[BSD-RP] Soul Society: Northwest Seireitei

[Shinigami]

How long had she been down in the lab? How many experiment iterations had she blazed through (literally in this case), so far? Hanabi had managed to isolate a few traits of the Togabito haori, and it was thanks to the findings she had that she had an idea of forming a similar polymer fiber if she had the time and resources to. She would need to, she went through a decent amount of the fabric and there was a finite amount she could test with.
I could send someone to Hell to get more, but, that sounds unethical. Yes, that is where Hanabi draws her line of ethics, not burning hollows alive with reactive chemicals, not testing out pyrotechnic projectiles on other squad members, but on sending people to hell for a farming mission.
As she was recording her notes, the pyrophiliac was interrupted by a notice from one of the ragamuffin unseated lab rats that often lended their aid to the higher-end scientists.
"Lady Hanabi! We have a representative at the gates seeking an audience with anyone of authority, and you have the highest rank here."
"But I'm buuuuuusy, can't one of you do it?"
"No ma'am, this is something official and requires your immedia-" the voice was cut off by Hanabi mumbling as she walked out of her lab. Notebook fastened to her side, a vice grip on it. No one would have her research but her, especially if there was a chance she could find other ways to implement anything against these sinners.
"While I am out, I want you to take three people and find any information about what else makes Togabito tick. In the mean time, you will also look to find any connection between them and hollows and arrancar. Only people who have committed great crimes are sent to hell and become these Togabito. I have a hypothesis and wish to see if there is some connection."
Mulling over her thoughts while heading for the surface of the lab, Hanabi considered multiple things. Hollows were absolved of their sins when shinigami reaped them, but if they were awful before becoming monsters, they were sinners and sent to hell. But Arrancar were new beings made from hollows, beings that could be sinners or not, and the dominant personality would surface. WOuld that mean when Arrancar were reaped they would suffer the same fate? Or did all of the souls that made the arrancar get recycled?
She sighed while her zanpaktuo spirit tried to get her to calm her thoughts, just move with the moment rather than focusing on every single what if that may not have a proper answer.
Just as her thoughts were spiralling out of control, Hanabi came to the exit. "Ah."
Seeing herself outside, the horned girl winced in the light, trying to focus, "Bienvenue toutes les mondes. Welcome welcome, yadda yadda, every language I know. Hello! Hi there! How can I help ya?" She sounded a little jittery, how long had she been in the lab? When was the last time she slept? Why was her uniform stained with scorch marks?

 

[Shinigami]

護廷十三隊
One Hundred Years Later

 

[Shinigami]

One hundred years had come and gone, one hundred years of inventions and mistakes, one hundred years of frustration and innovation. A century passed by and many had passed Hanabi by in martial prowess. She had been so focused on her research that she had neglected to keep up with the major events, nonetheless, she dutifully continued to work on several projects for people, ones that were all inspired by that simple togabito haori she was brought by someone from the eleventh division.
Her first major invention was a new shihakusho that had been given out to the eleventh division for testing, with threads synthesized from studying the togabito haori for a year straight. It was simple enough that it could resist fire damage, no singes or burns through without some sort of sharp force behind it like a sword of flame. It was thanks to these Salamander Garbs that she was able to start researching things beyond fire and fire resistance, something that many in the twelfth division was a great improvement for the pyro.
Hanabi had become enamored with elemental effects, whether they were natural or supernatural. From weapons or kido, from beyond the stars or within the earth itself. She had started to go into the depths of ice, lightning, wind and earth. How to make different weaves of garments to let people protect themselves against specific targets given enough research. If she could arm someone to fight an ice-powered arrancar by giving them a shihakusho that was reistant to ice, she would. But it was easier said than done. Her research had been stunted after fifteen years, from having studied as much as she could about the fire resistant synthetic thread she managed to craft.
Hanabi had made something in the next five years that went under the codename "Four Corners", though the research on it would take much longer to accomplish. Developing and refining synthetic threads that could resist fire was hard enough, but to finish her idea, she needed more time on these.
After a quarter century had been spent on fortifying the wearable defenses of Shinigami, Hanabi focused on making something different, she wanted to try and be more one with her zanpaktuo, practicing her zanjutsu techniques and one handed fighting while working on kido casting with her free hand. Even if her shikai was a dual-wield weapon, she preferred to not rely on it, much to the chagrin of her zanpaktuo spirit.
She spent most of her time during this period focused on learning new kido techniques, while researching the archives of the library for any information on the 'missing numbers' in the kido codex. She wanted to fill it out with as much as she could find, part of her nagging at herself that she could do more.
After fifty years, Hanabi had managed to make strides in her creation of defensive garments for shinigami, Project Four COrners yileded the results of several other shihakusho styles for water, wind and earth elements. These were aptly dubbed Undine, Sylph, and Gnome garments.
After three quarters of a century had come and gone, Hanabi had managed to get a hankering for modifications on herself. Her first experiment was an utter failure in an attempt to swallow spiritual attacks like some hollow or arrancar could do, and the entire experiment was scrapped.
Her second major modification involved working on receptors into her horns themselves, allowing her to connect to the database and stored files of the twelfth division while within the soul society, several repeaters had to be designed to allow her to access it from other realms, but their prototype phase had not been accomplished during the one hundred years yet due to the intricacies required to operate them.
During the last two decades of this little gap of time, Hanabi dedicated it to trying to overcome her anthropoaversia, being too nervous and anxious around people to the point of avoiding them. She had a lot of time to try and be better about going out of her way to talk to people rather than holing up in her laboratory, something that the rest of her division had to lock her out of the place to achieve!
As for the last five years before the century came to a close, Hanabi spent it reconnecting with her zanpaktuo spirit after an incident that called for her shikai and difficulty in wielding it; and practicing with zanjutsu to avoid getting too rusty.

