Shinigami
Administrator
The Rukongai, many things to many people. Home to some, a recruiting ground to others, and to many others it is..HELL. The poor and disenfranchised broken, suppressed and trampled on by the Nobles bloated by their wealth and prestige, and by Shinigami drunk off their newfound authority. Like a magnet or a whirlpool, it draws people of many kinds, different backgrounds, and various personalities to its depths — guided to and through its various districts.
Members of the Seventh Division convene, banded together by duty and the mystery that is their Captain’s absence. A boat composed of paper is conjured up, a construct of a shinigami’s zanpakuto, Sanyu Komamura, its architect. They are aimless, and much like the constructed boat, they are a ship with no sail and thus they float and move with little to no direction. Young Saiko Junsui of the Thirteenth Division, she too roams aimlessly, like the members of the Seventh she searches for her superior — Lieutenant Katsuo Oda who has chosen to prioritize estranged family, a former superior whom he’s not seen in a hundred years over the obligations of overseeing the squad entrusted into his care. Takashi Kiyoshi, not unlike young Katsuo, separates himself from the Seireitei, his Division and duty to instead serve family. As he trains, it is clear that he does so not for the Gotei 13, but for the clan, that it is them at the forefront of his mind as he plays sitter and guard to the young Kiyoshi child. Yes, all guided by their own thoughts, their own missions, their own priorities — and they are all equally insignificant.
Shadows, brief and fleeting dart along the ground. At first one may believe this to be mere birds passing overhead, however the number of dark streaks increase immeasurably in number. Glancing towards the skies reveals...nothing. Curious and prying eyes scan and scour the skies, unable to perceive anything beyond the blue canvass lingering above them. It is quite the curious phenomenon, another mystery added to the Rukongai. Its denizens are ignorant, unaware of the dark shadow sweeping over them, of the danger that has been brought upon them — its identity, and the reasoning behind its visit.
The nature of the shadows is revealed, but not to the citizens who call this cesspool a home. They are feeble in strength and ability, lacking the capacity to perceive the imperceivable, to sense the spiritual power otherwise suppressed and smothered into nonexistence, even through such heightened movements. It is the Onmitsukido that descends upon the Wandering Soul City of the Soul Society. Agents of stealth and death, they are guided by the one who commands them, Captain Kyomu Mukuro. As they follow in his wake they move at a single pace, the only one allowed…his. Propelling themselves off of rooftops, tree branches and reishi plates, their movements are without sound, shinigami both seated and unseated, green and experienced, lacking the capacity to notice, locate or track their steps.
Mid-flight a portion of the death cloud breaks off, branching towards a separate direction. There is no hesitation in their actions or movements, the main body continues along its course unimpeded, unhindered in any way.
"what on earth are you doing, Saiko?"
The young Oda asks, confused by the sight of his immediate subordinate disrupting a fight amongst the local rabble. He wonders why she is here and not back at the barracks, the very same place he should be and should have been. The Oda, one in name alone, believes the Rukongai to be his backyard, that all its citizens see him in a favorable light, that they respect and adore him. He fancies himself a fox...but foxes are sly, cunning and clever...these are all things that young Katsuo is not, aspects that he is lacking.
Unfortunate for him and young Saiko.
"You ready Junsui-san? I have a little task for us at Division 13, I could really use a hand. You feel like helping?"
He greets Saiko with his signature smile while in high spirits. Though he failed to meet the young child of Honoka and Shobatsu, he has succeeded in meeting Honoka face to face and delivering his gift for the child to its mother. While Saiko has succeeded in locating her Squad’s Lieutenant she will find there is little time to revel in the afterglow of her success, let alone respond to Katsuo’s questions. The two find themselves instantly surrounded, enclosed in a circle of men clad in black, faces half obscured behind cloth. While Saiko has not formally seen the stealth force, Katsuo has laid eyes upon them on at least two occasions. He is familiar with their commitment, and even more familiar with the one they serve. Their arrival comes without sign or warning, they stand there as statues of flesh and blood..silent as the grave.
After noting this sudden and unexpected appearance the next thing of note is the lack of discernible spiritual pressure from any single individual around them, and after that..it is the fact that each one has a hand resting atop their respective blades. Their hands on their swords is a silent warning towards them, and as Katsuo should well know...the Onmitsukido give very..very few warnings.
”Katsuo Oda-”
A single voice calls out to the Lieutenant. With their faces covered behind masks, unmoving even as they breathe. The one who speaks does not step forward, does not break rank and with their skill, throwing one’s voice is not impossible leaving the two shinigami lost on which of the faces amongst the encirclement is actually speaking at any given time.
”By order of Captain Mukuro you are to return to the Seireitei to go before the Captain Commander. You are to do so while in our custody.”
