Peaceful Days

Posts : 111 Join date : 2012-11-28 Age : 34

The sun shone down bright and warm on Seireitei; early spring brought with it warmer weather and beautiful days not unlike this one. In the training grounds of the First Division several people were taking advantage of the good weather to get in some training while they weren’t busy with work, patrols, or the like. It wasn’t just any kind of training that was going on however; it was a teamwork exercise, and it had turned into something of a spectacle for the other Division members.

Four men stood in a loose circle around their target, Zanpaku-tou drawn. Standing between them was a young Shinigami; he wore the usual uniform though there was a notable absence of Zanpaku-tou. That was not the only thing that stood out about him though. He had true silver hair and eyes the color of emeralds. He didn’t look like he could be older than eighteen if he tried. And he looked more relaxed than he had any right too if we’re being honest. The four men set their stances, blades held at the ready. The teen took a breath and slid his right foot forward slight.

There was no signal to begin; the two members ahead of the younger rushed forward with rather clumsy slashes. The on behind and to his left rushed in as well; his was a finer slash. All three attacks came at varying levels so that simple dodging would not be possible; the blade all cleaved through empty air where the boy once stood. The fourth man rushed to the right as the boy appeared again; he lunged forward with a thrust aimed for the young Shinigami. The silver-hair took one step back, the blade gliding just past him. The man turned the thrust into a slow slash, which the teen ducked.

By this time the other three had caught up to what was going on and rushed forward as well. The young Shinigami gave an audible sigh; they were learning, but still making crucial mistakes. When next the man before him swung he stepped to the side and ducked. The second man reached him and he took a step back, forcing the second man to move in closer to the first. The third man reached them and vaulted over the other two, crashing down from above; this would be a valuable tactic in the field. The young Shinigami stepped forward, back into the first two men as the third landed; another step and he found himself between all three men as they turned on him…and realized their problem.

They had been drawn into extremely tight quarters; they couldn’t swing their blades without hitting one another. Or at least, that’s what it seemed like.
“Bakudo 9, Geki!” a voice rang out and an angry crimson aura appeared around the young Shinigami; he instantly felt his movement held for a moment. All three of the men around him swung their blades. All three blades stopped when they came into contact with the young boy’s body as he blocked the strike; the bakudo fell away as though it hadn’t been there.
“Much better than last time; I think you guys may actually be ready for me to start fighting back,” the young Shinigami said.

The response from the other Shinigami was simple; stunned reactions. And in that one moment not one of them could stop the young Shinigami from knocking them all down on their butts. This of course resulted in a chorus of laughter, first from the onlookers then from the combatants themselves. The young Shinigami smiled and chuckled along with them.
“Come on now Captain; that doesn’t seem fair,” one of them said. The young Shinigami gave a slightly sad smile at that and looked at them.
“Life so rarely is,” he said before he gave a dismissive gesture. “Next time you’ll get to work on bringing down a stronger opponent who is actually fighting back. Till then,” he remarked as he walked over to the wall and reclaimed three objects; two Zanpaku-tous and a Captain’s haori that sported the insignia of the First Division.

As you may have pieced together by now the young Shinigami was Genpaku Arishima, Captain of the First Division and Captain Commander of the Gotei Thirteen. He excused himself easily as the people went back to training on the grounds and made his way back to his office. He didn’t stay there for very long though; in fact he had gone back only to drop the Haori off back in the office. It wasn’t meant as a sign of disrespect or anything; people just acted differently when he was wearing the darn thing. They acted so formal and stiff; it was one of the drawbacks to the job he supposed. Though he technically had work he could be doing, on a day like this even he had a hard time thinking about that. He walked out onto the open balcony that looked out over Seireitei and leaned against the banister for a long while.

Genpaku suddenly didn’t feel like remaining in Seireitei for the moment; he was prone to these moods from time to time. He secured his Zanpaku-tous before he fixed his sights and took a step. Shunpo was one of the benefits of this “second life” as some thought of it. Genpaku was remarkably talented at the technique; he took a handful of steps and passed the border where Seireitei turned into Rukongai. Rukongai was a place of particular interest to Genpaku, but that’s a story for another time. He took a few more steps before he came to a stop. Rukongai was a big place, and it formed a loose ring around Seireitei. Past that there was endless wilderness and other surprises.

Genpaku had come to a stop on a sloping hill covered in grass. On a day like this, it was exactly what the Captain Commander was looking for. Without ceremony, and with a certain lack of grace, Genpaku flopped down onto his back and laid on the hill, looking up to the sky. Peaceful days like this…how long would they last? A year? A decade? A century? Soul Society’s history was one of violence, sudden and intense. The Winter War was still fresh in many minds and it was simply the most recent. With thoughts like that, Genpaku had decided long ago that peaceful days were something to be cherished and enjoyed. So he worked on doing exactly that.

