Ryoichi just sat there in silence; completely dumbstruck by what the man said. He had to be joking…right? There was no reason for the Gotei 13 to attack his family…was there? While Ryoichi was thinking about this Haruki remained silent, as he watched the young Katsumata boy try to digest this.
Then finally the Lieutenant got up from his seat, and went to leave the room. However, Haruki spoke up, "Oh Ryoichi," he said to try and get his attention. "I have something for you."
Ryoichi turned to see that he had a plain, folded up piece of paper in his hand, which he put on the table. "What the hell is it?" Ryoichi asked with some anger in his voice.
"I do not know," Haruki answered, "I was merely given it and told to give it to you if I could."
Ryoichi did nothing at first, as he just stood there and looked at the piece of paper. He then angrily grabbed it from the table and hastily left the room; slamming the door behind him.
He wasn't even close to done though; as he stormed over to where Akio and Kenshin had listened in and watched, and before either Captain could say anything Ryoichi asked with a sort of calmed rage, "Is it true?"
Akio was the one who answered, "Ryoichi...please calm down-"
"No!" He yelled seeming to snap; despite usually having good control of his anger. "With all due respect Sir this is my family we're talking about. Now I may not give a damn about my parents, but unless you've forgotten I have siblings as well and THEY are who I'm worried about and THEY should not be involved in this at all." He took a few breaths to calm himself down then with, in a softer voice, "So I NEED to know if what he said is true."
The two Captains looked at each other, and then to Ryoichi. Akio couldn't help but smile; it seemed like Ichiro was starting to rub off a little on the Lieutenant. "Absolutely not Ryoichi," the Commander answered calmly. "We've never had any intentions to attack the Katsumata house. Quite the opposite actually; Central 46 just recently told me they've thought about opening a hand to your parents and working with them. Plus, If I'm going to be honest with you; it's because of you coming here."
That last part seemed to have calmed down Ryoichi, as his facial expressions changed. He went from angry and livid, to his usual shy self, as he was blushing a little, and had a finger pointed at himself, "M-me?"
Akio nodded with a smile, "Yes, but that's a story for another time. Now if you don't mind, can you give me what Haruki gave you?"
Ryoichi did not object, as he handed the piece of paper to the Commander without even looking at it himself. He gently took it from the Lieutenant and opened it up, raising an eyebrow as he looked it over. He then handed it to Kenshin, who had a puzzled look as well. "It's just a bunch of random words," Kenshin said as he gave it to Ryoichi.
Ryoichi looked it over, and sure enough there were just random words written down, that to the naked eye wouldn't make any sense. The Lieutenant knew what it was though, and without thinking about what he was saying said, "It's a code." Akio and Kenshin raised an eyebrow and Ryoichi explained, "My twin brother Hiraku and I, we came up with our own sort of handwritten code when growing up; so that we could write stuff without anyone else knowing what we were talking about."
He looked at the Captains, "I-I could look it over…but it would take some time; it's been a while since I did anything with it."
The two Captains looked at Ryoichi, and Akio was the first to respond, "Thank you Ryoichi; you've been a tremendous help. Go ahead, take your time looking it over; it could definitely help. You may leave now," Ryoichi put the piece of paper away and bowed at the Captains, and then left.
When he was far enough away Kenshin asked, "You sure you can trust him with that?"
Akio nodded, "Absolutely; I don't think Ryoichi would suddenly betray the Gotei 13."
"What makes you so sure?" The Commander's best friend also asked.
The Commander smirked, "Because he knew if he did; he'd have to deal with my very, angry, son. Now then, I'm going to take off; make sure Haruki safely leaves the Seireitei AND gets his weapon back as well."
Kenshin nodded and took off, getting some people together for the jo. Something still tugged at Akio though; what kind of informant would give the Katsumatas that kind of information? Well, if there was one place that had made that kind of decision, it would be Central 46. So, Akio moved with haste to their chamber; and hoped that what he told Ryoichi was still true.

Ichiro and Niara walked out of the Squad Seven barracks, hand in hand together. Niara's serious side melted away as she then rested her head on his shoulder. The Commander's son simply smiled as she felt her do that, "So…wanna take a walk together for a little while?" Ichiro asked, seeing as they were suddenly freed up again.
"I'd love to," she answered. So, with no destination in mind, the pair took a simple stroll throughout the Seireitei. They resumed some conversations they had back on the Squad One rooftop, just without Ryoichi.
