It was a rare day that Aigis sought Ebina out for anything other than remedials (and even then, it was rare these days considering how well he was doing academically), but the visit to the various divisions showed how little she truly knew about the Gotei, despite the multitude of missions she had gone with different divisions during the summer.
So who better to ask than one of the most prolific gossipers in the Academy?
"Well…the divisions themselves aren't really all that remarkable." Ebina started. They had occupied a small room for this discussion, while they each worked on their own writing homework. "My parents always said that I should look at the people in the division when picking, because apart from the divisions with a special role, they're all mostly the same otherwise."
Despite the ongoing issues that Ebina still had with his family, that was a very practical piece of advice.
"Can you tell me what you know about the people leading them then?" Aigis asked.
"I know that three divisions are led by shinigami who are part of the Five Great Noble Families." Ebina raised three fingers, as if starting a lecture.
Maybe Aigis had unintentionally influenced him in the past one and a half years.
"The one I know about best are the Sixth and Thirteenth Divisions," Ebina continued, lowering two of his fingers, "because they're led by members of the Kuchiki family."
"If I recall, your family is a branch of theirs, correct?" Aigis thought back to what Onabara had said over a year ago, when he first tasked her with Ebina's tutoring.
Ebina nodded, though his expression soured. "The captains are technically distant relatives of mine, if you consider it that way," he confirmed. "But with my family as it is, we barely see them. I do hear that the Thirteenth is much more relaxed than the Sixth in terms of environment, because the sister had a…somewhat different upbringing than the brother."
Aigis tilted her head.
"She was adopted." Ebina clarified. "And married to the captain of the Third."
"Captain Abarai is married?" Aigis blurted. Somehow, beyond the adoption, this was the most surprising part. Did the Gotei have no rules about fraternising?
Ebina tilted his head in response. "What? It's not like the Gotei forbids marriage between shinigami. In fact, it's pretty common, because how else are you going to find someone on a similar reiatsu level as you?"
That was a valid point. It was easy to forget, with Aigis having always been around people with power, or reiatsu – they all leaked pressure. It was controllable to a certain extent, but generally the higher the reiatsu level, the more pressure one leaked. Even a moderately trained shinigami can easily crush one of the Rukongai souls if they had a mind to, so it was safer for all involved to find compatriots closer in reiatsu level than to be involved with those who were much weaker.
Maybe this was part of the reason why nobles have such a difficult time trying to understand those who lived in Rukongai.
"The Seventh is the last one led by one of the Five Great Noble Families." Ebina continued. "Not by the head of the family like the Sixth though — their head is apparently not a combatant. But they do have two other members of the family as lieutenants in other divisions, and I hear that they're all close to captain level. The Second was traditionally led by the Shihouin family, but the last captain was dishonourably discharged on…bogus charges, I think, because it was back when the traitor Aizen was still active, and the current captain is basically training the lieutenant, who is the current head of the Shihouin family to take over the division someday." He took a deep breath.
The last captain of the Second…was this the sister that Shihouin had mentioned during their mission?
"What about the other divisions?" Aigis asked, after Ebina finished catching his breath.
"Hmm…" he crossed his arms and considered the question. "The Fifth has a reputation of being somewhat shady. Aizen used to be captain of that division after all, and some of the traitors alongside him were part of the Fifth at some point in their career, so they haven't been able to quite recover from that reputation. I hear the current captain is quite strict with the shinigami in his division because of it. Hinamori-sensei was the lieutenant of that division back then, and I hear it's part of the reason why she retired."
Well, that was another instructor who used to be a lieutenant. Was it common for officers to retire to be teachers at the Academy? Not that Aigis could blame them though, because in her opinion, teaching the next generation is a perfectly valid way to spend retirement, and all the teachers for the accelerated course were excellent at their job (even Matsumoto, despite her quirks).
"Because things have been so peaceful lately, I think most of the captains have held their rank for at least a century except for the Twelfth, and really, I don't see things changing for the foreseeable future." Ebina continued, heedless of Aigis's inner thoughts.
