An honorable hour

[hiryuu Mihai]

The sun had set a little more than an hour ago, and just north of the Seireitei sat a two story building with a large gold Dragon perched gently around the roof. Sounds of a good time echoed along the empty streets leading to the front entrance for the pub on everyone’s lips. The building had a crowd, but wasn’t even close to full. People scattered across the tables and bar, many meeting for the first time and already getting on like old friends. At the very opposite of the entrance stood a tall red haired man, looking just old enough to work the bar. He wore eastern attire similar to that of formal wear, a tie hanging loosely under a slightly loose weskit.

Takeshi was washing some glasses after the patrons had finished with them, happy to simply wash the gentle glass and set them in their proper places ready to be used again. He’d opened the shop early after he’d gotten some time to himself after his shift in the 8th. He’d had a good twenty minute’s just to himself then, people entertaining each other with conversation. Things were good in the realm. Not one disturbance to be said of. He just stood there washing dishes with a small smile on his face. It made him remember when he first started there.

He’d always complain about every little thing to Morgan. Always whining about how it wasn’t fair that he couldn’t work the bar, that he’d always be washing the floor, or the walls, or the tables. That day Morgan wore a wicked smile and placed the little red head behind the bar in a stool. And made him wash glasses and plates for hours. For a while his face had been redder than his hair. But both Morgan and he knew that it was both the same and better than what he had been doing previously. He had earned an ounce of trust from the man he sought to be like.

The owner and barkeep of the Dragons’ Jewel let himself get taken away by old memories of those no longer around. Happy memories that would never go away, tonight seemed like it would be peaceful for the most part.

[kakeru]

A pleasant day, just at dusk, and Kakeru was tired from a hard day. The day had been particularly difficult, as Kakeru had about a week of backed-up paperwork, and the need to finalize a few articles for the paper. But, as soon as he had finished, he left the rest of the day's work to Shuhei, and left to prepare. Travelling to the barracks, he quickly entered the Captain's quarters, and slipped out of his uniform and into his casual crimson kimono. Sliding his swords into his sash, he stepped out the door, sliding it closed behind him, and stepping forward with a single step, before vanishing from sight, using Shunpo to quickly get from the barracks to Rukongai, landing with a loud "CLACK" sound about a block away from his destination. With a light sigh, followed by a chuckles, he began to walk, his shoes clacking against the ground with every step.

With a jovial bounce to his steps, Kakeru quickly made his way to his most favored establishment, which was run by an old friend of his, As he reached the door, sliding it open, he stepped inside with a bow, before quickly standing and waving to the red haired barkeep behind the bar. "Hey, Takkun, looks like business is great today. My usual steak and red sake, if ya will. But first, of course, hold on to 'him' for me." Kakeru said, handing his Zanpakuto to Takeshi. He then immediately sat at the counter across from Takeshi, and placed that week's issue of the Seireitei Communications, which wouldn't be officially released for another four days. The magazine was complete, of course, but just not ready for release. Kakeru, however, enjoyed geting Takeshi's opinions beforehand, and gave him a free issue every week.

So, with that, Kakeru merely waited for his meal, whilst looking around to see if anyone he knew, especially any of his subordinates, where in the pub. Nobody he knew was there aside from Takeshi, and he relaxed a little. If anyone from the Squad was there, Kakeru would likely get scolded by Shuhei for handing out a free pre-release, but Kakeru honestly didn't care, and just wanted to relax.

[hiryuu Mihai]

The sound of the door opening revived Takeshi from his thoughts. Walking into the pub was a familiar face dressed in red. Seeing Kakeru made the barkeep smile even wider. Good things tend to follow the Taicho around like a shadow. “Business is always great when it gets such good publicity.” He replied, the whisper of sarcasm at the edge of his voice. Takeshi gently took the Zanpakuto from the Taicho and placed it on a sword stand behind the bar. Immediately after he turned and reached under the bar and stood up to place a clay bottle with a red circle on it along with a small circular glass, and a larger square one. Then he grabbed a smaller bottle that looked well-worn beside it. “Just in case it isn’t flavorful enough,” he explained, meaning that the smaller bottle had extra strawberry juice in it.

Takeshi turned and took a couple steps to his right. Sitting at the end of the bar was one large metal grill, on the wall facing the bar was an ice-box to rival the size of the grill. He removed a steak the size of a human head and threw it on the metal surface of the grill. The landing of the beef was met with a loud sizzle. Takeshi didn’t take a second look at the meat for the time being, he seasoned all the meats a day or two before he thought to need them, that way they’d have better flavor.

