BSD
Administrator
While other divisions prepare for the Kenpachi Games, or moving to fulfil the tasks entrusted to them by the Commander, it is the Onmitsukido within the Second Division Barracks that appear to be continuing on as normal. They do not break or stray from their regimens nor do they ponder about the outcome of the tournament being held. No man or woman remains idle..no man save for.
The office of the Captain is surprisingly vacant, absent of the man who is nearly always occupying it. Instead it is his personal quarters where the Phantom resides, resting atop a pillow his zanpakuto rests across his lap. Kyomu is silent, unmoving as he is submerged at first into his own mind and consciousness, and then propelled even further still. When he opens his eyes he does not perceive the room he was last in, or the pillow he was sitting on. The Captain’s surroundings are not even those of his barracks or that of the Seireitei for that matter. This unsettling darkness, the stale air and impenetrable fog 一 Kyomu is far too familiar with his new environment.
He stares off into the endless expanse of his inner world. Eyes glancing from one side, then to the next. He steps forward, the smoke like mist unmoving as it lingers smothering the Phantom’s surroundings. Though he is walking forward it is truly impossible to determine if he is continuing in a straight path. As he traverses further and further into the depths of his inner world, his mind is brought back to the events within the Captain’s hall.
He had delivered his report as ordered, and while he displayed no emotion regarding the matter, it is instead shown by another. Unexpectedly the Kido Chief speaks up regarding the matters of his adopted younger brother. Normally a man of patience, calmness it appears even the Buddha has his limits. Captain Oda admonishes the actions of the young Lieutenant, speaking the hard and cruel truths that the young Oda often turns a deaf ear to, averting his gaze from the cruel reality of the world they live in. A bleeding heart that fancies himself a hero to the downtrodden. Though a kind soul, young Katsuo does not understand how that same reckless kindness can be a poison, a weapon easily exploited by those both cruel and intelligent, both cunning and patient. Tenzen was always aware of these aspects of his younger brother, that at his core the true nature of Katsuo was that of a liability.
The Buddha calms himself, reigns in his anger, his emotions and does the most rational thing he can in an incident like this. He rids himself and his clan of the liability that is Katsuo. The Lieutenant is Oda no more. Like Honoka, Katsuo stands fallen and disgraced. It is ironic that both individuals acted in manners they perceived to be justified, yet those same actions were what put them in opposition of the establishment they had sworn fealty to, damning the two by their own hands. One a former Lieutenant the other a current one, though for how much longer was difficult to say. The two truly were parallels of one another.
SWOOOOSH
Kyomu leaps forward, rolling and tumbling in a kneeling position as a large blade swings from one side to the next like a pendulum. Its arrival was sudden, expected yet...unexpected all the same. With the strange fog like mist surrounding him it was as if the blade manifested out of thin air. Amber hues glance back, watching as the blade continues swinging, never losing momentum. The more he stares however the more obscure the blade becomes as the mist begins to cover it, its form darkening into a silhouette until it disappears from his view completely.
He pushes himself up to his feet, and carefully treads ahead. His inner world was a death trap, it was impossible to tell when the next one would be triggered, and where it would come from.
Far above the traveling Phantom, the only eyes capable of peering clearly through this world watch over Kyomu. Genzoken stands with folded arms, their expression ever hidden behind the mask resting over their face. The spirit says nothing, does nothing. As Kyomu ventures further inside. While this world is one that demands the entirety of one’s focus, the Captain’s mind can’t help but continue to reflect on everything that has transpired before now. He again revisits that day two weeks ago, as Genzoken slowly retreats into the fog like haze that surrounds him.
