[Seireitei] The Streets

[Bloodedge]

"I'm pretty sure I caught everything but the hello," replied the blonde male. He had some understanding of the situation; in fact, he likely had more than what Jin seemed to have mere moments prior. "It's Ghost again, isn't it? The same thing that got Nijo," he said. Given his time spent in the Security Force of the Onmitsukidou, he'd gotten quite used to picking up on clues such as the ones presented in recent times. Two Captains had been taken down by this plague of whatever sort, and if there was a resurgence occurring at present without a doubt. He'd even seen a couple of potential cases with his own eyes. "If it's a kill order we're looking to fill on these things, I can take care of that easily... unless there's something else you think I'd be suited to do. You're the wise one."

[Apollymi]

"Good, I don't feel like repeating myself..." the woman said as she enjoyed her lollipop. With Jin doing his work there was the matter of Minato who had something rather astute and clever to say. Akiko could appreciate this, but spreading around unnecessary information wasn't really something she could do right now, she brushed off his statement rather calmly. "I can't say that with any certainty. And unless I can, it is for the best to just take it as I said it. Rogue Gotei members," she said, from his understanding of their present situation she figured he'd make the appropriate leap. "The kill order isn't what is important here, but Rogue Shinigami should be put down, in this case more than any others. If you want to help, keep an eye on whoever has sparked your interest and maybe work in concert with Ikaruga-taichou. But don't go out of your way or anything... everything is a work in progress, and life needs to carry on as usual around here." she said rather calmly before she rather randomly changed the subject. "Also do you want my fifth seat?"

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, yeah, life as usual. Cool. So... do exactly what I was going to do, just make sure nobody sees me doing stuff. Gotcha. I'll follow up as you say, though," Minato spoke. If he was to treat this incident like any ordinary rebellion, he could do exactly that without fault. After all, most of his life had been spent dealing with such things as a member of the Onmitsukidou. Confusion came to the man when Akiko offered her 5th Seat to him. Frankly, he didn't even remember who the 5th Seat of her Division was, but he saw no reason to accept this. "Err... if you're trying to get rid of your 5th Seat, I'm gonna have to go with no. I like to keep a baggage-free space, and that sounds like baggage to me."

[Apollymi]

"Carry on then," she said as if nothing really mattered. As their conversation switched topics rather randomly she couldn't help but chuckle as the man said he obviously didn't want to deal with the baggage of her fifth seat. This seemed to make the woman look at him strangely. "You got no idea who my fifth seat is, huh?" she said before smiling and waving him off. "It's not baggage, it's..." she gave pause to her statement, she was about ninety percent certain that her fifth seat would ask for a transfer within a year or so. She understood just enough of the girl's mannerisms to know she wouldn't sit well with continuing in her division after she'd finished whatever research she was done with. That being said, there wasn't any reason for Akiko to fully explain her reasoning behind wanting to get rid of her fifth seat. "Well it doesn't matter, I was just... weighing options," she said as she rather easily moved right along. She nodded to Minato before she began walking again the direction she'd been going. "If there's nothing else, there are a couple of other people I have to talk to. Ja ne, Namikaze-taichou."

[Bloodedge]

"No clue whatsoever!" was Minato's response. Whatever the case, he had little to no desire for a Division member someone wished to have sent off to him; he had a great deal of balance within his Division that he dared not throw off. With Akiko departing, Minato prepared himself to go through with his own duties.

After a few days passed, many Shinigami affected by these parasitic Hollows had been dealt with on a case-by-case basis. In most situations, this required the elimination of said afflicted, but those who sought and found them had no other choice but to do so. An interesting thing to note in this wide-scale occurrence was the fact that all "rogue" Shinigami had suffered depletion of their Reiryoku the moment before their deaths. Now, there were no such incidents, but there was a great deal of work to be done by the 4th Division in particular. This Division's Captain, a black-haired man going by the name Okawa Atsushi, traversed the streets of the Seireitei in broad daylight. He seemed to be searching for any additional fallen Shinigami, but an individual of higher intelligence may have taken note of the fact that he wasn't looking very hard for anything on the ground. Instead, his gaze traveled across the open sky for some reason.