Subject: Re: Peaceful Days Wed Mar 27, 2013 6:42 pm

Cold eyes stared at ink, waiting for the last trails to dry. Paperwork was not to be smudged in any way, shape, form, and/or fashion. That was one of the many rules of the Sixth Division. In fact, it was one of the nearly sixty rules on paperwork alone. That is why the Sixth Division's Captain, Byakuya Kuchiki, made sure that every bit of the ink way properly dried before stacking the papers to be sent to... well, wherever the paperwork went to. It wasn't all going to just budgeting, the Captain-Commander, the archives, or other places. The finished forms, contracts, notices, announcements, etc. would be spread out to pretty much everyone with any sort of power. That is why the nearly-perfect strokes of Captain Kuchiki's calligraphy were being watched by his very own eyes. Those two, cold slate-like eyes were watching a smaller scale version of paint drying.

As he confirmed the last page's approval signature was dry, Byakuya placed each paper one-by-one into pre-marked envelopes and other messaging devices. All of them were then sealed by a wax seal with the Sixth Division's emblem embedded. Slowly, he sorted the messages by importance. He sorted them again by whom they were addressed to. And finally, he sorted them once more by what type of message it was. It was a very time-consuming process, but such things were needed for the Sixth Division. They were held to higher standards not by nobility, but by their Captain. Byakuya wanted nothing but exemplary men in his division, or at least those that eschewed roughness in their behavior.

A member from the messenger corps would arrive to pick up the messages. Normally, Byakuya would have waited on the messenger to make sure the messenger knew who to deliver it to. However, something odd caught his eye as he opened the window to send out a Hell Butterfly to the messenger corps. It was only visible for a brief moment, but Byakuya was sure of what he had seen. Not only was the Captain-Commander leaving the Seireitei without escort, but sans-haori as well. Such things... were signs of either something illegal (either on his part or on another person's), him being under an illusion (Byakuya doubted this, knowing the Captain-Commander), or the most dishonorable of all... something personal.

Byakuya know that the Captain-Commander was still rather new, as was the previous one when he left. He knew that there hadn't been a large-scale threat in nearly a hundred years, and thus Shinigami were beginning to be a bit more... relaxed finally. However, the memories of the Winter War with Aizen & the Arrancar plus Juhabach & the Quincies were still fresh and burned into Byakuya's mind. The loss of so many Shinigami, including the Captain-Commander of over a millennium, would not be something so easily forgotten or pushed aside. It was in their memory that he worried about the relaxation of the Shinigami, especially the new Captain-Commander.

Byakuya stood up after sending the Hell Butterfly. The messenger would arrive eventually. The tall male Shinigami gracefully rushed to a wardrobe-like closet to the right of his desk. The hand-carved wooden doors gently swung open. Inside, Byakuya's haori rested atop a custom-made mannequin that kept the haori perfectly fit and unwrinkled. Laying in front of the mannequin's base was the white-sheathed katana known as Senbonzakura. It was held up by a pair of wooden arms, as if it were an offering to the Gods. Byakuya gracefully took the high-collar-modified haori and slid it on in a single motion. He took the sword and placed it on his waist, so he was ready to strike if there was indeed trouble.

The Captain's office's doors slid open as Byakuya exited to the outside. From there, he went straight up to see if he could get a view of the Captain-Commander. He was too far off, unfortunately for Byakuya. However, there was more than one way to track a Shinigami. Byakuya could feel the Reiatsu of the Captain-Commander coming from a general direction. Using the same technique the Captain-Commander used, Byakuya began the hunt. Nothing but nameless masses and peasants passed beneath Byakuya as he searched high and low. That's when he saw a speck of silver and black on top of a grassy knoll. Either this was an assassin or he had found his target.

Byakuya appeared like a channel coming in from static. He wasn't there one minute, but now he was in the flesh... or well you get the idea. As predicted, Byakuya had found his target. The man in charge of all of the Thirteen Court Guard Divisions—Genpaku Arishima. Byakuya had helped the young man before, but that was for something not as important. Byakuya's stern eyes were full of patronizing distaste. Not in the Captain-Commander himself, of course not. Byakuya held this man to high honor, even higher than his own. No, Byakuya's condescension came from Genpaku's actions.

"Captain-Commander, you—of all people—should understand that leaving without your haori on will cause distress and confusion." Byakuya's cold tone was almost lecturing Genpaku. It wasn't a 'You did this wrong, you're a horrible person and should feel bad' lecture. It was moreso Byakuya reminding the Captain-Commander that even small things have unintended consequences. "Some of the more paranoid could even take it as a sign of you abandoning your responsibilities and position."

Byakuya did not care how nice the sun felt. Byakuya did not care how soft the grass was. Byakuya did not care how cool the breeze was. Byakuya cared about the Soul Society. That almost seems broad and could even cover the things he did not care about. To be more specific, Byakuya didn't care about these ephemeral feelings such as the sun or the grass or the breeze. All of those things could be taken away in a war that could start at any moment for any reason by any person. Byakuya cared for, essentially, the continuation of the ephemeral things. He would fight for the continuation of this peace. He would fight to bring back the peace if it ever disappeared again.

