[BSD-RP] Soul Society: Northeast Seireitei

[BSD]

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Central Seireitei → Northeast SeireiteiJatiri along a rocky road, the road along with Jatiri staggered. He had envisioned losing his footing and cracking his head open as a means to forgetting the bomb that Enji had dropped on him. Enji had not only cleared up why Maho had been away but had also launched a part of Jatiri into a grave. The wind barking, it pawed at his jungle hair as he wrestled with his stomach. And when the weight of the world in his gut had become too much, to preserve his balance, he palmed a nearby wall. Bent over, bent out of shape, he pounded and pounded and pounded...and pounded. His open palm breaching the wall, he wouldn't pay heed to the hole, fixated on his walloping belly. So under the weather he was that collapsing by the wall seemed more appetizing than stumbling down the long-haul ahead.
The light in his eyes, darkness in his eyes, could pack a mean left hook and someone's bags. Sailing, coasting, soaring, his eyes glimpsed at the sky after he had freed his arm and pulled back. There it was again, the ninth's insignia. Was it some sort of sign? Despite it having overtaken his line of sight briefly, he didn't want to ponder it. What mattered to him, thanks to the mere sight of it, he mustered up the strength to push through his nausea. And even if he wasn't sure of himself in this state, he would struggle on.
Beyond Central, before arriving at the Ninth, he considered why the atmosphere in the barracks had been the way it was before he had left for Central, why it had felt scattered, barren. Perhaps they had all known of Maho's death was his assumption. Perhaps he had been the only one out of the loop, thus failing to fulfil his duty. Resisting jumping to conclusions, he wouldn't address the countless other dots that still needed connecting until he sat down with members of the Ninth.

 

[BSD]

It was in this moment Kazumi would find the scene naturally overtaken by the blood-curdling Captain who towered over her, an expression of complete disconnection chiseled into his stony face. He waited for her response and watched with the same fascination a lion would watch their meal as she hesitated to answer his very simple question. It took her a moment, and yet that moment that she weighed what to say would seem to stretch endlessly until finally...
"I don't know"
Three simple words, and yet Itsuki captured instantly with keen eyes the regret that washed over her as she spoke them. This simplicity and honesty was not so much foreign to Itsuki as perhaps it would be to her peers in the Second. The Captain now understood the predicament that this fledgling faced… forced into a role that she could never fill, she battered & bruised not just her body but her mind in pursuing becoming something she could never be… A Shinigami of the Second Division. Itsuki with a deep breath collapsed backwards. In the same instant he fell backwards on the red webbing threads of his Zanpaktou, they twisted. It took only the dance of a single fiber, fraying & straying from a single tendon of the web, for Itobeni to capture & cradle their Owner; the Captain’s rear end falling into the seat of a deep burgundy rope born throne that seemed to weave into existence almost instantaneously.
“Thar was a song dat an old timer back in Naruki did sang, ain’t got it outta my head after all dis time.”
Itsuki rambled on, his hand wielding Itobeni flippantly, brandishing the awakened Zanpaktou like the wand of a Conductor. If the Shinigami without a home wasn’t confused by Itsuki’s sudden relaxed behavior as the Captain slumped back in his own creation, his sudden regaling howl would surely catch her off guard.
“Cherry blossoms gracefully bloom o'er the fields that lie,
High up is the castle wall, where have warriors gone?
Where is the moonlight that brightly shone up high,
Shone upon the warriors who drained the glasses dry?
White frost o'er the autumn camps freezing the whole night,
Flocks of wild geese cry and pass just below the moon.
Where is the moonlight that might have shone so bright,
Shone upon the warriors' swords gleaming through the night?”
As Itsuki howled his tune, the ever shifting threads of Itobeni that consumed the entire Seventh’s territory throbbed. The threads of Itsuki’s far-reaching Zanpaktou began winding and whipping with such precise force & robotic timing that the very air within Itobeni’s threaded clutches became imbued with an almost hauntingly lilting melody. Itsuki at this moment was literally bringing to life being a “one-person band”. Verse by verse he crooned this folk song, his deep raspy voice butchering the aged melody, and yet even if Kazumi had wanted to leave she would be pressed to remember that right now she stood within the maw of a beast… the entire radius of her surroundings riddled with the rhythmically swaying strands of Itobeni; the threads both swimming in the air around her and now churning beneath her very feet like worms burrowing into the earth.
“Oh, the moon is rising high in the depths of night,
Silent is the ruined site lying on the ground,
Ivies creep o'er the gate in the cold moonlight,
Rustling are the pine trees through the windy night.
To rise and fall is people's fate, the moon shines so bright,
Looking down upon the world lying far below,
How sublime the moonlight o'er the ruined site,
How I love the moon that shines in the depths of night!”
Finally, he came to a halt. The tantalizing chiming of his threads grinding to an end as well; the echo of their wordless song lingering for but a moment before whispering into but a mere memory. The enchanted masses of Seventh Division members quickly realizing that they had stopped working shook off their stupor & resumed their sham of disinterest in the scene unfolding. Itsuki though uninterested in the peering eyes of his own so-called children, didn't mind if they listened in on his conversation with Kazumi; Itsuki is of the thought that wisdom and knowledge should be shared with all those willing to seize it.
"We ain’t so different from castles, and we ain’t so different from ‘da moon, kid.”
Itsuki mused aloud, stroking his chin with his iconic doggish grin now beaming at her as he spoke. Perhaps she would think this man was a creature belonging in the Maggot’s Nest, torturing her so cruelly as he kept her as nothing more than a bird in a cage. Though her thoughts on himself meant little to the Captain... Itsuki was so profoundly interested in her thoughts on herself, and so he decidedly prodded.
“If yer intent on dying, lemme know tho’. Ain’t no use in any Division for a Dog that don’t got no bite left in ‘em. So what are ya, lonely lil warrior? A ruined castle? Or maybe a moon that ain’t yet ready ta’ start waxin…?”
Itsuki fell silent after asking his question, finally giving Kazumi a chance to respond. The Captain was genuinely curious… How would she respond...? He leaned forward in his own chair, assuming a pose strikingly similar to the infamous Thinker statue as he waited on her.