Ryoichi…why on earth would his dad need him for something? He didn't voice his concern about it at all to Niara, not wanting to ruin this moment with her. Still…it was slightly concerning to him that his father would need Ryoichi for something.
His thoughts were broken up a little as he felt lips press against his cheek. The kiss from Niara made Ichiro shake off the thoughts for now, as he looked over to her and smiled, giving Niara a kiss directly on the lips.
"Hey there lovebirds," a female voice said. The two turned their heads to see a woman who was shorter than both of them. Captain Kana Kondo was the youngest of all the Captains, not even a hundred years old, and was very different compared to the rest of them as well; not so much with what she wore but more so with alterations to herself. She had natural slate grey hair, which matched with her eyes, but the tips of her hair were dyed neon blue.
She had some piercings on her body; a nose ring on the left side, a nose stud on the right side, a lip ring on the left side of her lower lip, and some that were concealed by her clothes. The young Captain also had some tattoos; though the majority of them were covered by her clothes the ones that were visible are a blue lightning bolt going horizontally above her chest, and on her lower left arm was the words, "Music is life."
Kana did have some alterations to her outfit as well; her kisode's sleeves went down to her elbows, her waist strap was dark blue, and her Captain's haori was sleeveless and only went down to her waist. Lastly, what really set her apart from the other Captains, was her pair of headphones, black in color and wireless, which for the moment rested around her neck, and Ichiro and Niara could hear her usual music blasting from them.
"Hey Kana," Niara said with a wave and smile. She then noticed that the young Captain seemed a little trouble, "Is something the matter?"
"As a matter of fact, yes," Kana answered. "Do you guys know where Ryoichi is? He isn't answering my calls at all, and he told me he would be with you two…but apparently not."
Ichiro and Niara looked at each other and raised an eyebrow, and as they both turned back to Kana Ichiro was the one who answered. "He's in the Squad Seven barracks at the moment, my dad and Captain Igura needed him for something."
Kana had a look of confusion on her face and was quiet for a little while, "Uhhh…okay then," she said. "Thanks, you two; see you later; and Ichiro, when you see your dad next, please tell him if he's going to take my Lieutenant for something." The young Captain said, obviously being a little agitated. She put her headphones back on her head and walked off.
Ichiro and Niara just looked at each other and shrugged, once more holding hands and walking together. They spent a few minutes together, walking and talking, until Niara's phone suddenly started to ring. She used her free hand to pull it out of her haori, looking at who was calling, and answered, "Hey Kiara."
The Co-Captain suddenly stopped walking as she listened to her twin sister on the other side. "Well…can't you just do it yourself?" Niara asked. A little while later Niara once more had a question, "What do you mean they need both of us for it; Central 46 has always-" She was cut off by her sister and Niara sighed, "Alright, I'll be there in a couple of minutes."
Niara hung up and put the phone away, then turned to Ichiro, "I'm sorry…but this needs my attention."
"What?" Ichiro asked in disbelief, "But we haven't even been able to spend the amount of time we agreed on."
"I know…trust me I know," Niara said keeping calm. "And I wish this was something I could ignore…I really do. Unfortunately, I can't," she then kissed Ichiro on the cheek, "I'll call you when I'm done."
Ichiro didn't want her to leave though; wanted her to be with him a little while longer. Well…it wouldn't hurt if he tagged along right? He was just about to suggest it, his mouth agape, but Niara put a finger on his lips to stop him, "No, you can't come with me for this work; It's official Captains work and there can't be just random people." She kissed him once more, "I love you."
A sigh escaped Ichiro as he kissed her back, "Love you too." He then watched Niara as she disappeared, using flash steps to get to her squad barracks. Then the realization hit him; he had nothing to do. His girlfriend, just left to deal with work, and he still had no idea if his best friend was freed up from his dad and Kenshin. However, even if he was his Captain was looking for him, and they probably had work to talk over.
The boy sighed as he realized his predicament; unsure of where to go or what to do. He stood there for a while; head tilted upwards thinking of what he could do. Ichiro then just shrugged as he suddenly started to walk off.

Kana made her way to the Squad Seven barracks, music blaring in her ears as always. It didn't take her long to get there, and her timing was perfect as she saw Ryoichi coming out of the main doors. She walked up a flight of stairs and waved at her Lieutenant, "Hey there Ryoichi."
Her Lieutenant seemed to be a little distracted by something, and so was surprised when he heard his Captain call his name. He raised his hand, and greeted her, "Hey Captain."
