The Nijuukan Railroad Problem (Ume/Kimiko)(J/T)

[Ume Oboro]

Ume yawned and wiped a bit of drool off her lips as she stared at the screen. She flipped open a plastic cap that covered a button that looked like a button that might get pushed in an old war movie about nuclear missiles. She had been in communication with both Squad One and the Central 46 itself about the recent events that had happened in the human world. While most might have panicked and sweat and fret at the thought of pressing a doomsday button, to Ume, it was just the next step in a data chain. 

After several  events in the human world had started to pile up human bodies, which would eventually turn to pluses, which might be too much for even a dedicated team of Shinigami performing konshou around the clock, which still wouldn't  matter even if they succeeded, it was determined that a cleansing was necessarily for the sake of maintaining balance.

A space needed to be cleared for all the new souls coming into Soul Society. 

Souls needed to be reintroduced to the human world. 

That's what the statistics said, so Ume pushed the button after relaying the information to the proper channels. As a high ranking officer in the Nijuubantai and in that squad's Observation and Data Collection department, it fell on her shoulders to decide the fate of so many souls and though Ume herself was rather terrified of death, when it came to passing the judgement, she was as cold and impassive as her namesake. Once the button was pressed, she closed the plastic bubble back over it and went back to business. That should have been it on her end. 

It was not. 

Once the button was pressed on her end, that would mean that all who needed to approve the decision had approved it. Ume's pressing of the button would send to the squads that dealt with the actual execution of the culling the message to begin. While they were doing their job, Ume would monitor them from a position in her lab. She would note the number of souls disappearing and the movement of the squads. The data would be recorded until the mission was finished, then it would be passed along to the appropriate authorities, who would in tern prepare other squads for the rebalancing efforts. Once that was underway, Ume's job was, more or less, complete. 

Unfortunately for Ume and her desire to remain inside her own building as much as possible, things did not  go as smoothly as they should have. During the cleansing process, more than just Rukongai citizens' life forces disappeared from her radar. Shinigami were as well. It wasn't the most  unusual thing, It certainly wouldn't be the first time a cleansing was taken advantage of, but it still it was unusual that it warranted an actual body  to investigate. Maybe the eqipment was busted by the brutes in the other squad who didn't know how to carry delicate scientific observational equipment?

Ume sighed. that was the best  case scenario, so she packed up some replacement equipment and headed off. Out of the safety of the Squad Twelve barracks and the walls of the Gotei Thirteen and out into the wild and dangerous outer districts of the Rokonagai. 

As she approached, she felt the presence of a high level Shinigami. The reiatsu felt familiar, but off. Where had she felt that before? It seemed like it had been a long time, but not too  long. She really should have given one of the culling squads an eyeball from Nijume so that she didn't have to leave her observation deck. The jug swished with each branch she bounced from. Eyeballs bounced around inside the jug that was barely covered by her swishing lab coat. One hand gripped the handle of her zanpakutou and the other was pressed against the bridge of her glasses as she made her way towards the source of the reiatsu. 

[Nakajima Kimiko]

The Living World was currently in ruins. Such were the specific words that have been traveling about the holy city of Seireitei and the upper districts of Rukongai since many Shinigami have returned from the battlefield a few days ago. For all intents and purposes, it should have been an overstatement of the situation brought about by doubt, by worry and by fear all at once, something which wasn't particularly rare within the Soul Society. After all, since information was rather sparse for the populace of Seireitei and Rukongai outside of a few particular circles available to Shinigami, the people often tended to live in their own little bubble. Unfortunately, however, it could be said that they were not that far off from the truth this time around. In fact, considering the extent of what had happened then... it could even be said that what should have been an overstatement was instead a most sordid reality that the Gotei 13 had hoped would never once occur.

In the span of only but a few days, several areas of the material realm had been reduced to chaos and disorder. First, New York City, a pillar of the realm's global economy, was partially destroyed by a great flood which rendered a portion of itself sunken underneath the waves, a terrible disaster which was stated to not have been caused by a natural phenomenon. Then, not long after, Moscow, the capital and geopolitical embassy of the Russian government, was attacked by a flying fortress of the Vandenreich's creation which turned its many buildings into rubble and many of its citizens into spiritual ash. Finally, Karakura Town, the Jūreichi of this particular era, was suddenly not only hit by an ungodly Hollow invasion that required immediate cleansing, but also yet another attack by the Vandenreich that almost turned the entirety of the town in question into a frozen wasteland whose climate was completely atypical of the country it was a part of.

The number of Humans that lost their lives during these events wasn't particularly clear to even those who occupied the greatest position within the Gotei 13. There were many who perished and became Pluses, who then ended up being consumed by the Hollows who became part of these events, but there were also several of them whose souls were completely erased by the spiritual energy of the Quincy. Then, there were the Shinigami that were also lost in the attacks as well. In so doing, the cycle of souls was left dangerously close to disorder. It required immediate mending, something which could only be achieved through the reintroduction of positive souls into the cycle. In other words, a cleansing of the Soul Society's most needless occupants was necessary. For many, this was a difficult decision to make. It was why those who required to do the decision effectively required the least amount of sympathy and empathy as possible. Ergo, the Twelfth Division.

By the time the cleansing squads began their work within the deeper ends of the Soul Society, the day had turned into night. The skies above were covered with clouds about to unleash their snow at any given moment, heavy puffs of dark blue and jet black which crossed from one distant horizon to the other, covering it all in a dark blue-ish grey hue that prevented almost any moonlight from reaching the grounds below. Meanwhile, the weather was cool, as to be expected from the winter season, though not particularly heavy for the time being. If anything, it could be worse. As for the wind, for once in a great long while, it appeared dead with nary even the slightest of breeze upon one's skin. Considering the ambient cold, perhaps this was for the best, as frigid winds tend to be among the least comfortable of them all. However, the lack of noise that came with it rendered the darkness produced by the skies above even greater and more intimidating.

The weather did not change as the squads accomplished their duties. It remained stagnant, unwilling to change in the moment even as the clock hit midnight. But the number of officers who were part of the squads did not abide to that rule. As time moved on, this number began to decrease. At first, the decrease was slow and steady. Then, shortly after the latest batch of Shinigami soldiers returned from Moscow, this aforementioned decrease became swift and sudden, almost instantaneous. It was as if several officers had been wiped out under a minute. Many of the Twelfth did not dare to even suggest heading off into Rukongai to understand what happened, as they believed that it could have been the work of a Hollow taking advantage of the situation in the Living World to prepare their own attack. But of course, one of them did go into the fray. More specifically, one of them and one of another squad did: Ume Oboro, information specialist... and Binita Singh, soldier of the Eleventh Division.

Binita was one of the soldiers of the Attack Squad who was told to remain within the Soul Society in order to defend it against any potential threat. At the very least, that was what she had been told by Kimiko while the Captain was leaving for the Living World alongside a notable amount of her subordinates. As the warrior remained alongside some of her comrades, she waited for their and Charles' return. And waited. And waited. And waited, still. The longer she waited, the more unnerved she became. Then, Kimiko and her soldiers came back. At first, she was relieved, happy to see them again. However, shortly after, she began to realize how many people had been lost in the battle. Several hundreds, if not a thousand Shinigami had been lost, both on the side of the Tenth and the Eleventh Divisions. Somehow, they had even lost Celes. Most importantly for Binita, however... they had lost Charles. Apparently, he perished while he was fighting aboard the flying fortress.

She was told that he had a good death in the heat of battle, and that it was thanks to him that they were able to do some notable damage to the flying fortress. But even so, it was not enough to prevent her from feeling the way she felt then. It was why she found herself on a lonesome road deep in the middle of Rukongai, alone and perhaps a bit lost as she wandered about somewhat aimlessly. Quite simply, she just thought that she needed it. She needed a place where she could be alone, and out of every one of them around the Soul Society, that was sort of it. "You stupid fucking hoe! You just... had to wait for that long, huh?! Forty years. Forty fucking years - almost fifty! - and you still didn't have the guts to tell him!" She muttered under her breath with her teeth clenched powerfully against one another as she walked onward, her every step leaving a strong imprint of her sandals into the ground below. "Dumbass coward! Idiot! Weirdo! Ugh!"

