As she slipped through the hustle and bustle of people down the street, Akuhei frantically glanced around for some sort of tangible sign to direct her toward any kind of restaurant. Her stomach rumbled and quaked, leaving her with pain and nausea, in conjunction with her slight hangover. It was a dire situation, to search and be on the lookout for a restaurant, however, due to her short stature, the Vizard found it difficult to locate a decent enough looking place. In contrast, Akuhei was dwarfed with all the taller, lankier skeleton-esque beings, as well as the generally towering people surrounding her.

If things weren't sticky enough, she was in a momentary strife concerning the events that transpired prior. While she left with haste, the female had hoped the other female with snow-white hair dubbed Yuubei Kohi would pass along her 'blessings'. Not only that, but the woman was still wearing the puke-stained clothes, causing looks of disgust to be intended for her as she walked slowly down the road.

"Fuck, I really need to hurry." She muttered, adrenaline-loss taking it's toll as well. Even though it fueled her to fight, every dose slowly wore her out, and mixed with her other symptoms only proved to be toxic. The stench was aggravating her nose, whilst she was facing exhaustion, if only slightly. Even as the crowd swarmed in on her, she could feel her head begin to spin, and a sensation of claustrophobia take effect. She didn't want to fight her way out, like usual; but the feelings were nigh close to unbearable.

What did she do, you ask?

For now, she abruptly pushed through the crowd and discovered a secluded area; notable for it's vacant bench. Quickly, she scrambled over to sit, crossing her legs upon the wooden structure's hold, whilst her elbows rested upon her knees. That way, her forearms ran along her slouched, leaning frame that slumped forward, providing her dizzy head those small, slender hands to aid in propping that skull up if only a bit. It appeared as if the woman was depressed in the corner, but in all actuality, she was regaining some sort of strength, or at least trying to suppress the obnoxious symptoms. Her breathing was deep, but quick, as realized the vomit was utterly too much. It didn't take long to rid her shirt from her frame, exposing the bandage-wrapped up chest, and lean physique. Grumbling, she balled the cloth up and tossed it with the best aim and accuracy as possible in her state toward the nearest trash-can, before returning to her previous seated situation. Her hands still reeked, being the backs had the stains, causing her hands to clench against her tied-up red strands at the frontal portion of her skull.

"Shit... shit... shit!" She muttered, volume increasing with each passing word.

Impossible to admit, but she needed help.

Exploring the area a bit, Shirio hadn't found anything too out of the ordinary outside of the fights and the animals in their zoo. Wondering more about the purpose of this tournament, Shirio's thought process was interupted by his stomach rumbling. Realizing that it had been a while since he had eaten, Shirio figured that it wouldn't hurt anyone if he took a nice supper. Remembering that he had seen a nice looking restraunt stand a bit behind where he was, Shirio turned around and headed towards the stand.

However after going forward a couple of dozen meters, Shirio came upon a rather unusual sight. It was Ping sitting on a bench looking rather depressed...and with her shirt off which would confirm that she was indeed a she. Approaching Akuhei, Shirio's nose cringed upon smelling the vomit. "Ping are you okay?" Shirio asked Akuhei.

Whether Malik knew it or not, he had given Katsu just about the perfect job. The younger Captain wasn't much for negotiating or formalities, but he found it easy to mix and mingle with other people, without the stiff bindings of Office that Malik seemed stuck to. All Katsu really had to do was find a place where people were gathering to eat, and he'd be able to begin. Walking right by Shirio and Akuhei, and not even noticing them, he began his search in earnest. There were a number of vendors along the streets of the Midway, but there were few actual restaurants where one could sit down to a meal. He settled on the one that had the most people coming and going from inside, and went for it.

He pushed the beaded curtain in the doorway aside ad stepped into the restaurant. Now clothed in a dark, navy blue kosode and matching Hakama, Katsu barely looked like a proper shinigami captain. Gekkoubuke was slung across his back so that the strap ran perpendicular to the new scar on his chest, which was exposed by his open kosode. He looked less like a commander of a small army, and more like a casual thug on the streets, and that worked for him. He settled in at a table, ordered some sake, and waited to see who joined him in the restaurant.

