Lost Night [Private]

Subject: Lost Night [Private] Tue Jul 16, 2019 12:58 am

The regret was starting to seep in. The pain on her hip was slowly stretching along her skin as some sort of rash spread. It wasn't a pain like she was hurt, but soreness coming from constant scratching over the last thirty six hours. She tried to ignore it. She applied lotion and other ointments to deal with it, but nothing seemed to help. It was just getting redder and redder. The swelling was going up and so was the itch that caused her to scratch. It was time to deal with it.

Kaminari was making her way to the Fourth Division, now two days since her return from the World of the Living. She had scratched the rash so much that it bled and she was having to restrain herself from continuing it. Somewhere in the grounds of her own Division, she was getting worse. Her vision became fuzzy and a fever was rapidly approaching. She thought she would have made it to the Fourth Division by now. The sun was gone and the night guard was patrolling.

As she walked through more of the labyrinth that was the Seireitei, her mind lost all focus it once had. She stopped and stood still. She didn't know how long she was there and likely never would. Soon, everything went black.

Posts : 139 Join date : 2018-08-17

Genpaku was up and moving before the knock came to his door; he'd always been a light sleeper, a holdover from the nights when dark dreams had chased him away from the realm of sleep.

The clacking of the alarm didn't help either. It was late into the evening, and part of his Division was ablaze.

He didn't wait for the division member to tell him what was happening, or need him to lead the way. Genpaku simply proceeded, vanishing from sight and moving quick. While he had not bothered with his Haori in his exodus from his apartment within the Division grounds his Zanpaku-tous were at his side; even if the announcement hadn't come down yet, most believed that war was coming. Traveling unarmed, even if it was how he preferred to fight, wouldn't be smart. He arrived at the building that housed the offices of his Division to find other Division members hard at work combating a blaze that seemed to have started inside, and was working to consume the building from the inside out.

There was also a gang of people holding down his new Lieutenant.

His gaze washed over them and her in the flickering firelight, and in that moment he looked very little like the outgoing young man they knew him to be; his eyes were severe and his focus almost a physical weight.
“Authorization to use Kidou to contain the blaze is granted; try and keep it from taking the rest of the building!” he called out to the team fighting the blaze. If there was authorization from up above to use Bankai at this time, he could have starved the fire and solved it quicker but he got the feeling that causing an incident right would make what was to come more complicated.

He already had a feeling it was going to be complicated enough.

He walked over to the pile of men holding down Hatakeyama, looking between the various members a moment.
“Explain.”

Subject: Re: Lost Night [Private] Thu Jul 25, 2019 3:01 am

Kaminari was not struggling when the Captain arrived on scene. She seemingly recognized his voice and turned her head upwards, cheek scraping harshling on the floor as her squad members tried holding her in place. She looked to Genpaku, her expression vacant of all personality he may have known and then looked off in a random direction.

"We don't know Captain." one of her other squad mates spoke up, a woman with burns on her hands being treated by another. "I found her starting the fire as it went wild. She wouldn't listen when I told her to stop."

"When we arrived, she took out two of our own squad." Another squad mate spoke up, motioning to two unconscious division members being tended to. He glared back at Kaminari angrily, but got no response. "This is what happens when a Shojin bitch ends up in our Division."

Suddenly, Kaminari began to struggle. She lifted her head up and slammed it into the hard ground beneath, which seemed to give her enough leverage to lift herself to a knee. She was able to push herself up, forcing her squad members to fight to keep her to the floor.

Kaminari wasn't a strong one, at least not strong enough to fight off six of her own division when she had already been pinned. However, she got to her feet and they were pushed back. She immediately pointed her hand toward Captain Arishima and a blue blast of energy fired off without her having to say a word.

Posts : 139 Join date : 2018-08-17

Genpaku listened as the division members attempted to make sense of the scene playing out before them, and as the explanation continued on he gained a frown to his severe look; it was sharp and heavy as an axe blade, and had no business belonging on his face. That may well be fitting though, as it wasn't really his frown.

He looked away at the scene unfolding as the second one began to speak up, looking to the two downed members. His eyes snapped back to the speaker when he offered the insult to Hatakeyama, but he didn't get the chance to admonish him further. Kaminari began to struggle.
“Stay down Hatakeyama, we'll sort this ou-” he began starting to walk away to see if he could assist in the fight fighting effort. However, he looked back as the sounds of a bodily scuffle started up. Kaminari forced her way to her feet, throwing clear those holding her down. She raised a hand as power welled up in her. The look in her eyes was wrong. Kaminari fired her kidou blast; at such close range, most would have been caught full force by it.