 

[BSD]

It was unclear if the answer was sufficient for the man, still staring as if he could see the deepest parts of her soul. Suddenly falling back he was captured by a web of his own creation, cradling him as he had done to the Zanpakuto itself. Watching with a cautious eye she was unsure of how to address the situation. It had not been enough for him to send her along, was he simply biding his time before attacking? She gathered no ill will directed at her, though she trusted herself little with this intuition. In her experience most did want to bring harm upon her in some form or fashion and forgetting this was a misstep that could lead to her death. As resigned as she had been to such a thing before, she no longer wished for such. There was so much possibility. Only if she were to live. So then what?
To her surprise, the man began to sing. Well, it seemed he was attempting. Surrounding her slowly then faster came more red tendrils of his cords, moving in such a way they began to match the tune of the words. Her gaze never leaving his face she listened closely to the lyrics; a clue to what the man was trying to tell her. Standing in silence, a world away from the members of Seventh that had stopped their duties to listen and stare. None of this mattered. His song did not need to finish for her to grasp his point. His reasoning for wanting this, however, did confuse her. Was this like the man from before, simply curious about the lost little soul wandering about? Did he wish to understand her better before tossing her aside as well? He seemed intent on not allowing her to leave until he had finished with her. Finished with his riddles. This could mean a short period of time before he grew bored with her. Or it could be quite longer, considering the mess surrounding them that needed to be tended to.
She could attempt to run. Escape the tendrils. Hope a passing soul noticed her and gave her aid. The introspection he wished from her kept these from being more than fleeting thoughts. In her human life, music had been the only thing that truly ever made sense to her. Had the Captain done even the slightest amount of looking into the shamed woman he would have easily found that no cage was needed to trap her. Simply the right sounds. As the world around her grew silent, he spoke once more. He posed something of a riddle to her. Thinking back to the song she had to wonder. From the verses she had heard, she was both. Empty. Without light. Waiting a few moments she mulled over the question and the proper answer. This time, however, she didn't consider what the man would want to hear but rather what was the truth. It was unclear to even herself.

Removing her gaze from his for the first time since the strange encounter had begun she lowered herself to the ground. As her knees met with the mixture of dirt and rubble, her Zanpakuto was removed from its sheathe. Hands flat, hilt and blade resting in her open palms she lowered it to the ground before her.
"Sing, Yoru Onkyō."
Hands hovering over the transforming object, coming down to rest upon the strings that now waited. Perhaps this was suicide. He could see this as an attack and respond in kind and none would blame him. She would only communicate now in a fashion she was familiar with. Reiryoku stunted from flowing to her hands, they began to move. Closing her eyes, she wondered if she would feel one of those red ropes wrap about her throat like the serpents had in the Maggot's Nest. But once more, she would feel a moment of happiness in an action she truly wished to do before she went. And the world about them was silent no more.

