If you said that Byakuya Kuchiki, head of one of the now five noble houses, and head of the family in charge of recording and, unknown to many, policing, Soul Society's history, he'd be playing go with Kukaku Shiba one hundred years ago, he'd probably laugh at you. Now though, here he was, playing go, and winning hard. From what he could see he was on pace to control sixty percent of the board soon. This is why Kukaku was taking so long to find a good place to put down her piece. Eventually, she simply put the piece back in its jar before calmly tipping the table on its side, and dumping the pieces into a collecting tray, formally resigning the match.
"I never said I was good at this," Kukaku shrugged. Kaien was far better at this kind of thing than she was. She was a daughter born after the heir, she never was meant to lead the clan, she was meant to be married off to create a political alliance, or strengthen current ones. It's why she became a shinigami in the first place. A lot of nobles don't like the idea of having a wife who held authority greater than theirs, even if it wasn't in the same power structure. So that would have significantly reduced interest. Then she simply didn't hide what she was, explosive. Still, there were attempts. Fortunately, Shiba courting practices had several differences from the other clans. First, they tried to make sure that the two people could tolerate each other at worst, though usually aimed for like or even love in the best cases.
"Then you need to practice," Byakuya was using go as a way to help Kukaku develop better long-term strategic planning. Shibas, as a rule, were a very passionate family, but Kukaku was fiery even by their standards. He had learned that the hard way. Because of this, the Shibas had been played on multiple occasions in their history. Sure, the Shibas usually had the last laugh, but by then the damage had already been done. All it took was a run of rotten luck and the clan was finally dispossessed.
"I know," the Kuchiki servants collected the tray to be sorted later and then quietly put the table back into its normal position. Kukaku was more dressed up than she usually was. This wasn't the Shiba estate where she could get away with her usual attire. "I'm not daft enough to fall for something stupid like Ganju."
Byakuya moved his hand, dismissing the servants still present from the room, waiting until they left before continuing. "It isn't falling for something stupid that's the issue," When Kyoraku suggested that maybe the Shiba clan should be reinstated, Byakuya knew the head captain was playing games. He initially didn't know what the plan was, but the idea did serve to solve the issue of the power blocs in clan politics being, once again, deadlocked. "It's falling for something clever ," and then Kukaku revealed that Ichigo was the son of Isshin Shiba by naming him her heir and it all made sense .
"Like what? Bating me to make a bad move, you did that fifteen times," Kukaku crossed her arms. Byakuya had noticed the prosthetic. The last time he had seen her she still had her right arm.
He shook his head. "Like naming Ichigo your heir when his freedom in the living world was next on the docket for Central 46 this session," Kukaku frowned as the considered what her peer was saying.
"You mean that Kyoraku wanted me to do exactly that?" Byakuya simply nodded. She knew her old captain was a crafty one, you don't spend time with him as your boss and not learn that, but this was especially crafty for him. He needed a connection however, someone who could lean on the four remaining houses to reinstate the clan. "He put the idea in your head didn't he."
"He was the one who suggested the idea to me," Byakuya had always thought his fellow captain was oafish and was simply kept around because he was a major contributor to the strategic power of the Gotei. It wasn't until the war with the Wandenreich that he realized that was a mask. He was impressed with how Kyoraku had conducted himself in that war. He disagreed with many of his decisions, sacrificing Unohana and allowing Aizen to be freed for the final stages of the war. He would have never made those decisions, Yamamoto would have never made those decisions. However, he wasn't head captain, and Yamamoto was laying in state awaiting his konso reisai alongside Ukitake and Unohana.
"I always knew that bastard was hiding a devious streak," Byakuya ignored the vulgar language. He had enough time as head dealing with Kaien, and then Isshin, to know the Shibas didn't have the same rules of decorum as the Kuchikis. He was also aware of how Kukaku had served for a short time in the eighth division, now headed by a former lieutenant of the head captain's, Lisa Yadomaru. "Why do you think he did it?"