This self-charade would go on for a time, enough so that it wouldn't take much for anyone in the vicinity to be able to hear her voice across the nearby trees surrounding the road. After a time, however, it would stop as she would notice a familiar figure up ahead on the road. For a moment, she would quiet down and frown in confusion as she tried to understand who she was looking at. Then, once she got close enough... "Ume?" She called, wanting to know what that was about before she stopped in her tracks with an awkward look on her face. Quite frankly, she didn't want to be with anyone right now, no matter who that person might be. Still, seeing the nerd wandering around on her own in the middle of nowhere like this was a bit a worrisome case for her. So, she approached, trying her best not to look too frustrated as she did so. "What are you doing around here all on your own? Aren't you worried about getting juuuuuuuh..." She would recoil at the sight of the eye jar under the scientist's coat before pointing at it with her finger. "What... the fuck is that?"

[Ume Oboro]

For someone who lived their life in observation, carefully taking note of the world around them, that world was not made up of blue skies, green grass and babbling brooks. The things that many people found ubiquitous in their daily lives. These were the roses that people stopped to smell from time to time. No, for someone like Ume Oboro, all space was liminal. Everything was a number or a pattern that connected one data point to another. The stars in the sky were not constellations, they were masses of plasma that spit out light that cast upon a dark place, which revealed another series of particles, atoms, reishi. When things didn't follow the pattern they were meant to, that was when Ume stepped in. 

The mass disappearance of the wrong type of sous forced Ume's hand. Even if most of her colleagues didn't want to find out what was going on the hard  way, that didn't matter to Ume. As much as she liked her life and liked living, and as much as she hated Hollows of every sort, she was able to deduce that it was likely not  a Hollow causing this. If it was, then she needed to at least figure out what the thing was capable of and if it could simply appear in Rukongai. That didn't make sense, though. A Hollow shouldn't have any knowledge of a cleansing, and with that many shinigami around to perform it, it would have to be noticeably  powerful to not simply be dispatched. No, Ume had her suspicions, which is exactly  why she needed them confirmed. 

That's why she was making her way through the deepest rukongai alone with nothing but her zanpakutou and some lab equipment. Enough to carry on her person. She couldn't afford to leave another cart behind. She did, however, stop to analyze the presence. She glanced at her datapad and closed her eyes. when she finished, she sighed. Not, exactly, the reiatsu signature she was expecting. Not one she particularly cared  for either. She didn't need to look behind her to see who it was. She was never  going to be snuck up on. That was the one thing about her zanpakutou. Still, she sighed and turned when Binita spoke. 

"Binita." Ume said, as close to friendly as she could make. She adjusted her glasses and opened her mouth to speak again, but Binita's reaction caused Ume to blink. She glanced at where Binita was looking (even though she didn't need to) and then grabbed the hilt of Nijuume. "Oh, this?" Ume shrugged away part of her labcoat to reveal the full and large jar of milky liquid, with eyeballs occasionally bouncing to the surface, looking around, or blinking and disappearing. She took a step forward and grinned at the girl. "This is Nijuume... my zanpakutou." 

Ume got great pleasure when showing off her zan, especially for the first time. Most shinigami who were not part of squad twelve were absolutely disgusted by it. Ume pulled the hilt up and slid out the actual "sword" A metal bar that was covered in eyeballs. She held it up and it dripped juices off it. The eyeballs mostly turned towards Binita and stared at her, occasionally blinking. "What do you think?" Ume asked and began to approach Binita with it held aloft. 

"The thing I like best about it." Ume said. "Is that there is absolutely no way to practically put any  of Nakajima-taichou's stupid lessons to use with it." Ume practically chortled. "There's just no way! It's barely even a sword and has almost no offensive capabilities!" Ume chirped, only mostly joking. "But, it suits me." She paused. "Though..." Ume narrowed her eyes. "Nijuume must have been listening to something, I guess. There's one  thing she taught me how to do she could have only learned from Nakajima-taichou." Ume snorted. 

"Wanna touch it?" She said, waving it at Binita. "The eyeballs are super squishy." Ume was having a time, but still had something serious to say. "Actually, what are you doing out here? The Juuichibantai wasn't sent this way. You ... really shouldn't be here, to be perfectly honest." Ume admitted, trying to imply the danger that lurked around, as Binita had done with Ume. 

[Nakajima Kimiko]

It was hard for Binita to really describe her relationship with Ume as an actual friendship. At best, they were acquaintances, and at worst, they merely knew each other and that was about it. They didn't hang out very much, mostly because the researcher tended to remain within her bunker alongside the rest of the people of the Twelfth Division whenever Binita was outside socializing with the Soul Society's many denizens. They couldn't even really say that they liked each other per say. But, ever since what happened between the two girls and Kimiko, Binita felt as though she had come to know the little NEET a little bit better. That, and she felt that it was somewhat nice to finally have someone in her social circle that was actually part of the Gotei 13's prestigious science team, even if Ume's presence within that circle was probably the smallest there was. The more people the grappler knew, the better! Or well, so she thinks. At the very least, it helps her keep track of who's still around and who has passed on.

This was why, when Binita saw Ume wander about this corner of the Soul Society, she began to become just a little bit worried about the woman's safety. Here, so far away from the holy city of Seireitei, things tended to become dicey every now and then. Sometimes, it was because of a stray Hollow wandering about, which was unfortunately not an uncommon occurrence. However, the main threat here was quite simply far worse than Hollows: it was the people themselves. There's the petty brigands who make a living by stealing off the weak. Then, there are the bandits clans roaming about the land, taking advantage of the fact that the Shinigami cannot be everywhere all at once to make themselves at home in the common folk's property. The creation of Kimiko's Hakabe has lessened these criminals' ability to engage in their operations, but unfortunately, it has also consequently convinced them to become stronger in order to rival it. In other words, it was both the safest time to live in these parts of Rukongai and also the most dangerous time as of recent years, and thus, someone who couldn't fare well in combat shouldn't just wander around here.

Fortunately, for the time being, everything seemed to be okay. The grappler didn't feel as though there was anyone nearby, and from the looks of it, neither did Ume herself. So, in that aspect, you could say that the woman was relieved. That is, until she saw the weird apparatus that researcher was carrying with her. At first, the girl sincerely believed it to be a jar of eyeballs, which was more than enough to cause Binita to take a step back with a wince as the researcher teased her about it. There was a bit of disgust, of course, but more importantly, there was confusion. Even though she was used to extreme violence due to her fighting style, there was a difference between seeing a Hollow's head bursting open from the pressure of her Zanpakuto's invisible grasp and... whatever this was supposed to be. But then, just as she was about to send her fist flying straight in the researcher's stomach as she kept teasing her with the stuff, the confusion in an instant by a single response.

Apparently, what Binita had thought to be an eye jar all along was actually a Zanpakuto. The jar happened to be its sheath, and its blade - if you could call it that - was basically just a stick whose sole purpose was to hold onto the eyes within the jar. This understanding was enough to cause the grappler to blink for a moment as she processed this information, but eventually, she would roll her eyes and tense down. "Oooooh! Nooooow it makes sense. Of course you ended up with some wacky Soul Cutter.'" Her own golden eyes stared back at the many who were staring at her from the stick. There wasn't any trace of disgust in her anymore. Now, there was just a pout as the sword-stick was brought closer and closer to her. Well, close enough until she raised a palm, which would cause Ume's face to suddenly hit an invisible wall. "Blegh. I know a guy in our squad who has a fucking weird one too. You start training with him a couple of times, and I swear you won't ever be creeped out by Soul Cutter bullshit anymore."

As she slowly brought her palm forward and further attempted to push Ume away from her, she would eventually stop once she believed the researcher to be at a reasonable distance and then allow the girl to speak. A light snort and a smirk would appear on her face after she heard the tanned girl bragging about her new inability to train with Kimiko. "Are you suuuure about that? You do know we're talking about master Nakajima, right? Bitch can literally make any technique for you on the spot. Give her, like, five minutes with that thing and she'll figure something out," she would first tease before she would then grow quiet as she both remembered her Captain's treatment of the researcher as well as how she carried herself when she came back from Moscow. It was one thing to stare into Nijuume's many creepy eyes, but it was another to look into Kimiko's at that time. There was nothing in the scarlet then, none of the excitement and emotion that they usually carried. Instead, there was just... a void.

By the time the void had become almost overwhelming to Binita as she further recalled the dreadful memory, it was perhaps thankfully replaced by Nijuume's many eyes being waved at her at high speeds, with them coming closer and closer to her. Upon noticing this, the girl recoiled again with a comical look of annoyance before she instinctively raised her palm again. This time around, the invisible wall was bigger than the one she had summoned before, and she made sure to push it against Ume and her eye-stick. It did not take long for her to realize her mistake. "Argh, ew! You made me touch them! Gross!" Her complaining was almost instinctive as she brought her palm away from Nijuume, which would ironically allow the researcher to get even closer to her. Needless to say, a domino effect was apparent, and so the brawler made sure to use both palms this time around to create her wall. Ain't no way it will be broken this time! Not even if she touches those eyes again! "Ugh, so like... what does it even do? It's not just giving you more eyes, right?" 