[Apollymi]

As the Captain of the 4th Division moved about the streets, the Vice-Captain of the 9th Division did as well. This particular girl had been on her now regular patrols, she was trusted to take care of her self. As she moved about in the modified version of the Shinigami uniform which made her look a bit like she belonged in a higher tier. She wore a white and blue pleated mini-skirt with thigh high white and blue boots. Her Zanpakuto in its white sheath was carried to her left side so that she could quickly spring into action if necessary. It seemed she was on the look out for suspicious behavior and nothing was more suspicious then the Captain of the 4th Division out wandering the streets and not looking at the ground but instead to the sky. Still nothing but the utmost respect would be given to the man as she passed. "Okawa-taichou, Ohayou gozaimasu."

[Bloodedge]

As the Captain wandered the streets, he was eventually greeted by another Shinigami of high stature within the Gotei. This one was the Vice-Captain of the 9th Division, as he knew well. Her greeting was as much as anyone would expect, but Atsushi's...

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Minami-fukutaichou," he said. This was an oddity in itself, as even though he never spoke with this woman, he had greeted her Captain on numerous occasions while she was present. This particular Captain was one of few who tended to forego honorifics of a more formal nature. More importantly, he could be considered something of a lech who tended to ogle passing women. This time, however, he did no such thing, choosing instead to keep walking past her after their shared greeting.

[Apollymi]

Setsuko was a bit stunned by this greeting, but after a moment she seemed to recover. 'That's, a bit weird...' she thought absently. She remembered though that she was told by her Captain to remain vigilant and report any differing behavior to him immediately. She would do exactly this as the greeting she got from Okawa Atsushi was not at all what she expected. She'd seen this man on several occasions with her Captain, and when she'd seen him he'd always referred to her as Setsu-chan. He had even gone on to stare at her openly enough for her Captain to comment. The present mildness of his mannerisms was something that Setsuko thought strange enough to denote a minor detour in her patrol route. As the Captain of the 4th Division kept walking past, she too kept up her patrols, though this would take her to an established rendezvous point for her to speak with her Captain and other members of their task force, as the oddity of this moment couldn't be overlooked.

"Gomenasai, Setsu-nee, I thought, I'd get here first this time." said one green eyed female blonde with a little blue hat on. This girl was the youngerr sibling of the Captain, capable enough but always apologizing for some reason. Soon enough a girl with a strange winged hat with an eye shaped emblem also turned up seeming to understand fully the apology already issued by the blonde. "Setsu-fuku, you seem distressed, is everything alright?" asked the young woman with her stunning, blue eyes directed at her. "It's probably nothing, I just spoke to someone and it was a little weird."

[Bloodedge]

"I'm always here first," spoke the voice of the only male in the Ikaruga Unit, bar Jin himself. This one wore a poncho-like jacket with its collar pulled up to his nose, and he had his black hair worn in a peculiar bowl cut that reached his cheekbones. He spoke with a voice that was devoid of any emotional signs, but he did seem interested in what the Vice-Captain had to say.

In a matter of moments, the Captain of the 9th Division and leader of the Ikaruga Unit was upon this group. He caught the tail-end of what Setsuko had to say, and immediately approached to see what the matter was. "I'm here. I have found nothing new, but from the looks and sound of things, you have something for us to inspect?"

[Apollymi]

"Sumimasen!" said the blonde young woman as she leaned so far forward on her bow that her hat fell off, allowing those long locks to tumble free. "Why'd you apologize to him? You're kinda soft, Noel..." said the red haired young woman who while used to the antics of her friend never quite understood why she was so apologetic. It seemed that there was something strange afoot with the Vice-Captain of this division and with all the voices around she knew all members would soon be gathered. Their Captain soon made his own voice known which caused Setsuko to turn to him and report the strangeness of her interaction. The other two young women watched with wide eyes wondering what could have unsettled their normally steadfast Vice-Captain. "So, this isn't going to sound like much but on my way here I passed the Okawa-taichou, and he was being... weird." she said calmly. "I don't mean in his usual way either, he called me... 'Minami-fukutaichou' and before I acknowledged that I saw him, he was just aimlessly staring at the clouds as he walked," she mentioned. Her explanation of this Captain's actions might not sound noteworthy to most, but maybe at least her Captain would understand why this was so unsettling.