Shun
New Member
Starring VincentValen as Alexia Da Firenze
and
Shun as Arashi Ryoujin
[ 2577 ]
and
Shun as Arashi Ryoujin
[ 2577 ]
Timeline notes
“Arashi-san,” the secretary said, his tone so low that if not for his constant prodding and nudging, the pink-haired youth would have never been aware that anyone had even entered his office. “Arashi-san, this is important!”
“Huh!?”
Jolting up after being woken, Ryoujin stared at the steward across from him, recognition showing. While usually mouse-like in nature, Hideki seemed to have known Ryoujin long enough that his usual timidness didn’t always show.
“Ah Hideki, what’s up? Asuka still troubling you after so long?” he asked, laughing lightheartedly.
Frowning, Hideki shook his head.
“She still teases me like she always does. But that’s not what I’m here for,” the Steward admitted. Eyebrows arching in curiosity, the auburn-eyed shinigami waited to hear the purpose of this sudden visit.
“You’ve been assigned to help accommodate the influx of new recruits we’ve gotten as of late,” Hideki began, before correcting himself, “Ummm... I mean in particular one Alexia Felone da Firenze.”
“Alexia Fe-what?” Ryoujin asked, stumbling across the name as he tried to pronounce it correctly. “Is that French or Italian?”
More so than that, a meet and greet? Did they even have such a thing when he had joined up with the ranks of the then Fearless Duelists two years ago?
Shrugging, he supposed that the first jelly donut meeting that Hayato had set up could have sort of counted as an orientation of sorts for the entire squad to become acquainted with one another.
“I honestly don’t know,” Hideki admitted.
Realizing that there was probably no point in prolonging this, Ryoujin finally asked, “So where am I supposed to find Alexia?”
“Right, err, she’s actually on her way here now,” Hideki replied.
“Sounds good, tell her she doesn’t have to knock or anything. Not a huge fan of formalities.”
Nodding, the blue-eyed youth bowed before realizing that he was being too formal. Cursing under his breath, he forced a casual wave before promptly leaving the office .
Alexia was still licking her wounds from her patrol with Kyuketsu. What was supposed to be a simple explanation of duties had turned into a fight with a hollow, of which Alexia had done most of the work until the acting captain had intervened. Her right arm still irritated her, and she hoped that it would fade with time.
When she got back to the Eleventh’s barracks, she came across one of the secretaries, though she would never call him that. They were all squadmates, regardless of their roles.
“Ah Miss Felone. You’re due to meet the other officers in your squad. Arashi Ryoujin is waiting for you in his office. He says not to knock,” the man said.
“Thank you. I’ll go see him then,” Alexia said. Moving through the building she went to the office of the third seat. She found it odd that a third seat warranted his own office, but she guess that hard work was a good substitute for rank. Though the secretary had said not to knock, she still preferred common courtesy, knocking a few times before entering the office.
“Arashi Ryoujin? I’m the new recruit, Alexia Felone da Firenze. Its a pleasure to meet you,” she said, saluting with her left hand.
“Likewise,” he replied, taking a quick look at the most newest inductee. It was not often that you found female Templars, especially given the other divisions, but this was certainly a welcoming sight.
But wait, as her superior officer, he could not try and make any sort of advances. For all he knew anyways, she could be some sort of close friend of Tsubaki’s or a relative as well, and that was well a very disturbing thought. In both of their interests, it was probably best to keep this as professional as possible although he honestly didn’t know where to begin.
“Right, well, I’m not here to ask you why you’re here. Everyone has their reasons, and I’m sure Kyuketsu has already met with you about that,” the pink-haired youth began.
“But what I do wanna know is why you’re so.... banged up?” he continued, indicating the visible wounds and bandages. “Hope it’s not the division that’s giving you a hard time.”
Based on the initial looks he gave her, Alexia could tell that Arashi was debating whether to flirt with her or stay professional. He looked charming anyway, but relationships were not something she was interested in...at least not now anyway. He brought up the recent battle scars she had acquired and she smiled a bit.
