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>>1432612
But now, those defenses are set to be tested in a way they were likely never intended.

“Not exactly a strong hand to work with,” you grumble, catching the attention of both your fellow Captains. “Most of what we think we know is still assumed, and we don't even know if this is the scheme of some unknown party or not.”

“Well, if it's any consolation between the two of you we've gotten in the best possible position to respond,” Kisuke replies, smacking the top of one of his machines to get it to provide a reading, then adjusting a dial on its face. “And capturing a Blank is going to hand us that much more intelligence to work with.”

“Yeah, more fine-grained details,” you counter. “Who knows if that'll get us answers to the bigger questions?”

“You want to go up there in person,” Yoruichi guesses, giving you a stern look. “Don't you?”

>I do... but the Captains are needed here, so my duty is to stay and defend the Seireitei.
>I'll wait until we know whether we're about to come under attack or not, then decide.
>Someone's gonna have to go up there sooner or later, best that we have answers sooner.
>Other?

>>1432618
>Someone's gonna have to go up there sooner or later, best that we have answers sooner.

>>1432618
>Someone's gonna have to go up there sooner or later, best that we have answers sooner.

>>1432618
>>Someone's gonna have to go up there sooner or later, best that we have answers sooner.
Might as well take up the assignment considering the amount of time spent exploring Hueco Mundo before.

>>1432618
>Someone's gonna have to go up there sooner or later, best that we have answers sooner.
I can dig it

>recon is a go
>3d10, Best of Four, DC 19, Crit 23

Rolled 3, 5, 8 = 16 (3d10)

>>1432655

Rolled 6, 1, 9 = 16 (3d10)

Rolled 1, 10, 1 = 12 (3d10)

>>1432655

Rolled 2, 2, 1 = 5 (3d10)

>>1432655

Since >>1432659 isn't linked my policy is that one more roll will be considered.

Rolled 7, 6, 9 = 22 (3d10)

>>1432655

>>1432655
“We can talk about it all damn day” you grumble in response, “but sooner or later someone's gotta go up there and confirm what exactly we're looking at. May as well be sooner, and may as well be me.”

“Her barracks are already defended by multiple Lieutenants,” Yoruichi admits, though you can tell by her tone she doesn't like the idea of sending you alone. “And anyone else short of another Captain would just slow her down.”

“This is how it has to go,” you nod, your mind totally resolved. “I'll slip out using a Garganta, and slip back in the same way as soon as I can.”

“Okay,” Kisuke nods sternly, taking a small round device out of a nearby sack and handing it to you. “I think I can get behind this plan. Take this and plat it up there, anyplace you find that seems likely. It's a remote sensor that'll sample the surroundings and send results back through a coded transmission.”

“Next best thing to me being able to go along with you, really.”

You take the small tool, and after examining it for a moment you tuck it into your sash. “Got it. Makes sense to double down on the data since I'm already taking the risk once. You do your analysis, I'll see what I notice.”

“Good luck,” Yoruichi nods, pulling you in to briefly bump foreheads. “Get back when you can. Don't take too many risks.”

“See you in a bit,” you reply before breaking away.

The Garganta opens with a wave of your hand, taking you straight out through the Seireitei's defenses and into the Living World. You don't notice any problems doing so, which makes a certain amount of sense. Whatever is affecting the Soul Society right now isn't impacting that realm, only the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo... at least on that front you can relax somewhat. But if something happens to the Soul Society, you doubt that the Living World will be unaffected by it even if there's no immediate danger from hollows or Blanks running rampant.

You take a moment to release Tenkotsuki.

“Thinking of ways to lower your profile?” your zanpakuto muses.

You nod curtly. “Kyokkō!”

The kidō all but erases your spiritual presence, and even bends light to make you disappear to the eye. So concealed you focus on the point high above the Seireitei where Hueco Mundo was visible mere moments ago, and walk through the Garganta a second time.
>1/2

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>>1432685
Once through, you find that beyond the aperture in the sky of both planes lies a vast, barren wasteland of blue skies and almost geometric crags of plain stone, with the occasional gray cloud blurring the horizon between the two.

This is certainly a Valley of Screams alright.

“Lady Riku, be warned,” Tenkotsuki interrupts as you locate a suitable spot to tuck yourself in-between a pair of large rectilinear mounds. “I am struggling to maintain the light-bending aspect of Kyokkō in this environment. The reiatsu here feels too unstable... I will have to turn my attention to hiding your reiatsu fully instead.”

“Fine,” you agree with a nod and a hushed tone. “I can stay out of sight the old-fashioned way.”

“Sneak,” Rosa taunts.

“Hey? Not while I'm working.” As you chide your inner hollow, you take a moment to check that Kisuke's little science-toy is on and tuck it away where you've sought cover. That's one objective down.

>Try and sense out any living presences and figure out who they might be.
>Wait... are there any Blanks here? Where are they?
>Test some of your theories: try and exert a little control over the ground in front of you.
>Other?

>>1432712
>Test some of your theories: try and exert a little control over the ground in front of you.

>>1432712
>>Try and sense out any living presences and figure out who they might be.

>>1432712
>>Wait... are there any Blanks here? Where are they?
>>Test some of your theories: try and exert a little control over the ground in front of you.

>>1432712
>>Try and sense out any living presences and figure out who they might be.
If we don't find anyone
>Test some of your theories: try and exert a little control over the ground in front of you.

>>1432712
>Test some of your theories: try and exert a little control over the ground in front of you.

>>1432716
>>1432725
>>1432730
>>1432732
This is going to out us immediately

>>1432712
>Try and sense out any living presences and figure out who they might be.

>>1432712
>>Try and sense out any living presences and figure out who they might be.

>>1432712
Theory-Testing Time
>3d10
You get three chances to hit a 19... but try not to get higher than 22.

Rolled 5, 4, 9 = 18 (3d10)

>>1432749
dammit. I assume the sensing votes came in too late?

Rolled 5, 9, 8 = 22 (3d10)

>>1432749

Rolled 2, 2, 1 = 5 (3d10)

>>1432749

>>1432750
You'd be correct. After 15 minutes I get started writing.

Rolled 3, 9, 7 = 19 (3d10)

>>1432749

>>1432749
>try not to get higher than 22
Well that sounds oddly foreboding...
>>1432754
Son of a gun.

>>1432749
So... you said higher than 22... so if we hit exactly 22, are we still safe?

>>1432767
Yup. I had thought of making it 21, but I decided such a narrow window would be unfair. So you barely went undiscovered.

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>>1432783
Well then, now that you're here you suppose the logical thing to do would be to start putting your various theories to the test, starting with your attempts to identify the possible culprits as mortals. The only way you can think of to do that is to see whether this Valley responds to your shinreiryoku the same way the first one you encountered did.

You touch Tenkotsuki's blade to the bare earth and let the tiniest amount of shinreiatsu you can release flow into the ground... and the results are immediate.

A cluster of brilliantly-colored deigo flowers springs almost eagerly from the dead terrain, the flowers which bloom every year on Okinawa where you were born. The sap from these trees is used in traditional lacquers to this day, and it's become a symbol of the modern Okinawa Prefecture as it was reorganized in 1972.

Unfortunately you're forced to yank the beautiful flowers out by their roots when your use of shinreiryoku draws unwanted attention.

