Return to Normalcy [Closed]

There was excitement and a buzz of activity about the Tenth Division grounds this morning.  Little surprise though considering its Captain had returned; Genpaku was never one to really let the division stand idle.  For being as young as he was, Genpaku had seen much violence and mayhem in his time and it had instilled in him a certain insistence on being prepared.  When he had moved up to the rank of Division Captain, he had decided that his division should share at least some of that feeling as well.

Genpaku stood at the center of a loose circle of other Shinigami, a sizable distance between him and any of the others.  He stood unarmed, his Zanpaku-tous sitting atop his Captain's Haori in the shade of one of the nearby walls.  In its absence you could almost mistake him for just another division member; almost.  His head of platinum hair did stand out after all, and since he was a Captain it was a well known marker of his identity.  He stood there, mostly relaxed but with the slight tension of those about to join a game.  And in some respects, that was what was about to happen.  There were about twelve Shinigami in total standing around him, and many more had taken up seats or vantages nearby to watch an exercise that was well known to those that had been in the Tenth for any length of time.

“Begin,” he said simply, smirking ever so slightly, and the quiet of the grounds was broken as the twelve shinigami launched various forms of attack on the young shinigami at the center.

Kidō and blades came at him, and Genpaku was like air.  He slipped past the on coming attacks and danced about the twelve Shinigami.  The exercise was a simple, but practical one.  Working in tandem, the twelve Shinigami were to try and contain or otherwise defeat an opponent of greater strength than any one of them possessed.  Those assembled were allowed to use all options, save for the release of their Zanpakut-ous (he hadn't had a chance to request permission for such an exercise since returning) or any of the forbidden Kidō/techniques (for obvious reasons).  Sometimes, the members were inventive.  Sometimes they were new, and so tried for straight forward approaches.  There was an ongoing agreement that if the division could successfully contain Genpaku he would pay for a lavish dinner for the entire division.

Unfortunate then that Genpaku was one of the greatest Shinigami around where movement was concerned.  Also unfortunate that today either the members of the Division were rusty and/or new.  Genpaku danced circles through the lines of attack the group threw at him; he offered no taunting advice or snide remarks as he moved through them, merely watching with intelligent eyes.  He did not reach out, he did not strike; that wasn't the point of the game.  Not yet.

After five minutes a whistle sounded, and Genpaku came to a halt.  Many were sweaty, some dropped to a sitting position.  Genpaku looked over the group before giving a single nod.
“That was no good guys.  You started to get the hang of it towards the end, but too little too late.  By main strength alone you will not take down an opponent of greater strength than yourselves.  Well, you might; but you will lose friends, allies, the lives of your fellow Division members.  Throw enough bodies at an enemy and you may overcome them, but only if you're willing to climb the mountain your fellow Shinigami made with their lives.  I expect better.”  His words were harsh, but they were not said harshly.  He looked over his Division members, and cracked a smile.
“So, we'll see if you do any better on the next round.  Mix up the group!” he called as he stretched and waiting for the next group of Shinigami to gather for the exercise

Hanae would easily describe herself as an average Shinigami. She wasn't weak, but she wasn't strong. If you put her next to her Captain, she was nothing more than pathetic, but among her peers who also needed a bit more training, she felt a little more at home. She never really had the ambition to become a strong Shinigami either. That changed recently after she ran into a certain person and realized that she wanted to get to know two missing links in her life. The problem was feeling completely unworthy. However, both of these missing links valued something within the Gotei and were loyal to it, so why not prove herself by getting off her content ass and training until they'd be proud.

Hanae had not been to one of these training sessions in an entire year, if not longer than that. She was going to be very rusty and wasn't sure whether the rules of the game had changed since then. Upon arrival and realizing it was about containing the Captain, the rules had changed since her last session. She watched the first group go forward and fail at their mission, but they all gave it a good shot. Captain Arishima was so fast and agile; it was like watching a bee with the grace and fluidity of a swan dart across the field. How was she supposed to participate in this? Speed was not her forte. The first group stopped and were scolded by the Captain, but he was never demeaning when he spoke.

Captain Arishima called for the next group and Hanae nervously stepped up. An old friend noticed the hesitation and actually kicked her forward. She stumbled and fell to a knee, glaring back and Nina. "Hey! I'm going, I'm going!" Hanae's glare faded and a smile returned when she saw Nina giggling at her. She got up and hurried over to the group with a little skip. It had really been a long time since she had been here, so she decided to confirm a thing or two. "Hello, Captain Arishima. I have a question or two... It's been a while since I've done a session, but um... The goal of this is just to contain you, right? When you say contain, what do you mean? Or is the definition of that word left up to us?"

