"You know, I don't think I quite recall this uniform fitting so well." Sanura muttered to herself, looking down over her chest to look at the rest of the uniform. "Although I gotta admit, the Chinese slippers were the best idea we ever had. They're freaking comfortable."
Sayomi huffed in distaste, pulling the black kosode away from her chest and examining it with obvious disgust.
"I still don't see why we have to wear these to this stupid meeting. I mean, what happens if Yamamoto ends up deciding we're going to be executed or something?"
Sanura shrugged, as did Kizuro. "Who knows? The old man always was pretty stuck up when it came to rules, if I remember right."
Rika, walking next to Sayomi, snorted, and covered her face with a hand. Really, she couldn't disagree with that statement; not when it made so much sense.
"So….which way to the First Division again?"
-;-
It was almost dead silent in the hall. All of the assembled Captains were waiting for someone to say something, but no one other than Shunsui seemed able to speak. The floral clad Captain had shifted so that he could speak quietly to Ukitake, with a vaguely amused Kensei standing next to him and several others shaking their heads or rolling their eyes. Leave it to the drunk to continue talking, even when a room was dead quiet.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" a voice bellowed.
Everyone jumped, excluding Unohana and Yamamoto, who merely glanced over to the gigantic set of heavy doors.
"What does it look like, dumbass? Where are we going, anyway?" another voice replied.
"Beats me. Hey! Where are you going, Ton-kun?"
"Isn't this the way to the meeting room?" an innocent voice asked.
A pair of squeals almost immediately ensued, closely followed by a chorused, "Awwwww! You're so cute, Ton-kun!"
Kyoraku's eyes widened. He knew those voices.
"AGH! Let me go! Lemme go!"
"You heard him! Let him go before you suffocate him!"
"Hey! Retards! I think this is the one." Yet another voice chimed in, further confusing many of the present Captains.
"I dare you to go in first." One of the voices said tauntingly.
"As if! You go first, if you're feeling so brave!" a near identical one snorted.
"You."
"You."
"You!"
"OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! IF NONE OF YOU ARE GOING IN, AT LEAST OPEN THE DAMN DOORS!"
Now Unohana raised a brow, the smallest of smirks tugging the edge of her lips as she recognized the low tone of the voice. Unfortunately, however, she was unable to put a name with a face, considering that she had neither, but she was aware of who was standing outside the meeting hall doors.
"Yes, ma'am…" the pair of voices said meekly before the giant dual doors swung inwards with a groan, revealing a rather large group of people standing there.
The most definitive was a tall, hawk-eyed man. Light brown hair with darker shades of the hue streaked through the straight curtain to the back of his neck, eyes a rather obvious bright gold. Rather than a Shinigami uniform, he wore a grey kosode and a darker pair of hakama underneath, belted with a silvery sash, and on his feet, a black pair of traditional Chinese cloth slippers went over the usual white bandages that Captain Soifon could name off the top of her head, considering that she wore the exact same pair.
Next to him, a raven haired woman stood quietly, light violet eyes curiously glancing over the room and its inhabitants. She was clad in a version of the Shinigami shihakusho: a tunic style kosode that closely resembled a Chinese tunic, with the sides slit up to her hips and a pair of hakama underneath. Like the first male, and all of the members of the group, now that the Captains took them in, she was also wearing Chinese slippers.
Behind her, a silver haired man murmured something in his companions ear, hair in a high tail that ended at his lower back. A pair of crimson eyes caught the light and flashed like rubies for a moment, unnerving a couple of the Captains. His uniform was only slightly altered, being a sleeveless black kosode, with the same Chinese slippers. Altogether, he didn't seem overly concerned about his surroundings.
His companion, too, didn't look overly concerned, but he did appear to be fidgeting, and his grey eyes were averted from anything and anyone. He appeared, really, to be quite young. Medium length black hair fell to his shoulders, hair hugging the nape of his neck. His uniform, as his companions was, had a sleeveless kosode and Chinese slippers. He mumbled something back to the silver haired man before shifting his weight over to the other foot.