None of this made sense, none of it added up. Those were Genpaku's thoughts; his mind had time to think of such things, because what happened next was reaction. Thinking didn't really factor into it. Genpaku dropped backwards, flipping himself over. He caught the incoming kidou with the top of his foot, and like a soccer ball sent it up at an angle out of the Division grounds; it's detonation lit the sky in a blue shade as the roar of it pulled the attention of anyone who hadn't already been paying attention to Genpaku's arrival. He landed, his eyes locking onto Kaminari once more. The motion that followed wasn't something anyone present in the square at that moment was likely able to follow; Genpaku was simply in front of Kaminari as though he'd been standing there all along. His arm whipped out and caught her full in the chest with an open handed strike. At the same moment he flooded power into her, intent on knocking her unconscious.

She fell like a fresh-cut flower, but never reached the ground. Genpaku grabbed hold of the front of her clothing and pulled her back to him. She flopped forward, unconscious and no longer a threat. He caught her over a shoulder and lifted her up. The entire event took place in the space of three breaths, and most of the Shinigami nearby didn't have time to react to it. A cheer went up from some, and more unkind words started up, but Genpaku silenced them with a look.
“Get this under control, and move those two to the infirmary. I'll have a fourth Division member over shortly to check on them. I'm taking Hatakeyama to the Fourth.”
“Why Captain? Why take that bitch t-” one member started to ask.
“Because none of this feels right. Put the Division on alert,” he said, and that was all the explanation he was going to give. He turned and vanished into the night, carrying the unconscious form of his Vice-Captain.

He arrived at the Fourth Division in short order, requesting aid immediately. He took note of several things now that he had the benefit of time to think instead of simply reacting. Kaminari hadn't had the skill to launch that kidou without an incantation, and had damaged herself in the process. She had acted entirely out of character from what he'd seen. Sure, what he had seen could have been a ruse but that didn't feel entirely right. The girl was hiding things, he knew that much, but what she was hiding was something more personal than some kind of plot. Also, if this was truly a plot to back stab the Gotei...well then it made even less sense. If she had been a Mikadzuki agent, his Division was honestly on the lower priority for them; his members almost never encountered the Mikadzuki, and had little reason to engage in hostilities.

On top of that, she'd never pulled her Zanpaku-tou. If she had been intent on actually causing harm she would have drawn her blade. She'd refrained though; she had to know that even if her kidou had hit it wasn't likely to finish him off that easily. He remembered her eyes in that moment; they weren't like what he'd seen when she'd been out in earnest combat either. The more he thought about it, the more none of this added it. It reminded him of Mifune's report on his altercation with the Mikadzuki members. That gave him more cause to worry than help him figure anything out, however.

Subject: Re: Lost Night [Private] Thu Jul 25, 2019 5:47 am

"Irritating..." The frustration came from a low voice in a dark room that was in an entirely different realm. The Arrancar enveloped by the shadow of his lab-like room opened his piercing yellow eyes. He sat up and shook his head, as if trying to rid himself of a headache. "Thirty more seconds and it'd of been complete." The Arrancar stood up, long black hair falling down his back as he turned toward the door. "Oh well. She went far enough. Mission accomplished."

Upon reaching the Fourth Division, Captain Arishima was met by a few of the lower leveled Shinigami. He'd be appointed to a specific room and then asked to explain what happened to Kaminari. Once they got the explanation, they took the necessary precautions for dealing with a possible psychological break and made sure to contact Midori Hayashi. They would need to do a basic examination of Kaminari and due to her sex, Captain Arishima was asked to wait in the hall.

However, one squad member did obtain Kaminari's file in order to answer a question Captain Arishima had. "No. It doesn't look like she's been here in a while. In fact, she's only been here once and there's a note saying that she's a home care patient." the division member explained. "Doesn't say why though."

During the examination, they wrapped Kaminari's arm, realizing the burns went all the way up passed her elbow and that she had a concussion with bad scrape on her forehead. As if on queue, Midori came walking down the hall as the examiner stepped out of Kaminari's room. "How is she?" Midori immediately asked, nodding toward Genpaku. "She's... I don't know." The examiner held out a clipboard and Midori took it, "Besides those injuries, there are markings all along her stomach that obviously itched like hell because she scratched until it bled."

"And this hole you found on her shoulder?" Midori asked after reading the chart. "It's a fresh puncture wound, probably happened in the scuffle she had with her division members, but it looks like someone stabbed her with a needle." the examiner explained. "Anything else?" Midori asked and the examiner shook her head. "Alright. I'll take it from here." Midori said and dismissed the examiner before looking to Genpaku, "Your other division members are already be-..."

The door to Kaminari's room suddenly opened. It was a slow movement and Kaminari stepped through with a pained expression, her wrapped hand on her forehead. "Ow... My head... What happened?" she muttered. "They didn't restrain her?" Midori asked with obvious annoyance. "No, they did, but the level of kido wasn't exactly going to hold me down. I'm pretty good at that magic stuff, if I say so myself." Kaminari said before realizing who she was even talking to. She blinked and looked between Midori and Genpaku... "Where am I?"

