12th Division

[Mystic Serenade]

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/9631/12thdivisionle9.png

Welcome to Twelfth Division, the place for all the science people who like to tinker with things and people who want to hurt said scientist so they joined anyway.

Division Members:
Captain: Otowari Keiji (http://bleachasylum.com/showpost.php?p=61580)
Vice-Captains: Rayne Himura (http://bleachasylum.com/showpost.php?p=381409), Dana Minalouche (http://bleachasylum.com/showpost.php?p=381419)

3rd Seat: Akegata Shirofuri (http://bleachasylum.com/showpost.php?p=524184)
4th Seat:
5th Seat: Lexi Hunter (http://bleachasylum.com/showpost.php?p=57129)
6th Seat: Sabara Chiyo (http://bleachasylum.com/showpost.php?p=548042) (NPC, plot)
7th Seat: Shirozuki Mahana (http://bleachasylum.com/showpost.php?p=548042) (NPC, plot)
16th Seat: Miko Asaki (http://bleachasylum.com/showpost.php?p=548042) (NPC, plot)

Unranked:
Koizumi Hibiki (http://bleachasylum.com/showpost.php?p=343176)
- Katachi (http://bleachasylum.com/showpost.php?p=501429) (assistant)
Hanazuki Mai (http://bleachasylum.com/showpost.php?p=182189)
Kiku (http://bleachasylum.com/showpost.php?p=559721)


Former Division Members:
Felix Ronnse (Previous Captain)
Hwang Jin (Other previous 12th Division Captain)


http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/700/stampvw6.png

[Mystic Serenade]

As soon Keiji had left the premises of 4th division along with his vice captain, he quickly made his way back to his own division. He shyunpo'd from rooftop to rooftop, thinking about how on earth he was going to deal with the girl he had met only today but had already decided he was something she needed to kill. It was rather puzzling.

He opted to take the girl to his office and laid her down on a couch. He would take a more relaxed approach to figuring out what just went wrong earlier on as being forceful with her just seemed to make matters worse from what he had observed. In the meantime he went to his desk to work on some paperwork to pass the time until the girl awoke. Things were such a mess today.

[rayne_himura]

Rayne awoke in a field. Swaying green grass, almost endlessly to the gentle breeze, overlooked a frighteningly bright blue sky. The girl shot up in confusion, but soon felt a searing pain envelop her side. What had just happened...

"So... it was all real. I'm... sorry... I can never forgive myself..." A single tear cascaded down her cheek. "Why... why couldn't I have done anything..."

Be grateful that you're alive. That's what he wanted, right? Besides, without you, I'm nothing. I couldn't let you just die like that so I took over. So learn from this and know that you can live on, idiot. At least show what your justice is for.

"I'll fight for your memory..."

The sky continued on, the breeze pushed forwards. Life continued on.

"What happened..." Rayne breathed in out in a hushed tone and tilted her head back slowly, the dark locks of her hair fell away from her face and gazed upwards with her good eye at the ceiling.

Nervously, she cast a one-eyed glance at the man behind the desk. The girl's stomach was already growling traitorously. Still scowling intently, Rayne sat up into the couch, slouching horribly.

"Sir.. I'm starving."

[Mystic Serenade]

Keiji noticed that his vice captain had awoken, and was hungry? Didn't quite expect that after her outburst at 4th division.

"I'll have someone bring something here from the cafeteria, or would you prefer to eat something else?" He got up and walked over to a chair that lay across from the couch. He continued speaking after taking a seat, "Regardless, I'd like to eat in here...an explanation of early events would be nice."

[rayne_himura]

"Anything will do."

A moment later one of them emerged carrying several large platters of food, a female shinigami set down while fluttering her eyelashes excessively in the Captain's direction, angling herself in just the right way to display the voluminous cleavage which threatened to burst out of her undersized kimono.

Maybe if I eat enough I'll grow some, Rayne thought, not really believing it. Shrugging, she tucked in to the meal anyway. Whatever was coming next, a full stomach wasn't going to make it worse. She could hardly restrain herself from shoveling the various delicacies into her half starved maw, leaving only the fish untouched.

The girl paused from her feasting, a deeply suspicious look creeping onto her face. Here it came, the part where she was going to have to pay up for the trouble she brought in some way or another. She wished he'd be more direct about it, rather than beating around the issue. At least she knew this one.

"It doesn't really concern you Sir," she responded, making sure to avoid eye contact.

[Mystic Serenade]

"Thanks for bringing this on such short notice," he thanked the female shinigami. "You're dismissed." He said all this completely oblivious to all the attention the woman was trying to get from him.

In the meantime he waited patiently for his vice captain to finish her meal, she sure ate a lot...almost as much as Shinjiro. He rose one eyebrow in suspicion to the girl's response.

"It doesn't involve me? Hardly, for one I'm your captain now and when one of my division members, even if she's the vice captain, goes around incapacitating medics I'm held accountable. Second, I do recall you mentioning that I was yours to kill and that I resembled "him". So please, for your safety and benefit, explain yourself to me or else I'll have no choice to turn you into the higher ups," he explained in the nicest and calmest tone he could muster.

[rayne_himura]

"Dunno!" She answered automatically, craning her head around to look. "What ya want, huh? I got nothing."