Genpaku watched the group mix up as different people decided they'd had enough, some decided to try their hands, and many others just watched.    Most were familiar faces, as Genpaku made it a point to at least meet most of those that entered his Division.  Which was why he vaguely recognized one of the female Shinigami that was more or less volunteered by a friend of hers before making her way over with a smile.  He reached back in his memory; it had been a while since he'd seen this face here, yes?

Hanae confirmed this with her question, but it would probably do the assembled some good to hear the answer anyway.  He gave a smile to her as she asked her questions.
“Correct; the point of the exercise is to contain me.  In this scenario, I am a stronger opponent and so by main strength alone no one of you will contain me.  Working together you must contain or otherwise limit my ability to, theoretically, cause mayhem and havoc in my wake.” he said loud enough for the assembled to hear him.  If you didn't know who he was, this would have probably sounded vaguely funny to you given his underwhelming appearance and contained power.  And to a few who knew him, maybe it was still somewhat funny to think of Genpaku causing much in the way of havoc.

A blessing that so few had ever seen Genpaku fight in earnest.

He rolled a shoulder before grinning again, and looking at the group as it assembled.  They were just getting to the point where there were enough of them.
“That everyone for this round?”

Once Hanae felt she understood the directions clearly, she thought for a moment and nodded. "Since I'm sure calling for the Head Captain is not part of the rules, even though it does show we know when to call for help at a moment of us being completely out classed... I won't take that route." she said playfully and then looked back to Nina, waving her over. Nina looked on suspiciously and came forward. The two shared in a quiet conversation as Captain Arishima called for a few final contestants. "How is that gonna work!?" Nina raised her voice out of annoyance. "I didn't say it would. I just wanted to try it." Hanae replied cheerfully. "I feel like the rest of us are getting the shit end of the deal." "You are, but it was my idea in the first place, so I think I have a right to do it." Nina rolled her eyes and the two friends shared a laugh and then readied themselves. "Alright. All ready, Capt-. Actually. One more question if you don't mind. If we succeed, what do we get? Is there some sort of prize?"

Genpaku raised an eyebrow at Hanae's suggestion, smirking slightly. That'd be a technical win sure, but did defeat the purpose of the exercise as a whole. She turned to one of the nearby Shinigami, a friend of hers, and began to whisper something. Seems that someone was going to make a plan this time. Maybe this would get somewhere today then. He look away from them and over the rest of the assembled division members as they generally got ready for the round. It seemed they had everyone that was going to participate.

Then a voice answered his question, and he turned his gaze to the speaker. It was the second time he'd really had the chance to meet Kei, and Genpaku had to admit that she seemed much more animated this time around than she had a few months ago. Her gaze was an intense thing, sharp as broken glass; he did not look away though. She was taking in everything about the battlefield, himself, and her divison mates. With her stepping up to join, a few more members stepped up as well to participate and the atmosphere kicked up a notch. That brought a smile to his face. Now things were getting interesting.

He gave a conciliatory nod to Kei's statement about her Zanpakutō; would have been a little out of place for him to say anything considering he'd done the same. Then again, maybe it would have been easier if he'd kept his blades on him?

Hanae spoke up again, asking about a prize if they were successful in containing him; Kei seemed to echo the idea. It was true that in the past Genpaku had offered rewards for people succeeding, but he had not thought about it this time around. He seemed to consider it for a few moments, tilting his head as he thought.
“Sure; I think that would be acceptable. A little incentive couldn't hurt. But what suits...? he asked, though he didn't seem to actually be asking anyone in particular.

“How about this. If you are successful in containing me, I'll throw a party. Everything will be on me.” he said with a smile. He stretched lightly in place for a moment before a piece of his relaxed demeanor fell like a dropped plate. In its place was a focus that had been missing from the last few runs of the exercise.
“Begin.”

Hanae hadn't been very in the loop lately. She heard that they had gotten a new Vice Captain, but hadn't met the woman and wasn't able to show up to the meeting introducing her because she was sick. Nina noticed Hanae's confusion when Kei showed up, so she came over to explained who Kei was. That was a shocker, but having the Lieutenant on their side might give them a pretty big advantage. It was easy to say that Kei's appearance gave Hanae the courage to actually ask the question about a prize. She shot a friendly smile toward Kei when the Lieutenant seconded her question.