"I've been calling you," Kana said not wasting any time. "Ichiro said the Commander and Kenshin needed you for something; what was it?"
Ryoichi didn't answer, instead sort of looked away from her. Was he able to tell her about this? He didn't want to take the risk and answered, "I'm sorry but…I can't say."
Kana seemed to frown a bit at his answer, as she put a closed fist on her hip, "Can't…or don't want to?"
Ryoichi stayed quiet at first then said, "I…don't want to, because I don't know if I can or not."
Kana heard her Lieutenant's answer and sighed, as she then went up to him and a hand on his shoulder, "Come on…I may have only been Captain for just a year so far…but you've known me longer than that. You know that what you tell me stays between us." The Captain then put her arms across her chest, "Besides; a Captain has to look out for her subordinates."
The Lieutenant looked at his Captain, and sighed; she was right. They had known each other since Kana first joined the Squad eight years ago, and even though Ryoichi was still nervous and shy around her back then, she joined into the Squad pretty well and eventually was able to slowly get Ryoichi to open up. "Alright…but, can we go somewhere private?"
His Captain smiled, "Absolutely; let's go to my office."

Ichiro had walked around for what seemed forever but looking at his phone it was only about ten minutes. He sighed, as he put his phone away; god he was bored, and honestly hoped something would happen. He hadn't really noticed but he was around the Squad Eleven barracks; a Squad fully devoted to combat.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw three guys talking with each other, but he paid them no mind as kept on walking. One of the guys spotted Ichiro walking by and alerted his friends, giving him a little nudge and pointing out the Commander's son. So, the man, who was sort of the leader of the trio, walked out into the open, with arms crossed together. "Well look who it is; if it isn't the 'Prince' himself."
Ichiro heard him called that nickname, which he terribly hated, and sighed as he just turned his head to see who called him that. There were three guys standing there, all of them being fairly taller than Ichiro, and much more muscular than him. That didn't intimidate Ichiro at all, as he just looked blankly at them and asked, "What the hell do you want?"
The man had a smug smile on his face, seeming confident in himself. "I'm sure you remember me Prince; we fought against each other o-"
"Nope," Ichiro said which interrupted the man. He fully turned himself around to look at this guy, and friends. The Commander's son tried to think back and remember if he knew these guys or not. His head was tilted upwards, and he crossed his arms; as he stood there for a while. Ichiro then finally turned his attention back to the trio, as he shrugged, "Sorry…uhh, what's your name?"
The man seemed to be very agitated at Ichiro for not knowing him. "Y-you prick bastard," he said in anger. "My name is Itsuki Suzuki; you embarrassed me in front of my whole squad and you're gonna pay for it!"
Itsuki then pulled out his Zanpakuto, infuriated as ever as he rushed at Ichiro. Ichiro just simply sighed, as he grabbed his Zanpakuto from his back, and stood ready for the man. He attacked Ichiro with a downward swing, both hands on his Zanpakuto. Ichiro merely held his Zanpakuto in just his left hand and raised it up to block the predictable attack. Their blades collided and a giant gust of wind blew outward from the two; their reiatsus colliding together as well.
Well this certainly ended the boredom Ichiro thought to himself. But…don't want to accidentally hurt the guy, So Ichiro tried to deter him from a fight the only way he knew how to. His body was all of a sudden surrounded by a dark red energy; as a forceful feeling suddenly washed over Itsuki and his two friends. It felt like they had extra gravity pushing down on them, and they could barely move.
"If you know me; then you know how much Reiatsu I have…and how hard it can be for me to control it at times," Ichiro explained to his attacker. He then looked at Itsuki dead in the eye, with what could only be described as a death stare. Ichiro's eyes were also glowing from releasing so much Reiatsu. "So, if you know what's good for you…you'll stop this and leave me be."
Itsuki stayed silent for a while, as he seemed to be in disbelief at Ichiro having this much Reiatsu. "You bastard….h-how are you this lucky to have this much Reiatsu?"
Something inside Ichiro just snapped then as he heard the word 'lucky.' With incredible ease, and still holding his Zanpakuto with just one hand Ichiro batted aside Itsuki's Zanpakuto. He quick followed it up by charging at the large man, right hand closed in a fist. Ichiro was too fast for Itsuki to stop him, and so the closed fist connected square in the jaw of Itsuki; who stumbled backwards a few steps from the blow.