“So that's where the Blanks were hiding?” you muse quietly from behind a rock some thousand meters from the one where you'd been standing seconds before, watching as the white figures descend upon the spot where your flowers bloomed in a thick horde. “Too close.”

Then, in a rapid reversal of fortune, your enemy approaches the site.

A young man in a dark green shihakusho appears among the Blanks at the back of the crowd, then calls out to someone out of your line of sight. “It's clear... no idea what these guys were so riled up over.

A woman with wavy hair in a deep shade more clearly purple than Yoruichi's appears a bit closer to you, wearing what looks like the same uniform. “You're too antsy, Kin. Relax.”

“Sorry, mother,” the young man calls back before returning his focus to the Blanks. “Wonder what has them so spooked?”

“Who knows?” his mother calls back before taking a flash-step over to join this 'Kin'. They continue talking, but you can't hear them as well from this distance when they're not shouting.

>Try to get in close enough to hear what they're saying.
>Move to get a better view of them, take mental notes.
>Try to head back for the aperture to Soul Society.
>Other?

>>1432807
>Try to get in close enough to hear what they're saying.

>>1432807
>Move to get a better view of them, take mental notes.
Well damn, that was close.

>>1432807
>Try to get in close enough to hear what they're saying.

>>1432807
>Try to get in close enough to hear what they're saying.

>>1432807
>>Move to get a better view of them, take mental notes.

>>1432825
>>1432821
>>1432809
This is gonna be one hell of a sneaking check. Wenot only have to be within earshot, but also close enough to the anti-divine blank horde for them to swarm Riku

>SNEAKING MISSION
>3d10, DC 19, Crit 23
>Best of Three
Mostly because the Blanks.

Rolled 10, 7, 10 = 27 (3d10)

>>1432862

Rolled 1, 2, 10 = 13 (3d10)

>>1432862

Rolled 8, 9, 1 = 18 (3d10)

>>1432862
Hahaha, time for failure
>>1432870
Or not...

>>1432864
Hah! Nice.

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>>1432864
Riku is all sneaky beaky like

>>1432864
Looks like you're the chosen one for this session.

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>>1432918

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>>1432862
You decide that you really need to know what these two are saying to each other, and the only way that's going to happen is if you get closer... much closer. And so you work your way over to them, keeping your reiatsu so heavily suppressed you have to actually run, each step light, quick, and tireless. You'd guess it takes you just under two minutes to cover the thousand meters, and when you reach your target you slide in between two large boulders and listen intently.

Thankfully the Blanks seem to take no notice of you.

“That's exactly what I'm trying to say,” Kin insists. “I know you and dad are confident none of the shinigami are going to make it up here, but it's been a thousand years! Who knows what's happened in the Seireitei since we were banished?”

“The Head Captain is an old man,” the woman insists sternly, and you feel a small pang of regret at his mention. “If nobody's gotten stronger than that old bastard we'll have an easy time... I've seen what you can do. It's child's play!”

“You're selling them short,” Kin counters angrily. “This is reckless.”

“And waiting another thousand years in the Dangai would be suicide,” his mother snarls. “You know that, Kin. Our clan was doomed the moment our numbers dwindled to one woman. We will never be stronger than we are now.”

Kin is silent for a few moments, and all you can hear is the eerie rustling of the restless Blanks nearby. “I know that.”

“It's time,” the woman declares. “We will take our revenge on the Seireitei and topple the noble Clans which cast us out to die.”

“That's great,” Kin replies, and you can practically hear his frown from here.

“Kin?”

“One moment.”

You feel a sudden, overwhelming urgency to move, and in a massive explosion that reduces much of the surrounding land to rubble the Blanks all set off in a chain. Your hirenkyaku manages to get you clear of the blast radius, and you even manage to move in more or less the same direction as the two speakers.

“What was that about, Kin!?” the woman demands angrily. “Have you lost your damn mind?”

“Just taking precautions,” the young man replies calmly. “Besides, if we're going to be destroying the Seireitei I may as well start following my impulses sooner rather than later, and those were telling me to blow shit up.”

“That's all there is to it, mother.”
>1/2

>>1432925
Cute kid.

>>1432925
“Well, your father will appreciate hearing that,” the woman grumbles, “but you could've warned me. We aren't all blessed with such control over the Blanks.”

“Control?” Kin asks skeptically. “No, all I do us use them. All my life I've been locked up in this dead realm with them, and I don't even understand them, so how can I say I can control them?”

“I don't get it,” the woman admits, “and I don't care. So long as you serve the clan well that's enough for me.”

“Yeah... you've made that abundantly clear.”

… both of them have their backs turned...

>Target the young man.
>Target the woman.
>Withdraw.
>Follow them.
>Other?

>>1432935
Kid has been cooped up in that valley for 1000+years. That clearly has not been kind to his social life and mental health. And as a mother of 2, there's clearly something wrong with this family dynamic.
>Withdraw.
>leave a Diego flower for the young man, it'll screw with his head.

>>1432935
>>Withdraw.
Get a background on any past incidents involving nobles banishing a clan.

>>1432935
>Withdraw.

>>1432935
>>Withdraw.

>Riku's heard enough
Dice+3d10, DC is 19 with a crit at 24.
Best of Three.

Rolled 2, 9, 9 = 20 (3d10)

>>1432980

>>1432980

Rolled 1, 6, 5 = 12 (3d10)

>>1432980

Rolled 8, 9, 3 = 20 (3d10)

>>1432985
>>1432980
Bleh screwed up dice roll

Rolled 3, 8, 5 = 16 (3d10)

>>1432980

>writing

>>1433006
You've gotten more than enough information to have made this trip worthwhile, now it's time to withdraw. However you linger perhaps just a second too long, as it seems that this 'Kin' must have noticed something he didn't like. If you've followed their conversation right he was born here, so it wouldn't come as too much of a surprise that he would be attuned well enough to its unusual reiatsu that he would notice something amiss.

And tampering with shinreiryoku would certainly count as 'amiss'.

He follows you for maybe a kilometer and a half, passing from the top of each bluff to the next as you navigate the maze around their bases, always one step ahead of him. Each time you twist he turns, each time you feel like you've gotten out ahead he catches up... it's infuriating. But finally you draw near the aperture which leads to the Seireitei.

Only to find it swarmed with milling Blanks, thousands of them in a loosely-packed crowd around the sudden margins of the gaping wound in the bottom of the Valley. They seem instinctively averse to leaving that way, though they're making it difficult for you to manage. And Kin is right behind you, with his frustrated mother trailing a short distance behind.

There are a few options. You could try to wind your way through the crowd and hope they don't do anything to bar your progress like explode or sound an alarm, or you could try to make the last few thousand meters in the open. You could also try blasting a path through them with kidō, or you could attack Kin from cover and get him off your back long enough to make your escape.

>Try and gently push your way through the crowd of Blanks with your haori as camouflage.
>Make a break for it in the open, take your chances with being spotted.
>Blast your way through, there are no brakes on the Riku train.
>Turn and fight, use what element of surprise you may have left.
>Other?

>>1433022
>Try and gently push your way through the crowd of Blanks with your haori as camouflage.

Dunno if this is the best choice but I do kinda want to maintain our stealth...

>>1433022
>Try and gently push your way through the crowd of Blanks with your haori as camouflage
>Other: flip your haori inside out to hide the division letters.

>>1433022
>>Try and gently push your way through the crowd of Blanks with your haori as camouflage.

