[BitP:R] Soul Society 2

[Draken]

[12th Division Captain's Office with Lab Anex]

Kazuo greets Ryouichi with one raised hand, behind a stack of paper not unlike several other stacks of paper covering his desk like a wall, the eight stalks of his shikai writing furiously.

"Greetings Commander-General, what brings you to the 12th division today?"

[strawberryman]

[12th Division]

Ryouichi raises his eyebrows at the paperwork. "Don't have a file-cabinet, Kazuo-san?" With a shrug, he approaches the desk, pushing the envelope forward. "I figured I would deliver your budget assessment in person. I trimmed a little fat, so you'll be getting more money for the R&D department."

[Kayne650]

Seiko walks back into the room, looking confused. "Was that the Commander-General?" he asks, bewildered. Then he sees the other captain present.

"Osamu-taichou, it's rather a surprise to see you here." Seiko says, bowing at precisely the right hight for a Vice-Captain to a Captain. His manners are impeccable. "Natsuko-taichou, I've sent for Udeoshi-taichou. If he's not busy, he should be here shortly."

Then he sees that Kazuma is awake. He'd been waiting for this. He cracked his knuckles and approached the 8th seat. "Pardon me for one second, Captains. I need to speak with my subordinate." He puts an odd emphasis on the word speaks, and it's an emphasis that Kazuma would know all too well. Michiko is awfully fond of it. It's an emphasis that usually ends in pain for the one being spoken to.

"Kazuma-kun." Seiko began, putting his hand on Kazuma's bedside. "Would you care to explain how you obtained these injuries? Perhaps, like Karite, you too were fighting the Privaron?" Seiko's face displays only concern for his subordinate, but to Kazuma, it shows only danger. All too familiar danger.

[Draken]

One of the stalks rears up at the envelope, taking it down to the level of Kazuo's visor.

"This is a sizeable boost in budget Ryouichi, you have some special project you want us to pursue?"

[horngeek]

[Three Days Ago]

Natsuko smiles. "Nah, just me complaining. But it's worth it."

[tgva8889]

[Three Days Ago]

Natsuko smiles. "Nah, just me complaining. But it's worth it."

Taiki smiles and sits up in the bed. "Of course." He slips out of the bed without disturbing it at all and pulls a robe from the closet. "I'm feeling a bit hungry. Would you like me to bring you breakfast?"

[horngeek]

Natsuko smiles. "Yes, please."

[Now]

Natsuko exits Karite's hospital room, and starts heading over to Ude for her check-up.

[strawberryman]

"Nothing in particular, Kazuo-san." Ryouichi puts his arms behind his back. "As noted, however, I'd like half of these extra funds to go to arms and defense, another quarter to transportation, preferably battle-worthy as such, and the rest for whatever you see fit. I trust your innovation, Kazuo-san."

"I have nothing but a hunch that the times ahead may be troubled..." For a moment, the Commander looks about a century older... before he sighs, and recovers his (relative) youth. "If we are lucky, we won't have a need for them. But as a Commander I have learned to account for the worst while hoping for the best. Any questions before I take my leave?"

[tgva8889]

Three Days Ago

Taiki leaves and returns with a tray carrying enough breakfast for the both of them. He sets it down on the bed, sits next to Natsuko, and offers her some food, grinning the whole way. "After you and the kid."

Once they've eaten (assuming nothing happens during the meal), Taiki sighs contentedly and falls back into the pillow behind him. "I could just stay in today. They wouldn't miss me. Probably." Sighing a bit more laboriously, Taiki sits up and gets out of bed, pulling his official Captain's uniform from the closet. "Unfortunately I suppose I have to be in the office today, as usual. I'd get complaints from the division and such. I'll come home early, though! No late nights for a while."

[horngeek]

Natsuko smiles. "All right. I'm going in tomorrow and the day after, but then I'm taking leave until after I've recovered from the birth."

[tgva8889]

Taiki nods as he heads out the door. He turns back at the door frame and winks at her, smiling in his goofy way. "See you tonight, then."

