Itadakimasu!! (PM for Invite)

It was a rare thing for a Shinigami as diligent and obsessive in their duty as Katsuro to have a day off, but his Captain had more or less forced the time off upon his adjutant. Still, it wasn't all bad. Even the workaholic Susumu Katsuro knew that it was only healthy to let the work take the back seat every so often and recharge the batteries, but only occasionally, and only when there wasn't other work there to be done.

Having spent the morning and a small part of the afternoon with his training and communing with the spirit of zanpakuto regardless of having time off from work, he had decided to spend the rest of the day far more leisurely. Taking a walk down the tavern closest to his divisional barracks, he decided to stop for a bite to eat and some of the sake that they kept there. After all, sake was one of the few things outwith of work that he truly enjoyed. The myriad flavours, the sweetness of some and the dryness of others...The way that even a liquor that was made similarly all across Seireitei and beyond could taste so different was a wonder to him, it had captivated him since it had first touched his lips as a young man. But not to the point of addiction, he simply relished the occasional opportunity to partake in its fragrant taste, but never to excess.

Having visited this tavern many times before, he had already tried the entire stock of sake that they had on offer, and had been pleasantly surprised to learn that whilst the most expensive sake they had on sale was indeed one of high quality, it was infact one of the more medium priced options that had the greatest depth of flavour. Knowing this as he walked through the door and heard the current head of the Kidōshū place her order, Katsuro felt an opportunity to help out one of his superior officers in something he was particularly well versed in. And it never hurt to endear yourself to your superiors after all.

Walking over to where the apparently headless commander sat, Katsuro didn't noticeably stare or wonder at her appearance. She was as she was, and the fact of the matter was that she was a Taichō, she could have six visible heads all breathing fire and it wouldn't matter a jot in the mind of the seventh division fukutaichō. Bowing low as he approached her, he spoke with a smile upon his face as he rose; "Minatsuki-taichō, if you don't mind me saying, you're probably better off ordering a lower priced sake from this tavern. Whilst the more expensive brew is indeed good, the middle ranged sake is actually surprisingly full of flavour." Bowing his head again, he hoped that she would not mind his intrusion, he was after all below her in rank and she would be well within her rights to have him reprimanded for his insolence. But hey, no risk no reward right?

There was a good natured smile gracing Katsuro's usually impassive face as he was met with the smiling emoticon drawn upon the small pad and the words accompanying it. His visible eye twinkling with amusement as he responded to her forceful decision making as he lowered himself down to sit opposite the Captain. Placing a hand upon the waitress' arm to stop her leaving immediately, he placed an additional order to his companions existing sizeable one. Tempura was after all a favourite of the lieutenants.

Taking the sake sent his way, he turned to his superior with a rueful grin upon his face. Sipping lightly, he relished in the delicate flavours staking their claim upon his taste buds. He took a moment to swallow and savour the flavours erupting across his mouth before responding verbally to the Captain sitting with him. "I'm afraid that I cannot call you by your given name Minatsuki-taichō, to do so would be the height of impropriety. I am your subordinate in all things, even in a place like this. Well, in all things with the exception of sake perhaps." The last little jibe was a good natured, and if he'd judged his newfound drinking companion correctly she'd take it well. He took another drink from his sakazuki and smiled broadly as the waitress brought over the remainder of the food. He lifted his chopsticks and laid into the piled food with abandon. Stopping only briefly to make a silly comment to the headless kido mistress. "We'd better get this food dealt with Minatsuki-taichō, I can hear the table beginning to creak under the weight of our appetites."

The common misconception with the majority of folks Katsuro encountered was that he was a miserable sod who knew only how to work and push his subordinates to try and better themselves, that he didn't know how to let his hair down every so often. But that simply wasn't true, he just didn't leave himself much time to try and socialise really. He enjoyed his work, so he threw most of his being into doing the best possible job that he could. In saying that though, he sure as hell knew how to have some fun if the opportunity was there to be seized.

Letting out a laugh at the childish nature of his dinner partner, Katsuro shook his head as he imagined the probable pouting of those invisible lips that accompanied the excessive use of the word please in her speech, the strong alcohol already beginning to have an effect upon her. Cocking his head to the side, he winked his startlingly green eye at her as he replied, reaching for another drink and some more of the tempura as he did so. "I suppose if it's an order from a superior officer, I have no choice but to heed it...Mina-chan." Letting out another laugh, he gestured for another jug of sake as he set his now empty sakazuki down upon the table.

