Another One Bites the Dust Cont. (Lightning)

Shuhei and Lightning were walking back throught their barracks after meeting in the 7th Division's barracks. As they walked throught the barracks to the Captains office, they came across a few officers and other shinigami from the division. As they went Shuhei made some small talk, reassuring and apologizing to any he came across, and a couple of officers he informed them on Captain Komamura. He didnt really expect Lightning to say anything, as he expected her to be taking in the state that the Division was in. Overall the Division seemed alright, on the outside. AT least they hadnt lost their Captain. Bu Shuhei knew that on the inside, they were just barely holding up. Many officers had dissappeared and it was felt across the Division. They eventually however did end up at the Captains office, and he opened the door and let Lightning. 'Take a seat, theres a few drinks to the cabinet over there.' He waved vaguely behind himself as he went over to his desk and looked through some papers.

He was looking for the list of dissappeared officers, or at least those that he had taken not of, when he noticed another sheet of paper, with even more names of missing on it. An officer must had done it while he was out. He sighed to himself and sat down hard. He handed the papers over to Lightning to look over and take note of. 'Well, here are some of the ones who have gone missing that we know of so far, its quite short but it looks like its gonna get longer and longer over time. And the Division seems to be holding up for now, but like i said earlier, 7th and 9th worked together closely, so their losses are like ours and vice versa. I'm not sure how long some of the men will be able to keep up with this.' He sighed again and took a bottle out from under his desk and took a quick swig of some cool water before putting it back and waiting for Lightning's response.

Lightning took in the surroundings of the barracks once more, noting that the morale was still as low as before when she visited earlier. The air felt heavy and the emotions could be seen on the faces of those that approached their new acting captain. She listened quietly as Shuhei made small talk with many of them, reassuring them and explaining about Komamura. She had a feeling that this young man would make a good captain...at least one good thing came out of the situation. As she entered the room that Shuhei would now be calling his own, she took note of the papers mounting on the desk. Normally this would have been of concern, however today...and with what had happened it was quite alright to be slightly behind on paperwork. She took a seat as Shuhei rummaged around in the papers for one in particular, when it seemed he had found it he almost seemed to fall into his seat at the sight of it.

Lightning took the note she was offered and looked it over before placing it back on the table and leaning back in her chair, her arms folded and legs crossed as the chair's back took her weight. "Well the good news is that people are not still disappearing, it is simply that they are being confirmed as missing. The list will reach an end." Lightning listened to Shuhei as he mentioned the 9th and 7th divisions being so close and feeling their loses together. "Perhaps that makes you luckiest indeed, you may feel each other's pain and loss...but you also feel each others joy. You are there to lift each other. I suggest you look upon it that way and focus not on condoling each other but on lifting spirits of each other"

Shuhei watched as leant back in her chair and began to talk. He nodded at the first idea, and they would stop being confirmed ... eventually anyway. He sighed and leant back in his own chair, with his arms draped over the sides of the chair. He had a sad and depressed look on his face as he mulled over the dissappearances. But he was surprised at what she had said next. And as usual she appeared to be correct. 'This captain ... she is something else ...' He thought silently to himself. 'I guess your right, acting like a single joint Division can be beneficial, especially as most other Divisions act on their own, without interaction from others.' He sighed and sat back up in his chair and scnned over the messy desk, and the paper work stacked on it. 'This mess couldnt have happened at much of a worser time. W were still at a loss after losing Aizen, Gin and ... Kaname.' He looked off into space for a second, remembering things before shaking himself out of it and looking back towards the other captain.

'I take it you know about the Division's duties as well, right? We're meant to stop information leaking and keeping panic under control. So in a situation like this, our Division would have been strecthed pretty thin at the best of times, let alone with all the losses.' He wasnt trying to come up with any excuses for the Division's current attiude or saying that the Division was worse off than others. This was his duty as captain to try and get the situation under control, and he just felt like it was all going wrong. Shuhei sighed again, something he seemed to be doing a lot of and wasnt a habit he wanted to get into. 'So thats basically the jist of the Division for the time being. We're doing as much as we can for now, but something like this just isnt gonna be easy to keep a lid on.'