>>1433022
>>Try and gently push your way through the crowd of Blanks with your haori as camouflage.
If Kin follows, then that leaves him within the blast zone if the Blanks go haywire.

Maybe he'll part them away to be on the safe side to give us breathing space at least? Though that feels like a long shot considering his attitude with the Blanks.

>>1433022
>Other: use the deigo flowers as the "hood" disguise.

>>1433050
I like that idea, it's clever.

>>1433022
>Try and gently push your way through the crowd of Blanks with your haori as camouflage.

>apologies for the delay
3d10, DC 20, Crit 23

Rolled 2, 10, 6 = 18 (3d10)

>>1433100

Rolled 8, 4, 10 = 22 (3d10)

>>1433100

Rolled 1, 3, 1 = 5 (3d10)

>>1433100

>>1433105
Not getting away clean, but still pretty good!

>>1433105
So close, but still its a pass. Good job anon.

>>1433100
Alright, it can't be that hard. You take a moment to remove your haori, turning it inside out so that the reinforced ōken fabric and your Division emblem aren't visible, and crouch-walk into the crowd of Blanks. By sticking close to tighter clusters of the strange, featureless beings you feel like your hunched posture will be less obvious.

A hirenkyaku bridges a wider opening just in time, as Kin is suddenly standing among the Blanks you were just using as cover. He draws a sword and slices through several of them to thin the herd somewhat, causing many of the Blanks to stampede towards you. In reality this probably served to provide you with even better cover.

“Are you finished yet?” the woman demands loudly from a distance as Kin sheathes his sword. You catch a brief glimpse of his face: strong jaw, a lighter tone of hair than his mother, and bright green eyes, before he turns away.

“I guess,” he sighs as he heads off to rejoin his mother. “Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm just going a little crazy.”

Then he stops. “Or maybe I'm not.”

With a wave of his arm he commands another wave of Blanks to blow themselves away, the force of the chain of explosions blasting you clear out of the Valley and down into the Soul Society below.

>3d10 to control and aim your fall

Rolled 9, 2, 6 = 17 (3d10)

>>1433141

Rolled 8, 2, 10 = 20 (3d10)

>>1433141

Rolled 4, 6, 2 = 12 (3d10)

>>1433141

Rolled 9, 10, 3 = 22 (3d20)

>>1433141

>>1433141
I gotta hand it to Kin; he knows how to play it safe.

His instincts are good; that'll make fighting him a pain in the ass.

>>1433163
But kid's got potential. That last statement is a hit of his desire to rebel. A reflection of what he wants. Riku is a mother she would know how a frustrated kid feels. Play our cards right and we could get a valuable ally.

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>>1433141
You quickly roll onto your stomach, exerting enough force to cushion your body in a layer of denser air like a self-contained updraft in front of you as you spread your arms and legs to try and maximize surface area. Basically, it's just an extension of the same technique any spiritually-gifted being uses to stand in the air... and though you could in theory try using hirenkyaku to get down faster you're not sure you want to do so when you already have so much momentum. The results could be messy if you do it wrong.

The Seireitei itself is shrouded in an invisible barrier, which your nephew and his friends had to punch their way through not even a year ago, but unlike them you don't have one of Kūkaku's inventions to help you. So instead you use your arms and legs to point yourself towards one of the gates. Your body isn't quite gliding far enough, but at least you're heading in the right direction.

“Heads up!” you roar as you pour out even more reiatsu to cushion the last few hundred meters of your fall. Your impact leaves a crater of course, and raises a lot of dust, but thankfully none of the Rukongai residents are nearby to be injured or killed.

Coughing, you begin to dust yourself off when Rangiku appears along with her squad. “What happened, Captain? Why are you outside the barrier?”

“I did a little investigating,” you nod, taking off your dirtied haori and tossing it to a nearby squad member to hang onto for you. “How are things here? Busy much?”

“A stray hollow or two,” Rangiku informs you, “and a few sightings of those strange white things roaming the streets. Nobody's been harmed so far.”

>I need to get back into the Seireitei. You stay here.
>I need escort. Exiles, plot to destroy the Seireitei. You know.
>Bunker down, we may have company in a minute or two.
>Other?

>>1433194
>>I need escort. Exiles, plot to destroy the Seireitei. You know.

>>1433194
>>I need to get back into the Seireitei. You stay here.

>>1433194
>I need escort. Exiles, plot to destroy the Seireitei. You know.

>>1433194
>I need escort. Exiles, plot to destroy the Seireitei. You know.
>Other: just another Thursday. *sarcastically*Thanks Aizen

>>1433194
>I need to get back into the Seireitei. You stay here.

>dice+3d10, DC 18, Crit 22
>best of three

Rolled 6, 6, 1 = 13 (3d10)

>>1433278

Rolled 1, 5, 7 = 13 (3d10)

>>1433278

Rolled 8, 10, 1 = 19 (3d10)

>>1433278

>>1433293
Dat clutch save.

>>1433293
Clutch, Good job Anon!

>>1433293
You really are the chosen one this session.

>>1433320
At least I am lucky for once

>>1433278
“I need escort to the Seireitei's gates,” you tell them quickly, motioning to get moving as soon as possible. “I'm probably being followed. Exiles, plot to kill everyone, you know. Like a typical Thursday.”

“You kicked the hornets' nest again,” your daughter sighs as you take off running.

You shrug, extending your Kakushitsuijaku tattoo towards as many of the most important recipients as are within range. “You know I can't help it!”

“This is Kusajishi, we have a situation!” you announce as you sprint down an alleyway. “Valley of Screams linking Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, contact made with two hostiles and there's likely more! Green shihakusho, said they were exiles from a thousand years ago!”

You round a corner to find a crowd of white figures. “Push through or go around, but don't stop!”

As you barrel through the crowd of Blanks, you duck under the blade of a sword swung to try and decapitate you.

“Well dodged, shinigami,” Kin muses, falling back into a readied stance as the Blanks scatter. “I have to commend you, not even a Captain and your reflexes are so sharp. No wonder I had such trouble tracking you down.”

Ah... you're not wearing your haori, are you?

“Sorry, but I'm kind of in a hurry!” you counter, continuing to run.

Kin stops you once more, suddenly standing right where a Blank had been previously. Tenkotsuki is out of your sheath in an instant to parry the blow, while Rangiku stops to observe this second use of Kin's rapid movement technique.

“You can switch places with the Blanks,” you grunt, pushing Kin away with your sword. “That's actually pretty neat. But like I said, I don't have time for your shit right now, so it'd be wonderful if you got out of my way.”

“I see,” Kin nods gloomily. “I'd wanted to save as many of my tricks as possible for later, but guess you've left me no choice shinigami.”

"Just remember this is your own fault for dodging me so well."

>dice+3d10, DC 19, Crit 23
>best of three

Rolled 8, 2, 7 = 17 (3d10)

>>1433353

Rolled 10, 3, 9 = 22 (3d10)

>>1433353

Rolled 5, 4, 2 = 11 (3d10)

>>1433353

>>1433353
Well now, that's just unfortunate. . . for him.

>>1433379
And for Riku. This isn't the sort of attack you dodge, it's the sort of attack your survive.
>writing

>>1433386
Are you deliberately setting the crit range at 23? Cause we seem to get 22 an awful lot...

>>1433417
It's to accommodate for the random improbability and fickleness of dice gods.

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>>1433386
Kin holds his blade close to his own throat, like a straight razor, and begins to call a name.

