“It would appear that our children have some behavioural issues. Now then, what kind of parents shall we be? I think mommy needs to step in before daddy loses his shit”.”
Perhaps what she actually wanted to say would have to wait until the impromptu crowd that had grown over the past few hours could be satisfied. She couldn’t have more than a moment to think about what was said about the arrancar, and the beginnings of an idea were interrupted.
"Parents!? Hardly!”
Shizukana remarked with a chuckle while she watched Captain Izanagi writhe a little in his seat in response to the blatant disregard and disrespect amongst a gathering of a mixture of his people and her own along with an anomaly occurring below their feet.The woman had been hovering on the precipice of the line between being asleep and being awake but she had taken notice of the disturbance since its beginning, choosing to follow the steps of the tenth’s Captain considering it was his division that they were guests in. If he didn’t acknowledge it then she didn’t, when he did…she followed suit. However, just in the moment she decided that she would introduce her own spiritual power into the hot pot broiling below she became bound by hesitation.
Shizukana’s heart rate began to increase because in a burst, she was overcome by memories. These were painful memories she’d not thought of since falling into her coma, sans the nightmares that haunted her with them. Memories of a time when brother fought brother, friend killed friend as the civil war ravaged the Seireitei. Most relevantly, they were memories of when she tried to intervene between a fateful standoff between two of the most important people in her life. It was a reminder of the day she lost her sensei and her former lieutenant on the same day and about how it was all her fault. The PTSD that she suffered from now stayed her hand centuries later but, it was also true that Shizukana was enough of a professional to have healed and now know that it had not been her fault entirely. It had been the last time that she had employed the tranquilizing effects of her
reiatsu and her choice to do so had ultimately lead to disaster when she had done what she thought might ease the tension of the situation.
Kurayami had to be mindful of this and regularly tell herself that he had been in an enraged state and her intervention felt like an intrusion and more than that it was insulting, an act of manipulation during a time when suspicion of all shinigami he had ever cared for was at its highest. All of this was done to him by the woman he considered closest to him and ended in a betrayal that ended in his imprisonment and the death of their beloved comrade in arms.
The anxiety that had built up faded away when she analyzed her thoughts and her pink eyes opened gently to indicate that she was present in the conversation again. Having said this, the Captain also committed it to memory that back then, her spiritual power was contending with her former Lieutenant’s who matched and at that point likely surpassed hers. In THIS situation the majority of signatures at play were decidedly below her own even if her Reiryoku didn’t currently project that. In just about every moment of every day and every moment of every night, Shizukana Kurayami is suppressing her enormous pool of Reiryoku to the point that it does not stand out and seems rather humble to it’s onlookers. She definitely was not the kind of woman who wanted a ton of attention on herself so she tended to mind her own business when she was in the Seireitei and her signature reflected that purposefully.
“I think you might be right, Don't worry, I'll take good care of this. Izanagi, would you be a dear and prepare three more cups while I’m gone? Lovely.”
Without waiting for a response and trusting her fellow Captain to trust her, Shizukana stood to her feet and with her rise from her chair, the woman loosened the seal on a sizable portion of her spiritual power. It was enough in volume and strength to overcome each one of them in order to gain their attention simultaneously for they had all gotten her’s. With each step her power became exposed to the atmosphere until soon they could see her small feet descending the steps of the balcony.
Kurayami’s reiatsu crept down the staircase like a gentle, shimmering pink and incorporeal fog and spread out into the space until there was no space that it did not fill but it’s essence was not meant to impune or oppress like the rest had been doing, on the contrary, the effects everyone would experience were that of pacification and induced epiphanies like compromise and due to her masterful control over its wealth, every person’s experience with it would be unique to what she perceived that they required at the time. It targeted the spiritual power of higher or more intense signatures and outdid them purely to settle their aggression long enough for them to be able to see things more reasonably and introduced a much more serene atmosphere rather than to continue on with the incessant loop of disruption they were all stuck in.
Fully in view, Shizukana greeted them each with a sparkle in her bright pink eyes initially and a soft smile that expressed that she was happy and happy to see them to boot.
Firstly, she addressed her own team so that they would be removed from the equation regardless of the positions they played in the incident, all of which she had indeed overheard the whole of even if she might not have been totally conscious at the time. Why they were there though, she had no idea. She did not remember telling anyone to tell either of them to come to the tenth division, but that didn't mean she was upset that they had come! Funnily, the one who had actually given the command had been one of Shizukana's trusty mod souls Fabio who had the notification sent after Kurayami had escaped her hospital chamber.
“Lieutenant Oyuki! Please stand aside and wait for more instructions! The same goes for you, Iwamura!”