"Saiko has nothing to do with the actions of myself… and, your wrong Captain Oda, Captain Mukuro. I think about my Duties, do my job, but I also worry for the future of the Gotei 13…. If we continue killing those who have been nothing but loyal all their lives for the seireitei we are no better off than we were 100 years ago, or even 1000…. I am Loyal to my Head Captain and Gotei 13, but I believe Honoka, and the child deserve a chance at life. If you kill the boy's mother in front of him or anything resulting in Violence… What would be the benefit of such a thing? Teach him the laws… teach him our ways, help Honoka…. And I see a warrior fit for the Gotei 13, someone future shinigami could stand beside… if we were to kill them both it would be a waste of resources and… souls… I didn't report it because I too wanted Honoka to come back on her own time, and peacefully…"
Kyomu remembers the fallen Oda’s words all too clearly. He first works to clear his subordinate’s name, an admirable trait...and then returns to his pedestal. Perched snugly atop his moral high horse, Katsuo speaks of killing those who have been loyal to the Seireitei while understanding nothing. The Oki were loyal? Why was this, because they said so or...simply because Katsuo desperately wished to believe they were…needed to believe they were? Loyalty was quite the...peculiar thing. It was always easy for one to speak of when things were easy, when everything was running smoothly, going one’s way and did not clash with one’s own thoughts or ideals. But, what if that loyalty demanded you to act out of faith and duty 一 commitment to the cause you had sworn to despite what you may believe or perceive? The Oki were loyal until it didn’t suit them, evident by the tireless shielding of Honoka for a whole century. Katsuo was loyal...but only so long as it didn’t conflict with what he believed to be right or wrong.
Situational loyalty was meaningless, in fact..it wasn’t loyalty at all.
Kyomu stood there, listening as he is yet again painted the monster of the Seireitei, a mere heartless killer unable to feel or discern anything more than death. He speaks about Honoka’s potential death as though the Phantom wished it, all while ignoring the fact that Kyomu ensured that despite slaughtering her clan, both Honoka and the boy were brought to the Seireitei safely. Kyomu had not done anything to harm the boy, had not even physically detained him despite his origins. He speaks of violence being shown before the child yet it's clear his words hold a bias towards the Phantom. Katsuo ignores the most crucial aspect of the Captain’s report...that it was Honoka who had shown and expressed violence towards Kyomu from the very beginning, not the other way around. Perhaps without even realizing it, Katsuo has stated that it was fine for Honoka the traitor to express violence towards Kyomu before the child, but it was terrible if he or any other did. Would Katsuo have been satisfied had Honoka actually managed to strike him down? Kyomu could hear it now, the Lieutenant justifying his death at Honoka’s hands.
It was fine though, the Phantom had grown accustomed to playing the role of the villain. His loyalty was not one that was purely situational, ideal for the moment. Kyomu always fulfilled his duties, regardless of his feelings. This was both tested and confirmed by him going after Honoka who, up until the point she had attacked him with hostility, had been a close friend to him...one of the very few he ever had.
Katsuo’s tirade continues on as his ignorance and naivety continues to make itself known. He believes himself to be naive by believing that clans could never get along with one another, when in truth the noble families were not in open opposition to each other. While not every clan may trust the another, the only one truly perceived as an enemy to one or many of the families would be none other than the Mukuro. Their history of assassination and blackmail has gained them little friends or allies within the Soul Society...if they even had any. Then, the begging begins, the Lieutenant grovels for his life, his freedom. It would appear that since he was already stripped of the Oda name, he may as well fully cast away any semblance of Oda pride. Rather simply standing by to accept and await his faith, Toshiyuki falls to...begging.
’Pathetic’
----
“Silence.”
The Commander’s thunderous voice puts an end to the Lieutenant’s mewling. He reprimands Katsuo before the room and then as if on cue, Captain Nakamoto and…Captain Hageshi join the room. Kyomu finds himself recalling their brief battle back in the valley of screams. Truth be told, it was a frustrating one. The woman had not acted the way he expected or predicted...yet...at the same time, she did. It was confusing, and aggravating for him to say the least. Yet it is that same perplexity that she caused within him, that same frustration born by her actions and ability that not only allowed her to don the haori, but return as one of the few souls to go unscathed after facing his blade. Perhaps one day he would rectify that.