In other words, Aigis should expect the divisions to be rather set in their ways, for better or worse.
"What happened with the Twelfth?" she asked.
"There was some drama with it a few decades back." Ebina explained. "The previous captain was technically a criminal that the Gotei had to employ because he was a good inventor, but with someone the higher ups trusted finally at captain level, they kicked the captain back into the Maggot's Nest and promoted the other person."
Aigis blinked. "Excuse me?"
He shrugged, his uniform creasing along with his shoulders. "Like I said, drama."
There was so much to unpack with that statement that Aigis promptly elected to completely ignore the entire division.
"Is there anything else you can tell me about the divisions?" Aigis prompted.
"I think you know this already," Ebina said, "but pretty much every single captain is a veteran of the two wars three hundred years ago. Not so many of the lieutenants though, but I think Lieutenant Shihouin was one of the few who fought in the Quincy War. I think most of them were promoted within the last century or so."
So it was entirely probable that the lieutenants in general were much weaker than the captains, or at the very least, saw less wars than their superiors.
"Are there any divisions you personally are interested in?" Aigis offered. "If I have not seen them yet, I can scout them out for you."
"Aren't you supposed to be the one looking for a division for yourself?" Ebina snarked back good-naturedly.
"Consider it as thanks for telling me all that you've told me today," she proposed.
"In that case…" He stroked his chin with one hand. "Maybe the Tenth and Thirteenth? I hear both captains are the friendly sort, and there's generally a good environment within both divisions."
Aigis would only be visiting those divisions the day after tomorrow, but she kept them in mind. "Do you prefer not to be in the specialised divisions?"
"I don't really see myself as good at…well, anything special, really." Ebina sighed. He raised a hand to stop Aigis before she could start protesting. "I know, I know, I'm confident enough that I feel like I'm solid on all the subjects taught in the Academy, but I don't specialise in anything, and I don't feel the need to. So I'd rather go to a general division."
She let her argument die on her lips. It seemed that Ebina had at the very least thought about his choices in some measure, which was more than what Aigis could say for her own options. "Okay," she agreed, "I will visit these divisions the day after tomorrow, so I will let you know my thoughts then."
"Thanks, Aigis-san."
"No problem."
Hinamori led the division tours for the day. Apart from Makoto, Aigis found another familiar face within the students — Izukino.
"Are you interested in joining any of the divisions on today's tour?" Aigis asked Izukino.
She shrugged. "Almost all of them, basically," she answered. "Except for the Seventh. I'm not interested in the Living World, to be honest. Especially not after that disaster the last time."
"I thought you enjoyed it." Aigis said.
"That was just the adrenaline." Izukino hunched over. "It was exciting in the moment, but damn, after it wore off I realised how many different ways it could've gone wrong. No thanks."
That was a reasonable enough excuse.
"Some of you might have heard that the Fifth Division has a habit of having shady people," Hinamori explained on the way. "Especially considering the history of the division from four hundred years ago. But don't worry! There haven't been any issues ever since Captain Hirako took over again, and he has an excellent eye for people. They don't specialise in anything, but I'd say that everyone there is smart and highly skilled." She stopped at the foot of a small hill, which had a set of stone stairs leading up to the gate. "And here we are!" She extended her arms out in a wide flourish, which perfectly shifted everyone's attention to someone standing at the top of the stairs.
The person greeting them at the gate was…a teenage boy. A boy with a wide smile, fluffy orange hair, and a badge on his arm.
Maybe he looked younger than his actual age – it was difficult to tell with shinigami and souls in general. But despite her own escapades back when she was alive, Aigis still felt a tinge of discomfort to see a child be in the military, let alone at such a high rank.
"Oh, Kazui-kun!" Hinamori greeted the child enthusiastically. "Long time no see!"