Whether she received her answer or not, she would then try to move on from the subject, if only to try to think about anything else for the time being. It should have been difficult, but... considering all that's happened as of late, it really wasn't. As she heard Ume's question as well as the comments which soon followed, the brawler's attitude would waver for a moment. She would seem distinctly vulnerable, enough so that her bravado broke if only for a moment. However, as if she was desperately holding onto it, she would take a deep breath and let out a huff before looking away from the researcher. "I wasn't sent here or anything like that. I just needed to go for a fucking walk. That's all." Her golden eyes stared at the surrounding trees, like they were attempting to find something in them. Her hands were twitching. She wanted to punch something, anything. Instead, she would eventually return her gaze to Ume and ask: "What about you? Pretty sure you nerds don't come of your bunker unless you really need to. Is, like... something going on around these parts?" 

This time around, her gaze turned towards the road ahead and it looked a little bit more serious. Whatever had brought Ume to this side of Rukongai must have been something deeply serious. Unfortunately, she didn't think that she'd be able to do much to understand what was happening, or at least not until they find out whatever the source of the problem may be. All she was good for when it came to field duty was grabbing things and making sure that they firmly remain in her grasp. She wasn't good at finding things, sensing things or even really getting a good grasp at super-complex things, hence why she was never sent on hunting missions. That said, she was at least good at one thing: remembering where things were. If she recalled correctly, this road was supposed to lead into the 65th eastern district or somewhere close to it. It wasn't one of the most comfortable places in the Soul Society, but there were a couple of villages here and there. Hopefully, if something did happen here, everyone was okay.

[Ume Oboro]

"Wacky?" Ume furrowed her brow as Binita reduced her zanpakutou to a single word. "It's a zanpakutou. It's not a Manzai." She corrected. She narrowed her eyes. She didn't like that Binita was no-selling her zanpakutou. "There shouldn't be any creepy  zanpakutou in your  division. Don't you all have super boring zanpakutous?" She asked. "Isn't that the whole deal of your squad?" Ume didn't really care  about the answer, more interested in grossing Binita out. "I won't ever be creeped out by a anpakutou because I have Nijuume." Ume corrected. 

Ume certainly  didn't like that she was being pushed away by an invisible force. But, it wasn't  invisible. As she waved Nijuume at Binita, Ume blinked. She could see something. Suddenly, Ume's mouth opened. "Oooooh, I get it. It's just fists." She said. "I just couldn't see them before." She looked away. "That's less impressive." She said, trying to give Binita what she thought she had been given in regards to Zanpakutou awe and envy (and repulsion in Ume's case).

"Tch. She would  try something. But, nope! I would put money she couldn't do a thing  with Nijuume." Ume said with a firm nod, as the two battled against Binita's wall. When Binita's hands finally touched the eyes, Ume tilted her head. "Iiiinteresting. You can feel the eyeballs tactilely, but you're not affected  by them...." Ume tapped one of the eyeballs, causing it to blink rapidly. "It looks  at things. What more does it need  to do?" Ume asked. "It's for gathering information. It's certainly not for killing hollows." Ume reiterated. "Disgusting." She muttered, despite being the zanpakutou's only purpose. 

Ume then glanced at Binita as she sobered up for a moment. She looked at the road she had been traveling and pursed her lips. "You picked a pretty bad time to go for a walk out here. You shouldn't be here." Ume said, with as serious of a tone as she may have ever given Binita. Ume looked down. "You're right. I would much rather be back in my barracks but I have a mission to take care of." She then looked up at Binita. 

"A confidential mission." She stated and looked as seriously as she could at Binita. 

"So, I'm going to keep going this way, and if you follow me, I'm not going to stop you from doing or seeing things that may or may not end with your execution. None of this happened. I'm not here. You got lost. Go home, or don't. I don't have the time to try and stop you." Ume said. "In fact, I am going to keep going." She said and pulled out her Soul Phone. "And monitor some readings on this device. Unfortunately, it tends to give me tunnel vision, so there's no way I could really see you, even if you were right next to me walking alongside me. I've also been prone to responding to voices in my head. Ones I think that might be coming from out in the woods or, who knows." Ume said with a shrug, as if she wasn't carrying around a zanpakutou that gave her omnidirectional vision. 

[Nakajima Kimiko]

"Yeah, wacky. Like, it's not a normal super-thing, ya know? That's what I meant. Also, the fuck's a Manzai?" 

The words shot out of Binita's mouth in rapid succession as she tried to justify what she meant when she referred to Nijuume as such. It didn't really matter how Ume sold her Zanpakuto her; in her eyes, it was a strange weapon that just had that certain vibe to it which separated it from the rest of the weapons she had seen during her time as a Shinigami. Then again, the scientist did sort of have a point when she called out the mundane nature of the fighter's squad's swords, as those tended to be rather unoriginal in nature. It was rare for someone to have a blade that wasn't just a bigger blade once it was released from its constraints, like the one that Dai was now used to carrying around, or some kind of weapon whose design was solely dedicated to smashing someone into pieces. Hell, even the more unique ones out there within her squad weren't particularly unique. For instance, hers was definitely "special" in the sense that it allowed her to simply grab things from afar, but in the end, it essentially remained a blunt weapon in the end of it all.

But regardless, she couldn't allow the researcher to insult Saikokeni and her squad like that. So, with a roll of her eyes, she would a raise a hand before lightly bringing two of her fingers near one another. In that instant, Ume would be able to see the strange force in the air appear to move forward towards her... before she would then feel it pinching her nose. "Our Soul Cutters may be boring and not impressive, but they at least get the job done," she commented with a bit of a snarky smirk before she "let go" of Ume's nose, then weakly swiped the air in front of her with an open palm. Naturally, this led the researcher to then be slapped in the back of the head. Not powerfully, of course, but enough for her to feel it, and by that point, the fighter's smirk had been replaced by an annoyed pout. "Also, stop dissing my squad like that! Like, fuck, how many times will I have to keep repeating that shit to you guys from the Twelfth? This is exactly why you keep getting on our nerves."

Shaking her head, the woman would then go on to tease Ume about Kimiko's potential involvement in her Zanpakuto training. This naturally brought a reaction from the researcher, as she would go on to confirm yet again that there was absolutely no way the Captain of the Eleventh could have her use her weapon for combative purposes. Unsurprisingly, Binita doubted that once again, but she did not have much time to comment on that as she defended herself against the many eyes brought her way. She could still feel how horribly the feeling of the orbs felt against the wall she had created between herself and Ume. "Eugh, why are they so fucking squishy...?" She scoffed, looking like she was about to barf from the contact alone. It was only thanks to Ume's complaining about killing Hollows that she was able to hold the line. "I mean, shit, you could probably make a Hollow sick or something with those, I don't know! Just... blegh!"

The girl would eventually break the wall between herself and Ume before retreating and changing the subject. By then, her disgust had faded, but what took her place was regret. Regret for her squad, for her Captain, for... Charles. She defended her current position within this side of the Soul Society the best she could; after all, she did feel like someone like Ume deserved it, if only because it was strange for her to be here to begin with. But then, not long after she asked about Ume's own purpose here, she would find herself surprised by the answer she received. "So something is going on around here. Ugh, what is it now? Is it more of those fucking Nazi losers wanting to get a kick out of killing those who don't suck their Emperor's dick off? Because if that's what this is all about, I'm really down beat the shit out of some of them." Her tone became a bit more rough by the end of it, angry, even vengeful. Needless to say, her emotions were starting to become more and more apparent by the minute.

Unfortunately, she did not really get a proper response from Ume. In fact, it didn't seem as though the researcher was going to give her any form of information for the time being beyond, well... information about herself that Binita wasn't really in the mood to care much about. Frustration easily swelled within the fighter's heart as she was prevented from learning more about the matter at hand in the moment. So, in response to what she was told, she would scoff and begin to move forward. "Fine, whatever. Don't tell me. I'll figure this out on my own." Her step was heavy, enough so that it left a clear imprint on the earth underneath her, and by that point, she made sure to keep her hands in the pockets that she had fashioned for her Shihakusho. Meanwhile, the force that remained near her became just a little bit more potent, as though it was resonating with the spiritual power within the grappler. "It's not like I'm already used to that kind of bullshit by now."

