Soul Society BBQ (Closed captain social)

[Wycliff]

Captain meetings usually went by without Wycliff really speaking, honestly he saw the whole thing as a waste of time as nothing really changed and everything that was spoken about could have been sent via an email. Well if could have been sent via an email if the captain commander knew what an email was, which Wycliff doubted that the old man actually knew what they were. So it would have been a surprise to everyone attending the meeting when not only did Wycliff speak up about the upcoming ceremony about Celes’s promotion but even asked to take the responsibility of hosting the post ceremony captain celebration.

Wycliff had his own reason as to want to be the one to host it, normally they were a formal matter that took up way too much time. Time that Wycliff didn’t want to spend stuck inside soul society. Especially given the weather report he had learned about. The very day that they would be celebrating the promotion for Celes was the exact perfect day for a beach outing. Still it was a gamble that he would be given the opportunity to do so, one that to everyone’s surprise including his own was given to him. Wycliff smiled knowing full well that the days leading up would be busy for him.

A few days later all the captains would receive a message from a hell butterfly with a location in the human world where they would all be gathering at. Wycliff would be the first one there to oversee and make sure that everything was set up properly. Celes once she arrived would know clearly what place this was, it was the same beach where Wycliff taught her kido, however there had been a few improvements since the last time she had been here. All of them Wycliff had made done just for today.

Between two trees would be a massive banner saying congratulations Celes, that would be the first thing the various captains would see. The next would be two different buildings each of them clearly marked with signs as changing rooms for males and females. Wycliff didn’t want to give any of the captains an excuse that they didn’t have swimwear so he made sure that there were plenty of options to pick from. Aside from the changing rooms all over the beach were several beach chairs, towels and umbrellas, while Wycliff’s own motivation for hosting the party was a selfish one to be able to enjoy the weather on this day he did want the others to enjoy themselves.

Wycliff himself was wearing as usual his sunglasses along side a simple blue pair of swim trunks with his captain’s hiori and a black bbq cooking apron. Those arriving would see him manning a large grill with several things already cooking. His only hope is that this would be an easy and relaxed day for all of them instead of being stuck doing a stuffy post ceremony celebration. The sun was shining, the ocean waves were crashing against the beach the day was warm. It was a perfect start to a beach day, now he just hoped the others would just go with the flow.

[Celes Castellanos]

Just past the doors leading to the captain's office of the Tenth Division, the soft jitters of a rumbling machine filled the room. Quieting to a halt, Celes turned her head briefly to stare at the quiet rumble of her coffee maker. After a loud yawn, the green-haired Shinigami scratched the back of her head. "Huh... done already?" Sauntering over, the captain produced a large mug. Lifting the beaker, Celes poured herself a generous helping of coffee. The days just seemed to get longer and longer, and she was slowly, but surely running out of coffee at this rate. She couldn't concern herself with that though. Right now, she had work to do. With that thought, the captain waddled to her desk where a large stack of filled paperwork rested near a few empty sheets.

Celes set the cup down, allowing to it to rest upon the table for a few minutes to cool down. Staring at the stacks of paper only helped to demoralize Celes even more as she realized the time she had already spent on staying up to date. Reaching across the desk, she gripped a tiny rubber ball and squeezed it. The recent breaches of security had left the Tenth Division with a good deal of work on their plates. Working double shifts was becoming much more of a necessity, trying to bolster Soul Society's defenses in any way they could. Shift rotations, incident reports and training drills would creep their way into every bit of Celes' free time. It was exhausting to say the least. After rubbing her temple and sighing, Celes set the stress ball down to focus on her coffee. Pitching the tea forward, Celes would take large gulps of the coffee as she attempted to reinvigorate her body. Unfortunately, the bursts of energy would never last, and she'd always find herself drowning in caffeine in a vain attempt to stay awake. 

As she set her cup down, Celes pivoted in her chair towards a window which rested in the back of her office. She'd keep her eyes fixated on the nearby trees, watching the gentle sway of the leaves as the wind blew. Their dance was almost hypnotic. Gently moving her head with the back and forth of the leaves, the captain felt herself drift. It wouldn't take much longer than a few seconds and she could already be heard breathing in and out much more calmly. It was therapeutic, in a way, to imagine herself as a leaf or a single blade of grass. Allowing herself to drift and simply was the perfect meditation for stress relief. Unfortunately, as Celes closed her eyes, her recent sleep cycle had caught up with her as a quiet snore filled the room.

