[8th/8th] Week 199: Meeting Outdoors

[Code of the Noble]

Code of the Noble - Anenokoji Senesati
Romana - Adelaide Pierce ​

~Meeting Outdoors~
(4682)​

Senesati's nude lips sipped from the small floral ceramic cup, that housed an aromatic jasmine tea. A light clinking noise echoed the air as the cup met the matching saucer. The dignified captain continued to read his book in solitude while he waited patiently for the new recruit to arrive for their introductory meeting.

The nobleman's sapphire eyes rolled toward the clock on the farthest wall just North of his desk. First impressions said much about each person he has ever encountered in his life and afterlife, so he would not stop following this routine.

A soft crackle filled the air as the nobleman turned to the next page of his story.

Adelaide was at her very best today. She wasn’t augmenting her appearance too terribly, but did hold her red hair in a ponytail with her new purple flower hair clip. She didn’t even wear her zanpakutou over her shoulder like normal, but instead on her waist as was more common. She was walking up to a pair of glass double doors a short distance from her and couldn't help but sharply inhale before she entered.

"Shitsureshimas, Sugiyama-san,” Adelaide called right before opening the door. This was not how Adelaide would normally behave, granted. As opposed to normal where she was relatively unguarded with her interpersonal skills, today Adelaide was on high alert being careful beyond careful with her words. Meaning that instead of flirting with the secretary, she bowed to her instead, being as polite as possible, and as Japanese as possible.

There was a really cute person behind a desk in the outer office. Presumably, this was Sugiyama Ayame, secretary for the Captain. If it had not been, there would be considerable awkward confusion, but there was extensive logic involved in her judgment. Since Adelaide was here to formally meet her commanding officer, and this person seemed to be in a secretarial position, Adelaide was pretty comfortable in her assessment of the situation. Adelaide straightened to a proper standing position, but still let her head rest angled down in reverence. "I’m here to see the Captain.”

Ayame tucked a strand of sienna hair behind her left ear as she glanced up and met Adelaide's emerald green eyes. The glance did not last too long before the woman grasped the paper schedule, while twirling a pencil around in her other hand. Her honey brown eyes scrolled down the list of the captain's appointments for the day and then she saw the name on the calendar.

"Ah,” she began, "Adelaide Pierce.”

The secretary placed the schedule back at the corner of her desk, picked up the phone and said, "You can have a seat over there,” she pointed to the soft plush seat area several feet away from her desk, "I will let the captain know you are here.”

Ayame proceeded to press a combination of buttons on the phone. As she completed her call she paused a moment, allowing the receiving party to answer.

"Captain?

"Miss Pierce is here to see you.

"Mmm-ok. Alright. Thank you sir.”

She sat the phone down and said, "Miss Pierce. Head on up the stairs and walk straight down the hall. It's the last door at the end of the hallway...

"And please... knock before entering.”

It was quite the Japanese thing to do. Adelaide had been in Soul Society for almost two centuries, and still she made note of when something was a remarkably Japanese tradition. She supposed that no matter where a Briton went, they still were a Briton. She nodded to the receptionist and went the indicated direction, up the indicated stairs, and to the indicated door.

She stood outside it for a moment and stared at it. This was one of those moments where she could have used that gently directing voice giving her some measure of advice, but she would have no such luck. She had goals in the Division. She wanted to become Seated as soon as possible, and progress efficiently up the ladder until she was a real Gotei bigwig. She thought that then, perhaps, she could use the considerable power of a shinigami to do some real, long-lasting good. But all that would depend heavily on the next few minutes.

She spoke clearly and with a confidence she drew from the deepest reaches of her spirit. "Shitsureshimas,” she announced clearly before knocking gently on the Captain’s door.

What? questioned the captain with a rather peculiar expression.

"You may enter.

"And please... shut the door behind you on your way in,” he ordered.

Senesati surveyed the woman upon entry as she had done what she was told to do. Immediately after the door was, the captain curiously inquired, "What was that word you announced yourself with?”

Adelaide followed the instructions to a T. "Since pretty much everyone here follows some manner of Japanese custom, before enrolling in the Academy I learned as much as I could about the way people do things in Japan. That word announces an arrival before they enter the room of a superior, or something along those lines,” she responded with palpable nervousness. Had she already messed up in her formality? Two hundred years and still she mixed things up a lot, especially things she hadn’t used before the academy. This was the first time she had been called out on it though. How many people thought her an idiot for screwing that up?

