The Biggest Day [Social Thread]

[Manabu Brock]

The blanket of night slowly peels away and takes the sleep of Soul Society with it. The warmth of the bed is replaced by a different warmth. A soft breath washes over the land and gently invigorates everything under the slowly rising Sun. The light pours into the scenery which overflows its greens, fires its violets, spills its reds, swells its blues, shines its yellows, splashes its oranges, and sublimes its hidden indigos. The day brings life to the world of the peaceful dead.

Manabu Brock sat up in bed and looked around his quarters. He did this every morning, but today was different. All of his belongings were packed except for a few things. The day's clothes were set on a stand, and there was a small box on the nightstand next to Shonen. The room was bare, but it had an air of clean newness today rather than aged use. This would be the last time he would ever survey this room in this fashion.

It certainly held a sense of nostalgia for him. It wasn't particularly large, but he managed to fit everything in it. There was the window by which he would study or just stare, the desk at which he would study and write, the bed on which he would study or sleep, the table at which he would study while eating et cetera. Of course, Brock wasn't too large either, but he'd managed to fit his entire life so far into himself. Now he picked up the box on the nightstand and opened it. He stared at the twin rings of pristine gold inside. Soon he'd be a lot bigger, too big for these quarters. After all, today was going to be a very, very big day.

[Deleted]

Meanwhile, on the other end of Seireitei, inside of his quarters in his own manor inside Squad 13 complex, Arhellai was not too pleased. The tuxedo he ordered was accidentally burned by his subordinates, so Arhellai had to wear suit. Luckily, he had lots of suits. He picked one he thought to be enough formal for this occasion. He picked white shirt and white tie, as naturally, it would fit good with white suit. But, one more thing was important. He couldn't leave unprepared for potential trouble. But, he had a way to make himself prepared for everything. Over his shirt, but under his suit, concealed, he had something similar to the holsters that human world detectives used to hold their guns under their shoulders. But, here, instead of a holster, was a short sheathe, enough for tanto. Although Arhellai's Zanpakutou was a katana, he used Kyattsukuro to shrink it to the size of tanto and fit it into that sheathe. buttoning up his suit and taking on white shoes, he finished his preparing. He was pleased with his look, though he didn't look as he wanted to, due to incompetence of some of his subordinates.

Now, he had to do another important thing. He personally went to his 9th seat, Kyotto Osaka, who was in charge of one important thing. "Kyotto, I told you to take 5 men and do it. If you don't do it now, you will fail to do it ON TIME. So take some people, and deliver it. and this time, try not to burn it down or blow it up! If you fail this, I will kill you with my own hands!" Kyotto only managed to say: "Yes, Captain!", because Arhellai left as soon he said what he had to say. But what was this about? Present, of course!! But it required few people to deliver it. It was because present was quite big. Actually, it consisted of two presents. Jewelry, in considerate amounts, for the bride, and for Brock, a full mobile lab for his experiments! Arhellai had something in him for weddings, so he always tried to do things right.

Now, he slowly left for the one place where he wanted to go before wedding, and that is a place where he went whenever something important for Gotei 13 happened. It was a grave. Grave of his late best friend, Akashi Benkei. He knew that body was stolen, but he felt that his spirit still remained there. And Arhellai wished to pay him a visit. After that, he would go and enjoy the ceremony.

[Taien Hadohou]

"Haha! So todays the day eh? Well, best to get ready, and wrap my gift!"

Taien exlaimed as he grinned to the air around him. Today was a very special day, a very special day indeed. Taien had gotten the notice that today was the day it would happen! It took so long Taien was almost sure they forgot, but no, they hadn't! They just were picking out an appropriate place to hold the event. Now that the stage was set, the gears set into motion, and everything was falling into place. . . Taien checked his watch, and knew he had a bit of time to prepare. Still, the faster he got ready, the sooner he could get out the door and head off.

Taien donned his tux that he bought for a Captaincy party a while back. Since then it had been cleaned up, and all the stuff associated with it was gone. So he had a nice, fancy tux for the event. Awesome. Taien finished wrapping his gift and started to hum. He picked the gift up, and walked out the door. Ahh, today was indeed the day. . . Taien was happy for Brock-Sensei, because he was going to be happy as well. The thought made him. . . happy. Yah, sort of a one track mind. Still! There was much to be done. Good thing Taien had directions to the place, he wasn't nearly as bad as Ren-San, but he needed a map going to a place the first time.

[Manabu Brock]

"Thank you all for coming. This is a great help to me. As you know, I have a fairly busy day ahead. There are enough of you such that this should not take very long, but that doesn't mean I appreciate it any less. There's only one of me, after all. Two after today. Even so, you're all making this so much easier than it would have been. I expect to see everyone at the reception and ceremony. Then, as a special thank you, Yuki and I would like to have each of you over for dinner in our new home. I'm sure you'll be delicious."

One girl let out a loud laugh, and a few other people chuckled. On the other end of the spectrum were groans and even some eye rolls, but everyone had some sort of grin because even if one didn't find it funny, that was good, old Brock-sensei. He wasn't a professor at Shino Academy, but he did spend a tremendous amount of time on campus for someone who was neither employed nor currently enrolled there. He offered free tutoring/study aid in any subject, advice, companionship, sometimes food, stories, or whatever else he had available to anyone who wanted. He made a point of meeting every student at least once. Plenty of them aren't interested in talking to him again, so they don't. However, plenty do go back for something at some point. As a result, Manabu finds it pretty easy to assemble a group of people to help with something around the Seireitei.