Lightning could see the depression evident on Shuhei's face as he mulled over things. "You simply can't expect to keep a lid on this situation, people know that there are missing, that is for sure. All you can control is the reasoning behind the disappearances. You can't tell them that their loved didn't just disappear from their bed, it wouldn't work. They know them, they know what happened. But they do not know what has happened to those inside the gotei 13, perhaps the missing officers simply went on a mission to search for their loved ones while the rest remain here to ensure order and peace. The people love to feel as though everything we do is for them." In truth that was merely something Lightning had made up on the spot, and she wasn't actually recommending that that be the story his division told to the people. It would require a much more well thought out plan, one that they were sure no loop holes existed in; even if it meant roping in support from other divisions to authenticate.

Lightning closed her eyes and began to think over her memories of the night, judging by the talks she had had with other acting captains she had more of a memory of events than most. Everyone seemed to either have no memory at all, or the very limited knowledge of seeing the light phenomenon in the sky. She was curious as to whether Shuhei here had no memory at all, or the very limited knowledge of at least the light phenomenon.

"Tell me, what do you remember of the night in question?"

He listened as Lighting tried to come up with a plan, and had to stop himself from chuckling. If that had been a well thought out plan, it definetly would never work, there were way too many things left unanswered. But at least she had a general idea of what had to be done, and he had been thinking along the same lines and that the people would want, and need, an explanation of some sort. But before he could reply to her suggestion she seemed to go into deep thought, closing her eyes as if trying to remember something, when she decided to ask him about that night, the night that everyone dissapppeared on. Shuhei was slightly shocked at hearing the question, but nodded and leaned on his desk, trying to recall his own thoughts and memories of the night. 'Give me a second, it's kinda blurry, but i think i remember something ...'

He narrowed his eyes and frowned as he tried to remember what he had seen that night. 'Well, I'll start from a while before the phenomenom, i was in my office finishing off some work before heading outside for a stroll, it had gotten kinda late so i didnt want to be out for long, and then ......' He paused for a second trying to think of the best way to describe it. 'I'm not quite sure what to say but er .... there was something ... above me, but when i looked i couldnt see anything, but i almost felt it just ... being there. Sounds kinda crazy to me just saying it, let alone what i thought about it back then. So i headed out to try and find someone else. But before i had moved, the sky began to ... sparkle?' He was asking himself more than anything, he was difficult to remember exactly what he had seen. 'Anyway, i seemed to be enchanted by the .... light and then .... well actually it all kind of went blurry after that and only thing i remember is waking up in the middle of the barracks, with everyone running around screaming and shouting.'

He shook his head and leant back in his chair and sighed. 'Thats it, after that i heard a report about what had happened and went straight back to my office to try and sort things out. Sorry it wasnt much, someone else may be able to give a better picture for you.'

Lightning was imaging the images in which Shuhei was describing, she could see that he felt somewhat awkward about his explaination of the event. "Your memories seem to be rather similar to many others reported so far, do not look so embarassed" The light in the sky and the ominous feeling of a presence was familiar between all reports she had read so far...well of those that had any memory at all. The blurry feeling and black-out only to wake up in a strange location was also apearing to be a common element in the reports from that night. She was beginning to notice that those of higher ranks and power levels were the ones with slightly longer memories...like herself. She had not said a word to anyone about her memories of the night in question, they were disturbing at the least. So much so that she almost thought they could have been no more than a dream, but then again if it was no more than a dream....why were there people she had never seen before today in said dream.

Lightning shook of the thoughts and turned her gaze back to the captain before her, she looked deep into Shuhei's eyes, her blue orbs almost staring straight through him as she gazed into his very soul. It truly didn't seem as though he was keeping anything from her, to her it seemed that he had told her all he knew. Perhaps, perhaps those visions she sees were truly no more than a muddled mess of a dream.

