Lieutenants Hisagi and Ayasegawa were both somewhat relieved to part ways as they exited the Seventh. They had received their ordered from Captain Komamura and would begin immediate preparations to lead their divisions out into Eastern and Northern districts of Rukongai respectively. Both were dreading the assignment for different reasons, but neither had spoken. Instead they had shared an awkward and uncomfortable silence for the entire walk across the division.
Yumichika, for his part, was not really sure Hisagi seemed up to the task of leading an entire division as companies spread out across miles of countryside, hunting down murrauding hollows, but he wasn't about to say anything. They might be a part of the same group of friends, and probably drank together as a part of that group at least monthly, but they were definitely not close enough Yumichika could ask Hisagi if he felt up to handling things, only two days after enjoying a few hours with the Punishment Squad in an Inquisition. Yumichika missed Ikkaku; he'd ask anyway. He had absolutely no tack, and Hisagi's reaction to the question would be enough for Yumichika to guess the real answer, no matter what he might say.
But Ikkaku was still with the Eleventh, following Captain Zaraki, and the Captain had left well over an hour ago, the moment he learned what part of Rukongai his division was to be protecting. Yumichika wasn't surprised; he'd often been left behind at meetings to collect the details his captain wasn't interested in. He worried that the Eleventh might now be forced to rely on Yachiru's sense of direction and grasp of strategy to guide them. That really didn't sound good—but it also wasn't his problem.
Yumichika was on his own now, and after bidding Hisagi a vague goodbye, he turned toward the division that was now his.
The road to the Fifth was oddly subdued this morning. Even for a post Aizen world if felt off. As he walked past a food cart, a company from the Eighth paced by on high alert, scanning the quiet street, and Yumichika frowned. The Gotei was officially at war; nothing was going to be right again until Aizen had been defeated.
Yumichika paused as he entered the Fifth and directed one of the men there to have all the officers called in for a meeting immediately. He ignored the way the man looked at him, like he was some sort of interloper; he couldn't agree more that he didn't belong here. His greatest hope was that somehow Hinamori would recover and her name would be cleared. He would be more than happy to return to his old division and his old position. That it would be a massive demotion didn't bother him in the slightest.
The officers gathered painfully slowly in the small courtyard before the captain's office. Apparently this was where these meetings were always held. Yumichika wondered if that was actually the case or if they were messing with him, but he couldn't really make himself care. He didn't mind a meeting outside--just so long as they did their jobs.
At least, for the most part, they seemed to be listening as he shared the detailed instructions he had received from Komamura. The Fifth was not anywhere near the toughest division in the Gotei, but they were well trained. They should have no trouble following simple instruction.
But when he finished speaking, several officers exchanged uneasy looks, and finally the Eighth Seat, a young woman whose name he could not remember having only met most of them the day before, spoke up, "Sir," she said softly. "Did you not hear there is a meeting of the Four Great Houses being held this afternoon?"
Yumichika frowned. He couldn't see how that pertained to the orders he had given or to the division at large. Did the Fifth have some bigwig he wasn't aware of? There were quite a few minor nobles, far more than in the Eleventh, and he thought one or two might even have ties to the Four Families, but he couldn't see how it mattered. There was no Shiba Kaien or even Kuchiki Rukia, no one who might be expected to attend.
It would probably be rude to say 'so what' so he when with, "Is that a problem?"
The woman glanced back at the others. "There is some expectation," she said uneasily, "That some Gotei assignments may be adjusted due to information that is to be shared at the meeting."
Yumichika almost laughed. "You think you're going to get out of hollow hunting that easy? There's no place for special treatment in the Gotei. There's trouble out in Rukongai, and it's our duty to take care of it. No one cares if you're all top picks out of the Academy or even if you've got noble blood. You're going to get out there and fight, and risk your lives like every other shinigami in the Gotei—but if you learn to do it right, you can stay beautiful the entire time," he added with a graceful flip of his hair.
One of the officers furthest from Yumichika leaned over to the man next to him and whispered something. The aside was so low Yumichika was probably the only one who caught it. "Does the freak really expect us to think he's 'pretty'?"
Yumichika was in front of the man before he stopped speaking. He hit him with an open palm flat in the chest, and the officer went flying backwards into the wall ten feet behind him, breaking a nice oval hole through the wall and collapsing into a pile of rubble in the storeroom beyond.
"No, I do not expect someone as lacking as you are in personal appeal to be able to recognize real beauty, but I do expect that an officer Aizen picked should have the intellect to watch what he says around his superiors," Yumichika said, looking down on the officer with obvious contempt.