There she was... just a'sittin' on a bench, screaming, "Shit, Shit, Shit, Shit Shit Shit-t-t!"~

In all seriousness, the woman's fingers palpated and massaged her aching, dizzy skull, quite unaware of those passing by, or those casting her a glance of dismay and disgust -- not that she would give a fuck, mind you -- but the woman's tone and volume of voice lessened, whispering swears. However, that quickly ceased as the man from the boat approached and found the woman alone on the bench to her own sickness. She mumbled in a low voice, as if pleading. "Clothes... bath... food... water... need." She didn't know what he would think based on her response, however, the time was ticking down to the wire. She could feel her stomach corroding its wall from the inside, and oh was it a nasty feeling.

Feeling slightly naked, being that only a layer of bandages contained her 'girls', she moved her arms and hands to huddle around her chest, face tilting upward slightly at the other 'Vizard'; whose name she knew naught of. Her amber eyes gleamed against the sunlight, though her face expressed discomfort. As for the white-haired man who traversed by, he would go unnoticed by her golden gaze.

The man she had tried to 'arouse' a while ago... not that she would remember, of course!~

Not noticing Katsu at all as he passed by, Shirio instead strained to hear what Akuhei was muttering. Hearing mention of food, water, a bath and clothing, Shirio knew that he should help the poor girl."I can help with that." Shirio said. Fishing through his bag and taking out a container of water that he had recently filled and a spare shirt that he had brought, Shirio handed them to Akuhei. "There you go. I just filled that container with water. Not sure where you can get a bath but I can go order some food and bring it here you want." Shirio offered. Hopefully that would set her on the way to recovery.

Children in crowds, it turned out, were capable of getting away with a good many things; chief among those 'things' was going places unnoticed, while also noticing things themselves. Slinking through the crowds, it was easy for Rikou to take notice of Akuhei's plight, the nigh shirtless red-haired woman finding solace and assistance in the form of that insufferable, albeit well-meaning, Shirio. And of course, being the trouble-maker he was known to be from time to time, Rikou spotted that white-haired Taicho 'incognito', roaming about before moving into the nearest restaurant he could find, and a busy one by it's appearances. Smiling thriftily, as rarely could Rikou pass up a chance to mingle with his enemies, when his psychosis wasn't acting up, the child slid through the crowds and into the dining facility, sidling up to Katsu's table and plopping down in the seat opposite him with nary an invitation or a request to do so.

"I saw a bit of your fight; the beginning, anyways. Your opponent looked pretty tough." The lie came out an easy chirp, Rikou playing up the act of the childish girl who's body he wore; in truth, Rikou knew nothing about the Taicho's battle, only that he'd not come out on top, if the word in the crowds was anything to go by. Still, what better way to begin a conversation than by speaking to another's interests?

Before he'd even had his first sip of Sake, he was approached by an odd girl. Whether she was human or something else, he could not tell. He raised an eyebrow at her comment and snorted at the mention of his battle with Ulquioza Obselisk. "I've had better fights, believe me." He sipped the sake, and gave it it a moment to wash over his pallet. It was good sake, chilled and carrying a strong flavor. He'd have to drink slowly, since getting absolutely shit faced so early on would not be a good idea.

"It's a little odd to see kids running around on this island. Are you a spectator?"

He wondered at how the other contestants had received their invitations. No doubt, Malik would be happy to learn that as well, since it would provide much more information on what sort of force they were dealing with.

SPOILER: Click to show

Really sorry for being so late with posts. Crap post is crap, anyway.

It was the utmost relief, to at least be rid of the rotten stench of vomit on her person. More or less, the need to upchuck lessened with the calming, 'soothing', per se, filtration of clean oxygen that intoxicated her being. Either way, now that the stained shirt was in the trash bin, Akuhei could focus more, despite the nausea induced from being almost seemingly insatiable with hunger. She craved... thirst... desired...

Easily, however, the man whom had been on the boat with her before offered her water, and a spare change of a shirt. She didn't know him fairly well, erm... well, at all, but perhaps she could take a new change in direction. She was pondering before about how lonesome things had become, not to mention that she felt compelled to establish some sort of connection with the 'outside world'. Yeah, typical loner that traveled and wandered aimlessly.

Forever... alone?!

Although these ideas ran crazily through her mind, she grabbed the shirt and soon adorned it on her petite frame; then after, Akuhei practically inhaled the water -- though, suffice to say, limited her intake so that she wouldn't easily vomit that up as well. Afterward, the woman seemed progressively better, but sluggish, still, in her 'recovery'.

