#Original Gotei-13 captains

[gallusrostromegalus]

So, how exactly was the Gotei 13 formed in AEIWAM?

(The original gotei-13 captains might have canon genders but I'm going off vibes tbh.) (Here's a collection of Kubo's art of the original 13 so you can see what everyone looks like)

-----

It had started with the Clans.

Actually, it had started when Shigekuni Yamamoto was mugged for the fourth time in as many days, by agents of The Great Noble Houses, trying to influence the tide of their endless petty wars. You could hardly blame him for reacting as he did, somewhat literally blowing up with rage, and upon his return to his home office, rallying his fellow distraught men into a fighting force to stand up to the clans.

It had been quite a popular manuver for him, with the equally distraught and downtrodden citizens of the central rukongai threw their support behind him in short order. He was already well-known to them, and respected for his work. In a few short years, his meager forces had grown to rival the clans in power.

Then the Quincies had invaded the Spirit World, lead by some horrible creature known as Yhwach, seemingly Hell-Bent on conquest- which is where all of them would end up if The Archery Bastards kept shooting everything that moved and upended the balance between the worlds.

Now-General Shigekuni Yamamoto, the unfortunate bastard to whom the task of defending the largest city in the Spirit world from invasion had fallen, needed some muscle.

Why me, of all people? Surely there were others more qualified? He wondered, staring at the latest round of reports from the meager handful of his men that remained. Or perhaps everyone smart enough to actually do this is also smart enough to realize it was a lost cause and had thrown their lot in with one of the Noble Houses, and I am on a fool's errand.

Even just a handful of warriors with sufficient strength could break the leading edge of the Quincy line, and let the small army that remained slip behind them in to cut the Quincies off from their supply lines. It was just that breaking the wall of archers required at least a dozen of him.

"Word from lieutenant Sasakibe!" Shouted one of his soldiers, sprinting in the door and thrusting a letter at him. "Sorry sir I just remembered how important it was that you heard from him as soon as possible."

"You did as I asked." Yamamoto nodded, opening the letter. He had needed to stay- both to recover from his injuries and because if the Quincy got much closer, using Ryujin jakka to create a wall of fire around the city might be the only way to hold them off- and he had tasked Chojiro Sasakibe, his Longest and Dearest friend, with finding him the strongest warriors in Soul Society.

He took the scroll and opened it, reading the neat but excitably slanted handwriting within-

Dearest Shigekuni,

I am relieved to report I have found a dozen extremely powerful warriors per your request! I went on a hunch a friend of mine had, and found a concentration of MANY powerful warriors that would be willing to aid our cause, but twelve among them are particularly standout candidates. Given the rapid advance of the Quincy Army, I have included a teleportation spell to their location at the end of this scroll so you may meet them immediately.

"Incredible!" Yamamoto laughed. "Is there nothing this man cannot do?"

I do beg of you though- Please, reserve your judgement of them until you have seen their capacity.

"Ah." Yamamoto sighed. "...of course there's a catch."

Their circumstances are... complex, and this has made many of them rough and peculiar to speak to, but I swear we will not find better warriors, at least not before the Quincy advance reaches Seireitei.

I await your arrival, Chojiro

Yamamoto unfurled the scroll a bit more to see the edge of the teleportation spell that would activate when exposed to sunlight. "Sir?" asked the young soldier.

"It seems Sasakibe was successful in finding me the assistance we need, but they are apparently a queer lot." Yamamoto rumbled, thinking. "There is a teleportation spell- How close did you say the Advance was?"

"Not more than a week out, sir."

"Hopefully less than two hours then." he grunted, standing up and carrying the scroll to the courtyard of the building he operated from- it was a place used to the many comings and goings of a large and complex organization, though the little Shrine to the God of Messages and messengers had been somewhat neglected of late. Yamamoto took a moment to sweep the leaves out of the shrine and bowed to the statue within, thanking it for delivering Sasakibe's message and asking for help delivering him to his friend.

"Any orders while you're away, Sir?" The soldier asked.

"Someone clean out that shrine and make it a proper offering. The last thing we need is for communications to go down." The General nodded.

"Yes Sir!" the soldier saluted.

Yamamoto unfurled the scroll and with a flash, vanished from the courtyard.

---

With the same flash, he appeared somewhere... foggy.

"Shigekuni?" a familiarly crisp voice asked somewhere in the ether.

"Chojiro?" Yamamoto called back, and the vague shape that might have been a rock in front of him stood up, arms open. He laughed, and embraced his friend. "Good job! How did you find them so fast?"

Sasakibe's warm smile suddenly stiffened into a grimace. "...Promise you will not be angry?"

"Chojiro?" Yamamoto frowned.

"See, I was asking my friends- only the most trusted of them, I swear- how to even go about finding warriors with everything scattered to the wind of late, and well- One of them suggested that only things that are powerful are widely feared, so look where fearsome things are to find powerful ones."

Yamamoto squinted at his friend, then around them at the dense fog, the strange rocky cliff beside them, and the distant sound of angry voices.

"Chojiro." Yamamoto asked, hands on his shoulders. "Where are we?"

Sasakibe pointed up behind Yamamoto where characters had been carved into the stone cliff.

The Nest Of Maggots

"Chojiro."

"Yes, sir?"

"This is a prison."

"Yes, sir."

"This is a prison for the kind of filth that even the most bitterly factious clans agree is a danger to have wandering around. The kind that they already tried and failed to weaponize against each other. This is a prison for Monsters."

"...Yes, sir." Sasakibe sighed. "-But, is is not monsters we need?"

Yamamoto was silent for a time, thinking of the swathes of pointless destruction- salted fields and burnt villages- of the senseless loss of life- slaughtering soldier and civilian alike down to the last man, woman and child- of the cruel and twisted powers of the chosen favorites of Yhwach.

"Monsters to fight monsters." He shook his head. "What is this world coming to?" Yamamoto sighed.

Sasakibe looked away, unable to meet his friend's gaze. "Still, beggars can't be choosers." Yamamoto nodded. "Show them to me."

--- All twelve "Most Dangerous" of The Nest's prisoners had been herded together into something approximating a straight line in the middle of the rocky cavern that housed the prisoners here, though some of them were already beginning to meander, and one woman near the end of the line had, rather rudely, decided to remain seated in Yamamoto's presence. The lineup was... less than impressive. Two of the women looked like they belonged on pinup posters rather than death row. One of the men looked like a washed-up Sumo, another like an ashtray that had been cursed to roam the afterlife as a human. On one end of the line was an ancient and decrepit old man, and on the other was a- Yamamoto wasn't actually sure if they were a man or a woman, but in another life, they had definitely been a cat.

"These are the most powerful fighters in the Spirit World?"  He muttered to Chojiro.

"These are the most still-alive-est fighters in the Spirit World." Chojiro clarified.

"...Fuck it. " Yamamoto sighed under his breath, before stepping forward and addressing them properly.

"I am General Shigekuni Yamamoto of The Seireitei. I don't know how long you've been in this hole-" Yamamoto paused, sensing that something was off.

None of the Prisoners were looking at him. In fact, the all seemed very dedicated to looking everywhere but at him. Some were inspecting the stalactites, others were examining the grit on the cave floor, or staring into the metaphysical abyss somewhere just over his shoulder, and one man had pulled his very silly straw hat down in front of his face.

"-Alright, what the hell is going on?" Yamamoto growled.

There was a general unenthusiastic sort of shuffling and a distinct lack of answers.

"Remember everyone!" The man next to the cat-in-human-form spoke up while examining his fingernails. He looked more like an accountant than someone who belonged on Death Row, but the others perked up and paid attention. "-We are not to speak to any guards of visitors until our representative arrives and has given us permission to do so." The others nodded and resumed looking anywhere but at Yamamoto.

"...Representative?" Sasakibe lightly growled at a guard, whose complexion went from 'ashen' to 'deathly'.

"They um. Well. They've gotten rather close to one of the other prisoners, but she's no good in a fight, so we left her-" The Guard sputtered under Sasakibe's withering glare.

"-Miss Tsubaki was waiting at the Primary gate last I saw her." continued the man who looked like an accountant and that Yamamoto was becoming increasingly sure was armed, despite allegedly having been searched and denied any tools in his confinement. "...I say to no-one in particular." He added.

There was a moment of silence.

Yamamoto struck the tired-looking, gray-haired young woman beside the accountant, sending her stumbling back, but the accountant and the sturdily-built blonde man beside her stepped in to catch her, the rest of the line snapping to attention, eyes fixed on him with utter rage.

"Now that I have your attention-" Yamamoto started again, the gray-haired woman coughing as the sturdy blonde helped her back to her feet. "-As I was saying, the Spirit World is being invaded, and you're all being conscripted to-"

"Yachiru!" Snapped a young woman behind them.

Yamamoto turned to glare at the interloper, but instead found that the gaunt-looking woman that had remained seated had somehow apparently teleported and tackled Sasakibe to the wall behind them, one arm pressed to his throat, slowly choking him. Apparently-Yachiru's other hand had put some substantial holes in his abdomen and she paused from where she was about to stark licking Sasakibe's blood off her fingers to look at who had spoken.

"Don't eat that! You don't know where it's been!" Said a waifish young woman in threadbare prisoner's robes who could not have been taller than 4'10". She was quite striking, with large, dark eyes, sharp cheekbones, and a long aquiline nose. She took Yachiru's bloodied hand and dragged her back to the group. Yamamoto tried to keep his pace even as he walked over to check on Sasakibe, who immediately sat up and waved him off.

"...Thirsty." Grunted Yachiru- She might also have been beautiful, with her pale, round face and smooth black hair, were it not for the haunted, carnivorous look in her eye and her apparently literal bloodthirst. She stopped halfway back to the group to give a wet, hacking cough that made Yamamoto's skin crawl, and spat out a gob of bloody phlegm on the floor.

"You'll feel better when you get Minazuki back." the young woman reassured her, helping Yachiru sit back down, the others taking seats on the stone floor as well, in two neat lines behind her, the Human Cat behind one shoulder, the Accountant behind the other. "Is everyone else alright?"

"Kinroku definitely did not tell the guards to go get you." announced the man from behind his straw hat. "Also the mean old man hit Chigiri."

"I understand. Do you need assistance, Chigiri?

"The Old Goat has a sucker-punch like a rocket but I'll live." grunted Chigri, rubbing her abdomen and waving her hand interrogatively at Yachiru, who shrugged in reply.

"Despicable Behavior, hitting a medic." the human ashtray sniffed disapprovingly. Yamamoto could feel the Reiatsu of the group now, previously held in check, now starting to unfurl and growl and snarl at him.