"Momo-neechan!" The boy practically bounced down the stairs to greet the group, waving with just as much enthusiasm. "Hi everyone! I'm Kurosaki Kazui, lieutenant of the Fifth Division!"
In a way, he reminded Aigis of Shihouin, with the cheerful smiles and abundant amounts of energy they had. However, it was obvious with Shihouin that he was very much aware of the darker side of his job, and perhaps endorsed it to some extent. Kurosaki, for lack of a better word, looked painfully innocent.
Or maybe it was an act – a persona that he showed to the public. She could not fathom anyone working their way up to lieutenant level without being highly skilled and understanding the unsavoury side of being part of a military group. Maybe he knew, and still managed to keep up his innocent act, in which case Aigis would have to commend him for his mental fortitude. She then mentally berated herself for judging someone based on appearance alone, because that was an amateur level mistake she really should not be committing.
Still…Kurosaki. If her memory was correct, then was he part of…?
"Hey." She felt a gentle nudge to the side of her ribcage. "Are you going in?"
Makoto looked at Aigis, her head slightly tilted as she withdrew her elbow from Aigis's side.
"Yes, sorry." Aigis shook her head slightly to refocus on the tour. "Let's go."
As far as appearances went, the Fifth Division barracks were unremarkable — about as dusted as the Third Division barracks were, without any special facilities. Still, both Hinamori and Kurosaki led the tour with much enthusiasm, all the while bantering easily with each other.
"And that's our mess hall!" Kurosaki gestured to the double door behind him. "It contains a meeting hall for the officers and a cafeteria, so it's easy to grab refreshments in the middle of a meeting for— oh hello, Captain!"
Several students jumped and whirled around, Aigis included. Apparently at some point, a new person joined their tour group — a grinning, lanky man with long silky blond hair, wearing a white scarf around his neck and a white haori.
Aigis may not have ever had a sensor type Persona like Fuuka, but she prided herself on being able to detect anyone around her. How did she completely miss the man sneaking up on them?
"Why, hello there everyone," he greeted the group lazily, waving one hand while the other was kept behind his back. "Nice ta meet y'all here. I'm Hirako Shinji, captain of the Fifth Division. And it's good ta see ya again, Hinamori-chan."
Different from the other captains, Hirako spoke with a languid Kansai accent that fit his apparently laid-back personality. However, unlike Abarai, who acted exactly like how he presented himself, Hirako's narrow eyes seemed to scan for every little movement that the students made. Aigis was reminded of Soifon in the way both captains tried to analyse her, except Hirako attempted to hide his intentions behind a friendly facade.
That just made her more uncomfortable.
Next to Aigis, Makoto seemed to be winding down from her scare as she took deep breaths to settle herself.
"Captain, I've told you to stop scaring the students!" Hinamori chastised, her hands on her hips and an adorable pout on her face. "This is why you aren't getting any new recruits!" Despite the harsh words, the twinkle in her eyes betrayed her amusement.
Hirako stepped back, his hands shifted to his chest in mock pain. "No way! I was just tryna be friendly here!"
It almost appeared to be a rehearsed script. Most of the students seemed to have calmed down and even enjoyed the performance – Izukino practically was grinning at the sheer entertainment value, but Aigis could not shake off the sensation of Hirako boring his eyes into her very soul.
Why were Hirako and Kurosaki not part of the Second Division?
She understood the value of such a show – a way to make the captain, normally a high-ranking position that demands respect – seem more relatable, thereby allowing visitors and regular shinigami to relax in their presence. After all, if even a captain is fallible and willing to allow criticism, then there should be less issue for others to relax their standards in his presence.
Except relaxing also meant that people were less likely to pay attention to their own body language and what information they were willing to share. A slip of the tongue, as they say, was all it was needed for him to find out information that was meant to be hidden.
Aigis felt a mental slap from Metis, which shook her out from her analysis. She…did ask Aigis to take care of herself, did she not? This overly detailed hypothesis was not helping matters.