Now

Taiki walks by Natsuko, on his way from another infirmary room, and does a double-take. "Natsuko? Hun, aren't you supposed to have the day off?"

[horngeek]

"Bloody Karite ignoring basic rules of fighting Hollows. Like not turning your back on them unless you're sure they're dead."

[tgva8889]

Taiki grumbles. "Damn him. I'll kick his ass myself."

[horngeek]

"And now I'm going to Ude for a checkup."

[Draken]

"I guess I will pull project Koutetsu out of the files and put in in the works in this case, hoho, this should be fun, the prototype test videos are so very fun to watch. I bet it could even match up toe to toe with one of Las Noches' Menos Colossi."

[Kuroimaken]

Kazuma wouldn't make Alysha's job any more complicated than it needed to be. He laid back even as Seiko approached.

It was a funny thing, but Kazuma seemed to be a glutton for punishment. Despite knowing all too well what Seiko's tone meant, his expression was one of almost complete relaxation.

"Not the case, sir. I was busy dealing with other Hollows. The Privaron showed up near another team - by the time mine reached it, they'd been going at it for some time now. I was delayed by a quartet of Hollows that proved more capable than the others."

[tgva8889]

"And now I'm going to Ude for a checkup."

"Oooh yeah. I'm here to deal with some mandatory Division appointments. Nothing major. Shall I let you go?"

[horngeek]

Natsuko nods. "See you at home, then?"

[KerfuffleMach2]

Alysha, still checking on Kazuma, looks up at Seiko.

Um...if it helps, sir...I can confirm that he wasn't there when the, uh, Privaron showed up.

Her voice is a little timid.

[strawberryman]

"I guess I will pull project Koutetsu out of the files and put in in the works in this case, hoho, this should be fun, the prototype test videos are so very fun to watch. I bet it could even match up toe to toe with one of Las Noches' Menos Colossi."

"Good day, then, Kazuo-san." With a nod, Ryouichi makes his way out, and back to his office.

[Kuroimaken]

Wounds-wise, Kazuma had some superficial lacerations, a couple of puncture wounds here and there, some scorch marks as though from electric burns... But most curious amongst them (assuming Alysha had the means to check) was that some of his bones seemed to be cracked (though not broken) in some places where the tissue was unaffected. It was almost like they'd been affected with a direct impact.

[Frozen_Feet]

[4th Division, two rooms to the left from Karite's]

"... her outward appearance and powers matched with Auset, one of the known Espada... or former Espada, from the sounds of it." Hachirou dictates his report to one of his fellow officers. He's lying prone on a hospital bed, with his glasses on a nearby table and his burned face and arms covered in bandages. His injuries had only been minor, but restoring his reiryuku had already left two unseated gasping for breath and they still hadn't been able to restore it to a level where they could actually mend his wounds. Hachirou is still also too tired to twitch a muscle - or maybe he's just lazy and relishing the chance to get some rest.

At least his colleague suspects so.

"And what about the other one?", he asks.

Hachirou sighs. "Didn't identify it. It was tall, maybe 8 feet or more, and pale. I'm pretty sure it was an Arrancar as well. Mask fragment covered lover half of its face. I only gave it a cursory glance, didn't catch many details through the rain. I left it to Allan Crossdale of 13th division and went after the first enemy." The officer quickly writes this down on his notepad.

"And that's the last you remember of him?"

"Yes. I had it trapped firmly in Bakudo 63, I was sure Allan could take it on. I have no idea how it escaped." It's clear the 13th seat isn't overly happy about that particular miscalculation of his, so he decides to change the subject. "Did you manage to track it, by the way?"

Now it's the other officer's turn to sigh. "No. We didn't pick it up from among the lesser Hollows until it ran straight at you, and it vanished abruptly after fighting Akio-dono. Surveillance didn't detect any use of Garganta after the fight. There was no breach in dimensional integrity, so we had nothing to lock on to. Sorry."