After all that was said and done he returned to where Kakeru was sitting. The new issue of SC was sitting between the two. The barkeep didn’t hesitate for a second before picking up the magazine. This was practically their ritual now. Serve, read, and talk. He quickly flipped through the pages, skimming the articles at first, finding the interesting ones from front to back before going back through. “Nothing extremely interesting has happened recently, has there?”

[Nanao Ise]

Almost there! A few more feet! Nanao Ise panted as she reached the entrance to the Dragons Jewel, lowering the book that had been shielding her hair and face from the sudden spring downpour. The air had seemed heavy as she'd wandered the office but she had foolishly decided to leave it to luck for once and left anyway, unwilling to spend unnessecary time worrying alone in an empty office. With her captain still off running around on some tenebrous mission, and her fifth seat out dealing with a sudden, inexplicable hollow outbreak, she decided to visit the next most reliable member of the Hachibantai. Third seat Takeshi Hiryuu, also owner and cheif barman of the Dragons Jewel, had been with the division longer than she had been alive and though his demeanor was slightly too playful for her liking, he was more than just a valued member of her division.

As she padded sheepishly over to the bar leaving delicate, wet footprints in her wake, she kept her eyes lowered so as to avoid attracting attention from anyone who would dare approach her. Taking the first stool that she came to, the one nearest the door and logically furthest away from the patrons, she was almost disappointed to find herself seated next to the platinum-haired captain of the ninth division. Masking her negativity with a short, graceful bow she greeted him with a small smile before finally perching herself onto her chosen seat. She placed the soaked book onto the bar with a wet thump and carefully withdraw Kusanagi from her sleeve holding out the wakizashi to be taken as per the wishes of the establishments owner.

"Good evening Hiryuu, a pot of oolong would be lovely. Did you get the message about the outbreak in Karakura?"

As her division was still on call in case things got out of hand, it would be wise for her to prepare both herself and Hiryuu for action. The other reason she had come to speak to him was about the belated sakura matsuri, but that could wait for now. She was in a foul mood because of the sudden turn in weather and was quite prepared to wallow in her misfortune, minor though it was. At least it made a slight change in her current emotional cycle of boredom and quiet joy whenever she filed a completed document, but with her troublesome captain away even that was becoming a rarity.

[kakeru]

Kakeru chuckled as Takeshi placed the clay bottle on the counter, and watched carefully as he pulled out the smaller bottle. “Just in case it isn’t flavorful enough,” With a sigh and a laugh, Kakeru took hold of the smaller bottle, pouring some of the crimson red juice into the larger glass, and pouring the sake over it, creating a translucent red liquid with an ethereal look to it. "Haha, y'know me all too well, Takkun." He sipped from the glass, looking around a bit to make absolutely sure none of his Squad was there. “Nothing extremely interesting has happened recently, has there?” He chuckled again, before responding. "Just remember, don't let Shuhei know. Last time he found out, he ranted at me for an hour. But anyway, since that "Invasion" staged by that Kurosaki kid, nothing that happens around here can seem to hold a candle to it. So, I started doing some personal interest articles, like te gossip article on page seven, or my personal recipe article on page nine."

Just as Kakeru finished speaking, the door opened again, and a somewhat bookish woman entered. He noticed the Lieutenant's armband on her bicep and tried to remember her name, as he was certain she had attended one of the weekly dinner parties. In his mind, he thought "Let me think, there's Matsumoto of Squad 10 with the huge....nevermind, the Kido expert Hinamori of Squad 5, the tall girl Kotetsu from Squad 4, Mayuri's "Daughter" Nemu from Squad 12, so that leaves......Ah, that must be Nanao Ise, from Squad 8."

[/color] As Nanao took a seat next to him, Kakeru chuckled, and turned to face her. "Why hello there Na-chan. How's Captain Shunsui doing? But, more importantly, how are you faring today?"





[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[hiryuu Mihai]

Takeshi glanced at Kakeru as he was giving his short rant on the setup of the magazine. Though he had to admit that the Taicho did know what he was talking about, even if it was Shuuhei that probably explained everything to him. “Isn’t gossip for house-wives and little girls Ka-kun?” He may have been mocking his friend sitting across from him, but it was in good spirits. Takeshi quickly flipped to page nine for the recipes he was promised to be in print. Kakeru had a good eye for foods. As he made it to the correct page though, he heard the front door to the Ryuutama slide open with a gentle clack. It had been raining out and Takeshi, the owner of the bar, had forgotten to lay out towels for customers unable to afford or bring an umbrella! He felt as if he offended the whole of everyone there. It was doubtful that anyone really cared in reality.