Regardless of how Ume would respond to this, Binita would continue moving onward into the forest before them. Quite frankly, try as she might, there wasn't much that she could notice in front of her. The darkness of the night combined with the overcast weather had made sure to darken just about everything around them into an almost pitch-black void. It was only her sharp senses - and, sometimes, the glow of Ume's Denreishinki - that allowed her to get a semblance of a grasp over what was going on around here, and truthfully, there wasn't much aside from the occasional blow of the wind and the familiar rustling of the nearby tree leaves that came alongside the former. Such was to be expected from a simple road in the far-end of Rukongai, she supposed. However, by that point, she could've sworn that they were near a village of sorts. She couldn't quite the remember, but she had gone here a few times before, and they tended to be rather noisy even at this time of the day.

As she continued onward with Ume potentially in tow, she would find herself frowning as she smelled something else that was familiar to her in the air. Blood. Lots of blood. This would first cause her to raise a brow, as there did not appear to be anything nearby that seemed to be bleeding. But then, just a few miles ahead, she witnessed something. There, in what appeared to be a clearing beyond the heaviest of the nearby trees, was the village that should have been noisy even at this time of the day. The problem wasn't the village itself, as from afar, there didn't seem to be anything abnormal with it. Not that there was much to notice anyway; after all, there weren't a lot of buildings that populated it aside from a few tents and huts here and there. What was a problem, rather, was how silent it appeared. And of course, there was also the terrible smell of blood too. It was as if the whole village was drenched in the stuff.

This would be enough to cause Binita to quicken the pace. She didn't know a lot of people in these parts, but there were still a few that she had conversed with and had her fun speaking to. There were also a great amount of people around here who attended Kimiko's schools, and right now, the last thing her Captain needed was to hear that some of her students had been murdered. Unfortunately, as she arrived in the village and found the source of the pungent stench of blood that was being emanated from it, she would find herself briefly frozen in place. There, laying down before her, were... corpses. Dozens and dozens and dozens of corpses. The most of them appeared to be civilians, mere residents of Rukongai who wore almost nothing but the rags of robes already left old by time when they first found, but they also appeared to have been harmed before their death, as made apparent by the many swords residing beside their bodies. However, there were also Shinigami among the dead.

The grappler would find herself briefly shocked by the discovery, enough so that she remained momentarily frozen. Soon enough, though, she would calm down and stand there, waiting for Ume to come to her side with a serious look on her face. Then, she would cross her arms and let out a heavy sigh. "Right... so... I'm gonna guess you're the one who called this shit. There's no way you would've been here otherwise," she would guess as she approached a group of corpses, observing it with a slow demeanor. It did not take long for her to notice the many stab wounds civilians and Shinigami alike shared between one another. The thought of these people trying to fight back against the Shinigami was enough to make her wince just a little bit. Usually, they would not have been able to fight back at all, but with the aid of the lessons taught at the Nijūkan schools, they certainly could have taken down a few Shinigami along the way. "I knew all the shit that happened in the Living World was bad, but I didn't know it was that bad. Fuck. Kimiko's not gonna take this well at all." 

While she would observe the corpses, Binita's lacking ability to detect spiritual energy would prevent her from noticing the absurd amount of power that was being released further away from their position deeper into the woods. There was no sign of any Hollow energy or otherwise being released from these woods, but rather only Shinigami energy. One of their signatures, however, was significantly more potent than the ones which surrounded it, and even from afar, someone with the proper means to detect them all would realize that the weaker signatures were being quickly snuffed out.

[Ume Oboro]

"Fine. I can accept that." Ume said in response to Binita and her explanation. "Just don't say it's wacky or zany  or something that sounds like my grandmother would say it!" Ume sighed and shook her head. "And here I thought I was the one who spent too much time cooped up. A Maznai is a comedy duo. A straight man and a funnyman. You know, us. That's what it feels like. That's how I see you. Except, you're not funny, but being around you sure feels like a bit sometimes." Ume said, pushing her glasses up her nose and attempted to turn away, only to see the hands coming at her... and then they pinched her nose! 

"What the fffff---!" Ume sputtered and slapped at the hands like a fly was buzzing at her. Ume flailed and spun when her head was clapped and she spun back and leered at Binita. "Clown!" She barked and adjusted her glasses again. "Oh, you think I should give you an award for being efficient? Congratulations, you got the job done." Ume barked back incredulously. "The feelings mutual. We don't have time to throw bones at barking dogs. Some of us are more concerned with getting actual  work done other than just being a meat shield." Ume retorted. "Just face it. We're incompatible. I'm fine  with it. Why can't your  squad be fine with it?" Ume narrowed her eyes. "Definitely a Manzai. I'll bet you're a country bumpkin too!" 

Thankfully, Nijuume seemed to keep Binita a little  bit at bay, and Ume grinned. "Haven't you ever touched  an eyeball before? They're squishy!" She said with a sly grin. "You aren't far  off, actually. I'd show you, but I don't want you throwing up anywhere near me. I bet you couldn't handle it." Ume mused. Unfortunately, it seemed like the jocularity was starting to run out between the two as they pressed on. Things began to get a little serious. Ume sheathed Nijuume as she walked and let Binita soak in her thoughts. 

"It wasn't the Vandenreich. Stop just guessing." Ume said as she looked at the numbers. As Binita raced ahead, Ume was a pace behind, keeping watch of her devices until she caught up. "Hmmm. That's not good." She said and pulled out Nijuume again. "Are you seeing this?" She said. From her office back in Observation and Data collection, Ume left many of Nijuume's marks. For those who weren't out in the field, touching one of those marks would allow them to see through Nijuume's eyes, if they could handle it. There was a garbled response in return and Ume turned off her device and tucked it away. She walked up next to Binita and looked at her. 

"What part of you could be executed don't you understand? Believe it or not I'm trying to protect you." Ume said, without directly answering Binita's question about making this happen. "You think  you know what's going on, but you don't. Not here, not in the real world, not anywhere. It's not because you're stupid. I don't think that." Ume paused. "Relative to anyone else, at least. It's because you don't need  to know. The Juuichibantai is the tip of a spear. If they know who is holding the spear, they might question their duties. I'm sorry to say this, but it is the absolute best if your squad, above all others, is just a bunch of bloodthirsty jocks. We don't need you to be anything else. We don't want  you to be anything else." Ume said and closed her eyes. "And, I'm not saying that as Ume Oboro, I am saying it as the Eighth Seat of Squad Twelve and one of the heads of Observation and Data Collection. As someone who knows, be grateful you don't." 

Ume pursed her lips and looked at Binita. She was unsure how to be anything but clinical. She figured Binita might get mad, but she honestly didn't know how the girl would react. A hand slowly crept out and she gave her fellow purplette an awkward, but sincere, pat on the back. 

As she finished her speech, with her hand still on Binita's back, that's when she felt it. Ume's eyes widened and her neck crooked towards where the spike in energy was coming from. "Shit." Ume exhaled. She looked at Binita. "There weren't supposed to be dead shinigami. I'll tell you that  much. Now, whatever is doing  this is still here. If you come with me, you will probably be in a lot of danger and, even if you aren't  killed, well... don't make me keep saying it." Ume closed her eyes and then shot forward, running towards the source of the overwhelming reiatsu. 

[Nakajima Kimiko]

Binita couldn't help but find herself letting out a huge "Uuuuuugh..." once Ume began to not only criticize her for using certain words, but also not knowing what Manzai was supposed to be. All it took for the fist-fighter was to only ask what that was about, and in an instant, here she was having to deal with her sass again. Sometimes, she wonders how she can handle this little researcher. The Spirit King knows that a lot of people probably never could around these parts, as proven by Kimiko almost cutting her into a thousand pieces that one time. Hell, considering the kind of attitude that Ume kept showcasing whenever she was around, Binita even doubted that she was that well-liked back in her squad too. But of course, after about a second or two of thinking about it, the darker-skinned redhead understood why she could handle her unlike so many others. To put it bluntly, it was because she could put Ume in her place whenever she wanted to, just like how she did know with Saikokeni's abilities.

Unsurprisingly, her little pinching and slapping game was enough to send the scientist on a little fit. The way she expressed herself should have been enough to hurt anybody, especially given that she was trying her hardest to throw the lowest blows imaginable to the fighter. Unfortunately, Binita wasn't Kimiko, who would have probably lost her cool by now with the girl. She could not fall to such games. So, instead, she replaced her annoyed pout with a grin again, and this time, it was a pretty wide one. "Oooooh? What? You got a problem with the people from around here? Is the rich bitch scared of us lesser folk from the countryside?" Her teasing was palpable as, for a very brief moment, she was tempted to tease Binita by dropping grass and leaves right on top of her. But she didn't. She was not that mean. Well... not for now, at the very least. "I'm so sorry, miss-lady-queen Shihoin, I didn't mean to disturb you with my oh-so-peasant words!"

