Follow the Hollow[Kenichi, Saber]

Kenichi Murata, in his twenty-plus years of existence, had rarely experienced what it felt like to be worried. Anxiety was an unfamiliar stranger that rarely held any sway over his soul. Whatever he found difficult, he emerged ten times better than before. As of late, though, that seemingly perfect method had proven to be anything but successful. His unyielding optimism was still ever present, of course, but there was certainly no shortage of worry that gnawed away at him.

His boss was, after all, missing in action. It was uncharacteristic of her to go without communicating with him or Vanyel for so long. Bombastic and high-spirited as she was, if she had emerged victorious, she would likely let the two of them know and pulled them along for a celebration. Yet, no message occupied his mobile device. None of her men came to confirm her status. The thought that she might well have died tore away at him, but he kept his faith. Suppressed those emotions in favor of viewing things through rose-colored glasses. At present, there was nothing he could do until his efforts bore fruit.

He chose the most ideal option to clear his mind by training in an open space on the outskirts of Japan. Repeating familiar combat sequences, the execution of an upper kick here, a roaring overhead fist strike there, and several other patterns of movement, Kenichi practices familiar routines to draw his mind away from the stressful thoughts of his mind.

Though he was certainly startled, Kenichi did not whip around to attack the tall woman appearing out of nowhere. His hazel gaze trailed toward her as he stared upward. Although he didn't display it openly, he was slightly taken aback by the suddenness of her words, the weighted tension in her tone. Even more so, he had no idea how she knew his name. Was it someone who knew Vanyel? Someone who knew Sabre? Under normal circumstances, he would have admired how lovely she looked on the eyes, but with his building stress and the dire tone, most of those thoughts simply took a backseat. Chuckling anxiously, Kenichi stepped forward to get a full glimpse of the woman as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I don't mind helping you at all, miss. But uh... do you mind telling me how you know my name?"

"....Saber?"

Though her appearance did little to reveal her identity, the repeated use of the word boy and that familiar hiss in her tone were more than enough to reveal that this was indeed her. Under any other circumstance, he would have reeled back in dumbfounded shock, asked her several questions about how she went from a towering hollow to a tall woman with a pair of horns. Yet, the only thing he felt was confusion. Unease settled into his spirit like an anchor as she revealed the reason she came here. What was going on here? Several questions dominated his thoughts. Why did Rita go to Hueco Mundo? What was she talking about? Why was she humanoid in appearance now? He recognized her now, but his mind was placed solely on Rita's whereabouts. It was imperative that he take her seriously, lest he find himself diminished of the only mote of information he has at present.

"Alright, alright. I recognize you. I have a lot of questions, but I'll ask them later. Right now, my only choice is to go with you so I can find save my boss."

"Mhmmfm!?"

Kenichi found himself relatively dumbfounded by the prompt squeeze to the face to hush him up. Bossy as always. At the very least, even in this new humanoid form, that facet of her personality was still alive and well. It was probably sincere proof that she was the genuine article, too. Listening to her in curious silence, Kenichi automatically concluded that he didn't care if Sabre helped him. From his perspective, this was a breakthrough enough. He didn't expect her to be the type to risk her hide for the sake of someone else. He was grateful that he finally had a lead of some kind. It didn't bring him any closer to rescuing her, of course, but it was something. Now, the next part lies in figuring out a way to get to Hueco Mundo and rescue his boss.

"I get it. I don't expect you to help me. I'm not trying to make anything difficult for you. I just want to know where she is. Do you know anything else beyond her being kidnapped at least?"

None of what graced his ears was particularly present. Progress felt like it was closer to zero than one. For someone who naturally approached everything with an upbeat demeanor, her words were akin to sharp needles that gnawed at his spirits. Mindless hollows were already an issue on their own, arrancar with minds of their own drastically altered the perception of difficulty.

Several thoughts floated through his head - her condition, her spirit, whether or not she still lived and breathed - it was all so damnably frustrating. Turning his gaze to the side, stroking his chin in contemplative thought, Kenichi wondered about the likely options of individuals he could choose to help him. As it stood, Vanyel was the likeliest option, though he doubted the likelihood of success based on his disposition.

Sure, he was personable enough once you earned his trust, but anything outside of that was like waiting on a lottery ticket with the lowest probability of winning. An unlikely scenario. Yet, Kenichi was out of any immediate options. It was either pursue this alone with Saber and throw caution to the wind, or request the assistance of another. Ruffling his hair in frustration, he went over as his body slumped against a bench.

"I know of one other man that might be able to help."

There were no other options.