19th year of the Meji era (1887 AD)
Amagurai sat on the roof of the 3rd Division building absently watching her new captain train with his lieutenant, her new zanpakutō murmuring quietly in her mind. Jōdokin had a fondness for music and very much enjoyed listening to the acoustic attacks of Ōtoribashi-taichō's shikai. She was in fact nearly as new to 3rd Division as he was, having started only three weeks before his promotion. Her transferal from 4th Division was probably the last piece of paperwork the previous captain had signed before his death.
She had been transferred shortly after learning her shikai, on being discovered by Unohana-taicho while practicing its attacks. Jōdokin was not a healing blade so 4th Division's kind captain had organised her transfer so she would be able to go out into the field and use her zanpakutō as it was meant to be used. Amagurai had been perfectly happy with the arrangement and had no issue with 3rd, but the Division's captain had fallen prey to a Hollow incursion the very afternoon of the day she was transferred and the overworked fukutaichō had been left in charge until the council of captains picked a replacement.
Amagurai hadn't minded too much: she'd been fielded by a sympathetic tenth seat who'd shown her around the Division and later challenged her to a fight. Her free time she'd spent with Jūshirō, who had been delighted to learn that he could now tell his family about the engagement so they could start planning the wedding. What time she had to be on duty in 3rd she'd spent practicing how to parry blows from different weapons with Jōdokin's shikai form, which was a fourteen-inch, sharp-edged iron fan. Weirdly enough for a tessen all Jōdokin's attacks were earth natured, which came as a nasty surprise for most people who saw a fan and expected air or fire attacks.
That whilst wielding her zanpakutō its special ability made her as immovable as the Sōkyoku hill also wrong-footed people. Her unusual weapon, speed and high kidō proficiency had seen her rise to eighth seat before 3rd Division was provided with a new captain in the form of Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō.
"Eighth seat Nishi, isn't it?"
Amagurai blinked, turning to see that her new captain had finished sparring and was sitting next to her on the roof. "Ōtoribashi-taichō? Hai. Nishi Amagurai."
"Iba-fukutaichō tells me you've only been with the Division three weeks," the slightly foppish captain said idly. "That's pretty quick work for a former 4th Division twelfth seat."
"My zanpakutō is not a healing type, which made it practically impossible for me to rise significantly higher within 4th," Amagurai said diplomatically, "and while I'm good at other types of kidō my healing lacks the fine control necessary for the higher seated positions, which is why Unohana-taichō suggested I transfer."
"Hm. Why were you watching?"
"Er," the redhead stammered, "well, my zanpakutō and I really like music, you see, so we were just listening."
"You like music?" the tall blond repeated, shedding a little of his indolence. "Anything in particular?"
"Not really; I like just about anything that's played properly, to be honest," Amagurai admitted. "I'm not much of a connoisseur."
"That's easily rectified," her captain said with an unexpectedly friendly smile. "I know several places that have live music in the evenings. I could take you there if you like."
"I'm engaged, taichō," Amagurai said delicately. Ōtoribashi seemed like a nice enough guy and she remembered him as having been a decent lieutenant, if a little lazy, but she wasn't the type to string people along, even by accident.
"Do I know the lucky man, Nishi?" Her captain hadn't even paused, suggesting it had either just been a friendly invitation or he was very quick-witted.
"He's a shinigami," Amagurai conceded.
"Well I'd still like to take you so we can get to know each-other," the tall blond said, waving a hand, "but you can invite your fiancé along as well if you'd prefer."
"I don't think he's really into music, taichō, but I'll see about introducing him to you anyway," Amagurai said, privately wondering what her indolent captain would say when he realised exactly who it was she was going to marry. The actual introduction would take time as Jūshirō was ill again and he rarely went out anyway. Mostly people visited him, Kyōraku-taichō doing so most frequently.
She fiddled with a loose bang; since joining the Gotei 13 she had taken to wearing her hair tidily pinned up on her head with fancy hair sticks. Loose it almost reached her knees, which suggested a haircut might be in order. There was such a thing as having too much hair.
"So, how about we meet outside the Division's front gate at seven then?" Ōtotribashi-taichō suggested. "There's a charming little tea house not far from here that does live music in the evenings."
"That sounds agreeable," Amagurai agreed. "Thank-you for inviting me, taichō."
"I've only been a captain for a few days, Nishi-san, and none of my new peers have even the slightest interest in music," the blond said with a sigh. "And other than you, everyone in the Division stammers when I talk to them. Other than Iba-fukutaichō of course," he added, "but she nags." Another theatrical sigh. "Oh well. I suppose I'd better return to the paperwork before fukutaichō notices I'm slacking off."
"Good luck, taichō," Amagurai said sincerely. Paperwork was a very good incentive for avoiding promotion if it could possibly be helped. Any afterlife that had paperwork was surely a type of Purgatory, if not a Hell dimension.
We enter 'turn back the pendulum' territory, finally. Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō enters the scene.
Jōdokin means 'Lady Earth Turtle', and she's an elemental-type zanpakutō. She's also fan-shaped, and frequently used in traditional anime fashion for whacking people over the head.