“Weep...”

He's releasing his zanpakuto? Not if you have anything to say about it. As quickly as you strike however you find that you've cleaved straight through a Blank, and now your foe is standing to your left side.

“... Kinkizu.”

All across your body fine lines of red blossom, basically wherever you've been so much as nicked with a sword or a claw over the years. Your left arm practically dissolves into a cloud of pink mist, and even worse you feel your back open up. There's an unbearable pain in your chest, you can hear familiar but jumbled voices shouting in alarm at what they're seeing. But the only words that register with you are your own.

Resolute, focused, and without a doubt angry, they're the last clear thoughts before the world goes dim for a while.

“Raze...”
>1/2

>>1433426
Oh fuck Rosa is coming out to play, and she is in a BAD mood.

>>1433426
Oh snap. Rosa is behind the wheel now. I wonder what beef is she gonna have with little boy Edgelord?

>>1433450
Given he dug up ALL our own wounds, is trying to kill us, our family and all we've sworn to protect? Umm well all of it?

>>1433426

Shiiiiiiiit. I was hoping Blut would take the edge off, but I can live with Rosa coming out to play.

Should be amusing.

....I guess this is how they were planning on killing Yamamoto. Pretty good plan, to be honest.

>>1433455
It's a miracle Riku could survive this attack and have a split aspect of herself to take the wheel while having the necessary abilities to recover and keep fighting

>>1433480
Captains are bullshit, did you read the Yamamoto and Arturro fight?

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>>1433426
You are Lieutenant Matsumoto Rangiku, and if the last words you heard from your mother were angry your own reaction is outright homicidal.

The blast emanating from Riku's back was massive, a billowing wall of black fire that expanded to engulf her attacker, and the shock it produced almost knocked the wind out of you. You're familiar with this technique, at least in passing, where she uses her inner hollow's powers to cast kidō through her blood. And that trick her nameless assailant used just now drew a massive amount of blood to work with.

As the squad members you were working with out here get to their feet, you draw Haineko and watch what happens next carefully.

The young man was almost unrecognizable, his face and upper body incinerated and cracked like meat that's been left on the spit for too long. But after grabbing one of the nearby white creatures that managed to weather the blast and seemingly dissolving it he spreads the white all over himself, regenerating much of the damage.

Riku is alive and breathing, propped up on one knee by Tenkotsuki in her sheath and in no condition to fight. So that means your guess was right?

“You opened up all the scar tissue in her body,” you growl, drawing the man's attention. “Even after having been healed, the scars don't go away entirely... and any Captain will have suffered a staggering amount of injuries in the line of duty.”

“That's the reasoning behind your zanpakuto, isn't it?”

“You're just as sharp as this one was...” the man muses, dusting off some of the leftover charcoal dust that was once his previous layer of skin. “I take it she was a Captain, and you are her Lieutenant?”

You glance down at Riku. Her body seems to be slowly healing... good. The memories of her past life, Rosa, must still be conscious in there somewhere and doing their job.

“I'm her daughter,” you reply, glaring sharply at the attacker. “Normally this would be the point where I'd be supposed to capture you for interrogation.”

“But that's not going to happen. Not after what you just did.”

>He uses these Blanks in his tricks. Eliminate them.
>Bind him and hope he doesn't have to move to activate his shikai.
>Keep him at a distance with Haineko, wear him down.
>Other?

>>1433474
But seriously, they're hinging their plan on a abused kid who has to cope by acting like an edgelord. Not the most sound of ideas.

>>1433487
>>He uses these Blanks in his tricks. Eliminate them.

>>1433495
Their plan and expectation is to take on Old Man Genocide and his army. They've already made such poor life choices that this doesn't really tip the scales one way or another.

>>1433487
>He uses these Blanks in his tricks. Eliminate them.

>>1433487
>He uses these Blanks in his tricks. Eliminate them.
>blind him with haineko's ash.

>>1433487
>He uses these Blanks in his tricks. Eliminate them.

Holy fuck, could we have just been killed in one hit there?

>>1433487
>He uses these Blanks in his tricks. Eliminate them.

>>1433521
seems so

>>1433518
Surround him with ash, but don't attack. Just scatter it across the field lightly, like a light fog.
Then slowly feed the ash particles into his lungs without him noticing, until there are enough to rip them apart from the inside. And then the rest of his organs too.

You can't defend from within your own body very easily.

>>1433521
Seems like it. That would've been the end of Rikuad we not gotten the fortune time to activate Rosa to use bout and repair herself.

>>1433521
>Anonymous (ID: 0nn/z6k5) 05/06/17(Sat)17:44:46 No.1433521 ▶>>1433526
>>>1433487
>>He uses these Blanks in his tricks. Eliminate them.
>Holy fuck, could we have just been killed in one hit there?
My money's on we'd have survived, but would not have retaliated and may have faced worse recuperation.

>>1433487
>>1433528
Supporting this strategy.

>>1433521
That scar tissue goes all the way to Riku's heart. Any shinigami below Captain level would be dead, and despite her unusually powerful regenerative abilities even Riku will have a tough time walking this one off.

>>1433536
If it can get any support this is what i want to do for sure.

>>1433487
>>He uses these Blanks in his tricks. Eliminate them.

>>1433540
I am glad we got an escort, but now I'm thinking Yoruichi deserves to take this brat's head the mos.

....This kid is SO lucky Gin didn't come with us.

>>1433550
.....Has Gin ever taken a serious hit? Like Ever? Pretty sure he hasn't meaning he'd give the kid fits.

>dice+3d10, DC 18, Crit 22
>best of three

>>1433550
He's lucky I'll give him that, but things would have been different if he stopped being an edgelord.

Rolled 2, 4, 3 = 9 (3d10)

>>1433563

Rolled 10, 1, 7 = 18 (3d10)

>>1433563

Rolled 9, 2, 3 = 14 (3d10)

>>1433563

Rolled 8, 2, 5 = 15 (3d10)

>>1433563

>>1433569
Juuuuuust made it.

>>1433565
And dice have forsaken.
>>1433569
Nice save. Seems when shit gets real, the dice wants drama

Keep in mind, we're not riku anymore, we're "only" a "regular" captain.

He's stronger than us, we can't power through it.
We need to fight smart.

>ash in the lungs will not disappear even if he heals, meaning it can be used over and over
>can turn his internal organs into a meat smoothie regardless of how strong he is
>even if he notices we can keep him from breathing

>>1433586
There's also... at least one other option.
Bankai suppository.

>>1433586
Or we can have the ash cut his voice box and tendons.

>>1433605
Ash in bloodstream, Pompey the fucker into a work of art.

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You're in no mood to play games with this man. He's done something that can't be excused, and the laws are clear... for once you even agree with them wholeheartedly.

To attack a Captain means the death penalty, and you intend to deliver it.

“Bankai: Byakkokiri.”

Your blade flickers as it dissolves into sparkling metal shards, each wickedly sharp and impossibly hard, and you focus on compressing them into a tight blade shape.

“A Bankai?” the purple-haired intruder mutters. “Strange, I could have sworn that... no matter.”

“Weep, Kinkizu!”

As you scythe through another Blank you can feel cuts appearing all over your body, but they're not nearly as bad as Riku's wounds even though they're quite painful. Pain you can overcome, you've trained for that most of your life.

