Interlude: Tsunayashiro Tokinada
Stepping into Guangzhou was like touring the Rukongai. None of the buildings stood more than five stories tall, the walls were thin and made of brick, and only the busiest roads seemed to be paved. On the other hand, the ocean and rivers teeming with ships were a sight one could never behold in Soul Society. The ships in the sea were behemoths compared to the riverboats that fed Seireitei and the inner districts. The last time Tsunayashiro Tokinada had visited the real world, he marveled at the ships of war that stood 3 stories tall with sailing masts even taller than that.
This time, he would have to ask about the ship bellowing smoke from its iron funnels.
---
Kun Quan lived in a small house for a man of his position. The main residence was about the same size as the Tsunayashiro Estate's Servants quarter. If Tokinada had it in him to care, he'd feel pity for the servants working here. Instead, he pondered if they got claustrophobic.
The servant bowed as he excused himself, and Kun Quan met Tokinada at the door.
"It is so good to see you, honorable Tsunayashiro. It has been far too long." Kun Quan bowed. The elder was still sporting his ponytail but it was now a thin grey thing, and his hairline had suffered as well. Meanwhile Tokinada had stayed the same young handsome man, and hell, now he was a bachelor again.
Bet it feels good to see me like this, huh? Tokinada thought as he returned the bowed smiling warmly. "There is no need for such formalities. After all we've known each other for so long and I am dying to have some more of that living world tea." Tokinada would gladly sacrifice his family to know the reason tea tasted so much better here than in Seireitei. Well, maybe just Kimiya. He didn't need the head position, yet.
"Very well. Might I ask who your companion is?"
"Oh, he's a humble servant of the Tsunayshiro family filling in for my second seat." Otoribashi Rojuro was barely at his side these days. The minute a captain spot opened up he'd most likely be gone for good. So Tokinada had brought this mountain of a man, a former Executive Corp lieutenant, as a body guard. Just in case the news from Seireitei made the venerable elder want to punch his head off. A human shield would give him valuable seconds to draw his sword. Please don't ask me what that man's name is. All Tokinada could recall was it had a Ryu in there somewhere. "And before you ask, that's a gift for your household." Tokinada added gesturing to the white cloth bundle sashed around "Ryu"'s shoulder.
"Oh?" Quan scratched his mustache with an amused look. "A magic item from Seireitei?"
"Even better: a work of craftsmanship from Europe," Tokinada grinned.
"Eh?"
"You'll see. Speaking of which, you told me in your correspondence that you adopted a boy?" As part of his diplomatic duties as a member of house Tsunayashiro, Tokinada had been writing to the man for half a century now.
"Yes, Ka-kui was the son of my sworn brother. I took him in after his demise..."
Tokinada smiled, not out of politeness but because he knew the old man was thinking about how it was a shinigami who had cut his brother down. Unfortunately, there'd be some more bad news regarding that today but it was important to know when to savor lifes fleeting pleasures.
Silence broke out and Tokinada cleared his throat to break it. "So... has he learned to project a bow yet?"
"It is not uncommon for some Quincy to be late bloomers. Why do you ask?" Quan frowned.
"Just reminds me of some legends about that old king of yours..."
"Probably as true as the legend of your commander being a dragon who burned the old world away with his fire," Quan shrugged.
"If you had been around during the war, you might believe that last part."
"Oh what did you think of my ancestors?" Quan queried. He wore a mischievous grin like he was laying a trap.
Don't try and guilt trip me, you old cantankerous piece of shit. Tokinda frowned and replied: "Alas, I was but a young man then, so I did not participate in any of the major battles." Images of the flooded Tsunayashiro estate, his sister's waterlogged corpse, and plunging his sword into Sternritter D "The Deluge" flashed in his mind.
Quan paused again and his smile became normal once more. "Perhaps that's for the best, let's get that tea then."
---
"Alright, It's been long enough. I must know what that gift is." Quan insisted.
Tokinada finished off the last sip of tea. "Well to be honest, It is for Ka-Kui."
"Oh?"
Ryu gently laided the bundle down and unwrapped it. Within was a rifled musket, a small bundled sack, and an assortment of glass capsules. Quan stared blankly for a beat.
"Are those Ginto?" Quan asked.
Tokinada nodded. "The rifle's been custom fit to fire them. Spells haven't been imposed on them yet."
"This is... Thank you, I'm sure he'll appreciate it" Quan stammered. "How did you even get this?"
Tokinada smiled "With money, of course." Quan raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Quincies are not the only living beings I talk to, you know. Should we give it to Ka-kui now?"
"Uh... Perhaps later, after we deal with the official business." Quan answered. Tokinada half suspected the man was going to bury it after he left. Well tough luck kid.
"Ah, Very good then. Anyways, I have some bad news: The Noble Assembly has heard your proposition for arming Quincy with Asuachi and decided to dismiss it entirely."
Quan leaned forward and sighed deeply as he massaged his brow. "...And what was their reasoning for this?"
"The official argument was that it stood in violation of a law forbidding the transfer of power from a shinigami to a living human but...." Left unsaid was the fact that law had been passed in the aftermath of the Quincy invasion. "Like I said, the Kuchiki Ginrei still remembers the war and seeing his extended family wiped out" Tokinada added. Did you seriously think they were going to trust your people with the potential to bankai?
Quan remained silent. "...What else did you come to tell me?"
Tokinada fought back the urge to smile. He gestured for Ryu to leave. This was going to be the good part. "A Shinigami was murdered in Changsha last month. By a Quincy."
Silence.
"That man was a member of the Feng family. A noble family subordinate to the Shihouin clan. Central 46 has already issued the death penalty for the killer." Of course you already knew this. Since that was the man who killed your brother.
Silence again.
Using hollow bait to dispose of the body was certainly novel. Too bad patrol corps officers always traveled in pairs...
"Officially, I'm not supposed to be telling you this. They haven't decided on the specific ultimatum yet"
Still silence.
"Without a suspect, they're probably going to label your clan or maybe the whole East Asian Alliance guilty, but If you give up a Sternritter they'll probably be be satisfied."
Quan didn't look up. "Do they just expect us to roll over and die? If we didn't train in our art, the hollows would come for us nonetheless..." His shoulders slackened. "And they keep insisting on expanding the regions we can't combat them...." The frivolity had left his voice completely.
Come on and man up. Do what your grandfather should have done a century ago. Three generations of the Kun family had tried to reconcile with Seireitei in light of the fraying spiritual balance. They had made dozens of propositions and compromises all shot down by the Kuchiki's... and Tsunayashiro. Tokinada didn't care to mention that last fact though.
Tokinada shrugged. "It is what it is. What do you plan on doing now?"
Quan paused. After what seemed like an eternity he finally looked up and spoke again, this time however his tone was grave: "Can you deliver a message to soul society for me?"
Tokinada nodded lightly. "Of course."
"Tell them that the Shinigami are no longer welcome within the borders of Qing."
Tokinada left the meeting with a grin.
