tampered | Log; Complete

Log; Complete

When; Oct. 9th, Evening (posting slightly early)
Rating; PG-13 ish?
Characters; Kyouraku Shunsui

pink_hurricane and Severus Snape

halfblooded_git
Summary; Quite interested how knowledge from other worlds might be helpful to the Shinigami, Shunsui requests a lesson.
Log;

The amount of variety in the people in this city never ceased to amaze him. Only a few weeks ago, he had learned of the existence of vampires for one. Weren’t they only imaginary beings from stories? It was rather strange, but also fascinating; it gave Shunsui a lot to think about.

At the same time, the arrancar situation had become serious – not to mention other enemies such as the horrible Ophelia woman – and it made him nervous. Nervous to the point of actually taking on captain duties voluntarily.

Nanao-chan would be shocked, no?

It was these two thoughts that planted an idea in Shunsui’s mind – they were exposed to other worlds here, and some of those worlds carried power with them.

Professor Snape had already proven that he was worthwhile to keep in touch with. The medicine – no, potion – he had supplied for Juushirou worked rather well, all things considered. But when he started to mention that he was a professor of some type of defense course against some type of black magic, It made Shunsui wonder just how useful learning skills from other worlds might be.

There were some obstacles however…for one, would he even be able to apply anything he would learn? He wasn’t a wizard. That was for sure.

I guess I’ll just have to find out…

Standing now outside of the temple, he waited for the grumpy man, quite on time for once. This guy didn’t seem to tolerate any fooling around.

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Over the time Snape had spent in this city, names and words he'd never heard before passed around the Network amicably; words such as shinigami, and arrancar. He put it all down to some sort of feud between two rival sides of another world and left it at that.

Now he finally had to chance to see what a shinigami could do up close. And he hoped fondly it wouldn't be disappointing. From the various exchanges he'd had with Shunsui, he deduced the man, very much like Dumbledore, believed almost fervently in the power of love. How...Poetic. Had Snape not kept buried secrets of his own, he would have been inclined to laugh. What does love solve in the end? It didn't save..

..That was neither here, nor now. He pushed the thought aside with an air of angry dismissal.

He headed towards the temple as per his received instructions, idly keeping a look-out for several people he wished most fondly to avoid. The Dark Lord, for one, but fortunately (unfortunately?) they'd received no word of his doings as of late. The vampire, Alucard, who sent an ice-cold stake of fear into Snape's chest, though he denied it. The werewolf, Richard Zeeman. Snape considered he might find it difficult to act civil around him were not Anita and Sweeney around. Thankfully, he arrived at the temple with little conflict, right on schedule.

"Mr. Shunsui." he remarked coldly, observing with amusement the stark contrast between his solemn attire and the shinigami's colorful wardrobe. Now here was an unlikely pair.

"On time, I see. Remarkable. Shall we begin?"

He watched the dark clad man approach but didn't say anything just yet. Shouting would probably annoy the man, and Shunsui was content to watch him walk up the incline, noting the stiffness that likely reflected his personality.

After Snape approached, Shunsui tried not to show his amusement when he was called 'Mr. Shunsui' by the man. He always forgot that westerners tended to switch names around. How strange.

Instead, he smiled warmly in greeting. "Why hello there, Professor," he said, wondering if he should extend a hand out to the man. Westerners did that, right? Well, I don't think he'd care to take it really...

At the man's next words, Shunsui looked back at the temple behind him, remembering what Snape had said about breaking things. He was glad that Juushirou had decided to take a walk today. Looking back to the wizard, he said "Sure thing. I'll lead you inside...the hallways can be kind of tricky."

Snape looked up to the temple as well, observing it silently and judging the content of its worth. He'd never had a reason to visit before, but in all respects it wasn't an entirely revolting place.

Turning back to the shinigami, he stepped up beside him, looking into the temple. The hallways can be tricky?? Clearly he'd never visited Hogwarts before. But the professor played along.

"Very well, Mr. Shunsui. Do lead on." he instructed coldly, folding his arms across his chest, daring to be impressed.

Shunsui led the other man through the twisting temple hallways, knowing exactly where he was going, based upon his experience of living her for almost two months.

He opened the sliding door to the shared room, and stepped inside, not bothering to check if the other man had followed in - there would be no point in being here otherwise, right?

He took of his straw sandals when he entered, and suddenly remembered that westerners had the dirty habit of keeping their shoes on indoors. He wondered if this type of guy would acquiesce to such a request...it was worth a shot. The tatami had been expensive.