A few hours would until the Shinigami was able to rouse herself from her own sleep. Leaning back again, Celes stretched and cracked her joints. Loosening up, she yawned again only to shake her head in disbelief. "Ugh... still a little groggy..." As she rubbed her eyes, Celes would hear a soft tapping behind her. She'd raise an eyebrow as she simply turned her head. Looking out her window, Celes heard the tapping again as a black-winged butterfly gently planted itself into the window. Celes, of course, recognized it immediately for what it was. A jigokuchō, also known as hell butterflies. They were traditionally used as carriers of information, able to convey entire orders in a few moments. Rising from her desk, Celes tilted the window open without a second thought.

Presented with an opening the jigokuchō flew over to the captain and fluttered before her for a moment. Chuckling to herself ever so slightly, Celes extended her arm and presented her pointer finger for the winged critter to land. Swiftly doing so, Celes finally heard the message. The voice was that of her fellow captain, Wycliff. She had a few interactions with the captain of the Fifth Division, the most recent of which being a mission when she was still Vice Captain of the Tenth Division. It was a mission involving Camila and as such was quite a while back. Oh, how far she had come since then. Even Celes could barely believe it. Nevertheless, Celes did not want to dwell on old memories to long and she'd divert her attention back to the message.

She raised an eyebrow as the jigokuchō revealed more and more. Apparently Wycliff was inviting all of the captains to a little friendly get-together. Initially surprised, Celes thought more and more about it. That's when it clicked. "Oh yeah... he mentioned something about this at the last captain's meeting." This would be quite the interesting invitation. It was so rare that Celes actually got to meet up and interact with her fellow captains. Each had his or her own duties to tend to and she was convinced that the Tenth wasn't the only Division utterly swamped with a surge of new work. Nevertheless, this could prove an interesting opportunity to network. Besides... she'd stare at her desk with more paperwork, the answer of which she preferred clear as day in her head.

---

Doors suddenly formed on the beach, opening to reveal the green-haired Shinigami. Steeping out from the gates of the senkaimon, Celes had a look around. It was an absolutely gorgeous day which unfortunately meant that the sun was going to beat down on them today. All of a sudden Celes regretted arriving in her shihakusho. While the traditional garments of the Shinigami, they were far from ideal in this kind of weather. She sighed and shook her head. "Oh well..." Taking a few steps forward, Celes would scan her environment further. This place started to look more and more familiar. It wasn't until a few moments later that she realized it. She muttered under her breath, "Oh, what a sneaky bastard..." 

This was in fact the beach where she had first met Wycliff. At the time she was looking for someone to teach her kidō. Speaking of the devil, Celes saw Wycliff in the distance. As usual, he was wearing rather informal gear. This just seemed to be the way he always presented himself. Sauntering over at a calm pace, Celes took in more of the preparations. Some towels and umbrellas were already set up. A table with more appropriate clothing was set up and even a large banner which Celes did not pay much mind too at the moment. As she got within earshot though, she'd certainly address her fellow captain. "Well, looks like I'm the first here." She gave a wide toothy grin which unfortunately revealed the bags under her eyes from minor sleep deprivation. Nevertheless, she'd keep her chipper tone. "How have you been Wycliff? Well, I hope?" Until others showed up, it only felt right for Celes to catch up with him. After all, it has been a while since she saw him in any informal capacity. 

[Nakajima Kimiko]

War. A time of chaos, destruction and violence. The many who remain within the heavenly realm of the Soul Society have felt it ever since they have become Souls. Some confronted it by being part of the great celestial conflicts in one way or another, most especially the one which pits Shinigami and Hollow against one another. Others were instead subjected to it by more minor conflicts, such as the violence oh-so-present within the districts of Rukongai and the corruption sometimes presented by a few officers of the law. Unfortunately, there has been one war as of recently that everyone was forced to face, one that should not have even crossed the minds of the innocent who resided within the realm. This war was the conflict between Shinigami and Hellions, the infinite battle between "Heaven" and "Hell". It was a conflict that should have forever remained far away from the Soul Society... and yet, it reached the celestial realm, and its effects were devastating.