That very pride he had in the peace around him and the Soul Society is why Byakuya was, for lack of a better term, concerned about Genpaku's actions. These things could cause chaos. These things could cause war. Of course, it would take a real nutjob to cause those over Genpaku's actions... but the Gotei 13 really hasn't had the best psychiatric help. Beasts such as Kenpachi Zaraki who wanted the exact opposite of what Byakuya wanted were allowed to be Captains, which is proof enough that there must be a figurehead that could lead to continue the peace—and that's what Byakuya saw in Genpaku.

Posts : 111 Join date : 2012-11-28 Age : 34

Genpaku worked on enjoying this day; that is not to say that he succeeded completely.

Now yes, the day was beautiful; the sun was warm, the breeze gentle, the grass soft. There wasn’t any shouts of anger or the like in earshot. It was the kind of day many would wish for. All of that was good; the Captain Commander’s thoughts were not nearly as relaxed as they should have been given all of that. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked out down the hill, back towards Rukongai and Seireitei. His thoughts lingered on something he had thought of before; Soul Society’s spontaneity when it came to violence. There was always violence in Soul Society some would say; they trained to, literally, go out and slay monsters. That was a job in a sense though; the kinds of violence bred in and due to events like the Winter War on the other hand were beasts of a different nature. The relative peace that hung over Soul Society now was like the calm before the storm.

For this rather downer thought, Genpaku was still in a surprisingly good mood. For today, this day, things were good. Beyond that though, Genpaku had learned long ago that he needed to believe he was ready for the times when things became hard; otherwise he’d drive himself crazy worrying about it. He took a deep breath and let it out. As much as this was a great day for relaxing, this was also the kind of day that, for Genpaku, was one of retrospection. It made a certain amount of sense; Genpaku was ‘born’ into this world of monsters amidst chaos and destruction. He had spent so much of his early time fighting and running. Things had been, for lack of a better word, dark. This kind of day was the opposite, and that calmness gave clarity to the mind of the young Captain Commander.

As he sat there, something caught the edge of his senses. It was faint, which was a mark of the incoming man’s skill. Then Genpaku was no longer alone; Kuchiki Byakuya appeared before Genpaku had started to his feet. He wore his distaste like some wore smiles; as open as the sky above them. Genpaku didn’t take it too personally; he gave a relatively subtle motion and was upon his feet a moment later, the sheaths of his Zanpaku-tous making a soft clack at the motion. Byakuya had launched into a reprimanding note about leaving his Haori when in public by that time.

This just goes to show you one of the constants of Soul Society; no matter who you were, you were never above being lectured about propriety by the avatar of such things. You would really expect nothing less really; it was like going to the Eighth Division. If you did so, and were a woman, you could expect to be set upon by the affections of Kyoraku-Taicho. If you walked into the Eleventh Division, expect to fight SOMEONE; if you were exceptionally unlucky, it would be Zaraki-taicho. You learned to accept it after a while.

Genpaku greeting to the Captain of the Sixth Division may not have been what you’d expect; the Captain Commander downed to the man. It wasn’t the stiff and panicked bow of someone bowing to a superior though; it was of respect. For most of the time that Genpaku had lived within Seireitei’s wall Byakuya Kuchiki was something of a legend. Most captains were to some degree sure, but there were those that people talked about more. That, and Byakuya Kuchiki was one of the Shinigami that existed Genpaku knew shared at least some of his feelings concerning Soul Society’s importance.

He straightened back up as the Captain finished speaking. The young Shinigami gave a small smile and a chuckle; not meant to be insulting to be clear.
“Then the paranoid may put their fears to rest; I have no plans to leave,” Genpaku said simply, his emerald eyes meeting Byakuya’s slate ones. Then he turned them back towards the settlements of Soul Society. He was quiet for a few moments.
“I know you’re right of course, Kuchiki-Taicho. Was merely taking advantage of the weather to get a change of scenery while I thought.”

He let his reason hang in the air. Sure, he had come out because of the nice weather and he expected many others would end up doing the same at some point or another. There were other reasons he had left the confines of Seireitei to be sure, but they all came back to the weather in the end he supposed.
“I also thought about training outdoors for once instead of retiring to Mugen,” he commented, though it almost seemed like it was aimed at him instead of Byakuya; as though he were reminding himself. He looked back Byakuya. Faced with one of the most serious men in all of Soul Society, Genpaku gave a small friendly smile.
“What of you, Kuchiki-Taicho? Anything other than a negligent Captain bring outside of Seireitei on this day?” It was a sincere question; Genpaku’s tone was friendly but polite. He may have long ago accepted that he could not be ‘friends’ with every one of the Captains, Vice Captains, and so on in the Gotei, but that did not mean he couldn’t be a good terms.

Sure he could probably guess the answer, but he’d be surprised before.