"Back in my Fuckin Day" [JT, Closed]

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

She really wish she was the type of woman to drink. Passing through the squad barracks toward the training area, it was annoying to see some of the other squad members in other divisions drinking themselves silly. There was a lot of that these days. Soul society had slowed to a crawl. With the Quincy threat practically exploding over the last few months, things just weren't the same. Shinigami died all too often now, not just from quincy, but even from just other races growing bold.

She sighed, tired if nothing else, as she strolled down the street in her Squad 2 uniform. Her 'squad' for the time being. She envied her teammates that were in Squads 7 or even 10. Getting to gallivant around and drink during their surveillance. She made her way to squad Seven. She was even thankful to see a good crowd leaving the training grounds. That was good. It meant that whatever training had been put in place should be ending, which meant that hopefully, the man she was looking for would be unoccupied.

Kaen. One fo the more well-known Shinigami to say the least. She supposed on some level she should feel some sort of honor for being as close as she was to him. Well, if his late behavior hadn't been what it was. If nothing else, she sortof hoped that this cheos would have shaken him out of that funk of his. If only out of his sense of duty to the Gotei, and the soul society as a whole. But unfortunate as that was.....she was begining to doubt that the soul society was where his loyalty even lie. She hoped that wasn't the case.

The blonde woman started to slow down, her eyes darting around as she let a hand rest on her zanpaku'to out of pure habit as she looked around for the man. Thankfully nobody thought twice about her presence. Squad 2 had been without a captain ever since it's captain had....well.....comitted high crimes and vanished. So their squad, thanks to their almost nonexistent lieutenant, were often seen wandering around. No missions to go on. Just training and general duties. And even that was something that wasn't really picked up on.

Honestly it irritated Shizu. And she wished in her heart of hearts that Kimiko could just take up that particular squad. But that was something to think of later. Instead, she took a slow, steady breath, and growled to herself. Priorities, Shizu. The first thing she needed to do was find Kaen, possibly slap his stupid face out of a daze, and vent to him. As it turned out, directly confronting her Captain had NOT actually made her feel any better. So it was time to bitch at the man who, weirdly enough, was one of her few remaining friends.

And probably smack him around a little.
She KNEW that would make her feel better.

[Kaen Youji]

Shizuyoko might have been surprised at what she would find at the training grounds of the 7th Division. Or more accurately, what she wouldn’t find. Although a training session had certainly completed, the division’s third seat couldn’t seem to be found anywhere there. Some of the division’s other Seated Officers were present, to be sure, but of Kaen there didn’t seem to be a trace. Depending on how thoroughly Shizuyoko might have done her research on the division as of late, she might have known that within about the last two months, the division’s Vice Captain, Rin, had taken a leave of absence, and Kaen too, had disappeared less than a day later, with no explanation, and been gone for weeks before returning. Kaen himself had only been back for about a week or so, and upon his return he’d been acting a bit strangely. He’d been showing up less and less to the division’s training and stayed hidden away in his office. He had shown his face around the division a few times, but while before he had almost never been seen in his office, and was more easily found either hanging around the Empress’s office to try and catch her, or out on some assignment or another (even if it had just been basic patrol duty), it seemed now he only left his office for short periods of time, before returning to it. He’d missed numerous training sessions now; something that he had never been known to do. Even the last time his personality had taken a drastic shift, shortly after Kuroi Naito had led his mod soul attack on Soul Society, Kaen had, if anything else, doubled up on his training. Now the division seemed strangely absent of him.

With that said, if anyone actually talked to Kaen (and many in the division had), they wouldn’t have reported anything strange in his demeanor. He seemed the same friendly, helpful Shinigami he’d always been. He still worked to push his subordinates to do their best, and when he did show up to practice, he continued to use his same style of constructive criticism, always fighting only just hard enough that his opponent believed they could possibly defeat him, to keep them pushing themselves just that extra mile harder. He still was fostering strong relations between his division members, but on the whole, things still seemed different about him.

Perhaps it was a curse of the 7th Division? As you climbed in rank, you inherently became more and more reclusive? Not that Kaen had climbed the ranks at all, but with Rin’s leave of absence, he was currently the highest-ranking officer in the division now, and the division’s effective leader. Something he took extremely seriously. That much, Shizuyoko should have known even without any research. She’d seen firsthand how devoted and proud Kaen was of the division, so she could likely imagine the amount of pressure he would put himself under as the division’s leader. Or perhaps she wouldn’t, and instead attributed his devotion to the Division as a misplaced side-effect of his obsession with the division’s Vice Captain?


Whichever the reason, Shizuyoko would not find Kaen in the training grounds that day, but whether through research, or asking around, she would quickly be able to discover that Kaen could most likely be found in his office deeper in the division. The office was a little different than usual, and some vague attempt at a professional look had clearly been attempted… and largely failed at. It seemed presentation was not Kaen’s forte. The office had some semblance of an attempt at cleaning, and the trash bin in the office was filled with a number of empty sushi trays. There were several empty sake bottles arranged neatly in the corner of the space. A small “visiting” area of sorts, had been set up near the front of the office, with a series of chairs and even a small couch, along with a coffee table. Numerous weapons were hung on the walls, save for the western wall of the office which had a large shelf that seemed mixed between books and various file folders. The back of the office featured two main details. The first was a walled off section of screens and a sliding door. The other was Kaen’s desk, situated near his office window. The desk was completely covered in paperwork, piling up to nearly four feet high. There were several stacks on the ground as well near the desk, covered in what looked like Kaen’s penmanship, for those familiar enough with it. Behind the desk, two banners were hung on the wall. The first was the insignia of the Seventh Division, and the second was a black banner with a flame symbol on it—the same symbol that Kaen often wore somewhere on his person—the crest of the Youji family.

It was at this desk that Shizuyoko would find Kaen-- completely passed out, face down on his desk. Dark bags were under his eyes, suggesting a lack of sleep, and he was snoring quietly, hidden almost completely by the mountains of paperwork.