Their tour continued, now with the addition of one captain making small talk with the students. At some point, Aigis found herself at the back of the group, right next to Hirako.
"I saw those eyes of yer's earlier," he opened, a calculating slant in his perpetual grin. "Yer…more experienced than ya look, aren't ya?"
Not even five minutes, and she was already busted. Captain Hirako was a truly terrifying man.
"Just an overactive imagination, Captain," she replied demurely. "I apologise for any offence I may have given."
"Nah, I like people like ya." Hirako's grin straightened out. "Ya never take anything at face value, and that's a good skill ta have here. Those of us with power, it only takes a little suggestion from somewhere ta start gettin' ideas fer godhood, and nobody wants that — it gets messy easily. Ya always need to keep an eye behind yer back for backstabbers."
There was weight behind those words, as though he had lived through them before. Considering that Hirako was apparently one of the older captains according to Kurosaki's short introduction earlier, it was quite probable.
"Are you speaking from experience?" Aigis asked curiously, then immediately regretted saying that.
Because his straight cut bangs seemed to darken his eyes, and his expression turned malevolent for a split moment.
"Aizen was my lieutenant, four hundred years ago." Hirako replied, the grin gone from his face, schooled carefully into a blank slate. "Thanks ta him, I got kicked outta Soul Society for a century."
Aigis was harshly reminded of that history of Soul Society book she browsed over a year ago with Makoto. She could not remember the names, but she did recall reading about an event where multiple captains and lieutenants suddenly went missing four hundred years ago.
So Hirako was one of those affected.
She now regretted what she said even more.
"I…was not aware of that." Aigis hesitated with each word, trying to form a coherent reply. "I apologise."
"Eh, no need fer that." The grin was back on his face, as if it never left in the first place. Except now, it seemed just a touch more natural. "Been a long time now, and I sleep well at night knowin' that he's gonna be in prison fer as long as I'm alive." He gave Aigis a light, almost friendly tap on the back, then ambled towards the front of the group, his hands clasped behind his back.
"Captain Hirako is pretty friendly, isn't he?" Izukino exclaimed.
Hinamori was delayed by Hirako wanting to talk to her in private, so she left the rest of the group to mingle at the entrance to the barracks. Kurosaki ran off to do his paperwork, apparently, citing that he "wanted to spend some time with his family for once", which meant that he was either regularly slacking off on his work, or there was truly an enormous amount of work in the division.
"I think he's a good captain." Makoto replied more calmly. "Or rather, he's probably just that experienced in running a division and found a good system that works for him. It's hard to balance respect, friendliness and fear, but somehow he manages it."
"You noticed it too?" Aigis asked.
"Noticed what?" Izukino asked.
"I do not think he trusts people much." Aigis explained. "So he scares those in his division into obedience as subtly as he can, like how he appeared during the tour."
Izukino blinked. Makoto nodded sagely.
"You may want to reconsider, if you were thinking of joining this division." Makoto advised.
Izukino could only meekly look down at her sandals.
The first word that came to Aigis's mind when she saw the Sixth Division barracks was "regal".
Not in the sense that it was adorned with luxuries such as gold and silver, but rather, in the way where it was evident that the entire barrack was carefully curated for maximum aesthetic value and practicality. Similar to the First Division, the entire area was swept clean, without any visible defects or dust. This made the lieutenant at the entrance stand out in stark contrast to his environment, with his messy rusty red hair, tattered and frayed shihakusho, along with…was that an animal pelt tied at his waist?
"Welcome to the Sixth Division, everyone," he greeted the group neutrally, sweeping a shallow bow. "My name is Kano Ashido, and I am the current lieutenant of this division."
His guided tour was polite but curt, as he showed the group the various facilities in the barracks. Like its exterior, the division had ample facilities that Aigis associated with noble hobbies — a carefully manicured zen garden, a tea ceremony room, and even a meditation room.