“This came from the first patrol with our esteemed leader. Rather annoying hollow I had to occupy while he went to go purify a soul. Pretty sure he picked the lighter option. Still hurts a bit, but I can use either hand for anything so its not that much of a handicap,” she explained.
“I see, well at least he didn’t almost cut your limbs off,” Ryoujin said, recalling the time when Kyuketsu had taken him to the underground chambers below the Eleventh where he had first learned about the Tsukunoma no Kishi armor. Realizing that he was mystifying the woman more than anything, the pink-haired youth chuckled.
Back when he had first gone on a patrol with Kyuketsu, the duo had stumbled upon a fragment of his past. Both Greystream and Kyouran proved to be formidable Adjuchas-classed hollows, but in the end, the two had triumphed. More than anything though, the way Alexia looked right now held a resemblance of the way he had a knack for attracting all sorts of wounds and injuries.
Perhaps in that regard and tangent, he could already see some of the similarities of himself in her, which was not a bad thing, especially since the two of them would likely work together eventually. And from what he could see, at least she had made a good impression on Kyuketsu thus far unlike how his initial meeting with Tsubaki had gone.
“Right,” he finally began, “Well, I don’t really have much to really ask of you besides that, so if you have any lingering questions that you wanna ask, go right ahead. Otherwise, all I can really say is that it’s a pleasure to have a woman for a change to join our division. You know, the Mystics seem to attract most women nowadays; I really don’t get it.”
“I actually chose this division. Never really was one for kidou. I prefer the feel of the sword in my hands,” she said. She wondered when the inevitable ‘why this division?’ question would come up. However it didn’t, Arashi instead asking if she had any lingering questions.
“There is one...do you know what happened to the previous captain of this division? Kyuketsu only spoke a little about it and...I’m curious,” she said.
“Ah you mean Tsubaki!”
Hm, so she doesn’t know? Ryoujin thought, his query rectified as he noticed the slightly puzzled expression on Alexia’s countenance. Apparently, the Spiritual Arts Academy was divided from the events going on within the White Walls of Seireitei. Then again, perhaps the instructors there just wanted to keep their students safe by withholding information about the going-ons of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. It was definitely strange; something that was probably worth noting if he were to investigate. However, with his dumb luck, he’d probably be caught snooping around and trespassing although technically that wasn’t even a dereliction of duty.
Ah well. Now for her answer.
“She was stripped of her rank and status as a shinigami when she challenged the Central Forty-Six after they had set up regulations and restrictions against the release of zanpakutou. Some other controversy happened between her and Theron, the former Captain of the Third, and as much as I would love to tell you about it, I don’t really know the exact details.
“Point is though, she went to the World of the Living, hiding as a rogue shinigami. It wasn’t until our recent mission to Dunan when the Central allowed her back into the Gotei thanks in part to what she did in Dunan by helping rescue us and also maybe because of the Soutaichou’s persuasion.”
Scratching his head, he added, “If you’re wondering why she didn’t bother reclaiming her haori, well that’s something you’ll have to ask her yourself. If I were to bet though, Tsu-chan just wanted us to help lead the division in her place. She always did say that Kyuketsu would one day lead this division. Funny thing though of how leadership seems to change quickly, especially for the Eleventh. We’ve already had three different captains in two years.”
She listened to the third seat’s explanation in earnest, as she had been very interested in learning. Alexia would probably look for this Tsubaki one day, to learn why she’d left the Seireitei, and how did she feel when she had returned. Though she found it hard not to laugh at the idea of leadership changing so often.
“So assuming Kyuketsu passes his captaincy test, are you going to try to attain the VC position?” she asked.
Ryoujin’s eyebrows arched in curiosity at this.
“Vice-captain? Me!?” he asked, wondering about her train of thought behind this. “Hah, I don’t think I would have the sort of commitment or proper leadership for that sort of role. We have two other third-seats in the division. Zakeriah or Amaya would fit the position better.
“And rank’s never been really my concern. I was once recommended by Tsubaki to take the taishuu practical, but I rejected it. I mean sure I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that it’s nice to have the sort of perks and rewards that comes with a high rank, but I’m fine with whatever really. I may as well be unseated, because at the end of the day, I’m still a shinigami.”