"As for the rest of you, I don't care about the Four Great Houses or their meetings. You have your orders, and I expect you to follow them. If you try to ignore them or avoid them or in any way delay the division's preparations I promise I have brought enough of the Eleventh with me to make every last one of you regret crossing me."
The officers exchanged looks.
"I would expect the Eleventh to be ready for an expedition like this in two hours. I would think that as well disciplined as this division is you could be ready in half the time," he looked them over doubtfully. "It appears I am going to be disappointed, but I can't say that I'm not going to enjoy watching you all experience a little retraining courtesy of the Eleventh. You have two hours."
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Hisagi had not noticed the change in Seireitei's atmosphere. He hadn't really noticed much of anything about his surroundings. He was severely hungover and anytime he allowed his thoughts to wander they went in more than slightly unpleasant directions, so he forced himself to go over the orders and every detail that would need to be attended to to prepare the division for such a major offensive. He was going over the number of pounds of rice per day that would be required for each company when he stepped through the gate into the Ninth.
"Lieutenant Hisagi," a familiar voice called to him. The division Fourth Seat Tendo Makoto was hurrying to meet him as he entered. "Sir, I heard that Captain Kyoraku is leaving this morning for the World of the Living, is that true?"
Hisagi stopped abruptly. He was rarely asked for information about the Eighth Division Captain. Most people seemed to have forgotten he had any connection to Kyoraku at all, or if they remembered, they would ask him if he could ask Nanao, or if Nanao had told him anything. The fact that the man was his adopted father seemed to have vanished from the collective consciousness.
"I believe so, yes," he answered, finally. Kyoraku had dropped by at breakfast to ask Ai-chan if she would prefer more toy tigers or perhaps a dragon for a souvenir, and he had left promising to return with both to add to her collection, along with at least one box of chocolate Pocky and one of strawberry.
"Then he is siding with the General, whatever the Four Great Houses decide," Tendo said, nodding thoughtfully. "And I assume you are as well, sir?"
Hisagi turned to meet Tendo's eyes. "What is that supposed to mean?" he asked, his voice suddenly like ice.
"I didn't mean anything," the Fourth Seat said quickly. "I'm with you. I'm Gotei first, Tendo second, but there are people saying there may be a split between the General and the Houses. It depends on what they decide this afternoon. I don't like it, and but it doesn't matter what I think. I'm nobody. They say Shiba-dono is for the Gotei, and is even friends with Captain Ichimaru, but Captain Soifon, they say she's had it with Captain Ichimaru and with what happened to Yoruichi-dono, and they think she may blame the General. It may be up to Captain Kuchiki, and nobody knows what he thinks. They never do, and he's barely spoken to anyone at all since Rukia-dono's return. But there's a lot of pressure coming from all the houses; a lot of important people are very unhappy about how things have been handled, heads of branch families and even elders. We're all just going to have to wait and see. We can't do a thing until they've made their decision."
"What do you mean, we can't do a thing?" Hisagi asked.
"No one dares make a move," Tendo explained. "They're all afraid of upsetting the Four Houses. Nothing but daily routine until their meeting is over. We're better off than the Third, though. I heard all of the noble members walked out today. They're waiting outside the Shihoin Palace, waiting to hear what they decide before they'll take another word from their captain."
"But the Eighth—" Hisagi broke off, realizing the answer before he'd even finished the question. If people were worried about upsetting the Four Great Houses then they would have nothing to worry about following Kyoraku or Nanao's orders, especially when they were to protect Seireitei from danger. Sending divisions out into Rukongai was much more likely to be something the Noble Houses might object to. After all, it would reduce the numbers available to protect Seireitei, and what did they care about the residents of Rukongai?
He swore under his breath.
"What's that, sir?"
Hisagi shook his head. The entire division was basically on strike until the noble houses sorted out this stupidity. That was just fantastic. So what was he supposed to do, sit alone in his office all day? With only himself and a bottle of sake for company? Because what he really needed was more time to remember voices shouting questions at him, questions he could barely hear over the sound of his own begging--his chest tightened as past pain tried to become present--he shook his head again.
"Fuck this," he said, and he shoved a clipboard piled withpaperwork into the Fourth Seat's hands. "Here are our orders. We need to be ready the minute the meeting's over? Think you and Third Seat Hashimoto can handle that? I was supposed to have a week's leave; I'm going to take half a day with my family. Send me a call when we're ready to go."
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The Eleventh left three hours after Kenpachi returned to the division. He never knew there were any problems. Ikkaku beat two nobles to a pulp, and then another ten or so people who were standing nearby and hadn't had anything to do with it, for suggesting waiting until the meeting of the Four Great Houses was complete. That was the end of the discussion.