“Is that all?” you growl, turning to where the assailant was moments ago with another slash. This time as well as the last, you shed a little bit of Haineko's blade when you swing it, casting the metallic dust in a wide arc.

“Everyone, get the Captain clear,” you order.

“I don't think so!” the stranger retorts, taking a swing at a nearby rifleman only to have two more shots bounce off his body, digging out little creases in his torso.

“That's weird... what the hell are those things?” he demands as you slice through a fourth and fifth Blank. “Are those guns? Who in the Gotei 13 had the balls?”

“Hey, idiot,” you grumble, blade cutting a nick into the man's zanpakuto as he parries and then planting your foot in his gut. “You're fighting me. I want you to be paying attention when I take your life, otherwise you might not be aware that you've been punished for your crimes.”

“And what about the crime of banishing my entire family?” the man contests.

“If your family was banished you probably committed a crime to warrant it,” you shrug. “And besides, it happened long before my mother or I were even born. You're taking it out on people who had nothing to do with it.”

Ah, so your talking stalled him just long enough.
>1/2

>>1433666
>“That's weird... what the hell are those things?” he demands as you slice through a fourth and fifth Blank. “Are those guns? Who in the Gotei 13 had the balls?”
And now the culmination of our progressive policies coming to fruition.

>dice+3d10, DC 17, crit 20
best of four due to circumstance

Rolled 3, 9, 8 = 20 (3d10)

>>1433718
>Riku raised a hand, and flips him the bird. " 'f I had balls," she mumbled, "Yoruichi would have a kid by now. 'Side from the ones we already got...
>>1433739
"

Rolled 7, 9, 3 = 19 (3d10)

>>1433739
POMPEI

Rolled 3, 2, 10 = 15 (3d10)

>>1433739

Rolled 1, 1, 2 = 4 (3d10)

>>1433739

>>1433747
ART!

>>1433718
But it does bring up the question, his family was banished a thousand years ago, before guns were invented in the real world (Or did Seritei invent guns before people in the real world did?) So how does he even know what they are? Just how informed are they about the goings on outside their realm? Or am I just missing something here from lack of sleep?

Rolled 2, 8, 8 = 18 (3d10)

>>1433739

File: a1520232efba41f933d5d8486(...).png (381 KB, 710x461)

381 KB PNG

>>1433666
Riku and the rest of your squad are clear of the blast zone. That's good, now you can set your plan into motion.

“Hadō 32: Ōkasen!”

In a brilliant yellow flash, your spell obliterates all the remaining Blanks in one shot. The attacker seems stunned for a moment, looking around as both his abilities to regenerate and his best means of falling back are cut off in an instant. Then he finds your blade against his as he raises it almost instinctively to keep you from beheading him in a single stroke.

“There's plenty more where that came...” he begins to insist, half to bolster his own confidence, before you step to the side and allow Haineko to decompress. The ashes are immediately in his face, and he coughs violently as the particles invade his airways before he can backpedal far enough away.

“The hell was that!?” he demands in between coughing fits... then he notices that his palm has come away with blood on it. “What is this?”

“You didn't wonder at all about my zanpakuto?” you muse, shaking your head in disbelief. “You really don't have any battle sense, do you? My Haineko is like all other cats... she sheds, but in her case she leaves behind razor-sharp metallic dust that I used to fill your lungs. Right now those particles are working their way through to your heart.”

“Burn in hell,” he spits blood at you.

You frown at him. “So those are your last words, huh?”

The young man refuses to speak, instead raising his sword and charging at you in one last, desperate gamble. Before he reaches you, you snap your fingers.

A bloody hole appears in his chest, and his eyes widen as his heart is literally minced by Haineko's ashes. Then you take his lungs and liver, lacerate his spinal column, tear out his throat, and eventually liquify his brain before your sword reforms her blade, perfectly clean and spotless as it was before you drew her.

“Haien!” you call out, almost as an afterthought, incinerating the remains until they're less than dust on the wind.

>Escort Riku all the way to the Fourth Division hospital.
>Check on her status before moving her, then decide where to take her.
>Take her to First Division. She'll want to report as soon as she's conscious.
>Other?

>>1433788
>Check on her status before moving her, then decide where to take her.


YES
FUCK YES
BEST IDEA
HAINEKO OP AS FUCK

>>1433788
>>Check on her status before moving her, then decide where to take her.

>>1433788

...Shit goddamn, Matsumoto is brutal. But that's what you get for fighting a bankai with a shaky, without being an elder Captain.

>Check on her status before moving her, then decide where to take her.

>>1433788
>Check on her status before moving her, then decide where to take her.

>>1433788
>>Check on her status before moving her, then decide where to take her.

>>1433788
>Escort Riku all the way to the Fourth Division hospital.

>>1433808
FUCKING AUTO-CORRUPT ARGH I HATE THESE BROWSERS.

>>1433788
>>Check on her status before moving her, then decide where to take her.

>>1433788
>>Check on her status before moving her, then decide where to take her.

>3d10, best of 3, dc 16, crit 18

Rolled 1, 9, 1 = 11 (3d10)

>>1433871
>critfail time!

Rolled 9, 6, 4 = 19 (3d10)

>>1433871

Rolled 9, 2, 8 = 19 (3d10)

>>1433871

Rolled 6, 9, 8 = 23 (3d10)

>>1433871
>>1433876
It's okay anon, the only failure here is you.

>>1433871
>inb4 kisuke makes a walking mummy joke when we get back

>>1433744
Quote that source please... on second thought, there was an Omake of what a "what if Riku was a guy instead of a girl".
>>1433765
Kubo's inconsistency on world building fluff.

>>1433788
Rangiku is best Daughter. . .

Ya, know I almost feel bad for these invaders, if they had done the barest hint of gathering intel they might have realized that they could have attempted to rejoin soul society, now they're just going to get wiped out.

Man, i don't know how strong that guy was for sure since i haven't seen this bit of bleach i'm the guy that always says that
But he got FUCKED up.

I never get to try my most brutal ideas like that in other quests, that was so satisfying.

>>1433912
Let this stand as a lesson: you've met some people who are legitimately willing to try. Not everyone is going to be like that, regardless of what faction you're dealing with.

>>1433934
Our sword arm is just as great as our love.

So we're missing our arm again, aren't we? That's not ideal.

>>1433964
We also have another star shaped hole in our chest nicking our heart and our back fucked up to the nines.

>>1433964
It's pretty fucked up if not.
Maybe time to get around to find one of those highly regenerative hollows for kisuke so he can make hollow serum.

>>1433934
Speak softly, but carry a big stick.

>>1433976
We trained some pretty big goddamn sticks.

>>1433912
Keep in mind that we just dealt with the clan's crucial asset for their invasion, lil edgelord and only him.

>>1433974
That would require fucking with alternate universes....AGAIN.

>>1433934
“Here, set her down a moment,” you order your subordinate who's carrying Riku. Quickly feeling her neck with your fingertips you determine that she has a strong pulse, and that it's neither outrageously fast nor worryingly slow. Faintly glowing lines all across her body tell you that she's slowly being healed from the inside, and she's stopped bleeding aside from a slow trickle from her left arm and back.

If anything worries you she's already low on blood, and that's probably the only reason she's not conscious and trying to insist on meeting with the Head Captain about her contact with the enemy.

“Let's get her inside the walls,” you decide. “Then we'll proceed from there.”

