Flickering lights [Open]

Hiro was taken aback slightly at the sudden intrusion. Not that he was a stranger to people popping in next to him, being a Shinigami, those things tend to happen more often than not. But he still would have appreciated at least some bit of forewarning. But, again, as most things dealing with Shinigami are, it wasn't to be helped.

The man next to him was rather lithe, at a first glance he looked completely unimposing, almost sickly. But Hiroki knew a warrior when he saw one, and this man was, among many things he couldn't tell, a warrior. A light chuckle escaped his lips as he exhaled his most recent drag. Even here it wasn't all that often that someone would just pop in next to him and ask to buy a cigarette off him. But he liked that in people. The constant surprises they all held in store.

He lifted his case and opened it gingerly, flicking one of the devilish things into his hand and reaching over to hand it to his new found companion. "Purchase? Hrm, well I tell you what, you give me your name, and I'll trade you a few in exchange." Giving the man next to him a light smile as he introduced himself first. "Hiroki. Because I know you were utterly enthralled by the burning desire to know my name." Over dramatizing everything, like always.

He gave a quick chuckle and fumbled through his pockets until he located the small metal lighter he usually kept with him. Holding the empty, dancing flame to the tip of Kazou's cigarette as he took the requisite drag to get it alight. "Why, what could possible have given away that I am a Shinigami, could you tell by my beaming aura of self righteousness?" He continued to laugh as he drew on his cigarette, flicking the ash into the cold ground below. Always amusing to himself at the very least.

He pulled a thin cloth from his shirt pocket and pulled his glasses to the tip of his nose, wiping the condensation that was accumulating from the contrast in temperatures. "Sanseki of the Kyubantai, to be specific." Drawing a bit too quickly, the smoke caught his lungs and he was forced to catch himself before he started to gag a big. "Erf, pardon me." Dispite the discomfort he exhaled once more, the plumes and ash leaving his lungs. "No, I am not nobility. In fact, I was born and raised in the Rukongai's outermost districts." Smirking at the man next to him and toying with his shirt on purpose. "But anyone can and should appreciate the finer things in life, after all, what else could they possibly be for!" Announcing to the heavens in his faux triumph. "In truth, I simply had the opportunity to live near here, and chose to take it over the oh so exciting adventure of barracks living."

Leaning forward slightly and lifting his head. "So, from that display of Kido earlier I see that you're Shinigami as well, eh, Kazuo?" Not that he needed to ask, his extraordinarily high spiritual pressure was felt the moment he entered the area. "From your dress, I'm going to counter your assumption and assume you are of nobility?" Taking one last drag of his first dead cigarette and flicking it away before lighting a new one in the crimson glow of the calm night.

Hiro's ears perked up a bit as he heard the name pass from Kazou's lips. "Recent events must have been quite a shock for you both then, eh?" The question lingered in the air along side the trailing plumes of smoke. Billowing up towards the heavens to never be seen again. "I still can't quite believe it myself some days. Think I'll wake up in a bathhouse somewhere with several empty bottles of whiskey and realize it was all just a figment of my imagination." Flicking his newest victim away as he continued to speak.

"Must be a monumental task, living up to the lofty expectations of one of the main houses." He chuckled softly as he engulfed another of his death sticks in the ever warm glow. "I'd have long since gone mad." The Seireitei was so calm this time of night, the usual hustle and bustle of constant travel condensed to nothing more than a somber silence, broken only by the brief conversation the two were having. "Always have loved nights like this. Can't get this kind of peace in the Rukon."

Hiro flashed a brigh smile for a moment before giving a curt reply. "Sounds like a nice spot, I'll have to give it a look sometime, always good to get away and find some relative peace and quiet." Nights like tonight were a rarity indeed, it was best to savor the moments of silence and peace, before things erupted back into chaos and madness. But such was life in general wasn't it?

His smile dampened a bit when he was asked about the Rukon, why he'd ever go there. And, indeed, there really was no good reason to go back. No reason really to see what new hellish nightmare it'd become today. In fact there was only one reason he could think off. And while it might not be a particularly logical reason, he felt it was the only one he needed. "Because there's never anywhere else that can replace your home." He flicked another dead one away, and bathed his face in the glow of flames as he lit into his next one. "I was born there, I was raised there, I lived there for almost a third of my life. It's a dank, miserable hell hole where you're as liable to see a man be cut in half for a loaf of bread on any given day." He sighed, slightly exasperatedly at himself. "But it's still home."

"There's no shortage of scum there, but there's also no shortage of good memories, of friends and good people trying to earn a hard, meager yet honest living. It's a much more simple life than we Shinigami live, and, yes, I do actually find myself appreciating it more as I spend more time away from it." But there was no point in sugar coating the next part, after all. "But it's still a dank miserable shithole." Laughing quite loudly at his own comment as he leaned forward in the bench a bit. "So, I'v always wondered." He pursed his lips carefully before asking his next question. "Is it difficult, living up the expectations and aspirations of nobility? I mean, in the Rukongai, if you're alive for a whole week it's cause to throw a parade." Blowing another plum of dank, ashen filled smoke forward. "But I can imagine growing up with people having expectations of a future must be different."

(OOC: Sorry it took me a while to get this one out, life kinda went nuts on me for a little bit there)