"Heh... thanks." She muttered dryly and nonchalant, as if trying to act cool about it; but deep down the woman was grateful the man had stumbled upon her; otherwise she'd probably remain there, idly seated in agony before forcing herself up to wander around some more. Now, strangely, with him here she wouldn't have to embark on the 'journey' alone. There would be someone to guide her, or at least get her to where she needed to trek.

"This... 'setting'... isn't doing me very good." She huffed, handing him the container as she resumed to caress her temples and skull tenderly, as if signaling the disturbances and thunderous echoes of the crowd consumed her mind, ears, and head respectively; producing an even greater headache than what she possessed prior.

"Eh... if you don't mind, perhaps join me in finding a meal?" She asked, amber gaze fixated downward, trying to suppress her problematic sensations and feelings with some sort of mental power; however, that obviously didn't help."I could wash my hands, as they are the only piece of my body still bearing the smell and dried-chunks of vomit." She muttered, awaiting his response. Depending on if he should accompany her or not, regardless, the woman would likely soon depart.

Perhaps it would spark a bond, or friendship... something she inevitably lacked in/with.

A bit suprised by how Akuhei grabbed the shirt and how much she drank the water, Shirio was worried that she might vomit the water back up. Visibly relieved when it seemed that she was doing better, Shirio was glad to see that he had helped. "No problem." Shirio replied to Akuhei. Having someone actually act nice toward him was a nice change given how he was ignored earlier today.

Nodding as he gazed at the setting, Shirio had to agree that it wasn't the best place to recover from being sick. Hearing her suggestion about eating and needing a place to wash her hands as he put away his water container, Shirio remembered one of the restraunts that he had passed. "That would be nice. I remember seeing a nice restraunt with a water pump towards the side.

Motioning to Akuhei to follow him, Shirio would give her enough time to move and would be sure to stay at a pace where she could keep up. After moving through the crowds for a few minutes the pair would find themselves at the restraunt. "There's the water pump. Want me to find us a table we you wash your hands?" Shirio asked Akuhei as he pointed the pump out for her.

"Mhmm, spectating; that's me!" Rikou stated in an almost-too-chipper manner, smiling slightly before leaning on the table between the Shinigami and himself. "We can't all be prodigies like certain brothers, you know? So he got called to fight, and I tagged along because he gets real antsy when he's lonely, y'know?" The female body issued a little giggle at this 'gossip', and Rikou inwardly smirked at the thought of Shikome's face at learning of the word. But still, that was for another time; for now, there was a modicum of business to attend.

"So tell me... Katana-sama, was it? Why are you here instead of getting ready for your next fight? After all, shouldn't round two be even harder than round one?"

Katsu watched the people coming and going from the restaurant. It was entirely likely that this little girl was going to do nothing but waste his time. Annoying as that was, Katsu had no intentions of being rude to children. Even the captain known to love a fight more than anyone else in the Seireitei had some morals and principals. "I haven't been called for the second round yet. I don't know that anyone has. Besides, we still have one fighter left on our team. If she loses, then that's the end of our run here." He took another small sip of his drink, and frowned a bit. He hadn't seen Kimiko since they'd gotten off the boat, and she did not seem the type to spend much time with other people, and given her job, he wasn't surprised. She would have been good at gathering information, but likely only a certain kind of information, the kind that was not supposed to be widely known.

"So how did you and your brother get your invitations to the islands?"

"Ooh, that's a very defeatist attitude, Katana-sama." Rikou nodded as he spoke, not bothering to correct the incorrect name; nothing had been said to the contrary, after all, and so the act must go on. "My niichan says in this type of situation, win or lose, one must carry themselves as though there will always be a next fight, and one more difficult at that." There was another curt smile after this, and the young female body leaned lazily on the table, 'her' fingers drumming rapidly and lightly upon the surface.

"Talk like you are, and you won't even make niichan break a sweat." The smile was less pleasant this time and more of one lost in thought; violent thought, perhaps. And indeed, Rikou's thoughts were slowly turning more and more violent, to the point where Rikou had to close his own eyes and take a slow breath. He knew these signs; whatever had been causing the Hollow to rest had given way, and now it was back and attempting to slowly affect his mind.

"Niichan got invited the same way everybody else did; some big monster showed up and threatened the lives of everybody he knew, and so he decided it would be easiest to just come fight. I tagged along because sometimes Niichan gets a little excited, and needs to be calmed down." Another little smile, though the origin of this one was slightly mysterious even to Rikou.