The doors once again open as three Lieutenants enter, two immediately presenting themselves to the Commander while one chooses instead to loiter around his respective Captain. Lieutenant Hyouzoku was one of the individuals the Commander had Kyomu summon, but what of Lieutenant Ise? He was meant to call for her Captain, not her..how very odd. Was the eccentric once more shirking his duties? The man was growing more and more mad it seems. Then there was Lieutenant Kiyoshi...a former subordinate of the Phantom’s back when he had chosen to join the Second division only to abandon it to join the Sixth, and later to become the subordinate of yet another former subordinate of the Phantom.
There was a sense of awkwardness in the air as the Kiyoshi casually lit up a cigarette, smoking away freely within this hall before the Commander, during such a tense situation as this one. Kyomu cannot help but to see the fallen Dragon’s form overlapping with that of Shusuke’s. Ironic, that the current Lieutenant of the Ninth Division would mirror the actions of the former Captain. Hopefully he would not meet a similar end. Kyomu glances towards Yasu, the first time in a century that he has paid her any actual mind...visibly at least. It is a look that speaks volumes to the girl..or is at least meant to, while saying nothing to anyone else who may perceive the visual exchange. His eyes are pulled away when Lieutenant Ise reveals why it is her who stands before them and not her Captain.
"An unknown assailant has murdered Captain Itsuki Asakura. Upon my investigation into his whereabouts, I discovered his body within the Kuroari district in the Rukongai. Captain Asakura's body was bloodied, in tatters, and dirtied by the unidentified presence."
Kyomu is slightly surprised and at the same time, he isn’t. Captain Asakura was a reckless and wild man, untamed and unhinged. There was no telling what dangerous element he flirted with while out and about performing his secret investigations. Captain Kojima, and now Captain Asakura, two men the Phantom perceived as fools unworthy of the haori they adorned, and both now dead. While a blow to the Seireitei the Captain knew they would only heal and grow stronger from it. The newly instated Captain Hageshi was proof of this, something he would perhaps never openly admit.
CLICK
While feet carry him across the maroon covered ground, his left foot sinks down. Without delay the Phantom propels himself forward as a volley of blades jut up from the ground at irregular angles and intervals in an attempt to skewer him. As he rushes forward a blade, similar to the first one swings across, missing him by a hair’s breadth. Kyomu steals a breath as he carefully maneuvers himself past the swinging blade and takes a moment to rest and collect himself. He doesn’t wait too long, the Captain is no fool. He understands that this world is an unforgiving one, while one may believe they are safe so long as they do not move to potentially trigger another trap, lulled into a false sense of security, it is then he will be attacked, be it by the world or Genzoken himself. The Phantom turns his eyes upward, straining his eyes as if seeking to peer through the veil that hides this world. As always his inner world was testing him, if he wavered or faltered in body, mind or spirit he’d have fallen to one of the many traps by now. The pain would have been unbearable, pierced and torn to shreds only to be remade once more, forced to continue on until he grounded himself. While emotions were the strongest tool for some, a source of encouragement to carry them on, for an assassin it was the opposite. Emotions were the enemy, they presented shackles, weaknesses that could be exploited.
“Honoka Oki.”
The mighty Commander addresses Honoka the traitor, Honoka the disgraced. She is the first to receive his judgement, and while to the layman it is lenient, one where anyone should and would be grateful for...it is a fierce pain to a mother. Higen was essentially killing the boy’s view of his mother, or rather he would be in the years to come. The loving mother he had grown to see up until now, would be transformed forever in his mind under the commander’s tutelage. Without her clan to back her, without the prestige of the position she once held as Head Lieutenant she would be forced to busy herself in the academy, a living history lesson to those that pass through. She is an example of how easy it is for one to fall, and lose everything they ever knew. Next comes Katsuo who is freed along with his subordinate by the Commander’s mercy and will. The boy should be elated, the child he had risked everything to visit was allowed to live, Saiko was freed and he was allowed to maintain his position and his life. With those matters handled the Commander hands down his next list of orders. They include the active monitoring and neutralizing of the hollow infested humans, the Fullbringers. Kyomu glances at Katsuo then towards the Commander. Was he testing Katsuo? Surely he knew that the boy was a bleeding heart, did the Commander truly expect this same Katsuo to point his blade at those humans? The answer was of course a resounding YES.
