Captain Shunsui Kyōraku

Shunsui was on his way back to his apartment for some much needed napping after a very eventful weekend over on the mainland to find that there had been a small box delivered to the front of his apartment door. He blinked at it a bit blearily in his current blissfully overpartied state, and tilted his head as he swept down to pick it up with a murmured little "nan desu ka?" Turning it over, frowning considerably at the very clear 12th Division stamp on the simple brown paper wrapping the package.

A bit reluctantly, his fingers peeled the paper away and opened the box to reveal a small device not at all dissimilar to a cell phone. As a matter of fact, a cell phone was exactly what it was, and Shunsui's brow creased slightly as he plucked out the small piece of paper included with it and started to read.

"...Soul Phone?"

He grunted, faintly, and as if to confirm his increasing...discomfort with all this simple little device would mean for him, it began to ring. He sighed, heavily, shaking his head a moment before he went to answer the call with a bright, cheerful, singling, "Moshi moshiiii~~ ♥ ♥ ♥."

"//Ah, good, it works//." Nanao-chan. Of course. And even though she couldn't see him, Shunsui put on his best doting smile as she immediately launched into an explanation about how the 12th Division has finally made excellent strides in developing communications technology closer to that of the Living World, and therefor, all Shinigami can be connected through the Soul Phone, which meant that they wouldn't have to bother with Jigokuchō except for the most clandestine of communications, and while she had him, she wanted to discuss some of the plans for the training they'd be doing over the winter break, and that there were growing concerns over how much 13th Division had been asking for supplemental troops from their division on a lot of their patrols lately, and did he have have the chance to go over the reports she'd sent him with regards to the new uniforms after that incident with the Rukongai after assisting the 7th Division...

...Eventually, Shunsui would make it into his apartment and just continue to make agreeing, listening sounds while he left the phone on the kitchen counter while rooting through his fridge for something to eat, all the while unable to help thinking to himself how wonderful technology was, truly, and half wondering if he had the energy to start faking that clearly the connection between the Soul Society and Fandom was a little rough, oh no, he was losing her, maybe she should just call back later...

But she would call back later. He should just let her keep going until she ran out of steam, while he lifted to the lid on a box of take-out, sniffed it, pulled away with a grimace of disgust at first before he then reconsidered it, but eventually put it back.

"Taicho?" Nanao-chan's voice paused. "Taicho, kiitemasu ka??"

He assured her that he was, really, and to please continue on, all the while hoping he didn't inadvertently agree to something he'd regret agreeing to, and to contemplate the true evil madness of Mayuri Kurotsuchi with this development.


[[ it's going to be a while before I can really start digging into TYBW, but at least I can establish that the Soul Society has cell phones...I'm sorry, SOUL phones...now! OooOoooOooh~! Anyway, it's open :) ]]

Shunsui generally wasn't in the habit of caring about the opinions of other men (or even most women, for that matter), but something that did hold him under heavy sway, no matter how he tried to ignore it, was his zanpakutō. Katen Kyōkotsu, after all, was a pure extension of his Soul, even more a part of him that that gigai he went parading around in while in the mortal realm. And so while he was quite convinced that Jon's words on Sunday had very little consequence to him personally, he absolutely could not ignore the fact that his swords seemed to have latched onto them quite firmly and had no intention of letting him forget about it.

Which was...terribly distracting, and was clearly setting him off his game, and so, if he wanted to continue enjoying this little excursion, he would have to go and take care of it. He'd waited until well into the morning, when he was certain most people, especially his suitemates, would be out and about on their various adventures, so he could work relatively undisturbed. Not that it would matter, once he was under, and it didn't take long, either, not when they were practically pulling him in and the setting was incredibly condusive to inspiring the deep meditaiton that jinzen required.

( Cut for Mild Violence and Shunsui's Very, VERY Weird Relationship with his Sword. )

[[ NFB, NFI, for being literally in an entirely different plane of existence ]]

To say that Shunsui was a bit disturbed that morning when he woke up to find his swords missing was an understatement. It was like suddenly discovering your own limbs had been removed in your sleep. He felt a sudden, distressed, almost desperate thrum in his chest, instantly tense and alert, until an immediate sense of relief and comfort washed over him as two death's head hawkmoths, one much larger than the other, into his field of vision, making its presence known.