No, she wasn’t going to think like that/ A fair number of people, the Captain included, probably didn’t bother looking for updated customs. Maybe it was different in the old days wen subordinates entered a room? She was lucky to know people who knew people in Rukongai who were recently deceased Japanese folks that had been able to teach Adelaide a thing or two. Granted, it wasn’t very formal training, but it was something she, until now, had felt comfortable using. Now all she could do was hope she hadn’t stuck her foot in her mouth too badly.

The nobleman passed a questionable stare toward the woman directly across from him.

"Interesting,” he remarked.

In truth he was speechless as he had sworn the word she used contained a profound word, but until he could prove otherwise, Senesati took the woman's word for what she said. "Alright,” he added and gestured his hand toward the chair on the other side of his desk, "please take a seat.”

The nobleman then began to browse the contents of the manilla folder before him. Without turning his sights to the young lady, he ordered, "Tell me a bit about yourself, Adelaine.”

She tried to hide the reaction of sharp annoyance that came from the mispronunciation of her name. "First and foremost, sir, my name is Adelaide, not Adelaine.” This was something that, at one point, she had chalked up to a note ill-transcribed. Now she had no ability to assume her Captain knew her name, which was a terrible disappointment.

One she would recover from, however. "Graduated the Academy recently, and since have been training with Tabawara Udo. I’ve even bested him once or twice. Held my own against his shikai.” This was the time to attain sweet revenge. "I didn’t realize that the Division was exempt from the anti-release laws, but he used his shikai, so I suppose it must be. He taught me that as well as my first tech, the Empowered Blade.”

So he did, did he? he thought to himself, allowing the young woman to continue on.

What else did she have to say? Would he even remember that she was just assigned to be the liaison with the Thirteenth during ongoing operations? He didn’t even remember her name! "I’ve been working with the Thirteenth Division as per your orders, and also have associates in the First.” By associates, she of course meant the girl she was hitting on. "I like chess, I’m English, and I’m really trying to learn more Japanese to fit in with the upper echelons of Seireitei.”

Oh, and there was one thing that the last fact in her list made her remember: "Oh, and I hope to become an indispensable asset for the Eighth Division.”

Senesati quirked an eye at the mislabeled folder. "I apologize for the incorrect pronunciation of your name Ms. Pierce.

"You see I have a rather unique secretary that possesses a nasty habit with not asking people for the correct spelling of their names when she labels things.” The dignified captain closed the folder with a semi-disgusted look upon his face.

An eyebrow rose as an intrigued expression replaced the previous one as he inquired, "Correct me if I am wrong, but did I hear you mention that you have attained shikai?”

"Yeah, I have. Although I haven’t practiced with it a lot because I thought the release restriction laws affected the Division’s training grounds,” tacking on her revenge again, Adelaide continued, "though since Udo used his here, I imagine there must be some sort of exemption.” She noticed he hadn’t mentioned it earlier, so this time her tone indicated more of a request for clarification on that point. Which she figured made sense. She was new, after all.

She was proud of herself, she had attained shikai remarkably fast, and though Lash wanted her to practice with it more, she was content enough to just know she had attained that level of power and connection with her sword. And Lash had proven more and more useful in her day-to-day life.

She was going to offer a notion of understanding toward the mistake of the cute secretary, but she decided to let that go. There wasn’t a reason to push that subject any longer.

The nobleman rose to his feet and said, "Walk with me Adelaide.”

"Yes, sir.” Adelaide nodded and followed where her Captain led. Hopefully she was being impressive, or at the very least she hoped that he was taking an interest in her development. She was progressing quickly. In any case, she’d follow where he led.

Senesati grabbed the woman's folder and the two headed for the door. The nobleman walked ahead of the interviewee and kept silent the whole time as they walked down the hallway and then the stairs. It was a test to see if the woman would question his motives, which apparently did not happen.

Once the duo reached the bottom of the stairs, the dignified captain gazed at his secretary. She knew what this meant.

Oh for heaven's sake what did I screw up now? she inquired amongst herself, glancing at the captain cautiously.

Senesati walked right past the woman's cherry desk, tossed the file folder in Ayame's in-bin and said two plain words, "Fix it.” His gaze then turned toward the double glass doors as he and his female companion exited to the courtyards.