"We do not specialise in anything at this division, but Captain Kuchiki values order and justice." Kano said during the tour. "Though he does not have any particular requirements for students looking to join the division, he would welcome anyone who holds the same values as him. Speaking personally though…" his rigid posture relaxed, and he let a small smile slip through. "He bends the rules at times if he thinks that's better for the division. He's very creative at following the letter of the law. If I recall correctly, there was one time during the Winter War where he was asked to bring back a few shinigami from the Living World, with the implication that they were to stay in Soul Society for the time being. But because his orders were to bring them back and nothing more, that was exactly what he did – he did not interfere when they immediately left again."
Aigis watched Makoto from the corner of her eye. Judging from her wide-eyed expression, it seemed that that anecdote caught her interest.
"Would you say that you deal with the law often then?" Makoto asked, her voice even despite her expression showing her excitement.
Kano shook his head, then paused and pondered the question. "Not like the Second Division," he answered. "We merely try to live by the law and set an example for others to follow, but I would say that the captain actually values people who can uphold justice more, law or no law. If you can prove that, you have a much higher chance of being accepted into the division. While he is acquainted with a few nobles of Central 46, he does not directly participate in the lawmaking process."
Makoto bowed lightly in thanks, and they fell back into silence.
"This isn't related but…why do you wear a pelt?" Izukino blurted. Several students gaped at the question in various expressions of shock and disgust, both at Izukino's audacity and fear of the lieutenant's reaction. Kano, however, merely laughed it off.
"You're not the first one to ask that," he replied, his hand touching the pelt. "Have any of you heard of the Menos Forest?"
The students returned his question with blank stares.
"I'm going to take that as a no," he continued. "Like the name suggests, it's an area in Hueco Mundo that's filled with Menos Grande Hollows."
Aigis recalled her lessons in the Academy. The Hollows she had fought so far, despite their power, were all technically considered normal Hollows without any special characteristics. However, especially strong Hollows were called Menos Grande, wherein they were further split into three categories – Gillian, Adjuchas and Vasto Lorde respectively, from weakest to strongest.
"Well, a few centuries ago, I was trapped there with my squad when we chased a Hollow through a Garganta." Kano continued his story, absentmindedly stroking his pelt. "Long story short, I was the sole survivor, and only left after more than a century."
The students, previously buzzing with whispers, abruptly fell silent. Aigis resisted the temptation to openly gape.
The closest equivalent she could think of to that story was when Fuuka survived in Tartarus for ten days (or technically hours, according to the records), but for a shinigami to survive in such a hostile environment for so long was akin to a combat Persona user surviving in the Metaverse for ten years. It was not something she would wish upon even her worst enemies.
"I originally stayed to honour my fallen comrades and to protect the Living World in my own way by killing as many Hollows as I could in the Forest, but Kuchiki-san – that is, the captain of the Thirteenth, convinced me that I could better serve my purpose here." Kano smiled fondly, his eyes not focused on anyone in particular. "You can say she saved me from there, in a way."
"S-so…is that pelt from a Hollow?" Izukino's voice quavered.
"Yes."
"That…that's so cool!"
The excited, high pitched squeal rang across the corridor, prompting Aigis to quickly try and calm Izukino down. Kano, meanwhile, had taken half a step back from the overenthusiastic girl, a wry smile on his face.
"What is this ruckus here?"
The entire group shut up and turned towards the direction of the voice, coming from a doorway at the end of the corridor, where an imposing man was now standing. His shoulder length black hair was slicked back neatly, held in place by an oddly shaped hairpin that pulled his hair into neat, triangular strands. He wore a pair of fingerless white gloves on his hands that were rimmed in gold, similar to the collar of his white sleeveless haori.
"Good day, Captain Kuchiki." Kano immediately straightened out, greeting his captain with a shallow bow. "As you can see, the annual division tour is happening right now, so I hope you can forgive the noise level. We will move away from this area shortly."
Hinamori also bowed slightly to the captain in greeting, and the students hurriedly followed suit.