That's it. Just who does this guy think he is? An angry spark jumped in Rayne's eye, her breath coming out in a low hiss. She considered pretending not to understand the words 'explain yourself', but she couldn't quite hold back. He might have scared her at first, but she was getting over it quickly enough. She didn't need to spend her time taking orders from some weirdo just because he threw money around and stared at the walls.

"Do whatever you want," She leaned back in her chair, flicking pieces of a fried carp at the wall next to where he was sitting.

[Mystic Serenade]

"Look, I'm trying to do this the civil way. A lot of what you did earlier could get you in a lot of trouble if Takada files a report to Central 46."

He got and took the plate of fried carp away from the girl's immediate reach so she wouldn't have anymore "ammo" to flick at the wall.

"I'm asking for your cooperation here. Takada-taichou seems to believe you're a good girl at heart and I have no reason to believe otherwise as well. So please, if you could go into detail what you mentioned earlier."

[rayne_himura]

An audible gritting sound came from Rayne's teeth as her jaws worked back and forth furiously, biting down all the nasty thoughts she couldn't properly express with her limited command over the language. What a loser. That guy can't have any life at all if he's got so much time to waste on me. And it is gonna waste, I'll make sure of that.

However, despite her obnoxious behaviour, the man remained calm. Whatever. There was something about his manner that indicated he was accustomed to having his commands obeyed, which only strengthened Rayne's compulsion to rebel. She usually wasn't so reckless as to risk her own skin against someone so much stronger than her (and there was no doubt in this case), but this time it was like it was soaked into the very core of her bones to defy him.

Straining her neck, the girl let out a caustic laugh. "Stop wasting your time. If you want to spend your entire life here, fine. But im leaving. Try the crap food, it's garbage!" and the girl stood up and makes her way to the door.

[Mystic Serenade]

Keiji let out an audible sigh, what was with this girl? He began to wonder how exactly someone like her was able to land a vice captain position straight out of the academy. He was expecting someone a bit more...helpful and less rebellious. He got up and grabbed hold of the girl's arm before she could leave the room.

"Look, you don't seem to understand. You're in a lot of trouble at the moment, and I mean a lot. So please, do you think you can cut the stubborn act and just answer a few questions for your own sake at least?" he said with a hint of concern mixed into his voice.

[rayne_himura]

Rayne let out a wail of displeasure at being jerked around yet again, it seemed as if he wasn't content to let her move anywhere at all under her own power.

"Go-men-na-saaaaaai~" Rayne warbled a squinty eyed apology to Otowari, twining her hands together and bowing awkwardly. The effect was ruined entirely by the cheeky grin plastered across her face.

With that accomplished, the girl twisted her head. She experienced a moment of discomfort as her brain worked over, as if she'd run up against some sort of mental electrical fence. Something inside her head seemed to warp and bend, and she caught an incongruous whiff of pine needles and rot alongside the smell of food.

"If you want to hurt me, I won't run. Because I will never give you what you want."

[Mystic Serenade]

He watched as the girl gave some sort of apology, he was wondering if she was all that right in the head or just had a...unique personality. "Look I don't want to hurt you, that's why I'd prefer to handle this in the most civil way possible." He let go of the girl's arm. "So please, take a seat and tell me what's wrong so I can help."

He hoped that this final plea would appeal to his vice captain. He didn't really want to think about what would happen if this girl got judged before Central 46, he'd like to avoid having to send one of his own to jail. But something like this was not something he could simply ignore either.

[BioBomber]

*knock knock*

'Otowari-taichou?' the door to the captain's office opened, leaving a young woman standing in the doorway. 'Hibiki-san left a note in his quarters about going to Hueco Mundo with yourself, and I was wondering where he was...' Katachi started slightly, noticing the situation she'd entered upon. 'Ah...Himura-fukutaichou...sorry, I'll come back later...' Katachi closed the door and walked away down the corridor. As she did so, she began to dissolve into a mist, which doubled back toward the door and slipped through the hairline crack she'd left for herself. She settled herself against a flat colored surface to increase her camouflage and observed, as Hibiki would have her do.

[rayne_himura]

Rayne found that if she was concentrating, she actually could understand most of what the man was saying, much to her confusion and irritation. So, he really was concern? She frowned, unable to figure what kind of trick it might be. Maybe they were going to have her serve a criminal term, she'd heard about that bit before.

So, he doesn't even wanna look at me cause he thinks I'm so nasty? I guess that's as good a reason as any to stick around. Ha.

She noticed a shinigami standing at the doorway and smirked when the girl closed the door. It was all pretty overwhelming, coming from what had been more or less a routine lifestyle for her that hadn't changed much in the last few years or so until she became Vice Captain.

From the expression on her face it was obvious that if she didn't get out of here soon she was going to explode in a terrible way, and probably would have gone bankai on Otowari if she'd been capable of it.

Tilting her chin up at the eager man who was already several inches taller than her, the girl gave him her best, most venomous glare. "Haa. I want to see you lift a finger on a girl. So what? I'm just some slum kid. You gonna put me in, huh?" She finished with a smile that gave the impression she'd eat the man alive if she didn't like his answer.

