The woman's reaction was almost cause for a laugh. Her reiatsu, her tone; it felt like a snake rearing to strike.

Jewel let the ignorant comment about art slide. What Jewel understood, practiced, and appreciated of art wasn't relevant to share. If Ryoshu wanted to assume things about her, so be it.

"Sounds like a fun li'l ability~ and I imagine an effortless one, huh? Are breathin' things the only canvas ya like ta work with?"

She impaled one of the flaps of meat with her long nail and wiggled it.

"My nails're sharp but they can't quite flay like this. But that's okay, I don't mind leanin' on my blade. She's an insatiable spirit. Gotta feed 'er every day or she'll skin me in my sleep again."

"Breathing? No, the breathing isn't necessary." She wasn't denying that they had to be living creatures, though. "A canvas is... banal. Unsuitable for a true artist." She raises an eyebrow as Jewel fiddles with the corpse, but pays it no mind otherwise.

"Ah, your zanpakuto craves a slaughter, then. I respect a sword that relishes in its purpose." Hers, she needn't even bother unsheathing unless there was truly great art to be made. Otherwise, her blade would barely bother to perform beyond a normal odachi, much less allowing her to release bankai."

Ryoshu. It's a name she knows she's heard from something somewhere, but she's drawing a blank on where.

"I've been a lieutenant fer a long time now. My purpose was pushed to the background fer a while there 'cause I was the office bound paperwork bitch but I got more under my claw over the years~"

Jewel isn't one to place herself on a pedestal, but it hits her as odd that another Shinigami isn't aware of her status as a lieutenant. Maybe she sleeps under a rock, or simply doesn't care. Both are valid.

"These li'l abbreviations a'yers aren't familiar ta me. I jus' don't know what they mean--"

"-- Eh?" She peeks over the flayed meat at Ryoshu. "What'd ya use ta cut the body up then?"

Clearly it's in ribbons. The meat's splayed like a finely shaved brisket. Visually, it leaves a pitting hunger in her gut. Thinking about food makes her stomach growl.

"Paperwork, hm?" Things really had changed while she'd been away. While she was in the Eleventh, paperwork was all but unheard of... at least for those that were out in the field. It was largely an organization that did as it pleased. Or at least it was as she remembered it- she never paid much attention to the rat race.

"Tch." The noise was sharp, and almost audibly disappointed- though a haughtiness oozed through like a poison, and her reiatsu flared for a moment, hot and oppressive and almost... sharp before it's suppressed all but completely once more.

"I suppose one who doesn't seem to understand art wouldn't be aware, but focusing oneself to a razor point... if you can cut with the wave of your hand, you don't need to lean on your zanpakuto to deal with those that are below you."

It's not the first time someone spit code at Jewel. Reminds her of the Twelfth division and some of their jargon... which leads her to thinking that maybe she's supposed to tune it out.

"I'm on a routine patrol, nothin' fancy." She had ventured outside of her bounds again, but it was out of earnest curiosity of sensing something that seemed worth checking out.

"Eleventh division lieutenant," she goes on, "Name's Jewel."

Her gaze rests on the mutilated hollow.

Shunpoing beside the body, she cranes her neck to study it.

Her own reiatsu is ever present, bringing a cold and biting force that wants to sink into everything it touches. The inner filleted folds start to glaze over in frost right away.

"Did it eat yer family 'er somethin'?"

The kill looked personal.

"Got a new lieutenant, then?" It's about damn time. During her time in the 11th, they had been through a few lieutenants, but by the time she had... left, the current one had been around longer than she'd liked.

"Name's Ryoshu." She could almost taste Jewel's reiatsu. It bit, like the icy wind on your skin. It was intriguing... it almost made her want to unsheathe her zanpakuto... but only a little.

"This pile of disappointment was simply ITWPATWT." She jabs at it with her shoe. "Didn't even need to unsheathe my sword. And a hollow that can't achieve that doesn't deserve to be made art."

If Jewel had paid any attention to lists of rogue shinigami, or history in the Eleventh, Ryoshu would be a name she knew. A shinigami that had slaughtered all but indiscriminately after a decent run in the division and then broke for the world of the living.

"Yeah, but I just have to tell myself, 'it's only one more year and then I never have to see them again.'" He just hoped he could make it that long.