Akuhei, whom was surprisingly relieved, found it assuring that her fellow 'partner' had decided to help her. While she wouldn't admit it to anyone, it felt nice to have some sort of company. Still, she displayed and felt the obvious sickness plaguing her, slowly rising and following Shirio along as if to reach the restaurant sooner. The noisy, busy streets surely didn't help with the splitting headache she currently had, nor did it help with the queasy feeling still residing in her stomach; but Akuhei could only hope the water would stay down. Her digits, which were free of the nasty liquid, resumed holstering her head and acting as a cover; masking her face while caressing her temples as she walked slightly behind but altogether alongside the other Vizard.

She wished to know more about the man, secretly, but figured now was not the time to engage in introduction and conversation. Perhaps, after a good hearty meal, and time for her stomach to suppress the nausea and digest, Akuhei could learn a great deal or two about the male. For now, she just walked, occasionally looking up as to avoid traffic.

Sooner or later, Shirio and Akuhei stumbled upon a decent looking restaurant, with the water pump like Shirio mentioned. She merely nodded, motioning with one hand for him to do so as he stated, as she sluggishly moved over to the water pump. Taking some soap, that was luckily provided there, she initiated the pump to bring forth water. As she ran her hands under the water, she brought the soap to create that foam and layer, removing her hands from the liquid to effectively scrub and rid the back of her hands that stench, smelly puke. she resumed rubbing and scrubbing with the lather of soap, until roughly 15 seconds had ended, where she proceeded to remove the soap from her hands with the water. She then wiped her hands with a towel there, lifted them to realize the smell was as good as gone. "Fuck... yeah..." She exhaled with a deep sigh, and began to walk to the front of the restaurant, like before.

Seeing that Akuhei was fine with Shirio going in to get them a seat, Shirio entered the restraunt and looked around for a table. Noticing Katsu and the young girl who he had met earlier today, Shirio would give them both a brief but friendly wave. Seeing a suitable table, Shirio took a seat and began to look through the menu.

Ordering a water for himself and for Akuhei, Shirio made sure to keep an eye on the entrance. As he waited for Akuhei to come back from washing her hands, Shirio once again began to wonder about the hosts of this tournament and their purpose in starting the tournament.

Well, that's what I suspected... Katsu thought as he slurped a bit more of his sake. I imagine that's standard for all of them. She babbled quite a bit about her brother, though admittedly the shinigami captain was not paying as much attention as he should have. He noted the entrance of the stranger who had been with the healer in the medical tent, and a strange woman he felt like he'd seen before. "So are you and your brother humans? There seem to be a lot of them around here."

"Humans?" The girl asked with a small amount of incredulity, and internally, Rikou began to smirk; it was time to play a bit, he supposed. "I guess you could say that, Katana-sama. We're all human after a fashion, I guess." The shrug was slight, and the girl's eyes lowered slightly toward the table, where a slender finger began to trace nonexistent shapes across it's surface.

"My brother and his 'team' are here on what you might call a 'work release program'. Time off for good behavior and all that. I'm here to make sure niichan doesn't ruin it for himself. It would give me such relief, to see him free of Hell..." There was a slight sigh after that, and Rikou wondered, if only momentarily, if this might intrigue the Taicho much. After all, he had been drinking rather healthily...

As she neared the front of the building, the androgynous looking female, now garbed in Shirio's extra spare of a shirt and as clean as she could get for now, trekked through the entrance. Her yellow gaze scanned around at the scenery and decoration of the interior at first, mildly interested with the display. It was a casual 'pub' and eatery, after all, so it wasn't any different really from the others she had been to. Still, it was only natural to check one's surroundings, especially in unfamiliar territory like this island. Secondly, the woman noted the patrons in the restaurant and bar; seeing the average 'Joes', some skeleton creatures that were practically identical to her, except the identifiers of clothing and accessories. While she had picked the 'ally' of hers from the crowd, she realized a little girl and white-haired man -- who looked awfully familiar -- occupied some seats nearby. She shrugged stiffly, as any man would do and groaned as manly as possible for her, left hand rubbing the nape of her neck as she walked along toward Shirio; the baggy shirt hiding some of Kagaseo from the public. While he rested upon both of her hips, she could care less for those who saw. Instead, she walked without a sway or dance in her hips, and a slouched posture, finally making her way to the seat across from the male. As she sat down, she laid back against the wooden structure, legs semi-spread wide to give off the 'male' vibe, hand once gathered at her neck now rubbing above the bridge of her nose.