 

[Shinigami]

One hundred years, that's how long this method had gone on. Just barely in the last ten was the procedure finally deemed a success, and Jinno was free to go. Every day beyond the last ten, he had Captain Nakamoto surgically snapping and healing his bones to withstand his own Bankai. In the last ten, Shoumetsu and Hiroka had finally been able to kick each other's ass in their new training area built by the twelfth division. Jinnosuke's goals were simple after the reformation of central after the alleged events of Shoubatsu. Finding out his friend Maho was killed was a bit of a shock to Jinno, but he wasn't about to charge Central and demand answers. It wasn't his place, and Maho always knew what he was getting himself into.
So far, they had been able to break, shout, scream, and tear it apart while it simply rebounded or shut down for a while and then repaired itself and allowed them to re-enter it. Jinnosuke had finally been able to train in that blasted shell of a Bankai without sending himself into an emergency condition. This allowed them to build their teamwork and allow Jinnosuke to hone his Kido and Hakuda to the point of honoring his friend The Dragon by developing his own start to a flaming Shunko.
Sometime during this, Shoumetsu tried for Captain. Just like Jinno himself and Hiroka, he came up short. This fueled each of them further in their private training. Shoumetsu was now far more skilled than when he had tested, and Hiroka was no slacker, refusing to get left behind. They had formulated multiple strategies and attacks for the optimal destruction of their enemies.
The clang of swords would abruptly stop.
" You boys know I couldn't give two shits about who is in charge of what now, but I'm gonna need you to file reports properly. No more half-ass signatures, SHOUMETSU! " He screamed as a hunk of metal swiftly came to his face only to stop inches from it. However, the chain trailing off the handle would lift into the air, falling right on the center mass of Shoumetsu head. An audible GONK! It would resonate from the top of his head.
" Though I do think lockin' Shoubatsu up in the Mukken is going to bite them in the ass. Ain't felt a good vibe from a lot of first division since that mess happened. Not that I got good vibes before, I guess. Somewhat freaky, the lot of them. Oh well, I'm done for the day, got some exploring to do. I need to speak with Omoni bout the kid. "
He would flip his massive Zanpakuto onto his shoulder before finding the black leather satchel that holds it like a harness instead of a typical sheath. The chain he would wrap around his right arm until it cuffed at his wrist. " Try not to break shit, and if you need to save the day, make sure you look badass doing it. Yall are dismissed as far as I'm concerned; enjoy the rest of your day. " He would then wander off towards the only place Omoni might be on a hot summer day.
He masked his retreat as bravado, his signature style of exit or entrance. The real reason he needed to find Omoni was because he was getting that feeling again. The one that landed him in the Maggot's Nest decades ago. HE couldn't tell if his age was getting to him or the lack of a real fight, but Jinnosuke wanted to murder again. Every swing in practice, Every look he glances by, all made his blood boil over. He tried subsidizing the feeling or addiction to battle by filling the past with more tortuous training or things like eating human foods or fishing with Omoni or helping her with the kid.
Few could tell he was only faking his usual bravado, masking a deeper animality with passive aggression. Now that the only person capable of understanding this bloodlust was in prison so tightly secured, even Aizen hasn't been able to budge without the higher-ups knowing. There really was only one person able to get Jinno to shut up and stop feeling this way. Omoni Hageshi, and even then, these escapes to clear his head were starting to fail him.
After moving himself from eyesight, Jinno would dash off, holding his chest as if in physical pain.
" This what is this... It feels like... There is something inside me, am I sick? I want to kill every person I look at, and I thought I had this under control. " These thoughts raced through his mind as he fled to the Rukongai.
Feelings