As the two left the main building in the Eighth, Senesati glanced back at the woman accompanying him. He reached inside his uwagi and pulled from it a folded piece of cloth with the Eighth's insignia etched into it with colorful threading. "Here,” he began and handed the cloth to Adelaide, "As we make our way towards the destination point. I would like you to think about what that symbol would stand for in your own words. When we get there, I'd like to hear your answer.”

Adelaide took the cloth and looked at the insignia. She loved that emblem, it had a certain charm to it that the kanji for eight just seemed to lack. She had given it’s meaning only a cursory thought before now, however. She had given up on a couple issues, so figured questions at this point were unneeded. What was needed was the task at hand.

As she followed, her eyes really probed the emblem for the first time. The outside ring was asymmetrical, it gave Addie a feeling of chaos, of hectic randomness. At the center seemed to be a weapon of energy, which was clearly the Eighth Division itself. Was it that the Eighth was a haven amid chaos? That didn’t seem quite right.

There were colors on the outer ring as well, less random in their placement. Connected, they’d form an inscribed triangle around the sword. Triangles symbolize strength, Adelaide reasoned, and therefore she figured that those colors were somehow supporting the Eighth. Green, red, yellow. They had to have meaning in their own right, though that was escaping her.

Still, it wasn’t hard to make a shot in the dark guess. They were sword-mages. The inner symbol was a blade so those colors likely represented magic. Magic was constructed of elements. Therefore, they were elements supporting the Eighth found among chaos. Perhaps that was the deepest part of the meaning - from seemingly random things can come the strength of a wise warrior. And the ring, life, kept the elements apart and in harmony, surrounding them with the chaos. That was a symbol of balance. And though the elements and sword may be a part of the chaos and stand out from it, they do not exist in disharmony with it. Maybe the sword being contained within the circle was a symbol of restraint as well?

No matter what it meant, both Adelaide and her sword were happy for how deep she had gotten in her analysis of this symbol. She was not reliant on the philosophy of others for this one.

"Once we are outside Seireitei, we will being your test,” said the nobleman without turning the slightest gaze on the girl.

"Usually,” he quickly added, "I do not conduct initial meetings outdoors, however, this one seems to qualify for one. As such, the way this meeting will be held is more... a necessity.”

Outside Seireitei? Oh, dear. Adelaide had a pretty good idea why two Shinigami would walk outside the walls of the city center and was more than a little intimidated by it. She decided that wasn’t something she wanted to focus on just yet and instead turned her thoughts back to the emblem.

She did find this a hard task because she was overcome with a terrifying thought. What would the release of her Captain be like? At least she wouldn’t inadvertently provoke bankai or something, but she still had more than a little fear of what was to come. Fear that she did her best to hide. After all, if anyone was good at faking foolhardy confidence, it was Adelaide. To that extent, she responded to her Captain. "I’m honored, sir.” If she should feel honored, however, was another question.

"You should be,” he replied as they approached a small open area within the gardens that surrounded the Eighth. "Charon's Road should be here momentarily to lessen the amount of time it would take for us to reach our destination on foot.” He looked back at Adelaide and concluded, "So you'd better have that answer prepared upon arrival as I am eager to hear your thoughts on that,” he darted his head at the cloth, "insignia.”

"I’ve got a pretty good idea of what to tell you,” Adelaide responded calmly. There was no reason to fret over her interpretation of the insignia. It wasn’t like no answer was wrong, some surely were, but the fact that it was something to be nervous about wasn’t going to make her answer better, only worse, so confidence was called for, not insecurity. There was little that nervousness could change at the moment.

A crackling noise sounded in the area surrounding the two shinigami. A flash of light followed and then constant crackling noises and electricity flowed through the ground collecting rock and debris, forming the gateway known as Charon's Road.

His royal robes fluttered violently in the currents created by the gates construction. Senesati did not even blink an eye in the midst of the familiar gateway and when the doorway came to, he glanced back at Adelaide once and said, "Let's go.”

"Y-yeah,” she nodded and followed him. That was a sight she had yet to get used to. Still, they were now mere steps away from whatever the core element of this interview was going to be, whatever it was that she was called to meet him for that required their travel to Rukongai. Beyond the gateway was the rest of this day, and perhaps a formative part of Adelaide’s life.

So, she naturally reminded herself whimsically of how little pressure there was on her, and after her attempt to fool herself failed, she stepped in to Charon’s Road.

A familiar crackling noise sounded in an forest area, populated by nothing but trees and emerald shards of ankle high grass. Charon's Road formed in the center of the open space and opened its stone doors to release its passengers.