He let out a small sigh of relief. Ever since that night he had never been too sure of what he had exactly seen, and whether it had really happened, it was a dream or .... even a drunken hallucination. But the fact that knowing that it really did happen didnt exactly make him feel any better, in fact it made him slightly worse, knowing that he could have been in fact one of those that dissappeared. But for whatever reason that he didnt, he had still been a witness to it, and that was still a scary thought. He had been trying to think of the possible sources of the sparkling that night, and the strange presence but he hadnt come to any reasonable conclusion. He was an intelligent captain, not the smartest but he was capable, but he couldnt make any sense out of it. He realised he had just been staring into space when he notcied that Lightning seemed to be staring at him. He made eye contact and he thought he saw something in her eyes much like own resolve about Komamura.

There was a minute of silence, when Shuhei decided to break it. He felt slightly awkward just staring into each others eyes and at the same time averted his gaze slightly. 'You know, im kinda interested into what you know, or make of this whole situatition yourself, Lightning. You havent really said much about the phenomenom yourself. I was wondering what you remember. If we want to piece this thing together ... we'll need to see what everyone remembers.' He looked back at Lightning and waited to see how she would respond to the request. She seemed intelligent, and perhaps she had seen something no-one else had, which could be the key to this whole thing.

Lightning could have laughed at the man's reaction to the eye contect, the fact he returned the gaze said alot about his character. In truth Lightning would have felt much the same way after having someone stare at her the way she did, but at the time she hadn't thought about that; she merely wanted to see if her was holding anything back from the conversation. He did not falter, that was always a good sign when trying to devise the truth. As Shuhei asked of her own memories of the night Lightning immediately felt herself tense slightly, what was she supposed to say? Lightning closed her eyes for a moment before opening them once more.

"I do not share the same memories as those i have heard so far. Although i was not in the same area as those reports i have read." Lightning was referring to the fact that she had been in the spirit kings realm not in the soul society at the time of the phenomenon. "Even with that said, i also do not share similar memories with my fellow Royal Guard members. I have great doubt in my memories accurateness" Lightning closed her eyes once more and furrowed her eyebrows just slightly as the frustration of her words rang throughout her mind.

When he had averted his gaze he saw in the corner of his eye Lightning trying to suppress a smile. He wasnt sure if she had or not as he was looking away at the time but began to blush slightly. But then as soon as he had asked her about her own experiences, he noticed her tense up. Her reply was then very vague and not really an answer, as if she was trying to dodge the question. She seemed nervous, or maybe worried about what she had seen, that no-one else had seen. He stared at her a bit, looking for something that she may have been holding back, much like she had done to him. But he dissmissed it and said 'If you dont want to talk about it, thats up to you, and i wont push you for information.' 'Though i doubt you would let me.' He thought silently to himself. She seemed like the type of person who wouldnt let themselves get pushed around and stand up for herself, in which case he doubted she would be inclined to answer his questions if she didnt give anything away the first time.

'But just remember, even if you dont think it is accurate, it could be a lot more accurate than anyone else, so when you feel like, you should really tell someone. We need to keep on top of this in case something similar should happpen and we need to act quickly.' He wasnt trying to get anything out of her, but he was trying to make sure she would open up if need be. If this did happen again anytime soon, the soul society would be reduced to pretty much nothing. But at least for now it had stopped, and there werent any signs it would happen again anytime soon so they just had to move on and keep things rolling.

Shuhei was a wise man, he knew not to push the situation and not to try and force an answer from herself. It wasn't that she wanted to keep her memories to herself, it was simply because she was not sure of how much she should share with those outside of the direct command. Yes, Shuhei was now a captain but she was referring to those even higher than the captains. "Rest assured that i will not keep information of importance to myself, Hisagi" It was then that Lightning noticed the markings upon Shuhei's face, how did she not notice them earlier? or did she and just not pay any attention to them? Either way she found herself intrigued, plus it would give them something else to change the subject to.