She obviously didn't forget what Kimiko had accused Ume of being the last time they talked about this. Maybe this was low too, and perhaps even extremely low, but she didn't feel like she could back with the researcher. In any case, they eventually moved to another topic altogether, and at a certain point, Binita would take on a more serious approach to the conversation as she listened to her current companion. Apparently, whatever was happening at the moment wasn't the work of the Vandenreich. In a way, she was reassured by that, since the Vandenreich always made a terrible mess wherever they went... but in another way, she wasn't, as it only made Ume's presence here in such a late district of Rukongai even more baffling. For all she knew, the threat ahead was much more severe than a Vandenreich operation. It could be a terrible Hollow who decided to make this place its home all of a sudden. It could also be a Shinigami who suddenly decided to go on a rampage, or somehow something that was so much worse in comparison.

Either way, Ume did not want to reveal to her what exactly the threat was supposed to be, and she was trying her hardest not to do so in the slightest. This was made especially obvious when they reached the village and witnessed the corpses. After Binita made her remarks, the researcher attempted to justify her position here while also dropping several warnings onto the fighter's conscience. She took them all in, of course. She listened to them, took note of them. Ultimately, however, she wasn't impressed by anything that she saw. The corpses didn't shock her as much as they should have. Neither did the threat of execution or the deliberate act of keeping the Eleventh in the dark. The reason for this was plain and simple. "... I can't say we know about everything you guys are doing. I mean, it took a while for us to figure out our losses across the last few operations we went on, but like, some of us already knew about this. The cleansing operations, that is. It's kinda hard not to nowadays," she explained as she kept staring at the dead. "It's how I got that shitty scar, anyway."

There was no concern for her safety as she revealed this to Ume. For all she knew, she had pretty much confessed to a sort of crime that, realistically, should get her to the figurative chopping block for Shinigami; after all, the law practically prohibits everyone from talking about the bad happens behind the scenes of the Gotei 13. But, admittedly, she couldn't say that she really cared all that much in that moment. Letting go of it all right about now, revealing things that she should never speak of under any circumstances to not even those she trusted most... Now that Charles was gone, it felt right to her in that moment. It was a hole to fill, so to speak, a chasm deep down her stomach that needed to be fulfilled. There were many ways to accomplish that task, admittedly, but maybe this was for the best. After all, it wasn't like she really had anywhere or anyone else to turn to right about now, aside from Dai, perhaps. But she didn't need to talk to Dai about such things. Not now, and especially not ever. And as for Kimiko...

Well, in any case, she accepted the researcher's pat on the back without any resistance. She wasn't sure she entirely appreciated, given where it came from, but whatever. She could accept it for the time being. That said, the patting didn't last long, as not before long, Ume's head shot up towards another path in the forest right before she swore. This would cause Binita to frown in confusion, especially after the researcher suddenly began telling her that whoever or whatever was responsible for the death of so many civilians and Shinigami officers was still present around here. "Yeah, no shit," she huffed in the moment, annoyed by Binita's remark. She may not be able to sense spiritual energy around these parts like some Shinigami can, but having been on several battlefields, she knew that whenever there were many corpses lying about, it typically meant that the reason behind their presence was still around in one way or another. But before she could at least form some kind of plan... Ume rushed ahead without her.

"Shit! Ume, for fuck's sake, wait up!" She would first call, knowing full well that out of the both of them, the researcher simply did not have the necessary strength to survive whatever was responsible for having killed so many Shinigami. Considering the sword wounds, she had a feeling that it could be an Arrancar or someone who was directly rebelling against the cleansing squad, and in so doing, Ume will most likely get severely hurt before she could even do anything in return. But before she could rush along, she would hear something else from the forest nearby. It sounded strange, like clicking or perhaps even rattling. Raising a brow, she would turn her head towards the source of the noise in order to understand and what this was about before, eventually, she frowned deeply as she realized what it was. Damn it. She had heard about some of those creeps showing up every now and then in the later districts, but she thought that they were usually closer to the Wilderness. Maybe this was a stray... but whatever it was, she was going to try to end this fast.

She will not allow Ume to head towards her own downfall!

---

As Ume headed further and further away from Binita, she would very quickly find herself surrounded by darkness once again. The clouds above had, by now, made sure to completely hide whatever moonlight there once was, and the bushes and trees covering every bit of earth in the area was only making things even more difficult to see. But even though it was all dark around her with the kind of visibility that could be considered as being downright nullified, she nevertheless could see a very clear path ahead. The reason why that was possible was not because there was actually a path, for it all appeared to hide deeper into the forest's more inconvenient and less obvious tracks. No, not at all. That would have been easier and, more importantly, a tad bit more reassuring in the long run. What was actually the reason was instead the massive amount of spiritual energy that almost kept growing in pace the more she headed onward into the forest.

The mass of energy was nothing short of mesmerizing from where Ume stood. It was hard to properly describe at a glance, especially from where she stood, but she could understand it as a great expanse of power humming near the very top of the tallest trees. From its blood red, stark dark crimson color, it could be identified as the kind of aura that could be owned by a Shinigami, but there was also something else in there that was notable, something darker and perhaps a little bit more pressing. Maybe this was because that energy was facing something else, or perhaps because it was blending with other sources of energy nearby. Either way, the combination was enough to cause the ground to shake during certain occasions and even nearby trees to splinter from the residual pressure that kept being released in the area. Needless to say, this was more than enough to convince the local fauna to escape as fast as they possibly could. Even from where Ume stood, she could see squirrels, birds and even deer run past her in the distance.

Fortunately, this expanse of energy was still further away from her position. Unfortunately, as she would head onward towards it, she would find herself witnessing something that could only reaffirm her fears. In the distance was a Shinigami. It was a male officer - an older veteran, from the looks of things - attempting to push himself onward with labored breathing as he desperately covered his bleeding neck with the both of his hands. Several tears of agony were falling down his face as he moved onward, but even so, he tried to find someone to reach, someone to speak to. Then, he saw Ume. For a moment, he would try to call to her in order to ask for immediate healing. But then, just as he was about to, the pain in his throat began to overwhelm him, and with a great cough, blood was expelled from his mouth before he fell down onto the foliage below, shivering. He would nevertheless try to crawl towards her, still fleeing the expanse of energy in the distance.

By the time Ume would be able to reach him, it would be clear to even a medical expert that it was far too late for the man. There was nothing that she could do to save his life even with the most advanced of healing spells, only perhaps extract a little bit more information out of him before he was well and truly gone. In the meantime, the spiritual energy continued to pulse in the distance, humming dangerously with killing intent.

[Ume Oboro]

Ume narrowed her eyes when Binita called her a Shihoin. Ume had only made a crack about being a country bumpkin. She could care less that Binita was or wasn't. She only cared that she was right in the presumption. Binita, however, had struck a particular nerve with Ume. There wasn't much Ume could do about her looks, which gave her away as a member of that prestigious Noble house. However, her attitude and lack of introduction as one was usually enough for most people to think it was a coincidence. She didn't really have access to her family's coffers either, not that that mattered to her. Binita didn't know why Ume was the way she was and didn't care. Even if Ume was wrong, which she didn't believe she was, Binita was easy to figure out. Ume didn't really have to think about it. That was usually the problem with Ume and anyone from outside of her division (and even some within it). They didn't like that she was smarter than they were and tried to bring Ume down for just being herself. She certainly wasn't going to dumb herself down to fit in with the masses.



Needless to say, when it was time to move out, she quickened the pace to put some distance between herself and Binita. She certainly didn't need the  other purplette. Especially not if Binita was going to crucify her for being "a brat." As Ume continued, though, she found herself walking through an unnatural darkness. It had been nighttime, but something was making the dark darker. Ume narrowed her eyes. Total darkness never bothered Ume much. she lifted her free hand and tapped one of the eyeballs on her sword. She didn't need to see the way normal eyes did. she switched so that one of the eyes saw heat and touched another so that it saw x-rays. That would give her enough vision to make sure that she wasn't jumped. As Ume adjusted her vision, she realized that a lot of this was due to an amassing amount of spiritual pressure. Her feet continued to move towards it, but she hoped that it wasn't some kind of Hollow. Something that could do this, would definitely have the sharpest teeth and longest claws she could imagine. Even the rodents seemed to be going in the opposite direction.



