#{ hammer them home 🔔 shigeru — replies 🔔 }

[galeforged]

For Shigeru: How do you navigate through difficult situations or conflicts?

RE: Time to get to know the muse! (OPEN!)

"Y'mean like... by hittin' 'em real hard an' shit?"

Ever the lifelong 11th Division fighter, naturally Shigeru's first answer leaned towards physical violence. What's more difficult a situation than a tough fight? If hitting 'them 'em hard wasn't working, you simply had to hit 'em harder than before, no?

Thankfully, and with an embarrassed huff on his part after a considerable beat, Gushiken recalled his new station. He's not in the 11th anymore, after all.

"Fuck, right, course that ain't whatcha meant..." Case in point, sharing his honest thoughts in such an exposed fashion was one such difficult situation for him to navigate, but at least this one didn't concern his actual feelings on sensitive subjects. "'tween you an' me, that ain't my strongest suit. Never really was. Dunno what t'say 'sides from tacklin' it head on, grittin' my teeth the whole way through, and jus' gettin' it over an' done with. 'fore I just zipped up, flat out.

"Least in that field, I feel like I could find a happy medium somewhere... Cap'n Iba's loud an' confident in his way o' handlin' sticky situations, but that sometimes ends up bitin' him in the bits. Lieutenant Rindō, on the other hand, is a hella lot more patient an' consid'rate, but he's also hard ta find when he ain't wantin' to do stuff. Pros an' cons both ways, jus' gotta pick out what works when?"

[galeforged]

👤 + shigeru can spill the beans about Miki as a treat (your rules don’t apply to me)

via Send me 👤+ a character name for my muse’s opinion on that character (closed but the rules did not apply to her)

"Come on... you know I had to ask at some point," behind a cheeky grin did come Kōtarō's tongue-in-cheek chiding, directed towards Shigeru much like the flask of water he was waving about. "Wouldn't you rather I be the one asking you about it? Instead of... I dunno, you getting teased for it by one of your subordinates or... Captain Iba, maybe?"

All the Lieutenant received for a response was another grumble from the fussy 7th Division officer... who then all but snatched the bottle right from his hand. A hearty swig saw the man down a good portion of H2O, before he let out a loud and hearty sigh. Part of it came from his own exasperation from Kōta's inquiry, thought their lengthy sparring did leave him exhausted.

"Giggle even once, an' I'll gut ya 'fore it's game on again." That was all the warning Shigeru gave before he casually tossed the battle back to Ryōhei. It's a good thing that Shōrō Kanraku was already well within arm's reach...

"Ha! Good one."

The remark was met with the clank of sword within sheath as Shigeru grabbed the hilt by his side, earning him a jolt from Kōtarō sitting by his side.

"O-okay, sheesh! Message received, no jokes, Lieutenant's honour and all that..." His hands were already raised, palms out defensively until the blade was, after a terse few seconds, finally let go. With remnants of the anxious grin on his face melting into a more sympathetic simper, Kōtarō resolved to ease off on Shigeru's case. After all, it was rare to see him open up to his sensitive side. "So... Captain Fuyuno, huh?"

"Hm." Only an affirming grunt and a nod followed while Shigeru gazed off to nowhere in particular.

"What is it about her, then?"

Now that earned Kōta something of a proper smile from his friend. Good, no threat of imminent violence.

"A coupla things, I guess... Bein' real friggin' patient with my ass is already a big plus tho'," Shigeru laughed, albeit sardonically as it came at his own expense. "But yeah, she's... fantastic, really. Short enough that you'd end up losin' 'er in a pile o' pillows, but she's got the right kinda attitude ta not take sass from anybody. Puts a lotta work into her looks and the results just speak for themselves like... I can't focus for shit when I end up thinkin' about 'er. Not the fairytale-like hair, not her pretty-lookin' face, and her voice straight up makes me melt, especially when she's actin' all playful. She humoured me with a sparrin' match once, an' I walked away from it wantin' to learn Kidō, an' from her, too! Me!"

Upon hearing all of that, Lieutenant Ryōhei couldn't help but let out a low whistle. Subtlety, sadly, never was Shigeru's strongest suit, so his feelings towards Miki were never the best hidden. Upon hearing him spilling his guts out, however... perhaps he didn't give his friend enough credit.

"Alright, so you're not just infatuated..." Kōtarō observed, murmur cut short with a few sips of water on his end. "So after all that, and you're still not taking initiative? Whatever happened to the courageous and all-boasting Gushiken-sama from before, huh?" Though his words spoke of admonishment, he ensured the concern in his tone came from a genuine place all the same. Not entirely out of fear of retaliation of some kind though, heavens no... though, curiously, the 13th Division reaper seemed to glance back towards the entrance to the square they were sparring within.

"I ain't... good at this romancin' stuff. Ne'er bothered before since... well, 11th Division grunts don't often appreciate dames the way they oughta be appreciated, and that reputation sticks, try as Cap'n Zaraki might to change that. Some of 'em even go out an' buy their own fun for a night, if ya catch my drift. Not that anyone really caught my eye much either, anyway..."

Kōtarō could say something in reference to Shigeru's partial blindness, but, oath-bound not to crack wise, he kept mum.