"If you wouldn't mind too much, I'd appreciate it if you took off your shoes...but if you do mind, I won't make you." He kept the tone casual.

The straw hat Shunsui always wore was removed and tossed on the couch, and he took off his usual pink kimono, folded it roughly and placed it beside the hat. This was his home after all. Why not be comfortable?

"So, Professor...what's this about defending yourself against dark magic?"

Snape followed Shunsui in through the temple, staying close and keeping alert, should he need to vacate the building alone. Clean, quiet, and with an air of academia. The former teacher approved.

He walked in through the sliding door, lingering close to the exit while observing his surroundings with interest. It was-...

"Take off my shoes." he turned, speaking icily. Such an air of casuality was entirely unfamiliar to him. But...then again, he was in someone else's home. Perhaps some small gesture of politeness was in order, for the sake of learning. He reached down, pausing reluctantly, before removing his black boots, standing a half-inch shorter now in his dark gray socks. He set the shoes to the side, neatly next to each other, and turned back to Shunsui, attempting to hide his unease at the unfamiliar feel of the tatami floor beneath his socked feet.

"The Dark Arts. The many, the varied, ever-changing and eternal. Whatever I talk to you here about defensive spells may or may not always work." Best to be bluntly honest than hide under a shield of kindness, after all

Wow, he actually did it...At least I won't have to explain the state of the tatami along with whatever else we might break...

Shunsui scratched the back of his head. "Ah...yeah. That's the thing isn't it? I'm not a wizard, so I don't think I can do any magic..."

Out of habit he went to the counter to fetch some sake, intending to offer it to his guest, but realized that perhaps alcohol wasn't a good idea when some sort of magic was involved. Instead, he turned and stood against the counter.

"Well...I guess it's the defense part I'm interested in, Professor," said Shunsui, using the title the man seemed to prefer. "My kind of people are having a hard time of it lately, since all the arrancar are around. I guess I'm interested in what kind of defenses other worlds have to offer, you see."

It came out slightly more serious sounding than he had intended, but then, it was a serious matter.

Snape paused, reflecting in this statement, musing for a moment or two before speaking himself,

"...I don't pretend to understand the nature of shinigami and arrancar, Mr. Shunsui, nor do I know anything of what would be most effective in defense against your foes. What I can hope to teach you, however, is defense against the dark forces of my own world, should these arrancar be seeking the advice of the singular Dark Wizard here in the City. As well as give you needed information on the many forms Dark Magic takes"

Saying this, he removed his wand from his sleeve and held it out in view of Shunsui. "This is the only weapon of choice for wizards, Dark or otherwise"

"So there's a...'dark wizard' here in the city then? Hmm. That sounds troublesome," said Shunsui, referring both for the problems Snape's own people must face, and the potential danger to the shinigami. Shunsui gave a slight sigh hearing of it.

Looking at the wooden object Snape had produced from his sleeve, the captain's eyebrows raised in interest. So they really do use wands!

Two months ago, he might have thought no danger of a man holding a wooden stick and claiming it was a weapon...actually he might have thought them insane. But here in the city, anything seemed possible.

"So, if I see one of those," Shunsui gave a nod at the wand. "it's probably safe to guess that person is a wizard then?" as an afterthought, he added. "How can can you tell the dark kind from the regular kind?"

And which type are you, I wonder?

"Outisde of the city. I suspect living somewhere deep in the forest." Snape didn't suspect it; he'd unfortunately run afoul of the Dark Lord the week he'd entered the City. Never much one for luck.

"He is not only a practitioner of the dark arts; there are some who believe he is the lord of them. You'd do wise to keep out of his way if ever possible." Snape allowed Shunsui to examine the wand further, eyes reflecting on his fondness for the weapon he'd held since he was eleven years of age.

"Should you be doing battle with a dark wizard, your safest course would be in figuring out a way to take his wand from him." He slid easily into his instructing tone, after years upon years of teaching. "After that, he can no longer perform magic, because the wand of a witch or wizard is the conductor with which to direct the magic inside them" The simplest explanation the potions master could offer.

"As for telling them apart...Most of the time, dark wizards ally themselves with other, more well-known dark wizards. They perform the dark arts, and cast a number of illegal curses. But there is a more defining physical feature most of my generation share" And he paused a moment.

They cannot perform magic without a wand. I'll have to remember that.

