Could this be fate?! [Hirato]

Zero frowned when her water fun was interrupted by a cranky Captain Commander. She knew how to press his buttons and not doing her paperwork when he wanted it done was one of those buttons. Quite frankly, she didn't care that he was getting annoyed. For a man who was known to keep his composure, he sure got angry at her quite often. Zero only wondered what he would do if he found out that she was practically his late wife in all of her DNA. She rolled her eyes, still turned away from him towards the yard outside of their office. The lieutenant did her paperwork...eventually, and always did her duty to go around to gather the paperwork of the other squads to bring to Hirato. She enjoyed the physical aspects to her job. She would train the new recruits, train with the other squad members, she would hand out assignments, and run missions so that Hirato could remain in Soul Society to run things. Despite her attitude towards said paperwork, she did pull her weight with the division. Zero waved her hand in the air as she leaned back to look up at him upside down. "It'll get done Chief, no need to be such a frowner." Zero giggled, only to use the wind on her feet to push her up so that she did a backwards roll and stood up dusting herself off.

He said that he would show her a new skill if she did her paperwork. What a fool, Zero thought with a smirk, which then turned into a big grin towards the Captain Commander. As if I need another skill from an old man. I learned all of that womans skills and even mastered the element of which I wield. He thinks me a child... Needless to say, Zero carried on with a big childish grin. She hid her thoughts from off her face to better keep herself hidden internally. "Whaaaaat? The Chief would teach me a new skill? But what if Zero wants to just spar instead? You should think more of your subordinates, Chief. I'm not just out for new skills." Giggling into her hand she went to go sit upon her desk, facing Hirato with her legs crossed. She brushed her green bangs out of her face as she leaned back on the desk with her other hand. Zero had tucked her zanpakto, keeping it out of sight from Hirato, behind her desk. The black chain seemed almost sinister in the daylight. Tsukino blood truly was something dangerous if all of their zanpakto reflected their souls and blood. "I would love to just sit and talk with you. You're always so grumpy and stern faced, why don't we talk about happy things? I think Tanaka made a cake this morning."

Zero grinned as she tucked a green piece of hair behind her ear. Her yellow eyes danced in the sunlight with her amusement. Yes Zero was neutral when it came to taking sides, but she truly did like talking with Hirato, if only to see his expressions and try to get a reaction out of him besides grumpy ones. To be clear, Tanaka was one of the squad members of lower rank. He made delicious desserts which he used to distract Zero from wrecking the training grounds when they were being used for other activities that didn't require the Lieutenant. "By the way, I met with Xiaoyu earlier in the week. She was wandering the first division area so I decided to say hello."

Zero noticed that she got through to her Captain that she would do it later. She would, just not when he wanted it done right then and there. She was known by the other lieutenants to be an odd ball as well as a dangerously powerful lieutenant among them. Zero didn't consider herself powerful because in her mind she was still weaker than her captain and that was something she aspired to become. Little did Zero know that she would never be allowed to go any higher than Lieutenant. The clan that she came from barely knew of her existence and had gone dark so she wasn't sure if they were going to come after her because of her sin, or just leave her alone. Her 'sin' was that she was the clone of one of their members. The Tsukino blood was supposed to be kept in check by the clan itself and since Zero was not technically a member member by being born into it, she held their secrets within her body and that was dangerous. Her creator, who died by Zero's hands, hadn't realized the darkness of his clan would make such a dangerous subject. She wasn't a mod soul, instead she was born from the DNA of Kaoru, basically her but with a different personality and coloring spectrum. Zero giggled when it seemed that Hirato seemed to give a little when it came to her.

"I'm always nice to you, Chief. You just get all scowly and get that permanent furrow in your brow when you speak to me." Zero did her best serious scowl Hirato expression and it was almost dead-on the mark. She pulled herself of the desk and stood up and lifted her chin, trying to impersonate him to the best of her ability. Grinning at last, the first division lieutenant had looked at her Captain Commander with indifference, but with a bit of amusement. She knew that Hirato disliked her, but kept her if only to keep an eye on her. She wasn't jaded to think that he kept her around because he trusted her. If Zero was him, she wouldn't trust her either. When he said that if she was nicer to him he'd get her better sweets. Zero waved her hand and only laughed as she sat on her own desk to face him once again. "That's okay, I like the sweets Tanaka makes and he promised me if I didn't tear up the training grounds I could have the new type of rock candy he's making soon." Zero grinned. Some days she seemed almost all child-like, but underneath that child-like innocence and playfulness was a woman with a heart so black that it rivaled that of those within Hueco Mundo. 
 
Zero scowled slightly when he kept up the topic of Xiaoyu and her meeting. She hadn't really liked the meeting all that much because to her, Xiaoyu was just too peace loving for her to tolerate for long periods of time by herself. Sighing and looking away with indifference, Zero talked without giggling and instead just was calm. "We talked about you and what happened to get you to become the Captain Commander. Even talked about how that woman died and changed you." Zero was going to be bluntly honest with Hirato. She wanted to see his reaction when she brought up his dead wife again. The lieutenant couldn't stand to say her name if she couldn't help it. Kaoru was a coward to her. A fool. A failure where Zero was supposed to be the victor. "We spoke of the war and how Xiaoyu loves peace and I favor war. You need both, you know. you can't have one without the other."  However she felt about Kaoru, she wouldn't mention that she said she was 'related' to her or that she said she was a fool and a coward. That would only set him off and she didn't need anymore of a reaction that the subtle mention of her death. 

