Winter Festival [Open]

While such actions of disembarkation worked on her mother, her father was an entirely different story all together. However, as soon as she began to make her way to the supposed vendor to eat the food she cared little for to feed the stomach that wasn't really all that hungry, she made eye contact with the head of her clan, halting her current course in an instant. She knew that look; that was the 'I'm about to marry you off' look. Well, shit.

>>"Shimizu-taichou?"

Oh thank all the deities; existing and fictional alike! Most of those currently in attendance rarely addressed her as Taicho, and instead with Ojou. As such, with that specific honorific, she knew she had found her savior.

>>"I'm Tengen Toppa, first div third seat. You uhh--You busy at the moment?"

"I can always put aside some time for a fellow member of the Goteijūsantai," Kawa exclaimed, her eyes shifting briefly from the woman to her father, emphasizing time of course, before focusing back to the Shinigami in question. "Please, let us speak where it's a bit less crowded."

And with a quick gesture of her right arm, her left guided the other woman's back, away from the food stand, and more importantly, away from her glaring father's eyes. Was it out of character of her to suddenly express her interest in the queries of her fellow Shinigami? Of course. Would she go so far as to put aside her own time in the face of her fellow Shinigami? Of course not. However, when it came to avoiding her family? Most certainly; every-damn-time. Along the way, Kawa reached a hand out to a serving tray, pulling off a wine glass; two in fact, with a well timed spin, and handed one off to her savior. Sure, she was feeling a bit more generous than usual, but the longer she kept her conversation going with this woman, the longer she could avoid her intervening parents.

"Here you are," Kawa extended a glass to the woman, taking a sip from her own newly acquired drink. She led them to one of the gardens, a bit away from the crowd and noise. "Ah.. much better."

Whether it was the drink or simply being away from unneccessary drama, she wasn't certain, but the wine certainly tasted sweeter at that moment.

"Now... what is it I can help you with, Toppa-kun," the elder woman asked as she sipped her wine once more.

The young third seat seemed quite nervous, a response that brought a light, and humorous air to the previously tense and stagnant atmosphere Kawa had excused herself from. A smile curled upon her lips when the woman tenaciously drank the wine in a single gulp. Her hesitant words actually made the young doctor feel a bit more at ease, and in a rather uncharacteristic sense, she let out a light muffled chuckle to the woman’s discomfort. In most cases, she would feel annoyed toward those who were too tense to handle a simple conversation, but her fumbling words and childish scratch of the back of her head as she attempted to find her voice was just so… what was the word she was looking for; cute? Another adjective used out of character for her. Was it the wine, or perhaps the atmosphere? No, perhaps she was just so relieved this shy little woman had come along to save her from a good lecture, three hours of fighting, and other such drama she simply wished not to deal with at the moment. Or, maybe her medication managed to boost her dopamine levels more than normal.

Whatever the case, Kawa found herself in a far more chipper mood than normal.

>>"Ano, actually-- I just-- err-- well-- I approach people that I'm curious about-- that's... just how I am I guess. I just wanted to see what you were doing here. Ahaha, sorry if I sounded like I wanted to ask for something."

"Nah, it’s fine," the young doctor nodded as her back rested against the railing of the porch and tilted her head back, teal colored hues closed lightly as her neck rolled, following with a few light, yet certainly audible crackling sounds. She was perfectly content with how things played out thus far. Anything to get her away from another arranged marriage proposal. She tilted her head back and took another sip from her wine, twisting her body briefly as she made eye contact with another server making her way back to one of the vendors and hastily signaling the woman to return with some more wine.

>>"UWAAAAH. This place is gorgeous ne?! If I lived here when I was a kid I'd love to have played hide and sneak in these gardens all day."

"The Shimizu family’s quite fond of their garden, that’s for sure," Kawa spat out with a humorous smile, though hinting a bit of spitefulness in her tone. Despite her comment, she didn’t bother to elaborate, and instead returned to her wine. The server was quick to return, tray in hand, and atop, rested two glasses and the bottle used to fill its contents. As the woman began to hand over the glasses, Kawa hastily took the bottle as well, prompting a shocked gaze, though the noblewoman merely waved the young server off as she handed her new companion a newly refilled glass.

>>"That was your okaa-san out there just now right? She seemed like a nice person. Just like... well, like how mine isn't. Sometimes I guess parents just have a way of making you want to kill every living thing in sight, na?"