The feeling of Jinno clutching his own chest would grow tighter as if his heart was faltering and something was trying to burst out.
" i killed them? Who did I kill? There must have been a lot of them? Hasn't there? " Voices similar to the ones from the giant stone faces from his Spiritual world would echo in his mind and this infinite falling darkness.
" Yes, we killed them, we killed them all, and we will keep killing; you won't hold me back forever. " Another voice breaks out, violent and loud. Startling Jinnosuke, although he doesn't feel fear from this voice, he feels violence, danger, the complete disregard of life. " You keep suppressing me, and you'll keep falling, sinking, further from sanity. Further from the light. "

" What is this voice? Is it a hollow? How did it get in my mind? My heart? Where is Ikari?!"

The sudden manifestation of the beast inside Jinnosuke would snarl and show its face in his Spiritual world.
" This.. is.. me? How... How could I allow my heart to suffer like this? What's happening to me. I thought I suppressed this part of my soul" He would maneuver as if to recoil, and only then would he come too and snap out of it.
Jinno stood, arm locked in place, holding onto a tree outside the 11th Division compound. His hand was clutching the tree so tightly it was the only thing holding it up from falling over in half. Jinnosuke looked pale with more than training sweat on his brow. He looked as if he just survived a heart attack. Panic slowly leaving his face, he would slap himself lightly on the face a few times before standing up straight and allowing the tree to topple over.
" Get it together, man, seriously." He would mutter to himself before vanishing in a Shunpo.
Traveling to The Rukongai.

 

[Shinigami]

The sound of steel clashing against steel rang throughout the 11th division barracks periodically with it becoming uncommon to have shinigami passing by to not hear the familiar sounds. Ever since Shoumetsu and Hiroka cleaned up the mayhem left by the sudden Arrancar invasion in the World of the Living, he came to quickly realize the true threats that were slowly building their army to contend with Soul Society. The Eleventh Division was the first line of defense and the true pride of Seireitei which formed the backbone that inspired all the other divisions to work as hard. Because of this he made sure every member of the 11th division upheld this pride to the core of their souls and was always prepared for battle no matter the time or place. He didn’t care if they were taking a shit or in the middle of other activities, he expected for them to have their zanpakuto with them at all times, and remained completely alert. To help reinforce this belief he turned it into a daily habit of randomly attacking his squad-mates even the Lt and 4th seat without question to not only help them but himself as well. Once Shoumetsu initiated the attack from there they were at first expected to duel for countless minutes then eventually hours without break for a set amount of time with it increasing until it lasted for an entire day straight. This practice of training lasted for the majority of the years before they subjected this training amongst each other with Jinnosuke, Hiroka, and Shoumetsu fights lasting multiple days without rest until the winner was declared or forced tie between the combatants. Sometime during this he decided to take a wild chance to test for Captaincy over his squad although that experience opened his eyes to where he truly stood power level-wise and knew he couldn’t stay the same level he was.

A silver flash sparked around him with the peaceful chime of blades clashing into one another. In his moment of serenity, his thoughts trailed back to his sensei Kiyoko who taught him everything he knew growing up in the Rukongai. Shoumetsu wished nothing more than to become a Kensei known throughout Soul Society and his enemies all the same as the fastest swordsman. The sound of swords clashing again resonated around him with the silvery flash blinding him once more with each clash of the blade the person on the other side flashed between his friends and the countless enemies slain in the Rukongai district. In the final flash from the blades, Shoumetsu found himself experiencing out-of-body experience watching himself along with Hiroka and Jinnosuke all walking down through the Rukongai with matching pompadours. Shoumetsu suddenly snapped out of his sleep in a cold sweat then looked around in a bit of panic breathing heavily and quickly checked his hair to make sure it wasn’t a pompadour too. Calming down after a while he let out a small sigh of relief about to head back to bed and laid down but instead of finding the comfort of his bed, he found himself falling in endless darkness. The sound of crackling lightning and roaring thundering soon broke the silence of the empty darkness before crashing hard onto a dirt floor immediately cringing in pain. Seconds after his crash landing the sky lit up with a blinding flash followed by a lightning bolt striking at his feet sending a surge of electricity rippling through the ground.