[Mystic Serenade]

He watched as the door opened and closed from the entrance and departure of one of Hibiki's acquaintances. He sensed a little while later he was being observed, but no matter. It wasn't that big of an issue.

He stared back calmly at his vice captain, if things didn't improve soon he'd would just have to take her back to Takada and just rely on the blood test for answers. In the meantime he was content enough to take whatever it was the young girl before him would dish out, but there were limits.

"I told you already that I wish to avoid that outcome. If all possible I'd like to avoid locking you up, but if you don't cooperate that may just very well happen."

[rayne_himura]

Rayne wasn't in a good mood. Whatever those stupid medics had used on her, it was itching like crazy. One more irritation on top of this whole stupid fiasco. Now she was caught and probably in for some wretched punishment before being sent back wherever full of losers. Her expression reflected these thoughts perfectly while she listened to Keiji's speech, completely oblivious to anything but herself and her own troubles.

"Then lock me up," grunting an acknowledgement, Rayne stalked past her Captain, bumping him roughly with her shoulder in an obnoxiously deliberate way. She was tempted to run for it, but the whole place was crawling with shinigami and she was still weak from the fight.

[Mystic Serenade]

Really can't make things easy for me huh...

As his vice captain roughtly brushed past him he grabbed her shoulder to try and prevent her from moving away any further. "Trust me, I think you want to avoid that outcome if all possible. The maggot's nest isn't all that fun a place."

He loosened the grip he had on her shoulder, "So you sure you don't want to talk about it? Last chance you know." In his mind, he already seeked out his point of entry using "that". Best to save as much time possible if it came down to it.

[Envy's Boy]

Walking down one of the many hallways of the Twelfth Division Headquaters, a man that looked in his mid 50's would glance at either side at those who passed him who gave him unfamiliar looks.

Akegata Shirofuri, newly promoted 3rd Seat of the 12th Division, walked towards the Captain's Quaters, examininng, analyzing, commiting to memory.

He would analyze what he learned later. For now, he was to report in with the captain, this Otowari Keji..

[Dizzy]

Hmmph, another new promote from the other divisions? I suppose that we've been a little short on staff lately, what with two captains disappearing successively, but it can't be that hard to promote from within. Is he looking for Otowari-taicho or one of the fukutaichos? I should probably warn him, then.

Sabara Chiyo sauntered up to the wandering man, brushing her hair out of her eyes and adjusting her glasses as she walked. She knew that they were getting a new 3rd Seat, and she recognized him from the picture, but the man's gait and manner still stood out fastest, easily marking him as somebody new to the division. She struggled to remember the name she had seen, and then recalled it - Akegata Shirofuri.

Sabara caught up with him, settling into an easy stride beside him before opening her mouth.

"I assume you're the 3rd Seat who was assigned to us?" she queried, not bothering to wait for the obvious answer. "If you're looking for Otowari-taicho, he and Himura-fukutaicho are currently ... having technical difficulties. Seeing as our other fukutaicho is nowhere to be found and the 5th Seat is off in Hueco Mundo, I suppose I'm to help you get acquainted here."

Sabara ticked something off an a clipboard and flipped through its pages to the dossier on Akegata, poring over it as she spoke again. "Any questions you might have, feel free to ask."

[Envy's Boy]

Akegata looked to his side to see a young girl following at his side. He said nothing as she explained the current situation in regards to the Division's captain. Akegata remained silent as she finished.

"There will be no need, Sixth Seat Sabara Chiyo-Kun." It was true that the girl had not given him her name, but prior to comming over to the division's headquaters, he had done his research on the higherups at the Twelfth Division.

[Dizzy]

Hmmpf, how rude. Guess he's already done his homework, seeing as he knows my name already. No need to waste my time here then. Wonder how the experiments on those two dinosaur hollow are doing ...

Sabara nodded her assent at her superior officer and turned to leave. "I see," she said matter-of-factly. "Well, if you think of anything later, don't hesitate to ask."

The woman strode purposefully back down another corridor, depositing the clipboard on a nearby shelf as she left.

[rayne_himura]

As her captain grabbed Rayne's shoulder, her hand let go of the door and it closed behind her with a satisfactorily loud slam. It was quiet too, and she felt nervous all of a sudden, "Shut up! Do what you want, and what do you care anyway?" Rayne growled, staring at the sword she placed across the room, she was suddenly overcome with a greater sense of trepidation.

If she picked it up, she'd be acknowledging something she might not be prepared for, and there wouldn't be any turning back.

[Mystic Serenade]

He momentarily flinched at the sound of the door slamming shut. Well...at least she's not leaving anymore...

"I care because you are my lieutenant, and from what I can tell not really a bad person." He place another hand on the girl's other shoulder, "So how about we calm down and you tell me whats been on your mind hmm?"

[rayne_himura]

She didn't doubt that he was going to attack her, though. It might be frightening, but having the blade in her hands was better than nothing. Rayne brushed his hands away and trembling slightly, she crouched and carefully took the weapon into her hands, "If you keep messing with me, I might use this on you sir. Leave me alone!"

Without realizing it her hands and muscles moved to raise the blade at him.