Hachirou furrows his brow. "So I take it you'll have to wait for Akio's report to get anywhere?"

"Yes."

"So he and Allan... have they returned yet?"

" . . . "

[3rd Division grounds]

Nasumi is quickly skipping towards her new assigned division. She had first gone towards 10th, then 6th, by memory, until finding the right course. Her face is beaming red - both from berating herself from getting lost, and embarrasment due to her new Shihakusho. They had given her an intact one in the 4th, but it's too short, leaving half of her shins and forearms bare, and much too tight; it had been a struggle to stretch the cloth properly over her bust. She's very much hoping no-one will pay her any attention.

After giving her report to 13th division ("I don't really know, we were so far from others an we fought so many Hollows, and then Kazuma-san got wounded and I really couldn't let him fool around and..."), she had initially thought about going to see Kazuma, but after seeing her wounds were non-existent, they had told her to report back in her own division first.

So, now Nasumi's heading towards Koishima Daisuke's office - she'd been told the youthful 3rd seat would be the go-to person for her platoon. She turns even redder when she remembers what she managed to blurt out when she first saw him ("He's so tiny! I could pick him up and throw him in the air.") Hopefully, he would not remember the case anymore.

Soon enough, she knocks on his office door...

[Kido Corps grounds]

Sayuri had left work before the news of the joint-op disaster had reached 1st division - unusual for her, but she had more pressing and personal matters to take care of.

Dressed in her freetime clothes, the dark blue yukata with cloud patterns, she waits for Vice-Commander Yuuta at the Corps gates. Curiously enough, she's holding a brightly decorated gift-bottle of fine Sake - this catches the attention of several Junior members who are spending their time outside.

What could be going on?

[Maggot's Nest]

One 'undred 'n' ninety-eight... One 'undred 'n' ninety-nine... two 'hundred...

Having nothing better to do in his dark prison, Hannibal Magalhaes is doing push-ups with seemingly inexhaustible vigor, sweat drops falling from his brow on the dusty stone floor. After all, just being locked up is no excuse to let one's self waste away, and physical extertion has always helped him to forget his frustration and loneliness.

It's not working so well now, though. His three days in the Seki-Seki cell have not been fun - he constantly feels pressed from all sides, as if the walls were trying to push him and keep him at the center of the room. In his normal cell, he'd sometimes gotten away with punching the walls to pass time, but here, he'd nearly broken his fist with first try, because the deathstone had reflected all force he could muster straight back at him. Stone is not supposed to punch back, dammit!

Oh well. Just few more days, and they'll let me out. That's the thought that has kept him in his senses for two centuries now. What's the point of locking someone up if ye don't plan to let 'em go one day? If they'd wanted to get rid of me for good, they'd have put me before the firebird long ago...

The note Taiki had thrown at him is still lying on the floor. The ex-captain hadn't even touched it.

From the corner, a battered hannya-mask leers at him. Even though it's dark, he still somehow feels it lying there where he threw it in rage yesterday. Gritting his teeth, Hannibal lowers himself to the ground and gives it an angry look. Dammit! Stop mocking me, ye worthless piece'o'****!

Maybe his long incarceration is finally starting to get at him - who knows?

A bitter frown spreads on his face.

I want out.

[Kayne650]

Kazuma wouldn't make Alysha's job any more complicated than it needed to be. He laid back even as Seiko approached.

It was a funny thing, but Kazuma seemed to be a glutton for punishment. Despite knowing all too well what Seiko's tone meant, his expression was one of almost complete relaxation.

"Not the case, sir. I was busy dealing with other Hollows. The Privaron showed up near another team - by the time mine reached it, they'd been going at it for some time now. I was delayed by a quartet of Hollows that proved more capable than the others."

Wounds-wise, Kazuma had some superficial lacerations, a couple of puncture wounds here and there, some scorch marks as though from electric burns... But most curious amongst them (assuming Alysha had the means to check) was that some of his bones seemed to be cracked (though not broken) in some places where the tissue was unaffected. It was almost like they'd been affected with a direct impact.

