Post by Akira Hinosai on Jun 15, 2023 19:56:07 GMT -5
The world was ending. Judgement day was fast approaching, whether it be in a month's or a year's time. All of the distractions, the self-delusions, the frivolous shit no longer brought Akira any comfort. The world was ending, but he was the only one who could see it. That was the worst part. Unseated officers still joked around, wasted their time drinking sake after hours, because none of them had inner hollows to deal with. The world went on, despite Akira's crisis. That was the worst part. The sun still rose and set at the same times it had before his vision quest. He still had the same obligations as third seat of squad 12.
Everything was the same as it had always been. Akira had to keep acting like that was true. After all, if anyone found out about his nature as a vizard, he was done for. Hell, everyone he associated with was done for. His commanding officers would be disgraced, and he'd be exiled from yet another realm with nowhere to go. When Akira had started his new life as a shinigami, he knew what would eventually happen. He knew vizards were killed on sight. It had all seemed so harmless before his inner hollow had awoken. After all, Akira was a born liar. It seemed like it would be fun. Hiding his superpowered dark side from the world, only releasing it when the stakes were high enough.
Those were romantic days. When he could afford to be concerned with matters of friendship and his new social life. Now, there was no one who could save him. No one but himself. Even now, Benny, Iroka, Fuuko, and the others were off having fun. They could afford to. This was their place. They belonged in the soul society. Akira? He didn't belong anywhere. It wasn't fair! In a fit of rage, Akira slammed his hand against his desk, only succeeding in injuring himself. Oh right. He really had to remember he couldn't break shit as easily anymore. He grabbed his wounded hand and screamed. "OWWWWWW! FUCK!"
Akira's display did not go unnoticed, as the sliding door to his work room slid open. "Sir...Are you alright?" a sheepish voice called from the door frame. "Yeah, yeah, go away." Akira didn't have time for unseated plebs. He was an officer, not their equal! As the sliding door slid shut again, Akira thought better of his dismissal. "Wait." Akira looked up at the rando in the door frame. "Enter, take a seat." The boy was a posterchild for squad 12, in that he was a total nerd. A wisp of a boy with bad teeth, mousy brown hair and glasses. A total nerd. "There may be some way you can help me." The boy's eyes lit up. "Oh...how, sir?"
Akira motioned to the stack of paperwork laying on the desk. "I seem to have injured my writing hand. I'll need you to pick up where I left off." Akira could sense the boy had some objections. Before the nerd could so much as get a word in, Akira placed his pointer finger over the boy's lips in the international sign for "stop talking". Akira shushed him for good measure. "I get it. I really do. You're thinking if this is ethical or not, and I can tell you it most certainly...isn't. But it doesn't matter. This paperwork is bullshit anyway. It's about disposal of test subject fodder, not the goings on of a blacksite. My signature's on there a few times. Just...forge it, then do what the paperwork says to do, and it'll be over before you know it." Akira removed his finger from the boy's face. "Sir...are you sure I won't get in trouble?" Akira laughed. Being third seat certainly came with its perks.
Akira motioned to the stack of paperwork laying on the desk. "I seem to have injured my writing hand. I'll need you to pick up where I left off." Akira could sense the boy had some objections. Before the nerd could so much as get a word in, Akira placed his pointer finger over the boy's lips in the international sign for "stop talking". Akira shushed him for good measure. "I get it. I really do. You're thinking if this is ethical or not, and I can tell you it most certainly...isn't. But it doesn't matter. This paperwork is bullshit anyway. It's about disposal of test subject fodder, not the goings on of a blacksite. My signature's on there a few times. Just...forge it, then do what the paperwork says to do, and it'll be over before you know it." Akira removed his finger from the boy's face. "Sir...are you sure I won't get in trouble?" Akira laughed. Being third seat certainly came with its perks.
"Trouble? Don't be stupid. They barely even check this stuff anyway. Hey, do this for me and I can put in a good word for you with command. I happen to have the Captain's ear on certain matters." Akira smiled. He could see on the boy's face this was totally working. "Alright, I'm going to the infirmary. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Akira swiftly made his way out of the room before the boy could change his mind. "Oh, one more thing, if someone asks what you're doing, say I told you to do it." One last safeguard in case the kid got into some actual trouble, as unlikely as that was. "Anyway, byeeee!"
Akira closed the door behind him and all but ran outside. Fate had given him a reprieve from his duties. He put on his sunglasses and walked out into the greater seireitei. Morning dew had yet to evaporate from the greenery, and the sun had yet to reach full force, leaving the air somewhat pleasant. Anything was possible. Anything at all. Akira let the wind carry him where it would as he tried to think how he was going to make use of this golden opportunity. There had been a time not so long ago where he cooked up an ingenious plot to get trained by Squad 5's lieutenant. As...eccentric as the girl was, Akira couldn't deny that she'd been extremely useful to him.