Not too far off from them, a considerably tall brown haired woman was standing next to another brown haired woman, thick strands pulled back into a high tail and shockingly bright red bangs just covering one dark blue eye. Her arms were crossed over her well-endowed chest
The other brown haired hair resembled the first closely, with several differences. The first being the fact that her bangs were a bright blue instead of dark red. The second was the pair of gold eyes, and her uniform appeared to be the standard uniform with the same slippers.
The last two of the group…well, there really wasn't any other way to say that they were twins. They were the exact same from head to foot. They were both the same height, a bit taller than the rest of their group, with shaggy, straight blond hair that hung just past their shoulders and green eyes. They were also wearing the same thing, which meant that it was probably going to be a pain in the ass to attempt to tell them apart. The standard shihakusho, though it was left loosely open, revealing toned chests, and the same slippers as everyone else.
They, of course, were the first to speak.
"Hey. Dare you to go first, Ryo." The first snickered.
"Yeah right. You first, darling Roka." The other snorted with vague amusement, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.
"You."
"Yo-"
"Don't even think about it!" the hawk eyed man roared, moving in a blur of motion. The next thing that anyone knew, two blurs went flying through the air and landed in an ungraceful heap of flesh and shocked yelps. The Captains looked on in slight interest and humor as the two stood up in sync, their backs turned, and yelled, "WHAT WAS THAT FOR, ASSHOLE!" back at him.
"You two are fucking obnoxious!"
"Yeah? Well you're always cold, Nokeshi!" one of the twins retorted.
"And you never smile!" the other pouted.
"Who are you people?" Captain Hitsugaya asked, the short male crossing his arms and staring at the intruders, distracting the twins from their rant.
"I'm Roka!"
"And I'm Ryo!"
"We're twins." they shrugged in unison.
"Karasu Himura." The silver haired man drawled, throwing an arm around his seemingly timid counterpart. "And this is Tonbo Ichirou."
"Rika Kasuga." The raven haired woman bowed slightly.
"Sayomi Nokeshi, although I guess I go by Chirazuki now. The twit standing next to me is my sister Sanura and the cranky guy over there is our brother, Kizuro." The blue eyed woman smirked, jutting a thumb towards the other brown haired woman and man respectively. It earned a few stares. They didn't look too alike.
"Sayomi, that's mean!" her sister whined, pouncing onto her shoulders and pulling her into a headlock. "Take it back!"
"Sanura, let go!"
"Apologize!"
"You'll never take me alive!"
"Baka! We're Shinigami! We're already dead!"
"Right…"
Yeah. On second thought, it was obvious they were related. Yamamoto was nearly ready to beat his head against the wall already. He'd forgotten how irritating those two could be, and they'd been in his Division at one point!
"Roka and Ryo Masamune, Sayomi, Sanura and Kizuro Nokeshi, Rika Kasuga, Tonbo Ichirou and Karasu Himura." He addressed, voice immediately cutting off any further exclamations. "I have ended the exile of you and yours to have you return to Soul Society because of something that is sending us into an emergency state as of now."
Amid the sudden murmurs, Tonbo's hand raised into the air.
"What is it, Ichirou?" Yamamoto growled, having a feeling he already knew what the black haired male was going to do next.
"You're really old." He replied, tilting his head to one side and raising a brow. In the background, the coos from the twins alerted everyone to the fact that it appeared as if Tonbo was some kind of pet.
Unohana hid a smile behind her hand, while Kyoraku outright snorted a laugh, along with Shinji.
Yamamoto twitched.
"Refrain from making such comments again."
"Of course." Tonbo smirked, an innocent look plastered across his face.
"I will not tolerate any further interruptions again."
"Of course you won't." Sanura muttered.
"Is there a problem?" Yamamoto asked lowly, reiatsu beginning to flare. Sanura shot the Head Captain a deadpan stare.
"I just interrupted you, and miraculously, I'm not a pile of ashes floating through the air yet. So yeah, I guess you could say that there is a problem. You're not obliterating me."
Silence fell. Then-
"You know, Yama-jii, she's got a point." Kyoraku pointed out. "You did say that you wouldn't put up with anymore of this crap, and yet here we are."
Yamamoto himself…well, he wasn't doing so good. He was irritated, he wanted to get this damn meeting over with so he could get back to his office and crack open a bottle of sake, and above all he wanted all of these incompetent idiots out of his sight!