"That they do," the young doctor nodded in absolute agreement to the woman’s observation as she took a hefty gulp in response, enough to down her glass just as hastily as the woman had before. With a light ‘ah’ escaping her parted lips, she gripped the cork of the bottle with her teeth, and a light twist and yank, freed the wine to the fresh open air. A quick spit of the cork launched it across the gardens, likely to be picked up by one of the family’s servants later, though Kawa expressed not a single care in accordance to that sort of inconvenience.

"The veil of nobility is certainly a beautiful thing," Kawa spoke with slight vagueness as she sipped her refilled glass with a bit more vigor now that she had a bottle in hand for quick-refilling action. The young woman was certainly an energetic one. Though Kawa found such enthusiastic people quite a bother in most cases, it was still far better than what she would have been dealing with had this girl not appeared before her. "Well then, how about a toast… to the lunacy of our parents, perhaps? Good health? Or maybe to an action that would shock our parents into silence."

Kawa remained leaned against the porch as she tipped a glass, though with her shifting eyes, it made it seem as though she were debating whether or not to continue using the glass or drink straight from the bottle. Maybe if she got hammered enough, her father wouldn’t want to introduce her to another potential marriage prospect…

>>"Amen to that. A toast to stuck up cunts in castles that don't give a shit about their kids."

A light cling of their glasses sounded as Kawa opted for the glass rather than the bottle and sipped elegantly of the scarlet liquid. While certainly one of nobility, and being a child of the main family within the Shimizu clan, Kawa had grown well accustomed to the harsh reality behind the beautiful veil of nobility. It was certainly a cutthroat life behind the scenes, and one had to learn at a young age to act the part, or be torn down from their noble status. Sure, Kawa had rebelled at quite a young age, and quite frankly, more so now that she was older. Nevertheless, she wouldn’t do anything that would tarnish her family’s name, and only acted out when it came to her father. The man was an idiot, or rather, that’s what Kawa thought of him. Sure, he was a brilliant man, a strategist of legend, and highly regarded within the ranks of the Gotei prior to his own retirement. However, he was a strict man, one who would expect no less than perfection. With Kawa growing up as an only child, and as her father’s daughter, it was hard to deter the spotlight. Anything she did was evaluated, corrected, criticized… her brows pinched lightly as she found herself immersed too heavily within her thoughts once again, and once more found herself debating a drink from the bottle itself.

>>"You know, Kawa-taichou, you're a lot less formal than most people in the Shinigami Association, I like that a lot about you. I'm sure umm-- the captain commander's a bit harsh on you all but it's good to be able to express yourself without anyone stopping you from doing so na? To be real about this, I thought you'd be a lot more strict about this kinda stuff."

“Hardly… and Shimizu is fine; you can drop the title. We’re not on duty,” the young Captain persuaded as she commented upon her presentation, always appearing more relaxed than most of her social status, though still at times expressing the elegance expected of those within the noble clans. To be honest, she didn’t care much for the whole social status agenda. Sure, it had its perks at times and she was able to get away with a lot more than in any normal circumstance, especially when within the Academy. Of course, that didn’t come without punishment when she returned home.

>>"Haha, which kind of actions do you mean? The Toilet papering the outside of the Shimizu manor kind, or me eating you out in the middle of the night in the gardens kind of action?"

“The latter would certainly put my father into cardiac arrest,” the young noblewoman pursed her lips briefly, as though actually contemplating and envisioning the action or perhaps, actions the young woman had so jokingly suggested. Either would certainly piss off her family, and more importantly her father. A lustrous action would certainly put a brief hold on the constant reminder that she wasn’t married, as well as the constant marriage proposals. While holding no real desire for love nor marriage, she pondered just how far she would go in order to get such a constant annoyance to stop all together. Coming out of a closet would certainly put a damper on her father’s plans to usher in a new family head by marrying her off to whatever prospect he had. Another sip of her wine emptied her glass simultaneously with the girl next to her, and mirroring her motions, allowed the glass to fly briefly through the air, landing near the cork she had launched moments prior.

>>"Maaaa, why are all the captains of the gotei 13 so drop dead gorgeous? Really... well-- except for a few old people, rest of you all are just-- mm."

Kawa was certainly a perceptive woman. In fact, it was one of the qualities she excelled so greatly upon, which prompted her for her position as not only one of the best doctors within the Gotei, but her promotion to captaincy within her division. While many held their jealousy over such a talent that seemed to come so naturally to the teal haired healer, Kawa herself at times, felt it nothing but a curse. Her mind was constantly active, and at times, hyperactive, registering simultaneous thoughts that she herself could barely keep up with. Her eidetic memory allowed her to store all forms of information, no matter how minute, and be able to reference such a vast quantity with minimal effort at a moment’s notice. All of this, while certainly seeming natural, was harshly trained at a young age, and though certainly excelling to the point where she achieved a position most could only dream, at that particular moment, Kawa wondered what would have happened had she had not tried at all… and simply gave up.