In the split second before Ichiro's fist connected, Itsuki saw on Ichiro's face a look of pure rage. He tried to ignore that for now and tried to get his bearings together; that punch had thrown him off quite a bit. Unfortunately for him, Ichiro did not let up, as he followed the punch with another, as he quickly brought his Zanpakuto into his right hand, and now having his left hand clenched. The punch connected, making the large Shinigami stagger backwards once more.
At this time Itsuki's two friends decided to intervene; charging at Ichiro with their Zanpakuto's drawn. "You little bastard; you'll pay," one of them yelled before attacking Ichiro with a downward swing of his Zanpakuto. The attack was incredibly slow and reckless; therefore, Ichiro was able to avoid the blow with ease. He merely took a few steps to his left and the man's blade hit the ground.
It had enough force that it broke up the concrete, smoke and debris risen in the air. Ichiro retaliated by quick bringing his Zanpakuto back into his dominant left hand and stepped onto the dull side of the weapon and reversed the grip on his Zanpakuto. He then slammed the pommel of his Zanpakuto into the man's jaw, sending the man reeling back; stunning him for a while.
The other man charged at Ichiro ready to swipe horizontally at him. Ichiro brought up his weapon with one hand and easily blocked the attack; the force behind it not bothering Ichiro at all. The man did not relent, as he brought his Zanpakuto back and ready for another attack; this time swinging down vertically.
Ichiro made one step to his left and then made himself lean even more to his left; which the made the attack miss. However, he wasn't down, as he brought his Zanpakuto hand over to his left side and slashed at Ichiro horizontally once more; this time from left to right. Ichiro pivoted his body and brought two hands to his Zanpakuto; then brought it up to block the attack.
When their blades connected Ichiro pivoted once more, bringing his Zanpakuto, as well as his opponent's Zanpakuto, over his head and to the other side of his body. Ichiro then freed up one of his hands, launched an elbow at his opponent. It connected, hitting him square in the jaw, and made him reel back. He followed it up, and finished, with a small jump and bringing a closed fist to the side of his face; which connected squarely.
At this time Itsuki regained his composure, and saw that Ichiro was holding his own against his friends. How…how is that spoiled brat so strong? Itsuki thought to himself. We bust our asses off every damn day and can't even come close to his Reiatsu. He then shouted in anger, "Why the hell is some brat like you so damn strong? I don't give a damn how strong your parents are! It's bullshit that-"
He regretted saying those words almost instantly as he was cut off…Ichiro appeared in front of him out of nowhere. Once more Itsuki saw that look of pure rage on Ichiro's face; and now it finally bothered him…scared him even. Ichiro, whether he was thinking about it or not, had dropped his Zanpakuto, and then grabbed Itsuki's shirt with both hands. Itsuki hadn't noticed it, but Ichiro had his head tilted back, and with a surprising amount of force delivered a headbutt to Itsuki's nose.
Itsuki would have staggered back from the blow if Ichiro wasn't holding onto him; but his grip was firm and Ichiro reeled him back in for another headbutt, and then another…and then another. The four STRONG headbutts in a row broke Itsuki's nose; the Shinigami now bleeding profusely from the break. At this time, both of Itsuki's friend tried to attack Ichiro at the same time; Zanpakutos in hand swinging down at him.
And once more…Ichiro made them realize what exactly they were dealing with. In the flash of an eye Ichiro punched one of them right in the gut; with enough force to make the man crumple to his knees while holding his stomach. Before the other one could react, Ichiro dealt with him as well as he let loose a right cross. Except Ichiro forgot to hold back with it and it sent the man into a nearby wall.
With the two friends dealt with, and Itsuki almost paralyzed in fear at what just happened; Ichiro took this moment to catch a little breather. He got quite the workout from that and he needed his breath back for what he was going to do next. When he was ready Ichiro walked up to Itsuki; a look of pure anger on Ichiro's face as he gave him that same blank, filled rage stare again. Itsuki instinctively tried to crawl away from Ichiro; though ended up against a wall with nowhere to go.
Ichiro got right into Itsuki's face, "YOU THINK I'M FUCKING LUCKY DO YOU?!" Ichiro asked with anger; screaming at Itsuki. "YOU THINK THAT JUST BECAUSE BOTH OF MY PARENTS ARE CAPTAINS AND I HAVE A LOT OF REIATSU THAT THAT SOMEHOW AUTOMATICALLY MAKES ME LUCKY?" Ichiro was screaming his head off all while right in Itsuki's face, but calmed himself a little; and while Ichiro stopped yelling there was no denying the anger still present in his voice. "Well, the truth is that is FAR from the reality asshole."
