Chapter Six: Overreach
---
Ryuu Inaba
Central Forty-Six liked to portray itself as above corruption. They isolated themselves from the world, and thus its influence. But Ryuu knew better. They were forty wise men and six judges – all from the Seireitei. They were old-money thinkers. And he just had to play it like he agreed with their old-money thoughts, and he could pull them around by their noses.
He couldn't be too obvious about it – he had to be subtle. So, on the day Gasorin escaped the executioner's block, Ryuu opted to testify to Central Forty-Six about why their case was canceled.
And he told them the truth. That the fox had been offered a position affiliated with the Kuchiki family specifically to escape their justice, because there was nothing they could do to the Kuchikis. Or to any nobles.
What cemented the eventual feedback loop was a comment he'd made to end his testimony with.
"I suppose they consider your authority to stop at the first districts of Rukongai."
Then, he just had to sit back and wait.
Every day, Ginrei Kuchiki was summoned to Central Forty-Six to demand their bruised egos be assuaged – by letting them have their blood. Every day, Ginrei Kuchiki denied them full stop, end of discussion.
Central Forty-Six would get angrier, and angrier, until something gave way. Ryuu was sure of it.
He spent a week in a good mood because of it. Until his Lieutenant made him snap out of it.
Ryuu was in his quarters, filling his pipe, when there was a knock at his door. "No one's home, come back another time," Ryuu answered the knock and lit his pipe with a kido.
"Captain Inaba, I have news about Inuzuri," Shohei said through the door.
He moved his pipe from one side of his mouth to the other while he pondered the worth of listening. Ultimately, he decided news about Inuzuri needed to be heard. In moments, he had stood and pulled open the sliding door. "Come in, and talk fast."
Ryuu stepped aside and let Shohei enter, then closed the door behind the rich man. Their Captain-Lieutenant relationship had somewhat soured over Ryuu's recent crusade. Fine with him, it would give Ryuu an excuse to have him kicked out of Squad Three and replaced.
"Captain," Shohei bowed to him and sat down.
Ryuu remained standing, his mood sour.
From within his shihakusho Shohei retrieved a folded map and other documents. "It appears the oil field in southern Inuzuri are gone." He handed the documents to Ryuu.
Once he had them, Ryuu opened the map first, then the documents. The map showed Inuzuri district, but with the southern half no longer blotched out in solid red hazard colors. It had changed to striped red on yellow.
The documents listed the changes Inuzuri had gone through. The oil was gone, and exposed acid-corroded stone underneath. At the deepest points, Inuzuri had lost close to a dozen meters in elevation, with thirty centimeters being the smallest loss.
"Reishi composition of the ground's still toxic," Ryuu observed with an arched eyebrow. "So inhabiting that region's still not viable."
"The men have some ideas on that front." Shohei was excited when he talked about it, his face and voice both brightened. "The crew working on the Academy has found that ground sekkiseki seems to provide a barrier for the toxifying effects."
Sure enough, there was a document from the Academy cleanup crew that indicated such. However, Ryuu's keen eye saw that they had procured all the sekkiseki unsuitable for the Seireitei wall or other uses for the Academy project.
"Sekkiseki is expensive, and it looks like it'll be a while before we can get any to even test its effectiveness." Ryuu blew smoke all over the documents. "And that's assuming we're allowed to take sekkiseki that far out into Rukongai."
Shohei hadn't seemed to seriously think on that idea. His face lost its excitement, replaced with confusion. Poor, poor rich boy.
"Sekkiseki repels reiryoku, which means it is great for building things that need to survive shinigami combat. Such as walls." Ryuu narrowed his eyes. "Or armor. Or weapons."
Dawning realization hit Shohei. Sprinkle sekkiseki into conventional metal, and you would have a weapon that could cut through barriers, kido, zanpakutou effects, and so on.
"Not even going into how difficult it is to find – so.... If that's the only option, we can't count on it being implemented." Ryuu folded the map and the documents, then handed them back to Shohei. "Appreciate the thought, and keeping me informed. But what I take from this is southern Inuzuri is just as deadly, but not obvious about it like before."