The back of the bar had more items stored in it than most people would think possible, not many things would be said about that however, trade secrets and all that. Takeshi quickly pulled a number of orange towels out from under the bar, about twelve to be accurate. When he stood up however, A soaked, rather frail looking Fukutaicho sat right smack dab in front of him. “Nanao-sempai.” She had startled him a bit. He hadn’t expected her to show up, especially with the rain. After fumbling around for a couple moments with the towels and her Zanpakuto, he managed to get the weapon on the sword stand with kakeru’s and not drop a single towel.

“There’s been an outbreak? That’s news to me.” The barkeep managed to lift the door at the end of the bar with his leg, while holding his pile and still continue the conversation. Multitasking was easy after being a shinigami for so long. “I’ll have your Oolong in a moment. Let me place these…” Takeshi turned on his heel and placed one of the Orange bath towels over his sempai’s shoulders. Feeling that he had done a job well done the barkeep quickly hurried to the door and placed the towels for the customers.

Once he was back on the other side of the bar, Takeshi went about preparing the oolong. Afterward he sat the oolong opposite of the steak on the grill, he flipped the meat and walked back over. “Sorry, I don’t have any prepared right now sempai. That older couple in the corner are celebrating their anniversary. Been together thirty years they have.” Takeshi leaned against the bar, his trademark smile warm and strong.

[Nanao Ise]

Listening politely to Kakeru's questions, she surrendered another half smile as she mulled over her answers.

"Well, from what he will tell me I suspect he is having too much fun wherever he is. He hasn't been around much since the aftermath of the war, the Captain Commander seems to be punishing him for losing his captains haori. Hopefully he'll be back soon, it is getting tiring running the division."

She said this with tongue firmly in cheek, hoping he would catch the humour. In truth she was finding her job easier with her captain not around but the enjoyment had decreased incomparably.

"As for myself, everything is in order so I remain content. I am worried about these hollows but I suppose they would have begun to show up again eventually. Nothing Officer Kobayashi can't handle. Have you sent anyone from your division over? And I trust you are being treated well by the Ninth? "

Her amusement at Hiryuu's surprise made her smile real. She immediately missed her zanpakuto as she relenquished it to him, she didn't think she would ever allow anyone other than her third seat to take it so easily from her.
As he disappeared from her line of vision to attend lovingly to his customers she turned back to Kakeru, but was surprised as she felt the weight of the towel drop over her shoulders. Gratitude quickly washed away all of her previous dull thoughts, such a simple, ultruistic gesture immediately lifting her mood. The sizzling of the steak on the grill and the smell of cooking meat and freshly brewed chai caused her mouth to water, and Nanao followed the barmans gaze over to the celebrating couple his grin once again amplifying hers.

"So how long have we served in the division together? I'd say you owe me more than a candle-lit dinner..."

[Lhin Demizu]

Xiao had been listening to others within her division earlier in the day and overheard them speaking of a small place within the eighth division that was something of a watering hole. After listening to them she found out the location and figures she would head there and see what is up. Walking down and through the paths from the fifth division to where the Dragon's Jewel was located took a little bit of a hike.

Despite the distance she was stopped multiple times by members of other divisions who bowed and paid her respects of her new rank. Dismissively she would wave them off her face blistering red from the blush she had from each encounter. This was still foreign to her as she was still not used to all the attention she was getting from the rank. As she neared the bar she felt a few drops of rain land of her head.

Feeling the rain start up instead of running like most everyone around her did she looked up into the clouds. She was smiling from ear to ear as she allowed the rain to hit her. For her she felt more at home within this rain shower than she had the entire day. Lowering her head she began walking back to the bar. As she made it to the entrance she was soaked but that did not put a damper on her smile.

Opening the door she slid into the warmth of the bar. Looking around she had her smile still plastered to her face as she herself looked like a drowned rat. Her captains haori was sticking to her tightly but thanks to her clothing underneath nothing would be showing. Reading a sign next to the door saying zan's must be checked in with the doorman she ungirded her sword and handed it to the man. Taking a seat next to a larger man in a red kimono she reached up and moved her wet hair out of her eyes. Looking at the barman she spoke up and said "I would like some Chai or Oolong tea please whichever you have ready good sir."