Posts : 139 Join date : 2018-08-17

Genpaku remained out in the hallway as the Fourth Divison began its work, mulling over the information he had at his disposal; most of which still wasn't adding up. In general an attack from the Mikdazuki didn't make sense at the moment, at least not on his division. As far as he was aware they had almost no interests in the World of the Living, so unless they were planning and expanding out to the World of the Living as part of their war effort, it seemed like a waste of a spy. Kaminari's actions also weren't adding up even if she had been a spy; she had certainly caused issues for his Division make no mistake but it was noticeable mayhem; in her position she could have wreaked untold havoc for months before being found out. She could have led entire groups of his Division into ambushes, she could have led him into an ambush.

During the whole struggle, she'd never unsheathed her Zanpaku-tou. It sat down next to him, leaning against the wall. It'd been there, at her side the entire time and she'd never made for it. She could have shut down the entire effort to stop the fire, and made it significantly more difficult for the members to capture her, but had instead refused to draw it. It just didn't make sense. Add on top of that the fact that she wasn't acting like herself in the slightest. Part of the reason he had taken her out on a mission to combat Hollows in the world of the living was to see how she reacted when under pressure, when in real combat. Unless she had managed to keep up her act through that entire time, then her attitude during this attack was unlike anything he'd seen from her. His gut told him something wasn't right here.

Midori arrived and Genpaku have her a small, tight smile by way of greeting as she checked in. He frowned slightly as the description was given; there hadn't been a wound on her shoulder when he'd seen her held down. Or at least there wasn't a hole in her clothing at the time. He thought back to the attack from a few days ago, and a new question came to his mind. Midori dismissed the other member and turned to speak with him; he filled in what she began to say, that his other Division members were already being look at, but turned his attention to the door as Kaminari opened it. He raised an eyebrow as she did so, and there was a subtle shifting in his weight as he balanced himself.

There was no hint of an attack to come from the girl; her entire demeanor had changed back to what he'd been used to. The slight frown remained on his face as Kaminari spoke up, explaining that she had cut through the kidou with ease. She finally seemed to key onto something not being right, and looked between himself and Midori.
“The Fourth Division, and you're going to remain in that room until I say otherwise,” he said, not exactly being harsh with his command but it was clear that it was that; an order that was meant to be followed. He took a small breath as he eased some of the tension out of his body. He looked over her a moment.
“What is the last thing you remember?” he asked, a forced calm in his voice at this point. Genpaku knew that things didn't add up, but his people had been hurt. He'd never been particularly good at keeping his temper in check before he became captain, but he'd at least gotten better since.

Subject: Re: Lost Night [Private] Fri Jul 26, 2019 3:12 am

The Fourth Division...

"Wha-... Uh, I..." Kaminari swallowed nervously. The tension that filled every muscle in Kaminari's body was noticeable. Midori caught sight of it, but stayed silent. Her eyes darted up and down the hall, as if searching for a way to escape. Fleeing from her Captain after being given a direct order was not smart. There was something about the order that felt... agitated. She held her ground.

"Uh, the last thing that I remember?" Kaminari asked and thought back, a very goofy smile coming to her face, "A four scoop ice cream sundae with extra strawberry topping, nuts, caramel, and hot fudge." Kaminari scratched at her waist again and instantly hissed in pain. A couple of memories returned and she cleared her throat. "I was heading here, actually... Didn't want to come IN but this thing was getting worse... It itches like crazy. I can't stop scratching it."

Kaminari opened her haori without an ounce of shyness. Midori looked between Genpaku and Kaminari, wondering whether Kaminari realized her MALE CAPTAIN was RIGHT THERE. Apparently, Kaminari didn't care. Midori said nothing about it since it wasn't her business and the rash caught her eye. "Into the room, please." Midori gestured Kaminari backwards and Kaminari stepped back in after a moment of nervous hesitation. Kaminari took a deep breath to relax.

Midori examined Kaminari, allowing Genpaku into the room. "She removed her haori in the hall, so I doubt she cares that you're in the room..." Midori stated as she waved him toward them. "I leave my chest wrapped like this for a reason. It's pretty much a shirt." Kaminari shrugged, wincing as Midori ran a gloved hand along the rash. "It's bad, right?" Kaminari asked. "It's odd and not a basic rash. It's more like an infection." Midori said and closed the door behind Genpaku.

"Captain Arishima... What exactly happened?"

Posts : 139 Join date : 2018-08-17

Genpaku remained silent as he watched Kaminari closely; she suddenly had the look of a scared rabbit when she found out where they were, and she immediately looked around as though seeking escape. Luckily she seemed to come to her senses at least somewhat, and brought herself under control. Her answers to his question were both helpful and very much not. He looked down from her face to the source of her discomfort when opened her haori, too focused at that exact moment to have much in the way of discomfort at the impropriety of the situation. Apparently, however, Midori spottted something that caught her attention as well as she inserted herself into the conversation once more.