"I… I didn't think of it like that, Captain." Shohei held the documents in his hands, then pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'll instruct the men to erect barriers to keep people out."
"That's fine, I'll sign off on that." Ryuu looked down at Shohei with an impassive gaze. "Send someone to secure the samples of the oil too, would ya? We need at least one to test your idea – see if it even works."
"Of course, sir." Shohei stood and left, without having to be told.
A good thing too, because Ryuu's patience was at its end. As soon as the door closed, and Ryuu heard Shohei's footsteps depart, he bit down on his pipe.
"Wanting to get rid of evidence that your new pet's a talking plague, Kuchiki?" He growled as he returned to his table. "Not on my watch."
As he sat, alone, he remembered his days in Inuzuri. Forests that were gone. Friends that had long since reincarnated. The lonely house his father had built, along with the gooseberry bushes his mother had planted.
All gone.
But, if Ryuu had a say, not unavenged.
--
"Sekkiseki is apparently a mineral, but there are no quaries of it. I wonder if that's what Mountain Division's digging up all the time."
--
Sojun Kuchiki
He woke with a splitting headache to light hitting him in the face. Sojun turned away from the light, then recalled – his room ought to have screens to keep the light out. He opened his eyes and saw a modest room.
Sojun, heir of the Kuchiki clan, found himself in most certainly not his manor chambers, in a stranger's futon. As soon as he shifted out of his comfortable sleeping position, he also realized he was starkers under the covers.
His face was a mask of pure disinterest, while his mind was filled with a cacophony of overlapping screams. Sojun could hear his zanpakutou laughing at his plight.
There were no clothes on the floor anywhere. Two closets stood on either side of an alcove with a writing desk. There were two sliding doors, but one of them has sunlight shining behind it – thus it led outside.
Sojun briefly considered making a run for the outside then flash stepping away to the manor. Yet as soon as he sat up he threw himself back to the futon with the blankets wrapped tight around him.
Wherever he was, it was cold.
He shakily held a hand out of the blankets and muttered a kido spell. "Hado number three, Nokoribi." Sojun maintained expert control of the hadow as it took effect. A glittering coat of red embers formed across his skin – instantly providing warmth as he crawled out of the covers. He navigated around the room with his hands providing cover for his bits.
Nokoribi would normally create a fiery aura around the wearer, which could catch onto flammable objects to start fires. Legend had it that the hado was based off a technique that Head Captain Yamamoto had used in the past, but Sojun had no idea if it was true.
He was more focused with finding something to wear. He inspected both closets, and found a hint to his whereabouts in that time. The closet closest to the outside of the home had several shihakusho components – black kosode, hakama, white shitagi, all hung up from a rod. In the chest of drawers below there were folded headdresses of low-ranking Kido Corps members.
Noise from below made Sojun jump. He stood, frozen, as he waited for any sign the homeowner would approach soon. Sojun reflected on how foolish he felt, naked in an unfamiliar place. If Father heard about this, he would be so disappointed.
"Oh aye," his zanpakutou whispered to him with a merry chortle. "That's what ye should be thinkin' of, streaker, what daddy thinks o'ye."
"Shut up," Sojun whispered back. When it was clear he wouldn't be interrupted soon, Sojun moved to the next closet. He found there odd clothes – familiar, but odd. Several kosode in various patterns, a happi coat and short trousers. But in the chest of drawers he spotted several odd garments – not the pure white fundoshi Sojun had expected. They were broader, had thin bands, and were brightly patterned.
As he checked, he suddenly realized why the clothes seemed familiar. He glanced at one of the kosode, and could easily imagine a white fox wearing it. These were Gasorin's clothes.
He had been naked in Gasorin's bed. But why? Why would he be… why would… why….
Sojun connected the pieces and froze in place, holding a koi patterned mokko fundoshi in his hands. His brain slowed down as he realized why he would have been naked in Gasorin's bed.
His zanpakutou began to chuckle. Then he chortled. Then he laughed harder until Sojun's mind was full of his cackling laughter.