At the moment, Shunsui could only think of very few ways that was possible to do, seeing as how he assumed a wizard would use his wand against you before you got close enough to take it away. As for himself, there was always kamaitachi...which could cause a gust of wind from a distance to perhaps knock someone back or cause them to drop their wand. For the others, kidou might be an option. Bakudou in particular.

The other information Snape shared about something physical to see sounded promising, but there was something about the way the other man hesitated that made alarms go off in Shunsui's head.

Quite serious now, he asked. "And that would be?"

Snape didn't know why he paused. Shame, maybe, or perhaps even guilt at the organization he was wrapped up so intimitely with. Being a Death Eater (or a former one, or a traitorous one) did tend to raise a few eyebrows, even here. He'd bear the mark all his life; this was the first time he'd looked upon it since encountering Voldemort within the city.

We all have our own demons to face. Perhaps this one was his.

Putting aside his wand for the moment, Snape rolled back the sleeve of his left arm and revealed the burned tattoo of a death's head interwoven and animated with a dark green snake, the eyes flickering dangerously.

"The Dark Mark" he spoke, stiffly. "The sign of a follower of the Dark Lord"

The realization that this mark made this man a dark wizard was pushed aside for a moment while Shunsui's eyes widened at the wonder of it. Certainly, he had seen tattoos before but...

It moves. The captain looked at it, then back up once to Snape, and back down again. Well, I guess that's why they call it magic.

After the initial shock from the strange mark, Shunsui found himself glancing down and checking to make sure his double zanpakutou was at his side. He wasn't quite sure what to think.

On the one hand, this man had basically just admitted to being a dark wizard. On the other, he had already told Shunsui how to disarm him, was willing - albeit reluctantly - to teach him about the defense related to his world, and on top of it all...he could make a rather effective cough suppressant.

Shunsui took only a moment to realize just how ridiculous that sounded in his own mind, before turning back to the subject at hand.

Maybe some people might be satisfied with putting two and two together, and making an enemy out of this man from a moving tattoo, but you learn some things when you'd been around for over two millennia. One of them was not to judge a person by his cover. Aizen Sousuke was a testament to that.

"And do you?" the captain asked, looking the other man in the eyes as he spoke. "Follow this Dark Lord, I mean."

It was an innocent enough question, and one he'd suspected of being asked, after revealing his mark, Snape mused. Only logical to assume, since he did bear the mark and had instructed on the meaning behind it.

He rolled his sleeve back down, hiding the Dark Mark from view once more. "Not any longer." Not for seventeen long years.

"Have you any questions thus far, Mr. Shunsui."

Something inside Shunsui's gut told him that this man wasn't lying. Over the years he had learned to trust those types of feelings.

Even if Aizen had me fooled, He remembered with some small sense of shame.

Shunsui took a moment to reflect upon the information given so far. It seemed rather clear so far, the only questions he had were of topics not yet discussed.

"I think I get it," he said, keeping it brief. There would be no sense in repeating things that were already said.

"So I take it you'll be telling me how to look out for myself if I come across someone using this type of magic? What if I can't disarm them?"

Snape went on, turning to reflect back upon his wand hand, bypassing the discussion of the dark mark with concealed unease.

"Then I suggest you attempt to fight in a place with sufficient cover; most spells cannot penetrate through walls or objects and it may give you a split-second advantage while they remove the obstacles from their paths. Most spells are also verbally spoken, so if you can interrupt a wizard's speech, he might be caught off guard. Be warned that not all spells need be spoken, but the three Unforgivables must be."

Take cover, Shunsui tried to memorize what he was being told. Inferring that spells must be visible, if you could somehow know enough to take cover from them. He wondered if they could be dodged as well. And try to stop them from talking.

Wands, potions, spells...So far it was turning out rather like the fairy tales, and he wondered idly if "Adabracadabra" was an actual spell.

"Unforgivables?" Shunsui asked, furrowing his eyebrows. That sounded...rather bad, if it couldn't be forgiven. "What are those?

"The three Unforgivable Curses," Snape went on, remarking as he might on passing weather, "are the three spells a Dark Wizard performs that deliver upon him a life sentence in prison. One for torture, one for control, and one for death. There is no way to block the last, and no surviving it." Even now, Snape refused to give Harry Potter the credit of his unfortunate circumstance by mentioning him by name.

"The best you can hope for is to dodge them. The Imperius curse, the method of control, is one you can hope to fight against." He raised his wand.