Midori moved into the room, and Genpaku followed shortly thereafter when she cleared him to. He took up post near the door all the same, leaning back against wall. He brought along Kaminari's Zanpaku-tou as well and let it lean against the wall next to him once more. Otherwise, Genpaku kept himself quiet as Midori inspected the wound before turning to him and questioning.
“I imagine that wound came from our patrol out to the World of the Living a day an a half ago or so. We got attacked by a strange Hollow, then swarmed by what were almost like insects. Hatakeyama here was bitten. They weren't regular insects; I captured one of them and handed it off to the Twelfth so that they could see what was up with it.”

Genpaku took a moment, clearing up his thoughts before he continued.
“As for what brought her in today; she was caught setting fire to the offices of the Division using kidou. When members of the Division attempted to stop her, she responded with force. She was subdued by several members, but not before she incapacitated the other two yours are currently looking after. When I arrived on the scene Hatakeyama threw off several members holding her down and attempted to hit me with an incantation-less kidou, which is where the burn on her arm came from. I thought it prudent to bring her here after that, since none of this behavior fit. As for the wound on her back shoulder, there was no indication that it was present when I brought her in. There was no accompanying tear in her clothing, so it did not come from the scuffle.”

He let the explanation hang in the air for a few moments, his tone having been quite serious. He looked to Midori after that, concern vying with much darker emotions in his eyes. “Thoughts?”

Subject: Re: Lost Night [Private] Wed Jul 31, 2019 5:47 am

"My thoughts of the current circumstances are bleak." Midori said bluntly, talking to Genpaku as if Kaminari wasn't really in the room. "It's hard to tell because of the size, but the wound on her shoulder juts outward, not inward, so she wasn't stabbed. It is more like something came out of her body and it was tiny."

Kaminari went to scratch at her stomach again, but her hand was smacked by Midori. The two glared at each other, but Kaminari took the hint.

"There is also faint energy of an Arrancar seeping from the so-called rash on her stomach." Midori continued her explanation, eyes closed and arms crossed. "My theory now is that she's been infected and her strange behavior is the result of something not often seen: hollowfication. I'll run some tests, but that's my guess."

The moment 'hollowfication' was brought up, Kaminari's mind blocked out the world around her. The other two became nothing but muffled voices as she felt her entire body heat up from the fear. She sat in her trance, barely able to breathe, as she thought of the journey she just began coming to an abrupt end.

Posts : 139 Join date : 2018-08-17

Genpaku frowned as Midori started her explanation, but had learned long ago not to interrupt her when she was working through a theory. As Midori continued he only got more concerned; he looked over to Kaminari who sat on the table listening as well. This was at least in part his fault; if he had not insisted on going out on that mission that day none of this would be happening. The concern wasn't just for his new Vice-Captain though; something had burrowed out of her shoulder, and that meant that potentially something was loose in his division. Thinking back on the insect-like nature of what had infect her in the first place, this could end up being very bad indeed.

Before he could get too concerned with that though, things got worse; Midori spit-balled her second theory. Genpaku looked again at Kaminari, and saw that she'd stopped paying attention to the conversation. Understandable really, and he didn't have any idea what to do to ease the panic that must have started going through her. Truth be told, he wasn't sure what the hell to do about any of this. This was not the kind of situation he had prepared to deal with when he had taken up the mantle of Captain in this Division. His mind began to race through thoughts before he stuffed them down. He was a Captain, and at the very least he could put on a brave face for the moment.

He took a breath, closed his eyes, and thoughts in terms of priorities; get Kaminari under observation to see how things progressed. Lock down his Division and hunt through it for any signs of infection. Contact the Captain Commander; prehaps he would have a better idea of what to do. He'd dropped a sample of the small creatures that had attacked the pair of them when Kaminari was theoretically infected, perhaps the Twelfth had something. He opened his eyes and looked between Kaminari and Midori for a moment. He reached out a placed a steadying hand on Kaminari's shoulder, and mustered all the quiet confidence he could and could fake in this situation. He gave her a small smile.
“We'll figure this out. Don't start counting yourself out yet,” he said gently before he looked back to Midori.
“If what you say is even half correct, that means I need to start moving and quickly. Its possible there are more creatures in my Division looking to infect others. Lieutenant Hatakeyama should probably remain here for observation, yes?”

He waited for Midori's answer before giving a nod.
“I need to contact the Captain-Commander before others in my Division do to avoid...issues. I had a sample of the creature that I think infected her; I had left it with the Twelfth. Any chance I can ask you to contact them and see if it will help?” Genpaku asked. He could have ordered it to some degree, though generally stepping on another Division's members as a higher ranked one was frowned upon. Also, you don't do that to friends. He also knew that Midori was a very busy person, so he wanted to be careful about putting more on her. He turned his attention back to Kaminari, waiting until he'd grabbed her attention again.
“You're gonna be safe here, at least until I get back okay? I need to go talk with the Captain-Commander and set the Division to looking after itself. Then I'm coming back. Can you handle things here until I get back?”- he asked, the last bit with a small amount of challenge in it. He knew by now that Kaminari was determined to prove herself. Perhaps structuring this as something for her to overcome instead of something she was the victim of might help her move through this.