Senesati stepped foot into the calm and silent area. This spot is perfect, no one else is around and it's a spacious enough area, he said to himself, surveying the area with both his eyes and his reiatsu sensing capabilities.

"Alright,” he said, "lets hear it.”

It was time to be impressive.

She nodded and looked down at the insignia in her hand. She held it up and pointed to parts as she talked about them. "This outer ring here? It’s asymmetry screams ‘chaos’ to me, like the randomness and uncertainty of existence. But here, here and here?” she gestured to the spots of color on the ring, "these seem to me to represent elements and the magical forces that we, in the Eighth, employ. The chaos keeps them a perfect distance apart, implying that amid the seemingly haphazard bits there’s order, and even great beauty.”

She drew the inscribed triangle she had seen and mentally noted earlier, from color to color, "See, the chaos keeps the elements in balance, creating a harmony. Triangles are symbolic of strength and power, and this one rests on a chaotic circle with elements at its points and contains within it this,” she pointed to the blade-like purple mass at the center, "which is us. The Eighth Division. Purple is both a regal color and a mystic one, befitting us. The symbol also bears a resemblance to a magical blade of some sort, maybe a rapier? That clearly is us. We’re at the center of chaos and harmony.”

At first, she thought the elements protected them from chaos, but she realized a deeper meaning than that. "We employ both the elements themselves, the harmony between them, and even the chaos of the cosmos in order to do what we do, which is strike a greater harmony than even the one between the elements and ourselves. See, there’s both total chaos and complete order in this insignia. That order exists within chaos and we exist within both. Idealism and realism, hope and fear, chaos and order, spell and sword. These things exist not in opposition, but in a delicate balance.” Adelaide folded the cloth insignia and looked to Senesati for a reaction.

Now, to find out just what her Captain thought of her analysis. Maybe even if it wasn’t right it might be impressive enough to "wow” him. She was really hoping she continued to prove her worth to him, right down to the point that he released his power against her. Right up until the point of his sword was pointed at her.

He remained silent. Truthfully he was at a loss for words. The answer provided by the candidate, even though her analysis was neither correct or incorrect, he was more impressed at the attention and effort she put into her view of the insignia. "An interesting analysis,” he said. Senesati stretched his golden arm toward Adelaide and opened his palm, revealing a transparent pendant.

"Take this,” he ordered.

Adelaide removed the pendant from the hand of the captain without hesitation. He grasped the royal pendant that lied upon his bare chest and displayed it for the young lady. "The gem in your hand is different from that of mine,” he began and released the pendant from his grasp. "The gem you carry is at the moment only a shell. Mine on the other hand,” he continued as he unsheathed his blade, "is in the form of a completed... memento, if you will,” he concluded and tossed the blade in Adelaide's direction.

The polished steel of Ouritsu Tatsujin impaled the soft soil beside her feet. "Once you complete a simple task,” he began and stretched open his palm once more, his zanpakutou dispersed into multicolored ribbons and reformed in his armored hand, "you will attain power to call forth your zanpauktou in a limited area.

"This power is known as Kaikoroku or Reminiscence.

"But to attain this power one must be able to visit the inner world of their zanpakutou and take from it a sample of whatever is in their world. For instance my pendant contains the water from the world created by Ouritsu Tatsujin. What you decide to place in the pendant will affect the color of your gem, the color is nothing more than a cosmetic preference. No one can use another persons pendant but the master of the zanpakutou.

"If you are robbed of your pendant, you will not be able to call for your blade at all. Does this make sense to you?”

"Yes,” Adelaide responded with a thankful half-bow. What would she put into it? Perhaps the wilted grass? Perhaps a fragment on one of the roads? She wasn’t sure yet, but the latter seemed more appropriate. "Thank you.” It was a great thing to be given, for sure. It allowed her to put a little bit of her inner world into the real world, and that was a remarkable gift.

The nobleman nodded in reply to her thanks.

Senesati moved aside the white coat that blocked his sheath to his blade. The dignified captain then re-sheathed the polished steel and looked to Adelaide and asked, "What is the name of your zanpakutou?”

Adelaide put a hand on the hilt of her weapon. It may not be combat at the moment, but she was convinced it would be sooner or later and she wasn’t going to be taken by surprise. So, under the guise of showing off her blade, she drew it.