"See anything good on the menu?" She asked Shirio in a low tone, noticing he was searching through it. The other hand lazily opened it as she glanced at the options, mumbling to herself. "Damn headache..."

It wasn't much of a conversation starter, but it was a start... especially for her. She occasionally glanced around, slightly interested about the child and white-haired man... were they average, spectators, or fighters in this forced tournament?

Giving a nod to Akuhei as she entered the restraunt, Shirio had to do his best to stop from laughing. While she probably had everyone else fooled given that they hadn't seen that she was indeed a she like Shirio had, it seemed to Shirio that she was trying too hard. To Shirio the groaning and the sitting position were exaggerated to the point of being comical. Knowing that it wasn't the best time to give her pointers on pretending to be a male, Shirio decided to leave that issue alone."Are you feeling better?" Shirio asked her as she sat down.

Continuing to search through the menu as she asked her question Shirio said, "Haven't found a good main course but the Miso soup sounds good as an appetizer. Plus it should help settle your stomach." Searching through the menu, Shirio would give Akuhei enough time to look through the menu before asking, "Find anything that sounds good?"

Katsu snorted at the idea of Hell having a work release program. The worst of the worst went to Hell, and as far as he knew, that was the end of it. "That seems incredibly unlikely, little girl." To Katsu, it seemed like a lie, and one that was horrible done on purpose. "So, you're not human. You don't look like hollows or arrancars. So if I had to guess, I'd say you're either renegade Mod Souls, something I find pretty damn unlikely, or..." He raised his cup and took a drink. "...you're something else. Something the Shinigami are hunting quite intently. It really only leaves two options: You're either Bounts, or Vizards." He didn't know how to pick a vizard out of a crowd. He couldn't sense reiatsu, and as far as he knew, Bounts couldn't be sensed to begin with. Still, those options made sense to him. "You do understand that there's really nothing I can do here, right? My powers are sealed, except within the arena. And even if I could use them, why would I? it's pretty obvious that the people who run this place don't want us killing each other. Might be they have some harsh punishments in place for anyone who tries. Now, if you were talking with my superior, Malik, it'd be a different story all together." He didn't know that for a fact. Malik wasn't the type to pick fights, and the old man knew there were vizards here. The one who had healed them was a vizard. He was sort of hoping the girl didn't know that.

"I'm the much more reasonable member of my team."

Rikou's cheeks puffed out at the exclamation of disbelief, and the little girl's eyes glowered as Katsu went on and on concerning his observations. "That is very close-minded of you, Katana-sama. Human, Quincy, Shinigami, Vizard, Bount, Hollow, Arrancar, these are all the same things, silly: human spirits in different states of being, like ice, mist, fog, clouds and drops are all water in some way. Anybody that does anything bad without making up for those bad things are sent to Hell, no two ways about it, and from there, you have to serve time in order to get back into the cycle.

"There are two reasons you don't hear about it: one, because you don't have any memories of your past life once you've reincarnated, as you should well know, and two, it takes an exorbitant amount of time to make up for even the smallest of sins, which is really hard on kids like me and oniichan. So here we are, doing some 'community service' so we can go ahead and get born again. What's so difficult to believe about that?" It was difficult to say why Rikou was so dead-set on the lie; perhaps it was being fed to him by a voice in his head, perhaps it was simply that he wasn't immediately believed. Either way, that had officially become his story.

Either way, Rikou sighed after the explanation; this was growing dull again, and frankly, there were mysteries to solve: Rikou wanted to know why this place was so foreign yet native, why those animals were some he felt he should have known, why it seemed that, the one at least, was somehow related to, of all things, himself...

"I'm getting better, yeah." She mumbled in her best male-voice impression, eyes squinting a bit as she glanced over in his direction. He obviously knew her 'gigai' at least was a female, but did he know of the soul residing within? Likely not the case, but she tried being nice as she attempted casual conversation. Small talk surely wasn't her thing, especially being alone majority of the time, and seeking her own isolation from the world. Still, it was a wonderful step in the right direction... no?

She nodded to his suggestion of soup. "Hn, I bet it would be good." She grunted slightly, as her eyes returned to the menu, glancing around at the options for but a few moments. "Maybe some noodles, and other things on the greasier side... I guess?" She shrugged, still unsure of what to eat.