The truth was also that Genpaku needed to figure out what to really do about this, and he didn't need either of them seeing that he was in fact as lost as they were in this case. Maybe Midori knew, but maybe she didn't and either way he had to act like he knew what he was doing. If you could say nothing else about Genpaku, he took his job of Captain seriously and he wasn't about to start panicking others just because he didn't know what was happening.

Subject: Re: Lost Night [Private] Sat Aug 17, 2019 1:47 pm

Kaminari gave a curt nod toward her Captain as he attempted to comfort her. Midori hesitated to answer the question directed toward her and just nodded to answer the initial question. Genpaku went to explain his next steps while Midori was trying to figure out how to explain something important. "Uh... yeah, I have a couple of people over there that could take a look, maybe rush it if they don't have anything yet." Midori said, clearing her throat When the conversation went back toward Kaminari, Midori took a step forward to interrupt.

"Captain Arishima... After what you've explained to me, she has to be locked up until we understand what is happening." Midori said and Kaminari's attention was caught again. "What do you mean locked up?" Kaminari asked. "You don't remember your recent actions. You attacked your fellow squad mates and set fire to your own division. You even attempted to strike your own captain with a kido. I'll be making arrangements to have you transferred to a prison cell."

Kaminari went to speak again, but couldn't find anything to say. She glanced to Captain Arishima and then sighed. She closed her mouth and straightened her back. "I attacked my Captain..." Kaminari said in disappointment and nodded, "Do what you have to do." Midori nodded and looked to Genpaku. "That hers? Keep it with you." Midori motioned to the sword he set off to the side. There was almost a warning in the words Midori spoke and even in the look she gave him.

Posts : 139 Join date : 2018-08-17

Genpaku's focus sharpened on Midori when she got the point. He didn't say anything though, letting her explain her reasoning. He took a breath, forcing himself to focus once more. She had a point; if he had been talking to anyone else about any other Division then he would have been advising to do the same thing. It felt different because it was his Division in question this time, but that didn't make it different. He let out a huff.
“Is there any chance I can ask you to hold off on doing that until I can get someone I trust, or at least until I speak to the Sixth?” He looked from Midori to Kaminari, then back again. “Frankly, I'm worried about the impartiality of members of my Division, and others potentially.”

Kaminari spoke up and he frowned. He let out another sigh, trying to run through options in his head. There was just too much spinning around though. He had to keep things in focus, but that was getting harder to do by the minute. The longer he waited, the more problems were beginning to pile up as well. He was going to have to start moving, and that meant he was going to have to start letting some things play out as they would and deal with them after. Midori spoke up again, and Genpaku gave a nod. He picked up Kaminari's Zanpaku-tou, and turned to look at her.[/i]
“Hey, I'm going to hold on to her for a little bit okay? I think it might help, and make some people calmer besides. I'm going to get this worked out,” he said, the last words with as much weight as he could muster behind them. Someone was fucking around with his Division, and that made him angry. That it was seeming more and more like the work of an Arrancar only added more fuel to a fire growing the young Captain.

He turned and looked at Midori again.
“None of this is adding up, and I definitely think we're being played. If you can keep her for observation for a little longer before you have to move her, I'd appreciate the extra time. I'm going to contact that Sixth and First to appraise them of the situation while I try and quell the chaos in my Division. I'll be back as soon as I can,” he said, starting for the door. He stopped, looking back at the two women.
“Hatakeyama, listen to Lieutenant Hayashi. We'll get this sorted out.” With that, he left the room and made his way out of the building.

He didn't like leaving Kaminari at this time; she already felt isolated and this would go a long way to making that worse. If he hadn't had his responsibilities he would have stayed, but he didn't have that luxury. Power comes with obligations, and this was a prime example of such. As he walked through the halls of the Fourth Division he held out his hand and a Hell's Butterfly alighted on it.[/i]
“This is Captain Arishima of the Tenth Divison; I request the presence of a high ranking member of the Sixth Division. Alpha Priority.” he said, and sent the butterfly off towards the Sixth Division. He kept his hand out until a second butterfly landed.
“This is Captain Arishima of the Tenth Division; there has been an attack on my Division, and possibly an incursion into the Seireitei. I request your presence at your earliest convenience at the Former Tenth Division offices.” he said, ending the message. “Take this message to the Captain Commander,” he said, and sent the creature on its way.

The messages were away, he was committed now. He had wanted to avoid this for a number of reasons. There was no avoiding it now, and he didn't have the time or luxury to sit and regret. He had to get back because tonight was certain to do only one thing; get more complicated.