She pulled out the black blade with its shining silver steel edge and flourishes, gently holding the red and black wrapped handle. "She told me to call her Lash,” Adelaide said, a bit careful with her words. She didn’t know what kind of power someone else might take from the name of her weapon, but she knew that she herself derived considerable power from Lashiel’s name, so she was a little careful about prematurely unveiling too much. Lash had been hesitant to provide her full name as well. There had to be a reason.

"Lash?” he recited.

The noble did not remove his sight from the young woman for even a second. "Mind introducing me to this... Lash?” he inquired in monotone. Senesati wanted to confirm the woman had a release before moving any further in their meeting. Sure he could tell from her spiritual pressure, but there have been instances where even those that have the raw spiritual pressure to possess a bankai had not even attained shikai.

He wanted to see this with his own eyes.

Yes. Do it. That’s the best way to prove your potential! Adelaide heard a familiar whisper in her ear: Lashiel. Receive my majesty.

Adelaide swallowed hard. What was the right thing to do? Well he was asking to see it, but it was also likely to provoke a response and she wasn’t sure how prepared she was. Still, there wasn’t a lot of choice. Lashiel was right. She nodded, hoping that conviction is what he saw in it and not the apprehension she felt.

Screw it, it’s game time. Let’s go. Adelaide pointed the blade at the ground and closed her eyes. "Any last words? Lapsus, Lashiel!” her words rang out in the forest. She felt the color drain from her face, a strange sort of anxiety gripping her as the tsuba slid from its place down the length of her blade, transforming it into a staff as the guard made its way to become the base of the pole. Fire shot from the top of the pole out to one side and solidified quickly into a scythe blade. The blade was black with the same steel-silver edge on both the inside and outside of the blade. The ornate etchings from the katana found themselves along the scythe’s pole and on both sides of the scythe’s head was a strange symbol, like a rudimentary kanji with no associated word.

Adelaide opened her eyes, breath shallow. Now what? What would come next?

"So this is... Lash?” he questioned with peculiar and undefined expression, surveying the scythe.

The noble was not really impressed by the form itself as scythes were a representation of reaping or death, but then again what were they? Senesati shrugged his shoulders at the self-created argument of another person's zanpakutou. "Adelaide,” he began, "tell me what you would expect of a higher authority such as myself or a seated officer.”

That was a good question. She had always been taught to think in terms of what was expected of her, not of what she expected of others. But she pressed on with what he asked. What did she expect of them? "Guidance. Don’t doubt my abilities or my potential...” Get my name right, she added mentally and passive-aggressively. "Generally speaking, I would expect you to enable me to become an asset to you.”

This answer sucked, and she knew it. So, she went on a little farther, thinking on her feet. "Um, I would hope you, and the seated officers, would have faith in the rest of us. So, helping us realize our potential is a part of that.” Yeah. Her answer sucked.

A somewhat sarcastic, undistinguished, but yet satisfying smile etched its way onto the nobleman's face in reaction to the woman's reply.

"Welcome to being one of us, Fifth Seat Pierce. You may now lead by example as you so plainly laid out for yourself and those beneath your rank.”

The dignified captain gracefully walked past the young reaper without turning so much as a glance at the woman. "Charon's Road will be around shortly, you may take that back to the Eighth or you may take a route on foot, your choice. I do expect you to report to one of the offices in the same hallway as mine every morning. The vice-captain and seats three through five all work closely with the captain. Be sure to see Ayame and schedule an appointment to learn your next division technique.”

Senesati tossed his left hand just over his shoulder to bid the lady farewell. "See you in the morning,” he concluded, leaving the newly appointed officer to satisfy his thirst for a nice cup of tea.

She stood, a faint ringing in her ears. She had been in the Eighth for a month and already was Fifth Seat? She fully expected to wake up any moment. Or maybe she misheard. Maybe she was really Fifteenth? Modesty was called for here. Obviously. A lot of modesty. "Yes, sir. I’ll do the Eighth proud, sir. I swear it on... well, on my grave, I suppose. I mean, all things considered.”

She wanted to laugh. To dance in the streets. Her scythe quietly returned to being an everyday ostentatious sword and she awaited Charon’s Road. She barely even noticed the ght, the test of skill, that she expected hadn’t happened. At least, it hadn’t happened yet. She’d head back right away, she had an office to set up after all.

"Fifth seat, huh?” she muttered to herself as much as to Senesati. This was going to be remarkable. Something altogether new. "Harmony here I come.”