The group of students set about the task of removing all the boxes to the new Brock quarters. These quarters were located in the Division 7 barracks (of course) at the end of a hall with other quarters of the same size. It would not be a long trip for the movers. Brock departed with a hanging bag slung over his shoulder. Off he went to the site to oversee preparations and prepare himself as well. Taien would be there to attend him along with a few other friends from the Academy.

[Manabu Brock]

OOC: Anyone should feel free to post willy nilly. Yes, I said "will nilly." What of it? Guests should arrive at the pre-wedding reception after this post. Feel free to describe anything you want. Consult the planning thread for guidance. Anyone at all should come to the reception. Anyone who knows Brock or is Vice Captain or higher is invited to the dinner after the wedding. Feel free to bring a date.

IC: The morning glided and on, and the hour of wedding approached. Manabu had a bath to purify himself followed by some final grooming. He had never bothered to keep his hair in very good order. It grew until he got it cut for whatever reason. As long as it wasn't in the way, it was done enough for him. Besides, he always had a hat on. 'Good enough' wouldn't be good enough today, though. A professional came to cut and condition his hair until it was picture perfect and finished in a traditional topknot. His beard was made clean and even, and it thrust down in straight and ordered dignity. His head alight in shimmering blonde and, in some places, smoldering red, dressed in

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, draped with a

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, and adorned ay the hips with his zanpakuto, Shonen, of incandescent, highly polished gold crowned with forest green wrapped hilts, for the first time in years, Manabu looked like a young man. He sat now to meditate with his attending friends Taien Hadohou, Eli Yoruik, Oto Kasu, Kiriyu Von, and his oldest friend in Soul Society and best man Hazuma Koshime.

What had taken Manabu not more than an hour and a half started at 6 o'clock in the morning for Miss Yuki Hajiruyulogaronirane. Her bath was a bit longer for one thing. Then the post-bath experience took - well, Manabu didn't even have a post-bath anything (save for a trim and a hair product). There were lotions, creams, and scents to apply. Oils for this and that; extracts; pure, crushed berries; and a smaller tub of pulverized petals all took their time soaking in. She had a full team of professionals, of course. Her mother underwent a similar treatment, and the bridal party received a less grand course of preparation, but it was all first class beauty and pampering nonetheless. All of this had developed over the centuries. It would be impossible to trace it to a single source. Many of the things that seemed unnecessary were family traditions, but once she resigned to the idea of such excessive ablutions, Yuki found the pleasure in each one. Some things were there to make the bride more appealing or pleasant for the groom in one way or another: a scent for love, a scent for "romance", softness, smoothness, hues, glows, a shine in the eyes. Some things were there simply to for the bride's pleasure: a scent for joy, a scent for calm, the caress of the various applications, the attention, simply the feeling of being beautiful. Even those rituals that were there for the groom had a more subtle excitement.

Yuki Hajiruyulogaronirane was in love with Manabu Brock. She loved everything about him. She found his mind simply amazing, his boyish charm and insecurity adorable, his aged perspective and bearing dignified, and the list went on. She'd spent hours boring her friends to death on various occasions. Perhaps more than anything else, she loved how much he loved her. Anytime he looked at her, he could never help the change in his face that showed something melting inside. He was simply hopeless, helpless in her power. He, too, would have bored his friends for hours if they'd had patience to listen. Yuki knew what Manabu was like in general, but she was the only person in the world who had seen the inner Brock who manifests the one everybody knows. If all this could make her groom love her even more, or just give him a little more happiness, Yuki was thrilled to do it. Although, it was empowering at the same time. As much as she longed for his happiness, she knew Manabu was as unyielding in his devotion to her, and each little ritual would draw him in even more. The dichotomy was intoxicating, even if the whole process took forever.

Of course, there was no objection to having a massage while her hair and nails were being done. The masseuses wore angora gloves soaked in some manner of unobtrusive, moisturizing lotion so as to minimize any damage to Yuki's skin. After many hours of work, her body was fully prepared. She radiated majesty from her core which left her skin like the surface of a star. She was power and tranquility now, wrapped and cuddled by her own skin, softly held aloft by her own body. Now she donned - no, she dawned her attire. It was a kimono of pink blooms that flowed here and dangled there that is better

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than described.

Meanwhile, Manabu Brock was deep in shared meditation, manifesting his own self, while guests began to arrive. With the help of his friends, he spent this time ascending, attempting to destroy any impurity he could in preparation for Yuki. He would not have her joined to someone with ugliness in his soul. He radiated his own power then, fueled by his attendants. Someone sensing this activity from the outside with its intensity may have mistaken the spiritual pressure for that of a captain (sleeping perhaps) at first. At that moment, that man was resplendent with the Sun for his head, dressed in the night sky, with the dawn on his hips. At that same moment, that woman in that dress was goddess of nature and grace. They would soon be wed and were certainly the most fortunate people in the worlds.