Subject: Re: Lost Night [Private] Tue Sep 03, 2019 9:42 am

It was settled. Kaminari would stay. Midori agreed to waiting a while and explained to Genpku that she could only hold her for up to twelve more hours without causing too much of a fuss. Once Genpaku left, Midori took care of Kaminari by actually ordering a couple more tests and having her admitted. She was given a room that Midori instructed her not to leave or she would immediately call the Second Division to deal with her. Kaminari agreed and the day went on normally.

Before Genpaku returned to the destroyed buildings in his Division, another Captain had already arrived on scene. Lilith Blake stood in the courtyard, a couple feet from the rubble and ash, arms crossed and eyes narrowed as her eyes moved over the area. As he entered the area again, Lilith had her back to him. "I heard the ruckus and came over, but wasn't exactly expecting a piece of your Division to have fallen." Lilith said, kicking a small boulder as easily as others kick a pebble. She turned to him, arms crossed and a more serious demeanor than she normally had around him. "So, what happen-..." Lilith looked off as she sensed two others approaching, the same two Genpaku likely sensed moments before she actually could.

The night began late and it was only getting later. Most of the Gotei Thirteen was asleep, including Captain Gogatsu of the Sixth Division. The Hell Butterfly made its way into the room and signaled the sleeping Captain to wake. Isamu opened his eyes and raised a hand to allow the butterfly to land before listen to the message. "Hm?" Isamu sat up as he took in the message. Getting the message and noting who it was from, he wasn't going to wait around. He sat up and hopped out of bed to get dressed before rushing out of his home.

Quite a few miles away from the Sixth Division, a Hell Butterfly landed on top of the head of the Captain Commander. Having fallen asleep on a pile of paperwork, J woke to the message being played. He raised his head and pulled a paper off of his cheek. "Repeat." He said and the message was repeated. There was an urgency that he sensed and chose to get up and get moving. J collected himself and slid his zanpakuto in its sash before rushing out of his office and towards the designated meeting area. On the way, he could sense a familiar energy heading in the same direction as him.

Isamu arrived "first". A final shunpo landed him about five feet from the office door, or what once would have been the office door. "What happened here?" he thought to himself before locating Genpaku. "Good early morning, Captain Arishima. What can I d-... Ah, Lady Blake. Lovely to see you out tonight." Isamu said politely, but with more flirty tones toward Lilith. "Don't start that again." "Oh, no worries, love." Isamu waved it off, "Just business tonight. I promise."

A moment later, J made an appearance, appearing in the courtyard and observing the damage before looking back to the other two. "So, what is this all about?" J asked. He nodded toward Genpaku and Lilith as his greeting and then toward Isamu, who returned the gesture. J rubbed his eyes and then squeezed the bridge of his nose before shaking his head to wake up. "Tired?" "Been a busy week." "Yeah." Lilith said and then all eyes turned their attention to Genpaku.

Posts : 139 Join date : 2018-08-17

Genpaku entered the courtyard, and was not the least bit surprised to see Lilith had arrived while he had been away. He would have been surprised if she hadn't honestly. He gave a small wave as she noticed him, and started to work up a response when he felt the other two approaching. A few moments later, Lilith seemed to do the same.
“Let's just say its going to be a long night; I'll explain once everyone is present,” he said, tension thick in his voice but contained. He turned to the Divisions members who had noticed him arrive back and began to approach.
“Listen up folks, tonight is about to be a long one. I want everyone out and sweeping the Division grounds. You need to keep your senses sharp for any traces of Hollow energy signatures. You're looking for something the size of a fly or similar. You also need to keep an eye out for any kind of nest-like structure. I believe it has to do with what happened here. Furthermore, any other strange behavior needs to be brought to my attention immediately. Move out, pass these orders on to anyone else you encounter.”

It wasn't often that Genpaku gave such direct orders to his Division, so they knew to not question too much what was going on and moved out. By this point, the other two Captains had arrived. Short greetings were exchanged, and then the attention moved to him. He took a breath.
“I've had some...additional strange behavior to top off the week. And if I'm being honest...I don't quite know what to do about it. Hence my summons. I was awoken a short while ago to the sounds of the fire alarm. When I arrived, the offices were on fire and my Division members were holding down my new Vice-Captain. According to what I heard when I arrived, she'd been the one setting flame to the offices. Shortly after that...she attempted to attack me.”

“But,” he said, cutting off any immediate response from those assembled because it was possible someone other than Lilith would attempt to cut in here. He'd shout, if he had to. “She was obviously unsuccessful in her attempt, and I subdued her. This behavior does not line up with her personality otherwise. She was acting strange. I choose to take her to the Fourth Division to see if they could find anything. Upon examination, wounds were found that did not come from either instance of her being restrained. The Fourth's Vice-Captain will have a better summary of the medical findings honestly. The more important finds came after Lieutenant Hatakeyama regained consciousness; namely, she had no memory of incident or an unknown span of time before it. Her personality had switched back to the person I've been observing the last week or so. Additionally, the Fourth's Vice-Captain found traces of Hollow energy signatures coming from the wounds on Hatakeyama's wounds. I believe they tie back to an attack less than two days ago when we were out on a mission in the World of the Living, where we came under attack by an insect-like Hollow or colony thereof. I captured one of them, and handed the sample off to the Twelfth. I noticed Hatakeyama had been injured during the attack, and advised her to seek medical treatment. Which she seems to have put off until she was headed there earlier this evening before she lost consciousness.”