This conflict was what Kimiko found herself thinking about one particular morning as she remained within her office. For once since she began representing the Eleventh Division as its Captain, the paperwork she had to do for today was rather light, enough so that she did need her assistant Gideon to be present with her. The paperwork itself was nothing major or even significant. Much of the papers that covered the damages caused by the Hellions onto Rukongai and Seireitei had been covered, and so were those which focused on major losses to the squad. Frankly, all that remained were the papers that covered the squad's "minor" losses, meaning her personnel. Indeed, despite the fact that this demonic invasion happened some time ago now when she had not even been promoted to Captaincy yet, there were still a few to cover due to fact the eponymous Francis Grin simply was not present during the whole ordeal and thereafter. Many of them had been taken care of by her Vice-Captain Tsukuyomi and Jin, one of her Lieutenants, but some still remained, and so the responsibility to accomplish those that did befell onto her.

By the time an hour or so had passed since she began tending to them, there was only about a quarter of the paper pile left upon her chabudai. Sheet after sheet had passed onto this particular table of hers before being signed and stamped for delivery to the higher administrations of the Gotei 13, and though it was theoretically not really her responsibility to fully look into every single one of them, she could not help but find herself doing so rather extensively. Since the Eleventh Division was a very large division, many of the people that were presented in the sheets were not people that she had really known before. Though there were a few she believed she had seen prior to the hellish assault, she couldn't really describe them as friends or even acquaintances. To her, they were just unknown names and faces, and that was about it. In a way, it was as though these people were but coworkers in an immense company that she found herself never really meeting due to certain circumstances.

At first, she did not think much of it; after all, it was rather impossible for someone to remember every single member of a division. Hell, she sometimes forgets the name of some of her students, much to her dismay. However, the more this went on, the more she couldn't help but find herself sighing every now and them as she observed the sheets. It made her think of those aforementioned circumstances, of why she never found herself meeting these people. Of course, she knew what those circumstances were. It was her insane training schedule, her hatred of Taishokukane, and those fits of adrenaline that she eventually came to understand as being the influence of her Inner Hollow that made her so. The fact that she now recognizes these circumstances as problems to resolve has allowed her to become more involved with her squad, even if it was all a bit late for her to do so... but she couldn't help but feel a tinge of regret the more she observed these paper sheets.

The paperwork went on a little bit longer, and so did the identities set upon them. Antonio Raiola, Evelyn Howard, Hirabayashi Ryūga... The names went on and on, and so did the causes of their demise. There were a few lucky ones, a couple of members whose bodies simply could not be found or become identified by the other squads who therefore required to be tagged as being "missing in action". Unfortunately, the majority of the sheets Kimiko evaluated were not as plain. No pictures were available, but they did sport multiple descriptions of the injuries these people suffered from before they fell, enough so that Kimiko could easily imagine them all. As to be expected from injures caused by demons, they were all extreme in nature, more so than anything caused by Hollows. It was as though the Hellions wanted to deliberately play with the corpses and have them be reduced to nothing but bloodied stumps simply because they could.

Long ago, this would not have bothered Kimiko in the slightest. In fact, she would have felt absolutely nothing from this, most likely because of the influence of her Inner Hollow and the fact that she herself has willingly partaken in violent acts in order to serve the Soul Society. Now, however, it bothered her. It made her imagine her current squadmates - and therefore, her students at her dojo - sport these awful wounds. After a time, these thoughts began to grow heavy in her mind, enough so that her bother was steadily starting to turn into anger, and eventually, she couldn't help but stop. She dropped her pen, let it rest upon the chabudai near the latest paper sheet that she was supposed to fill up, then allowed her body to slowly hang back until her hands pressed themselves against the floor. "Ugh," she let out as she stared at the ceiling with a frown, annoyed, frustrated. Her voice was quiet, yet bitter, resentful. "I should have told Gideon to stay."

