3 - Movement Into Real World - Motivation

Light exploded over him. Kasumi hated traveling by the Senkai Gate, but royal ones were more likable. Instead of having to worry about breaches in the inbetween travel, there was only the cleaners to worry about, the huge blob like things that could be switched off my those who owned the senkai gate prior. They had the ability to consume anything from the outside worlds, thus getting the name of the cleaners, as they moved as a huge wall that ate everything it came in contact with. It was a certain death.

Running in the in between space, Kasumi moved at a fast pace his hands placed behind him, running as the combat schools taught him, to move quicker at a more aero dynamic speed. The walls of the inbetween space were dark purple, and almost looked to be glossy. Other than that is was dark, and there was only bearly enough light to see the butterfly that flew, in same speed as him, leading him so as not to get lost, and offering itself as a ticket to the other side, with the risk of being cleaned out on the way back.

Looking over for only a secondm Kasumi matched everyone up with the sound of their patting feet. He could just bearly see Shuunske, and beside him, running as fast as she could to keep up with the men and their fast speed, was Hiiro. She looked like she was serious now, and looked to him as if being around all the other men and women in here, she had made the oath to live up to her rank. However, Kasumi wanted to laugh when he saw that she was also confused, but had a covering face, that only he would see from his knowing her. Her face looked as if she was confused, but did not want anyone to see, and thus tried to cover it up with a confident bold face, that threw her out of character, and in that way, placed her into who she really was.

Smiling, Kasumi turned back. Everything was in silence. But the silence was broken when Shuunske raised his voice to a commanding tone, and started giving out orders,based on the papers he had reviewed with his 3rd seat. Kasumi knew them as well before they came from his mouth.

"Ok. As soon as we get there, we will be in section three hundred fourty. Because of this, we will, as soon as we get there, be in a very close vicinity of where this all happened. 11th squad, I want standard procedure guarding around the safe house at all time, in servailence mode. Even being from 11th squad will not help you against who were up against. If you encounter an enemy, notify us any way you can. You have permission to enter prior to me giving you permission in this instance only, other than that, I want a shifting procedure, in five to five ratio. There can be no slacking, this is a top priority mission, do not let me down!"

As soon as he was done, all the men from his squad shouted, "Hai!" Kasumi remained silent, it was not his place to associate himself with the orders giving to squad members below him, as it was Hiiro's position to also agree in unison. She was a seated officer, meaning that she was a special shinigami in the squad, but special in that she lead the shinigami of lower rank into battlel, and in the absence of captain, vice captain, 3rd, and 4th seat. She was able to talk to the captain directly, and thus conluded her rank title. She was an elite however, but still, Shuunske said in 5:5 ratio, meaning he only was going to use the 10 shinigami that he had brought from 11th squad, not including Hiiro. It was a curious thought. Normally a seated officer would always be with the men, but he obeyed and respected Shuunske.

Bringing his thoughts back to reality, Kasumi looked forward, seeing the light at the end of the long long tunel. It was pure white, and coming closer and closer as he neared it. As the light got closer, Kasumi could see the 12th division captain, Muriasachi, a man that scared him beyond belief, followed by Jun, a noble that lived up to her noble title, and made others respect her for it. This being said, he thought of her as a wonderful seated officer, and, considered her a friend. How she could put up with Muriasachi always putting her down as less than him. Sure she was not a captain, and sword fighting was not her speciality, but she was perfect for the part of a vice in his squad even. The current vice was too similar to Muriasachi. He did not like him. He did not dislike him, only was minorly creeped by him.

The hell butterfly shifted as the white light engulfed him, and he came to a stop. He was finally at the end of the tunel. All the others came to a hualt behind him, all the pattering stopping. The white light grew more and more intense as the Senkai Gate was opeing. Its screen doors opened softly as always, with the last small 'bump' concluding the opening process.

As they opened, Kasumi saw the real world. It gave him shivers, it was freezing cold. It was dark. The light from the senkai gate was gone, and he stepped forward, behind Shuunske and into position next to Hiiro. He loved coming here, it was so different than the olden Soul Society. Kasumi held out his hand to better feel the weather to find the cold substance of snow falling on his hand, and the bare part of his arm. It was cold, and looking back up, Kasumi saw that the entire visible world was coated in white. It was nothing too deep, but a good five inches, hiding his feet, and the feet of all the others.