Byakuya had little idea as to what was going on inside the head captain's mind, but he did know his goal was always to do the most good. He had said that in essence when he berated the shinigami criticizing his decision to free Aizen. "Most likely to limit the actions that Central 46 can take against Ichigo," it made the most sense. The main judicial body of Soul Society is given its powers by the consent of the five clans. The clans didn't have a lot of hard political power outside their direct responsibilities, most of it was delegated to Central 46, but due to that, they had a lot of sway in its chambers, and now, the ability to overrule them. They generally let the clans deal with internal matters as they see fit, including crimes committed by the nobles, as long as those crimes didn't affect nobles outside of their own house or subordinate houses, and didn't otherwise violate any of the major laws of Soul Society as set by the 46.
Kukaku breathed in smoke from her pipe, blowing the smoke she exhaled away from herself and Byakuya. "That makes sense. He can be a scary one, but everything he does has a reason," if Kyoraku did all of that, he probably had his own plans for Ichigo, but he wouldn't take Ichigo's ability to choose away from him. She had been in the chambers when he had talked the Central 46 down by mentioning how he may react violently to being forced to abandon his friends. It was an over-exaggeration, especially the part where he didn't know if Kenpachi could take Ichigo in his current state, highlighting their battle during the lead-up to Rukia's sham of an execution.
"Indeed," If Byakuya had to guess, the 46 knew what he was doing, but since Ichigo was declared a clan heir, there was nothing they could do about it. It was likely that they were regretting putting Kyoraku in the head captain position now. Not that he cared, it wasn't his job to worry about the politics of another clan, nor the plans of his superior when his loyalties were known to him. "My main concern, however, is the uncharacteristic support I received from the Tsunayashiro clan in submitting the request to Central 46."
Ichigo found himself going through a primer for what would eventually be a crash course in Seireitei politics. To say he didn't like what he saw would be an understatement.
Soul Society was organized into 4 stratified groups. The Great Houses, which he and Byakuya were in; the lower nobility, which included the Ukitake and Kyoraku clans; shinigami, those who lived in the Seireitei but were not otherwise part of any clan; and everyone else, those who lived outside of Seireitei, and the soldats and support personnel of the Wandenreich who had surrendered after the war and now lived in what amounted to a well-furnished pow camp.
This stratification was in and of itself enough to unsettle Ichigo. He knew Soul Society was not exactly a nice place to live, but this and the knowledge that each of these groups was waging what amounted to a class cold war against each other that occasionally went hot did not help matters. Right now was a time of relative peace yes, but that was because everyone was still recovering from the hell that was the blood war, once everyone was done rebuilding it would be back to that uneasy status quo.
Unless someone wanted to upend that status quo. Ichigo had taken advantage of the fact that the Kuchikis were the ones in charge of recording history, monumental or banal, to request the meeting minutes from the clan meeting that led to the reinstatement of the Shibas and he did not like what he saw.
The Shiohins were both an unsurprising and welcome ally. While like every other clan they were mostly patriarchal they were also meritocratic and stood against any of the more oppressive acts of Soul Society if they interfered with Soul Society's ability to act militarily. The Kuchikis were much the same. While they may have proposed many of the oppressive policies in place, it was clear Byakuya was looking to remove those that were unnecessary, combine that with the fact that apparently, Byakuya's mother was a Shiba, and the Kuchikis were allies, enough so that Byakuya was the one to propose the reinstatement.
What troubled Ichigo was the uncharacteristic support from the Tsunayashiro clan. They were pretty much the ones in charge of surveillance and intelligence of the living world and were the ones that proposed many of the more draconian policies. It didn't surprise Ichigo that he heard rumors that the Tsunayashiros also used the Visuals Department to spy on pretty much everyone who could be considered a threat to the 'natural order of things,' which Ichigo translated as 'anyone and everyone.' This obviously lead to the Shibas and Tsunayashiros being historic enemies politically and most likely lead to the severity of the actions taken against the clan when his father stayed in the living world to look after his mother.
This meant Tokinada's support came because either he or the Tsunayashiros got something out of bringing the Shibas back into the fold, and staring at the documents he was able to pull from the Shiba library, the answer to that was power.