The Captain would stay like this for a few minutes as she recollected herself. She hated wasting her time during this particular period of her day. Paperwork was already rather annoying as is, and she would rather deal with it quickly or simply not do it at all, so extending her time doing it was only making it all so much worse. However, she felt that she just needed to take a break in this instance, else the quality of her work was going to drastically decrease itself until it would reach an abominably-low point. Her gaze would slowly trail away from the ceiling of her office as she thought about everything. It went to her bedroom door to the artistic frame on the eastern wall, the many parchments that stood on the walls, the door that led outside of her office into the hallways of her squad's barracks, and then the drawer that held various tea utensils near the western wall. Finally, her eyes then started at the open window this drawer rested underneath, the one that showcased the barracks' main courtyard. From it could be seen a few officers here and there training with one another in physical combat.

There was also something else that could be seen from the window. It was small and dark, flapping its wings almost innocently close to the window frame before it entered Kimiko's office. The sight of the insect caused the swordswoman to blink in surprise. It was a Jigokuchō. Usually, one of these creatures' main function was to deliver messages to officers of the Gotei 13. For a moment, the Shinigami believed that something had happened. With all the reconstruction that has been occurring across Rukongai, it is something to be expected that some issues may occur, such as the presence of a Hellion that somehow survived the invasion. In so doing, she would watch the butterfly quietly fly down towards her chabudai without any resistance, preparing herself to hear the message that was meant to be delivered to her. Eventually, the insect would fly down onto the back of her hand, and in an instant, the message would be delivered to her telepathically.

The swordswoman would stand there in silence for a brief time, taking into account what was told to her. At first, she appeared serious. However, this serious facade of hers would eventually completely break down into something more akin to the face of a demotivated teenager. "Right... That frozen asshole told us about that." Those passionate words escaped her mouth rather quickly as her expression turned more comical by the second, an expression which became even more so once she looked towards her blades which currently rested underneath the chabudai. "Yeah, yeah, I know it'll be good for me to go, Shizukakane! I'm just still not used to that stuff! And you know who Wycliff is! He... I... A... Alright, fine, fine." With a pout, the woman would then grab her sheathed weapons, insert them into her obi sash, then raise herself before heading towards the door almost groggily. "I guess I'll have to give this stuff to somebody else."

---

With the papers that remained on her desk sorted to Gideon, Kimiko was now free to go to whatever location she was supposed to attend to. It did not take long for her to actually reach the place. Perhaps like the other ones who were invited to this meetup, she had exited her barracks and directed herself to the Soul Society's official Senkaimon, and soon after, its doors would open, allowing the Captain of the Eleventh Division to exit its lobby and proceed into the Living World. The process was quick and efficient, much like usual, with the only caveat being the officers of the Thirteenth who were responsible for the handling of the traveling process. Apparently, they were the same officers who had witnessed Kimiko before she had gone to fight Teresa in her previous encounter against the Hollow. To say that they were slightly intimidated by her presence was a bit of an understatement, but fortunately, they did not pose any issues to her.

The first thing the Captain witnessed upon passing through the gates of the Senkaimon was the sun. Despite it being only morning, its glare immediately directed itself straight into her gaze as she walked through the frame of the gates, causing her to briefly look away. Once the blinding effects of the glare ceased, she slowly turned her head away and looked upon the area she now was standing on. The sight immediately took her aback. It was a beautiful beach, prettier than any other shore she had witnessed prior. The sun shone bright in a sapphire sky, with its rays descending upon crystal clear waters. There were a few trees nearby, though there weren't many, suggesting that this was most definitely some sort of tropical area. Well, the heat also suggested that. It... It heavily suggested that, actually.  Oh, wow, it's... hot. Where am I? Hawaii?  Her mind would begin to ask questions as she further observed the area.  Maybe Taiwan.

After some time, this moment of observation would come to an end, and she would begin to walk forward towards where she believed she needed to go. Fortunately for her, this also did not her very long, seeing as she was able to see two individuals standing a couple of buildings near the shore. The first person she saw was Celes, something which caused her to smile as she was happy to see her here. The second person was Wycliff, which caused that smile to lessen a bit. No, she has not forgotten how the man quite literally almost encased her in ice back then when she faced the demons during the invasion, and no, she has not quite forgiven him for that just yet. Either way, she would approach them and give them a wave. "Hey. This is a nice place. I'm... guessing the others aren't here yet," she would introduce herself to them the best she could without appearing too awkward or bothered. Meanwhile, she would look on towards the towels, the umbrellas, and the swimwear that had been set up. There was a banner too, but the looks of the beach had made her almost completely ignore it. "... I, uh, didn't know we needed to wear swimsuits."