Once Shoumetsu blurred vision cleared up with his ears still ringing, he glanced up to see the continuous crackling of lightning taking form. There he saw Enshojo staring directly at him in silence before she just turned, taking a couple of steps away with her back to him then suddenly disappeared in another flash of light. Although nothing was spoken between the two of them, a part of him knew what she wanted, and could feel a pull guiding him to where he needed to go. Letting whatever attracted him to this specific location he willingly went to go where Enshojo had wished him until finally in an open canyon with a metallic tree line forming a cage around them. Standing in the middle Enshojo waited patiently wielding the zanpakuto in its Shikai form, and wasted no time the moment he stepped foot in the arena getting trapped in as all the metallic trees formed a cage of electricity around them. She immediately threw her blade at Shoumetsu forcing him to dodge it quickly leaving a small cut on his cheek, but the moment it hit the edge of the cage it rebounded off of it with even more force and speed cleanly slicing through his side as she caught the returning blade. Before he had time to recover she was already located directly in front of him with both blades slashing across his chest sending him to be thrown into the cage just to get repelled back into her impaling him with her horns. At the same time Shoumetsu coughed up blood in his inner world, so did he in bed at 11th division causing some people who heard the noise to become alarmed. Every wound he was experiencing in this intense battle against Enshojo physically appeared on his body outside of his inner world, and at this point, it was clear as day for the first time Enshojo was challenging him to a death match.

”You have done well to get this far and only because you grew stronger was I able to reach my full potential, my beloved Shoumetsu. But this is as far as my appraisal will go because I refuse to let a pathetic piece of trash use my power, and the only way you will learn my true name is by killing me in this arena or die knowing you are weak.”
Her words rang out to him like resounding thunder as Shoumetsu drew his zanpakuto with them instantly taking their Shikai form. The way Enshojo moved across the battlefield she danced in a wild elegant movement yet every strike she made held such fierceness that he was constantly being pushed back and couldn’t escape. No there was more to it, with every attack her next one hit with more power and speed behind it with none of her moves wasted it just presented another opportunity to swiftly follow up with another attack creating a rhythm of growing momentum that only fueled her the more she attacked and danced. This intense battle carried on for a couple more days with the non-seated members of the 11th division doing the best they could attempting to dress his wounds as quickly they appeared, but they were just appearing too fast. His mind happened to start roaming to flashbacks of his other fights but with them all ending with a different outcome, spars, actual battles against hollows, the fight against the togabito; left riddled in cuts on the ground. He finally realized that Enshojo represented his darker self, the side who relished in causing suffering. Why did he seriously enjoy fighting? It wasn’t for the thrill of defeating his opponents or even killing them for that fact. It wasn’t even about protecting somebody or fighting for an ideal. He relished the sensation of drawing out fights just to keep inflicting pain and suffering until they couldn’t endure anymore on whoever stood on the opposing side of his blades, be it friend or foe. I am a monster. Finally coming to terms with his inner turmoil he broke out into hysterical crazed laughter dashing straight at Enshojo with the real performance finally beginning. The two spent another day and night clashing it out blow after blow with every slash of the blade spraying the area around them in blood until one clash of the zanpakuto caused Shoumetsu to shatter into pieces where she left a deep gash across his chest. As Enshojo zanpakuto started to gradually crumble away, she looked down to the bloodied Shoumetsu about to deliver the killing blow when suddenly coughed up a large amount of blood falling slumped over him. His hand pierced straight through her chest gripping tightly onto her heart still feeling it beating within his grasp, and covering him in her spilling blood. Feeling her heartbeat slowing down she leaned closer into him whispering weakly into his ear, ”Now speak my name beloved Shoumetsu…”
With the fading heartbeat of his zanpakuto he cared and respected greatly, he called out in pain “Ban-Kai...Enshojo Kaminari-kei (Fate-Hindering Woman, Thunder Prison)!” With those words spoken all the blood she spilled on him hardened into metallic skin that coated his entire upper body with Enshojo seemingly fading away entirely, meanwhile outside of his inner world where he snapped out of the back into 11th division barracks explosion of spiritual energy erupted from his body destroying everything around his vicinity while the squad-mates near him got tossed across the room taking damage from his reiatsu. When the smoke finally cleared Shoumetsu was seen swaying back and forth barely able to stand clad in his Bankai causing a small amount of havoc with the uncontrolled electromagnetic field he created before his Bankai suddenly crumbled away from off his body as he collapsed finally succumbing to the injuries and extreme exhaustion he endured. He spent the next week in what many thought to be a comatose state but in reality, while he rested physically, he was stuck in meditative Jinzen where he spent learning to mimic Enshojo dance she used on him to become a stronger swordsman and better understand how to wield her powers. Soon after he recovered from learning his zanpakuto true name, he began training even more so with Hiroka to develop how to properly incorporate kido in his dance moves while his comrade who cared very little for kido got the chance to train on multiple ways to deal with it. On small breaks in between training Shoumetsu tried his best to explain the concepts of Bankai and how all he needs to do is beat the shit out of his zanpakuto spirit for it to tell you its real name wanting to help somebody he always saw as equal achieve the same power Lt. Jinnosuke & himself had. However, Shoumetsu rigorous training didn’t just stop at physical conditioning but desiring for his mind to be as sharp as his body he spent an equal amount of time reading up on records of all the previous Kenpachi, any knowledge he could get his hands on about zanpakuto, and one of his favorite case studies to read up on was about Hell and its occupants.