You pass Jidanbō, who lifts the massive gate for you despite his obvious shock at seeing the Captain covered in blood... your own bleeding is starting to become a nuisance despite the trailing squad member who's been trying to close your wounds. You have to admit that you're feeling more and more like your mother with each passing day, especially since Aizen's departure. Like you just don't have the time for petty things like pain and personal injury to slow you down.

Finally, with your own wounds mostly closed, you issue your orders to the squad.

“Send First Division, Second Division, Third Division, and Fourth Division's Captains word that I'm taking Captaik Kusajishi to the hospital. Tell them to meet her there for a quick briefing when she regains consciousness.”

Laying Riku out on her stomach, you cast a teleportation kidō commonly known to most Lieutenants and higher specifically for moving their Captains around, and take her right into the lobby of the Fourth Division hospital.

“Get the Captain a blood transfusion, now!” you roar, probably disrupting their other work. But you honestly don't care at this point, and her treatment should take priority anyway.

“She needs full treatment!” one of the staff in scrubs insists.

>No, just the blood and a private room. That's an order.
>Explain to him why he has no idea what he's talking about and repeat your order.
>Just let him do his thing, it's his job.
>You'll do it yourself, tell him to get out of the way.
>Other?

>>1433994
>>Explain to him why he has no idea what he's talking about and repeat your order.

>>1433994
>Just let him do his thing, it's his job.

Rangiku probably doesn't into medicine beyond field care

>>1433994
>>Just let him do his thing, it's his job.

>>1433994
>Just let him do his thing, it's his job.

Here's the thing, we already tired ourselves out fighting monk, and now we're healing ourselves AGAIN the same day. Isshin said it himself, kaido takes a fuckload of reiatsu.

Blood transfusion should take priority, then we can skip the rest of the treatment on a whim if we have to.

>No, just the blood and a private room. That's an order.

I think she's still pissed enough to not need an explanation.

>>1434012
Also there's the potential danger for our heart, i don't know how well rosa can heal that, if at all.
If we leave it unchecked we might fucking die when we try to fight again.

>>1433994
>>No, just the blood and a private room. That's an order.

>>1433994
>Just let him do his thing, it's his job.

>writing, btw

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>>1434156
You don't see much use arguing with him right now, and you probably couldn't do it in your mental condition without biting his head off. And honestly, it would be good to keep a close eye on her wounds: particularly the one to her heart.

“Start with the blood,” you repeat. “Replace what she's lost and you'll have her own regenerative abilities on your side.”

With a nod, the man waves over orderlies who load Captain Kusajishi onto a gurney and whisk her away to an operating ward. You're forced into a room yourself, where a pair of Fourth Division nurses treat your comparatively minor wounds while you sit impatiently. Finally, a visitor bursts through your door.

“What happened?” Yoruichi demands quietly. “Her report was cut off.”

“She was pursued,” you explain bitterly. “The one who came after us could switch places with the Blanks at will, used them to heal himself, and had a zanpakuto that rips open people's scar tissue. He used it on her first.”

Yoruichi's expression is particularly dark. “And what did you do?”

“Same thing you'd have done,” you explain. “Shredded him and burned the body.”

“Good girl.”

You're eventually joined by the Head Captain, who listens to your explanation patiently from start to finish.

“You really should have taken him captive,” Kyōraku observes calmly. “But honestly... I see your side of things clearly. While I may not have done the same thing, I can't blame you for it.”

“Thanks for that, sir,” you grumble.

“You know I think...”
>1/2

>>1434012
A silver lining: we just dealt with what could've been the exiles' most dangerous asset in terms of projecting enemy strength through explosive blanks. A key figure no less who seems to have snuck off at behest of her mother's orders on a sneaking impulse. That is a huge setback for them as well as Kin's mother also wagered that Kin was capable of killing the late Yamamoto.

>>1434194
His shikai ability would have been an absolute bitch for the Old Man.

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>>1434194
I'm so proud of her.

>>1434185
To be fair, keeping someone captive who can effectively teleport and you don't know the limits of said teleportation is a very dangerous prospect. Especially when we commands an army of suicide bombers.

Putting aside Rangiku's brutality, I'm not sure how she could have taken him captive short of taking away his hinigami powers via Senka or something.

>>1434185
You are Captain Kusajishi Riku, and recovery wards are for people who have enough time that they can afford to be sick. You don't have that luxury, and so the moment your orderly wasn't paying attention you gave him the slip and made a beeline for Rangiku's room.

“You know,” you hear a male voice inside the room, “I think...”

Nope.

The door slams open as you pant slightly in the doorframe.

“What're you doing up already?” your daughter asks in alarm. “You've basically been stabbed in the heart!”

“I got better,” you shrug, and even that slight gesture hurts. “I have you and my zanpakuto to thank for that... you fought well, Rangiku. I'm sorry if I worried you.”

After hearing you say that, her alarm disappears and she goes from being a Lieutenant worried about her Captain to being a daughter happy to see her mother alright. “I was more angry at the one who did it than worried about you, you know. If anyone could survive being killed it's you.”

Next you turn to your wife, who shakes her head in quiet disbelief. “Will you at least sit down so I can finish patching you up while you file your report?”

Without a word of complaint, you oblige Yoruichi and take a seat on the floor so she can lean over your back and work on ensuring that none of your chest wounds open. The 'wound' that you were effectively 'born' with was closed thanks to Rosa's help, and now it's just a matter of making sure your injury from the fight with Mask and your severely burned left arm don't cause too much trouble. Yoruichi unwraps both and sets to work as you recount your experiences with the exiles.

“Well, I didn't catch what their clan name was,” you admit to begin your account, “but here's what I did overhear...”

>>1434238
True, it would have been a pain in the ass to say the least.

Riku's better at capturing without killing.
Well, they tend to lose an arm, but they don't die.

>>1434241
And I have to stop there for the night, since I'm thoroughly beat. Thanks for stopping by, and see you briefly tomorrow!

Archive is where it's always been, and I'll check tomorrow for questions and comments just before I set to work prepping for SoZ.

>>1434258
>“A Bankai?” the purple-haired intruder mutters. “Strange, I could have sworn that... no matter.”

What was the rest of his thought here?

>>1434265
Since he hadn't seen Riku wearing her haori and Rangiku was wearing her commando haori he was confused as to who was the Captain for the whole fight. He'd assumed it was Riku at first, then he saw Rangiku, then Rangiku told him no she wasn't but then she used Bankai...

He died a confused and thoroughly beaten man.

>>1434288
Kek.

WHAT THE FUCK IS 9TH DIVISION?!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0WZxHDBUWk

>>1434241
How long was that surgery with Rosa providing blut support? How long would it take without Rosa probiding blut?

>>1434241

To Riku
>How did every wound you've ever taken in your life re-opening all at once feel?

To everyone in the room
>How does riku look right about now?

To Shunsui
>Riku's wearing nothing but bandages. *nudge*

To Jidanbo
>Can you even imagine what could've done that to captain kusajishi of all people? That's a sight you probably won't ever see again.

To riku's doctors
>Your surgical patient got away. Are you freaking out yet? She lost a fight with a blender, you know.

To our escort squad
>Thoughts on the fight? Those guns are handy, huh. Must have been freaky seeing your captain's skin basically pop like a blood-filled water balloon. Which then exploded like a fuel-air bomb.

To the blanks


To Kisuke
>Are you enjoying your new toy? Mayuri would cream his pants if he got a specimen like that. Even the fact that it's an object which has been removed from the time stream must be something neat for you. You said you were wanting to run some tests on that closed time loop, right?