[Aramis Tezuka]

Aramis maintained his usual busy schedule. Squad 12 demanded it. Barely even a moment to sleep-- not that Aramis was fond of sleeping. Too much wasted time, and too many nightmares. His inner demon saw to it he never saw a peaceful night. He had little time for socializing or pleasantries beyond those necessitated by his job. So when Takeda had come to him, informing he'd been instructed to attend a celebration for the promotion of several new Captains following the whole affair with Hell, the Nakabakki was less than pleased. Not that it ever showed, Aramis had a tremendously good poker face. Still, his division could often find a way to sense when he was in a bad mood, and although they knew he'd never exact this mood on them, they still often aimed to keep their distance during this time. He tended to be much stricter in his evaluations when he was like this.

Not that he was allowed to do evaluations. Aramis simply looked at Takeda. "Send missive to rest of division. Ken'ichi commands in absence. Standard protocol. No visitors into labs unless permission granted by Lieutenant Shihoin. Instruct Lieutenant Ken'ichi to organize and delegate supervisors until return." Aramis waited only just long enough for Takeda to leave his office, before locking the doors, and shutting off the lights. The room was plunged into absolute darkness, for Aramis did not have any windows in his direct office. It made it easy for him to vanish into the shadows as was his preferred means of transportation. Soul Society was filled with shadows to emerge from, and finding one near the Senkaimon was easy enough. Aramis merely gave a cursory nod to the Third Division Shinigami manning the gate, only to be met with a quizzical look.

"Business Captain Tezuka?" Aramis stared at him further, and the man began to look a bit uncomfortable with the Captain of the 12th's gaze piercing through his soul. After a moment, Aramis seemed to realize he was not in his division anymore and so he answered brusquely as usual. "Human World. Ordered there with other Captains." He stated. The Third Officer gave a quick nod and went to operate the Senkaimon and opened it to allow Aramis through.

----

And so it was that the second green haired Shinigami joined the trio on the beach, Aramis stepping through, looking thoroughly unamused. His gaze immediately found Wycliff and he approached him. "Poor decision. Captains comprise majority of Soul Society's military force. If Soul Society were attacked now...." He shook his head at Wycliff, clearly displeased, but also slightly elated that for once he could allow an implication to reduce the need to add more words than necessary. ...Though he was talking to Wycliff, and Ken'ichi's report had been less than flattering... perhaps he did need to add more. Would it take more words to explain the obvious problem if Wycliff asked, or just to add it now? Did the potential need to use more words outweigh using fewer in the moment?"[/color] Aramis's brain flew through calculations on the matter as he stared a hole in Wycliff's face with his quickly becoming infamous, baleful gaze.

Oh! That's right. There were other Captains here. Aramis turned to look at Celes and Kimiko. "Captain Shindazu." He turned to Kimiko. "Captain Nakajima. Believe congratulations for promotion are considered appropriate." He stated, with a respectful incline of the head. "A effort. Good luck." The Good Luck was about as high a praise as Aramis gave-- spending a whole two words for nothing more than empty wishes of good fortune to Kimiko! Whether Kimiko was aware that this was very high praise from the Captain, was a different matter, but for anyone who'd spent more than ten minutes in Aramis's company, the act of Aramis using more words than absolutely necessary was either a sign of respect, or a sign that something was very, very wrong.

It was only now that Aramis truly took a moment to absorb the sights. Ugh. The Sun. Aramis was far more at home in the dark. And the heat was unpleasant. It reminded him of his early experiments to purge himself of his condition. The Inquisitions and doctors of old had believed there was merit in "burning out" an infection, and Aramis had tried it. It had been a long shot, given heat was the sort of thing Hell was known for, but it was worth a shot. He'd earned nothing but pain and discomfort from those experiments, and a few Hollow test subjects burned to ash. It was probably also not helping that he was still in his full Shinigami attire, but seemed very disinclined to change out of it at the moment. Wycliff could certainly ask, but it would be at his peril.

[Camila Adaronde]

Only person here with more than 10 paragraphs was Kimiko; as such, she receives a 10% bonus with any one participant here. Her, and everyone else receives their 1/8 SkP!