The art of the sword was exactly that of Shoumetsu, beautiful art and a long-forgotten one. Just like any artist he worked endlessly for the hundred years turning every fight into a masterpiece and grew irritated quickly at those who treated swordsmanship so poorly. To this extent, he made sure to master the way of the blade along with other weapons both physically and mentally until he became a weapon master. This later led him to visit his friend Izanagi to see how far he had approved and got a bit disgusted at the sight of his zanjutsu techniques. On days where Hiroka was busy Shoumetsu at first started to force Izanagi to fight him in the beginning then became another one of his frequent sparring partners experiencing the new him who gave in to the pleasure of seeing how many times he could cut up Izanagi before they called a quits on training for the night. As sloppy Izanagi swordsmanship was in the beginning soon turned into somebody he took great delight in during the hundreds of years giving him a chance to try to fix his trouble teaming up with other squads for missions.
Any chance he got to do missions in the living world he took advantage of to fight in scenarios to the death without holding back often leading for Shoumetsu to toy with the hollows in a sadistic manner cutting them up as much as possible without killing them before he finally decided to destroy their hollow mask. Still, he ached to test his newfound strength against worthier threats the togabito and Arrancar, staying vigilant for any sign of their presence to show up again. In the barracks, the underground training hall where it allowed them to train their Bankai without damaging the rest of the Soul Society, part of the training he put himself through was practicing control over his magnetic field by attempting to assemble intricate and complex constructs.
Before he knew it hundred years had gone by with many peers growing strong too only making Shoumetsu eager to see how far along they have come. With him having a general understanding of how to use his Bankai now though still far from mastering it, and his artificial limbs at this point moved naturally like they were an actual set of arms the truth of the matter when he heard Lt Jinnosuke scold him about the amount of effort on half-ass doing the paperwork he sadly wasn’t far from the truth in that. The fact was Shoumetsu dedicated himself to so many other things to grow stronger most of the time he forgot doing paperwork was part of his duties and tried to weasel his way at times to get Hiroka to do it for him. That was until he came up with something he thought was quite clever: making a stamp with his signature on it to sign papers faster without the hassle. Despite part of his swordsmanship training containing calligraphy and came quite talented with it, he still preferred the practical use of his signature stamp. Seeing how they had some time to kill for once Shoumetsu didn’t know exactly what he wanted to do so looked to Hiroka to see if he had any plans on what he was going to do for the day.
“I am thinking of taking some sweets to that little brat Yasu if you want to tag along. It’s a new recipe I tried using some of the humans' strange ingredients, truffle muffin with a ketchup surprise filling. She eats practically everything so be curious if this new recipe is a big hit.”