Ume sighed. Maybe finding Binita wouldn't be the worst idea ever. That's when she spotted the old man. She quickly rushed over to him to see what his condition might be. As she rushed to approach, she saw the man holding his neck, trying to contain the blood that spewed from him until he finally collapsed. Ume rushed over to him and knelt down next to him. She wasn't going to say something stupid like "are you ok?" He clearly wasn't and Ume was no healer. If she only had a few moments left with him, then she had to make them count.



"Who... or what... did this to you?" Ume asked as she used Nijume to examine him for further clues while she waited for an answer that she knew might not even come. Death was... not something she was unused to, but to her, the process of living and dying was all very clinical. She felt bad for the man on the level that she never wanted to go through what he was going through. Having to die with Ume wasn't something Ume would want if she had to die and got to choose how and who she went out with. Not knowing what else to do, she grabbed his hand and squeezed it while she waited for an answer, or for the old man to pass.
_______________________________

-50RP 2x vision switch (X-Ray and Heat)

[Nakajima Kimiko]

It is said that, across the Soul Society, the majority of those who refer to themselves as Shinigami are capable of witnessing spiritual energy. This witnessing is achieved through a sensory process - in other words, a natural ability - that requires only but a minimal amount of effort in order to be successfully executed. But what is often a key element that is ignored by those who can recognize this process was the fact that it is not one that can be achieved by every Shinigami. It is, for all intents and purposes, an ability that can be considered to be innate in aspect, and it is this innateness that dictates one's ability to refine it. There are some who can only sense the presence of spiritual energy in an area, but not its form or even its origin. There are others who can sense anything and everything about a certain energetic signature, down to its molecular components. And then, there are those who can simply sense nothing, both once, now, and later forevermore.

Even so, no matter the skill one may have shown in their ability to sense energy in this moment, it was doubtful that anyone would have been unable to sense the mass of energy that stood before Ume. Maybe they would have been unable to witness how its dark crimson brought a shadow over the nearby woods, but they would have certainly been able to feel it should they have found themselves within it. Ume, however, was one of the people who could unfortunately see it with her own eyes. Her innate skill was simply just a bit too advanced for her to ignore it, even from where she stood. Fortunately for her, her means to counter it through the abilities of her Zanpakuto were efficient enough. The modifications brought to her vision would allow her to easily see through the darkness and also identify the cause of the darkness itself without much difficulty. Unfortunately for her, this also allowed her to witness the chaos that was unfolding in the woods as its fauna fled the scene... and as an old man attempted to do the same.

When the researcher reached the officer in agony, she would witness as the officer still attempted to keep the blood to fall from his throat while he turned onto his back, gasping through the blood dripping from his mouth. This attempt was in vain, of course, and so was his attempt to gather just a little bit more oxygen from the air. Yet, in spite of it all, he kept trying to achieve the both of those things, if only to extend his life for just a bit longer. That is, until he saw Ume. Once he did so, his eyes which were once wide open in shock and horror began to show signs of relief. Relief not for his life, for it was well and truly over, but instead for something that even the researcher could understand from where she stood. Now, he could communicate the danger to someone. Now, he could tell someone - or at least try to do so - of what he saw, of what he experienced, and possibly get this problem resolved before it could be allowed to become something far more dangerous.

With the last bit of willpower left in him, the man's expression would begin to sharpen shortly after Ume asked her question. He could not speak, not directly, but there were other ways for him to communicate. So, with a shivering body, he would first release his right hand from his neck to hold onto Ume's own hand, doing so with a struggling grip that was first tight, but soon starting to weaken. Then, he would release his left hand, revealing his neck wound to both the world itself and Ume. It would not take long for the researcher to be able to recognize how much pain this wound was bringing to the man. To put it bluntly, the entire front of his neck almost seemed to have entirely ripped open by what could only be described as either the fangs or the claws of a wild animal. Much of its flesh was either dangling from its origin or outright gone, and both bone and muscle figments could be seen through the immense amount of blood pouring from it all. It was an awful wound and it was clear that the only reason why the man was even able to reach his current position was only because of adrenaline more than anything else.

But there was one good thing about this wound, and he was going to make use of it as much as he possibly could in this moment. Thus, through the agony brought about by the contact of the cold air against his torn neck skin, the lack of oxygen and blood loss, he was used the very essence that was leaving his body in droves to bring about a semblance of communication. With his shaking left hand, he reached for the tree nearest to him, which fortunately possessed a white bark. Then, once his hand finally reached for it, he began to draw. At first, he drew what appeared to be a cross, two sharp lines of blood staining the white of the bark. Then, with his teeth clenched as hard as he could possibly imagine to chase the pain away, he would bring a finger under the cross before slowly dragging it to the left. Once he believed he was done with the drawing, the man would stare at the symbol for a time, still shaking as his life progressively left his body. Eventually, his shivering stopped and his right hand's grip around Ume's hand completely faded away. Only his drawing now remained of what he once was.

There was now nothing else that the man could for Ume. His body has finally stopped functioning and his soul had left him to go towards a place that was hopefully good for what it was. But at the very least, there was now something that the researcher could work with to a certain extent. It took the man too long to fully release his finger from the bark, which caused the line that was formed from the blood to be much longer than intended, yet it was clear that the way he had drawn the symbol was not at all for a religious purpose, else there would be no reason behind the line he had made beneath it. No, this was something that was much more simple than that, something that someone like Ume could perhaps understand only by looking at it, for this was more than just a symbol. This was kanji, characters that together formed particular words in the Japanese language, and together, these particular characters formed only one word.

Eleven.

It was not quite clear as to why the man had drawn this number onto the bark before he died. Quite frankly, there were many meanings that Ume could get from it. It could mean that there were eleven targets in the forest, all of which were dangerous enough to wipe out a whole squad. It could also mean that the number itself was related to some kind of supernatural power the targets in question - or a target, as in singular - possessed. Unfortunately, for the time being, this was all Ume could work with until she would find the courage to bring herself closer to the mass of spiritual energy in the distance, and so she was again offered a choice: either she could head further onward to learn more about the target and potentially bring an end to whatever was going on in these woods, or she could go back to Binita to at least get someone who could protect her from whatever had brought an end to this man's life. At the very least, for as blunt and annoying Binita was to her, it had been made clear a long time ago that she was much more powerful than her when it came to proper combat.

In a way, as crude as this drawing was meant to be, it was a final warning. Ume could decide to brave her fears and face the possibility of a greater Hollow raging in the woods.

Or she could go back and never return.

The choice was hers.

[Ume Oboro]

Ume looked over the man as she approached. Even without much medical knowledge, it seemed like the man was not long for the world. Upon further inspection, she saw him covering his throat. Any chance of him answering her question seemed like it would be futile, but when he grabbed her hand, Ume's eyes widened and she gasped a big. She pursed her lips and watched him use the last bit of strength to scrawl something out in blood. Even with the long one, Ume could clearly read it as "eleven."

As the man drifted off into the cold release of death, Ume stood up. She lowered her head. "Sorry..." She muttered. She was the worst person to have come across on someone's deathbed. She didn't really know what else to say. She had just ordered the destruction of a nearly innumerable amount of lives. Just because she saw this man's face didn't make her feel any different. It wasn't that she totally emotionless, but death was her business. She had to have some  kind of impassivity to be able to even do  her job. Someone who could live with pressing a button to end countless lives also had to be stoic enough to be able to look a dying man in the face with the same kind of lack of reaction. It was, for better or worse, who she was. Intimate connections with other people were just not really part of her DNA. 

She took a moment to close the man's eyes and then studied the symbol. She then turned and looked down to where the energy was coming. This was her  job to investigate. She didn't have to fix  it, but she did  have to find out the problem. She hoped  Binita wasn't following her, but if she was, she needed to see for herself what Ume saw. Ume plucked an eyeball from her zanpakutou and slapped it against the tree just above the symbol drawn in blood. It was glowing with enough light and reiatsu for Binita to hopefully pick it up as a bread crumb and see the bloody eleven. If Binita touched the Mark left by Ume, assuming she could handle it, she would see everything Ume did. Hopefully that would allow her to make a choice that didn't endanger her. At the very least, Ume would be able to see if Binita passed through this trail. 

Ume swallowed hard and stared at the overwhelming wave of Reiatsu blowing at her like a mighty wind. She had  to keep going. Whatever this was, she knew she had one shot  to get her info and get the heck out. There was no way this was a Hollow. She had  to believe that much. Her analytical mind, and the familiarity of the reiatsu had all but narrowed down the source in Ume's mind. One more reason Binita didn't need to be a part of this. 

