Commotion. Outrage. Turmoil. Everyone was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. The Sereitei was facing one of the biggest crisis' it had ever seen. Three Captains dead, worse than dead; mutilated. One captain banished and rightly so or was it right? Who knew? So many rumours were flying round, so many whispers.
Byakuya had his hands full as the newly appointed vice captain of the 6th Gotei and never had he wanted the position less. However, he was adamant that his feelings wouldn't hinder his work. He carried on, like the rest of them. His work was exemplary from day one. He showed no change in his behaviour, it would seem he was unaffected.
It was heartless, some sniggered, that he could carry on like nothing had changed, when even the captains were solemn, the captain commander silent for weeks himself. Resentment grew and the jealous muttered. The vice captain however took the higher ground, choosing simply to ignore it. He had been used to dislike all of his life but because it was from people he scarcely spared a thought for, it never touched him.
With his promotion he was expected to give up his patrol, but he had come to like it. The solitude of the watchful nights always gave him clarity, which he well needed now more than ever; he had been under more pressure than he'd care to admit. Of course he knew vice captains had a job to do but he underestimated the extent of the paperwork. Furthermore with all the recent pandemonium, there were expectations of all captains and vice captains to keep calm and keep the squads together. He was regularly instructed to lead classes at the academy, lead more missions in the real world, inspect his squad regularly. The aim of all of this was to for the shinigami to reassert their control. They were responsible for the wellbeing of 80 districts and the real world. They could not afford to slip.
Byakuya made some sacrifice and reduced his time on patrol to once every three weeks. The decision was not all together that hard to make since the patrol had lost some of its appeal, mainly in the form of a young impertinent woman. He missed Hisana's company, not that he'd admit it but he did. Unfortunately for him his pride wouldn't allow him to enter the inn again.