"What are the origins of those markings that you have upon your face? They must mean something in particular do they not?" Lightning adjusted the armband she was wearing, she was not wearing a captain's haori, nor did she wish to. She would not be acting captain for long, or at least she did not plan to be...she would bring Byakuya back soon. She reached out and grabbed a glass of water from upon the desks surface before returning her weight to the back of the chair with her legs crossed once more.

She seemed to become less tense after listening to him and then agreeing with what he had said earlier. He was glad he hadnt decided to push her for information, even if she had given him nay there was a likely chance there would have been complications, for both them that would have caused problems. But he was surprised at her next question as he hadnt expected her to change the subject so dramactically. 'I wonder why shes asking about them now rather than earlier? And why bother taking an interest.' He thought to himself. Maybe it was simply because she wanted to change the subject, and hadnt mentioned them earlier becuase there were more important matters at hand. But he decided to play along with it, and he might as well explain them seeming as they must have seemed quite odd to an outsider who didnt know Shuhei very well.

'Well, the scars across my right eye i gained when i was quite a bit younger, during a training exercise while in the world of the living. We got ambushed by some powerful hollows. Although i made it out alive, 2 of my friends actually died there. We were all still academy students back and then, and we were quite close.' He didnt like talking about it much, so he just left it at that and moved on before she could ask anything else about the scars. 'The "69" i have tattooed here is in fact in rememberence of a man called Kensei Muguruma, the 9th Division captain, who left the Soul Society with some others know as the "vaizards". I owe that man my life as he saved me from a hollow attack back when i was young. And the blue strip well .... to be honest it doesnt really have any particular meaning so lets just leave it at that.' He wasnt quite sure why he was telling Lightning all this, or why she had decided to ask him about them. But he decided to play along with it and waited to see what she would make of it all

Lightning listened intently as Shuhei spoke, she was genuinely interested in why someone would get tattoos. She had seen Renji Abarai's once before, she never did understand the reasoning behind him covering his body in such markings that served no logical purpose in her mind. But as Hisagi spoke of getting the numbers tattooed in remembrance of a man that had saved his life, perhaps she was beginning to understand. She still did not quite understand the reasoning fully, why get a mark on your body when you simply could have the memory live in your heart forever. "I see, so you think of the tattoo the same way you think of scars. To serve as reminders for life in the future" Lightning took several mouthfuls of the water, leaving a small amount remaining in the cup. She looked to the small ring of liquid that had formed on the desk when Shuhei had placed a bottle of alcohol on the desktop before returning it to it's hiding place.

"So are you going to go and become intoxicated like most of the others i have talked to today? It would seem that alcohol is the choice when coming to dealing with emotions around here" Lightning herself did not drink, she had nothing against it nor those that drank it. Once again she failed to understand and reason with herself as to why to drink it.

Shuhei was surprised. Most generally dismissed the scars and tattoos but it seemed that Lightning was actually interested, and seemed to understand their meaning more than most. 'Yea something like that.' He said in reply to her first statment about his tattoo and scars. They hadnt been that bad and most probably could have been healed quite easily if he had really wanted them too, but it was good to be reminded of one's mistakes so that they wouldnt happen again. Or a reminder of someone that you idolise and miss. He had only met and seen Kensei a few times, but that 69 always brought back the memories, and the feelings that went with them. It was more than him simply saving his life. But that was a different story, one that most had heard many times over.

And then she asked about the alcohol. He had forgotten he had taken a swig of it earlier on when they had first arrived at the office. 'Well, I'm not one for drowning my sorrows in truth ... but i do enjoy my drink sometimes, and it does make me feel slightly better .... sometimes at least.' He sighed and was tempted to take another drink from the bottle underneath the desk but decided against it. It wouldnt help if he got drunk in frront of another captain, especially at a time like this. it would cause no end of problems. 'I take it your not a fan of drink yourself?' He noticed a slight hint of dissapproval in her voice. That wasnt really surprising. She had been part of the Royal Guard after all, and if they were allowed to run around drunk all the time, the Seireitei and the Soul King would be in trouble.