The large one then spoke, in a very familiar voice, deep and sultry and drawling.

"I can't say I prefer this form, Sakuranosuke," Katen murmured, fluttering about his face for a moment before finally landing on a finger that he lifted up, grinning at her, "but it is an interesting change of pace."

Kyōkotsu, it would seem, remained quiet, hovering close, but behind Katen, not surprising Shunsui at all and pulling an endeared smile out of him.

"Mmmm." Shunsui gave a thoughtful hum, tilting his head curiously at this new manifestation of his Zanpakutō. "It certainly does make one wonder now, doesn't it, what this island is up to now, neh ♥?"

"And whether or not," Katen's wings shuddered lightly against his finger, "I'd prefer it just left us out of it."

"Probably," Shunsui chuckled, "but let's enjoy it while we can...ohana ♥."

Hardly the form either of them would have preferred if they were going to be out and about for a day, but he was mostly just thinking it was good to hear her voice, even if it was coming from a small, dramatic little moth.

[[ this sort of thing is easy when you've canonically already GOT manifestations of your soul! Open post is definitely open! ]]

And so it would seem that there was at least one unaccounted for casualty of the Arrancar War that had slipped everyone's notice, since it didn't happen in the Soul Society at all, but rather back on Fandom Island, undiscovered until Shunsui got back to his apartment, once everything was settled back in the Seireitei and he'd managed to convince Yamamoto not to put a travel ban on him for the lost captain's robe.

"Oh, no! Nanao-chan VI!!"

In his defense, he hadn't exactly known he'd be gone long enough that not watering his roommate would turn out to be a problem.

It was a good thing Hollows weren't a thing for plants, and, on the bright side, seven was a much luckier number than six, anyway.

Shunsui still felt pretty bad about it, though, and wondered if he should look into funerals for bonsais.

[[ aaand he's back! Post is open! ]]

Shunsui didn't need much time to rest, really, though there was a part of him that desperately wanted to use this as an excuse. If the Visored and the Shinigami forces combined weren't enough to take down these Espada--and Aizen still!--then what would be the point of putting in the effort? Why not just enjoy his last moments in peace, with the very last thing for him to remember before it all ended being the ruffle of Lisa-chan's incredibly short skirt?

But no matter how hard he might try, he knew that wouldn't be what he would remember in those last moments. It had been a nice distraction, while she was there, but sitting there by himself, all he could think of was that feral Arrancar child, the expression of delight on his face as he clutched Jūshirō's heart in his hand.

Shunsui closed his eyes and breathed out slowly. It just couldn't end like this.

"Well!" he announced, to no one in particular, since he was clearly by himself. He couldn't even see much of the battle from here, but he still put a show into slapping his knees, pulling himself up, pretending to be far more battered and worn down than he felt. "Guess I'd better get back to it..."

( Shunsui vs Starrk 2: Katen Kyōkotsu Boogaloo. )

To that, Shunsui could only pass a cool glance back over his shoulder, before turning away again, giving one of his swords a little turning toss in the air, catching it smoothly by its hilt. "Throwing away victory for the sake of style and manners is a rookie mistake. Captains don't have the time to waste on that kind of thing." If one listened closely, they might be able to pick up on the deep undercurrent of regret in those words. "Don't waste your time trying to play the good guy, No matter what debts you may owe, no matter what the situation, from the moment you start a fight, you are wrong either way."


[[ BECAUSE WHO WANTS A NICE, SIMPLE ABILITY? NOT SHUNSUI, LOL. Part 3 of 4 (unless I get super lazy). Parts 1 and 2 are here and here! And anyone actually reading this nonsense is getting all the kittens and cupcakes ]]

Ara, ara...what an...eventful couple of days! And Shunsui had never been a fan of eventful or complicated, and this whole mess was turning out to be a substantial amount of both. To think, he and Jūshirō would actually be one of the last people to see Orihime-chan before her abduction, the Arrancar slipping in to steal her away while they were distracted by the Espada in Karakura Town. Shunsui knew there had to be something, he knew something wasn't right with the situation.