At the worst possible time, the sliding door facing deeper into the house opened, and Gasorin Egawa stepped in. He only had on a pair of odd trousers, gathered at the ankles with a string threaded into the waist as an internal belt. Gasorin glanced at Sojun, glanced down, then at the item in Sojun's hands
"Good morning, Sir Kuchiki," Gasorin said and covered his eyes with one hand. "I was going to wake you, and tell you breakfast is ready." Without looking, Gasorin went to the bed and gathered up the futon and blanket. He opened the sliding door to the balcony, and put the bedding away in another closet. He came back with a larger shihakusho topped with a Lieutenant badge and Sojun's sword.
"Your clothes from last night, Sir," Gasorin said and laid them on the chest of drawers in front of Sojun.
Sojun himself hadn't moved except to follow Gasorin's movement with his head.
"If you like the koi patterned ones, you can have them. To remember last night by. I can always make more, don't fret." With his eyes still covered, the fox backed out of his room and closed the sliding door.
Sojun's zanpakutou had somehow found the strength to laugh even harder at Sojun's predicament.
He dressed, his face redder than a cherry. After he was done, he left the room and went downstairs. The dining room was at the base of the stairs. The only furniture low table with four cushions, with three cups of tea, bowls of congee and a variety of side dishes in bowls arranged around the center of the table.
Seated at the table was his father, Ginrei, and his host, Gasorin.
The fox perked his ears up when he saw Sojun come down the stairs. "I'll go get dressed properly, Lord Kuchiki," he said and went upstairs around Sojun. "Please, feel free to eat."
Sojun didn't move. Father didn't look his way.
"Gasorin went to the trouble to sneak into our kitchens, and prepare this," Ginrei said with heavy tiredness in his voice. "We can't waste food, it's expensive these days."
Stiff, like a clay statue brought to life, Sojun moved to sit next to his father. His stomach gurgled at the smell of the congee toppings. The salted duck eggs called out to him. But he made no move to eat, just as his father made no move to look at him.
"Gasorin showed me the midori bottle, and made it clear you were both equally drunk." Ginrei didn't have Sojun's reservations, and began to add toppings to his congee. Mostly meat floss, and pickled cucumber. He still didn't look at Sojun.
"Father, please forgive me." Sojun said. He fully expected his father to launch into a lecture about how his reckless behavior cast a pall on the Kuchiki name.
But Ginrei didn't. He simply started to eat. "Sojun… I have asked a lot of you, following me into the Court Guard Squads." He nudged the bowl of duck eggs closer to Sojun's side of the table. "And I will have to ask more of you – to marry below your station, for the sake of the clan."
Father wasn't angry? He wasn't upset beyond all reason – and masked it below weariness?
"If you find some small comforts exploring before we can find you a bride – I won't stand in your way. As I didn't stand in Asami's way." Ginrei looked at him, with sorrow in his eyes. "But please… don't allow your explorations to blossom into anything more than that."
Since he'd woken up, Sojun had taken blow after blow to his expectations. He almost felt numb to the shocks. Numb, at the situation and how accepting Father was, Sojun added two duck eggs to his congee.
"I won't fritter my time away cultivating a harem like Uncle, if that's what worries you," Sojun attempted to diffuse the seriousness of Father's stare with humor.
If Father found it funny, he didn't let it show. He turned his head, and went back to eating. "Hrm. When you are Lord of the clan, you're free to reverse my abolishment of the concubine position. But not before." That was as close to non-sardonic humor as Ginrei Kuchiki likely would ever get.
"Understood, Father."
"It's good that you approve of him getting some practice, Lord Kuchiki," Gasorin said as he came back down the stairs, in the same trousers as before plus a kosode. He must have allowed them some time to talk alone, given how quick such dressing must have been. Gasorin sat at the table and started to add toppings to his congee.
Sojun was both glad he couldn't remember the previous night, but also wistful for it. His first time with a man, and he couldn't remember it at all. As he ate, he imagined how it could have been.
"What makes you say that?" Father arched his brow.
"To keep it fit for the table, let's just say I no longer find it surprising how it took Sir Sojun five hundred years to have a child." Gasorin shook his head sadly. "Its an issue that can only be resolved with practice."
Slow as a glacier, Ginrei turned to look at his son -- disappointed.
Red as heated metal, Sojun looked down at his food and no longer tried to imagine how it went.
