Central Seireitei

[HankMoody]

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“All divisions, be advised. Captain Itaku has entered a Hollowfied state. Captain Kagi has engaged. Maintain distance from Outer Perimeter—Grid Seven, Sector Four, and proceed with caution. Captain Kagi is working to maintain containment and assess the remaining consciousness within Captain Itaku. If you arrive on scene, do not engage with aggression unless Captain Kagi issues the order. Again—proceed with caution.” ​

“What timing…”
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"This is Shiratori Fuu of the Fourth Division. Tacking onto the previous broadcast, let it be known the Fourth will have a triage station along the Northeast boundary of Central. Please direct any injured personnel in need of urgent care to this unit. Thank you." ​

“I see…” he heavily sighed immediately after the thought. “Is that all…?” then immediately as if he wasn’t busy enough…

Knock…Knock…Knock…
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"We've returned, Captain. Ishiko is back in the Barracks. May I enter?" he heard the gruff voice from Iwamura from beyond the hardened oak.​

“....Ask and ye shall receive. I suppose father was right about that.”

His eyes said it all at that very moment. Darting towards the uninvited Kishō, whom he never even had a chance of addressing at the the time of this occurrence, and to question him on the abruptness and disrespectful actions of entering his chambers without proper summons, especially in regards to the sensitive topics currently being discussed. He placed a mental pin in the boldness of the action, because he sensed something deeper was afoot. Golden globes then shifted towards Hideo, the guilty party in what was supposed to be a private family meeting amongst the core members of which their clan duties rested upon. He still had much to answer for and intended to be party to that, however, various things grabbed his attention and he unfortunately just became fairly low on the totem pole of importance. For now. Then he finally matched eyes with his sister. He said all that he needed to in his eyes, then raised himself from his chair without breaking contact before walking away.

“I am sorry.” was all he thought. She would know this, and ultimately, the commander hoped that he would be forgiven.
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“Iwamura, remain beyond the threshold, I am coming.” He walked swiftly past the other two in the room, but not without standing before the Date representative, and allowing his final words of venom before taking his own leave at the news. ​

He had little intention of turning his back on the maroon haired clansmen. While known to be very direct in their vocabulary, there was something offputting about the nature of not only the visit but the ‘threat’ he uttered. The boldness of Taro and Kishō were now very apparent, and far from coincidence, it was a silent declaration of political war. “Another thing that I’ll need to add to my todo list…”

He watched the Date member fling the doors open as he chastised the standing Iwamura in the doorway, while throwing one last jab towards the commander as he sauntered off. He slowly approached the doorway, and exited the other side of it while closing it behind him calmly. Shaking his head lightly in the direction of the Date, he turned to his gargantuan subordinate, and gave a nod.
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“Walk with me. Debrief me on the dinner and what knowledge of the current situation you have between Kagi and Itaku. Where is Officer Mori?” He began to strut past Iwamura as he walked briskly down the corridor. ​

He had no intention of slowing down and he expected his fourth seat to be able to break into a flash step at a moment's notice.

 

[Frea]

As Ishiko was walking behind the dog-man, she had her deep thoughts about the meal. There were so many nobles, yet she felt somewhat of an outsider. Of course, she was not really from nobility nor a respectable clan. In fact, her clan was average at best. What really worried her was how she spoke and voiced her response on the talk about the captain commander. Though something in her couldn’t shake off a nauseating feeling of guilt. She grabbed onto Iwamura’s sleeve and halted as she directly looked into his eyes.

“Was I…wrong? On speaking, my response is my opinion about the captain."

Why was she dwelling on it so much? So, what she responded was a universal conversation. She shook her head, let go of his sleeve and began to walk off. However, she stopped in her tracks to look back at Iwamura as he went his own way, and she decided to tag along a little longer. Her steps were light compared to some heavy stomps of some Shinigami; the halls of the first division were never quiet, it was always busy, which usually drowned out noises…However…

Ishiko’s skin suddenly got goosebumps, she shivered, which meant she had a feeling something was going down nearby them. She stood behind the large dogman, where they had been outside of their captain’s door.

Something did go down. Two messages popped up on Ishiko’s device. She looked down at what they read. First was from Captain Kagi Senko himself, informing that Captain Itaku Ohei had gone into a hollowfied state, which was alarming in itself and should be dealt with immediately. There was a sense of relief that Captain Senko had been near the hollowfied captain, but she couldn’t help but worry that there would be mass destruction. Especially Hollowified shinigami are known to be more…powerful than just a regular shinigami.

The other message was from the fourth division Member, Fuu Shiratori, allowing others to know there will be a triage station in the northwest boundary of the central Seireitei, which is exactly good planning in case there was any heavy damage from those who would be involved.