"A party?" Hanae thought about what that likely meant and crossed her arms, "I guess depending on the type of party that could be fun. If it's the regular drinking parties that I see the men of our Division do, I feel like we ladies are getting shafted, especially since there are more women this round than men. Don't you think?" Hanae directed that question to Nina, who smiled widely at her devious friend and nodded. "I agree! Yep." Hanae nodded and stepped up to her Captain, "If that is the prize, I think it's only fair that it's a party for everyone to enjoy, not just a large drinking game. How about a dance? And if the one responsible for the success is one of these beautiful ladies here, then you..." Hanae pointed at her Captain, "...have to be their date on that fateful night." Hanae winked back at Nina.

"And of course, if it is one of the men... Well, you guys can pick your prize. I don't know what the men would want; I only understand my fellow women..." Hanae giggled and held out her hand for Genpaku to shake, "So... What do you say, Captain? Do you think you're up for such a challenge?"

Doubts about the prize arose even before he'd really finished talking about it, or so it seemed. Still, Genpaku couldn't quite bring himself to blame them.
“Wasn't really planning on it being that kind of drinking party,” he said, thinking to himself for a moment. Truth be told, he'd been planning on throwing a gathering for the Division for a while; a chance for old members to get together in a relaxed setting and swap stories, for new members to get a chance to mingle with old, and generally for the Division to get to know one another. Especially given some of the change ups that had happened recently. Also, while Hanae suggested a dance as a kind of party everyone would like there were a few groans at the idea from the male contingent of the Division. Not everyone liked dancing, and not everyone was good at dancing.

Genpaku caught the glance back to Nina, but didn't think much on it. Still, Genpaku couldn't rightly back down from a challenge laid before the entire Division.
“I think we'll have to make something in between the two you just suggested, since not everyone seemed to like the idea of a dance. I think something can be worked out though,”] he commented with a smile. He turned to look at Kei as she put forth her own request for a prize; if he wasn't careful, everyone was going to ask for specific prizes. Still, he gave a conciliatory nod to Kei. Hanae stepped up and held out her hand; Genpaku shook it before taking a step back and announcing the beginning of the game.

Kei wasted no time, launching forward with an attack. Though she'd left her Zanpakutō behind she'd produced a pair of knives. Her form was good, and she was certainly quick as she passed most of the other members. The knives flashed and clinked off solid ground as Genpaku took a single step back, almost tauntingly before jumping further backwards under normal power. As much as this was a exercise for the Division in working against a stronger enemy it was an exercise for Genpaku as well. If he was not able to destroy a mass of enemies with overwhelming power, then what was he to do? In this case, use his natural speed and agility to tire out the enemy. To the end he moved back, away from the oncoming mass of Shinigami. But what tricks did they have up their sleeves yet?

Hanae wasn't the best at reading 'behind the eyes', so she saw very differently. The emotionless nod with a mere glance automatically made that awkward. Hanae had to fight rolling her eyes. Was this going to be one of those higher-ups that thought they were better than the rest? Hanae mentally shrugged it off and continued with her rant. The groaning from the men was expected. Anytime they would have to act like a gentleman over their usual uncivilized selves they were going to have a problem with it. She rolled her eyes at their reactions. "And this is why you're all single." Hanae pointed at the men and then crossed her arms in a huff. "You are too, you know." Nina pointed out, causing the others to laugh. "Yes, but by choic-.. Okay whatever." Hanae and Nina shared a small laugh along with the rest. The Lieutenant requested a different prize, which flicked a switch in the back of Hanae's mind. She now had a bit of a theory about her Lieutenant.

Hanae wasn't entirely approving of the method that she had brought forth on her own. She realized it too late, but the rewarding of individual prizes, even if they still did get the party, promoted more solo attempts beyond teamwork. In her mind, she had pretty much ruined what this exercise was originally supposed to be about. "Mm..." she glanced off, barely hearing the command to begin as Nina nudged her with her elbow. The Lieutenant immediately went on the move and both Nina and Hanae took steps back. The Lieutenant was pretty fast and obviously more skilled; it was easy to see why she was where she was. However, Hanae had to raise her eyebrow when she realized she could kind of keep up with her Lieutenant. She felt the need to test this. "Nina... What are we allowed to use in this exercise? Anything and everything?" Nina nodded, "Yeah. Just nothing that would break the law. No shikai."