If allowed to continue on she would play her own song. No words, simply feeling. Remorse and pain, hope and fight. There was still some bite in her, enough for her to wish for a future for herself. There was still pride in her, though shattered almost completely. Her mind became wonderfully soothed by the music, by the simple act of playing. Like meditation. She could not recall the last time she had even touched an instrument. Without the use of her picks, the strings reverberated against her bare fingers harshly. She accepted the pain, allowing it to take her mind from her current worries. Away from anything but each note that was played. When the last was plucked her hands rested softly on the top of the strings once more. Looking up at the man once again she gave him a thoughtful look before speaking.
"Both,"
Akin to her first answer to him it was a simple one, but a true one. She was both the moon and the castle. However, a castle could always be rebuilt, filled once more with life. And the moon would be dark for a time, yet it would always return to its bright brilliance once more. Perhaps she had once been a happy being, maybe this was a lie she had told herself. But she had not always been tormented, and she would not always remain so.
Or so she hoped.

 

[BSD]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>Arriving from Central to Fourth Division>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
It’d been a couple of generally peaceful and quiet days in the fourth division save a few visiting the hospital for a variety of reasons. Compared to the tumultuous events earlier that week a lot of the nurses and aids were experiencing serenity taking care of their patients and getting back to regular business. Everything was going according to plan, it really was Nirvana.
Until…
“ Where’s the kid?!”
The eyes of the receptionist widened as did her partners. Was that..? Together they cast their gazes to the front doors which had opened to reveal their previously absent grouchy Lieutenant. A sense of standing at attention took them over simultaneously and the calm in the room was gone within seconds. Were the waiting room guests tended to?!, did the medical supplies need resupplying?! Was everything in order?! As their minds raced with thoughts of unfinished chores Omoni stomped over to them and they flinched away from her angry leer. Of course, she wasn’t upset with either of them. It had been the meeting beforehand that she’d just left that had put her in such a sour mood. Swiftly, one of the two spoke up fearing if they stood dumbfounded for long that they’d incur a more terrible wrath.
“ U-uh-- Meeting Room 2B! Captain Nakamoto is in a meeting right now actually…”
They knew by ‘kid’ Hageshi had meant their Captain. None would dare refer to him in such an informal manner and some of them thought it disrespectful of Lieutenant Hageshi to do so however, no one would let her know they felt that way. The two had always had a “different” kind of relationship than that of other Captains and their Vice-Captains. Although, it’d have been smarter to keep that sort of banter-like nicknames to themselves...Omoni did not care what others thought about her. If they wanted to do something about it then she welcomed that attempt, otherwise they could all pipe down as far as she was concerned.
Now that she knew where he was, Omoni followed the signs through the hospital to eventually end up in front of the door that read “Meeting Room 2B”. For a minute she just stood there listening to see if she could hear what was happening inside but it seemed no one was talking at that time. With nothing to go off of, she grabbed the handle and slid the door open and then stepped inside. The first person she saw was Yu. To say she hadn’t been thinking about Yu’s well being would have been a lie, but since returning home from the bout with the Togabito Omoni had not come back to the barracks. Honestly it’d been so long that the two had seen one another and they had been through so much, he appeared differently to her. Going long periods without speaking to one another was pretty common for the duo after all, what with Omoni being sent off on lengthy missions far from home. Maybe his hair had gotten longer. Whatever it was, it became him in her opinion.
Then she spied two others. One, that she did not recognize and she assumed must have spent most of her time in isolation away from the mass of the fourth division but then again she wasn’t exactly around enough to justify that assumption. Either way she didn’t know who she was but was surely going to find out in a little while. Her casual glare then shifted to the second young woman in the room and after a brief stare she raised her brows. This one she did remember! It was Junko. A pleasant feeling came to Omoni when she realized Junko was sitting in the room with them. The two had shared many a time together either training and sometimes the young seat would join her for lunches now and again and Omoni always appreciated those. Naturally the two of them were extremely busy as of late and hadn’t actually reconnected in a long while.
Strolling inside, Hageshi lifted a scarred hand and sort of saluted the Captain as a greeting.
“ Yo, kid. Junko, and…..who’re you?”