"Shall we give it a try?"

Shunsui was quiet a minute, considering the opportunity. From how he understood it, it sounded like he'd be under the control of one wizard who may or may not be of the 'dark' variety, even if his gut told him the latter. On the other, it was always rather informative to experience such things first hand.

Seeing someone's abilities and feeling them told vastly different stories. And the captain had to wonder how he would fair against it, seeing as how it supposedly could be fought off.

He nodded once, and stepped away from the counter. "All right. What do I have to do?"

Snape walked in front of Shunsui, his wand raised aloft and pointing at the shinigami.

"Fight against it. I will place you under the Imperius curse. You will feel a compelling urge, one of comfort and safety in doing whatever I tell you. But above all else, you must use whathever higher thoughts you possess to realize you're being controlled, and fight against what your body wishes to do." He smirked, and it was, he was unwilling to admit, one of unmasked glee at the freedom with which he could practice such a spell.

"Simple enough. Prepare yourself."

While the idea of fighting something completely with your mind was a foreign concept to Shunsui, the idea of concentration was not. It was needed for kidou, and he'd certainly had enough experience with that.

He barely heard the word as it was uttered, and before long Shunsui's mind felt blank, blissfully numb and giving him a sense of artificial peace. How was he supposed to fight this off?

Snape watched Shunsui's expression, taking care to note that the effect of the Imperius curse worked just the same as it might under himself. Using his wand, he directed instructions to the other man, taking care to make sure no one was going to bother them; the last thing he wanted was some idiot friend of the shinigami's interrupting because the big bad potions master was mindcontrolling a beloved friend.

He started a simple command, "Walk to the other side of the room."

In the back of his mind, Shunsui wondered why his legs were moving when he hadn't commanded them to do so. However, it seemed so be such a trivial matter, and the thought seemed to float away into the distance.

He found himself staring at the doorway to the hall rather quickly. Only half wondering why.

He watched as Shunsui obeyed his command flawlessly; then again, perhaps the simplest requests were the easiest to agree to and thus the hardest to resist.

Now for something slightly more challenging.

He eyed the countertop of the kitchenette along the wall. "Go to the stove and turn it on."

He was moving again. It was rather nice, not to have to think about your own movement. Rather like some of the good medicine Unohana gave to him anytime Shunsui was badly injured - not that that happened often anymore.

The stove? he idly half-wondered as he turned it on. Maybe I'm cooking something...

Easy enough. But perhaps a signal of danger would find its way to Shunsui's mind and override his instinct. One could only hope. Snape gripped his wand, prepared to react should the other man fail in resisting a third command.

"Place your hand over the burner and keep it there until I say otherwise."

Shunsui started to lift his hand, but the words 'hand' and 'burner' didn't seem to go together well in his mind.

Won't I get hurt?

He hovered in limbo on the idea, hand inches from the burner, wavering. There was really no rhyme or reason to want to do such a thing.

Waves of nothingness tried to wash over his moment of clarity, and Shunsui had to focus on the idea that the end result of such an act would be pain.

I don't really feel like being in pain today... he said inside his mind, almost directing the thought to the drugged feeling in his cloudy brain. Almost at once, he realized. Oh. So this is what he meant...

From there it only took a moment of focusing...as if to preparing to use a high level kidou...Just a little more...

"Phew!" he said, hand snapping back to his side. "...that was dangerous."

He turned and raised an eyebrow at the other man, as if to question 'Were you really going to let me do that?'

Surprised, Snape lowered his wand, nearly prepared to prevent Shunsui's self-burning adventure.

"...And what do you think?" he countered lightly. "Would a dark wizard have stopped you?"

"..And well done" he reluctantly conceeded.

He said nothing in response to the compliment, but took it for what it was. As for the first comment, he gave a half-smile. "Saa...probably not."

I wonder if one can be a dark wizard, but not be a bad one? he mused, thinking of the other man in the room once more. The mystery surrounding the man was almost palatable.

He took a moment to remember the feeling while turning off the stove. "That's a rather powerful trick you have there. I take it not everybody can fight it off like that?" He turned to face him. "Seems rather dangerous."

"Hence the reason why it is listed as an Unforgivable." Snape went on, putting his wand to the side once more and crossing his arms. "Wizards have used it to perform unspeakable acts via third party systems; both incriminating innocent people and leaving themselves blameless. Weak minds are vulnerable."

"Aside from that, I've not much else to teach one who can't perform with a wand. The other two Unforgivables cannot be resisted, so pray you don't face one of those."