Ironically, this woman seemed pestered over her relationship with her mother, perhaps just coming from a meeting of sorts. It was apparent by now that this sort of festival was not the woman’s initial plans for the evening and as the Captain’s cyan hues fell upon the silver haired woman, her mind couldn’t help but begin to develop various theories behind her actions. Every word she spoke was then torn apart, evaluated; the tone used while expressing herself, her facial expressions, her actions following, and her reactions to Kawa’s own dialog. Kawa then closed her eyes tightly and shook her head, attempting to shake the hyperactive thoughts from her mind. Her plans for tonight were to shut her brain off, not send it into its naturally overdriven state. Without reading too deeply into the woman’s actions up to this point, Kawa did recognize the hinted atmosphere, and her prior words had certainly aided in expressing it in a bit more light, despite not actually meaning to do so. Those cyan hues gazed off in the distance, beyond the woman before her for but a moment before attempting to seek out her golden hues.

“Beauty isn’t found within the Captains alone,” Kawa spoke, her tone shifting slightly as the left side of her lips curled into a rather peculiar smirk. A simple head tilt, shift of her hips, and her free hand reaching up to brush a few strands of that dark teal away brought about that elegant beauty that was expected of noble women. That hand soon traveled to the woman’s silver mane, her slender fingers faintly running across the strands along her right side, running through her fingertips and twirling lightly before allowing her hair to fall back into place. Well, apparently she was going to go down that road. Her fingers continued to playfully trace the woman’s hair before pausing briefly, then retracting her hand and expressing a cautioned gaze. “Your hair compliments your complexion exquisitely. Don’t place the Captains upon a pedestal that you yourself cannot reach… especially when it comes to femininity. One would certainly kill for a figure like yours.”

>>"I am wondering why you're not in hospital with a possible head concussion that broke your skull and caused you to bleed from your head, dawg."

"Indeed," Kawa turned her head with a slight nod of agreement. The festival was full of children, and while the garden in which they rested held only a few people passing by here and there, such a visual appearance would certainly cause quite the disturbance. Then again, the young noblewoman held little care for any scene she or those associated with her caused. In any case, it would only help her in the scheme of things.

>>"Ano sa, Shimizu... taichou, I think this man needs at least some form of medical attention, I'm not sure if he should continue bleeding from a head wound... even if he did intrude into the Shimizu manor."

>>"My skull is still intact as far as I can tell, I was only cut. Funny thing, I was walking along minding my own business somewhere very far from here and this thing grazed my face. Left a bit of a gash in the place where bleeding can be profuse, a place where wiping it away would be wasted effort."

The man then produced a small box from his pocket. With another sip from the bottle, the young doctor gazed upon the item, then back up to the blood-faced kido specialist. The man seemed stable enough, despite the injury. While any doctor would likely have dropped everything to tend to the man's wound, Kawa wasn't just any doctor. Nevertheless, the story of the injury was intriguing enough.

>>"I felt the Yonbantai-Taichō near the very reiatsu of the individual who threw the box. Returning it and getting a quick stitch from the doctor seemed like the right call. You've got a hell of a throwing arm by the way. I am Tokomaru Shi'Kuyo, and I didn't mean to intrude. In fact, I'll be going now. I'll have someone patch this up back."

"Oh," Kawa blinked, a bit surprised by the sudden arrival and departure. Sure, she could have tended to his wound, and despite a comical performance of witty dialog, would have eventually done so nonetheless. With that, the man made his departure, though not before a quick turn and shout out to the supposed owner of the box. When he did finally leave, Kawa's curiosity peaked, already imagining the possible scenarios that could have played out, most of which were a bit more unrealistic though certainly full of humor.

"That was certainly adventitious ... or rather; fortuitous? No... random? In either case, it appears you've got quite an arm," the doctor commented. Ever analytical, the young doctor's curiosity began to filter out various reasons behind throwing such a box away. However, she didn't inquire further of the box. Instead, she tilted the bottle back and took a few more hefty gulps before wiping her lips with her wrist. Whether or not the box meant anything significant was yet to be expressed; if the woman had thrown it away for a reason, having it suddenly returned could certainly spark something... or perhaps nothing at all...