Post by Munemasa Iroka on Nov 1, 2022 21:29:24 GMT -5
The Third Division was one of the Gotei 13 divisions known for its prowess in battle, alongside the 10th and 11th Divisions. It was to be expected, seeing as its duties revolved around first response. While the 11th was the spear of Seireitei, being at the fore of any Gotei 13 military endeavors, the 10th was Seireitei's shield, serving as the major line of defense in case of an invasion. But the third's duty involved being the first in non-Soul Society territories, which meant that members of the Sanbantai had to be proactive, resourceful, and heavy duty kickers of butt.
The Fourth Division, in contrast, was one full of healers, often considered feeble, due to their lack of predilection to combat, either in skill or in zanpakutou ability. For this reason, its members had often been bullied and scorned by members of more combat-worthy divisions. This had created some form of long-standing resentment among some older members of the Division. Fortunately, it seemed that of recent, the Captain Commander was trying to focus on the establishment of a Yonbantai which had its own claws, so that when its members were cornered on the battlefield, they would not just lie down and die. Still, there did seem to be a number of people who felt things should just be the way they had been, and many Yonbantai Shinigami never tried to improve their battle readiness.
Not so the Shinigami known as Munemasa Iroka. For her, becoming better was one of the tings she was motivated by. If all she ended up being was cannon fodder when she someday found herself in battle, that would be the end of all her dreams and aspirations. If she wanted to become better, she had to become stronger. And in this universe wherein the strong preyed on the weak, she could not afford to remain weak indefinitely. She needed to sharpen her own fangs and claws. She needed to get to a point where she would be seen as a useful member of Seireitei, not just some trash to be bullied and run over by the stronger ones.
There was also the issue of her wanting to rise within the ranks of her division, and bring a change to a squad that currently had the worst reputation in all of Seireitei. It was shameful, but a fact, nonetheless: aside those Shinigami who considered everyone a comrade, nobody really considered 4th Division Shinigami as really useful. As a matter of fact, people on missions often saw them as more of a liability than an asset to improve team survivability. It seemed as though the practice was simply to throw any Shinigami who displayed incompetence but managed to pass the Academy exams into Division 4. This was something that had to change. And since there seemed to be no one strong enough, nor willing enough to do this, Iroka made it a personal task.
To improve, it would be best to turn to those who were familiar with the ways of combat. By considering the matter, Iroka surmised that there were two options she had. The first would be to go back to the Academy, but it was an unpalatable option, because Iroka did not want to feel as though she had been wasting her time all the while she had been in the Shin'ou Academy. The second was to seek out Shinigami from the divisions most familiar with combat. And while that seemed to be the best choice for her to make, it also did not seem appealing to Iroka, because it came with a host of difficulties.
Thanks to the things she had heard, and the actions of some of the Shinigami from the 3rd and 11th, she had initially been just as resentful as her squad mates of the Shinigami from those divisions. But having unwittingly met the captain of the Third at a party, and discovering that he didn't seem to be something of a bully, Iroka had decided to attempt to reach out to him, to see if he would have time to help her improve. There was also the issue that, loth as she was to admit it, she did not know any Shinigami from the combat-oriented divisions by name, not to talk of being on friendly terms with them. So Minamoto-taichou would have to suffice. She did hope he wouldn't ask her to go to the Academy, though; she'd heard that he had been known to train other Shinigami when and where he could.
Iroka had also heard that this fellow was known as Seireitei no Oni, the Demon of Seireitei. She had been regaled with stories about the man, both real and fictional, but sadly, all those stories, thanks to the fact that they came from the mouths of minds heavily biased against the Sanbantai, only seemed to accentuate the brutality of the Captain. By the end of the story sessions, Iroka was convinced that there were only two outcomes to her meeting the Sanbantai Captain: he would train her, or he would have her executed. Still, she had reached a point where she was willing to brave death in order to get stronger.