Ume stepped forward at a quickened pace. She had to make her guess, right or wrong. Though, even if she was wrong, she'd probably be giving away her position to whatever  was the cause of this. She wondered, though, if it was indeed Kimiko, how she was able to claw out a man's throat... that was one thing that wasn't adding up. There had   to be an explanation. 

"Nakajima-taichou!?" Ume called out in the loudest voice she could muster while pressing forward as fast as she could without using a step technique. 
___________________________

Reiatsu 2350/2400 | 19 Eyeballs |

SPOILER: Click to show

Reiatsu: 2400

Strength:30
Speed: 200
Reiatsu Strength: 30
Spiritual Pressure: 160 (240) (+50%)
Instinct:110
Senses: 110
Energy Sensory: 110
Light Aura: 50
Dark Aura: 50
Healing Expertise: 0

15/15
Hoho 2
Memory 2
Analyzing 2
Learning 2
Illusion Resist 2
Anti-Stealth 2
Hacking 2
Acrobatics 1

[Nakajima Kimiko]

The man who perished before Ume's eyes was, in all likeliness, not someone who would have minded having the researcher by his side as his life slowly faded away. It was hard to tell amidst the horrible amount of blood and the pain that he had been clearly going through before his eventual demise, but it was clear that he was a man who ultimately valued not his own life in this very moment, but instead Ume's or perhaps even the Soul Society as a whole. Such was made evident by the sheer effort he had shown as he attempted to draw the number onto the bark of the white tree which luckily happened to also be by his side as he died. To the end, though he was part of an operation that could not be any more morally reprehensible, he had been a soldier who wished for the greater good. There was value in that. There was usefulness in that. Or at least, deep down, he appeared to hope that this would have been the case for the last person who happened to witness him.

And fortunately, it seemed as though it indeed was. Shortly after the man drew the last bits of breath that he could possibly bring into his lungs through his damaged throat, Ume appeared to have brought up a theory in his mind. This theory, however, would not appeared to be shared by anyone but herself, as even though she prepared an eye for Binita's arrival, the fist fighter was still nowhere to be seen. Worse, should the researcher take the time to look back and attempt to locate the other Shinigami, she would notice that something was happening back at the village. There were vast swathes of spiritual energy being thrown about against bodies of unknown origin, and if she would try to look closely through the darkness of the night, Ume would also be able to witness trees being ripped off of their roots from far away. Of course, there was also apparent noise. In other words, from the looks of things, Binita was not coming towards her position any time soon.

On one hand, this was a good thing. Indeed, it would allow the fist-fighter to perhaps not be subjected to a terrible sight. On the other hand, it left Ume completely on her own. There was no one out here or out there who could help, no one who could support her as she would brave the mass of energy before her. No one, of course, except her own willingness to see this through. In a way, this was a courageous attempt from the researcher. Should she survive this and report this, there will be many back in Seireitei who will perhaps celebrate her display of bravery. However, for as many who would celebrate this display, there will be an equal number of people who would instead deride her for being so foolish; after all, she was no fighter or warrior. She was not even a proper soldier. She did not possess a true weapon and she could not even hold one properly even if she wanted to, and she was deeply afraid of the creatures of Hueco Mundo. But even so, she brought herself onward into the dark... and she would perhaps pay dearly for that decision.

As she moved forward towards the mass of spiritual energy, it would not take much longer for her to finally reach its edge. While it was difficult to properly gauge how terrible it was far from afar, it only became much more intimidating now that Ume was so close to it. Even though she was not entirely situated within it, she could feel its power in its entirety. She could also most definitely identify its traits and its source now that she was close to it. Indeed, as she had understood, this was not something that was being generated by a Hollow. No, there was the signature purity of a Shinigami's essence in there, even if the color of the energy was darker than anticipated. However, it was again hard to exactly tell who exactly was generating this source. It could be a powerful Shinigami who was turning into something new. It could be, instead, a new being from the Living World. This energy could again also not be generated by one person, but a multitude of beings as a whole in their proper clash.

Regardless of whatever that answer may be for the time being, Ume would eventually bring herself into the fold. While her calling towards the Captain of the Eleventh Division was not necessarily a bad idea in of itself, it was doubtful that it could be heard amidst the chaos that awaited her inside of the mass of energy. There, through the blood red, awaited a maelstrom, a vivid tempest that pressed onto her like a vice. The gravitational pressure was nothing short of exceptional. It would push her, attempt to bring her down towards the ground. Yet, it was not quite enough to completely force her to grovel before the energy. Somehow, it was as though whoever was responsible for this pressure was deliberately making sure that the people around them could feel it, but not be crushed by it. Either that, or Ume was quite simply just strong enough to handle it while the most of the people out there could not quite do so. She had been in many terrible situations after all, and all things considered, it was entirely possible that her body had gotten used to such awful conditions in the process.

Considering the power on display, that last explanation appeared to make the most sense at first. However, its telling was not what solidified it. Rather, it was what Ume was forced to witness as she proceeded into the blood red. As she further moved onward, her eyes would quickly find themselves witnessing bodies. Many bodies, all of which were once living Shinigami. Or, well... what could be constituted as such. Initially, they resembled the man from before, fallen warriors who had succumbed to terrible wounds to the throat or the heart. But then, the extent of the damage received by the dead suddenly became much greater. Some simply had their limbs cut off. Others instead had gone through much more brutal mutilation, with their jaw ripped off their face. And then, there were... the other remains. The ones who barely looked like people anymore. The ones who had been rendered mere piles of flesh and bone left open to rot in the open air of this awful place.

It was hard to tell what exactly had killed them. For all intents and purposes, it looked like pure brute force had been applied to practically everyone, and so it would be very easy to assume that a beast had ended their lives. Hell, it could have been one of the Beast-Clansmen from the Wilderness, more specifically the ones from the more notable insect clans that have been terrorizing the Soul Society as of late due to their unending and uncaring assaults. A closer look, however, would allow one to understand there was a certain precision to the savagery. Their bodies had been ripped open and cut into the pieces, but it had been achieved through the aid of some kind of cutting equipment. The exact kind of equipment that was used to carry on these awful acts could not be specified; either way, though, it allowed for some kind of explanation to the awfulness before Ume, some kind of rationalization that could allow her to fulfill the greater whole of this terrible mystery.

This analysis would have to be conducted in silence. There was nothing out there that was allowed to make a sound, after all, aside from the rising winds caused by the change in pressure in the area. But at a certain point during Ume's onward travels through the mass of energy, Ume would be able to hear a voice. It was loud, enough so that it permeated the darkness, and it was very clearly frightened spoke to someone. However, the rising winds would make any hearing somewhat difficult. "SHIFÙ... SHIFÙ, NO!" It could be heard from further away, both not far from Ume and not close enough. "PLEASE... PLEASE, NO! STAY AWAY!"

[Ume Oboro]

It seemed that calling out at this point was useless. The wind crated by the spiritual pressure would probably keep anything she said, short of screaming, from reaching anyone. Especially if it was going against the wind. Even stepping into it forced Ume into a deep crouch. She had to fight forward just to take a step. It was completely obnoxious. Ume sheathed her zanapkutou as she began to step through, it could see just fine through the jar. Whatever had been going on, whatever she needed to come out and observe and fix, was out here in the middle of this vortex and Ume needed to be on guard. 

Ume sighed and began to plod forward. Her glasses kept most of the wind from getting in her eyes but she needed to try and hone in on anything except the source. That's when she heard the shout. If it was comeing form inside, then it could have been carried out. Ume bit her lip as her lab coat whipped around. 

"Master?" She said aloud. 

Ume had known that the area which was being cleansed had Nijukan students in it. Though, that was going to be hard to avoid since Kimiko had made several schools. In the moment, though, Ume wasn't thinking about that. She lifted her arm up and dug her sandals into the ground. If there was someone who could  be saved, then they needed to be saved. She used shunpo to clear the distance as fast as she could, now trying to get to the source as fast as possible. Thankfully, her skill in Hohou was surprisingly keen. Likely she'd have a better time navigating the hurricane of reiatsu while flash stepping than she would if she was walking. 