If only Shunsui could have fully appreciated the simplicity of a classic distraction before it all went sharply the other way.

Because Captain-Commander Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was no slouch, and he knew his captains, even the traitors like Sōsuke Aizen. Any twist and turn or surprise that Aizen made, the old man had just as many lined up. It would almost be impressive if it didn't involve so much work, but Shunsui supposed, since the fate of the entire Soul Society was sort of hanging in the balance, a little work wouldn't kill him.

The Espada might...but the work wouldn't.

( The Story Thus Far... )

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And that lead them to this very moment, as the remaining forces of the Gotei 13 gathered in the false Karakura Townnjust in time to meet Aizen and his forces emerging into the human world from Hueco Mundo.

( Two Armies Gather, on a Battleground in the Sky. Because Anime. )

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What exactly drew each pair of Shinigami to the foes they would face was a mystery. Was it chance? Was it fate? Whatever it was, Shunsui and Jūshirō found themselves confronting the pair of Arrancar to Aizen's right. Shunsui would be loathed to take on the quartet of women that Hitsugaya and Rangiku gravitated toward, anyway, and there was just...something about this Espada that caught Shunsui's attention. Maybe it was just his reiatsu, maybe it was something more, but, whatever it was, maybe they'd soon fight out.

There was just...one problem.

( Pain is so unpleasant, and who ever really wants to fight, anyway? )

____________________________

And it went on for a while, as these things usually did, especially so when neither of the men fighting really cared to be doing so. This Espada was good, though, Shunsui had to give him that, as he managed to dodge or deflect most of his attacks. But he knew this Espada could be better if he'd actually tried.

Then again, Shunsui knew he wasn't exactly trying right now, either. And he sort of enjoyed that, barely breaking a sweat, no troublesome pain or effort, just dawdling and killing time in the hopes that it would all work itself out eventually. But he knew it wasn't really that simple...that it couldn't be that simple, and that it was only a matter of time before Yamamoto's flame wall was broken, and it would be best if the Espada were cleared away before having to handle Aizen.

So it was, unfortunately, time to do something, and that something started with Shunsui pausing for a moment, turning away from his enemy toward where Rangiku and Histugaya, Suì-Fēng-chan and Marechiyo were heavily involved in their chashes with their own Espada and their cohort, lifting his hat for a better look.

( Isn't it about time we got busy? )

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And even despite Shunsui's new determination, despite both his swords being drawn and pressing their advantage with the Espada, there was a laziness to their fight, a disenchantment, none of them...not Shunsui, not the Espada, not Katen Kyōkotsu really feeling it.

( Until, of course.... )

________________________________

Eventually, though, it seemed that the Espada's patience might finally be running a little thin. "Quit scampering around so flamboyantly, Captain-san," he complained, though there wasn't much emphasis there as the two pushed back for some distance from each other again. "It's disgraceful."

( Jūshirō, hold my haori! Shit's about to get turnt UP. )

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Who knows how long they could have gone on like that, the three of them...four, really, if one counted Lilynette...dancing in the sky to avoid swords and ceros, if it weren't for a loud, dull rumbling commotion far off in the distance, the fabric of space creating a tear in the sky that nearly cut across half of it.

"A Garganta?" Jūshirō gaped. "Fresh troops?"

( This one gets a grisly violence content warning, yo. )

Coyote Starrk was not playing around anymore, either.

"Sorry," he said, though the Shinigami was long gone by then, plummeting like dead weight toward the earth. "The fact that he's here means that Aizen-sama can't wait any longer."

And the tiny boy Wonderweiss let out a soft, long breath before tilting his head back and releasing a cry to break the entire world.