The rather amused shinigami stopped as he was reaching for more of the food on the table at the Captain's next question, eyeing the spot where her head would be with a raised eyebrow whilst he considered how to word his response. "Not at the moment Mina-chan, but then, with all the work we have to do as officers of the Gotei, it doesn't really leave much time for a relationship does it?" Letting out a sigh as the rather mood lowering thought stuck in his mind, he continued reaching for the food and shovelling it into his mouth as though he was never trained in table manners. As was usual, the peasant way of doing things was better. Table manners could take a run and jump when out having a good time. Letting out a laugh as the steadily more intoxicated Captain continued, Katsuro nodded faux-solemnly and put his right hand across his heart and spoke with the tone he saved for his new recruits. "Rin-dono, I will do everything in my limited power to ensure that such a thing comes to be. And by the by, if I'm to be informal with you, you should be so with me too. My friends call me Zuro."

Watching as his new friend started loosening off her clothing, Katsuro suddenly wished it was he who had the invisible head. He was fairly sure the sudden appearance of fairly bounteous breasts was making his face red, but that was fine. He would manage, it wasn't his first time in dealing with a woman showing off some skin. And he hoped it wouldn't be the last...

"You're certainly right there Mina-chan. Perhaps we could open a window before we just start taking off our clothes though? I don't think the other patrons here would like seeing me with my top off half as much as they would with you." Spoken with composure and only letting the smile creep across his face as he reached over for the window, his green eye sparkled with amusement as he forced himself to look anywhere but Minatsuki's chest. It simply wouldn't be proper to look at a ladies chest like some village idiot in public. But still, he thought to himself, at least she's good fun to be around and relax with.

Seasoned Shinigami though he may well be, and trained to react with poise and precision at any eventuality in a military situation, the sight of a woman of such...Impressive qualities and the addition of sake caused even the usually stoic Katsuro to come out of his shell a bit more than he normally did around those he spent his free time with. Casting a cursory glance over the exposed skin of his companion, he made the difficult decision not to stare at the cleavage on display.

Casting his glance back down to the table filled almost overwhelmingly with food, he grabbed a set of chopsticks and laid in with abandon as he heard Minatsuki's response. Carefully considering her response, alcohol stunting her previously flowing rhetoric far more than it had done before, he swallowed his mouthful of food and laid his chopsticks down before actually replying. "Mina-chan, I would never be so rude as to flirt with a lady without the intent to back it up. I may have a low opinion of my relatively high birth and the connotations most make with the nobility, but they sure as hell raised me better than to come to pity a woman for any reason. My mother made it clear that women are to be respected, feared perhaps, but never pitied. On top of that, you're a Leader within the greatest organisation ever to grace any of the realms. The Gotei 13. You are to be lauded by any who come across you and your charms, not pitied for what the small minded consider to be a flaw." He stopped speaking for a brief moment, dropping his voice down to almost a whisper as he spoke his next words slowly, almost as though it was taking the full force of this relaxed situation and plentiful alcohol to pry the words from his throat "Someone with the kind of company you offer even those beneath you, your entire manner...You are one of those oddities within this world of elitism and hate that make it worth saving. One of the truly beautiful ones." He smiled softly as he raised his eyeline to match where he more or less judged her own to be "Even without a head." He finished with a wink before downing his now full cup of sake.

A question of his own popped into his head as he lay the empty sakazuki down upon the table between them. Raising his left hand, he pulled his bandage back up his head where it rested on duty, allowing both his startlingly green eyes to gaze upon the current head of all Kidou within the Gotei 13, he waited for her to finish speaking completely before responding to both her question, and asking the one of his own. "You asked me if I were seeing anyone currently Mina-chan, but you failed to mention whether or not you were. So tell me, seen anyone around that tickled your particular fancy?" Asked with a cheeky grin and an overexaggerated rub of his freshly shaved chin, he waited a moment before continuing with a slightly more serious tone. "And no, I heard some rumblings within my division regarding your appoinment, But I quickly put a stop to them. There was no official missive handed down to me explaining why, and I refuse to have the rumour mill spin in the Nanabantai if I can at all help it Mina-chan. Regardless of how it happened, I have complete faith in someone appointed by those in charge of these things. They tend to know what they're doing after all!" The alcohol was starting to actually affect him now, he was losing all semblance of the usual brevity and seriousness that accompanied his words and actions. Not only that, but he was finding it more and more difficult to avoid looking down below the space where her head would be and at her ample bosom. He was managing so far, but if that would continue for long was anyones guess.