The voice issues out their Captain’s command, the last word letting Katsuo know that his compliance is not a subject of discussion. Should Katsuo choose to resist, to attack them, flee or show any signs beyond that of compliance they would respond without hesitation with merciless overwhelming force. Their heads turn in unison, eyes all aimed at the young Third seat.
”You. Saiko Junsui, you will also return with us to be questioned.”
As startling as it is to be surrounded by Onmitsukido agents, and to hear that her Lieutenant is being detained by these mysterious men, it is perhaps even more unsettling to her learning that now she too is meant to be questioned. Unbeknownst to perhaps either one of the two, it is solely due to her current proximity to the young Oda that has placed her in this predicament. By corresponding with the fugitive Honoka, and by visiting her he has become complicit in her treachery, her crimes. Saiko who now finds herself in the Rukongai and around the complicit Oda, the Onmitsukido are uncertain if Saiko is also here because of the Oki woman. They do not bother to guess or question, if they picked wrong and left her here their Captain would have their heads.
Akarui and Honoka, two women, two mothers, two nobles gaze at one another. Their respective looks to one another like night and day. The Gekko’s eyes reflect a mixture of emotions; sadness, confusion and disappointment. Despite being a mother herself she cannot understand the Oki’s actions yet despite this, it has not deterred or halted her frequent visits, has not dissuaded her from bringing her and the Commander’s son around the fugitive woman and child.
Akarui awaits Honoka’s response, as if hoping the woman had not grown naive during her time away playing house. As she waits, the compound is met with more guests today, in the form of the Onmitsukido. They surround the compound, standing atop the tiled rooftops, the gate and in the air atop fashioned plates of reishi. They are like the wind or air, imperceptible in their arrival. While normally the homes and compounds of Nobles are off limits to those outside of their family, especially to the Gotei 13 without just cause, Honoka’s actions has become a backdoor allowing their intervention. The Onmitsukido are strategically placed so that none of their feet touch the ground. While Honoka has been away for a century she is not without her zanpakuto — by keeping their feet off the ground they give themselves time to react to any plants or roots that would jut or sprout from the earth below. Their placement and positions allow them to have a perfect line of sight to one another and can thus view each other's blind spots, reacting to whatever their colleagues might miss. While everyone’s attention may appear to be focused solely on observing the compound and those within, a portion of their number splits their attention to hone their Reikaku on scouring the compound and the area around both it and them.
Despite foolish choices and foolish actions neither woman is a fool. They know that if the Onmitsukido have been mobilized and are present here, then the one who leads them is also nearby, if not already-
”Honoka-”
His voice appears before he does, or..at least so it seems. He approaches the women, his steps void of any sound, seemingly void of any actual weight behind them and thus not even vibrations ripple through the earth as he walks, not even slightly. It was as if the Captain wasn’t there, a perception reinforced by the Phantom’s lack of presence or reiatsu. As the Captain advances his eyes pan over towards the Gekko woman, it is a brief visual exchange before his eyes land once more on the Oki. While gazing at a familiar face, the eyes that gaze upon Honoka stare at her with a foreign coldness. They are not the eyes of the boy she met, nor do they belong to the man to whom she has known for so long — it is the cold gaze of the Corps Commander of the Executive Militia that holds the criminal mother beneath his cold gaze. His presence, that look is all that is required of him to reveal the truth to her.
“How much longer do you think that you can protect him, truly?”
That was the question her former subordinate had asked her. The answer now stares Honoka in the face, and it is...no longer. No longer can she hide away behind these walls, behind the lies of Naoki or the name of her Clan. No longer can she hide the child, her sin, his son.
”You and the child will return with me to the Seireitei.”
When he speaks it is short and to the point, his tone cold, flat..distant. His words do not come off as a question, not even an order, he spoke as if this was a single inevitable and indisputable fact. That no matter what Honoka did, no matter how hard she fought or attempted to struggle against this fate, nothing would change. Not for her, or that...child.
”You as well Akarui Gekko. We’ll be going to see the Commander. There is much to be said, much more to be answered for.”
That was it, no more words would be spoken from for there was nothing left to be said. The Onmitsukido, unfaltering in their loyalty to Kyomu and devotion to him, remain stalwarts suspended in the air and atop whatever foundation they found beneath their feet, save the ground itself of course. As they wait on their Captain, Kyomu awaits Honoka and Akarui. He doesn’t wait to see how they will respond, as he expects only one kind of response.
Their compliance.
Of the two women, Honoka is the one most familiar with the Phantom and his ways. She knows that just because she perceives Kyomu before them does not mean she is perceiving the Captain. This is what makes the Captain frightening, what makes him dangerous. Their compliance is in their best interest, it's in everyone’s. Honoka traded duty for pleasure, her obligation to the Seireitei in exchange for her obligation to herself. There was a debt she needed to pay for her actions
Now was the time to pay it, to settle all accounts.
[Arrived from Southeast Seireitei ]