After making her simple order she turned to the man in red and spoke up "You look familiar... Why is it that I should know your name but I cannot place it?"

[kakeru]

Kakeru sipped his drink quietly for a moment, before hearing Takeshi's comment. “Isn’t gossip for house-wives and little girls Ka-kun?” He chuckled, and quickly responded with his usual dry sarcasm. "Haha, of course. Never said I wrote it. I only have the stuff on page nine. The rest is made by the whole Division. I usually don't interfere with their work, and just proofread for quality. Then, bring it to you for outside quality checking." With another, more boisterous laugh, he sipped his sake again, before hearing Nanao's response to his question.

"As for myself, everything is in order so I remain content. I am worried about these hollows but I suppose they would have begun to show up again eventually. Nothing Officer Kobayashi can't handle. Have you sent anyone from your division over? And I trust you are being treated well by the Ninth?" Kakeru sighed, before grinning a little. "Well, it's good to hear that you're doing well. As for the Hollows, I sent over a few of my men, but they're all lower ranked, so I instructed them to support the stronger fighters and scout out the area, and alert me if a Hollow appeared that was too strong for the others to handle. Their next report should arrive in an hour or so, so I decided it best to relax and preserve my energy for a possible fight. And, since my ascention to Captain, it's been a little tricky getting used to all of the paperwork, but it's also been enjoyable, and most of my Squad respects me a fair bit, and others are quite friendly. Well, I have been a member of Nine for a good century or two, so I'm rather familiar with most everyone."

As the words escaped his lips, Kakeru glanced down for but a moment, noticing something unusual about Nanao's outfit. The usually opaque black cloth had become slightly translucent, and clung to Nanao's chest just enough to allow a certain part of her anatomy to be just slightly visible. Kakeru panicked a bit, turning his head away about 20 degrees and speaking rather quickly, though with a minor nervous stutter. "N-Na-chan, would y-you mind covering your, erm, your c-chest area please. T-they're poking out." Just as he spoke, he heard the door slide open, and a female voice speak to Takeshi, and jumped a little out of surprise. He was a bit nervous at the moment, but then noticed the new female voice address him. "You look familiar... Why is it that I should know your name but I cannot place it?"

Kakeru turned to her to meet her gaze, noticing her Captain's haori, and responded calmly. "Well, it's probably because, like yourself, I'm a Captain. Kakeru Daishori, of Squad Nine. Pleasure to make your aquaintance." However, again, his eyes wandered down a bit, and again, he was met with the same sight. Or so he thought. Actually, his eyes were playing tricks on him, and he hadn't really seen anything at all. But, because of this trick of the mind, he began to have a little freakout. Once was bad enough on his constitution, but twice was too much for him. His body went limp for but a mere moment, long enough for him to fall from the stool he sat on, and crash to the ground with a thud. A bit of blood dripped from his left nostril, which he intended to blame on the crash, though this was plainly not the true cause.

[hiryuu Mihai]

The barkeep was good at three things in his bar, mixing drinks, making the customers happy, and refraining from outbursts by keeping himself busy. His friend was making him do two of those at once. Of course, that friend was also keeping him from one of the three. But Takeshi kindly shoved those thoughts to the back of his mind. Ka-kun was Ka-kun and no one could change that. Him being that way was the reason Takeshi got along with him. The third seat just knew something was going to happen though. It was a sixth sense that the red-head had developed going between the bar and his day job.

“Oh? What, might I ask, is ‘more than a candle-lit dinner’? I’m certainly not spurring your advances, but wouldn’t Taicho be more than a little frustrated that the object of his affection is saying such implying things to her underling?” Takeshi couldn’t keep the smile from his lips as he implied, and joked. He’d been around a long time. But for all those years he never felt old. He’d just felt experienced. And being able to pull out something like that to push and pull from his fukutaicho was one of the things he enjoyed. For him a job well done was when he got her to blush. Though more than once it had also ended with negative side effects. But that’s the point of give and take. Though none of those excuses could sidetrack the fact that he did pick up one negative habit from his Taicho, flirting. That would definitely be considered flirting.