"You BASTARDS-!" Yamamoto snarled, lunging towards the young woman, who instinctively made a fist in front of her chest, grabbed it with her other hand, and swung her whole body around, slamming her elbow into his eye socket and nose, and he stumbled, falling to his knees. It wasn't that hard a hit, not compared to what he was used to, but there was genuine killing intent behind it, much like the heel she struck into the side of his head, knocking him over the rest of the way in surprise. Miss Tsubaki's large, dark eyes were full of rage as she glared down at him, grinding his head into the floor under her toes. "Ah." He said, finally recognizing her from images in the intermittent news bulletins. Tsubaki was a middle daughter of one of the most powerful of the Noble Houses who had suddenly vanished from public view the year before. The rumor was that she had been imprisoned by her father for dangerous activities like 'Going Places' and 'Writing Letters' or even 'Having Opinions'. It was apparently true, but if she'd managed to organize the dirtiest dozen of the Maggot's Nest, he was beginning to understand her father's choice of internment. "Miss Tsunayashiro, I presume."

"I am her, and I am here in my capacity as their Union Representative. This means you do not talk to them. You talk to me." She lightly snarled, removing her surprisingly sharp-heeled foot from his temple and sitting seiza in front of the group. "Now what is it that you have brought us here to discuss?"

"Your friends are getting conscripted." he glared, slowly getting up and standing to address her. Returning the blow to a civilan, no matter who her family was or how hard she hit, was beneath either of their dignity, but a little looming was alright.

"We're getting hired." She corrected him. "With proper contracts and compensation."

"Shut up or else." He snarled, reconsidering the value of his dignity.

"...Or else what, exactly?" She asked.

Yamamoto bristled, and slowly drew his sword. Tsunayashiro's gaze flicked to the blade, following it's gleam as he brought it up to her throat, tipping her chin up with the point. "-Or you will all die right here." Tsubaki closed her eyes, sighed deeply and opened them again, gaze fixed on his. He could feel her pulse through Ryujin Jakka's blade.

...Steady as a rock.

"Alright." She spoke evenly. "Strike me down."

Yamamoto blinked.

"We are already on Death Row, General." She explained slowly as though speaking to an idiot. "None of us have families to speak of, or to speak to, for you to threaten. We're already cold and barely allowed to sleep and starving and in constant pain from broken bones or missing organs or untreated injuries. We are all already doomed to die or suffer gross abasement. You, however-"

She slowly stood up, neck sliding a bit on Ryujin Jakka's blade, drawing a trickle of blood.

"-I've been in here for the better part of a year, I believe, but news trickles in. Guards leave to replace soldiers fallen on the battlefield. Rations dwindle as farmland is overrun or destroyed. Political prisoners are freed and returned home as more popular heirs and scions are killed. You, General Shigekuini Yamamoto, need help with this war, and need it badly, to come here for it." Tsubaki continued, stepping forward and pressing a bit more into the blade, the trickle running more strongly, down her throat and into the folds of her thin Yukakta, staining the fabric bright red.

"So go on. Strike us down." She spoke softly. "Spare us the Humiliation of a Public execution or the horrors of a lobotomy, and doom yourself."

Yamamoto, quite possibly for the first time in his life, hesitated.

"If you cannot do that, sit down and negotiate like a civilized person." She said. The blood stained her entire breast now, but she did not flinch or waver.

Slowly, glaring and refusing to break eye contact, he withdrew his blade, wiped it down and sheathed it. Teeth gritted and heart unexpectedly racing, he sat. Lady Tsunayashiro followed, head still held high, though that may have been so Chigiri could lean forward and press a pad of torn robe to her throat, stemming the bleeding as she bandaged it, muttering curses.

"We're being invaded by an army of mutant humans called "Quincy" who can shoot arrows made of pure reishi, which can obliterate a soul entirely. They're lead by some monster called Yhwach, who seems hell-bent on conquering the entirety of the Living and Spirit worlds, and is apparently capable of killing small gods and Kami." Yamamoto explained, trying to stress the depth of the situation. He'd never been in a labor negotiation before, and was hoping they'd be more reasonable if he made an emotional appeal. "Kill enough of the archery bastards and live, and I'll have all your crimes pardoned."

"What a shame, what a shame." clucked the old man at the far end of the lines. "You young people just don't know how to handle things..."

"Hmmm..." The person who was definitely at least spiritually a cat pursed their lips. "Oh, uh- Chika Shihon." the bowed their head. "-It's a good start, but I'm gonna need a hell of a payday, seeing as nobody will hire an ex-criminal, even a pardoned one, and about forty more people need to die before my family will consider taking me back in."

"As well as some form of protection from political reprisals, or there won't be an opportunity to spend any of that payday." said Kinroku the Accountant, rubbing his nose like he was going to push up a pair of glasses he wasn't wearing.

"Paying criminals? Surely, you can't be serious!" Sasakibe scoffed.

"I am serious, and my name is Tsubaki, not Shirley." The representative quietly smirked at him. "Well, General? What price are you willing to offer for the salvation of all of Soul Society?"

"I want to see some proof before we talk price." Yamamoto glared at the Death Row From The Dumpster before him.

"Fair enough." Nodded Tsubaki, turning her head to address the group. "After me, who would you all say is the weakest fighter?"

The group considered this for a moment.

"Strongest is easy, its Yachiru, even with the missing lung." waved the pinup girl with the eyepatch and pigtails.

"Give Uhin some credit!" Protested the other pinup girl with the tits that were individually larger than her head.

"That's sweet of you to say Batsu-" Uhin the Giant in the back row laughed, patting the second girl's head. "-But also holy shit, no. Yachiru could disembowel me and strangle me with my own intestines before I could get off the mark! No offense little man, but I think it's Furuoki." He said, patting the straw hat of the man in front of him.

"Really?" Tits McGee pondered. "I was going to say Nobutsuna."

"I was gonna say me too." announced the human ashtray with a rough and reedy voice. "I hate fighting." "Yeah, but you hit like a fuckin' rockslide. Yeah, it's Furuoki." Agreed eyepatch.

"Mr. Otogawa-" Tsubaki addressed Furuoki the hat man. "-It's rather dark in here, would you please let in some light?"

Furuoki blinked at her, confused.

"Show the old man you can punch a hole in the ceiling." Yachiru translated for him, wetly.

"Okay!" Furuoki chirped happily, getting up and walking a few feet away.

"MORE!" yelled the group.

"Over by the guard tower!" Encouraged the large and rather jolly looking man, save for how he seemed to have lost both his lips and most of the front of his mouth, but had only bothered to replace his missing teeth with gold ones, giving him a permanent lipless grin.

Furuoki walked over towards the guard tower until the guards approached him and told him to back up, paced a bit until he found a suitable middle ground, and squinted up at the ceiling.

"Sir-" Sighed the head guard walking towards Furuoki as frowned at the ceiling. "Sir that's half a mile of solid rock and twelve different magical wards above you. It's not gonna work."

Furuoki instead dropped down on one knee, aimed, and-

A dazzling blue-green light and a noise like the roaring fires of Hell Itself erupted from his fist as he punched up towards the ceiling, vaporizing the stone above him and making all 12 wards chime and tinkle like glass as he broke through them. As the mushroom cloud of dust dispersed, sunlight began to filter in through the hole, at least 100 feet in diameter. The top third of the Guard tower seemed to have evaporated as well, and the guards were scrambling to try to control the panic.

"Is that enough?" Furuoki called.

"...Is it, General?" miss Tsubaki asked.

"...Ten Thousand Kan?" Yamamoto tried.

"That's fine dear, please come sit back down." Tsubaki waved.

"I am surprised, general." She smiled at Yamamoto in a way that reminded him uncomfortably of they way the post office cat would smile at the mice. "Ten Thousand Kan annually per individual is a very reasonable offer."

"A one-time payment of Ten thousand Kan to be split between the group." he growled.

"No." She shook he head. "You're offering us annual salaries, individually."

"The hell I am."

"Then we will enjoy watching the collapse of civilization through the new Skylight Furuoki made us." She replied, unconcerned. "You may have noticed, General, that there is a war on, and this is an exceptionally safe and secure place to be. Make it worth leaving."

"-Two minutes ago this was a frozen hellhole you were all starving in." he glared.

"Ah, but the view and property value has improved substantially in the last two minutes!" She smiled, unconcerned with his complaints. "There is no punishment you could mete out that is worse than remaining here, General, but you are not an advancing army of superhuman mutants, and there are MANY things the Quincy can do to us that are worse than remaining here. You are in a most unenviable position."

Yamamoto grimaced. "You're sure this is the best there is?" he muttered to Sasakibe.

"We could also try swearing loyalty to one noble house and hoping the other four don't try to kill us before the Quincy do." Sasakibe grunted, hand over the puncture wounds in his guts. "I don't like it either. but I like our other options even less."

Yamamoto sighed. "...Five thousand Kan Annually per individual."

"Ten thousand." replied Tsubaki.

"Seven thousand."

"Ten thousand."

"That's not how this is supposed to go." Yamamoto grumbled.

"And yet, this is how it's going." She smirked. "There is also the matter of the political protections!"

"DAMMIT!"

---

Half an hour later, terms had been reached.

Full pardons, Ten Thousand Kan, annually per individual (plus expenses), and political protections in the form of employing them as commanding officers on the condition that they "-Don't get killed, and prove you're smarter than a sack of hammers and at least half as useful."

"No for real, I'll forgive the old man the gut punch, lemme do something so you're not bleedin' all over my contract?" Chigiri sighed, watching Sasakibe write up the contracts.

"I'll trust my body to keep my guts on the right side of my skin over someone's dirty socks." he sighed. "Or do you have something else on hand?"

"Minazuki." Muttered Yachiru, leaning heavily on Chigiri.

"Oh right! I keep forgetting she does the fish thing." Chigiri perked up. "Yeah tell the guards to go get her sword, it turns into a... fuckin' whatsit, the big flat fish? Turns into one of those that can heal anything."

"Again, I trust my own faculties over any sort of Healing Halibut." Chojiro groaned.

"Stingray." Yachiru muttered, wheezing a bit. "Minazuki is a stingray."

"Alright, back in line everyone- I need you all to confirm your identities and what crimes you need pardoned, and to sign your contracts." Sasakibe sighed, standing up with the contracts and handing the first to Yamamoto.

"Shigekuni Yamamoto, Dereliction of duty and Mail-tampering, among other assorted sins." He said, smirking a bit at his own joke as he took the contract.

"Thank you sir." Sasakibe sighed, shuffling the pile of folders containing the files of the dozen criminals, and stepping up to the first one.

"Chika Shihon-" He read off, matching the drawn portrait to the person in front of him- Chika was a rather handsome young thing, with warm bronze skin and short, soft white hair. It was the gleam in their yellow eyes that made Sasakibe worry. "- Sentenced to lifetime imprisonment or death for staging a clan coup, twelve counts of fratricide and... dabbling in forbidden Kido?"

"Oh, like you've never had a family dinner that got out of control!" Chika huffed, indignant.