>>1433788
Y'know, it occurs to me that this trick is very much like Gin's trick of leaving a shard of his blade in an enemy and then detonating it.

Both of them can shove foreign contaminant in their opponents to kill them from within.

...Riku's kids are scary, and destined for each other.

>>1434258
What was the spell that Riku cast through her blood?
Tenkotsuki:
>If Riku managed to modify Jikanteishi, what kido level would you rate Jikanteishi?

>>1434511
Facing both of them is a matter of "Pick your poison". Either get nicked by a small cut by Gin's sword and then die instantly from an explosion of swords or die painfully from ash blending your insides into soup without noticing.

>>1434532

Especially when Gin can and would be a sneaky bastard who hides out and snipes you with his ridiculous bankai, while Rangiku sends out the clones as decoys to make their foes waste their attacks and provide openings.

....Riku's kids are TERRIFYING, and I kinda hope they finally team up to kick Aizen's ass. Or at least a good chunk of his Espada.

>>1434241
To King
>What did you think of using haineko's ashes like that? To me it's the most obvious and effective use of an ability like that, but when i suggest it where the potential comes up in other quests, it's usually shot down as "edgy" or too brutal to fit the character. How do you think the fight would have gone without doing something like that?

>>1434671
I think it has something to do with how a character is presented. Rangiku was shown as a character first, and her abilities shown later after her initial impression is fully ingrained into the reader's mind.
She's shown to be dignified and elegant, which gives her leeway to hold the reader's suspension of disbelief. There's also the consideration that she showcased her abilities starting benign before gradually moving to the brutal.
I think your problem is that you thought of the brutal usage first instead of the benign.

>>1434288
>checked the pastebin
>Jushiro and Yamamoto are basically dead
So when are we gonna deal with holding the funeral?

JESUS I MISSED BEST GIRL GO FULL BADASS

AGHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I think Kyoraku is going to make her take a captain promotion. iirc we're way too short on captains as is.

>>1432685
>Good luck,” Yoruichi nods, pulling you in to briefly bump foreheads. “Get back when you can. Don't take too many risks.”
Good moment.

>>1434958
Feels weird that this is less of an unknown compared to Ichinose's MIA status.

>>1435113
>I MISSED BEST GIRL

But Sharktits wasn't even this one?

>>1435479
Rangiku has always been my best girl anon

>tfw you realize killing Riku would be the most absolute death sentence in the history of death sentences

I mean, shit, aside from OMG (for the obvious reason of being a skeleton) all of the deadliest captains and captain level fighters would go apeshit on whoever took Riku out. Kenny would probably be pretty butthurt over it, too, even if his fightboner was forcefully deflated.

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>>1434428
Not long, because what doesn't kill her just makes her mad. Without Blut she'd probably have died before she got back to the wall.
>>1434438
Riku:
>Almost beyond pain.
Everyone:
>"Like shit."
Shunsui:
>And your point is?
Jidanbo:
>No, I really don't think I can and I really hope I don't.
Doctors:
>Which way did she go? Oh gods we're so fired...
Escort Squad:
>It was a rare honor to provide fire support to our Captain and Lieutenant on an occasion when they actually needed it.
Blanks:
>
Kisuke:
>"Enjoying" isn't exactly the right word, but I'm definitely learning from it.
>>1434516
It was Haien
>I would rate it as "extremely broken and situational". Such things are difficult to rate in the typical manner because they rely in part on principles not advocated by the numbered system."
>>1434671
If Rangiku wasn't upset and fully prepared to kill after what Kin pulled that would be "out of character" for any reasonable character.

>>1436146
I don't think I've ever saved a pic so fast, thanks king

>>1434958
They are in suspension, and it is feesable that we could get Orihime to time shift them back to functional people once she becomes adept enough to do it.

>test

>>1436424
>Hello ?

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>>1436424

Alright, since 4chan refuses to let me make a full-length update tonight I'm calling off SoZ and the continuation of SSQ for now. I'll try an omake tomorrow, but that may be off the table as well if the issue isn't resolved.

>>1436782
Aight. Thanks for running!!

May have fixed the issue, I'll try for an omake or two in the week.

>>1437209
And to that end, feel free to shoot ideas at me while I work on the first one. We'll see how 4chan feels about me posting in a couple of hours.

>>1439398
Riku and Rangiku treating Rukia to a fancy dinner, things get drunk and some light teasing may ensue.

>Then Renji shows up with Byakuya and things go mad

>>1439398
>>1439598
Actually, make it all the commandos go out to dinner, seems like a great set up for shenanigans

>>1439398
What if a group of 9th division met up with a group of 11th division by chance and ended up getting into some sort of contest?

“Alright, Cirucci. You get to walk first.”

The announcement actually surprises most of the people present to hear it: few of them really believed that Captain Kusajishi intended to let them just get up and walk around freely... even under close supervision. However she'd quietly discussed the details with Halibel and Hanatarō to determine the prisoner who needed a chance to stretch their legs most, and they quickly agreed that it would be Cirucci.

And so here she was, opening the lock to the Privaron Espada's cell. Even when it was happening she found it difficult to believe.

“This is really happening?”

Riku nods calmly. “I may not be a model Captain, Cirucci Sanderwicci, but I do live by a certain set of rules. And one of them is that when I say I'm going to do something, I do it.”

“So, where would you like to go first?”

The light is almost unbearably bright, and Cirucci has to blink reflexively. But once the brief stinging passes what she sees is almost as unbearable, for entirely different reasons. The Ninth Division's grounds are like one big garden, the grass evenly cut and half of the trees either still flowering or starting to turn colors. It takes a moment for the arrancar to wrap her head around all of the color.

“It's... different,” she stammers.

“From Hueco Mundo?” Riku muses thoughtfully. “Yeah, though I have to admit... I like it better this way. There's only so much you can do with sand... though I suppose you could make like a Zen thing with it?”

She blinks somewhat distractedly. “It's just been a long time since I saw this much growing.”

“So... the question repeats?”

“You mean you live here?” Cirucci asks, a note of anger creeping into her voice. “In a fucking walled garden?”

“With another thousand or so people, yeah,” you shrug. “This is all public space... if you must know I live with my grown daughter. Small house on the grounds, doubles as my office.”
>1/?

>>1440044
>be cirucci
>don't know shit
>ain't seen shit
>"I HAVE NOTHING TO LIVE FOR BUT FIGHTING"

rip
inb4 takes up pottery or painting or something

>>1440334
>be kusajishi riku
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kl4hJ4j48s

>>1440044
I'm trying to figure out if she's upset more out of envy, or more out of the thought that she didn't necessarily have to be in a cell because she couldn't have run off anyway

“How about breakfast?” Riku suggests, gesturing towards the mess hall. “Must be a while since you've had something fresh.”

“Yeah. Yeah sure, I guess,” Cirucci mutters, simply going along with the suggestion of food.

Inside the mess hall, she spies a familiar face: or rather the back of a familiar head wearing a familiar outfit. Tia Halibel is in the middle of getting her breakfast, and has been speaking with the man behind the counter.

“I see. Perhaps the Captain can be of some help.”

“I guess it's worth askin',” the man sighs, pouring the arrancar a cup of coffee. “Enjoy, Lady Halibel.”

“Thank you.”