Her essence was a breath of fresh air to them, a mediated warmth, a sanctuary incarnate to them. Like an angel, her voice chimed sweetly as she gave them her commands, and this was a way of her telling them that she was excited to see them again but urged them to remember that formality and decorum had to be maintained under the current climate of the recently developed circumstances. Confident that the both of them would understand and obey her without question, she moved on.
In the same way, the wave of her spiritual power and her reiatsu’s effect carefully enveloped the young Kuwashii and so for her, there was a modicum of relief from the amalgamation of clashing spiritual powers by being sure to apply an amount to her that would stave off the brunt of it for her, thereby ensuring protection from the rapidly changing elements and damage the rampaging reiatsu was responsible for.
This was a result of a habit she had formed during her time in the fourth division when she fought in the unhollowed wars and risked her life to save her fellow shinigami by extending any means of relief to them and by extension, automatic protection with a battle of attrition against Reiryoku far exceeding their own.
To Jinnosuke, her reiatsu bequeathed the tranquility of her elation that he was there to see her but at the same time, it was interred with a ‘scolding’ and would have resembled feeling as if a mother had come down to check on her child and his friends to make sure they were behaving themselves and the instant shock this gave naughty children caught in the act.
She did not look at Kisho until she had come further down the steps so that she was no longer at his level but below it. This was easy for her considering that she was much shorter than him in comparison physically so instead of looking down from above she was now gazing up at the Date and right by his side. Honestly, she was truthfully happy to see him as it had been some time since they
had seen one another, even though they did share the same division once upon a time. For him, the effects of her reiatsu asked his favor in the form of a truce if only for the time that he would spend with her. It was not a culprit trying to trick him because it knew Kisho and Kisho knew it and it did not make an attempt. She asked for his mercy in the way that she bowed her head lightly to the ruffled young Date and spoke to him courteously although a haori shined white upon her back she seemed like she was completely at ease to onlookers and speaking with a friend or at the very least a once fellow division member.
As a therapist by trade Shizukana was well versed in the art of manipulation and familiar with doing business with and interacting in a particular way with certain individuals on prestigious levels that begot her better responses and results. For example, acknowledging someone’s overindulgent arrogance by graciously appealing to their better natures.
Most of the leadership and those of great standing considered Shizukana to be a ‘Freak.’, a ‘Kook.’ and the list went on, behind her back of course because no one seemed to have the courage to stab her in the front. So whether it was to her back or to her face she didn’t care if someone thought she was weak, or thought she was pathetic for groveling to Kisho because her sights as a Captain of the Fifth Division and a member of the Gotei 13 were and would always be set on the objective. It didn’t bother her in the least and this sentiment just might prove beneficial to what she needed to accomplish now.
“Kisho! It’s good you’re here! I could really use your advice right about now. Would you care to join in on Captain Izanagi and my meeting? If you’re in a rush, we can cover what’s on your mind first and proceed without you but I would owe you one if you’d share some of your wisdom with me! After you. Then, if you truly want, you can always resume all this kneeling stuff to your heart's content!”
There was no mention of the clash of temperamental spiritual power that had occurred minutes before, just the soothing feeling of being in the Captain’s presence and the satisfying welcome of her invitation to a place higher up than the plebeians gawking at them. She was more than aware of the mistrust surrounding the Dates and the not so recent civil war but she also fully believed that if trust were to ever have a chance at being repaired or fostered then someone had to make the first move.
Whether it was a stupid decision or not only time could tell but she was certain that whatever he had to discuss with her had to be of significant importance and he may just share some of his insight if she played her cards right. His advice had proven to be exponentially helpful in the past in her experience, and how so many great tales about the Date go.
Finally, Shizukana focused her attention on the Tenth Division’s Lieutenant and used her hand to gently touch the hilt and apply a little pressure so as to beckon him to lift it up and out of the way of Kisho and her two subordinates. In the most polite way possible and in true Captain Kurayami fashion.
Her reiatsu eliminated all semblance of fear in the atmosphere and replaced it with her signature’s relaxing calm. All of this urging him to come to an understanding. His wolves received belly rubs, he got a hug… It was telling him that everything was okay, and that he could stand down safely and that he had done a good job. If that wasn’t enough, the Captain acknowledged him further by speaking to him directly.
“Lieutenant Kazuki, I ask that you please let my guest and my subordinates return with me to our very important meeting. Thank you for your vigilance and taking your job so seriously, but I’d like to remind you and everyone here of something extremely vital!”
Her reiatsu began to recede into her once more until rather quickly it had been expunged from the vicinity and Shizukana’s immense reserves withered back to something unrecognizably low.
“You always get more with honey than you do with vinegar.”