[Mystic Serenade]

Keiji grabbed at the tip of the approaching blade with his finger tips. "Guess this method isn't going to work...unfortunately." He placed a gentle hand on top of the girl's head and took note that the girl was shaking, was it fear? "Hopefully we can still settle this peacefully."

He then pulled the girl into a hug and with that he began his technique. His shadow seemed to grow out and wrap itself around the two of them as they descended into its darkness until they had simply vanished.

(OCC: Will now continue on in 4th Division thread)

[Mystic Serenade]

Keiji was now back in his own office along with his now comatose fukutaichou as things at fourth didn't end up going so well. He set down his vice captain on a nearby chair and cast a binding spell on her before injecting her with the syringe given to him by Takada. He stood before her now, and waited for her to wake up.

[rayne_himura]

Rayne opened her eyes; face throbbing she tried to brought up her hand so she can touch her face but to no avail. Ren Takada's fist was the last thing she saw before she passed out. Rayne snorted at the memory of the woman's ridiculous, stupid face, but it was distinctly a grouchy kind of snort.

Sighing, the girl pressed herself up on the chair and noticed her captain, "Get this bind off of me sir."

[Mystic Serenade]

"Er, with the way you've been behaving so far, I was advised against that," Keiji said a bit sheepishly, hand behind his head. "So you ready to explain yourself? Cause otherwise I am going to have to put you into some sort of solitary confinement."

[rayne_himura]

"You really don't know when to give up do you?"

"So you people are really planning to put me in solitary confinement," the girl's look changed to a slightly more interested one, "Do you know that I can get out of any kind of solitary confinement? I lived on Rukongai sir, I'm not like my so-called sister Sayuri who's from a noble family."

Nevertheless she suddenly found a reason to attempt at pawing her hair back into place, now that she was under such scrutiny, "I ain't talking about anything sir."

[Mystic Serenade]

"That's nice to know, but trust me, we have things here that does not exist in Rukongai. If we wanted to look you up, we could lock you up."

His tone very serious, "So if you wish to stay free, I suggest you do talk. Attacking members from another division for no reason and threatening to kill your captain are not things you can get away with so easily you know."

[rayne_himura]

It was hard to get around answering someone who spoke so directly. Giving off a small noise of frustration, the girl locked eyes with Keiji, deciding it wouldn't make much difference if she did talk to him, when it would at least break up her monotonous day.

He was also quite astute, somehow. "I was planning to kill you yeah, but those retards from the 4th tried to stop me." She didn't have the means to really express all the reasons why she wanted to kill him, how just being in his presence disturbed her because he was a link to something that was impossible and made no sense.

[Mystic Serenade]

"Alright, so far your situation is still not looking any better," he looked her back in the eyes. "So why do you feel the need to have me dead hmm."

[rayne_himura]

His persona had stirred up impossible memories out of the murky swamp in her head, and she had no desire to keep going at this rate.

"You killed my friend," she mused, biting at her lip causing it to bleed.

[Mystic Serenade]

"Killed your friend?" Keiji looked questioningly back at the girl. "I'm sorry, but I don't remember killing anything in this lifetime except for a hollow every now and then. I think you got me mistaken for someone else."

[rayne_himura]

The girl frowned, seeing she had failed to move the captain to any sort of sympathetic anger at the unfairness of it. He probably thought she was lying, she decided.

"I'm ready for solitary confinement sir."

[Mystic Serenade]

"Hmm, as you wish, you'll have a hearing at some point to decide what will become of you," with that he knocked the girl out and prepared to take her away to some place where she wouldn't harm anyone.

[Envy's Boy]

As Keiji finished his question, a small cough was heard from the doorway...

Standing there was 3rd Seat Akegata Shirofuri, his zanpakuto at his hip.

"Forgive me, Otowari-Taichou. Perhaps I should come back later?" the older shinigami asked.

[Mystic Serenade]

Keiji looked to the doorway, "Oh Akegata is it? Um yes, now is not really the best time, I'll come get you after I'm done here."

[Envy's Boy]

Akegata bowed humbly before turning on his heel, catching a glance at Himura-Fukutaichou as he walked away...

[Mystic Serenade]

After making sure that Akegata had left, Keiji locked his door and moved over to a small terminal next to one of the walls and inputed a sequence of keys. Following that a section of the wall transformed, the sound of shifting metal and electronic beeping could be heard as various screens and scanners appeared. Like one of those fancy things seen in spy movies that are used for security reasons. A little over the top maybe, but hey, it worked. Once Keiji's retina, fingerprints, and reiatsu signature were all scanned, a metallic door opened up revealing his private lab. He picked up the prone body of his fukutaichou and entered.

He could have taken the girl to the confinement cells at 2nd Division, but he'd rather that this whole ordeal had as low a profile as possible until he sent a report to 46th Chambers or something. In one section of the lab, one could see the preserved bodies of numerous hollow kept in many large tanks. Some captured by him, some by his predecessor, but that didn't matter so much right now. For now, he would keep his vice captain in one of these in suspended animation.

He placed the girl's zanpakuto in a safe across the room, and proceeded to wrap her body in chain's that would suppress her reiatsu. He then placed a mask connected to a tube on her mouth that would supply her body with everything to keep her alive and ticking until she needed to awoken and lowered her into the holding tank. "Sweet dreams until next time."