___________________________

Reiatsu 2300/2400 | 19 Eyeballs |

150 Shunpox2

SPOILER: Click to show

Reiatsu: 2400

Strength:30
Speed: 200
Reiatsu Strength: 30
Spiritual Pressure: 160 (240) (+50%)
Instinct:110
Senses: 110
Energy Sensory: 110
Light Aura: 50
Dark Aura: 50
Healing Expertise: 0

15/15
Hoho 2
Memory 2
Analyzing 2
Learning 2
Illusion Resist 2
Anti-Stealth 2
Hacking 2
Acrobatics 1

[Nakajima Kimiko]

The noise of the spiritual pressing onto the grounds around Ume had by now become omnipresent. Even as she would attempt to move onward through the maelstrom of force that was this dome of power, she would be able to feel its effects onto her surroundings. Footstep by footstep, she would feel them: the slow but steady caving of the earth as the force pressed onto it, the cracking of the trees as they were threatened to be broken by it all... and the crumbling of the corpses that still remained around her. There was no doubt about it: whoever or whatever was creating this energy was most definitely something fierce, something powerful. For all intents and purposes, there was simply no way someone like Ume would be able to defeat it single-handedly, or at least through conventional violent means that she was herself not quite capable of making use of. It was a reminder of her potential foolishness and petulant bravado, but yet again, it was also a reminder of her dedication to her work.

The journey continued without fail. In spite of it all - the world which appeared to fall apart before her, the horrific violence put on display, and perhaps a creeping sensation of non-belonging - the scientist moved forward. It wasn't like she had many other decisions at her disposition, anyway. She could always go back, but the source of the force would probably realize her presence and catch up to her. She could always hide, but then she would probably be found. There truly was no other way but onward, and unfortunately, this would allow her to hear a little bit more pieces the shouting that echoed in the tumultuous air, pieces that would have brought displeasure to the majority of those who would have the misfortune of listening to them. "Y-YOU CAN'T... THIS!! ... HAVE YOU...?! YOU'RE..." The winds interrupted, but they did not completely take away the meaning behind the words, the tone behind the voice. They remained frantic, panicked... frightful. Fearful. "PLEASE, SHIFÙ...!! PLEASE!!!"  

Of course, this could only last for long. It was unclear as to who this man was supposed to be and why he was screaming so loudly, so powerfully. Yet there were things which could be understood from the remnants of his speech. Many things, in fact. For one, he appeared to be conversing with someone that Ume correctly assumed to be his master. It also confirmed that his master was here in some capacity, and thus indeed allowed for two possible assumptions to be made. The first assumption was that he was nothing more than an inhabitant of the Soul Society, someone who had gone to one of the Nijūkan schools and is now calling to his master for help in taking down something that he himself could not slay. That said, it did not appear as though this was necessarily the case, as his fright did not exactly appear to be directed towards a beast of some kind. Meanwhile, the second assumption was instead more direct and perhaps more evident.

With a few steps accelerated by Shunpo, it would not take long for Ume to understand which assumption was the correct one.

After she was able to push herself even further into the tempest of energy, it would be clear that she was approaching its very eye. Here, the winds were at their strongest, the pressure perhaps at its most powerful. It assaulted her body and willpower, demanded that she prostrate herself and surrender immediately through sheer domination. But Ume was not just any researcher of the Twelfth Division. She could do it. She could press on. She had the body, the mind and the soul to face this problem head-on and conquer it, either through ultimate willpower or extreme stubbornness. Perhaps it was the both of those things that would allow her to do it. Unfortunately, however, there would be no true reward for her efforts. There was nothing out there in this wild storm of brute power that would congratulate her for her findings or bring onto her something that she could truly dictate as a net positive, aside from mere knowledge of the situation. No. Instead, as she pushed herself onward, she would finally see a figure in the dark, and she would be able to watch it crouch down towards a fallen, screaming body.

"NO, NO, NO, SHIFÙ, SHIF- URGH, URAARGH, URRRGLGGGL-"

The darkness prevented Ume from having a clear view at what exactly was happening in the distance, but the noise... It had all become so utterly comprehensible at this point that she was now almost able to perfectly imagine what was happening before her. Whoever the man was, it was clear now that he had not been calling to his master for help. Instead, he had been telling them to stay away from because they were about to do something unsightly to him. The way his screams were suddenly interrupted and then transformed into a mess of gurgles mixed in with liquid spills implied extreme damage to the throat, but the spilling alone also indicated that it was a much more devastating wound in comparison to the one Ume had seen just earlier. And then, it came to a sudden, abrupt end with a final snap. This, perhaps, would allow the researcher to move a bit more forward again, if only to further observe what was happening. It was then, slowly breaching through the darkness, that she would be able to see something clearer than anything else thus far.

The amount of time during which she was able to witness this symbol was short. As quickly as it had appeared through the darkness, it had disappeared again, leaving her only capable of seeing the silent figure who remained in the distance. But even so, she would able to comprehend its significance. There - so close to Ume yet far enough to remain hidden in the dark - was something that was wearing a haori. More specifically, that something was wearing the haori usually meant to only be worn by the Captain of the Eleventh Division, for the symbol that it carried on its apparent back was the insignia of that very division, the yarrow. More importantly, it had been drenched in a deep shade of red. It was evident that, considering everything that had happened in this general area thus far, that the red was not meant to be natural. It was blood, the essence of the dreadful fallen, the very thing that was considered to have been stolen from them. And now, Ume was standing not far from the one responsible for that.

Then, suddenly, the energy vanished. The ground ceased being pressed upon, and the trees and the corpses stopped cracking from the force. There was no more wind. There was no more unnatural darkness. Now, there was only the natural darkness brought about by the lack of moonlight. This would allow Ume to fully observe everything that had happened thus far, or at least realize where she was currently standing: in the very middle of what may as well have been a bloodbath. Wherever she looked - left, right, front and back - she would be able to witness many mangled and disfigured corpses, and not a single one of them was wearing the standard robes of those who remained within Rukongai. They were all Shinigami, divine warriors of the thirteen court guard companies. Well, at the very least, they once were such warriors. As it stands, they were nothing but dreadful scenery, and it was doubtful that they were ever going to become anything more than what they were now.

But not all was dead in this part of the forest. Between trees decorated with spilled guts and body parts, and a body that appeared to have been literally ripped in two from the jaw, a single person stood. Even though Ume could only see them from the back at this point, she would be able to tell that they were much taller than her. Their hair was left slick by the blood covering their robes, and their hands were filthy, covered in stuff that dripped from their fingers even as they remained there. It was, to put it bluntly, a horrific sight. Still, at first, they said and did nothing to Ume. They merely stood there, as though they were acknowledging what they had just committed to several people. Perhaps they had not yet realized that Ume was there, or perhaps this was a sign of physical and spiritual exhaustion; after all, they had realized an ungodly amount of energy just a few moments ago. But then, just as Ume would believe this silence to be awkward, they would move their head up and slightly over their shoulder... only to then turn their entire body towards her.

Once this process was completed, she did not say anything.

Instead, Kimiko remained silent... and simply stared directly at the researcher.

[Ume Oboro]

For most, this much death and destruction would bring even the most battle hardened warriors to a pause. The stench of blood was as palpable as the reiatsu that was threatening to crush Ume where she stood. Ume was, however, a member of the Research and Technology division. AA grizzly sight like this could be found walking into the wrong storage locker or research facility. Mercy was often not on the research table. Things were done just for the sake  of seeing if they could be done. A field of corpses purposefully cut down, even if that purpose was twisted or justified, was still done with passion of some kind. 

Ume took a moment to look over the corpses, just to get an idea of what she was seeing. The scope of it and the extent of it. It all needed to be observed and recorded and that was Ume's primary function, as it were. If someone were responsible for a second  mass execution, then Ume might have to push another  button. One that sent more  shinigami to eliminate more  souls. This time on a different  world. The cycle of life was indifferent to the whims of a single individual, no matter how much they hated it. It would continue one way or another and if Ume hated it and wanted to transcend it or if this bloodthirsty killer wanted to prove a point, the point would be lost in time. 

It was all as inevitable as Ume taking another step when she was snapped out of her observations by the screaming. She fought through it, but when the screaming stop, she felt the gushing power beating against her fade. She held up her hand and continued forward, straightening up and noting the flash of Haori. Then, suddenly, she was able to see, more or less, and the energy was still. She could hear her own panting as she pushed a hand against her chest. Then, when she saw the eyes leering at her, like a bird in the darkness, Ume took her zanpakutou and sheathed it. 

She took a few steps forward. Her heart was pounding, but she looked calm and had a passive expression on her face. The situation was intense, but Ume was not. She opened her mouth to speak after adjusting her glasses and focusing on the eyes. "Nakajima-taichou, why are you out here?" She asked, like she might be asking a coworker she bumped into at a grocery store. She knew enough of the answer that it was practically rhetorical, but Kimiko needed to say the words for herself. 

Ume certainly needed to give her the benefit of any doubt, even if it didn't really  exist.