Perhaps she would have been fine with just being a little Yonbantai grunt and growing at her own pace, but an experience in Karakura Town had affected her greatly. She had come across a hollow and a modsoul, and had initially attempted to save the modsoul from the hollow, only to realize that the hollow had no intent on attacking either of them. And she had realized that it would probably have not ended well for her, if not for the fact that the hollow surprisingly seemed to be quite pacifistic. Although there had been no physical trauma nor injury to her, she had realized how little use she had on the battlefield. All she had been able to do was try to bluff that she was dangerous, and she couldn't even do that. She looked anything but threatening.
Almost visibly trembling, but driven by a force of will which many had no idea that she had, Iroka marched into the Sanbantai headquarters, ignoring any calls or comments made towards her. Not because she wanted to ignore them, but because she was simply focusing too seriously on the task at hand that she did not realize that there were people there, or that they were saying anything to, or about, her for that matter. Marching through the Division's grounds, she made her way like a guided projectile straight to the Captain's office, and in her nervous apprehension (and perhaps the fact that Iroka had always been considered somewhat zany), forgot to even knock.
Placing a hand on the screen, she slid the door to the Captain's office open with as much force as she could muster. As door frame clacked loudly against the wall, a great silence fell over the spectators. A Vice-Captain normally didn't even have the effrontery to approach a Captain in such a manner. This girl wasn't even seated; an unseated grunt, and of the Fourth Division, no less. This was an insult upon an injury. Iroka,for her part, not even realizing the great hush that had fallen, stepped into the office, and dropped to her knees, bowing so that her forehead touched the floor. "Tsuyoshi-sama!" she practically yelled, "I need your help!"
Hadn't Tsuyoshi mentioned at the party that he didn't like titles? Well, Iroka couldn't help it. He was much more powerful than she was, not to mention the heavy gap with which he outranked her. It was noteworthy, though, that she used his first name, which would normally be informal and thus disrespectful, even though she affixed the highly respectful title 'sama' to his name. Officially, most Shinigami would address him as Minamoto-taichou, or Minamoto-sama. Surnames, however, were almost irrelevant to Iroka. In any case, having said what had been on the forefront of her mind, the bowing Shinigami relaxed a bit, and suddenly noticed the silence. Something had gone wrong. He was going to kill her... or something. Without raising her forehead from the ground, she began to tremble, as she awaited what would come next.
Tsuyoshi Minamoto
The Fourth Division, in contrast, was one full of healers, often considered feeble, due to their lack of predilection to combat, either in skill or in zanpakutou ability. For this reason, its members had often been bullied and scorned by members of more combat-worthy divisions. This had created some form of long-standing resentment among some older members of the Division. Fortunately, it seemed that of recent, the Captain Commander was trying to focus on the establishment of a Yonbantai which had its own claws, so that when its members were cornered on the battlefield, they would not just lie down and die. Still, there did seem to be a number of people who felt things should just be the way they had been, and many Yonbantai Shinigami never tried to improve their battle readiness.
Not so the Shinigami known as Munemasa Iroka. For her, becoming better was one of the tings she was motivated by. If all she ended up being was cannon fodder when she someday found herself in battle, that would be the end of all her dreams and aspirations. If she wanted to become better, she had to become stronger. And in this universe wherein the strong preyed on the weak, she could not afford to remain weak indefinitely. She needed to sharpen her own fangs and claws. She needed to get to a point where she would be seen as a useful member of Seireitei, not just some trash to be bullied and run over by the stronger ones.
There was also the issue of her wanting to rise within the ranks of her division, and bring a change to a squad that currently had the worst reputation in all of Seireitei. It was shameful, but a fact, nonetheless: aside those Shinigami who considered everyone a comrade, nobody really considered 4th Division Shinigami as really useful. As a matter of fact, people on missions often saw them as more of a liability than an asset to improve team survivability. It seemed as though the practice was simply to throw any Shinigami who displayed incompetence but managed to pass the Academy exams into Division 4. This was something that had to change. And since there seemed to be no one strong enough, nor willing enough to do this, Iroka made it a personal task.