"No matter." Kuchiki intoned. "But do finish quickly. This level of noise is not conducive for work." His eyes wandered over the entire group, sweeping past every face before it suddenly jerked back and honed in on Aigis.
"Is your name Aigis?" Kuchiki asked. It sounded closer to a demand than a question.
The students parted as they turned their focus to Aigis, though she had no idea why she was singled out. With no other choice, she stepped to the front of the group. "Yes," Aigis replied. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Captain Kuchiki."
"Hmm." Kuchiki scanned Aigis from head to toe. Different from Soifon and Hirako, Kuchiki did not seem to be trying to wring every single secret out from Aigis, merely observing how she presented herself.
It was oddly refreshing to not be judged by her history for the first time in two days.
"I heard you were tutoring one of my relatives." Kuchiki finally said as he finished his scan and turned away. "Keep up the good work."
Keep up the good work?
In Aigis's opinion, he should have said that to Ebina, rather than her. She certainly was not teaching Ebina much now, only stepping in when he was truly stuck on his homework. However, she did not let it show on her face, and merely bowed in acknowledgement.
Kano took it as a sign to usher the group outside, though he hung back with Aigis.
"I know it sounds pompous of him," he said quietly, "but he's sincerely thankful that you stepped up to tutor his relative. They've been exchanging the occasional letter, as far as I know, and your name was mentioned."
Aigis blinked. The wry smile returned to Kano's face. "He has…an odd way of expressing his emotions," he explained. "Noble etiquette is rather strict, and he needs to uphold an image. I hope you can understand."
Kuchiki sounded like the type of man who was burdened by too many traditions, which reminded Aigis of Mitsuru, who was similarly held on a pedestal that was difficult to step off. However, this was quite clearly not Aigis's job to change it. She quietly accepted the explanation.
"The Seventh Division handles all major issues that originate from the Living World or Hueco Mundo." Hinamori lectured on the way to the division barracks. "It used to be a general division, but the captain changed it after he was promoted to how it is today. Many things in the division might seem strange to you since they make use of technology from the Living World, but you do have a lot of opportunities to go there for work, if you're interested in that."
Aigis glanced at her companions. Makoto seemed to be lost in thought, while Izukino was entirely unfocused on the introduction.
"Here it is!" Hinamori announced, and Aigis's eyes fell on a division that outwardly looked no different from every other division she had visited so far. What was different however, was that they were greeted by a man in a white, sleeveless haori, rather than the lieutenant she was expecting.
He was tall with wide shoulders, though what caught Aigis's eye more was his striking orange hair, in almost the same shade as the lieutenant of the Fifth's hair. However, the captain's hair was cropped shorter, and he seemed much older – more middle-aged than young. What stood out the most, compared to every other captain they met before, was his massive khyber knife, wrapped in white bandages and sheathed on his back. Every other captain and lieutenant had reasonably sized zanpakutou sheathed on their back or at their side. This knife, in contrast, was as tall as the man himself.
"Yo." He raised a hand in greeting, with a shockingly casual tone that was at odds with his position and the half scowl on his face. "Good to see you all here. I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, captain of the Seventh."
A/N: Ichigo finally makes his appearance in the story! I've actually sprinkled hints to his involvement in Seireitei as early as Chapter 9 - did you spot them all?
On another note, the debacle with the Twelfth was an idea that came from my beta. The original idea was to just kill Kurotsuchi off and wave it away as a lab accident, but this method was funnier and possibly more in line with how Soul Society might handle things.
On to IRL stuff that affects my writing - I have written a grand total of 300 words since last month, so next chapter is most likely going to be delayed. A shitstorm of things happened in real life that lit a fire under my ass to look for a new job, plus FFXIV is serving as an excellent distraction, and I am still behind on merch designs. Next chapter will probably be published late September.
Again, thank you all for reading, and a reminder that the guessing game on which divisions Makoto and Aigis will be in is still ongoing!