That had seemed so long ago, when he was a squad 12 grunt, tending the hell butterflies and cleaning test tubes. He had come to her a beggar, armed with a falsified message from Ken'ichi. Now, he was one step below a lieutenant himself. He could afford to set his sights higher this time. He could be as audacious as he dared. A captain! He could be trained by a captain! Caution was no longer a luxury he could afford. He had an inner hollow to excise from his soul. He had rivals to surpass. He had a zanpakuto that needed wrangling. So it had to be a captain, but which one? Akira had seen most of them from a distance before.
Aramis was too close to home, Celes seemed a bit too wise for her own good. Kimiko seemed like she would actually just kill Akira. Come to think of it, maybe he would be better going at this alone, or with a lieutenant. Just as he was prepared to run an assessment of the lieutenants, he had a breakthrough. There was one captain, who Akira only knew by reputation. Head of the Shinigami's Internal Revenue service. Despite Akira's distaste for paying taxes, she did seem a worthy candidate for him to approach. There were rumors about her. There were rumors about every high ranking official in the seireitei, but her rumors were of a different sort. It was said she more resembled a lost little puppy more than she did a captain.
Of course, it was all bullshit. They don't let just anyone be a captain, and appearances could often be deceptive. But out of all the captains she seemed the most...approachable. Least likely to find out Akira's secret by looking at him, least likely to kill him in a sparring match, and most likely to have some new ideas he couldn't find in squad 12. Tax Lady, here I come. Akira ran off in search of this mysterious tax collector. By now, he knew his way around the seireitei. He could tell the difference between squad 8 and squad 1 by scent alone. Well, maybe not exactly, but he was still pretty good at navigating this place.
Akira closed the door behind him and all but ran outside. Fate had given him a reprieve from his duties. He put on his sunglasses and walked out into the greater seireitei. Morning dew had yet to evaporate from the greenery, and the sun had yet to reach full force, leaving the air somewhat pleasant. Anything was possible. Anything at all. Akira let the wind carry him where it would as he tried to think how he was going to make use of this golden opportunity. There had been a time not so long ago where he cooked up an ingenious plot to get trained by Squad 5's lieutenant. As...eccentric as the girl was, Akira couldn't deny that she'd been extremely useful to him.
That had seemed so long ago, when he was a squad 12 grunt, tending the hell butterflies and cleaning test tubes. He had come to her a beggar, armed with a falsified message from Ken'ichi. Now, he was one step below a lieutenant himself. He could afford to set his sights higher this time. He could be as audacious as he dared. A captain! He could be trained by a captain! Caution was no longer a luxury he could afford. He had an inner hollow to excise from his soul. He had rivals to surpass. He had a zanpakuto that needed wrangling. So it had to be a captain, but which one? Akira had seen most of them from a distance before.
Aramis was too close to home, Celes seemed a bit too wise for her own good. Kimiko seemed like she would actually just kill Akira. Come to think of it, maybe he would be better going at this alone, or with a lieutenant. Just as he was prepared to run an assessment of the lieutenants, he had a breakthrough. There was one captain, who Akira only knew by reputation. Head of the Shinigami's Internal Revenue service. Despite Akira's distaste for paying taxes, she did seem a worthy candidate for him to approach. There were rumors about her. There were rumors about every high ranking official in the seireitei, but her rumors were of a different sort. It was said she more resembled a lost little puppy more than she did a captain.
Of course, it was all bullshit. They don't let just anyone be a captain, and appearances could often be deceptive. But out of all the captains she seemed the most...approachable. Least likely to find out Akira's secret by looking at him, least likely to kill him in a sparring match, and most likely to have some new ideas he couldn't find in squad 12. Tax Lady, here I come. Akira ran off in search of this mysterious tax collector. By now, he knew his way around the seireitei. He could tell the difference between squad 8 and squad 1 by scent alone. Well, maybe not exactly, but he was still pretty good at navigating this place.
Akira jogged his way to the slice of the seireitei belonging to squad 8. Akira was glad he didn't carry any money on him, lest the tax vultures steal it from him. He waltzed his way into the place he assumed the captain's quarters would be and knocked on the door. If allowed entrance he would bow his head in respect. "Captain Odayakama. Pardon the intrusion. I am Akira Hinosai, Third Seat of Squad 12. I...apologize for the timing of this request, but its virtue is in its speed. I was wondering...if you needed a new disciple, and perhaps would indulge me with your tutelage?" He flashed a winning smile, hoping to win the captain's good graces. "It would be a great honor to be trained by one of your...stature."