Even still, from time to time, she glanced around, more-as a little trick to scan the room; and more importantly the white-haired man and the child. It was probably noticeable, but perhaps she just looked like a curious stranger. She still pondered on what to order, however, deviating from time to time to the list of prepared dishes.

Overhearing the conversation that the little girl and Katsu were having, Shirio once again heard Katsu mention the Bounts. But it wasn't only him, the little girl also knew of them or at least implied that she knew.

Smiling at Akuhei when she said that she felt a bit better Shirio said, "Good to hear that your feeling better." Giving a shrug when Akuhei gave her suggestion, Shirio said, "I'm probably going to go for some dumplings."

Smiling at the waitress when she set the waters in front of the two of them, Shirio said to her, "Thank you. May I please have miso soup and some dumplings?" before handing the woman his menu and waiting for Akuhei to give her order.

Katsu repressed the urge to snort. She had the right of it, as much as he hated to admit that. It was all one big circle, and he was mildly irritated to realize that he'd forgotten that. Still, her bit about being on leave from eternal punishment in hell...it just seemed too unlikely. Malik might know more about it, he might even be able to confirm the girl's tale. Until he could reconnect with his fellow captain, however, he would go ahead and assume the girl was lying to cover up what she truly was.

"Fair enough, I'll grant you that 'we're all human' bit. Still, what are you doing at this tourney that could possibly qualify as 'community service'? If you're from hell, there's a damn good reason you were there in the first place." He emptied his cup again, feeling the warm, tingling numbness that told him he was treading into the "buzzed" territory. "Before you go...I want to ask one more question. The first of the strange monsters that appeared...not the one that invited you, but the one that came before it. What was fighting it like? What did the thing look like? Did anything you used on it effect it?"

Another low sigh left Rikou's lips as the girl's face made an exasperated stare at Katsu. "To the powers that be, every little thing counts as a 'sin'. Including stealing food to feed your siblings. It isn't 'for eternity', either; it's for a really long time, yes, and it's made even longer by the nature of the punishment, but everybody gets out eventually. My oniichan was chosen because, in comparison, we're saints in Hell. Stealing bread every day for a few years isn't even petty when you consider some of the other 'inmates'."

The female body leaned back slightly at this, sighing slowly. "Oniichan has the stronger spirit between he and I, so between the two of us, he was chosen as a competitor because he could make better use of the body they would give him than I would mine. The other two, I don't know their stories, though I think another one of them brought along a companion. I'm not sure; there's very little reason for us to to know one another, you know? After all, those two could have killed to get where they are, even in self defense; Hell isn't too picky."

As he spoke, Rikou considered the question posed; the 'first' monster... Rikou didn't recall there being one. Unfortunate...

"I wasn't there for the 'first' one, if there was one. I only saw the messenger, but as you guess, there wasn't anything anybody could do to it. The guards attacked, but the attacks just slid right off." The girl shrugged at this, then smiled slightly. "Well, it's been fun, close-minded Katana-sama, but I'm afraid I have my own little questions to have answered. Best of luck in your next fight!" And with that, Rikou turned and hopped away from the table, grinning as he quickly meandered through the crowd; now he, too had learned something, that these enemies of their were apparently unaffected by Shinigami attacks. How... interesting.

[Exit]

Information was a two way street. Most of the time you couldn't get much without getting a little, and what harm was there in telling the truth in this case? The shinigami hadn't been able so much as scratch the monsters, from the outside or otherwise, as Katsu had learned first hand. The girl continued with her story of being from hell, and Katsu simply let it be. There was no reason to argue with her. She trotted off to do whatever it was she had to do, and he went back to his food and drink. So far, this hadn't been a very profitable endeavor...

More or less, the woman decided to go with the appetizer of soup, and add in noodles, rice, vegetables and the like; including some chicken, egg, beef, and shrimp. "I'll have the miso soup too, then noodles, rice, veggies, chicken, beef, egg, shrimp... you know... all fried and prepared in one dish." She commanded in a rather 'masculine' voice, the extent of her meal adding to the belief that she was a man; and well, men usually ate a lot, right?

She unceremoniously folded the menu and handed it to the woman, who departed to give in the order. Quickly, her left hand wrapped around the glass structure, bringing the cool liquid to her maw. She didn't utter a thank you, but a mere shrug as she sipped the beverage; letting a low 'phew' sound escape her lips as the sheer crispness of it made her feel at ease.