The door opened again, Takeshi had been paying attention to that much, but he was busy serving two customers and it was understandable that he wait till the newcomer was ready to order. That sort of thing happened often. It was his fault completely when the white of a Captains Haori appeared in his peripheral vision. He probably should have paid more attention to what was happening around him. She had handed him her sword. And like he always did, the blade went on a stand, near the other two he had behind the bar to keep the citizens feeling safe from any… trouble a shinigami might cause. It was completely a psychological thing though. Shinigami could still do a lot of damage without their zanpakuto. “Oolong will be ready in just a moment, I put some on the heat just a little while ago.”

By this time Ka-kun was making the trouble that Takeshi had predicted. He wouldn’t have noticed the behavior if he didn’t know the Taicho like he did. He wanted out of the situation immediately, and he did the smart thing. He turned and checked on the steak, which, against better odds was cooked to standard. “Grill of the gods.” He mumbled to himself with satisfaction. The tea was also ready by the whistling and fragrant smell. That made his life just a bit easier. Placing the Large steak on a plate, and placing a sharp knife and fork over the large slab of meat, he set it down in front of Kakeru and went to deal with the tea.

Takeshi was light on his feet, he’d done this a thousand times in the past, in front of Nanao were two rows of teacups at wrist level. He grabbed two and placed them in front of either woman. He then poured the tea from the large plain teapot into two separate moderately sized decorated ones, then placed those with the cups and the two that had ordered tea. As he dealt with the remaining mess the barkeep poured both the Taich and Fukutaicho their drinks. “And that is that!” Victory sounded in his voice. He’d finished all the orders for the day.

[Nanao Ise]

As the second captain appeared, Nanao stood once more and greeted her with a formal bow, the custom deeply ingrained in her. Recognising her face only from official documents, she straightened and took in the womans young features and small stature before returning to her seat. So this is the new leader of the fifth division, Xiao Demizu? Her interest was piqued but until she had acknowledge her, she would not speak.

As Kakeru replied to her question, she nodded politely, frustrated that she had little of interest to say to the jovial captain. She was spared from answering however as he tiptoed, stuttering, around a rather pointed matter.

"My- my chest?"

Her eyes widened in confusion as the colour began to rise in her cheeks. Looking down slowly in a horrified manner, she realised that the soaked material of her uniform simultaneously clung tightly to her form and caused a slight chill and the result was most embarressing indeed. Swiftly bringing the orange towel across her obvious cleavage, she blushed furiously and mumbled an apology to the fumbling taicho, avoiding any eye-contact determindly. She was used to dealing with this kind of thing from Captain Kyoraku, it had become second nature to ignore or punish such retorts, but Kakeru hadn't been lewd, just awkward. Before she could utter anything else he had crashed from his chair onto the floor, a trickle of blood spouting from his nose that spoke more of ill-thoughts than injury. Stirrings of indignation began to form within her and instead of helping the fallen man, she decided that this was his divine punishment. With a wry look to Xiao, she turned back to her third seat just in time for his witty comeback.

"It seems you are letting your imagination run away with you. Nothing was implied, I was merely stating my acceptance of being acknowledged for all my hard work that makes your job so much easier."

Her face had almost returned to its normal color, but the faint trace that rose as she bantered with Hiryuu was undetectable. It was one of the most important parts of her work keeping these males in line and remaining unflustered was key.
With her oolong finally served with flair by the talented host, she delicately poured herself a cup of the fragrant substance trying to recall the elegant and refined techniques from the tea ceremony she had been learning to impress her captain. She managed an acceptable amount of finesse, but would have to pratice more if she wanted to be ready in time for his return.

[Lhin Demizu]

As she took her seat it was not a second thought to those around her as she felt the warmth of the bar seep into her wet frame. Hearing Captain Daishori speak in response made Xiao smile. This being her first attempt at heading out after attaining her rank made her just feel a little awkward. Hearing the others next to her speak up she glanced down at the assembled shinigami. Other than the other Captain she recognized the fukotaicho of the eight division Nanao Ise, and the bartender looked a little familiar to her but Xiao did not know where she met him before. :: Probable out on a mission or something. He does look like he is quite experienced inside the Gotei 13. ::

As she thought to herself she felt the gaze of the other Captain look at her. Before she could even speak up an objection to his gaze she saw him fall onto the ground with an evident nosebleed. She huffed to herself and turned back to the bar. Grabbing the glass of Oolong tea she smiled at Takeshi. "Thank you sir." After taking a few sips of the tea she set down the glass. "This is delicious. Thank you so much for this."