"Then Cap'n Fuyuno comes along, an' now I'm worried if I'm even good enough for a proper lady like her, y'anno? Never mindin' the fact she's a Cap'n. I don't... wanna risk makin' 'er look bad in that station, not for associatin' with a brute like me. That, an' I can't keep gettin' frazzled ev'rytime she bats eyes at me. Not settin' a good example as 3rd Seat if I don't get my act together..."

To hear Shigeru admit as much, complete with a disparaging sigh on his part, only brought Kōta to smile upon hearing that.

"Isn't the fact that you do worry about things like this all the more reason for you to try? You know, something about being your best self? To me, it just shows that you're being conscientious of her," he suggested. "Besides, if you weren't capable of that sort of maturity in the first place, I doubt Captain Iba would've taken you under his command."

"Ya think so, eh?"

"I know so! Give yourself more credit, bud." With a well-meaning pat onto Shigeru's shoulder, Kōtarō... then slowly rose to his feet.

"Ya ready for round two, then?" Shigeru already made to reach for his zanpakutō, taking the lieutenant getting up as his cue.

"What? No, no! I'm just getting ready to run, that's all. You can thank me later," came Kōta's clarification in kind, spoken all too dismissively while he ensured Hai'iro Ranmaru was properly sheathed by his side. Shihakushō seemed all nice and orderly on his person too... so, with that, he turned back towards the training square's entrance as if he were expecting someone.

"Wait, the hell d'ya mean by-?"

"Captain Fuyuno! He's all yours!" And without any further prompting, he vanished with a burst of shunpo. What better way to get Shigeru's proper thoughts out in the open than with a hint of deceit?

"YOU SET ME UP?!"

[galeforged]

🔥 for meninas to shigeru. but i'm too lazy to log in :>

@lasmenina via Send “🔥?” and my muse will admit whether they find your muse attractive or not. (open!)

"Think I remember a pink Sternritter throwin’ a buildin’ around o’er her shoulder... That her, the one with the cuter name?" Reiō, he could still remember how quickly she and her little friend group really up and slaughtered most of the 11th Division. The lightning one, the eating one, the zombie one, and then... pink. Pink and powerful. You don’t just forget a display of strength like that.

“Ah mean, sure, she’s hot, from what I’m rememberin’. Tall, pretty face, busty, real prim an’ dainty-like... but her power’s scary as shit more than nothin’ else. It ain’t easy forgettin’ how she and her lil’ gang killed most o’ my squad with no effort, though Ah did bust up some Quincy skulls too durin’ the war... so it ain’t like my hands’re squeaky clean either.”

“Who knows. Maybe appreciatin’ her finer points’ll be easier since we ain’t hostile now?” Not like he would go out of her way to look for her, but wilder things can still happen...

[galeforged]

🔥 for kotaro or shigeru, your pick!

via Send “🔥?” and my muse will admit whether they find your muse attractive or not. (open!)

"...look, there're two kinda folks who'll answer this sorta question: folks who know she's pretty an' are honest 'bout it, and liars."

"As fer me... Catch me lyin' about 'er bein’ a bombshell and dismissin’ the work she puts into her looks, and you ought as well just ruin my other eye fer good measure. I'm half-blind, sure, but I ain't a total moron."

[galeforged]

👀 + interaction ideas @ Shigeru

via Send me “👀 + interaction ideas”... (open)

{ ooc } Oooh, interesting choice! Can’t say I anticipated this one, but let’s see what we can still make from this...

Ah, Squads 4 and 11, ever at odds and for no good reason. Having been in a member of the 11th Division for most of his career, Shigeru fought in his fair share of scrapes, which often ended up with him checking in at the 4th Division for healing more grievous wounds he would have sustained. Of course, that would mean he bore witness to several instances of other 11th Division shinigami lording themselves over members of the 4th, people who are responsible for their healing process. Sure, members of the 4th aren’t physically tough like those of the 11th, but they still provide a valuable service to the Gotei 13, so why the ridicule and bullying? What’s the point of it? Perhaps at one point, he sought to take matters into his own hands and get them to straighten out their attitude, which, in typical Shigeru manner at the time... only escalated the situation. This, naturally, would put him in the crosshairs of one Captain Unohana, at which point he finally understands why some people are terrified of her.

Machine Society time! In a world dominated by steampunk and magic, Shigeru often spends his time putting his strength to use in manufacturing and foundry work, and on occasion moonlighting as a mechanic. This would result in him getting to work on some more impressive piece of tech in some capacity or another, including Lady Unohana’s Mechazuki for some routine maintenance checks and repairs. For no extra charge, he would personally perform repeat checks for even the slightest anomaly that may crop up while operating Mechazuki, because after the first time when an issue was accidentally overlooked—whether by himself or a colleague—he learned never to do that again. Yes, even in this world, Unohana frightens the hell out of him, and all it took was one peek beneath that friendly veneer of hers to scare him straight!

[galeforged]

@hattoris​​

“If I throw a stick, will you go away?” /ykw one for shigeru too for oc unity

“Do I look like some sorta fuckin’ puppy to ya-?!” he barked. “You buzz off! How about that?!”