Then, as she settled the glass back down against the table, she posed the question that all seemed to yearn to learn. "So, do you know what this shit-hole is, or what?" She tilted her head to the side, appearing more on the cocky side of the spectrum, resuming to ask. "Anything... or anyone of interest that you've met, my... ally?"

She still didn't know much about the man, but perhaps that would change soon?

Giving a sigh as Akuhei posed her question, Shirio was sad to admit that he didn't know a thing about the hosts of the tournament. Even though he had spent most of his time since the first one had appeared trying to find out anything about them."Sadly I don't know a thing about this place or the people hosting the tournament." Shirio said.

Howevery Shirio had managed to learn and see a lot of things about the other contestants since he had stepped off the boat. "Well aside from the zoo they have here I have learned about the shinigami and some type of combination of hollow and shinigami who refer to themselves as the arrancar. What about you?" Shirio said to Akuhei.

Akuhei began to scratch the back of her neck, nose slightly scrunching and wriggling as she asked, "Did they ever mention why contestants were summoned? I don't really remember." It was a shame that Shirio knew little, as well as Akuhei did about the hosts of this random tournament. While she didn't mind fighting per se, she might be slightly curious as to why so many were chosen -- and probably why such diverse teams of different species, from what she recalled. She typically wasn't one to question a fight, but that was usually a standard bar fight, or spar; which this was hardly as low... this was of a higher caliber and level.

"There's a zoo?" She blinked, brows declining as she looked doubtful, though showed a vague interest in the gain of a tidbit of information. Sometimes, animals were just more enjoyable than people were!

"Well, well, Shinigami?" Her ears perked, a gleam in her eyes briefly, as she gazed at him, finding this information much more 'appealing' than a zoo. Twas simply the group she resided with and was before her transformation into something more wicked, something more split and separate -- as, well, she did possess two 'sides'; her shinigami-self and that hollow bitch.

Arrancar she had heard of before, and as she came to think of it, she probably saw one in the medic tent before coming here. Pondering carefully, she recalled her past events. "Well, I won against a priest... so I assume he was human... found my way to the medic tent to see the extent of his injuries, maybe even offer to help out, which is a little off for me... saw a variety of 'people', and yeah, well, stumbled to the bench, found you, and here we are." She spoke quickly and quite frankly, her information really didn't help out at all; at least, in the way she worded it, it didn't help. Oops!

Listening to Akuhei as she spoke, Shirio went over each of the facts as she brought the topics up. He remembered the odd animals and the powers that they had. The fact that two of the three shinigami were captains, one of whom was Katsu (something which felt as if it was more than coincidence.) Three hollow two of which were similiar to the vizards and had fought the shinigami who were present. A third hollow who was formerly a vizard and not only was she also acquainted with their teammate but she seemed to have her original personality intact. There were the quincy one of whom he had recognized during the first fight with the hosts. The only two groups that he didn't know about were the normal human groups and based on what Katsu had said a new faction known as the bounts.

Putting all of these facts together, Shirio was annoyed that it still didn't answer the important questions, Why was this tournament being held? What did all of the contestants have in common? So far the only connections that Shirio could see were that everyone had some sort of combat abilities, several groups had people who were high ranked such as the shinigami competing and a few people in each group knew each other. While these facts could fit into Shirio's theory about causing conflicts between each of the groups, it still felt as if there was something more to the tournament.

"They never mentioned why we were the ones who were chosen or why the tournament was being held. All I can really tell you about the animals in the zoo is that they have strange powers and I haven't seen any species like them in my life. As for the Shinigami we have two captains one of whom is behind us, not sure about the third." Shirio responded while indicating where Katsu was for Akuhei. "Congratulations for the win. But do you remember anything about the people who you saw in the medic tent?" Shirio asked. Maybe finding out about a few of the other people on the island could give produce some type of answer.

Katsu grimaced as he upended the bottle of Sake over his cup. He was out. Woefully depleted. He would have to get more. With the chatty brat gone, he would have to find someone else to pump for information, and to be honest he wasn't as big a fan of the work as he thought he would be. People around here were so damn suspicious! if that little twit thought for a minute he was buying her 'work release from hell' story, then she had a serious mental deficiency. Sighing, he signaled a nearby waiter for more sake, and then began nibbling on the soft, warm fry bread that sat on a plate in front of him. He wasn't exactly hungry, but the bread would soak up the alcohol and make him a bit more pleasant to be around.