Her soft voice was easy to lose within such a busy bar but she made it with a edge to it so it would hit home. Turning to her side over the fallen body of her fellow Captain she stuck out her hand toward Nanao. "Hello it is a pleasure to meet you in person instead of through paperwork Ms. Nanao. I am the new captain of the fifth division Xiao Demizu."

[kakeru]

Within a few seconds of falling, Kakeru quickly popped back up, and quickly and repeatedly turned back-and-forth, bowing to Nanao and Xiao in apology. "My word, I'm so so sorry! I'm normally not like this at all, I have no idea why this happened. I guess I'm not at my peak on rainy days. Still, that's no excuse for my actions, and that's no way for a Captain to act. You have my apologies, truly." With another last bow to each of them, Kakeru regained his seat, and sighed, before focusing on his meal. He took the knife, and with three quick movements, the steak was sliced into perfect bite-sized pieces, before piercing one with the fork and moving it quickly to his mouth, slowly savoring the flavor as he chewed. As he swallowed the bite of steak, he began to speak. "Absolutely perfect as always, Takkun. So, how's business been since I placed that ad in the magazine?"

Just as he spoke, a single Jigokucho landed on his shoulder, and he looked to it. He could tell even before recieving the message that it was from his Squad, likely Shuhei informing him of the report from the team dispatched in Karakura. He stood up, and bowed to Takeshi. "Excuse me for a moment, I need to take this. Takkun, mind if I use the back room? I'd prefer not to go out in the rain, if at all possible."

[hiryuu Mihai]

“Ah, but my imagination is what you and Shunsui-Taicho like most about me.” Takeshi was working his magic at the bar. He flicked the grill off. He scraped the grease and oil from the grill with practiced precision, the actions like much else had become routine. “Tell you what Nanao-sempai, You tell me what you want, and I’ll do my best to serve you.”
Takeshi did his best to ignore his friend while he acted like an idiot between the two women. In common courtesy the barkeep places a towel in front of the drenched taicho. “Of course taicho, I do my best to make every customer happy.” He watched with a large grin on his face as the two women got to know one another. “Ryuutama, the pub where people meet and bond.”

“Ka-kun, your completely useless on rainy days. One girl and you’re a broken mess on the ground.” He laughed a little, almost a snicker really. Takeshi was happy that Kakeru was enjoying his steak. “I’ve been seeing at least three shinigami a day, usually unseated or lower seated members. At this rate I’ll have to hire some spare hands around the bar to keep up with everything.” A messenger butterfly appeared. The barkeep knew exactly what was about to happen and placed a small brass key between himself and his friend. “Thick door up the stairs, first right.” When Takeshi had inherited the pub from Morgan, he had learned of the room. It had incredibly thick walls and a door to match. No one would be able to listen in on Kakeru’s conversation without him knowing. Unless they were invisible of course.

Everything seemed in order once again. And Takeshi reveled in it. Peace. His fingers gently felt the old wood of the bar, the texture worn to near perfect smoothness, the grain leaving a faint difference in heat against his skin. A flood of memories threatened to overtake him at any moment. His green and blue eyes starred out at nothing, merely embracing the patrons of the bar.

[Nanao Ise]

Holding the tea cup in her hand, revelling in the warmth it lent to her, she smiled and nodded to the captain.

“The pleasure is all mine Captain Demizu, it’s wonderful to see the third division making a strong recovery with you as their leader.”

Lifting it gently and inhaling the subtle fragrance as she placed it to her lips, she took another small sip before returning the cup to the bar.

“I think I will have Officer Hiryuu bring some of this back to the office, it is an exquisite blend.”

Nanao watched with mild embarrassment as Kakeru gave his energetic apology, raising both hands with a grimace to both accept and calm the man down. She was about to utter something dismissive, but as the hell butterfly appeared she was silenced. Feeling suddenly pessimistic once more, she mused over the words of her third seat as his lilting voice soothed her ears. Anything I want? Her first thoughts were of mischievously complex culinary feats that would be impossible in this Rukongai bar. Blueberry souffle and freshly prepared fugu sashimi. Anything I want…? Can you stop the rain? Ensure the safety of our officers? Return our captain to his rightful place, here in Soul Society? Home to the barracks and her favourite seat in Shunsui’s office to reread over the paper-work she had already perfected seemed like an tempting reprieve, but she forced herself to remain seated.

“I think… I would like a glass of warm plum wine. And a bowl of green tea ice cream, please.”

Trying to ignore the ominous flutter of the hovering messenger, she focused her gaze on Hiryuu, unwavering as she stated her almost ridiculous order.