That done he walked out of his lab and locked the entrance behind him. For now, it was time to go see what Akegata needed. He left his office and headed towards where the third seat's reiatsu was being emitted.

[Envy's Boy]

Akegata Shirofuri sat on the couch in his office, awaiting for his captain. He had caught the slight glance of Himura Rayne before he had turned away. He now sensed the reiatsu of his younger captain. he stood as he entered the office.

"Otowari-Taichou. I was told to bring you my papers as soon as I was settled in, as per orders of my former captain." Akegata was the former 5th Seat of 2nd Division. As such, he had been put in charge of the Riteitai, the Correctional Force.

Akegata placed the papers on the captain's desk, awaiting, and studying, this boy's reaction. But that last part he kept inward.

[Mystic Serenade]

"Oh that's right, you came in from second division. I didn't think too much of it when I agreed to let you get reassigned here but why the change?"

He walked over to the third seat's desk and picked up the papers he had placed there.

[Envy's Boy]

"I just thought it was time for a change. I began in Fifth Division before being trasfrered to Second, then I finally came here." That was mostly the truth, even if Akegata did not say everything. In truth, he wanted to get a feeling of all the captains. To know them. THat is why he had been in three divisions. Before he himself took a position as a captain, which would allow him to move about a wee bit more easily.

"Now let me ask you a question, if i may be so bold, why did you take this position?" Akegata asked his captain.

[Mystic Serenade]

"I see, I hope you enjoy your stay in this division then. As for why I took up this position, it was because at the time of the previous captain's untimely departure I was vice captain. As far as strength is considered, I'm still lacking quite a bit in comparison to most captains but this is a scientific and technological based division and to my knowledge I was the most qualified in that aspect, so I took up the position," he answered back.

[rayne_himura]

"I think I've finally found my purpose. I can continue looking for the man, the one who I felt equal to my own flesh and blood. The Gotei will forgive me for my sins and I shall prove it to them..."

History flowed through her conscioussness uninterrupted, until there was a sudden divide of change in the otherwise repeating landscape of her lives- It wasn't just the anomaly of her becoming a Death God and the huge jump of power that came with that, it was the change instilled into her by all the people she encountered, who had begun to heal some of the rifts in her mind and her heart.

That was something that had never happened before, and finally when she could appreciate such a thing, it was too late. The cruelty of it was agonizing. Soon she would forget them all, every change would be undone

[Envy's Boy]

"I see." Akegata said to him before standing. He bowed half-way. "It was an honor to have this conversation with you, Otowari-Taichou." Akegata stood before leaving the office. He'd learned enough for now. He still had time.

What interested him was that Vice-Captain was no longer here. Infact, Akegata could only sense trace amounts of her reiatsu.

[Mystic Serenade]

"It was a pleasure meeting you too Akegata, I'll go file these away now then," he said lifting up the hand holding the papers before walking away back to his own office.

Once there he put them away and glanced over to the direction of his lab for a moment, "Hope she's alright in there."

[rayne_himura]

She was being gathered in small pieces at a time.

"The path of stars guides them to carry a soul to its destination, but mine is going back to where it started."

She saw the outline of a man on a lonely hilltop, a female figure beside him. She was glad he wasn't alone. At the same time she could see Raijin and his killer, both coincidental victims of her twisted fate. She saw the 12th division, her comrades, almost her family. Who was going to lead them now? Who would protect them along side Keiji? The mask tightened, pushing her to a new level of grief. She saw Daichi, his body a chaos of injury from his fight against her.

And if anyone's in the room looking at the body inside the tank and beneath the mask, it'll reveal Rayne's face with a gentle and forlorn smile.

[Envy's Boy]

Akegata walked down the halls, eventually leaving the building, as he walked, he contemplating the uses of that Vice-Captain he had seen.

Himura Rayne...who are you... Akegata Shirofuri asked himself as he continued to walk.

[Mystic Serenade]

Keiji was just about to go and take a nap until a hell butterfly came fluttering over to him and wondered what it could possibly be. Today was quite eventful already, he was thinking about taking a nap or something. That idea was quickly abandoned as the messaged played into his mind. Back, already? He definitely needed to hear what exactly happened from Aurea or Lexi. Though...it appeared Lexi had gotten injured again, so he would have to check up on her anyway.

Given the gravity of the situation, he decided to get there as quickly as possible, so he tuned into Ren's reiatsu signature once again. Hopefully she wouldn't kick his face in this time...

(Off to 4th division)

[Dizzy]

Ehh, how troublesome ... both Otowari-taicho and Himura-fukutaicho have all but disappeared off the face of Seireitei ...

A frustrated Cres ran a hand through his hair as he stalked past Otowari-taicho's office for a third time, still without a clue as to his whereabouts. The man would probably make a great hermit. He opened the door a crack and took a look inside, but it remained dark and unoccupied. Himura-fukutaicho's had actually had a thin layer of dust covering the doorknob.

Where were they? It definitely wasn't normal for all two top-ranking members in a division to disappear like that, Minalouche-fukutaicho notwithstanding. Had the killer taken them by surprise? Otowari was still very much a fledgling captain, so the possibility did exist, and his vast array of scientific knowledge and abilities would serve the killer incredibly well if he was cloned.