"I'm more curious about the Kido, actually." Yamamoto said, peering over his file.

Chika beamed and Sasakibe got as far as a choked "NOT HERE-!" before they vanished in a cloud of smoke. When it cleared, they were still wearing the same excited expression, but now as a small white house cat.

Sasakibe and Yamamoto stared at the cat for a moment, then at each other in a mutual expression of I can't believe we've been reduced to asking these freaks for help.

"Well, when you've got thumbs again, please read your contract, then sign and initial all the indicated areas, and swipe your blood across the bottom." Sasakibe sighed, bending over to hand the kitty their contract. "Remember, these contracts are legally and magically binding. Betray us, and die immediately."

"Next is- Kinroku Izuhara-" Sasakibe was interrupted by one of guards appearing with the confiscated personal belongings of the prisoners, including an entire bundle of swords under his arm.

"I understand not giving us our weapons until the contracts are signed and the seal is placed upon us, but may I have my glasses back?" Kinroku asked, voice crisp and arch. He was certainly the least ragged-looking of the group, his graying hair still neatly trimmed and face clean-shaven.

Yamamoto held out a hand and the guard placed the appropriate glasses in his palm. "Trade you for whatever you have that's kept you so clean-shaven it's making my mustache itch." Yamamoto glared.

Kinroku smirked, and produced a piece of bone that had been exquisitely sharpened into a razor's edge.

"This is a human bone." Yamamoto observed.

"Unfortunately, poorer quality than the bones of pigs or cattle in terms of holding an edge, but it's done it's job." Kinrku nodded.

"...This says you're on death row for ...Tax Evasion?" Sasakibe glared at the file as the blade was traded for the glasses.

"Yes. I made an unfortunate miscalculation regarding the loyalty of my men, so I am glad you are taking adequate precautions." Kinroku muttered, cleaning his glasses on his robe, holding them up to the dim sunlight filtering through the hole, and frowning, disappointed.

"Men?" Yamamoto asked. "You've had experience commanding armed forces before?"

"After a fashion." he said, signing the contract and biting into his thumb to finish the deal. "You've heard of The Vipers of the southern reaches?"

"The decentralized bandit gang that disbanded a few years back? I thought their leader had died?" Sasakibe frowned.

Kinroku smirked at him.

"...Oh, for fuckssake." Sasakibe groaned.

"Chigiri Shijima." Yamamoto read off, having already moved on. "...What the hell kind of charge is Aggravated Medical Research?"

"Can't make an emergency field medicine manual omlette without breaking a few bones. And causing a few disembowelments. And poking out a few eyes." She explained.

Yamamoto slowly arched an eyebrow at her.

"I PUT 'EM ALL BACK!" Chigiri protested. "...Eventually."

"Read. Sign. Blood." Yamamoto sighed, handing her the contract.

"For real though, your man okay? I can have those stitched in under a minute." Chigiri pointed her thumb at Sasakibe.

"That's some fast-acting painkillers." Sasakibe noted.

"What painkillers?" Chigiri asked, genuinely confused.

"...I'll take my chances with the halibut." Sasakibe winced, turning to the next man in line. "Danjiro Obana?"

"Yeah!" Grinned the sturdy-looking blonde man, all smiles and friendliness now that an agreement had been reached. "Lookin' forward to workin' with you guys!"

"...Imprisoned for cannibalism?" Sasakibe asked, horrified.

"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" Danjiro hollered, voice echoing around the cavern.

"How do you accidentally consume human flesh?" Yamamoto glared.

"Well- okay it wasn't an 'accident' per se, but look, that Ise Clan guy locked me in the family mausoleum to die, and understandably, I got the munches, and the coffins were fulla, eh... post-sapient jerky?" Danjiro explained. "I really don't know what he expected to happen. Really surprised when he opened up the door a month later and I gut punched his spine out though. I don't regret that one bit."

"You know? That's fair." decided Sasakibe, handing him a contract. "Read, sign, blood."

"Yessir!" Danjiro saluted happily.

"Furufoshi Saito?" Yamamoto asked the young woman with the purple pigtails and eyepatch that was next in line.

"I DID NOT 'KIDNAP' HIM, HE'S MY HUSBAND AND THEY'RE ALL A BUNCH OF PRICKS!" She roared.

Yamamoto blinked at her, then leaned over to read "Accused of Abducting and 'Deflowering' the eldest son of the Kuchiki clan' on her file. "...Care to elaborate on that?"

"I found poor Kyoga-kun half-dead on my doortstep after the battle of River Bo- he still had spears in him, the poor thing! So like a sane and reasonable person I took him in and nursed the sweet thing back to heath and- well, a beautiful man in my bed, grateful to me for saving his life and offering me his eternal love and gratitude- How could a girl resist?" She sighed, hearts in her remaining eye.

"-and since I'd carried him over the threshold into my home we were basically married already, so it wasn't wrong of me to ride him like a pony or violate his warranty like that! He loved it! He loves ME! AND I LOVE HIM! It's just that the rest of the Kuchiki clan are a bunch of snobs with no sense of romance." She sighed, melancholy, then looked up at him, chewing her lip in nervousness. "...You haven't. heard anything about him?"

Yamamoto considered her story, and the few times he'd met Kyoga Kuchiki- a delicate young man with a sense of romantic grandeur and when he'd seen the boy recently, he had been lying facedown on the floor and sobbing, in quite some distress over being separated from his beloved-

"...Daddy Bear?" Yamamoto asked, bewildered.

"MY LITTLE BABY BEAR REMEMBERS ME!" She shrieked with joy, "Is he alright? I've been so worried, he still wasn't over that septic infection and the war keeps getting closer-" She demanded, grabbing Yamamoto by his Kosode and shaking him for answers.

"-As of last month, he was distraught over your absence, but otherwise hale. The sooner the Quincy are dead, the sooner you can see him again. Read, sign, blood." Yamamoto said, detangling himself from her and putting the contract between them.

"Ah, Ever-turbulent but true runs the course of Love." sighed the charred man beside her. "Nobotsuna Shigyo, at your service." he introduced himself, bowing politely.

"I'm Batsu'unsai Katori- We were arrested and imprisoned for roughly the same incident and it may help to be introduced at the same time." Said the woman with the exceptionally large breasts beside him. "Um, I'll need my glasses back too- Oh, thank you!"

"The sight of sunlight is so strange after such time." Mused Nobotsuna. "Even before our imprisonment, the Lady Katori and I were leaders of a secret underground society!"

"It was less of a society and more of a Polycule that got out of control-" Explained Batsu'unsai. "Once I discovered by spiritual powers, I moved in with the great sage Shou Dokutsu, and began hanging out with and then dating other people with spiritual powers and they started bringing their partners to my district and pretty soon there were so many of us that the easiest way to house everyone was to start developing the extensive underground cave systems in the area."

"We manufactured many fine magical artifacts, so called ourselves The Under-Wares!" Said Nobotsuna.

"We actually called ourselves The Kido Union, because in addition to the magical tools, we formed a united labor front to keep the clans from exploiting us." She explained, and Yamamoto began to understand her interruption.

"I am the wise Loremaster of our people!" Said Nobutsuna.

"He's a stablehand." Batsu'unsai smiled.

"But the clans did not like that they were no longer able to exploit and abuse us now that we had allied in great numbers, and war came to our peaceful nation of Shou's Hole!" he said, with genuine sadness.

Yamamoto and Sasakibe looked back at Batsu'unsai.

"It actually is called Shou's Hole." she sighed. "He just wanted it so badly."

"I wore them down!" Notbotsuna grinned.

"Still, the clans did not like that they now had to pay to have magical labor done and that we would outright refuse their more barbaric requests, and eventually I think it was the Shibas that mounted an all-out assault on us. Last I heard, most of the Union made it out through the other exits from the caves, but Dokutsu-san and most of our heavy hitters stayed at the primary entrance to buy time. Nobotsuna and I were the only ones to survive the assault, and Hiraku Shiba had us thrown in here." Batsu'unsai sighed.

"Prick." Spat Nobotsuna. "Oh sure, when a head of one of the so-called 'Noble' houses goes around decapitating people and burning them alive it's considered 'honorable combat' and 'keeping the peace', but when I, a man whose family tree isn't a fucking wreath of incest, retaliates in a decidedly less lethal fashion suddenly its 'treason' and 'making up a spell called Penis Blast is a war crime'!!"

"-What kind of blast?" asked Sasakibe.

"He can demonstrate it for us on The Archery Bastards. Read, sign, blood." Yamamoto said, thrusting contracts at them.

"Entetsu Kumoi." Read off Sasakibe as they came to the bald man who was nearly as wide as he was tall, with the exposed gold teeth. Entetsu looked up from where he'd finished putting his glasses back on and arranged his hairless brows into something that indicated that he'd be smiling politely if he had lips. "Imprisoned for your participation in the riot at the Windroad House, where you..." Sasakibe frowned at the file. "-Attacked and killed one hudred fifty-seven town guards with a brick, and mounted an assault on the local Dyamo?"

"Always morally correct, hittin' cops with bricks." Nodded Entetsu. "-Specially ones comin' t' kill just because some people are out havin' a good time, doin' no harm to no-one."

"The Windroad House is a Bar in the 3rd district famous for it's ah. Exotic. Cabaret performances." Sasakibe explained to Yamamoto, who didn't get out much.

"You were. At one of these performances?' Yamamoto asked.

"Ah, nah- just gotten off the job and had nipped down to the pub across th'way for a pint when I saw the pigs kick in the door an' start dragggin' the ladies out and I thought 'well that ain't right', so I started throwin' bricks until I were on me last brick and then I hunted them down wit' that last brick until there were none left." he explained. "Then I thinks, 'well, there's only none left until more come from the station', so's I made me way up the road to the station wit' me brick and had me a little hogslaughter up there too, see?"

"...And you just. kept going?" Sasakiba asked.

"So's I did! Right up to the head hog's trough, though by then it were well early in the mornin' and I were tired an' had some dozen spears in me back and me brick had fallen apart, so's I dinna get hims haunches fer ham." Entetsu sighed.

"Persistence! Very good quality in a captain!" Grinned Yamamoto, handing him the contract. "You know what to do by now."

They turned to the rather comely young man with the straw hat. "Furuoki, was it?" Yamamoto asked, feeling something that wasn't hopeful, per se, but these were strong people, and deeply insane and they were agreeing to help him, something that made his heart race with a delirious sort of mania.

"Yes. I am Furuoki Otogawa." he nodded.

"-And you're imprisoned here for- ecological terrorism, defiling holy a holy site and creating a dangerous magical device?" Sasakibe asked.

"What?" asked Yachiru, getting back to her feet and leaning heavily on him. "You told me you were in here for Jaywalking?"

"I thought I was?" Said Furuoki, frowning and tipping his head with confusion.