Zero sighed as she raised her arms behind her head and leaned back as one leg bent. Her expression was that of childish exasperation over how he wasn't giving in. She did like his strength as well as his strong will, but sometimes she just wanted someone to play with and he was her only option at the moment. Zero had many playthings over the years but Hirato served as a sort of challenge for the young lieutenant. Sure she was stronger than the other lieutenants, but she wanted to be stronger than Hirato. Power was what she craved. It was what she desired above all else. Nothing and nobody could ever penetrate the heart of the clone of the woman who had so much emotion and heart. Personality wise, she was Kaoru Murano's (Tsukino's) opposite. She could not love another being in the way that others seemed to value and see love normally. To show her 'love', Zero would choose to destroy that which she considered close to her in that way. "I already treat you differently than others, what more do you want?" Zero said, for a moment the child-like innocence darkened to that darker personality she holds within her in secret. The Tsukino blood is strong in her, and as such she cannot let her darker personality roam free. 

As quickly as it came, it disappeared within a second as a bright and cheery smile appeared on her face. It was as if it never happened in the first place. Zero then put on a large pout, still lounging standing up. He hadn't reacted how she wished when the lieutenant brought up his dead wife. Zero wanted to see his anguish. She wanted to see his sorrow...she wanted to see him suffer. One of the powerful members of the Seireitei and Zero wanted him under her hands, suffering over the fact that his love had died in her arrogance and stupidity. She knew what the Tsukino members who were not part of the Tengu branch thought of her. While they understood why she kept them out of war, they knew her values in doing so were naive at best. She also heard a rumor that the Kitsune Branch was on the rise for possessing power within the Tsukino clan since Ichiro had now shut himself away yet again after Kaoru's death. Only his grandchildren see him now. Though the one named Kenji Murano, the one who didn't possess either Murano or Tsukino blood was well on his way to overseeing the clan to take his mother's place. 

"Peace cannot happen without war, and war happens when peace finally fails. It is a vicious circle. I am just simply one who thinks logically and that you cannot have one without the other. Balance is what we are all about, isn't that right?" Despite her child-like expressions and tone at the moment, her words were that of an adult, the darker Zero within herself that she held back. "Surely you aren't as naive as Kaoru Tsukino in thinking that you can avoid war altogether." It was a push, but she wanted....needed....to see a reaction. "I may be selfish in some things but I am not stupid. Ichiro was a fool for letting his daughter's heart sway her hold over the Tsukino Clan." 

Sighing once more, Zero was getting bored with this conversation. She needed some action to keep her interest. The lieutenant was walking dangerous grounds talking as she did, but she didn't care. Hirato was not a child, nor would she bite her tongue and treat him as such. The truth of his wive's actions were something that needed to be said in order to better explain her own feelings towards the subject. 

The Lieutenant wanted nothing more than to rip into Hirato to gain some form of reaction. While she may have been a clone of his dead wife, she held no love for the man whatsoever. Zero thought through what she had wanted to do for the day and decided that she had better pay a visit to her subordinates. If Hirato was going to be hardheaded today, then he had nothing more to say or do with him. Zero's attention span was short unless you were interesting to her. For some ungodly reason she stayed fixated on Hirato and wished nothing more than to make him suffer. Nothing worked so far due to his odd poker face and calm demeanor. However, the lieutenant wasn't without perseverance and could wait it out till the opportunity presented itself. She had already given herself almost entirely away to Xiaoyu when she had talked with the older woman, but with Hirato she could still keep him guessing as to her connection to his late wife. It was almost a game to the green-haired woman; a game she desired to win badly. The prize was the look of despair upon his face when he realized his wife was the subject of experiments from a member of her same clan.

She listened as Hirato told her about how she was to call together the lieutenants and have a meeting. How boring... Zero thought to herself, but kept the disdain off of her face and instead replaced it with a childish smile. Play the fool, that was her other game. Keep them guessing and watch them burn when it all falls down. Zero desired nothing towards the destruction of Soul Society, but instead wanted to become one of the strongest within it's walls. She was not an enemy, just a soul who wanted to keep those that she wanted to see suffer underneath--Zero looked up when she noted that she had her working along side of another Lieutenant. Zhan, was it? Zero didn't really register who that was for a moment, but would process it later. She couldn't help but giggle when he had said that she had to remain on her best behavior during the meeting. What a laugh. Her? Behave? Well, if she was to get her fight on, she had to in order to not be left behind. He flared his reitsu, but Zero just blinked instead of showing weakness. Her body felt heavy, but she kept her grinning child-like expression on. Never show weakness in front of those that you want to play with.

"Noted, Chief," Zero said after a moment. She was thinking of leaving soon anyway to pick on some of her subordinates in order to get some training in for both them and her. Her amber eyes looked into his cerulean ones and gave nothing that was in her mind away. Her body posture was relaxed, as if his threats and words didn't bother her. They didn't, but she wanted so badly to lash back at him. Zero laughed when he looked away, brushing off his threat with a light smile. Surely he didn't think her so foolish. She would do as she was told and go along with her 'game' that she plays with Hirato without his knowledge. Turning to exit the room, she looked back at him and gave him a look that was 100% that of Kaoru Tsukino.....her words were almost chillingly identical to the ones that Kaoru gave him when they had parted ways on the night she was murdered in their home. "You know, you could do with a little bit of a break seeing as your face might freeze like that." She went one step further and laughed just like Kaoru did when she found something amusing.

Zero had no sympathy for him. She thought it was fun to play him like this.

Without another word to him, Zero left the office and ran down the corridor to do a bit of training with the rest of the squad. Her pleasure in mimicking the late Kaoru Murano was almost too much.

Game on.

[/exit]