--
"Do I want Byakuya to exist? Yes. Do I think Byakuya having older siblings to run the clan when Ginrei retires would be for the best? Also yes. Do I think Sojun's wife spent five hundred years lying back and thinking of England? Triple yes."
--
Ginrei Kuchiki
For the umpteenth time, Ginrei made his way to the compound of Central Forty-Six.
It was a fairly nondescript building from the outside. A hexagonal courtyard with gates on each wall that contained a circular wall around an artificial lake. There was only one bridge across, directly across from the western courtyard gate. At the center of the lake was a pillar-like building, shorter than either the outside walls, where stairs and elevators downward were contained.
The majority of the compound was underground – where Earth Division of the Kido Corps attended Central Forty-Six.
He had been summoned so often, he had walked through the entrance process before he realized he wasn't alone. Captains Kyoraku and Ukitake were mere steps behind him.
The two were like brothers – and like brothers, they had developed into opposites. Jushiro Ukitake, Captain of Squad Thirteen, had no ornamentation as part of his uniform. The only noteworthy thing about him was his long white hair, and his pallor. He was a humble, kindly man – who would have made a loving father if his life had gone differently.
Captain Shunsui Kyoraku of Squad Eight was quite outside the norm with his ornamentation. He had a scruffy look, a straw hat on his head, and a kimono thrown over the back of his Captain's haori.
"Ah, he's noticed us at last," Captain Kyoraku commented and tilted his hat back. "Good morning, Ginrei."
"Good morning Captain Kyoraku, Captain Ukitake." Ginrei bowed his head to them for a moment. They were all the second Captains for their divisions, but Kyoraku and Ukitake had been Captains longer than Ginrei. He was both their senior, and their junior.
"And to you, Captain Kuchiki." Captain Ukitake bowed back. "You've been here so much lately, we'll defer to you on how to comport ourselves."
"Uh, yeah. Lead the way." Captain Kyoraku was less respectful, he didn't bow, but he didn't seem to mind Ginrei being the leader of their group.
Ginrei held back the urge to sigh. He led the way to the elevators, and saw other captains in one that descended as they arrived. Something was afoot. "Central Forty-Six dislikes when others speak. Even them asking a question does not shield you from criticism for speaking at all."
They were forty wise men and six judges, all kept sequestered from the world deep underground. Some of them had not seen sunlight in decades. Their sanity was always a touchy subject.
"So, we should just say as little as possible?" Captain Kyoraku smiled. "I can manage that."
"If so, then this should be a relatively painless event for you." Ginrei pulled the lever on the elevator's wall. The grates closed, and the three of them descended.
At the bottom, they stepped out into a cavernous hall illuminated with sparse blue light. In the distance, Ginrei could make out ten other figures with white coats – the other Captains, he presumed.
His sword spirit whispered to him of danger. Ginrei readied himself in case something terrible happened, as they left the elevator.
The assembly hall of Central Forty-Six was a hexagonal building in the corner of the cavern. Yellow ropes with many golden spell tags connected the walls to the building.
There was no door to the assembly hall – just an empty doorway through which nothing was visible. The three Captains passed through and walked toward a shaft of light at the center of the hall.
All around them, arranged in tiered seats, were the members of Central Forty-Six, all hidden behind veils with their number listed in lieu of names. Being denied names likely wasn't good for their sanity either.
In the light at the center of the hall were the other Captains, and Head Captain Yamamoto. Together they seemed a motley crew.
Toga Shihoin, of Squad Two – dark skinned, pale haired, with Hung Gar rings on his arms, legs, and massive hoop earrings. Ryuu Inaba of Squad Three, even darker than Toga in skin, with long locks of hair and a smoking pipe in his mouth. Captain Inaba seemed quite pleased with himself.
Squad Four's Captain, Nishant Koizumi, stood proud with his prominent mustache, beard, and bejeweled turban. Captain Hashim Tainguchi of Squad Five gently swayed in place, as old as Ginrei and Yamamoto, but with a youthful smile and a metal cane in hand.
