Amused, she could only hum, withdrawing her hands long enough to clap them together. At her command dozens of humanoid puppets appeared behind her, silent and faceless, awaiting their master’s orders.
“Assist in clearing out the rubble and debris,” she said, waving them forward. Unless instructed otherwise, they would follow her words precisely, so Shutara added a caveat, “You may defer to the Twelfth Division squad members leading the operation.” They gave no sign of their understanding, but after a moment rose as one, moving to integrate themselves seamlessly among the weary Shinigami. Once satisfied all was running smoothly, her gaze slid back to Mayuri, unaffected by the clear distaste radiating off his tiny figure.
“I would have thought by now you’d grown used to accepting help.”
“Be it from the Arrancar…Aizen…Kurosaki Ichigo.” Truly, the war had been humbling for them all.
He doesn’t wince nor does he flinch at the clap. In fact, he’s hardly mobile (if at all. one could say he’s grown numb to the spontaneity of life.) even as the puppets show themselves altogether as a unit. Gaze regards them as little more than insects-- a means to an end as he silently waits for her to return her attention back onto him.
“Just because I am capable of adapting to the help does not mean that I accept it.” Tone used was laced with vitriol yet managed to, at the same time, retain some semblances of civility. “I am mature enough to understand when the situation has become dire enough to accept whatever that chooses to approach with intentions to assist.”
“You do not understand me as well as you think you do. I’d appreciate it if you kept to what made you useful and cease trying to master what cannot be mastered.”
The mere mentions of the past, both alliances and allies, has him fall silent for but a moment. Corners of lips twitched upwards before they yank themselves down into a tight and stiff frown.
“I accepted those to an extent-- my hand was forced. Have you forgotten that we enlisted in their help because of your group’s unavailability? I do not oversee the decisions we make, as much as I think we’d value... more from such.”