The boy had spoken about his loyalty and commitment to his duties, it seems he would be given another chance to prove that loyalty, perhaps his last and final chance at that. The next bit of news was something Kyomu could never have predicted let alone imagined.
“We will have this show of strength, we will discover the most powerful among us. But we will also make it a spectacle.. Yes.. We will pull the districts back into the fold and give them something to cheer for, something to watch. There will be a tournament. A tournament to identify the strongest in our ranks; no, not just in our ranks, the strongest in all of Soul Society. Let us cast our net far and wide, and utilize every resource we have to find warriors for our war, and to eliminate the weak.”
A tournament? Really? Kyomu closed his eyes, while this news may perhaps have been exciting for others, such as the brutes and mongrels of the Eleventh Division, it meant absolutely nothing to Kyomu. He began to dismiss this bit of news, believing it to have nothing to do with him. After all, there was no way he’d participate in such a meaningless act as this one. Or...so he thought.
“Captain Mukuro, Take this opportunity to thin your cells, spend your time gathering prisoners of the Maggot’s nest you deem suitable to compete.”
“All Captains, excluding Yasu, your participation is required. There will be no rules, no restraints, no limitations. Ensure that every participant knows that at any moment, their life could be forfeit. “
Kyomu nodded his head as he was instructed to inform the prisoner’s of the nest regarding the tournament. No doubt a chance at freedom for the damned lot. The next bit of information however caused the Phantom’s eyes to spring open. All Captains...the Commander was really going to make him participate. Kyomu clenched his teeth as he silently accepted the command. He glances at his colleagues, each of their expressions varying regarding the news, Tenzen’s being the most drastic one of them. Truly he was an Oda through and through.
“Two weeks time.. In Two weeks time we will find out who is the most powerful of you all. In Two weeks time we will unify the Rukongai and the Seireitei in a way foreign to all times previous to now. In two weeks time, we will have…”
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
“Captain, everyone’s gathered and ready.”
Kyomu’s eyes open as he finds himself once more sitting atop the pillow within his living quarters. He glances down at his zanpakuto resting on his lap and takes hold of the blade. Exiting his room he walks the halls of the Second Division, stepping out into the open grounds where Ochitsuki, Oyama, Himari, and Shinotori have gathered. He does not bother wondering about the whereabouts of Utsuro. The girl was, for now, as harmless as she was useless. She would not act or move without being told when to move, how to move. She was a doll, a machine even moreso than Kyomu himself. For now, he would consider the machine to be turned off. If he truly needed to he would retrieve or discard it at a later time. The ever frail Shinobu was yet again, indisposed, recuperating her strength within her quarters.
His eyes go from Ochitsuki, lowering down to Oyama, shifting over to Shinotori before finally landing on Himari. Truth be told he had not expected the girl to last as long as she did, he was certain she would try to quit her first day. In his head, he perceived the girl buckling under the torture caused by Ochitsuki, desperately seeking to escape from the man’s clutches and the Second Division as well, thus showing her true colors. When that happened he’d kill her and that would be the end of it. Things hadn’t gone as he predicted, instead of folding the girl persevered. She stubbornly continued whatever training was thrown her way, always glaring and scowling yet never yielding. Just maybe she truly was different. Perhaps her resolve was not as feeble as he once believed.
”When I returned I told you all about the tournament taking place, and I’ve given you all two weeks to decide if you wished to participate or not. I do not expect any of you to join, as I myself do not wish to. If your feelings however differ from my own then when I depart, simply follow behind me. For now, let's go to the Nest.”