"It says here you constructed a device over the Tenjo no Ganbo waterfalls to, ah- 'suck up the carp in the pool at the base of the waterfall and launch them, at speed, up and over the waterfall'." Sasakibe read off and looked up to see Furuoki staring into the distance, eyes watering.

"They wanted to get to the lake at the top so badly they were swimming up the waterfall, but they kept falling down and getting hurt!" he sobbed, overcome with emotion. "I just made a chute to safely carry them to the top and gently toss them in the lake! how is that a crime?"

"-because when a carp makes it to the top of Tenjo no Ganbo falls, IT TURNS INTO A DRAGON! YOU MADE HUNDREDS OF DRAGONS SUDDENLY APPEAR! THOUSANDS BEFORE THEY COULD DISMANTLE THE DAMN THING!!" Sasakibe shouted.

"Ohhh." Furuoki said, nodding. "-I'd wondered where all the dragons had come from. I still don't see why that's a crime though?"

"Gods help us." Groaned Yamamoto.

"Dragons tend to be. Kinda destructive." Yachiru spoke slowly, her voice still rough and hollow-sounding. " 'specially to little villages."

"Oh." Furuoki said quietly, horrified.

"Don't worry, I'll deal with them once I get my lung back and bust outta this joint." Yachiru reassured him as Sasakibe handed Furuoki his contract.

"You wont be 'busting out' of anywhere, miss-" Sasakibe suffled the papers to open her file. "-Yachiru Unohana! You're obligated to serve General Yamamoto in exchange for your freedom, seeing as you're imprisoned for- for-"

Sasakibe froze, staring at the file. "-That has to be a Mistake."

"What?" Grunted Yamamoto, sizing the woman up. According to the group, if Furuoki who could rip this heavily fortified prison open like an ant's nest was their weakest fighter, this sickly-looking woman was their strongest.

"The file says she's imprisoned for killing ten thousand people!" babbled Sasakibe.

"Oh, no, that isn't right." grunted Yachiru, and Sasakibe sighed with relief.

"-Should be closer to twelve or fifteen thousand." She clarified, and Sasakibe went white.

"Read, sign, mark with your blood at the bottom." Yamamoto sighed, thrusting the contract at her.

"Uhhh... can't." She said, staring blankly at the contract, then slowly looking up at Yamamoto.

"What do you mean 'can't'?"  he growled.

"I can't read." she said.

Sasakibe hid his face in his hands, groaning with pain, while Yamamoto turned on his heel and threw his hands in the air, silently beseeching any available Gods for help.

"You get what you pay for, General." Called Chika, having changed back into the clothes they'd arrived in- garish red-orange and black ninja garb of the Shihon clan- and tying their sword back onto their gaudy belt.

"I am paying all of you a frankly OBSCENE amount of money, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect basic literacy!" Yamamoto snapped.

"It's okay girl, I'll read it to you and then you can have Minazuki back, okay?" Chigiri volunteered, wrapping an arm around her illiterate compatriot and walking her back to some seat-height rocks.

"Let's just get this over with." Yamamoto sighed, glaring at Tsubaki, who only smiled serenely back at him. "Uhin Zenjoji?"

"Present, sir." Beamed the enormous man who looked like a professional Sumo wrestler- there was fat, lots of it, but underneath, an unsettlingly steady grace and power to his movements.

"Your file says you're imprisoned for Smuggling, Murder, Bootlegging, Murder, Trafficking, Murder, More murder and... one hundred seventy two violations of The Migratory Bird Act?"

"The only two I will dispute are the trafficking and migratory bird charges-" he said, delicately holding up two fingers. "-firstly, it's not trafficking to move refugees from the clan wars out of danger without giving the aforementioned clans a cut. I'm no pimp."

"And the birds?" Yamamoto glared, intrigued more than anything.

"A man may have his hobbies and his charitable works!" Uhin said, touching his hand to his chest in faux-impassioned speech. "I collect and breed rare and endangered birds- the world would a sadder place without their songs. So I have- well, had- an aviary up in the mountains where they could be propagated in peace." Uhin sighed.

"Huh. Something nearly bordering on sanity." said Sasakibe said, offering Uhin his contract.

"Got any of them- whatsit- the big kicky bitches?" Danjiro asked.

"Cassowaries?" Uhin asked. "But of course! Delightful little creatures."

Yamamoto decided he didn't hear that, actually, and turned his attention to the final member of the dirty dozen.

"Hello young man!" the decrepit old man creaked cheerfully. "I am Saizo Sakahone." he was bald, liver-spotted, missing teeth and had a spine that bowed like a fishing rod with something much too large for the boat on the end of the line.

"Sakahone like the province?" asked Yamamoto, remembering the western area he'd traveled through recently.

"...In a manner of speaking, I suppose?" Saizo grinned. "Though it's rather the other way around- my lovely wife, may she rest in peace, managed to bear me no less than sixteen beautiful daughters, and they bore at least a dozen granddaughters and so on- Why, by my one thousand one hundred and eleventy-eth birthday, I had somewhere over fifty thousand descendants! So I am not so much named after the province, as the province is named after me!" he chucked.

"...by the Gods." marveled Sasakibe.

"Look, I love my sword too but at least I take it out of the scabbard sometimes." sighed Yamamoto. "What're you in for, family man?"

"O-ho! Now that was quite rash of me, I'm afraid. Yes-" Saizo nodded, rubbing his gnarled-oak hands. "-but as you say, I am a family man and there is nothing I despise so much as someone who does violence to children. No, no, nothing more vile in the world than that..."

Yamamoto felt Sasakibe go stiff beside him, and glanced over. Sasakibe tipped the file closer for his friend to read.

"-The total annihilation of the Uchimaki clan?" Yamamoto asked.

"I was born a shepherd, my boy. My people have been herding cattle over the hills of my province since there were cattle and hills to herd them over. When rot and madness like that turns up in a line- you need to cull backwards at least three generations or it'll set root and spread through your whole herd." he sighed. "What a shame, what a shame, but it had to be done, or they would have learned to turn a profit, treating children like that, and then we'd never be rid of it."

"I saw the crater. Half a mile deep and three times as wide." Said Yamamoto, mustache trembling. "I thought the wrath of the Gods themselves had descended upon them."

"Hm." Saizo nodded, jaw trembling a bit with palsy. "Hm, yes. That's what it felt like."

"Would you like to feel it again?" Yamamoto asked.

"No." Saizo shook his head, but slowly straightened up as much as he could- he must have been close to seven feet tall before the scoliosis set in- flexing his hands and rolling his neck, the power held withing that body starting to come off him in shimmering golden steam. "-but if that's what it takes for me to go home again, then I will be the tool of the Gods once more."

Yamamoto offered him the contract, and did not need to give him instructions.

Behind them, there was a quiet but extremely invasive wet noise and Yamamoto turned to see Unohana unsheath her... well, it lived in a scabbard but it was a muddy green and unusually gooey for a sword. Minazuki bubbled forth from her scabbard, trilling faintly as she solidified and formed into a mottled green cyclopean stingray, large enough to swallow a man, nuzzling at her human affectionately.

"Huh. She does seem to have an exceptionally intimate bond with her Zanpaktou..." Sasakibe noted, then flinched as Minazuki's mouth opened to reveal a fleshy interior of writhing tentacles and strange glands. Without hesitation, Unohana shed her prisoner's robe, which was apparently the and stepped inside to be swallowed with a sigh of relief.

"Very intimate!" grinned Chigiri at Sasakibe's shoulder. "My offer to stitch you up is still on the table, unless you want to develop a similarly intimate relationship with a fish."

"Never did care for seafood..." Sasakibe muttered.

"What about Tsubaki-san?" Furofushi frowned. "Where's her contract?"

"I came here for fighters." Yamamoto shook his head, turning to Tsubaki. "But you are right that The Maggot's Nest is a secure fortress in it's own right. The war is no place for a pri-"

He stopped, staring. Tsubaki had sat down and was rubbing her feet, fingers laced between her toes. She glanced up at him, then down at her feet, smirked, and sat back, wiggling her toes. "No, I agree, the front is no place for a Princess, but it is very much a place for a Diplomat, isn't it?" she asked.

Yamamoto blinked. "I have been thoroughly disinherited from any political position I may have inherited, so I am no princess." She explained, rolling her ankle with a smirk. "-and you are, if I may make an estimation based on my training as a Lady Of Society and now that all of our contracts are signed and bonded, terrible at negotiations."

Yamamoto shook himself, trying to pretend he hadn't been staring at her arches. "...I thought it went fine? Nobody lost a hand."

She smiled, and walked up beside him, lacing her arm with his and gently patting his hand. "My dear. If bookies had been allowed to lay bets on this encounter, the odds of me losing my head would have been considered a sure thing, and the odds on my being able to convince you to properly hire us and pay us, I agree, an 'obscene' amount of money so slim that anyone who took my side would now be a very rich idiot."

Yamamoto squinted at her, trying to translate that in his head.

"...You've conned me." He glared.

"Quite badly, I'm afraid." She smiled.

"You've conned me, but you can con say, that idiot that runs the Omeda clan or the obnoxious boy with the cock's comb that follows Yhwach around even worse." He tried.

Miss Tsubaki smiled, and laced her fingers with his.

"I'm going to have someone much smarter than me write up your contract." he nodded. "Sasakibe? Can you get us home in a-"

Yamamoto turned to see his friend, standing with his robe open while Chigiri knelt before him. Yamamoto blinked in bewilderment, and then realized the woman was stitching his wounds up at speed, her face close to his navel to focus on her work.

"...Hurry?" Yamamoto asked.

"Boss if I go any faster I'm gonna sew his bellybutton shut." Chirigi replied, not looking up.

"She is almost done, sir." Sasakibe winced. "Please don't interrupt her work?"

--- It took a good half hour to get everyone together to leave- clothes changed, signed out of the Maggot's nest and their custody turned over to Yamamoto, Nobotsuna trying to smuggle his "pet" Salamander out, several other prisoners saying tearful goodbyes to Tsubaki and her taking their information down 'for later', Minazuki trying to eat the salamander, and further mayhem while Sasakibe finished drawing the teleportation circle but soon they were lined up, and as the spell activated, Tsubaki gripped Yamamoto's arm rather firmly.

But in a flash, they were returned to Headquarters, Tsubaki blinking from the bright sun.

"General!" the soldier saluted. "Good to see you again! No news from the front, but we have received word the Shihon clan has made an alliance with the Fon clan as the advance approaches their homeland."

"HAH!" Shouted Chika. "Either cousin Genki pulled his head out of his ass or whatever cousin they're on now has good taste! Mingyan is a BABE and a half."

"Nice digs, very nice." Nodded Danjiro, looking around the courtyard. "...Looks really familiar for some reason. Never been to Seireitei, but I swear I've been in a building just like this?"