Only he and Shuunske knew where they were. They had come to one of the small residences of the Ginsuchi family, one of the three most noble families, that made Jun still have to bow in honor, and Muriasachi as well, although he would never be able to grab up his pride to the point of bowing or showing that much respect to Shuunske, or anyone.

"Were here. I want guards posted every thirty feet from each other. I want no holes in this line. And I want no holes in our ability to communicate. Every one of you check that you have your mikes on channel 23, that is the only channel that will connect to our intercom system in the safe house. Until we come back out, I want no one to even budge. Is that clear?" Kasumi stopped giving the orders, he felt awkward giving orders with Shuunske right there, one of the most powerful captains of all time. But it was his job.

"Also, 5th seat Hiiro-chan will have her own mike, and be able to connect with you at all times. If you have anything separate than an intrusion alert, please report it to her, where she will relay the message to us. After wards, please remember to turn it back to the predominant station 23. You can reach 5th seat on channel 22. Five to five ratio. Go." As soon as he finished, all the shinigami shouted, "Hai," and used the flash step to fade off into the snow land, planting themselves, as assigned, to create a thirty foot separated web. There were weaknesses to only having ten men, but strengths as well.

It was then that Kasumi noticed the restaint on his power do to the restriction barrier that was placed, causing any one from vice captain and up to only be able to act at much less power than normal. In fact, the limit consumed 80% of their total power, making them almost powerless in comparison to what they would normally be. It was a scary thought. Hiiro would be less affected by this barrier however, and would still feel the efects, but not to a point that would matter much. That being said, every ounce of power counted for a lot in mission like this, against an unknown opponent.

The bamboo trees were high over the ground, and thickly populated the forest. He was eager to see the royal safe house, and eager to get inside. He loved the snow, but it was very cold. The other men from 11th squad had their thicker shinigami clothes on, he did not. He wore his normal attire.

It was as if Shuunske read his mind, and he turned and took a step, Muriasachi coming up from behind Kasumi, and walking in front of him, leaving Jun by his one side, and Hiiro by his other. They walked in the snow, it making their feet cold, until the bamboo tress started getting thicker and thicker. It quickly got to the point where they had to move in front of the other in order to fit inside the small path that the bamboo was creating. It was well hidden in a large grove of bamboo, as there were many in the forest, each large bunches of bamboo however could not hide an entire safe house. He wondered how this was contained in such a small area?

Walking until he came to another stop, Kasumi looked back at Hiiro, and smiled at her. The confused expression was back, but she was not trying to hide it this time. He laughed quietly to himself, however there was no hiding his laughter in such tight quarters. All the sudden Jun, who was now in front of him sank into what he saw as the ground. Looking down at her, he saw how they were hidingan entire safe house inside the sinlge bunch of bamboo. In the middle, there was a small hole, where stone stairs went down into the earth. Kasumi thought a clever idea, but was saddened that he was not going to be able to see the snow.

Stepping onto the stairs, he started his descent into the blackness. He heard the others coming in behind him, until the entire cmpany was in, 11th and 12th squad alike. At the moment, he heard a small 'click' and, looking up, saw that the opening had closed, and panals had come over it. The stairs were thrown into pitch blackness for a half second before lanterns lit up the walls. It was like the uncovering of a rare artifact in a movie to him. The walls lit up, revealing the white walls that had the royal insignia of the Ginsuchi clan. He saw Jun taken aback that she was not informed about the royalty of this safe house.

At the bottom of the stairs was a rugged floor, that spread over the rest of the safe house. It was perfect, and the rice paper, sliding no doubt, walls were flawlessly white, as if they had been cleaned just before their arrival. Probably had been. Scanning the area, Kasumi found the four points with another small insignia on the walls, in the corners, marking a code that, if inside the area of these four markers, ones rieatsu would be masked. It was handy in a safe house. He assumed that every room had these markers. It however was harder to mask ones rieatsu, even with these, against the captain's class, as they were elite more so than the level at which even the royal versions of these markers worked. This being said, it would be hard even for captain to find them. The thought crossed his mind due to the uknown enemy, and the Zanpakutou wounds, but there was no way it could be a captain. Impossible.

It was cold

The bamboo got thicker and thicker. Shuunske lead the rest, stepping into first position, Muruasachi right behind him, probably thinking of his honor, and would take it offensively if Shuunske had Kasumi walk behind him, as was normal. He was a weird man, but he had been assigned to the mission, and that was all that he could do about it.