Her attention dragged back to Iwamura at his knocking, hearing his gruff voice announcing his arrival, she looked at him, confused, but she remained silent - hoping he didn’t sense her beforehand. By the sounds of the background, she couldn’t see over Iwamura’s shoulder because of how big and broad he is. Studying the situation of the doors being flung open to only reveal a tall male with red hair of a similar shade to hers, she scanned him and paled at the sight, to her. Kisho Date was terrifying… However, his attitude stunk; it reeked.

Ishiko bit her tongue back on his comments, and watched him walking off, her hands gripped into fists. Entitled prick. She had thought. Her thoughts were wrapped up to notice that Captain was standing and walked past her, requesting Iwamura to walk with him. Which naturally she had followed them as well, she was like a lost puppy.

"-Where is Officer Mori?”
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“I’m right here, Captain!”

Finally spoken up, after the captain had requested her or rather asked where she was. She’d allow Iwamura to debrief on the dinner party, but she moved towards the current situation at hand.

“Captain Shihouin, from what we already gathered, Captain Ohei has entered a Hollowified state, and Captain Senko is already dealing with him. However, we may need backup to help Captain Senko, in case it results in death. The Fourth Division had placed a Triage Station in the northwest-central border.”

She miraculously kept up with the two, flash-stepping when necessary- she wasn’t the best at speed, in fact, compared to the Captain and fourth seat, she was the slowest. She was pushing her limits to keep up with their speed.​

 

[Hyoroshi Iwamura]

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“Iwamura, remain beyond the threshold, I am coming.”

For a brief moment Hyoroshi is still before Kisho Date; the office's careening double-doors had missed smacking Hyoroshi's snout by centimeters. His placid gaze lingered on the man physically younger in appearance yet, remarkably, over a century his senior. Ishiko's presence, one he had been aware of trailing behind him in its innocent naivete, quaked.

It was evident Iwamura had caught the majority of what was said to Hideo Kuchiki--the glint of knowledge was there in his gaze, the way his ears were turned at perfect right-angles from his head as two rigid stalks, culminating in the slightest upcurl of his lips' edges. He was calm, yet his orange eyes seemed particularly off: a little too wide; equal parts exceptional giddiness at a realization and poised, intense concern.

In one blink his face relaxed. His body swiveled away from the office, allowing Kisho to make his exit.

"To answer your question, Ishiko," Iwamura rumbled as he stared down the departing Date over his shoulder, "no. You were not wrong."

"-Where is Officer Mori?”

“I’m right here, Captain!”

Ishiko stood properly by Iwamura now, but before she could continue further, Hyoroshi's splayed hand pressed against her shoulder blades and implored her into a bow he was already replicating.

"The dinner was rather normal, I suppose one could say," Iwamura admitted as he straightened and caught up with his Captain, knowing Ishiko could do the same. "Toru Tsunayashiro requested officers be appointed for the Twelfth Division; I agree that it's a necessity and request that promotions be made. With Michiya Senko in Hueco Mundo with Oyuki Gekka, Twelfth has no formal leadership and effectively no structure."

Iwamura's eyes glanced across their surroundings. "Beyond this, the Tsunayashiro head voiced his displeasures over the handling of Michiya Senko and the Lieutenant position itself. In fact, your performance in general was the central discussion of the dinner. Consensus was mixed.

"The Divisions are glad to have a leader in you, but there are questions over how some matters are being handled. They were particularly concerned with the lack of diverse leadership being promoted amongst the twelve Divisions, and beyond that, they're worried about your leadership style. They fully support the system our Division represents and upholds, but to them, the way you govern may force them to just support you as a physical individual."

He pursed his lips into a frown.

"That leads me into what I just walked in on. I've seen Kisho Date's haughtiness firsthand, Captain--I know you have too. What he just said, how he was carrying himself...he's brewing something up. It wouldn't surprise me if Taro Date and the rest of their Clan were coordinating as well."

Iwamura only now noticed the faint growl that'd crept into his voice. He fell quiet, allowing Ishiko to step in with her report on issue of Itaku Ohei's Hollowfication. His jaw set in silence; the thought of a second civil war, even if purely localized amongst the political class, thrust a vile sensation into his gut.

"One of our own is already there to assist Captain Senko, I suspect," Hyoroshi said. "And returning to the subject of the dinner: when will the Bankai training program that you've mentioned take place? It is a good idea to raise up a host of new and qualified Captains, but it would be best to act sooner rather than later on that. Though, that alone doesn't address the potential for inter-division cooperation and unity; Suzume Feng brought this up. I think this is something worth exploring, too."

Hyoroshi stole another once-over of the group's surroundings, and as they walked, he wondered where the Captain-Commander was leading them to.​