The other criminals looked around the courtyard, frowning and muttering about how it DID look familiar, and not at all like barracks.

There was a distressing hurgling sort of noise behind them and Minazuki spat out Yachiru Unohana, who tumbled out, nude and covered in slime. She rolled to the foot of the shrine, and sat up, blinking at the statue inside.

"Hey-" She called, voice still low and a rough but the hollow wetness had gone. "-Why's the military got a shrine to Yatagarasu?"

The others looked at the shrine and then around the building again. The orderly layout, the way the men were fit and professional but not precisely military, the extensive filing and sorting system visible through the open doors, Yamamoto's confession to Mail-tampering, the shrine to the Messenger of the Gods...

"You know, I did think it was rather strange that you were able to rally a small but apparently quite fast and very loyal army without the aid of any major clans." Tsubaki sighed. "How very industrious of you, Postmaster-General Yamamoto!"

#AEIWAM #an elephant is warm and mushy #Bleach #Bleach fanfic #genryusai shigekuni yamamoto #chojiro sasakibe #yachiru unohana #Original Gotei-13 captains

[auntyokula]

killer trio 🔪🩸

#bleach #bleach unohana #retsu unohana #yachiru unohana #captain unohana #bleach tybw #saitou furoufushi #original gotei 13

[acupofqueercoffee]

*cough* *cough*

#unohana retsu #retsu unohana #unohana yachiru #yachiru unohana #kenpachi unohana #unohanaretsu #captain unohana #bleach unohana #bleach women #bleach #bleach manga #bleach brave souls #original gotei 13 #og gotei 13 #gotei 13

[turnbackthependulum]

OG Gotei 13

#original gotei 13 captains from 1000 years ago #og gotei 13 #gotei 13 #officials

[dkk0416]

Made and extented version of the 1st look of the Original Gotei 13 captains. I hope it’s looking good. And BRo all the designs are GOATED such an epic and unique.

#bleach #bleachtybw #bleach tybw #bleach fanart #bleach edit #anime #big 3 #anime art #anime edit #gotei 13 #original gotei 13 #og gotei 13 #bleach captain #shinigami #bleach shinigami #epic #cool look #epic art #cool edits #savage #original art #fire #fire backround

[dejwrld]

i’m off work y’all. 🩷

#would literally let every original gotei 13 captain hit!

[mawika]

My dear Apollo (an adopt from a cs called Eilin I have) dressed up as a captain of the gotei 13

I normally hide my hyperfocus but a little curiosity Bleach is my greatest one I LOVE IT SM fr I have like 7 years of ocxcanon lore + many many sona, ocs. And the anime rn I'm not ready for the next episode.......

#bleach #gotei 13 #captain #soul reaper #fanart #original character #closed species #cs #anime #bleach oc

[mokoh]

Farewell! 💔

#bleach #soul society #ichigo icons #anime and manga #thousand year blood war #Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto #Captain Yamamoto #Gotei 13 #original gotei 13

[dofii]

Original GOTEI 13 Captains Revealed in Bleach

#youtube #gotei 13 #gotei 13 captains #bleach #bleach tybw #original gotei 13 #original gotei 13 captains #original gotei 13 captains in bleach #first gotei 13 captains in bleach

[bleachbleachbleach]

 °𐐪♡𐑂° Gotei 13 Compatibility Test  °𐐪♡𐑂°

Editorial Notes:

※ It has come to the attention of the editorial staff that past data from old versions of the Computer Fun Compatibility Test--concerning participants who have since disappeared mysteriously--were mistakenly included in the current version. The staff apologizes for any mental distress this may cause.

※ Compatibility data is based on ethnographic field interviews very professionally conducted by editorial staff. Data may be reflective of the subjects' self-perceptions, which are not always based in objective reality. The staff apologizes for any confusion this may cause.

※ Questions are taken nearly verbatim from the original Living World Computer Fun Compatibility Test question bank, lightly edited to suit the context of the Soul Society. The staff does not apologize for the plagiarism; there is no copyright law in Soul Society. (But it's also fair use.)

Accessibility Text:

Looking for love? Hoping for a hookup? Whether you are tired of barking at the stars or are just looking to window-shop, look no further than the Computer Fun Compatibility Test!

With 20 probing questions and highly specialized technology, the Test will determine your compatibility with all 27 Captains and Vice Captains (and Super Vice Captains) currently serving in the Gotei 13.

For a limited time only, purchase your results at a steal -- only 13000環!

Proceeds will benefit future special editions of your only monthly Gotei news source, Seireitei Communications.

#14106 is japanese pager-speak for 'i love you' #the post that inspired this one did NUMBERS on Tumblr (5 likes) #naturally we needed to answer popular demand with a hotly anticipated follow-up!!! #please feel free to tag us if you post your results we'd love to see your percentages! #gotei 13 compatibility test #seireitei communications #bleach meme #bleach #no brain just bleach #please take the quiz it took me forever to input all 30 outcomes and I want to make sure someone sees them #+1

[reikorun]

BLEACH TYBW Anime Cour 2 Booklet: Behind the Scenes [Translation - Part 1]

Translated by @reikorun

Director's Note × Author's Eye

We pick out several points from all 13 episodes (#14 ~ #26) of the second cour. For each point, pay attention to the explanations by Director Tomohisa Taguchi and the perspective of the original creator and general supervisor, Tite Kubo!

Section 1

Start with Yhwach again

1. A baby being held. As that being, raised up by countless hands, grows and opens its eyes, cour 2 "The Separation" begins. (ep. #14)

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

"Let's place the focus on the Sternritter for the second cour", from the early stages, this is what was decided among the staff. On top of that, in order to make a link with the first cour which began with Yhwach reciting the Kaiser Gesang, we thought "let's begin the sequence of events in cour 2 with him as well." In that case, that scene depicting his origin would be appropriate. In the original work, it was drawn in a manner which took a comprehensive view reminiscent of folklore, but I struggled with how to go about creating a similar impression in the anime. As a result, the visual expression became closer to an art film represented through images alone, without the use of any narration or dialogue at all.

A: Tite Kubo

From the moment I laid my eyes on the storyboard for the first time, I had a feeling that it was going to turn out really good. Regarding this scene, there were actually various changes made until we arrived at the final cut, and even the versions we didn't use were very interesting. During the dubbing session, the process of overlapping the collective "Yū, Ha, Vē, Ha" was also enjoyable to listen to.

2. In addition, there was a memorable scene where Yhwach's 'power' was portrayed through a visual representation. This is the scene where a 'shadow' extends from the throne as Yhwach falls asleep, leading to the appearance of Haschwalth. (ep. #18)

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

The portrayal of that shadow was an idea I received from Kubo-sensei. In the original work, we were able to gain an insight into the power of Yhwach as well as the connection between Yhwach and Haschwalth through Haschwalth's words to Uryū, but since there was no concrete depiction in itself for the transfer of power, it lead to discussions where we considered that It would also become an element linking to the subsequent cour, so we thought “let's do that in the anime!”

A: Tite Kubo

At first, the manner in which the shadow emerged looked as if it were surging up from below, but viewing it from a choreography standpoint, I suggested that the shadow itself should appear in a sort of sliding manner, giving the impression that it had some mass to it. The transfer of power occurred while Yhwach was sleeping, so in order to preserve the nuance that the transfer to Haschwalth happened while he was in that state, I also had Haschwalth depicted standing with his eyes slightly lowered.

Section 2

Storytelling 

3. In the second cour of 'BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Arc', the war situation changes moment by moment due to the Sternritter invasion, and the outward appearance of the Soul Society also undergoes transformation. As a free-for-all breaks out in various places where enemies and allies intermingle in a state of chaos, the anime adds a scene where the newly appointed Captain-Commander, Kyōraku Shunsui, issues orders to each soldier. (ep. #14, #18)

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

One component of that is our desire to include explanatory scenes and scenes where the narrative is refreshed so that the audience are not confused by the ever-changing situation of the war. Another component was our desire to depict the organization that is the 'Gotei 13', which includes Kyōraku who became the Captain-Commander, in a renewed light, and these components overlapped seamlessly.

As a result, I think we were able to depict his status as Captain-Commander inherited from Yamaji, as well as his work ethic. In combination with the scene depicted in the original work that evokes the essence of Kyoraku, i.e. the handing over of Soul Tickets to Tatsuki and the others in the Human World, I'm happy if we were able to successfully delve deeper into the characters. 

A: Tite Kubo

It was a really nice scene with both the essence of Shunsui and the essence of a Captain-Commander coming through.

4. In addition to Kyōraku, the appearance of the other troops were added, including Vice-Captains. (ep. #16)

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

While the scenario building sessions were moving forward, I realized that I also wanted to depict the Shinigami's point of view as they strive to fight back against the invasion and try to fulfill their duty to the Gotei. Rather than simply portraying the scene, we added a series of shots with the intention of showing the state of the Shinigami who remain unyielding even as the war situation worsens and they are gradually forced into a disadvantageous position.

A: Tite Kubo

Even in a fan service sense, I think the audience enjoyed being able to see a variety of characters in the anime. 

5. With regard to the main character, Ichigo, extra scenes have been added, such as the manner in which he received training under Hyôsube Ichibei. (ep. #14 and others)

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

As mentioned earlier, the foundational principle for the second cour is to place the main focus on the Sternritter, while that's true, 'BLEACH' is still the story of Kurosaki Ichigo, isn't it? There were some concerns that the number of episodes in which Ichigo does not appear in the anime may end up feeling longer than it was in the original work, so we came up with the idea of showing what Ichigo is doing at the present time. The knowledge that Ichigo was training at the Soul King Palace is also depicted in the manga, so I speculate that even though Kubo-sensei undoubtedly had a concept and an image in his head, perhaps he deliberately chose not to draw the specifics. We had the privilege of making suggestions and consulting with Kubo-sensei about how we would go about incorporating the event into the story; those scenes were the result. In a sense, it's to be expected, but we were able to receive a tremendous amount of material from Kubo-sensei, far more than what we expected…. It made us think, "Ichigo, that's what you were doing in such a place!?'' As a fan of the original work, I was delighted, and I also maintained the feeling that I needed to put all my effort into portraying it.

A: Tite Kubo

About the Irazu Sandō part, I didn't include it because if I tried to draw it in the manga, the scene depicting the agonizing ordeal would span across multiple pages and end up too long. I'm glad that it could be expressed in the anime~!

