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Ren Karashi sat alone in the interrogation room.
It was an incredibly unfortunate day for him. They had run out of space elsewhere for the annual psychological review. Apparently every other member of 10th had decided today would be a good day to get their minds reaffirmed. Karashi wasn't afraid, but he was peeved. As a seated officer he had at least expected to be shown to a room. Unfortunately, a few minutes spent prepping the uniform cost him a slot in one of the nice, comfy offices with his review officer.
It was almost 10 minutes before the door opened to a young officer entered. She carried way too many papers in her hands, and when she went to close the door the sound of the slam almost made her drop everything. An intern? Karashi thought. Nervously, she looked at Ren. Something about his face must have been off, because she had barely a glance before she had instinctually backed up against the wall. Probably the smell.
What Karashi suspected was an intern sat across the table from him. Her nose crinkled absentmindedly. "So. Ren Karashi, 17th seat of the 10th Division." Her voice would have sounded authoritative had she not dropped her pen shortly after saying it. She slowly picked it up, blushing as she rose from behind the table. Karashi nodded in response.
"May I ask, Miss…" "Amagi." "Amagi. You are new to this division, yes?" "Yes, I joined 10th only a short while ago." Karashi laughed. "You have nothing to worry about. Just stay calm, follow the procedures you were taught. That's generally how he likes things to be." She nodded and continued. "Um, right, so. 17th Seat Karashi. I suppose we could cover your past first, if that would be alright…" Ren nods.
"Miss Amagi. Do you remember where you were when you were born? No? Didn't think so. Most people don't. It's not important, really. I remember where I grew up. I grew up in the lower districts. Not as far as Zaraki, mind you, but pretty damn far. I mean, you would not have wanted to grow up there. I sure didn't. I got out of that hole as fast as I…"
"Um, 17th Seat Karashi. If you could…"
"Yes, yes. Of course. Sorry, Miss Amagi. I joined Sereitei first through the Kido Corp. I had expressed early on skill in using and manipulating my reiatsu, so I was tapped by Chen - Sorry, Ex-Commander [name]. Some member of the Corp. found me after I tried to steal some of his money. Almost got the bast - guy's sword, too, but he got the jump on me. Anyways, I was brought into the Corp. initially as a bookkeeper and scribe. Had to repay my "debts to society" or something. Turns out when I figured out how to actually cast the spell the Corp. started actually paying attention. They also had to find the damn book and make sure they never let an intern see it again, but hey, at least I got formally inducted into the Corp.
"Turns out I was a pretty good researcher. I got good. Very good. I wasn't casting high-level spells, but I was combining spells at a level that many couldn't manage. There was one spell that I got particularly good at…Here, may I have that pen?"
Miss Amagi looked up from her clipboard. "I'm sorry?" "The pen. May I?" Ren held out his hand. The girl looked down for a moment, then tentatively put it in his hand. It disappeared for a minute, then reappeared. "Not perfect on other solid objects. Still working on that one. But I'm sure you recognized Kyokko. It is one of the most utilitarian Kido, after all. No? Not at all? Geez, you look at me like it's a fu-er, darn magic trick. What do they teach at that academy, anyways?" Miss Amagi opened her mouth to speak, but Karashi cut her off. "I'm sorry. You must think I'm a vulgar - pardon my language - asscrap. Well, I'm not nearly as bad as…well, I'll get to that. Anyways, here's your pen, back to taking notes.
"So, anyways. I got good at Kido. I rose up in the ranks of Kido Corp. from a scribe to a researcher officially, and I quickly put in a lot of time to combining and modifying kido. While many of my plans weren't successful, as you can see I did succeed significantly in one way. In the lab, I unfortunately…caused an incident. I'm sure you know about it in your damn files. I did not fu- sorry - damn cause that accident. I was not responsible! But unfortunately, colleagues died. Friends of mine. Friends. And I was blamed. They blamed ME! You've got to be kidding. You've got to be ****ing kidding me. Sorry. Didn't mean to. Lost myself a bit there. Where was I? Ah yes. That thing I didn't do.
"Some idiots thought it would be a good idea to mix a high level Hado spell with a high-level Bakudo without a Seated supervisor. Dumbasses. They could barely even cast the damn spells they were combining themselves, what made them think it was a good idea? One of them ended up incinerating his entire left side, and the other one…well, we don't talk about what happened to him. He'd probably kill me or something. Just because they had asked me to supervise I was responsible, even though I had never actually agreed to do so. Guess that's what it means when they tell you to read the fine print. Apparently I had signed some form or something that held me responsible. Damn ridiculous if you ask me.
[color=Olive]"I was blamed for the death. It was considered not only a breach of Kido Corp. regs, but a public relations failure. The guy who died, he had family in high places. Those nobles made sure I got punished. Hard. I was sentenced to an indefinite prison term in the 10th division prisons. One of their friends was the current Captain of the division.
"Osagawa Mio. I met her. She was pretty nice to me. The two of us, we understood something about the world, I think. She tried to fight against my transfer, but it was not to be. Despite her status in 10th and in Sereitei, she still was just a commoner. The nobles really ran the show on my sentence. So I made it to the Nest. Then I got let out, got into 10th, and now we're sitting here."
Miss Amagi stared at Karashi. He stared back. "What? Something on my face?" They sat looking at each other for a bit longer. Karashi won. Miss Amagi turned back to her papers eventually, scanning a bit. "Please. Tell me about your time in the Nest." "No." "I'm sorry?" "No." "It's part of the evaluation." "It's not and you know it isn't." "Then please. Won't you?" She put her hand on his. Karashi looked down, then back up. "Are you right in the f-damn head? I'm a looney! A crazy! You're sitting in the same room with a NESTER and you think you can just touch my ****ing hand like that? You don't even know what you're getting into, do you?! Fine. I'll tell you. I'll tell you what the **** when down in that stupid ****ing hole they call the Maggot's Nest." Karashi sat back down. He hadn't realized just how much his rage could make him rise. It stunk.
"After my transfer to the Nest, I began to understand what it meant to really be evil. I saw these people every day. I lived with them. It changes a person, you know? It changes them. Completely. You don't go to the Nest on a picnic, you go there because you've ****ed up your life and now you have nothing remaining. And the people in the Nest, they live forever. The people sentenced to the Nest are the souls that someone thinks are too dangerous to be allowed to die and go back to the Mortal World. They are the ****ing scum of the ****ing cosmos. And I was among them. You clearly don't think I'm one of them, do you?" Miss Amagi nodded. "Well, I am. I am now. 50 years after I got out, and I am still a part of that place. And it's always at the edge of my mind.
Taiki Takahashi got me out. After he became Captain, he fought hard for me to be taken from that place. He recognized my talents. Eventually, he found a loophole. If he hired me to work for him, brought me into 10th Division, he could get me on a trial-run probation of sorts. If, after a decade of good service, I had done good work or some **** like that, I could be released. But I later found out that Taiki didn't want me to be nice. He wanted my knowledge. So out of one prison, into another one. Welcome to 10th. Here is your ****ing shackle." He tugged at his division insignia. "But that didn't stop me. I worked my way up the ladder. Now I'm a Seated officer, and I'm damn good at my job. Even got myself an Execution Squad. So you better let me go back to work, Miss Amagi."
She nodded, jotted a few last notes. At the end, she handed him a piece of paper. "Open that outside. You're free to go. I'll let you know my final report in about a week's time." Karashi got up and was out of the room in a flash. He barely acknowledged her as he went.
At the exit he opened her note. A butterfly flew from it. The note had one word on it. "LUNCH?" Karashi tossed it in the courtyard.
"Bitch."