"I don't have it yet anyway." Hanae winked and rushed forward, drawing her Zanpakutō. She wasn't very good in most aspects, but zanjutsu was the one thing she had above quite a few members in the squad. Since she sucked at Hohō, she hoped her speed would get her through this. Hanae started off simple. Once she felt she was in range, she swung her Zanpakutō horizontally in front of herself, aiming to merely slice through her Captains clothing. She had no intention on trying to strike him at the moment. With her luck, she'd actually hit and would never forgive herself. However, Nina had other plans. With a fiercer strategy, Hanae's friend shunpo'd behind and above Genpaku as Hanae's first attack went off. Nina was more adept in Hakuda and so she attempted to strike Genpaku in the back using the technique Tessho, an open palmed strike meant that could destroy a hollows mask with a single strike. Luckily, in Nina's hands it was no way near as dangerous as that and she knew it.

The cooperation between Nina and Hanae should have shown that they had worked together for some time. The two moved with each other and were able to read the others moves to a degree. The outliers were the problem for the two of them. They weren't exactly used to random Kidō being flung from every direction. Having to avoid the constant attacks from other members was very difficult. However, they timed this attack well. Hanae wasn't surprised to have her sword dodged. Nina was surprised to have actually hit her Captain. In that moment, both Hanae and Nina's eyes widened. They were pleased with what they had done, though they understood that didn't mean anything. Their Captain had to be contained. Striking him may only slow him down. The Lieutenants attack was a surprise. It cracked the ground where Genpaku had been standing. Hanae's initial rush was not easy to stop. Before she had the chance to, her next step went into the newly formed hole and she lost her balance.

Hanae tumbled forward and rolled before she pushed herself to her feet. "Ow, ow, ow..." Hanae kept one eye closed, wincing as she looked back to the scene. Nina had pretty much been saved by Genpaku's quick thinking. She wasn't aware of this, so when her hand struck his back, she was a little proud. The force his jump exhibited was greater than her strike, so she was pushed back into the air. She landed lightly near Nina and watched her Captain take it up a level. "CAREFUL!" Nina immediately yelled. The others were immediately ready to continue their firing, but she recognized what was happening. "YOU'LL BE FIRING INTO YOUR ALLIES! WATCH IT!" Nina explained her outburst quickly. The squad luckily took heed and stopped. Their Captain had placed himself in the middle of the group. "Hanae, are you okay?" Nina went over and helped Hanae to her feet. Hanae winced a bit and twirled her ankle around to test it. "I'll be fine. Just twisted it. Nice call..." Hanae and Nina both looked to their Captain, both holding much fiercer expressions. The two were ready to get moving again...

The red smoke bomb caught both girls off guard. Unable to see, Hanae didn't know exactly how to react to this. Nina, on the other hand, was a much quicker thinker and had already planned her next move. She went to cast a certain Kidō, but before she could even get the incantation going everything stopped. The Captain declared it a win and so both girls walked out of the smoke as it began to clear. They looked to each other confused. What the hell had just happened? The Captain came out and said people were getting a party, but most were confused. No one got to actually see what happened within the smoke, so the confusion was understandable. "Nina, did you see it?" Hanae asked and Nina shook her head. Hanae could see the disappointment in Nina's eyes. Hanae looked sorrowfully at Nina who just shrugged, rolled her eyes, and walked out of the area. "Nina?!" Hanae called out, but Nina just left.

"Ugh! What the hell happened?!" Hanae asked and then looked around for the Captain. She walked up to him and thought about how to address the situation. It had been a while since she talked to him. "Um, excuse me Captain Arishima... Do you mind explaining what happened? The session sort of ended abruptly and no one seems to know why. Did we actually succeed or do you have to go somewhere?"

A few animated question marks would have floated above Hanae's head if this had been a cartoon. Her confusion was obvious, but she nodded along and assumed she'd understand it if she thought about it more. Things had just gone too fast. When Lieutenant Makabe came over, Hanae fell silent. She felt so outclassed right now, but that was to be expected. When the Lieutenant walked away, Hanae stared at the woman for a while. She barely heard her Captain's question. "Hm? Huh, what?" Hanae snapped out of her gaze and looked to Genpaku, "I'm sorry, Captain. I was thinkin- Oh! No, I actually want to be Nina's Lieutenant. The fact that I out rank her now bothers me. I know she's much more skilled in combat than I. It's just the need for shikai that has me above her. Once she has it, which will hopefully be soon... I'll be asking to lower my rank and give her the position. The problem with Nina is her one track mind. She has this dream about being a Hakuda master, so she sort of forgot about her shikai training... And yes, I mean forgot, not put off... She's like that. It's so dumb, but it's Nina."