsed at the moment. Lead the way."

Izueo examined the forest closer. He really REALLY hated the forest. The feeling of uneasiness that suddenly hit him was overwhelming. He knew something was going to happen, and soon...

Arata smirked, he walked over closer to Izueo. "I see, do you not like it here? You do not seem too be to partial to the forest." He said with a calm laugh. Oh well, Arata could not please everyone. He began to walk forward, without looking back he awaited to hear Izueo's foot steps following behind him. Arata's mind began to wander. He wondered what Izueo was thinking.

Suddenly, Arata got the same feeling in the pit of his stomach again, something was about to happen, he was not sure what, but he believed someone or something to come. When or where he was not sure, he just hoped it was not a trap, he did not feel like fighting today. Arata suffered in silence and kept these feelings to himself, he stopped walking after getting a few feet in front of Izueo and looked back. "It is a bit deeper in the forest, but I gurantee it is quiet there, many places to sit and there is clean water if you are thirsty." He said smoothly and waited.

Walking through the Karakura Forest was a Hollow. It was nothing special, but still a massive ugly beast. Such a disturbing site, a tainted soul transformed into something evil. It was a tall Hollow, quite fat and moving slow with the slight appearance of a lizard or frog. Mayonaka watched as it made its way between the trees as it walked, not noticing the Shinigami standing above the trees in the air and concealing his reiatsu.

The Hollow was making its way towards the outskirts of Karakura City. Although it wouldn't be able to get in the city, it was possible that there might be some humans strolling outside the barrier around the city. If there was, they would be in danger from the froggish Hollow. It was a Shinigami's duty to free the spirits of Hollows to Soul Society.

For this Hollow, a quick and precise slash to the back of the head would suffice. It would be a simple matter, not even deserving Kuregi's unsealed form. As the Hollow passed underneath Mayonaka, he turned to face it and a quick shunpo brought him right behind the hollow. Before it could even register it's danger, Mayonaka drew his Zanpacto. It's head injured fatally by the sealed blade, the Hollow fell, and then was sent to soul Society.

"Now that that is done and over with, time to report back to Soul Society." he said, his patrol just about over. Sheathing his sword, he noticed a familiar spiritual energy in the area. It would seem Izueo Yokin was in the area, and had a friend. "I should go see what he's up to." Mayonaka thought to himself. He had done several crazy things in the past, hopefully he wasn't doing another crazy thing now. And who was the person that was with him? The other was not Shinigami, and didn't seem to be Hollow either.

Making his way through the trees, Mayonaka made his way to the two after a few minutes of walking. Coming out of the trees, Mayonaka saw the two before him now, and bowed formally to them. "Hello Fuku-Taicho Izueo. And who might your friend be?" Mayonaka smiled a slightly too friendly smile to them both.

Izueo grinned, "No, I don't like the forest at ALL. I hate it, to be honest."

Izueo follows the man quietly, contemplating his words as he walked, when the man stopped, he spoke. "That sounds great. Thank you."

Suddenly, another figure appeared. Izueo slammed his hand against his forehead with enough force to crack a walnut once he realized who the figure was.

"Ugh. I thought I had escaped you soul society people. I may be vice captain of the special human task force, but I thought that meant staying AWAY from you people." Izueo groaned, shaking his head, "Ah well, nice to see you anyway, Mayonaka. This is Arata. Arata, this is Mayonaka." He smiled warmly at them both.

Arata Genji

…Yes, that would be dark.

Arata laughed gently. "I see, well, I hope you will enjoy the place then." Arata began to turn around to walk forward again when he spoke again. Thinking he was talking to Arata himself, he raised his eyebrows and looked around. "Hmm?" He asked softly. Once he looked around better, however, he noticed a new figure, his eyes lit up slightly. He was surprised to see a new body on the terrain. "Well, hello Mayonaka. As he said, I am Arata, Arata Genji. Pleased to meet you." He said politely with a small bow of his head. Arata wondered what brought him here.

"Hello Arata Genji, I am Mayonaka, as Izueo had introduced." he said to Arata. "So what brings you to the forest Izueo?" he looked with curiousity to Izueo. A leaf fell from a tree, falling between Mayonaka and Izueo. "Such a beautiful place, don't you agree?" reaching out his palm, he caught the leaf, and after looking at it for a second, released it and let it flutter to the earth. He had completely ignored Izueo's comments about escaping Soul Society. He still had a slightly too friendly smile on his face.

Izueo grimaced, he hated his own kind. A bunch of pansies in his opinion. He wished for every one of their painful and violent deaths.

Izueo grinned, "I'm here because I felt I needed to be here. No other reson. I met a very interesting character.." Izueo cast a sideways glance at Arata, smirking playfully.

Izueo winced, "No, it's not. I despise the forest, and everything in it." Izueo scowled, glaring at the leaf that had fallen on the ground. Of course, no one here knew his intimate history with this god forsaken place, and he planned to keep it that way if at all possible.

Arata Genji.

…Yes, that would be dark.

He sensed tension between the two. Whatever happened between them must have been rather terrible, and made Izueo uncomfortable and agrivated. Arata was not sure what to do, but the corner of his mouth twitched into a near-smile as Mayonaka complimented the beauty of the forest. Izueo, however, disagreed, he must have some dark history in the forest. Why had he come if he hated it so much? "Yes, it is lovely." Arata chimed in, trying to ease some tension. He wondered what he could do or say. It was beginning to get a tad... awkward what with Mayonaka's more than friendly smile. What was he thinking? Sometimes Arata would love to be able to read minds, other times, he was thankful he couldn't.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Izueo. I'm glad Arata likes the forest as well though. It truly is a peaceful place, where not many troubles lie." Mayonaka said, looking up to the sky. A cloud floated peacefully by, as the wind gently ruffled the trees. Mayonaka wondered who Arata was. He could not see a cross anywhere on him, and he had no Zanpacto. There wasn't any visible hole signifying that he was any form of Hollow. He had spiritual energy though, as he was talking with the two Shinigami. Was he merely a human? Not Quincy, Shinigami, or Hollow... that left only very few possibilities. Arata looked pretty ordinary to Mayonaka, so he thought to assume he was human. An old wise saying came to mind: "Assume makes an ass out of u and me." He would need confirmation before thinking of Arata as human.

"So what are you two doing out here in the forest?" he asked, wondering why they had been here in the first place, and if they had any plans.