With his arms resting behind him, he steps off into a shunpo, making his way towards the Nest of Maggots. His steps are intentionally slow enough for the four to still see and follow him, yet still quick enough to maintain a considerable distance between him and them, forcing them to exert themselves more in an attempt to ensure they did not lose sight of him despite knowing their destination. He did this more for Himari’s sake than the others, using this moment to allow her to practice her shunpo somewhat. The Captain does not allow the journey to be any longer than needed, the door to the nest soon coming into view. The guards stationed on either side present their greetings to the Captain, holding their hands out for the weapons of all those gathered at the entrance while simultaneously opening the door.
Kyomu places his zanpakuto and several blades in their hands while continuing on, never missing a beat. He expects the four to follow suit as he descends down into the nest.
”Ochitsuki, have there been any further anomalies since the incident you reported during my return? And has anyone inside the nest expressed a desire to participate in these...Kenpachi Games?”
It was clear he wasn’t asking about any more strange or stronger quakes, since his return he would have felt such a thing himself. No, he wanted to know if there was anything transpiring beyond his field of view, something less...noticeable. The prisoners roam about like lifeless zombies, dragging their feet as they lumber about. Before Kyomu could leave he needed to settle his affairs back at the barracks. He had hoped he wouldn’t have to actually let one of these prisoners out into the world 一 so far so good. Those who had heard about the tournament were either too far gone mentally to truly register what was being said, or too scared of the prospect of dying to even bother volunteering to go. Whatever their reason for remaining silent, it worked in the Phantom’s favor. He’d make sure this one last time before setting off, taking the opportunity to visually inspect the integrity of the prison as well.
”Oyama, while I’m away I want you to dispatch the Inner Court Troops around the Seireitei, have them constantly relay any intel about the ongoings between the other Divisions. With an event of this scale there’s no telling if someone might see this as an opportunity to do something stupid while everyone’s attention is on the games. Since your division is the fastest in terms of their shunpo they will be faster in getting around. Due to their task no one should question their presence if they do happen to see them since it's known their job is solely to act as messengers. If seen, it should be assumed they are merely delivering a message somewhere, and unless that person is the recipient, asking them to explain where they’re going and who they’re attempting to find will be meaningless. That should be an adequate enough cover.”
Kyomu stops in his tracks and begins to ponder. He glances over his shoulder at the gathered four.
”I also want you and Himari to begin training together. Practice your Zanjutsu and Hakuda. Both of you are highly proficient in Kido, but it's your Zanjutsu and Hakuda that truly needs to be honed and sharpened. This will be a good opportunity. Ochitsuki, you and Shinotori continue to monitor the Nest. The last time there was a big incident the Nest became compromised resulting in many prisoners escaping. I wont allow that to happen again. Understood?”
While he isn’t certain if any of the four plan on participating for now he gives his orders, each command holding particular significance. The securing of the Nest, the gathering of intel and surveillance of the Seireitei, and physical combat training for the new girl. He addresses everything he can think of, before venturing further ahead.
”Himari, come here.”
He calls for the woman, he and her would have words before his departure. He moves with the expectation of her following him, the two traveling in silence save for the groans of the zombie esque prisoners.
”What is it you are striving for? I don’t mean what you said when joining the Division. Besides strength, what is it you’re aiming for? What do you intend to do once you’ve gained the strength you so desire?”
This was uncharacteristic of the Captain, to ask the hopes or ambitions of another. He needed to know what drove this weak little girl, what is it that kept her going when by all accounts, she should have died at Ochitsuki’s hand, or quit to die by his own. Or, perhaps it was something more. He had grown used to individuals joining his division, reaping whatever benefits they could before leaving at the first opportunity. Each time it came unexpectedly, much to his frustration. While realistically he could not deny one’s desire to transfer divisions, it still did not sit well with him. He wanted to know the woman’s intentions, if she wasn’t like Kazumi...was she instead like one of the others? He comes to a stop, turning to face the girl awaiting her answer.
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