[[ CONFESSION TIME! This whole stupid arc is the whole reason I finally dropped Bleach and Shunsui like a hot potato mess nearly a decade ago! Luckily for you guys, I cleared away all the crap and just stuck to the good parts, i.e. the parts with Shunsui. Seriously, they made even my boy Chad getting a dope ass new arm boring and stupid as hell, but I do really enjoy these end battles with Starrk and Shunsui. And, after reading through more than 200 chapters of this dumb arc, I have to say, what I appreciate most about it is the fact that Shunsui and Starrk never introduce themselves to each other. After five million battles of people declaring who they are dramatically "so that you'll know the name of the one who has KILLED YOU!!!!!1!!!1!", it's crazy refreshing ]]

[[ ANYWAY, TBC, NFI, NFB, OOC welcome, while I take a breather before spamming you all with the rest. This is the bigg'un, though, cribbed and brushed up from about a million chapters of Tite Kubo's Bleach, beause, good lord, some of the writing/translation is...not good. not good at alllll, you guys ]]

[[I am still sad that, narratively, I had to cut the part where Lilynette rants about Shunsui being an old man who's about to die, though ]]

It had been a few days now, since Yamamoto officially summoned the Captains of the Gotei 13, once he felt certain that something was going on in Karakura Town that required their attention. They didn't know exactly what the threat was, but it was hard to ignore the stirring of energy going on in the mortal world. It was decided that a small handful of officers would be chosen to masquerade as high school students to investigate.

Which meant that Shunsui barely had to worry about being called into action, because no one was going to buy him as a high school student.

Although, apparently, no one thought Rangiku Matsumoto would have trouble convincing anyone. It was cute, sometimes, how clueless Shinigami could be of the human world. But without his favorite drinking partner around, Shunsui half wondered why he even needed to be here, much to Nanao's irritation, because she kept explaining to him that they never knew when things might take a turn for the worse, and, of course, he could appear at a moment's notice, but it was just better for morale that he was there, and Yamamoto had sealed him from leaving anyway. So he could catch up on his paperwork in the meantime (how...how could Soul Society produce so. much. paperwork??)...or his naps, although he never had trouble keeping up with those.

He couldn't even spend all his idle hours with Jūshirō, who had been tasked with searching the Great Library's circuits to crack the code of Division Five's inner workings, since Sōsuke Aizen's disappearance. He supposed he could go help with the searching, but that stuff was well beyond Shunsui's abilities...and his patience.

Funny thing, patience.

Then there was a soft knock on his door. Shunsui tilted back his hat, cracked one eye open, as it slid away to reveal exactly who he'd expected from that gentle but firm noise. "Nanao-ch--"

"Captain." Her voice was strong, on the surface, but Shunsui could sense a wavering to it. "The Captain-Commander demands our presence in the great hall."

Usually, Shunsui might have said something, might have teased Nanao for her grave expression, her serious tone, but even he could feel somethihng in the air that was heavier than usual, unsettling and grim. "Utitake-san's found something...hasn't he, Nanao-chan?"

She gave a soft grunt of agreement, a nod of her head, and hesitated.

"It's best if you just come, Captain," she murmured. "Captain-Commander will explain everything."

And though he had a bad feeling about this, Shunsui sighed heavily, as though the very act of being summoned was the most inconvenient thing in the world for him, slowly pulling himself up to his feet, adjusting his hat. "Ara ara," he sighed, "and now I just feel bad that I was about to complain about how, if I'm not doing anything, I might as well be not doing anything while on vacation..."

"Well," with a small sniff, Nanao lifted her nose, pushed her glasses up them, "I hope you at least enjoyed that vacation, Captain, because I have the feeling that none of us are going to get to enjoy one for a while now..."

Shunsui laughed faintly, giving a slight smile, though he felt something knotting terribly in the pit of his stomach. "Then we better get to work, neh, Nanao-chan?" he asked, his tone low and dry despite the expression, despite the laugh, despite the smooth and careless way he breezed by her out the door. "I had plans to teach again for the spring, you know...♥."

And he so rarely made plans that it seemed particularly odious to go and have them ruined like this.