A faint, slightly fluctuating reiatsu suddenly entered his internal radar - definitely Otowari's. Hurriedly, he followed it to its source, found a wall in the way, and vaulted over it into ... a garden?

Near the opposite wall, Otowari himself slept, strung between two trees upon a hammock. Cres didn't know whether to laugh in relief or kick something out of annoyance.

Instead of either, he settled on walking over and giving the hammock a good shake.

[Mystic Serenade]

Keiji was stirred awake from his slumber as his hammock shock, definitely not as relaxing as it was when it rocked gently back and forth. He rubbed his eyes groggily and let out a yawn before looking up to see who disturbed his rest. "Eh, that you Cres? What are you doing here so early in the morning?"

[Dizzy]

Cres smoothed his hair backwards with one hand, trying to forget his annoyance from before and focusing on what he was supposed to be doing.

"Well," he started, "it's not so much you I'm looking for so much as Himura-fukutaicho, we need to question her about the clone she apparently fought. Couldn't find her anywhere, and her office doesn't seem like it's been entered for a while actually, so I'm wondering if you have any idea as to where she is at the moment."

[Mystic Serenade]

"Er..." Keiji scratched the back of his head in a somewhat nervous gesture. "She's been causing a few problems lately, so I had her detained for the moment." He sat up in his hammock, "I was actually planning on taking her to 2nd Division myself today."

[Dizzy]

After a few seconds pause deciding whether he should press or just allow Otowari to handle things by himself, he wound up deciding on the latter.

"Alright," he said, "that's fine with me. Make sure you do it soon though, the questioning should be starting up soon."

He turned to leave, his scarf whipping around, but before he took a step, he spoke again. "And be careful, Otowari, whoever the killer is, they'd probably really like having a clone of you under their control."

With that cryptic warning, he leaped back over the wall and out of sight.

[rayne_himura]

The dark locks of her hair fell away from her face, "I'm ready to make things right..." Rayne breathed in out in a hushed tone and tilted her head back slowly to gaze upwards with her good eye at the man who had been staring at her.

"Haaaa...." The girl suddenly opened her eyes, holding up empty palms and started to force the mask off her face. It wasn't hard to think that she was a squeeze away from having her head popped off like a dandelion. The room where she was in swarmed before her, What is this place? And why the fuck am I inside a tank?! The situation only grew more confusing by the second, but despite being more focused on her own situation she couldn't help seeing the reaction of her captain and subordinates if they see her without any clothes.

Rayne's imagination provided a myriad of possible reactions, ranging from absurd to utterly obscene.

Shit

[Mystic Serenade]

As Cres exited, Keiji took to giving his newly regrown a good look. "Heh, clone me or blow me to smithereens, one of the two." He got up off the hammock and stretched out a little bit before heading back inside the division headquarters. Looks like he had to this earlier than he originally planned.

He stepped into his office and locked the door behind him as he initiated the sequence to enter his personal lab. He walked in and stood in front of the tank where he detained his fukutaichou, and to his surprise she was awake. "So, ready for a little outing?"

(OCC: I'm going ahead and taking you to 2nd Division so the plot moves ahead, but I'm leaving details unspecific and when you're internet is fine again we can RP this out.)

[BioBomber]

Hibiki nursed his head as he got up from the floor. Katachi stood to the side, brushing splinters off herself. With a sigh, Hibiki blasted some wind particles in her direction, which sent the splinters flying and knocked Katachi over.

'Again, Katachi?' he muttered. 'I know you're often pleased to see me, but pouncing on me really isn't the best way to greet me if it's likely that I'll get hurt.' He smiled wanly.

'Sorry Hi-chan,' Katachi giggled, sitting up and brushing her hair back into place. 'I've got some interesting information, Oto-san has a grudge held against him.' Hibiki's attention went instantly to the young girl.

'Otowari-taichou? Is he alright?' he asked, worriedly.

'He's okay, but Himura-fukutaichou has been taken to 2nd division, and Tadaka-taichou is examining her,' Katachi replied. 'I came to see you as soon as I heard you had arrived; everything's okay, right?'

'I hope so,' Hibiki sighed. 'I get the feeling that Taichou isn't comfortable with my poking around all the time...and Hwang...a mask...and that garganta...it's familiar too...' Hibiki petered off into silence. More images of his experimentation flashed through his head, though nothing coherent. 'It must be my punishment, not knowing what I did back then. I just hope that I can remember anything if I need to.'

'Mm?'

'It's not important, Katachi,' he dismissed with a frown. 'At least, not yet. I need more information, I need to know what's going on. But I'm not...not anymore...' Hibiki turned to look at himself in the mirror. The same face that had stared back at him since his release from confinement was still there. But there was something new...or old. Something that he couldn't quite see, as it felt like it had always been there. 'I'm going out. If you can find out anything else, let me know.' Katachi nodded in the affirmative as Hibiki finished polishing Nijuushin and slipped her into her sheathe. He stood and strode out of his quarters, the doors repairing themselves as he left. Katachi turned a cartwheel out through the last gap as they closed completely.