Ichiro grabbed the black glove on his left hand and with a look of grimace and pain on his face he slowly took it off. When it was fully off and revealed his hand, Itsuki had to do his best not to vomit. The hand was incredibly black, like it looked like charcoal, and there were bits of skin missing here and there; which those parts were a pinkish-red in color.
"This is how lucky I am," Ichiro said; still, plenty of anger in his voice. "As soon as I learned my Shikai my Zanpakuto decided to burn my hand so bad that it's constantly in pain and I can't even use or move it without this glove. If that's what your definition of 'lucky' is…then yeah…I guess I am."
Itsuki stayed silent for a while, as Ichiro then put his glove back on, once more showing pain on his face. He…he really went through all that? The lower seated Shinigami was about to say something but instead there was someone else who sad something. "What is the meaning of this?" A deep voice boomed. Ichiro looked to see a man who stood much taller than he did; and seemed to be an intimidating figure. He had long brunette hair, which was kept in a ponytail, and almost matched his dark brown eyes. The man was a Captain, as was signified by his haori; which the sleeves only went down to his elbows. His shihakushou was left unmodified, but he wore red shoulder guards over his uniform.
Captain Daichi Takahashi recognized Ichiro, as well as the other three men. "Ichiro; what happened?" He may not be able to discipline the young boy, but he would certainly discipline the others if need be. Of course, Daichi knew Ichiro wouldn't be one to attack someone without a purpose; being that the boy was his second cousin.
"Well," Ichiro started as backed away from Itsuki and went to grab his Zanpakuto, and then put it away on his back. "I was just walking by minding my own business; when these three a-" Ichiro stopped himself, as he knew Daichi did not enjoy people swearing when giving official reports. "These…guys wanted to start a fight with me. I did my best to ignore them but…they attacked me first….as well as instigated me."
Daichi listened to Ichiro's explanation, and when he was done the Captain simply nodded. "Thank you, Ichiro, I will deal with these men and their discipline actions needed for them. You should probably head over to Squad Four yourself…just to be sure." He stopped talking to Ichiro and then said to his subordinates, "Alright you whelps; over to Squad Four! Then when you're done there, we'll talk about your punishment back at our barracks!"
It took a while for all of them to finally move at all; though for Itsuki it was because he was still paralyzed by fear. Eventually, he and his friends pulled himself together and the three men groaned as they grabbed and put away their Zanpakutos. They did as their Captain said and Daichi couldn't help but shake his head a little, "You couldn't hold back at all Ichiro?"
"Sorry," Ichiro said with a sigh, "It's just…they pissed me off."
Daichi gave a nod, not needing to hear anything else. He started to walk off but then Ichiro said, "Wait…uh…Daichi?"
Normally Daichi did not like being called by his first name by someone of lower rank, but Ichiro was a rare exception. Not because he was specifically the Commander's son, but because they were family. Daichi's and Akio's mothers were sisters; meaning that the two Captains were in fact cousins, and in that extension, Ichiro was his family. Daichi only let family and other Captains call him by his first name.
"H-how are your burn scars?" Ichiro asked, who seemed to be little scared to ask about it.
Daichi simply smiled, "They are gone now, as well as the pain…but I appreciate the concern." The Captain walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, "And before you say anything else; there is no need to apologize nor should you beat yourself up about it. I knew full well the risk that came with sparring with you and I understand that you don't have full control of your Bankai yet. If anything, the fault is mine; I thought my Bankai was restored enough with my sister's Zanpakuto that it was ready." With that Daichi gave Ichiro a simple smile and walked off.
Ichiro smiled back at Daichi and watched him walk off. He thought he would have to think of something else to do; when his phone suddenly started to ring. He pulled it out and looked who was calling and smiled. "Hey beautiful," he greeted the person.
"Hey handsome," Niara greeted him back with. "We're all done for the day."
"Your one hundred percent sure?" Ichiro asked.
Niara chuckled a little, "Yes; absolutely. Now me and Kiara were actually wondering if you'd be willing to join us for dinner tonight."
"Yeah; I'd love to. Just got to let my parents know," Ichiro answered.
"Great, come on over right now then; food is still being cooked buuut…we can spend some time together before eating."
"Ichiro smiled, "Sounds like a plan."/span/p