[[ I figured, if I'm pulling him away for a while, might as well do a canon catch-up! The start of a whole lot more and a good deal of timeline fudging, but it's Bleach, so I do not feel bad about that! NFB, NFI, but OOC always welcome! Because I figured revisiting this ridiculous canon and trying to condense it was an excellent use of my time, apparently ]]

Shunsui was not in the onsen that day. He was there, in his apartment, having had to do very little to clear out an open space in the middle of his living room. His haori was, smartly, draped over a chair, and he sat, in his robes, back straight, legs folded in front of him with his two swords in his lap, eyes closed. Not moving, barely even breathing, his gigai not even a shell, because he was very, very far away.

He'd dreamed of shamisen music Sunday night; once, and it could be assumed it was just a reflection of his longing for it in the relaxation of the onsen. But he'd dreamed of it again on Monday, and twice, he was sure, had been a summons.

( And deep within the inner world of Shunsui's mind, where his true soul waited... )

In the real world, a slash of red appeared across Shunsui's cheek. A wound opened on his side, dampening his robes.

( ...a battle raged on.... )

It had been too long. He was rusty. This was not going to be a quick little jaunt into the spiritual realm. But Shunsui was determined, he was not going to be finished until he heard her shamisen again...


[[ I have so many new shinies since Shunsui's last run and I have been itching to start getting them out! Bits of dialogue lifted from Chapter 649, "The Theatre Suicide Scene 3" of Bleach by Tite Kubo. CW warning for what I can only descrie as the weird sexual tension that can only exist between a man and a combative physical manifestation of himself? Post is open, though mostly later in the day, because he is quite literally dead to this world while in a state of Jinzen. For our lovely squirrel friends, for all intents and purposes, it will just appear that Shunsui is in a deep medative state for several hours...or possibly just sleeping sitting up, because Shunsui. ]]

A lot had changed around the island since Shunsui had last been here, some of them subtle, some of them more apparant, but the most noticeable and the least surprising was the people. Of course, a place like this, people came and they went, ships passing in the night, and so he had, in a way, expected that. And he found it far more surprising when, breezing by the window of the Perk and peeking in to see if a cute barista behind the counter might sway him into picking up a bit of a coffee habit, he did, in fact, see someone incredibly familiar.

"Ghani-chan~~ ♥ ♥ ♥!"

Of all the people to still be here on this fair island, he couldn't think of anyone better, and he told her so, in far more words and hearts than strictly necessary, and it was very clear that the two of them needed to drop everything that they were doing and catch up, somewhere where they served excellent sake or at the very least allowed Shunsui to pour his own. There was so much to catch up on, too, and Ghanima didn't hesitate a moment to remind him that there wouldn't be so much if someone had bothered to keep in touch or at the very least warn someone when they were planning on breezing back into town, and Shunsui, delighted, made sure to act properly humbled by and apologetic over such loving arrows of truth. She was right, of course, so very right, and wasn't it just wonderful how, even after all this time, some things never changed ♥?

After all this time, there was, in fact, so much to catch up on that it could not be merely contained within the confines of a small luncheon, and it was agreed between the both of them that the reunion continue somewhere a bit more...private. More...intimate. And while Shunsui had serendipitously secured the very same apartment he had inhabited so many years before (although still not his bonsai), they place was rather abysmal...also as it had been back then, more often than not. Ghanima's suite had always served them well in the past, and there, they could begin to truly begin catching up in earnest.

Or, at the very least, try.

These particular attempts at catching up, Shusnui was discovering to his dismay, were not going particularly well...

"Well, now, this is almost embarrassing!" he admitted at some point, sheepishness perhaps managing to reach his cheeks a little, but he laughed, disarmingly, like someone caught at something they weren't supposed to be doing but couldn't feel in the least bit bad about it. "They just don't make these gigai quite like they used to. Seems this one could use a bit more practice ♥!"

....oh, yeah. He was definitely blaming the gigai on this one.

[[ you didn't think I was going to have Shunsui show up on no-sex week and not take advantage of it to its fullest, right? For the permissively modded, lovely-lovely Ghani-chan and all the SP~~ ]]