[Envy's Boy]

As Otowari-Taichou had gone into his office and locked it, Akegata was walking past the door. He glanced at the locked door, interested but kept the face of an unasumming officer as he continued walking towards the other labs of the Division. He had other plans, including several experiments he himself was developing.

Akegata entered his labs, closing the door nice and tight. It was time to get to work on his little project.

[rayne_himura]

[OOC: Continuation of my conversation with Keiji from the "scorching sun" thread]

The girl breathed a sigh of relief and hugged her zanpakutou as Ren Takada left the room. She's been quiet eversince and shown no expression as Ren started with her whole analogy speech.

Rayne looked up at her captain and smiled, "That thing with the shadows were awesome, you should've been more discreet though. You were called a perv cause of that," She started to trace her fingers on the blades of her sword and asked, "Do you really plan to throw me at the maggot's nest?"

She sat back up in bed and waited for his response.

[Mystic Serenade]

"I think that issue really pales in significance considering the current mess you're in."

Keiji looked at his fukutaichou disapprovingly, "Well that all depends, care to give any explanation to explain everything Takada has just told me and why you disregarded almost everything I asked of you right before we left for second division this morning?"

[rayne_himura]

The captain's response automatically put her in a bad mood. One more irritation on top of this whole stupid fiasco and she'll explode. Rayne gripped the hilt of her zanpakutou to calm her nerves. Her expression reflected this thoughts perfectly as she tried to remember what happened inside the interrogation room back at the 2nd Division.

"I did everything you told me to do Sir. She asked me questions and I gave her proper answers. And then something happened," The girl's lips tugged into a frown. "I.. I can't remember."

"You won't be able to get away from him unless you release, Himura." There was something in the way Kumo said that made it seem like she was suggesting for her to do so.

[Mystic Serenade]

"Well I don't know what you mean by proper, but it most certainly doesn't sound like you behaved yourself."

He let out a sigh and scratched his head in frustration, "What do you mean you don't remember."

[rayne_himura]

"Mist.. from my zanpakutou.." She answered him. "Then I blacked out."

There was something about her that wasn't quite right. There might have been wounds in her past, and for now she had perhaps the most uncomfortable life of anyone in Soul Society.

Frowning, the girl shot a look of death at her captain, "You don't believe me do you?"

[Mystic Serenade]

"I'll consider it as a possible explanation, but what you said seems to just support Takada's observation that your zanpakuto is too dangerous for you to control."

He held his hand out toward his lieutenant, "I'm going to have to confiscate that."

[rayne_himura]

"Like hell I will!" You can't take this from me...I won't let you. The girl made this vow to herself, stalking away from her room where she slammed the doors shut behind her.

You think you'll get away that easy....

"Watch me," She carefully slipped her sheathed sword on her waist and with a perky incline of her head, the girl turned and stuck out her tongue at the closed door.

[Mystic Serenade]

How stubborn...

He opened the door and looked at Rayne with disapproval, "Slamming a door shut is not going to stop me from opening it again."

It seemed like the girl wasn't going to obey anytime soon, so he supposed he just had to just do things the hard way. Slamming down his hand on the girl's neck with a chop like motion he effectively knocked her out.

How troublesome this all is...

With her effectively incapacitated at the moment, he confiscated her zanpakuto and once again went through the process of throwing her into the confinement tank. He sighed at the thought of having to report all this later, it'd be all so troublesome. The captain took to taking a seat at his desk and drank a cup of tea.

[Mad_Scientist]

The 12th Division was still in something of an uproar from the recent Arrancar incursion, when a interesting figure approached it. The figure was Katai, a unseated Shinigami of the 11th Division. It wasn't he himself that was odd, it was what he held up in front of him that attracted attention. His sword, and stuck on the end of it, a bony pumpkin-like Hollow named Jack. Jack was currently incapicitated by a binding spell, but his eyes flashed furiously as Katai carried him into the 12th Division, and faint muffled screams could be heard. One of the division's researchers approached Katai as he entered, and eyed Jack in surprise.

"Tegowai Katai here, with a gift for the science division. One of the invading Hollows. His name is Jack, and he's got fire powers. Quite an interesting specimen, and - what happened here?" Katai asked the researcher, as he noted the disordered state of the division.

"Arrancar incursion, whole thing's a mess and I think at least one Arrancar is still at large. Anyways, stand over there and keep that thing under control, and someone will be here to deal with it when they have time," the researcher said. He then motioned two other men over, apparently subordinates. "You two, help him keep that thing under control! He's sqaud 11 so I doubt it's his binding spell that's on it. Make sure it doesn't have a chance to wear off, hit it with new binding spells every couple minutes." He then strode off before Katai could say that it actually was his binding spell.

"Alright, no problem, I can wait." Katai lowered his sword and leaned on it causually. Which meant he was leaning on Jack as well. The sword didn't budge, but the extra pressure was apparantly felt by Jack, who grunted and groaned.

"Oh, sorry about that," Katai said with a grin. He eased off the sword... a little that is. Then he began to whistle an annoying tune quite loudly, occasionally pausing to ask Jack odd questions. Since the Hollow couldn't answer, Katai answered for him.