Genpaku left the explanation hanging in the air for a few moments, letting the info sink in to those present now that it was just the Captains. He let out another sigh, and rubbed at his face. He shifted slightly, adjusting his balance to compensate for the third Zanpaku-tou on his waste. He'd have to store it after this.
“If I am speaking honestly, my gut tells me something isn't adding up here. Hatakeyama's behavior is entirely out of character for the person I've been interacting with up to this point. However...I also have no idea how to handle this situation,” he said, and it took something for him to say that. He was possibly the youngest Captain the Gotei had ever had, and he certainly felt like he had a lot to prove. While this felt counter to that, it also felt like the right thing to do. The safety of his Division was worth more than a small piece of his pride.
“Which is why I reached out to you. Captain Gogatsu, I worry that some of this may become more of an issue. Especially if as I worry my Vice-Captain was either being influenced or outright controlled. I think it could become a larger issue. If, as I also suspect, it was the result of the strange insect-like hollow attack I'm trying to cut it off here before it spreads. I figured not being blindsided by this would have been helpful. If you have any advice, I'm listening.” He turned to J a moment.
“Captain Commander, I brought this to your attention for much the same reason. I wanted you to hear it from me before the rumor mill got it to you.”

Genpaku turned his attention, momentarily, over to Lilith next.
“I hadn't sent a summon for you because I figured you'd beat me back here anyway,” he said with a small smirk before it dropped from his face and he turned his attention back to the other captains. Really, he was passing the floor back to them to see what they thought of all this.

Subject: Re: Lost Night [Private] Thu Sep 12, 2019 6:27 pm

The information presented by Captain Arishima was troubling for all three present. As he mentioned Lieutenant Hatakeyama attacking him, Isamu took a few side steps away from Lilith and toward J., both men glancing toward the female Captain. Lilith's eye would have flashed red, but you wouldn't be able to tell because they're already red. There was a momentary shift in her position, but she relaxed. As Genpaku stated a moment later, he was fine. Besides that, Lilith was still one to get all the information before running off to smash Kaminari's head into the concrete. She could wait a couple more minutes for that joy.

The rest of the information was given and everyone was quiet, taking it all in and giving a few moments to figure out what may be done about this. "Commander?" Isamu glanced toward J., who cleared his throat and nodded. "Captain Gogatsu, you'll be heading the investigation into Lieutenant Hatakeyama." J gave out his first orders. "I want her isolated until your findings and Lieutenant Hayashi's findings discover the cause of this. Before you do that, head to the Twelfth and take into account anything they discovered about what Captain Arishima brought them. Have Lieutenant Hatakeyama moved to the Sixth Division cells, away from the medical buildings."

"Understood." Captain Gogatsu turned to Captain Arishima. "To confirm, your observation of Lieutenant Hatakeyama's character since her joining your Division is contradicted by the behavior you've recently witnessed?" he asked bluntly and continued with the amount of professionalism you'd expect from a Captain. "Any time someone from the Shojin attends the Academy, we put a few more eyes on them, so I've been aware of her presence for a while. Are you confident none of this was an act? Could she be lying?" As Genpaku answered, Isamu watched him closely, taking note of every muscle movement in the young Captain's face. Once the answer was given, Isamu nodded. He turned to J. and whispered something to him. J. raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "You'll get a preliminary report within twelve hours." Isamu said before shunpo'ing off to the Twelfth.

"You know that I hate secrets." Lilith stated in the tone of a casual warning. J. cleared his throat again, glancing between the two here with him. "Captain Blake, you're hereby assigned to guard Captain Arishima twenty-four-seven until the situation with his Lieutenant has been handled." J. gave out his second orders. Lilith was about to speak out against it, but didn't know how. On one hand, she knew Genpaku could take care of himself. On the other hand, she was just ordered to hang out with her favorite person. How was this bad? "Are... you sure?" Lilith asked, tilting her head curiously.

"Yes. Captain Arishima," J turned to him as Lilith inwardly cheered at the best orders ever. "Thank you for bringing this to our attention. From now on, make suret your Division members understand that injury by hollow is required to be checked out by someone from the Fourth for reasons just like this. From what I saw in her file, she has a problem with hospitals, so requiring a home visit could be an easy way of avoiding her complaints. Also, I understand that having a guard is not ideal, however, Captain Gogatsu feels it is the safest for all parties involved." J shot a momentary glance to Lilith while she wasn't looking. "Now, tell me about these insects you spoke of."