Hanuel Pan, Squad Seven's Captain, a supremely serious woman with her dark hair styled into a complicated braid and metal armor worn over her shihakusho, stood with arms crossed and her eyes narrowed. Nearby, Squad Nine's Captain Cahaya Kobayashi flipped through a small book with her eyes hidden behind thick glasses. The two were opposites of each other, tall to short, brawn to brain, serious to comical.
The current Kenpachi, and Captain of Squad Eleven, Yash Maki constantly shifted on his feet. He wore hollow masks like trophies, strung through the eyeholes for his belt, or fashioned into rings. The one-eyed redhead seemed eager to move. And lastly Takuto Tsunayashiro, tall, smiling, plain-looking but somehow malicious all the same, was Captain of Squad Twelve.
Head Captain Yamamoto stamped his walking stick on the floor with an echoing noise once the three of them had joined the group. "Central Forty-Six, all thirteen Captains are here per your request. You may begin, at your leisure."
Ginrei felt his sense of unease grow.
"Thank you Head Captain," one of the six judges announced with a tone of concealed temper. Behind his veil, the judge steepled his fingers. "It has come to our attention that certain groups in the Seireitei believe themselves above the rulings of this body."
All around them, the wise men and judges of Central Forty-Six muttered their distaste of the idea.
"This assembly is charged by the Soul King to uphold the law of the Seireitei. Both in the making, and interpretation of such laws. So, you'll understand why when people say they are outside our authority – we find it difficult to bear."
Ginrei felt other Captains around him shift uneasily. He knew they glanced his way, and that many of the faces behind the veils had hateful looks toward him.
"So, we wanted to pass down a new law for the Court Guard Squads to enforce." The judge unsteepled his fingers and stood, still behind his veil. "From this day forth, there is no region of the Soul Society beyond Central Forty-Six's reach. We will enforce the law upon the noble families and commoners alike. We will compel Shin'o Academy to answer to us, for the first time in its history."
A second judge stood as the first sat down. "Furthermore," he said with a more breathy voice. "We are concerned with the intermingling of the Seireitei and the Rukongai. From this day forward, marriages between Seireitei residents and Rukongai residents are forbidden. All such marriages in existence will be annulled."
A third judge stood as the second sat. "And lastly, from this day forward – no one from the Seireitei may adopt Rukongai residents into their household as retainers, or their family as relatives. All such unions in effect will be abolished."
The third judge sat down.
No one said anything. Captain Inaba puffed on his pipe, visibly happy.
Ginrei processed what was likely to happen – the proclamations seemed to target him and other struggling noble clans. But, he had to wonder could Central Forty-Six even do such a thing?
Yamamoto gave voice to Ginrei's doubts. "I saw no messengers descend from the Royal Palace. Has the Soul King granted you this extra authority?"
The first judge replied. "We give ourselves this extra authority. The rulings of Central Forty-Six are absolute."
"Perhaps they have been previously." The elderly Head Captain shook his head, his great beard swayed with the motion. "But not in this case. Power is not given to this body to expand its authority further than the Soul King permits."
Slowly, as if he couldn't believe what he'd heard, the judge stood. "Head Captain Yamamoto, you are ordered to enforce these additional rulings – or face lawful punishment, perhaps even the death penalty."
"Your lack of authority on these matters means that any punishment you submit would be unlawful." Head Captain Yamamoto gestured with his hand. "Captains of the Court Guard Squads, we're leaving. These orders are not to be enforced, they are illegal."
Ginrei sighed in relief as an uproar from Central Forty-Six's members began. Without a care, the Head Captain started to leave – and most of the Captains followed him.
Most, but not all.
Ginrei looked over his shoulder, and saw the Captains of Squads Three, Four, Five, Eleven, and Twelve remained behind as the others left.
He got the feeling that four hundred years of peace would soon come to an end.
---
Ya know. If they had just wanted to extend their authority to the nobles – that might have been acceptable. But the moment they wanted Shin'o Academy under their thumb too, Yamamoto went maximum overnope.
Y'all might wonder why Yama's not stabbing every baby Central Forty-Six believes unlawful right now, but right now he's closer to being the bandit king of Soul Society than the calcified mess of Ichigo's time.
Also, hey! Suddenly civil war!