"Say, Jack, how exactly did you get your plantlike appearance? You got it from eating plants? I see, I was right. I didn't realize Hueco Mundo had much plantlife. Fields of 12 foot high mushrooms? Cool, I've have to go there sometime."

The two researchers who were keeping an eye on Jack looked at Katai as though he was insane, but Katai didn't care.

[BioBomber]

The other Hell Butterfly that Hibiki had sent to himself eventually found its way to his room in 12th, and settled down, repeating its own message.

Things to remember. Deliver prosthetics to 11th division. Submit budget to Otowari-taichou. Submit paperwork to re-open 16th laboratory.

[Mad_Scientist]

"1 bottle of sake on the wall, 1 bottle of sake. I don't know the words, so I'll make them up IN AN ANoyING widely changing VOICE! 0 Bottles of sake on the wall..."

Jack, the pumpkin Hollow, was still paralyzed from various binding spells, with Katai's sword still stuck in him. But someone had decorated him oddly. He was wearing a tall wide brimmed hat and a polka dot coat, and his face was covered with neon green paint. Where any of these odd decorations had been gotten was not clear. Jack had a look of utter horror on his face, though whether it was from the decorations, the singing, or both, was hard to tell.

The two scientists who had been assigned to watch over Jack and Katai were reacting to the bizare situation in rather different ways. One had a smile and his face, and appeared to barely be containing his laughter. The other was staring at Katai with a look of pure horror on his face, as though Katai was some horrendous monster. Both were wearing a set of ear plugs.

Katai yawned loudly, and then looked at Jack with a a malevolent smile. "That was fun, wasn't it? What's that? You want an encore? Well, how can I deny your request?"

Katai bowed extravagently, then started singing again. "1,000 bottles of sake on the wall, 1,000 bottles of sake. I don't know the words, so I'll make them up, in a voice that whispers and THEN THUNDERS! 999 bottles of sake on the wall.

999 bottles of sake on the wall, 999 bottles of sake. I don't know the words, so I'll..."

[BioBomber]

Hibiki idly made his way through 12th division, heading back to his quarters. His head was still aching from the collision with the wall, though not quite so much as it was before. It was still enough to give him a rude shock when somebody not too far off burst into song, Hibiki caught the man shouting 'THEN THUNDERS!' and honed in on the voice, which was singing a variation on the 1,000 bottles song.

Grumbling to himself, Hibiki changed course and began heading in the direction of the singing with a stormy look plastered across his face. Combined with the slight redness of his skin from the collision and the salve, it gave him a slightly ominous appearance. Eventually he came to the source of the disturbance, a Shinigami with a Hollow impaled on the end of his zanpakuto. Hibiki raised an eyebrow.

'You here for help? Because I can tell you right now, you're not gonna get it if you keep singing like that. And it goes "900 bottles of sake on the wall, 900 bottles of sake! Take one down, pass it around, 899 bottles of sake on the wall!" Might be useful in the future when the people around you are actually drunk and more receptive to joining in.' Hibiki laughed. 'That a Hollow stuck on your zanpakuto? I could use a new test subject for comparissons with the Arrancar data I've collected from Katachi...who should be around here somewhere.'

'Hi-chaaan!' Katachi's voice echoed from somewhere in the room. Surprisingly quickly she reconstituted behind Hibiki and leaped up onto his back. 'Will I remove the Hollow-san from Shinigami-kun's sword? That what you want?'

'Yeah, thanks Katachi,' Hibiki nodded. 'Be careful not to damage the Hollow or the zanpakuto, keep him bonded to yourself and we'll transport him to storage in the old Hollow research building. I'm sure taichou won't mind if I open the 16th lab before I submit the paperwork request.' Katachi jumped over Hibiki's shoulders and dissolved in mid air into a slightly visible haze of clear liquid. It moulded itself around Jack's form and slowly eased it off the zanpakuto, sealing the cut as it moved clear of the blade. Jack's form was held in the air a moment, then Katachi reconstituted around him, his face protruding from Katachi's side. 'Thanks Katachi.'

'Yay!' Katachi gave Katai a thumbs up. 'He can't move, I've sealed his reiatsu from inside so he'll just sleep like a baby until we get him to analysis.' Hibiki nodded in confirmation. He was about to say something more to Katai when his Hell Butterfly from Ren returned. It was looking a bit damaged, but Hibiki ignored that. It fluttered onto his hand and sank partly into his skin, delivering the reply message. After Hibiki heard the message, the Butterfly's wings twitched, and it broke apart into its component spirit particles and vanished up Hibiki's sleeve.

[Mad_Scientist]

"Hehe, sorry about the singing. In all fairness, though, I didn't start in at first, and let them get some ear plugs first," Katai said as he gestured to the two Shinigami who had been watching him. He glanced at his blade, which seemed none the worse for wear despite its ordeal, and then sheathed it. "Thanks for getting that off, though, I was kind of afraid it was going to be stuck there forever. Would make an amusing club in battle, though.

Glancing at himself and his slightly burned body, Katai thought for a moment. His wounds weren't bad, but perhaps he should head to the 4th division anyways. Then he remembered "Fifteenth," and decided not to bother.

"Thanks you again for you assistance," he said with a polite bow, "I am Katai. Tegowai Katai, in Squad 11."