Posts : 139 Join date : 2018-08-17

Genpaku wasn't entirely happy with the Captain Commander's initial order, but he offered no argument. It would be safer to isolate Kaminari for the time being in case there was more to this, but he did worry that continued incarceration could lead to further issues once she was released. He'd have to deal with that later though; he had enough to worry about right here and now. Captain Gogatsu turned his attention to Genpaku, posing another question. He confirmed the first question, and took a moment to consider the past week once pressed.
“I deliberately took Lieutenant Hatakeyama out on a mission to put her into a space where an act would fall in the face of danger. If it was an act, it was a good one. My gut tells me it wasn't an act though. Besides which, I see little benefit if she were in fact a Shojin spy in infiltrating my Division. We have the least contact with the Mikazuki, our members rarely if ever encounter one another. There is little valuable information housed here for any of the other Divisions that you couldn't find anywhere else. If this was an act, I don't see the end goal of it. And I don't think the Mikazuki are desperate enough to align themselves with monsters just to poke us in the eye. Also, I believe that if Hatakyema wanted to cause more direct personal harm to members of the Division, she would have released her Zanpaku-tou. During the attack, she never even seemed to consider it.”

Captain Gogatsu seemed satisfied with that, and turned to talk with the Captain Commander a minute. Genpaku turned his attention to the ruins of his offices and considered what next to do. If there was in fact some kind of insect or infection like force at work here, he'd be best off quarantining the Division so as not to spread it. He'd do so after the grounds had been combed; there was a chance they could find the nest before it got too entrenched. J spoke up.
“What?” Genpaku asked, more surprised than indignant. While he might have considered himself one of the weakest Captains he didn't think he was either valuable enough nor weak enough to require a body-guard. The Captain Commander turned and spoke to him after answering Lilith's question, and while he may have wanted to initially argue he could see the logic. After a moment he gave a nod.
“Lieutenant Hatakeyama and myself were out on a patrol mission; I wanted to see how she responded and acted when out in real combat instead of training. During the patrol we were engaged by a frog-like Hollow that used a sonic-based attack against us. Rather than trying to attack us head on, however, it continued to fall back and away as we closed on it. After it was dispatched, we were attacked by a swarm of these insect-like creatures. One or more bit the Lieutenant, but they seemed to have a hard time getting through my skin. I captured one, which I brought back to the Twelfth.”

“After dropping it off, I noticed Hatakeyama scratching at her side where a rash had appeared. I advised her to go to the Fourth, which she was reluctant about. I advised her to do so anyway, and had decided privately that if she had not gone within the next forty-eight hours, I would take her there personally. Apparently, I waited too long,” he said. He let out a breath at the end; he was mad at himself for waiting that long, but there wasn't time to dwell on that now.
“I'm planning on having my Division scour the grounds for signs of this possible nest before I quarantine it. I'll be sending out messages now to those members out in the World of the Living to continue their patrols until told to return to keep a presence in the World of the Living and to keep them from being exposed. Does this seem a sound idea to you, Captain-Commander?”

Subject: Re: Lost Night [Private] Sun Sep 15, 2019 10:01 pm

As J. took a moment to contemplate Captain Arishima's decision, his attention was caught by a bang. He looked over to Captain Blake, who had kicked over a large rock and was staring at a portion of the building that hadn't fallen. Lilith suddenly kicked a pillar that was beneath it and the thing collapsed, along with the rest of the floor... onto her head. "She's your mother." J. said as Lilith noticed she was being watched. "...I'd rather it fall on me than some pip-squeak, okay?" Lilith said, her background in construction kind of giving her some insight there. "Ah." was J's reply as he looked back to Genpaku.

"I agree with what you've said. It may be best to close down the senkaimon." J said. "Those already in the World of the Living are safe from this issue and those here should not take it elsewhere. If anything else comes to pass, report it immediately. Captain Blake, I trust your Lieutenant will be able to handle your Division?" "Without a doubt." Lilith confirmed. "Good. By Captain Arishima's side. At. All. Times. Understood?" J asked. "... He can use the bathroom on his own, right?" Lilith raised an eyebrow at J. "O-Of course." J said, taken aback by that. "Do I have to sleep in his bed?" "NO!"

"What if he ends up in the men's barracks? Must I fo-" "Captain Arishima, handle your Mother." J turned away and began walking off. "Wait, answer the question! I need to know my limits here!" J quickened his pace until he shunpo'd away. "BUT COMMANDER I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS." Lilith shouted after him, cupping her hands around her mouth. "HIS LEFT OR RIGHT SIDE?" J was gone and Lilith didn't get another question answered. She looked back to Genpaku with a straight face, at first, and then just let out a strong laugh. "Hahahaaaa... I love picking on that kid." she said, wiping a tear of joy from her eye. "So, I'm on guard duty. Where to?"

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