 

[BSD]

Itsuki… What did he know about Kazumi? Did this madman sleuth unearth her intimate interest in music since leaving the Maggot’s Nest? Could he have…? Or did Asakura Itsuki, the Bloodhound of The Seventh Division, already know this information…? What Itsuki knows or doesn’t know is for only him, & the few lucky enough to catch a glimmer past his facade, to know. However, Itsuki definitely didn’t seem surprised when Fujioka released her Zanpaktou— his grin only grew that much wider.
Itsuki leaned back into his throne, letting his nauseating smile lessen little by little as he immersed himself in the melody of her emotion ravaged soul. Such a beautiful, but tormented sound danced from the Shinigami & her Zanpaktou, Itsuki couldn’t help but grimace. He likened the Fujioka woman to a bird whose wings had been clipped, and yet in her eyes he saw a flame, and in the sounds of her soul he heard a whisper of hope. This bird, though wingless, still wanted to fly.
“Both”
Kazumi crooned as her song finally ended, and though simple, the answer allowed the Bloodhound to gander deep into the chaos of her ego. She saw herself both as ruined but repairable; both a warrior ready to fight, and a warrior needing tending to. This raw & exposing human moment was something Itsuki knew she had to have struggled with in her previous occupation.
“Kakakakaka. You ‘nd me both, though if yer fixing to be repaired, ain’t no shame in asking ‘fer help. Tho’ when you ready ‘ta shine, you gotta be ready to outshine any other star in dat there sky.”
Itsuki said with a deep rumbling chuckle as jumped to his feet. Suddenly the surrounding ropes vanished. Itsuki himself nearly sheaths his tanto as he tucked it into his deep red obi. Those unfamiliar with the Captain’s Zanpaktou, and even more so those lacking an profound understanding of the Kyokko spell like Itsuki, would find themselves assured that Itobeni had fallen back into their deep slumber. Itobeni was awake however, and though Kazumi wouldn’t be able to detect any physical or spiritual signs of Itobeni the Zanpaktou was still very much abuzz in the world around them… or so it was until Itsuki commanded the thread maw of his Zanpaktou to pool solely in the ground beneath their feet.
BABOOM
A single, and sudden, explosive sound erupted from their feet within seconds of the Captain putting these pieces into play. The nearby ground sloppily bisected as suddenly Kazumi & Itsuki became displaced. They rose with a meteoric force, Itsuki guiding an enormous transparent threaded stalk, unnoticed to all but a few select persons. Within the blink of an eye, before she could likely steel herself or respond, Itsuki & Itobeni had risen the Captain and the divisionless Kazumi tens of miles into the skyline, several invisible strands fraying overhead and protecting them from the force of this swift rise. As they overlooked the majesty of the Seireitei, only just being able to catch in the frame of their vision the vast expanse of the Rukongai on the horizon, Itsuki waddled forward and sat at an edge only he could perceive. His feet swayed to & fro as he looked upon the beautiful and chaotic world he seeks to protect.
“Look ‘ere…”
Itsuki began with a labored sigh, his hands resting on their respective sides hip as he hunched forward, almost as if he was searching the miniaturized world below for something.
“Dis world ain’t fair. It ain’t safe. It might not seem too reasonable, but ‘da weak are ‘da meat & the strong are gonna eat…”
Itsuki atop his solitary, invisible pillar often mused these thoughts. Now that his Lieutenant had passed away, few people exist who can understand the profound loneliness the Captain has amassed as he scoured mountain top after mountain top. He has gained such immense wisdom, but this came at a price. The Captain has fallen; this world has subjected the Captain to such gut wrenching, mind numbing trials & horrors that as he looked upon the young Fujioka, he couldn’t help but bite his bottom lip in a compassionate disdain… He understood the pain that gnashed and gnarled her heart & soul. It was an all too familiar feeling for Itsuki… and so he continued on, hoping he could stave off the darkness that nipped at her heels, like Commander Higen had done for him so many centuries ago…
“If you ain’t fond how dis world works, ya gotta become strong ‘nuff to change it. Don’t you go die standing up, ain’t nothing noble ‘bout that. If you gotta survive by laying down, lay ‘da fuck down.”
As Itsuki spoke candidly, he paused for a moment. Itsuki, with his signature owlish likeness, turned his neck; his wild eyes gazing upon Kazumi with an almost ancient & weathered look weighing on his jaded azure hues.
“The strong get ‘ta talk all pretty ‘cause they don’t gotta worry too much ‘bout it, but you ain’t strong, not yet at least. Survive no matter what, Fujioka Kazumi, ain’t nothing cowardly ‘bout that.”
The Captain finished his tongue-wagging, and though he was sure suddenly being uprooted miles into the skyline and isolated on a plateau which her eyes could not perceive would terrify the Fujioka, he was also sure that eventually the trauma of today would become a source of strength for her. If she didn’t respond within ten seconds, Kazumi would find the length that Itsuki forged suddenly shirking downwards. While Itsuki could easily endure another sudden shift, he wouldn’t play so fast & loose with the mind of another. Slowly, as if upon an otherworldly elevator, the ropen tower would recede back towards the same spot they had been before their surprise field trip.
The entire time they descended, Itsuki kept his eyes fixated upon Kazumi… ready to ensnare her with Itobeni should she endanger herself… or him.