"As I have been saying, and as the Captains present are already aware, one of the original members of Aizen's army has been sighted in the Rukon Districts. You have been reinstated and will be-"
"No."
"Excuse me?" Yamamoto blinked.
"You heard me. I said no. I'm not about to be the last resort that you want me to be. That is why you've brought us here, isn't it? You want us to get rid of the pest problem. After all, it wouldn't be that much of a loss to you. We're the ones who defected over to the Quincy; why not sacrifice us to the Espada. And don't look so shocked about that. I'm pretty sure the entire world clued into that particular shitfest." Sayomi rolled her eyes. "So no. Now, if that's all you wanted to discuss, I'll see myself out. I have people to see and places to be."
Turning on her heel, the brown haired woman stalked back the way they'd just come, spine rigid. The rest of the group quickly followed, Roka and Ryo making several rude hand gestures as they did so.
Well, this certainly wasn't going the way that he'd planned. Yamamoto internally cursed. The damn woman did, after all, have a point. He would prefer not to get his own troops involved unless absolutely necessary, and considering all past events, he had thought it to be a flawless plan. However, now that this problem had risen, he took note that it wasn't the case. And right now, they were another potential threat that could rise against Soul Society in the future. Really, he only had two options available to him. Let them leave, or….
"Wait." Another voice stated.
Sayomi turned.
"We would be grateful for your help, former Lieutenant Nokeshi." Ukitake stepped forward before bowing. "If you would reconsider, I would personally join you in the Rukon Districts to hunt down this Espada and permanently ensure the safety of the people there."
Most of the newer generation present were shocked. This woman was Ukitake's former Lieutenant?
Yamamoto was about to object when a heated glare from Soifon, of all people, silenced him. Glancing around the room, he was mildly surprised to note that Unohana, Toshiro, Komamura, and Byakuya were all giving him similar looks.
Even though he was the Head Captain, Yamamoto knew he was outnumbered.
"As I have said. If you change your minds, you will be reinstated into the Gotei 13 and given seats after testing. Along with this, you will receive special rights to visit the World of the Living at will while keeping your positions in your squads. And as of now, should you accept this mission, you will be granted two Captains and three lieutenants of your choice to go to the Rukon. I believe Captain Ukitake has already volunteered."
Sayomi frowned further, the creases lining her skin deeply. After a moment of looking to the rest of the exiles, she shrugged. "We'll consider in the hall. Excuse us."
Yamamoto was glad to find that he wasn't the only one breathing a sigh of relief as they exited the room, but he knew it wasn't over just yet.
-;-
"Well?" Sayomi asked as soon as the doors closed behind them. "What do you guys think about it?"
"What do you mean 'well'?" Kizuro snapped. "I say screw it and get the hell outta here."
Roka and Ryo were silent for once, serious looks on their faces. They'd already made up their minds. Strange, considering the stand-off that Sayomi and the Head Captain had had, but there was something here for them.
"We're going to accept." they quietly cut in.
Rika nodded along with their words. "I will accept as well. I find their offer a fair trade. Despite the fact that the circumstances are more than a little untimely, in the long run it'll prove beneficial."
Tonbo tilted his head. "I'll go wherever Karasu goes." he half smiled. "After all, we've been partners for so long I don't know what would happen if we weren't anymore."
Karasu shrugged. "I guess I'll take them up on the offer too, then. But hey, we could always choose to leave. Isshin did, if you recall."
"Hai! I'll accept if Sayomi does." Sanura chirped, snapping a salute off. "What about you, brother dearest? Are you going to join up with the Shinigami again?"
Kizuro growled, knowing he was seriously outnumbered, and if they went...he would too.
"Fine."
Sayomi smirked. She knew how their brother worked all too well. If you could get the women to agree on something, the hawk eyed man didn't stand a chance.
-;-
"We accept your offer, with a few terms of our own."
Yamamoto really, really, really wanted to burn something with his zanpakuto. As in, incinerate it, somehow make it whole again, and burn it all over again.
"We want an out. We can quit if we desire, and not be labeled exiles. And we will refuse a seat if it is already filled in a squad."
"Is that all?"
"Yes."
"It seems we have a deal."