Captain Shunsui Kyōraku

A few days had passed since the Battle of the Fake Karakura Town, and things were, for the most part, settling back to normal around the Seireitei. Things had managed to get even more interesting once Shunsui had defeated Coyote Starrk, the second of the three Espada to fall, leaving only the one, whom Aizen himself struck down, to everyone's shock and surprise. And then there were only the three traitorous captain and the strange Arrancar boy Wonderweiss, against the weakened Shinigami forces and the Visored.

And, apparently, Ichigo Kurosaki, who managed to finally fight his way out of Hueco Mundo and joined the fray at just the right time.

( Oh, you mean this goes on for ANOTHER FIFTY CHAPTERS? Time for the most powerful Bankai of all time: HANDWAVEY SUMMARY. )

The abuse would probably continue for a better part of the hour, and Shunsui was definitely wishing he could be back at his division's headquarters getting everything ready to head back to Fandom, or that he could be with Jūshirō as he recovered from his injuries, but, despite how much he'd rather be doing something else just then, Shunsui just grinned faintly and drifted off a little as the ranting and raving continued, thinking that, even though the old man had lost an arm, it was good to see that he was feeling like himself still after the whole ordeal.

[[yes, that is the ACTUAL scene that end's Shunsui's part in all of this. It's over, it's done, I am absolutely not touching another Bleach arc for a million years now.

...well, maybe a year, or so, considering there's some pretty juicy stuff up ahead, but this arc is the absolute worst. Thanks, everyone, who stuck through it with me, and Shunsui should be back sooooon.]]

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 ]]