Well, it does make sense.

"Well, I'm rather hoping I don't have to face any wizard as an enemy," said Shunsui, looking up in thought. "In fact, I'd rather gain all the allies I can in this place."

He paused, regarding what the other man had said about the other two curses. "Hmph. How will I know if somebody is using them?"

"Pray you never do." Snape spoke coldly, thinking of the dark lord lurking in the forest, biding his time, waiting to strike.

"Assumedly that someone will have a wand pointed at you. By the time they speak the words, it may already be too late. Imperio, Crucio, and Avada Kedavra. The Three Unforgivable."

Avada-what? That sounds mighty close to...yare yare. Shunsui wasn't sure weather to be amused or horrified by that.

It was a lot to remember, but Shunsui thought he was taking it in stride. It was always good to be aware of the dangers around you...even if it was a bit disappointing that nothing learned today seemed useful against the arrancar.

He nodded in understanding. "All right. Seeing as how there's not much else I can learn, you're probably going to want to leave, right?"

"I probably can't get you to sit for a drink with me, hmm?" He gestured to the sake with a half smile, even if he already knew the answer.

The answer was already on his mind, "No, thank you. I've already removed my shoes, Mr. Shunsui, taking drinks would be admitting we've some form of comfortable friendship inside this business transaction." Best to keep things as professional as possible. He wasn't doing this for free, after all. Such secrets of the wizarding world ultimately come with a price.

He bent down to retrieve his shoes. "What I've spoken to you here, you'll understand cannot be spread around. Even in a multi-cultured, relatively accepting community as the City, such secrets are not for the public knowledge." It didn't really matter who Shunsui told, Snape supposed, but he felt the better for saying it.

"Yare yare...and what's so bad about being friends?" He asked, somewhat amused. His expression sobered upon hearing the next sentence.

Well, that was a promise he couldn't keep. Shunsui knew he'd tell Juushirou not matter what the man's instructions were. But...it might be best if Hitsugaya knew as well.

He looked seriously at the wizard for a moment. "I'd like to at least have your permission to tell the the other shinigami captains. That's two other people." at least for right now. Shunsui added in his own mind, but he didn't mention that part.

Then he remembered the comment about this being for business and not for pleasure. "Did you have a price in mind for this lesson?" He asked, thinking money was probably his best option.

Snape frowned, looking back to Shunsui, putting on his shoes. He was already breaking about half a dozen wizarding rules; performing magic in front of a non-wizard, performing magic ON a non-wizard, using an unforgivable curse...But then again, they weren't exactly under the ever-watchful eye of the Ministry, a fact Snape was forever thankful for.

Besides. It wasn't as though he were a good wizard.

"Keep it between your group's captains, then. I'll not have you spreading this around to every idiot underling in yor organization."

It was a fair enough compromise, so Shunsui nodded. "I can live with that," he said.

He noted the lack of an answer to his other question. But he didn't press it. He kind of had the feeling this was the kind of guy you would just have to "owe one." However disastrous that would turn out to be, he'd just have to wait and see.

Shunsui walked to the door, slipping on his waraji. "Want me to show you out?"

He reflected a moment on the possibility of finding his way out by himself. He could trace his own way back, certainly, but best not run the slight risk of taking a wrong turn; the last thing he particularly wanted was to spend any longer here than he absolutely had to.

"That would be...acceptable." He consented, sliding the door open.

As for payment...that would be discussed another day.

"Don't worry, I won't do something silly like try to make conversation," said the captain, giving half smile in amusement.

He tied his straw sandals, now that he was sure he'd be needing them, then showed the professor the way out. He was true to his word during the walk down the hallways, but stopped when the got to the exit.

"Thanks," he said simply in regards to the lesson. "I'll keep in touch. Apparently that stuff you make works pretty good. I'll probably buy some more soon, just so we- I mean he...has it on hand." Whoops. Well, that wasn't too specific at least. ...Perhaps he had gotten a little too comfortable with this man.

Snape walked in silence next to Shunsui down the hall, pausing at the doorway to look to the shinigami.

What did he care whether one or two men were using his potion? It was a cough suppresent not an Elixir of Everlasting Death. He bypassed it as some meaningless knowledge and gave a small nod.

"Very well. You know where to find me, should that time come." He headed down out of the temple with little else to say, and spoke as he was leaving, his back to Shunsui,

"And you're welcome."

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