Lightning finished the last of her glass of water, before placing the glass back on the desk. "I am not against the drink, used for the proper reasons i suppose it is of no direct harm. Although in the quantities that i hear Matsumoto drinks it i am suprised it does not have serious repercussions" Lightning shook her head slightly at the thought. There was something odd about this man, for some reason he had her talking about menial things of no importance. Perhaps it was because she saw some signs of herself in his determination. Or perhaps it was that she was simply tired, no that couldn't be it....she was one to become grumpy when tired.

Lightning covered her mouth with her hand as she yawned rather vigourously, boy she was tired. She hadn't realised how tired she was until now when she had actually stopped moving and doing things. She leant back in the chair once more allowing it to take her weight, however this time she did not cross her legs or fold her arms. She wanted to make sure that Shuhei was going to head in the right direction after she left his office. "So captain Hisagi what will your first course of action be once i leave this rather too comfortable chair of yours?"

As he listened to her he let out a small chuckle at the thought of Rangiku. If he ever ended up like her that could cause a lot of problems, the amount of times she had been late to meetings or handing in paperwork was more than the number of souls in Rukongai. He looked back towards her as she put down her glass and began to yawn. she must have been tired, which wouldnt be that surprising as she had been checking up on all the Divisions after all, or at least that was what he had expected she had been doing for most the day. He was about to suggest that she might as well go get some rest when she had decided to ask him what he was planning to do with the situation. He had been mulling over the thoughts of what was going to happen and would have to be done, but mainly in the long term, and right now he had just been focused on trying to keep the Division up.

'Well, i guess the first thing to do would be to try and make sure the Division is back in working order, then try to control how much information of this whole situation is getting out to the masses. And unless someone takes over for Captain Komamura i guess i should see what i can do for their Division, which could work out well due to their duties in helping keep the panic down to a minimum. Thats for our Divisions anyway. As a whole i guess i should try and help the other captains and lieutenants that will be taking their places with the general jobs. The main problem will be trying to fill in all the missing ranks and officers. This sure is turning out to be a real pain.' He wasnt quite sure what she had wanted from him so he had just given her his own opinion in what should be done before the investigation into what happened that night could begin. 'Anyway, saying that i think we may have been sitting around a bit longer than neccessary, although i must admit i enjoyed the break. But not only should we get back to work, seems like you may have been overdoing it slighty.' He stood up from his chair and smiled faintly at Lightning. He expected she might be slightly stubborn and not admit to being tired, but a tired captain is pretty much useless in these types of situations.

Lightning was pretty impressed with the answer that she had recieved from shuhei regarding her question, it did indeed seem that he had composed himself completely from the emotional state she had met him in. When he mentioned that they had been sitting for too long and suggested that they get back to work, Lightning could have smiled. "Oh? It would seem as though you have not realised, simply seeing you in command has already lifted your division. What do you think they have been doing since we arrived here and closed ourselves in this office of yours?" Lightning was referring to the fact that while they had been talking Shuhei's division had already been picking up the pieces. They had made short work of tidying the barracks and were already underway in their duties, Lightning knew that sometimes leaving people to their own devices was better than being there to watch them. She had a feeling that Shuhei's division cared for him dearly and that seeing him being strong would encourge them to be too, much was her reason for ensuring he stay that way.

Lightning could have frowned at the thought of leaving that ever so comfortable chair as she stood from the seat as he did his own. Lightning knew many things, but when to stop working and rest was never one of them. "I never was very good at knowing when to rest, but unfortunately for me i still have several other barracks to attend to" Lightning walked to the office door and was about to turn and say good-bye when a small figure opened it instead. "oh...oh...i'm so sorry fukutaichou i didn't know you had a meeting, it's just we have some papers for you" the small and timid girl stuttered her sentence, Lightning figured she must have been a new officer promoted to fill in the ranks.