"See, it just didn't feel right for me to keep it all for myself. It was a team effort after all. I'm... really not good at being selfish." It was hard for him to justify doing anything for himself, even the bare minimum. He'd much rather focus on other people.

"Yeah, I'm afraid so. But as soon as you're 18, they can't say shit. And if they do, feel free to ask Boss to cover for you, because as much as you feel like you owe him, he still loves you like his own kid." There was no denying that- Boss was more of a parent to her than her parents ever had been by a longshot.

"I get that, I get that. Just remember to take what you need, even if it's something that seems kind of silly. Sometimes you just need something to look forward to to get through the day. And if you can get in contact with me, I'll always help you at."

Furious typing...

The lieutenant's expression hardens as she leers at her Denreishinki. It takes her less than a minute resign her efforts.

She sighs.

"You'd think they would'a put those phrases in this ol' thing but I jus' don't know 'em! You'll have ta forgive my ignorance."

Flipping the phone shut, she pockets it and settles into a squat at the edge of the adjacent roof.

"I assume yer the one responsible fer the dead beast on the ground?"

"This thing?" She glances to the side, where a sizable hollow lay, its body cut into fine slices- one might even say filleted- with great precision. "A DCP. Not worth addressing, as art or otherwise."

The woman stands, putting the cigarette between her lips and hefting her odachi over her shoulder.

"You, on the other hand. What Division? Did they send you to me, or is this a HA?" Almost no spiritual energy came off of this woman, though to the sensitive, it would feel as if it were oozing, the hint of something heavy and oppressive.

i love women ❗️❗️❗️❗️💪

deeply unlikeable and unpleasant female characters are actually so important for the ecosystem and also as a good litmus test over if a person is Weird about women or not

"I wish, but I'm pretty sure there's no way my parents would agree to that. Sure, my birthday's pretty early in the school-year, but not early enough for me to be able to transfer once I turn 18. I'll probably be stuck there until I can graduate at least." Plus, he didn't want to impose on Sojiro, especially after living in his attic and eating his food for a year.

"Oh, I'm sure I'll have plenty of money left over, but I'm planning to split it between me and the rest of the thieves before I go. Still, that should keep me going for a bit."

"No, yeah, my parents wouldn't either. Sorry about that." She cocks her hips, weighing it in her mind. "Probably a more fair way to do it, honestly." She had kept it all for herself- she was hardly a miser, and gave out money to any of her friends when they needed it, or even wanted some, but she wanted a nice nest egg for herself to cushion her in case the cafe ever failed.

"Maybe it's a question of selfishness. What I learned from fighting Yal and taking control of my future was that I needed to be a bit selfish for my own sake if I wanted to really take control of my future."

"What I want to do? Well..." Ren paused. It wasn't as if he hadn't thought about it at all. But he really wanted to ignore the fact that he'd be leaving Tokyo soon. "I'd like to go to college if I can. But I don't really know what for. Maybe counseling, or maybe I could be a teacher.

"Before that... I guess I just want to get back to Tokyo as soon as I can after I leave."

"Ah, I getcha." She felt exactly the same when she was leaving. She wanted nothing more than to come back. "I opted to just finish high school back there before I came back... but you might be able to get back out here faster with Boss' help." He was certainly happy to help her when she moved back.

"With all that time in Mementos, you're probably set for cash, right? Could set yourself up pretty easily, though looking after yourself isn't the easiest."

For him, his experiences with Yaldabaoth only made him feel like less of a real person. But that bit he'd keep to himself. It didn't matter, really. All of that was over now.

"Taking control over your life... That part I'm still working on. I don't really know what I'm doing, honestly."

"I think what helped me was that I had a very strong idea of what I wanted to do after my year with Boss was over. I'd never really had direction before that point." She crosses her arms, appearing to think for a moment. "Do you know what you want to do? Even in the short term? Just any sort of goal?"

Ren let out a sigh. The rain was starting to die down, so he slipped his glasses back onto his nose.

"Maybe the fact that it's so personal is why it feels like I'm doing it wrong. I still don't feel like I'm really person, so it feels like I'm not really a boy either." He looked up at the other Ren. "Have you ever had that feeling?"

"I guess that's true. There's been a lot of times where I haven't felt like I was a person at all. Not after ol' Yal, but before that things felt pretty ethereal for me." She glances up at the sky, trying to gauge how the weather was going to change. "Everything started really feeling more... real after I took control of my life and started transitioning."