Seiko's tone stayed dangerously quiet. "Kazuma-kun, we both know that you are very capable in battle. Surely, a group of ordinary Hollows could have slowed you down, but not given you these wounds. Either there's something you're not telling me, or you've gotten sloppy, Kazuma-kun. If you were aware of the Privaron Espada, then surely you used every means at your disposal to dispatch the Hollows you were engaging in order to assist your allies, correct?"

Alysha, still checking on Kazuma, looks up at Seiko.

Um...if it helps, sir...I can confirm that he wasn't there when the, uh, Privaron showed up.

Her voice is a little timid.

"And I'm not blaming him for not knowing about it, but I'm making sure that once he knew of it, he made every effort to aid his allies against it."

"Also, what are these injuries from?" Seiko asks, indicating the cracked bones on Kazuma's body. A lifetime of fighting and studying how best to hurt the human body had taught Seiko to recognize problems and weaknesses in others. "Ms...ah..." Seiko trailed off, realizing that he doesn't know Alysha's name.

[Kuroimaken]

"I will reiterate, sir. I got careless." Kazuma admitted. "I used a number of Hollows I recognized as being stronger than average to test a combat technique I've been developing. They were stronger than I anticipated, however, so they ended up hurting me more than I expected." Alysha would find it quite strange that there were no bruises where Kazuma's bones were cracked.

"I apologize for not being able to render better assistance to our allies."

[Moon Wolf]

((OOC: Again, sorry for not being on yesterday.))

Yuuki

As a captain, Yuuki figured that after a good sleep, he would be fine to get up and continue on with his duties. So he got up....and promptly fell over. Muffled swears could be heard from his office. Then, he froze. Oh crap...wasn't Kyasa-chan....kind of supposed to kill me?

Feiyan

Feiyan rushed down the halls. The Joint Ops mission is back! That means people to heal! She skidded around the corner, and after getting directions from a frazzled unseated, she took off again. Wait, have you even pulled out all the glass from your right side yet? Saezuki asked in concern. Nope! Feiyan grinned cheerfully. With that, she slowed herself and entered the room where some of the Joint Ops victims patients were being cared for.

[Kayne650]

Seiko sighed. Wasn't one of the main tenants of the 11th division to give one's all against all opponents? Of course, such behavior was not uncommon from Kazuma. Seiko stood up (he had been leaning down to speak to Kazuma) and looked with an odd mixture of pity and sympathy at Kazuma.

"I'm a little disappointed in you, Kazuma-kun. Actual battle situations such as the one you were in are not the proper time or place for experimenting. I'll let it slide this time because I've made similar mistakes myself, but I don't want to see this happen again. And once you've recovered, I want to see you in the 4th sparring ground in our division grounds. There I'll see for myself if this was just you being careless, or if you've actually gotten rusty. Dull blades are of no use in our division, Kazuma-kun."

Seiko's tone seemed a little harsh, but it was easy for Kazuma to tell that this came from genuine concern. It was odd, and rather unprecedented in the 11th division for someone high in the ranks to actually care for their subordinates, but that was what the 11th division had become under Michiko-taichou.

[InyutheBeatIs]

[2nd Division]

Sigint had been meditating, discussing the possibility of attack on Soul Society, when Taganjuu called attention to the fact that Yuuki was now awake. So, Sigint had walked out of his Inner World, and back into reality. Sure enough, Yuuki was wide awake. So, Sigint crawled out of his quarters and proceeded to walk towards the Captain's Office.

When he reaches it, he knocks on the door with his left hand.

[Viera Champion]

Head of security sees all! So she quickly shunpos to Yuuki's location.

[Moon Wolf]

Yuuki proceeds to get up. Walking a few steps, he doesn't fall. Come in! He called, preparing for Armageddon.

[InyutheBeatIs]

Sigint opens the door, revealing that he's not the person that was going to kill Yuuki a thousand times. He bows towards him. "Captain. How are you feeling?"