6. The stage upon which Ichigo undergoes his training, Irazu Sandō. A mysterious and beautiful sight, yet it is also a peculiar place where a solemn air, a stillness and a sense of awe all coexist. (ep. #14 and others)

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

There's torii gates, a cobblestone pavement, shide (*zigzag-shaped paper streamers) adorning both sides…. If we hadn't received materials from Kubo-sensei, I don't think we would have been able to find our way to this point. Whilst enduring something which tries to push him away from the approach path, the more he walked, and the more he advanced, the heavier the wooden sword in Ichigo's right hand became. When he walks, he walks by moving his legs forward without letting his feet leave the ground. A lot of detailed images and ideas were provided, such as scenes of rain falling outside the path. This was then projected into anime visuals, and the Irazu Sandō came to a state of completion. I think this is a training ground packed with every element that is typical of BLEACH, down to the smallest detail, and that cannot be found in any other work. We've also incorporated an abundance of elements that will be connected to the third cour and onwards such as what happened to Ichigo during his training and the scenes he witnessed, so I would be happy if you could take another look.

A: Tite Kubo

Originally, the mental image I had was 'a sacred place, but at the same time, there is a sense that one is being cursed.' However, I thought that if I communicated this to the production team, the eeriness might end up being too pronounced, so I deliberately didn't mention it. The impression I had was that it was like an abandoned path. As a result, I think the team were able to capture that balance in the sense that it is a sacred yet potentially frightening place, and thus they were able to express it well. 

Section 3

Design & Color Concepts 

7. After the invasion by the Sternritter, the sky of the Seireitei was dyed red, and the squad barracks were transformed into unfamiliar, inorganic blue-white buildings. Director Taguchi's production plan is markedly reflected in those colors as well. (ep. #14)

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

The main goal was to dramatically shift the setting away from Seireitei in a time of peace. Additionally, the upper part of the frame is red and the bottom is blue, which serve as completely opposite elements in terms of hue, so the aim of the production was to consider how the image could be made into something vivid. After the invasion, the Seireitei became perpetually uniform to that coloring, so there were some concerns about whether it would be acceptable as there are very few anime that employ a color scheme which breaks away from the norm to such a degree. However, we wanted to convey the might of Yhwach's power and also the sense that his power had indeed transformed the world. Furthermore, since blue is also the color of 'Quincy Reishi', I considered that perhaps this extreme staging effect in which the space itself ends up dyed in the colors of the Quincy side would make it easier for viewers to perceive the phenomenon where visually, it no longer feels like the Seireitei = the world of the Shinigami.

A: Tite Kubo

When I first received this proposal for the color scheme, I thought the expression might be too extreme, but the way Taguchi-san uses backgrounds is masterful, so I decided that I would try to leave it with him. I harbored some concern that colors of the characters may become difficult to distinguish, but that aspect was also rendered in a well balanced manner. At various points during meetings and dubbing sessions, I often get the feeling that Taguchi-san is someone who can clearly see the final visual outcome. 

8. From the standpoint of color, the attire and laboratory, which Kurotsuchi Mayuri contrived as a countermeasure against the Sternritter lurking in the shadows, are also very interesting. (ep. #15 and others)

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

Initially, the glowing Mayuri was only supposed to shine yellow. However, this time, Mayuri's lab itself also shines brightly, so it meant that when we tried to station him there, he ended up blending into the scenery quite a bit. While searching for a way to make Mayuri shine, an idea came from the color scheme designer Gōda-san: "How about a lighting method which shifts into a variety of colors like a gaming PC?" We adopted the idea thinking "it'll probably look great on screen!" We proposed the idea to Kubo-sensei, who readily approved, and it started to take form in the visuals. The colors continuously shifting midway through the plot is an interpretation that can only be represented in the anime, so I believe we were able to exhibit Mayuri's natural presence by using a different approach from the original work.

A: Tite Kubo

This was indeed an interesting portrayal that could only be done in the anime. It's also interesting that it was intentionally made to look like a moiré pattern. After all, this cannot be pulled off by any character other than Mayuri.

9. Mayuri's laboratory is designed to completely eliminate any shadow as a countermeasure against the Sternritter invasion. Evidently, it took a great deal of trouble to express this. 

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

It took a lot of trial and error to figure out how to express 'no shadows' in the anime. The most significant factor in creating a three-dimensional effect in an illustration is the contrast of the shadows, isn't it? Given that it was necessary to reject that, we said "there is likely no other way to do this but to test an array of other patterns!" The art staff and I went through the process of trial and error a many number of times. As a result of taking into consideration various opinions that came up along the way, we translated them into the concept of 'creating gradation within the light', ultimately representing three-dimensionality.

A: Tite Kubo

When drawing it in the manga, the way I used to express the idea of 'glowing without shadows' is by erasing around the circumference of what I had drawn. I'm glad that I was able to have it portrayed in such a satisfying manner in the anime too.

10. Hirako Shinji's Bankai, "Sakashima Yokoshima Happōfusagari". A Bankai, which did not appear in the original work (※first appeared in the novelization), is made to enter the stage in the anime, therefore a great deal of enthusiasm has also been poured into its rendition. (ep. #16)

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

The bud of Hirako's Bankai pedestal is formed by the petals narrowing inward when open, retaining their form to become the bud, however I thought that if we produced it with cel animation, the petals would inevitably lose their shape, rather, there's a high possibility that it wouldn't look like a rigid object. So, in order to show the precise movement of a rigid object, we deliberately used CG. At first, what I imagined for the texture was a brass-like luster, similar to the lotus flowers used in Buddhist altar fittings. We struggled while attempting to express the feeling of that material and searched for ways to depict it using CG surface reference / textures and such.

11. Many characters have made their Bankai debut in the original series. Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō's "Kinshara Butōdan", and Humanized Komamura Sajin's "Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō: Dangai Jōe" were also portrayed by utilizing 3DCG technology. (ep. #18, #17)

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

I think 'Kinshara Butōdan' managed to incorporate a finely tuned quality that doesn't look like it was made with cels, having said that, nor does it overly emphasize CG elements, rather it strikes a delicate balance between the two. Similarly, "Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō: Dangai Jōe" was also developed in 3D, I think we were able to well execute the way the gigantic body moves freely and abundantly as opposed to the challenges of producing it with cel animation, which is susceptible to making the movement appear choppy. In the story, there are various Bankai, but in terms of compatibility with 3DCG, rather than the type where it's just the sword changing, it's my opinion that Bankai transformations where the appearance changes completely or another entity emerges, is the kind that fits better from a direction perspective. As mentioned earlier, expressing it in 3D has the effect of altering the feel, so you can stress the distinctness and change in atmosphere brought about by performing Bankai. In a certain way, I suppose it's possible to convey a stronger sense of harnessing something that is not of this world. Therefore, from now on, I intend to continue requesting (to those in the field), that one doesn't adopt a cel animation look completely. 

A: Tite Kubo

Both were really good. As Taguchi-san also mentioned, I wanted to avoid having the CG elements coming to the forefront in an odd manner. I think CG shines particularly during Bankai transformations that feature inorganic matter. The CG was skillfully utilized, especially in critical moments where traditional animation eventually tends to falter, like when Myō'ō comes in with a slashing attack, for instance, making it quite impressive to watch.

12. 3DCG is not the only technique utilized for showcasing Bankai. The skills of various staff members have also been brought together.

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

Even though I understood the principle behind it, figuring out how to visually represent Muguruma Kensei's Bankai "Tekken Tachikaze" in the anime, among other things, was challenging because how we'd go about expressing that is a different story. While the blades remain in contact with the target, it continues to explode infinitely. It creates the illusion that the punches being thrown are repeatedly landing tens of thousands of times without the arm ever being pulled back from the point of impact, doesn't it? We worked strenuously to express how immense the power of Kensei's Bankai is by doing things like deliberately adding cel style motion blur to make it look as though the opponent was being hit, aiming for a visual effect that makes it seem like he's trembling after being struck multiple times, and using an approach where we incorporated sound effects reminiscent of a drill used in road construction. In terms of his character and Bankai visualization, Rōjūrō is likened to an Opera, implementing theatrical staging such as the rapidly changing movement of his conductor's baton and the lighting. The music attached to the scene also became particularly important, director of audiography Nagasaki-san and re-recording mixer Hoshino-san fine-tuned it masterfully. 

#bleach #bleach anime #tite kubo #tomohisa taguchi #translation #author interview #yhwach #jugram haschwalth #ichigo kurosaki #irazu sando #kensei muguruma #rose otoribashi #shinji hirako #ichibe hyosube #shunsui kyoraku

[gallusrostromegalus]

Your line about Unohana's smallpox scars made me wonder: are there any soul reapers that can remember when they were alive? (If they were alive? I'm not sure if all souls originate in the world of the living)

All souls are "born" in the Living World and eventually move to Spirit World (if they don't go directly to Hell). The majority of souls in the afterlife do not remember their previous lives, but a significant portion do.

Souls Born in Soul Society:

Children and babies that die in utero or before they can reliably recognize their names, very old people that have lost most of their memory and people who suffered catastrophic memory loss while alive move to to Spirit World and become the souls of babies gestating in mothers there. Souls that are Born in spirit world do not remember their previous lives because there isn't much, if anything to remember.

Sometimes very young children and babies will appear in the queue to the afterlife, and in AEIWAM, the 7th Division manages incoming souls and takes care to place any children that come through the queue in SOME kind of care in the area their soul was assigned to. This is a recent development under Captain Komamura, but something the 7th has been wanting to do since it's inception. It's only recently that technology and staffing has been able to allow it. The majority of souls in Soul Society, and by extension, in the Gotei-13, were born in soul society.

Even though they have no memories, sometimes things will come through- people born in soul society are much more likely to have birthmarks. While the superstition is that if you're born with one, it relates to how you died, there's no evidence that so-called "marks of the previous life" are from death specifically. There's also no evidence that they're not :)

Characters that were Born in Spirit World with Marks Of The Previous Life:

Izuru: Born with two red dots about an inch apart on his ankle

Byakuya: One absolutely perfect beauty mark smack in the middle of his left asscheek

Shuuhei: Smattering of thick, raised skin patches across his upper back.

Ukitake: hard to see because he's so careful to avoid the sun but there's a couple patches on his abdomen and thigh that are totally devoid of pigment and never tan

Shunsui: Partially developed third nipple in his right armpit

Soi Fon: weird tooth growing out of the roof of her mouth.

Komamura: the paw-pads on his left foot are pink.

Aizen: Born with partially webbed toes.

Yumichika: The Beauty mark on his cheek is painted on. The one on his dick is not, much to his chagrin.

Yachiru: changed her origin story to HURT :), no birthmark but when her teeth came in, her adult right canine came in and the baby canine is just. Missing.

Urahara: patch of something that looks like freckles, but bright red, on his throat. Only shows up if he's been doing cardio.

Yoruichi: small, diamond-shaped white patch of skin over the lower part of her sternum.

Souls That Forget:

Souls over the age of about 3 will (barring something bizarre happening) reincarnate in the afterlife at the developmental age they dies at, and stand a 50/50 chance of forgetting their previous lives entirely. *Why* is unclear to the shinigami (it's a side-effect of the wheel being jammed), but the effect seems to be slightly more likely if the soul died a particularly violent death.