Halibel gives Captain Kusajishi a sly nod of recognition before heading off to find a table. The Captain herself however turns to face the server.

“Rikichi?” she asks in confusion. “Working the frontlines this morning?”

“Three of my guys are out sick and one's on maternity leave,” Rikichi explains, preparing a plate of food. “You want bacon with your waffles?”

“Please,” Kusajishi nods. “And coffee too. I'll set up a rota, get some of the reserve fireteams in to help you out.”

“Thank you, Captain,” the man nods gratefully. “Shouldn't be more than a few days. Who's your friend here?”

He stares at Cirucci dubiously, then glances at his Captain. Riku gives him a slight nod, almost more of an eye movement than moving her head, and then he prepares a few dishes.

“Rice or bread?” he asks, setting down a plate of eggs and various meats, with a bowl of miso soup next to it on a tray.

Cirucci blinks again in a total lack of comprehension. “Excuse me?”

“I'm asking if you want rice to go with your miso soup or bread to go with your eggs,” he explains. “I figured I'd give you something of a sampler, but the starch... that could go either way. So I'm leaving it up to you.”

“Rice,” Cirucci replies carefully. “I guess.”

“That'd be my choice too,” the man nods in understanding, setting a small bowl of rice next to the miso. “Enjoy.”
>2/?

Okay, so something else I've sussed out: 4chan only thinks I'm spam when I link an update to another post.

This shit's weird.

>>1440659
Blame hiroshimoot

>>1440565
My first thought is that she assumed this was all ours personally and we were living like a high and mighty king, like aizen but fancier.

>>1440659

If you post your reply using the button at top it still works. But it'll make you do a second captcha for some reason.

“So is he a full-time servant or something?” Cirucci asks.

Riku shakes her head, directing the arrancar to take a seat near Halibel. “Ninth Division's a bit unusual. We've got our front-line squads, a reserve rotation, and dedicated rear echelon. Rikichi used to serve in our combat squads, but his eyesight's not what it used to be. Bad depth perception makes it hard to justify being on the frontlines, so we arranged to transfer him to quartermaster.”

“And he agreed to such a demotion?” Cirucci demands angrily, shaking her head. “I can't understand that.”

“They say an army moves on its stomach,” Riku explains carefully. “Working in noncombat roles isn't dishonorable, it's just a different way to do one's duty.”

“I see,” Cirucci frowns, beginning to work on her breakfast. The table more or less falls into silence for the duration of the meal. Eventually the trio leave the mess hall as a group.

“So I see you made good on your promise?” Halibel asks.

Riku nods. “Yeah, working on it.”

“Perhaps the gardens would be good,” Halibel suggests in a careful tone. “If the objective is fresh air you could do worse.”

After spending another hour leading a deeply confused Cirucci through several of the “gardens” on the Ninth Division grounds, based on groupings of similar trees and flowers such that each area has one plant doing something at the moment, Riku leads her back to her cell.

“I hope you found anything about that helpful,” she shrugs as she locks the door. “Do you need anything else?”

Cirucci shakes her head. “No. I'm fine.”

“Good to hear,” Riku nods quietly. “If that changes, someone'll be within earshot.”

“So,” Dordoni asks from his cell once Riku has left the building, “tell us, Cirucci. How was it outside?”

“I... I'm not even really sure what to make of any of it,” she admits. “With Aizen everything was overblown... we had our own palaces all to ourselves, and it was so good when we were at the top. This Captain shares a house not all that much bigger than this prison building with her daughter, and people who can't fight are still given respect."

"I just don't get it. But it seems..."

"Nice?" Gantenbainne suggests.

"... not terrible at least."
>3/3

>>1441033
E N J O Y E D
N E
J Y
O O
Y J
E N
D E Y O J N E

>>1441067
"You fucked it up!"
I fucked it up!
altcodes always fail me

>>1441033
>>1440655
>>1440044
what a very humbling experience it must be for Cirucci.
You could do an omake series out of this Plato's Parody of 9th Division's Prisoners. You've done Cirucci, you can work on Dordoni, Gantenbainne, and eventually the Quincies. Have their experiences tailored for the individual.

>To Cirucci:
Aside from the difference in principles of society, what was the second most jarring experience for you during the trip?
>To the prisoners within 9th division:
Now that Cirucci's given her firsthand account of her "time outside", are you looking forward to getting your turn to go for a walk?

>>1441033
I seem to remember dordoni's spinal injury being pretty bad, but i have no doubt that kisuke or unohana could patch him up.
He seems like a nice enough guy, just has his own motivations and drive. i kind of want to give him a second chance, and he'd be a relatively powerful ally, and he'd probably be thankful if we helped him get stronger.

Gantenbainne too, they seem like the sort that would be chill enough to let them hang around, and cirruci, well... she ain't getting her powers back unless we let orihime get at her, so she's not really a threat either. She'd probably have to hang around humans for a long time to chill out properly, but she could do it.

>>1441269
Citation from thread #65:
>Dordoni tries and fails to rise to his feet, seeming to find that his legs refuse to obey his will: and it's no surprise. With one of Cirucci's lethal steel blades lodged firmly in one of his lumbar vertebrae it's pretty hard to imagine that he'll ever walk again without extensive medical intervention. The owner of said blade is in no better shape herself, having taken direct strikes to her Hakusui and Saketsu. Her reiatsu has completely vanished now, and despite the minimal blood loss she should be suffering she has made no attempt to move.
Yeah, those two are crippled very badly. Cirucci is gonna have to sort herself out with her mid-arrancar-life crisis even if she does manage to regain her reiatsu. Dordoni on the other hand is crippled for a different reason; the reason being that his main combat ability is based around using his legs and his fight with Riku turned him into a paraplegic from the waist down.

>>1441033
Cute

>>1441437
Eh, things are getting pretty futuristic magic-sciencey around here. If he makes it to the epilogue I'm sure either Urahara or Orihime will get around to fixing him.

>this is a test to see if 4chan still thinks I'm spam like it did a week ago
You are Captain Kusajishi Riku, and recovery wards are for people who have enough time that they can afford to be sick. You don't have that luxury, and so the moment your orderly wasn't paying attention you gave him the slip and made a beeline for Rangiku's room.

“You know,” you hear a male voice inside the room, “I think...”

Nope.

The door slams open as you pant slightly in the doorframe.

“What're you doing up already?” your daughter asks in alarm. “You've basically been stabbed in the heart!”

“I got better,” you shrug, and even that slight gesture hurts. “I have you and my zanpakuto to thank for that... you fought well, Rangiku. I'm sorry if I worried you.”

After hearing you say that, her alarm disappears and she goes from being a Lieutenant worried about her Captain to being a daughter happy to see her mother alright. “I was more angry at the one who did it than worried about you, you know. If anyone could survive being killed it's you.”

Next you turn to your wife, who shakes her head in quiet disbelief. “Will you at least sit down so I can finish patching you up while you file your report?”

Without a word of complaint, you oblige Yoruichi and take a seat on the floor so she can lean over your back and work on ensuring that none of your chest wounds open. The 'wound' that you were effectively 'born' with was closed thanks to Rosa's help, and now it's just a matter of making sure your injury from the fight with Mask and your severely burned left arm don't cause too much trouble. Yoruichi unwraps both and sets to work as you recount your experiences with the exiles.

“Well, I didn't catch what their clan name was,” you admit to begin your account, “but here's what I did overhear...”