The snow was cold, and, looking up for a moment, Shuunske saw the moon. It was huge, standing above one of the bamboo trees like a strange clothing add on. It was ominous, and had a certain power to it. He loved the moon, and he loved the snow. Together they were more than wonderful for him. But his head was full of the mission. Since he had been put in office as the new 11th squad captain, this was his first big assignment, or mission. It was a scary thought, but he was more than capable of doing this. His lips formed a small smile as he stepped forward.

The small bamboo hidden path way started to spiral into where he knew the small entry way to the safe house was. He was slightly sad that he would not be able to see the snow, and moon from the safe house, but he would be easily able to distract himself with other things to do. First he had to show 12th squad to the labs. He was glad that Muriasachi had brought mostly specialists in their own fields, as thus he would not have to worry about the expensive equipment that was there, equipment that was no doubt nicer than the normal labs in Soul Society. He had not spent more time than needed in those labs, because he had no interest really in typing on a computer when he could be training with his zanpakutou.

Finally he saw it. A place where the ground was all that was left, and there was a small dead end where bamboo curved back around and formed a dead end. The snow was gathered around in a mound on that point. Shuunske smiled. It was so perfect, he was going to hate destroying it, but he had to to get inside.

Holding out his hand, Shuunske quickly wove a small one handed seal, ending with his hand close to him, pointer and middle finger up, the rest balled as if in a fight. "Kai," Shuunske whispered, meaning release, the word that, when mixed with his rieatsu and ability to mold it into the small position of the snow, would cause the door to open. It did as he expected. With a sudden jerk, the panels that made up the small shifting door slid to the sides, causing the snow to flip aside as well, making sure none got inside the safe house. A sudden burst of heat came and hit Shuunske in the face. He smiled. At least it was warm in there, and he would have all the things needed to perform on this mission.

Although it was blackness, Shuunske had been here enough as a smaller child to know where to step. He had a blank expression on his face as he submerged within the small hole in the ground, heat eating him up, and causing his cold fingers to thaw. The raising wind current that the heat created caused his haori to fly up into ripples and curls. He heard the same happen to Muriasachi, and the same with the kimonos of all the rest that entered.

He was safe with the concrete orders that Kasumi had given the shinigami from 11th squad. At least he would be notified if anything was wrong. As soon as he had the moment, he was going to tell 5th seat Hiiro to send the command to always keep in contact with one another, and always send check in pulses through their mikes to better be able to tell if one or more shinigami is picked off.

The small clamping on the stone steps made him remember child hood. He had spent so much time here when he was in training, and during the time that he was being informed that he was the new head of the family. A such he felt like his life was spent fulfilling the will of the family that demanded so much of him all the time. He never had a chance to pull out of this royal life, he was the head now, and that mean that he had to act with complete honor, despite hating the honor system. He had seen so many from royal families lose in battle or in test scores to those of non royal birth, and had seen so many noble snobs, and so many nicer shinigami with lack of the royal title. What more mattered. His view on Soul Society was that it was corrupt, and that under neath all the good it was doing for others, it was horrible and twisted. Their rules sometimes seemed to kill needlessly and they acted without thinking of others feelings or lives. At least Central 46 did this all.

Shuunske's foot touched the floor, and lights exploded on, killing the shadow and darkness in an instant, and revealing the halls and rooms that he looked into. As expected, and as he last remembered it, it was spotless, and perfect. The room he was in, the main entrance room was more bland in appearance to the rest of the safe house. Although it was more of a safe house than a luxury resort. Still it was very nice, and served as both for those who were not used to luxury as he was.

White walls painted most of the room, along with the cool brown of the wood built into the over head arch that hung over the door, and the perfect thin threads that were spun through the sliding rice paper doors to his left and right. Ahead of him was a large wall with the insignia of his family on it. In each side of the room there was a small table, each identical and each with a plant on it. All of the plants were the same as well, and all with the same vases, or jugs in which they were planted. They all had a bloated sake bottle look to them, and on each was a small red painted letter that, with the complete set of four, coded for an anti rieatsu ring, a small, rare and powerful version that would mask their spiritual energy while they were inside. It was not all the way effective, but it was more effective than not, and would cause even the captain's class a hard time searching for the rieatsu.