When the Central 46 voted to take punitive actions on the Shibas at the Tsunayashiros' behest, they pulled a fast one. They had moved faster than the Tsunayashiros had expected to prevent them from changing the rules to adapt to one of the houses being disgraced. This meant that all five of the houses had to be in agreement to overrule the 46, as opposed to all houses being in unanimous agreement. A clerical error, but one that basically gave the Central 46 the run of the Seireitei for twenty years. That meant whatever Tokinada wanted to do required the consent of all of the Great Houses, or for the Shibas to be within arms reach, and neither make Ichigo feel at ease.
He wasn't here a day and he already smelled trouble, great.
Rukia Kuchiki was looking over the command center from which the thirteenth coordinated its patrols of the living world. With the seireitei having been seriously damaged many of the divisions had had their bases of operation remodeled completely. Most of the equipment was identical to the equipment in the twelfth's own nerve center, though optimized for the smaller scope of the thirteenth's mission parameters. It was smaller than the twelfth's own command center, and was far less industrial, using the whites and browns that were in the rest of the division's barracks and offices.
While her body was present, and she was ready to give guidance should something come up, her mind was elsewhere. Ichigo was here. The man that she roped into this insane world of death gods, hollows, and spirits, was here. She was beginning to feel feelings she hadn't felt since…
She shook her head. That was a road that lead to dark places. She didn't need that distraction at the moment. While she wasn't expecting anything to go wrong, her life had taught her to be ready for exactly that. Fortunately, the reports coming in from the patrolling shinigami had been clean for the past few days. Hollow activity was within expected parameters provided by the twelfth. Karakura was as clear as it had been before she had gone on leave. Kyoraku had also told her to visit the fourth to check for any potential issues. She had come back with a clean bill of health, but she had been scolded by Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu for overworking herself. Ironic since Isanae was herself busting her ass to refine her bankai as well in order to fill the vacant seat left by Yachiru Unohana.
"Are you okay Lieutenant Kuchiki?" Rukia jumped as she finally noticed Kiyone snuck up on her. Rukia cleared her throat as she regained her composure, pretending she didn't just get spooked by one of her own third seats.
"Yes, I'm fine," Kiyone saw through it. Rukia had been acting captain for little over a year now and had been lieutenant longer than that. Kiyone knew Rukia had a tendency to burn herself out, especially if she had something she didn't want to think about on her mind.
"You've been overworking yourself again," Kiyone sighed. She'd been like this since Ukitake's death. She threw herself into her work to avoid her grief, she had been forced to go to counseling by Sentaro and her notifying the head captain of the situation. Rukia had come back and a few weeks later had thrown herself into her work again.
Rukia was tempted to pull rank but knew that Kiyone was only doing this because she didn't want to see her burn herself out again.
"Alright. I'll take my leave," she had been scheduled to be off duty an hour ago. Her paperwork was filed, organized, and collected, with sensitive notices being disposed of according to procedure, which was still finding the nearest fire zanpakuto to light the papers on fire. So Rukia walked out of the command center and began walking to her quarters in the thirteenth.
Being a high-seated officer had its perks, first among them were private quarters. Not that she ever had to bunk in the standard barracks, but the Kuchiki compound was, surprise surprise, closer to the sixth's barracks than the thirteenth's, so she did anyway out of simple practicality. While the unseated barracks were fun, she had gotten many a favor from playing cards, they were not the best to sleep in. There was a reason she learned how to sleep anywhere, and why as a senior unseated she occasionally had to take part in the infamous act of shaming. It wasn't that she didn't want to be told to do something that lead her to sham back then, but that she simply needed the rest sometimes.
Being a lieutenant fixed all of that. She had her own personal quarters, her own personal washroom, and a small kitchenette. She had full intention of keeping this room for herself as she had grown used to it, and partially because she couldn't bring herself to take Ukitake's old room even if she could.
When she opened the sliding door to her quarters she quickly put Sode no Shirayuki in its place on her sword rack above her desk. It was as she did that that she had noticed an envelope on her personal desk. She absentmindedly picked it up, then opened the envelope.
That was a decision she regretted immediately as pink glitter went everywhere. When she looked at the letter again, she found the part that launched the glitter, and it bore the image of the Wakame Ambassador.
Her eyes narrowed as she contemplated her next move in her ongoing prank war with her brother. She will have vengeance.