To improve, it would be best to turn to those who were familiar with the ways of combat. By considering the matter, Iroka surmised that there were two options she had. The first would be to go back to the Academy, but it was an unpalatable option, because Iroka did not want to feel as though she had been wasting her time all the while she had been in the Shin'ou Academy. The second was to seek out Shinigami from the divisions most familiar with combat. And while that seemed to be the best choice for her to make, it also did not seem appealing to Iroka, because it came with a host of difficulties.
Thanks to the things she had heard, and the actions of some of the Shinigami from the 3rd and 11th, she had initially been just as resentful as her squad mates of the Shinigami from those divisions. But having unwittingly met the captain of the Third at a party, and discovering that he didn't seem to be something of a bully, Iroka had decided to attempt to reach out to him, to see if he would have time to help her improve. There was also the issue that, loth as she was to admit it, she did not know any Shinigami from the combat-oriented divisions by name, not to talk of being on friendly terms with them. So Minamoto-taichou would have to suffice. She did hope he wouldn't ask her to go to the Academy, though; she'd heard that he had been known to train other Shinigami when and where he could.
Iroka had also heard that this fellow was known as Seireitei no Oni, the Demon of Seireitei. She had been regaled with stories about the man, both real and fictional, but sadly, all those stories, thanks to the fact that they came from the mouths of minds heavily biased against the Sanbantai, only seemed to accentuate the brutality of the Captain. By the end of the story sessions, Iroka was convinced that there were only two outcomes to her meeting the Sanbantai Captain: he would train her, or he would have her executed. Still, she had reached a point where she was willing to brave death in order to get stronger.
Perhaps she would have been fine with just being a little Yonbantai grunt and growing at her own pace, but an experience in Karakura Town had affected her greatly. She had come across a hollow and a modsoul, and had initially attempted to save the modsoul from the hollow, only to realize that the hollow had no intent on attacking either of them. And she had realized that it would probably have not ended well for her, if not for the fact that the hollow surprisingly seemed to be quite pacifistic. Although there had been no physical trauma nor injury to her, she had realized how little use she had on the battlefield. All she had been able to do was try to bluff that she was dangerous, and she couldn't even do that. She looked anything but threatening.
Almost visibly trembling, but driven by a force of will which many had no idea that she had, Iroka marched into the Sanbantai headquarters, ignoring any calls or comments made towards her. Not because she wanted to ignore them, but because she was simply focusing too seriously on the task at hand that she did not realize that there were people there, or that they were saying anything to, or about, her for that matter. Marching through the Division's grounds, she made her way like a guided projectile straight to the Captain's office, and in her nervous apprehension (and perhaps the fact that Iroka had always been considered somewhat zany), forgot to even knock.
Placing a hand on the screen, she slid the door to the Captain's office open with as much force as she could muster. As door frame clacked loudly against the wall, a great silence fell over the spectators. A Vice-Captain normally didn't even have the effrontery to approach a Captain in such a manner. This girl wasn't even seated; an unseated grunt, and of the Fourth Division, no less. This was an insult upon an injury. Iroka,for her part, not even realizing the great hush that had fallen, stepped into the office, and dropped to her knees, bowing so that her forehead touched the floor. "Tsuyoshi-sama!" she practically yelled, "I need your help!"
Hadn't Tsuyoshi mentioned at the party that he didn't like titles? Well, Iroka couldn't help it. He was much more powerful than she was, not to mention the heavy gap with which he outranked her. It was noteworthy, though, that she used his first name, which would normally be informal and thus disrespectful, even though she affixed the highly respectful title 'sama' to his name. Officially, most Shinigami would address him as Minamoto-taichou, or Minamoto-sama. Surnames, however, were almost irrelevant to Iroka. In any case, having said what had been on the forefront of her mind, the bowing Shinigami relaxed a bit, and suddenly noticed the silence. Something had gone wrong. He was going to kill her... or something. Without raising her forehead from the ground, she began to tremble, as she awaited what would come next.
Tsuyoshi Minamoto