Pausing, he continued this time staring directly at the woman across from him, “What about you? I was once a fresh cadet from the Academy, and everyone wanted to just up and become a Captain.”
“There’s three Third seats? Forgive me, but that sounds ludicrous. As for your thoughts on rank, that’s perfectly fine. Some people are comfortable exactly where they are. I certainly won’t think any less of you for it. I other on the hand seek captaincy. Either for this division or take one of the vacant ones and make it my own. Someone told me I have a lot of potential...and becoming a captain is the best way I can think of to honor him. As for the actual leading...I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.”
Naive, Ryoujin thought. Not necessarily a bad thing.
If only Alexia knew what sort of consequences came with becoming a Captain though.
One day you might take back those words. Wanting to be a captain is noble, but then there’s the other dark side to it. The one that I learned about through Tsubaki.
Without delving any deeper into it, he finally beamed a smirk. The odds of her becoming one were stacked. There were a million shinigami out there who sought the same position, and only so few ever manage to cross that bridge to even bear the burden of a haori.
In the end though, who was he to offer his own insight into the desires of others? If Alexia was dead set on becoming a Captain, there was nothing there to stop her. What he did know though was that she would be sorely tested both here in the Eleventh and through her experiences as a soul reaper.
Man I’m really starting to see things through Tsubaki’s perspective now, he thought, finally getting up from his seat and turning away from Alexia. Opening the shades, he looked out through the window from his office at the Eleventh.
“I may not know personally from experience, but I have seen through the tenure of a lot of Captains, and what I’ve come to realize is that they are not heroes. The image that’s painted into most people’s minds when thinking about Captains and vice-captains is that they’re strong-minded individuals who are fit to lead an entire division of soldiers, but that is far from the reality.
“When you compare us to how the Gotei was before, we’re far weaker and vulnerable. It’s been made known constantly in our missions as we’ve had to retreat on many instances. My friend Kaede, the former Captain of the Ninth, was killed in action because she had to sacrifice herself. You said you wanted to honor someone dear to you, but isn’t there any other way to do that? Just because someone is a Captain doesn’t mean they warrant respect.
“In fact, if anything, the rank of Captain is one sure fire way to get yourself killed.”
“I am grateful for your words and the history lesson. Captains may not always have the respect they garner, but attaining the rank alone signifies the amount of work that they’ve put in. That’s not to say you don’t work just as hard. I’m just saying that wearing that haori and knowing that comrades will look to me is a day I am working towards.”
“Again, I thank you for your words. I hope we can work well together in coming missions,” she said, extending her hand to shake.
“Same here,” Ryoujin said, shaking her hand. There was a mixture of both support for Alexia in her endeavors and also a sense of disappointment in the answer that she had provided. She still had not answered his question about there being other ways instead of becoming a captain to honor whoever it was that was special to her, but in the end, the thought really slipped his mind. As he had said before, everyone had their reasons; he really didn’t want to delve any deeper than that. That was better fit for those that would be judging her when and if the time ever did come for her to try and become a Captain.
“I guess that’s all the questions you have, right? I don’t wanna keep you from going on your way to meet the rest of the officers here, but before you do, I have one more thing that I’m curious about.
“Your name... is that French or Italian? My english is already terrible enough, so it’s hard for me to really pronounce your name fully,” he said, laughing.
“Its Italian. If its too difficult to pronounce, you can skip the da Firenze part. I never liked it much myself, but my father was very traditional, so it got stuck on my birth certificate,” she explained, shrugging her shoulders.
“Ah, I see,” Ryoujin replied, before nodding.
“Well then, Alexia-chan, I guess I’ll be seeing you around, captain-hopeful,” he said, winking. ‘
Any further prodding about her desire to become captain was considered moot. She certainly had the desire and will to become one; the only thing missing was her reason which he was yet not even clear about, but in the end, what did it matter? She had her personal reasons, and there was nothing wrong with that. He didn’t even intend on questioning her so much to begin with; something that he would probably have to think back on later.
The only thing he knew for sure though was that she would be tested thoroughly if she stayed within the Eleventh or what it would become in the near future.