The loss occurs when the soul steps through the door out of the Queue and into spirit world. This sudden loss and confusion is part of the reason it's so important for Shingami to escort incoming souls to their destination in spirit world, any why Ryoka (AKA, souls that somehow got out of the queue and into Soul Society without checking in with the Shinigami) tend to be chaotic little bastards.

Souls that forget their previous lives upon stepping through the gate usually retain muscle memory, learned skills and a handful of details- the name they answer to, how old they were when they died, and sometimes they remember what they died of. Souls who do forget often tend to be emotionally ambivalent about it- on the one hand, not knowing who you are or where you came from kind of sucks, but after seeing their friends who remember wracked by grief or traumatized by a violent end, it can also feel like a strange blessing or a fresh start. Characters who were reincarnated at the age they died, but do not remember their previous lives:

Unohana: Does not remember her name, did remember a lot of slikks relating to ritual purification and swordsmanship

Hitsugaya: Sole memory of standing in a blizzard/thunderstorm as a small child

Tousen: Only his given name, and the feeling he was killed by a lightning strike.

Matsumoto: Given Name, no-context memories of a pet cat

Shinji: Does not remember his name, remembers a weird number of folk songs and a really good fish recipe though

Ikkaku: Remembers fuck-all. His sister DOES remember him and that's a fun chapter in the drafts

Souls That Remember:

Souls that do reincarnate and remember their previous lives remember varying amounts- Some people can recall previous lives with incredible detail, some people have only a very vague or uncertain recollection, others have very clear but context-less memories that they know came from a previous life but little more than that.

Just like people who forget, people who remember have mixed opinions- Some find it a burden to have memories of a family lost, some are really glad they still remember their loved ones, but the majority are a combination of nostalgic and wistful about their previous lives.

Characters who reincarnated and remember at least some of their previous lives:

Yamamoto: Died at about age 10, but remembers every detail. Died of Being Next To A Volcano When It Exploded.

Tama: Her memory bordering on eidetic, including her cause of death (bad)

Momo: Has many memories but not context. Remembers another little girl (sister?), and living out on a farm with a goat.

Rukia: She was very young, but does have a handful of distinct memories of her previous life, including Hisana making stupid faces at her to make her laugh.

Hisana: Recalls her previous life almost entirely. She and Rukia barely escaped a house fire only to die of hypothermia.

Hollows:

Nearly all lesser hollows remember their previous lives, and what caused their soul chain to rot, but once a hollow is consumed by another hollow, or becomes part of a Menos Grande, they lose all but a few memories, and those tend to be vauge and distorted. By the time a hollow becomes a Vasto Lorde, it's been torn apart and absorbed so many new soul fragments that it can't really be called the same soul at all. If there are Souls that are "born" outside of the living world, it's hollows like that. A Few Notable Exceptions:

Coyote Starrk and Lilynette Gingerbuck: They were a Genus Loci (the spirit of a place) that died in a calamity, but since a Genus Loci is functionally a Kami, when they hollowfied and re-appeared in Hueco Mundo, they started out at Vasto Lorde Class hollows. They divided into the 'two' souls they are now out of sheer loneliness and because the memory of the calamity was so awful they hoped they would forget. It sort of worked- Both of them only half-remember who and what they are.

Nnoitra Gilga: A singularly single-minded individual, Nnoitra forgot almost everything including his Name but not what caused him to become a hollow in the first place. He doesn't exactly have context for those memories until about half an hour before he dies, but he also doesn't care- he's always been a man to tell himself whatever story suits his needs.

Wonderweiss: Wiess was a soul that absolutely should not have been able to hollowfy but did so because a Divine Power fucked up to a SPECTACULAR degree, and like Coyote and Gingerbuck, started out as a vasto-lorde class hollow. He does sort-of forget who he is for a while thanks to Aizen's Meddling, and while he has the facts of who he is, nobody quite makes the full connection to WHO he is until about halfway through Act 2.

Weirdos:

SOME PEOPLE manage to enter the spirit world in completely ass-backwards and stupid ways, and sometimes this effects their memories:

Ichimaru Gin: Probably has the MOST understanding of what's going on of anyone in the series but unfortunately, he's fucking stupid.

Mimihagi: The Second-most-informed person in the series, but turns out getting dismembered, undergoing a catastrophic database error and surviving as a fragment of your previous self does a number on your ability to remember anything with any clarity.

Zaraki Kenpachi: Developed a soul in the living world when he wasn't really supposed to, reincarnated in a place he should not have been able to, got thrown out and survived a fall that should have killed him, was raised by a being that normally would have eaten him, and has generally been Why-Are-You-Not-Dead-ing his way through his existence.

Quincy:

If, How much, What Version and The Actual Veracity of what any Quincy in the Wandenreich remembers about their previous lives is ENTIRELY determined by Yhwach and what suits his needs :)

#AEIWAM #An Elephant Is Warm And Mushy #Bleach #Bleach fanfic #On memory #long post

[auntyokula]

first relationships just be like…

#bleach #bleach unohana #retsu unohana #yachiru unohana #captain unohana #bleach tybw #bleach memes #saitou furoufushi #yamamoto genryusai #original gotei 13

[drunkdumbfucker]

Yearly reminder that yes, Jushiro is still enjoying his quiet days in the countryside as a retired Gotei 13 captain™.

he still lives in Ugendo because after all he was the one who built these quarters and there's enough room for all his family to chill at his side on random days now that they can barge in at any moment without any care about any third seat's wrath

and it's far away enough from the thirteen squad barracks that he doesn't feel like intruding, but if anyone ever has any need of his advice they can knock at his door or leave a note, even dozens of years after he retired

he's learned to bake pies.

tons of pies, tons of flavors, but tooooo many pies.

I'd like to imagine Jushiro with tons of nieces and nephews at his side, they're his most fervent listeners even though their parents have all warned them that he's full of shit. they won't believe anyone, Jushiro's the most serious and nicest of adults. (they're all at least 500+ years old but boy oh boy are they naive when it comes to Jushiro's quiet wrinkled smile and serene walk around the pond) and most of all he's the most generous of all (he gives so much food and stuff because the nieces and nephews all have kids of their own and oh my god those are the most spoiled)

if anyone visits Jushiro in Ugendo on any given day, there'll always be a kid bouncing on his knee, enamoured with the beautiful white braid resting on Jushiro's shoulder.

then somehow Shunsui will appear

"no no no I don't have any meeting my dearest!!!! what do you mean you have read my schedule?? haahaha it's a fake schedule anyhoo let me hold this wonderful face of a papoopeepoobaby!!!"

and yes Shunsui WILL appear at any given time! because Jushiro's grand-nephews/nieces are his own too and

Shunsui is Captain Commander but everyone knows he's been wanting to retire for years too, and it's always been about temporarily filling the spot Yama-ji left empty

and he's been more and more less here, slowly preparing everyone for the moment he'll step down. Everyone understands the situation. Who gives a shit about responsibility, nobility, logic? Shunsui's payed his debt to a thousand, and he shall pay it to the end of his days because one does not step down from being Captain Commander just like that. He'll always be there for the Gotei.

But all in all, everyone knows, it's all about Jushiro, and how even Jushiro pays away his debt by attending captain meetings or helping out squads in need of urgent back up or even holding classes at the Shin'o Academy. It seems everyone understands deeply how their origin can't even be found etched in stone, the first tales of their deeds have disappeared around drunken murmurs and apologetic rumors. Time set it all on fire, bits by bits. So much knowledge dusted away, and only the mirth in their glances will hold witness of such existence.

So of course, if any newcomer dares comment on the way the 13 Squad's former captain has no place in the current affairs of doing, because it's none of their business now that he's retired, of course they'll receive an informal spanking and will instantly be taught respect.

AND of course if anyone dares criticize Shunsui's laziness, they'll be laughed at because haha hahahahaha the Captain Commander's the least lazy person in the world so who the fuck are you to even say that??

I need the entire shinigami population to finally recognize that these two bitches are old and deserve some rest. They deserve to enjoy quiet days in the sun, eating juicy strawberries stolen from a sibling's garden, shutting off the entire spiritual realm's pressure so they can cloudgaze and pick at each other's perfect lips.

Jushiro's retirement's just an excuse for Shunsui to join retirement too.

I need them to spend so much fucking time babysitting everybody's kids because they are the best and they enjoy kids so much, it's not even a chore gosh oh my good look at this fucker Jushiro she's walking look look LOOOOK!!!!!!

and "ah I'm sorry my love you're feeling a bit tired let me hold her, is everything alright?" and yes of course everything's perfect because they're together and they're still alive and they can finally rest easy now that the Seireitei's safe and in good hands so no worries if Jushiro's a bit tired and will nap all afternoon because now there's no obligation for him to stretch himself thin. It's all good.

the kid will fall asleep too and that's it

#shunuki #ukitake jushiro #shunsui kyoraku #bleach #daily reminder that i'm still not over these two mdroghroihfuckers #i love them so much it hurts #makes zero sense but i stand by these points

[troius]

he original captains of the gotei 13 look so cool. Kubo brought his A game when designing them.

Yeah, they're pretty cool, aren't they?

I'm not sure they'd have the same fun balance of personalities that the modern crew have, but that's by design. These folks are killers. They carved up...whatever existed before in Soul Society, and reshaped it in their image. And that's a bloody process-- from the American Revolution, to France, to Haiti, to Russia, such drastic change has a blood price. And it's often the case that the more drastic the change, the bloodier the price.

In Soul Society, the revolution happened. We got out weird quasi-feudal system instead of whatever was before. And I greatly admire how the story notes how violent the process was, while refusing to pass judgment on whether it was worth it.

#bleach #ask troius

[kkeidawrites]

Change of View

Spring rolled through the Seireitei, the infinite trees of cherry blossoms littered almost every barrack. The pink petals were almost everywhere, some piles covering an entire road or entering your clothes in locations you probably wouldn’t notice until you undressed; it was insane.

The Kuchiki manor, known for their large cherry blossom trees, the servants hated this time of year. The grueling hours that it would take while cleaning up the small pink petals all throughout the season were going to be long and strenuous.

A young male servant wiped his brow as he used a broom to sweep the petals into as a place to lean against a moment. There was a bag by his feet, it was used to push the petals into and be properly disposed of.

“Another year of these little things.” He mutters, disgruntled.

The sound of panting and running feet came towards the man, and he turned his neck to see another male servant coming up to him. The running man comes to a stop in front of him, his sweated brow noticeable as he catches his breath.

“Did you hear?” He questions. The one with the broom raises a brow.

“Hear what?”

“Lady Kuchiki has just interrupted a meeting with the elders!” He tattles and broom man gapes in disbelief.

“I know Lady Kuchiki is quite bold, but with the elders?” Broom man says perplexed.

🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷

This entire meeting was ridiculous.

The setting was a quiet and uncomfortable affair, the room’s atmosphere growing thick in tension.

The Kuchiki elders had arrived early in the morning to discuss some unimportant matters related to the clan’s future. Their ‘visits’ were always never what they were really there for originally, it was just to keep an eye on the current clan head.

Byakuya sat on his knees, poised and quiet as he was taught when in the presence of the elders and his chronic frown stared bored at the three elders sitting in front of him.

His grandfather, Ginrei, sat on the far right of the room, watching him closely to make sure he didn’t say something out of place. The old woman in the middle was his great, great aunt on his mother’s side of the family. The old bat, was in control of the family affairs and whom you would meet to ask for marriage into the Kuchiki clan. The final old man on the left, a distant uncle on his father’s side controlled all the finances and wages of the servants who worked for the family and was head of the employment department for the clan.

“It would seem that once again you have allowed the mansion to be run amuck of any captain and lieutenant of the Gotei 13. Surely, you forget that the Kuchiki manor is not a ‘hangout’ spot.” The old aunt berates Byakuya.

Byakuya almost rolled his eyes. It was not his fault that the Shinigami Women’s Association kept appearing in his home, or the fact that they kept finding different places to have their little meetings within his manor.

“I’m fully aware that my home is not a place for parties and solicitors. I have already spoken my complaints to the head captain.” Byakuya answers back in annoyance.

“Typical. Yamamoto is not going to worry about such things such as that, especially if it comes to our family.“ the old uncle said acidly.

“And what of this woman of yours? Has she finally put her family’s affairs aside to begin her duties here as the Lady of the House?” The aunt speaks up again, a brow raised.

“My wife,” Byakuya corrects the woman with a glare.

“Has no reason to worry about what happens within the house. Such duties are historic and tired. She has helped more beyond our home than any women in the past. You forget so quickly that Hisana was the same way.” Byakuya defends and the aunt scoffs with a turn of her cheek.

“She surely spends money like she’s not the Lady of the House.” The old uncle said.

“Money that is hers alone. Money she made without the help of her family. Do we forget about what family Y/n reigned from?” Byakuya questions and the elders are quiet.

“My wife’s ‘duties’ is what she will do on her own. She’s done more for our clan and her’s that you still do not know your place.” The elders frown in annoyance.

“Watch your mouth, boy.” The aunt bites but Byakuya continues.

“Y/n has made it clear that she will do what needs to be done as the Lady of the House but she is much more important than being stuck here to only care for the household and make children. We had agreed to such a thing even before we had married. It would seem you all are becoming increasingly involved with the wrong things when you have yet to explain what you are really here for.” Byakuya said.

The elders are quiet for minute until his grandfather cleared his throat and stared down his grandson.

“Our concerns are not with you, it is-“

“You need to persuade your wife into allowing our clan to have control in her clan’s influence of the royal family.” The old uncle interrupted, his grandfather glares at the uncle.

Byakuya’s eyes narrow further into his brow.

“And just what will this greedy idea help with our clan?” Byakuya questions.

“How little you think of your own clan’s future boy. If we have just one person from the royal family on our side, we would be even more powerful than we already are.” Uncle says enthusiastically.

“My wife, nor I, will be made pawns to your greedy little game. We already are the most prominent noble families in the Seireitei, and I refuse to be involved into something that could possibly hurt our family.” Byakuya said firmly.

“You inconsiderate little-“

The sound of the shoji doors slam open, and a menacing shadow encases Byakuya’s back. The four people turn to see who had inappropriately interrupted their private meeting and they gasped quietly.

Y/n Kuchiki glared dangerously at the elders, and walked inside the tatami room her glare growing much more heated as she came closer.

Standing next to her husband, Y/n simply glances at her beloved a loving smile thrown his way then turns to the elders, folding her hands into her white and red shihakusho. Her zanpakuto hanged low on her back as she gives the elders a quiet look over.

“You. How dare you interrupt a private meeting, you must be summoned by us to-“

“It is best that you shut the fuck up right now.” Y/n cursed Uncle who gasped in disbelief.

“I think you forget who you are talking to because you have clearly lost your mind.” Y/n speaks in a calm manner.

“What-“

“Have you forgotten that Byakuya is not one of your servants but in fact the clan heir to the Kuchiki noble family? He is not some minion that will follow your orders without hesitation, he is the man who will be running this family until all three of you are six feet under, I’m actually quite surprised you haven’t reunited with your friend Methuselah yet. Kami forbid, they take you first Genrei-san.” Y/n says and the aunt is quick to stand to her feet, her face red in anger.

“You are the Lady of the House you have no power or voice to talk to us this way!”

“Oh yes, I am the Lady of the House and with my limited power, I have the power to have you removed from my house if I so choose. Right?” Y/n leans in close to the aunt with a dark expression.

“Since you all are so interested in my resume I do not mind, helping you remember who I am.” Y/n’s eyes have darkened as her butterfly locs created a curtain around her face so only her face was visible to the woman before her.

“I am not only the Lady of the House,” Y/n takes a step closer and the aunt begins walking backwards.

“I am one of the heiresses of the Shihōin clan,” another step is made.

“The oldest daughter of Ichibē Hyōsube,” she takes two more steps.

“And a captain of Squad Zero, part of the Royal Guard. I think I have the right to say and do whatever the hell I want. And since I have heard what you have been saying to my beloved,” the aunt’s back finally hit the wall behind her.

“I have made it aware to my family that the current elders of the Kuchiki clan will not have the right to attend an audience with any royal member of the royal family. That way you all will have no influence over them, no matter whose ear you whisper into.” She says.

“What?” Ginrei gasps.

“You can’t do that!” Uncle speaks up his fists balled.

“I just did.” She giggled and turns to her husband. Walking over to him, Y/n bends over and grabs his chin, which was gaped slightly and kisses him, tongue and all earning a little groan from the man once she pulled away.

“We are the elders of the family, we have to do what we must to protect the family.” Y/n bursts in a laugh as she stands back up and turns to the elders once more.

“Protect the family? By doing what? Getting your little grubby hands onto the money you would be receiving for the next thousand years? More land to cement your name into or I know,” Y/n squares her shoulders.

“You want to have the power to finally run the clan without Byakuya’s presence, so he can be your little puppet.” She says and the elders are quiet.

“Your intentions were clear as soon as I was introduced to Byakuya and I had already put in place a fail safe just in case something like this happened once I married him.” Y/n said and moved to sit in her husband’s lap who became startled out of his shocked stupor to adjust his knees to become crisscrossed for her curvy body to sit properly in his lap.

“It’s a shame really, you poked your noses in business that wasn’t even yours to bother. What you should be worried about is how the servants here are scared silent because if they speak out of turn they are punished harshly for it. But don’t worry, I have that handled since it would seem their employer needs some reminder of how a boss should act.” Y/n throws at Uncle.

“What do you mean by that?” He demands.

“Don’t worry about that. For now, it looks like I have to fulfill my duties as Lady of the House.” She clears her throat.

“Since you’ve finally shown your true colors, I’m sure you’ll you all will be receiving a little letter from the Royal Family in a few days time.” Snapping her fingers, the shoji doors were opened once more as the clan ninjas appeared in the doorway.

“I believe this meeting is adjourned, as The Lady of the House, you two,” she points to Aunt and Uncle who were still gaping at her.

“Are forbidden for a year from entering the mansion. We shall have meetings elsewhere if need be but, at this house, you are not welcomed. I wish I could make it permanent but, alas, I have such limited power. I’ll fix that soon enough.” Y/n smirks in their direction.

“Take them away please.” She orders sweetly and the ninja’s take the aunt and uncle whom of course, didn’t go away quietly. They cursed and swore at the waving woman sat on Byakuya’s lap and promised that she wouldn’t get away with this.

Once they were gone, the shoji doors closed and the three remaining in the room became quiet.

Ginrei lets out a tremendous tired sigh and closes his eyes.

“Such a fuss. Surely that could have happened more appropriately.” Ginrei said and Y/n shrugs carelessly.

“They shouldn’t have said what they said. Besides, you were happy that those two were gone.” Y/n smirks and Ginrei gives her a small smile in return.

“Indeed, however, you will have to deal with them when the year is up. I’m sure you will handle that time much more carefully.” Ginrei watches a dark grin appear on the woman’s lips and he chuckles quietly standing to his feet with a slight groan.

Y/n removed herself from her husband’s lap and walked the old man to the door. Byakuya finally found the strength and mind to work his legs to help him stand and walked behind them.

“I shall take my leave then. Lady Kuchiki,” he bows to her as Y/n bowed as well.

“You must join me for tea sometime, Lord Genrei.” She offers and the old man gives a small smile again.

“Soon. I do hope to see my great-grandchildren for a bit longer the next time I come by.” He says and Y/n chuckles.

“Of course.” Ginrei turns to his grandson and bows to him as Byakuya bowed in return.

Once he left, the married couple was all that was left and Y/n nearly skipped over to her still baffled husband.

“Well, I’m glad that is over. You know you should invite me more to the meetings, it was fun seeing them get all angry.” Y/n laughs and her husband slowly turns his head to look at her, his resolve finally returning to him.

“I cannot believe you just did that.” He finally speaks and Y/n shrugs.

“Not like you didn’t know I was this way before you married me. Maybe we will have some peace and quiet around here, you know they have been coming by twice every month?” Y/n groaned in annoyance.

Byakuya was quiet as he stared at his wife, his frown still in place and she sighed absentmindedly fixing his white scarf to avoid any eye contact with him.

“Please don’t be mad. I was just trying to help, I didn’t mean to upset you.” She mutters.

Byakuya grabbed her hands on his scarf and brought them to his lips to kiss. Looking into her eyes, he gave her a sideways grin and used his right arm to pull her close by the waist.

“Never think of such a thing, my love. I’m proud of what you did, how they were talking about you in such a way was unacceptable and you stood up for not only yourself but our family.” He tells her and a smile appears on her lips.

He gently pulled a butterfly loc and Y/n giggled.

“I love you.” He utters.

“I love you, beloved.” She says and pulls him down into a kiss.

“Shall we go and meet the children for lunch?” He asked once they part and his wife nods.

“Oooh, I hope it’s tempura, I’ve been craving it since I came in here.” She said and Byakuya smiles as he places a hand on her rounded belly. Pregnant once again and Y/n swearing to the man that it would be their last.

He hoped it would be another boy, and if it were a girl he knew she would have him wrapped around her little finger. For their first set of children it was twin boys, whom looked so much like him when he was younger but had their mother’s personality.

“Come husband, maybe afterwards, we can have some personal time together.” She smirks seductively as she pulled him by the hand out the shoji doors.

Byakuya only gives her a smile as he’s pulled down the engawa to their personal quarters.

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