He was surprised at what she ahd said about his division. During their talk he hadnt really noticed anything going but now that he mentioned it, it did seem like they were getting back to normal. Of course, their spirits would still be disheartned at the fact that so many had gone missing, but like Shuhei had to get over the fact Komamura was gone for now and carry on working, so must they. He was glad the Division handling itself better for now. He and the majority of his Division were close and those that he wasnt generally close to were those that had just joined or those that were generally always out on a job. Even then he always tried to reach out to them. And he was glad that she noticed, or at least seemed to notice the bond. Not many Division captains usually spared much time to the other officers, and that was understandable. When he was a lieutenant, he talked to the rest of the Division a lot more than he did when he became captain due to the fact theres so much work that needs doing.

He smiled faintly again as Lightning began to stand and leave, looking almost longily at the chair before heading to the door. He made a quick mental note of this when suddenly the door seemed to open before Lightning had reached it, when a small girl appeared from behind the door. She stuttered something about papers before standing there, appearing quite frightened and worried. Shuhei wandered up to the girl while saying 'No dont be its fine, it wasnt a scheduled meeting anyway so how could you have known. And its not fukutaichou anymore, the haori should give that away.' He said the last part jokingly although he wasnt sure the girl would notice. She had been roped in from another division to fill in the 8th seat so he didnt really know her. He took the papers from here and scanned over them quickly. 'Ah yea, i remember this now, thanks for delivering it. I know your worried about your new position and all but you should really calm down a bit, it's not like shes gonna bite you know.' He was referring to Lightning as the small girl seemed intimidated by her presence.

Shuhei leaned on the doorway while going over the papers before saying 'Ok, everything seems in check, you can get these handed back as they are.' He then handed back the papers to the girl and finally said 'Im sorry but I've got work to do, so get those papers where they need be, ok?' He smiled to the girl before turning back to Lightning before saying. 'Anyway, like i said, we should really get back to work, and i still think you should get some rest. If need be either i or some of my officers could check out the barracks and report back to you once we're finished.' He doubted she would accept the offer, but he may as well offer it. His division was stretched thin at the moment, and so was the 7th division, but they could spare a few officers at least.

The small seated officer was about to apoligise for the wrong title she had called Shuhei when he began to speak once more. She looked up at Lightning to whom Shuhei was referring to and still felt tiny comapred to the presence the woman held. Lightning almost felt like sighing at the sight of the small and timid girl cowering from her, she always seemed to have that effect on people despite her mood. As Shuhei handed the papers back to the timid woman she nodded vigourously and bowed repeatedly as she backed out of the room. "Sorry, Taichou i won't make the same mistake again. It was great to meet you....both" With the final word added the girl almost sprinted away like a gazelle being chased by a tiger. Lightning raised an eyebrow as she watched the small girl disappear faster then logically explainable.

Lightning returned her light blue orbs back to Shuhei as he spoke. "Nonsense, i will be fine. Your offer is appreciated however you need to focus on your own division and that of the 7th. You don't want Komamura to return to a mess now do you" Lightning smiled faintly before turning to leave the room.

After watching the girl run as if the hells were openening behind her he leaned back on the doorway while staring into nothing and sighed. Just because they were both captains it seemed everyone was intimidated by their presence, one way or another. It kind of annoyed him as really, he was no different to everyone else. He was snapped out of his daydreaming whe Lightning began to speak again. He glanced in her direction as she had watched the officer to run off and caught contact of those bright blue eyes of hers. He looked back out the door and stood up from the doorway and said. 'Yea, i guessed you'd say something like that. Well then, I guess we'll see each around some time, and sorry about that officer just now, she's new to fill in some of the ranks.'

He bowed his head and rubbed his neck before turning around to begin going back into his office while giving a small wave to Lightning as he passed her on the way back in. 'Good luck, i expect we'll need it in this situation. And my chairs always there for when you want a rest.' At the last part he gave a faint smile at the thought and went to sit down at his desk, drew out some ink and a pen, and began to get on with his work, expecting Lightning to have left before he had even reached his desk.

((OOC: sorry its a bit short))