With the barrier that had consumed his and his subordinates power level, it would be even harder for the enemy to find them. This was not his worry, and even with all of this, hiding was useless, because there was no way to hide the rieatsu of the shinigami posted out side from 11th squad. If the enemy could sense spiritual energy, then hiding was already useless. Shuunske knew that hiding was not a tactic that would work as much as communication. Along with that, they were not here to hide, they were here to find out about the enemy, and Shuunske, being the captain that he was, had a different way of doing that then what was expected of him. He did not mind if the 12th squad pondered and studied small things from all over at all. No, he did not mind in the least, but he was not about to sit and do nothing. He intended on drawing something out. It was very risky, and possibly involved getting hurt, but it would get the mission done much quicker. He had made sure that all the shinigami posted out there were proficient in the shunpo, or flash step ability so they could escape from enemies if they saw them. It was something that he had made sure. He had also picked shinigami with high scores on their Kido, especially the defensive type spells. It would all be fine.

Muriasachi came in behind him, and Shuunske could feel his proud energy shift as he realized where exactly he was. The same happened with Jun, both noble. Kasumi came inside and took his place by Shuunske's side. Looking around, Shuunske recalled the safe house as he last remembered it. If he went into the right side of the room's door, he wold find himself in the general supplies area, along with the bunkers, sleeping and bathing areas. To the right one would find the tech labs, the communications bay, the medical bays, and the dojo like space where he had trained. It was simply a clear area that had nothing but hard wood floors, with installed spring floor, giving it a small bounce, only large enough to provide some one with the feeling of accomplishment when walking through. He had learned the shunpo step there. It had many memories.

"Vice Captain Kasumi-san, please 5th seat Hiiro-chan, and 12th squad;c company the tech lab units. After words, please show them the communications bay, until you have shown them the whole left wing. After words, I want you, 5th seat Hiiro, to send the command to the unit up above us to have them communicate in pulses through out, in constant order. This way we can pin point the attack time, and placing of attack should we have a breach and the shinigami responding not be able to communicate it before ts too late."

With that, Shuunske turned and walked the other direction, saying in a softer tone, "Kasumi, I'll be in the main bunkers office. Come back with Hiiro-chan after your done, and every one from 12th squad's company is settled in their bay." There was a moments silence, and then the whole room answered.

"Hai."

Kasumi acknowledged the command from his captain, and after he was done, listened to the crowd shout "Hai." He had been one talking, and had noticed how unamused Muriasachi was about being in a house that had him out ranked by a far leap in the game of royalty. He did not care about this for the most part, and Kasumi had seen him perk up when Shuunske mentioned the tech labs. Kasumi would never fully be able to comprehend Muriasachi and the way he thought.

The only time Kasumi had seen him in battle, he had not even released his zanpakutou, as it was not even against a seated officer ranked shinigami, but instead used poisons that he was "only testing." They had gone just as planned although they did nothing quick. They had, for lack of better knowledge on the poison of choice, caused the shinigami a considerable amount of pain before he collapsed, his eyes white, and froth coming from his mouth. All Muriasachi had done was laugh and comment on how interesting something looked in theory and how it actually looked when used. That experience had made Kasumi hate Muriasachi, even if the shinigami was a rogue, and thus bad. It had sickened his perspective on him.

Looking back into the window of time that reality offered, Kasumi knew that he had a job to do. He had only seen the doors to the rooms themselves, and had not gone in. He was undecided whether or not he actually wanted to enter, but he figured that it was fine as long as Muriasachi had not rubbed off on the creation of it, and he had not. Thus far it was nothing more than an elite lab that was owned by the Ginsuchi family. Shuunske had said it was more specialized than even the 12th squad labs, but Kasumi was sure that Muriasachi had operated on the original format, and changed it to being much more that it was.

Looking at this Muriasachi, Kasumi shuddered. He was morbid, twisted. The way he held himself, in a body that he had genetically modeled to the point of ihm being less human and more of a science experiment. Rumors clung to him like paper to paper when glue was put in the middle. It had been said that he had modified all of his organs to be able to better create antidotes for unknown poisons and such. Other than that, and the common knowledge that he had modified his bodies aging process so that he looked much younger than he was, Muriasachi had kept all the secrets of his body hidden.

He stood there, waiting for Kasumi to take the lead and show him, wanting to take the first step, but knowing that in doing so he would put himself in the shoes of a rank lower than himself, and he did not want to do that. His captain haori held the emblem of the 12th squad, and on the underneath side there was a dark dark purple. His otherwise normal shinigami clothes seemed to contrast his apparent oddity.

Kasumi Took the step, smiling at Hiiro, and avoiding eye contact with the crazed captain, with his hand that clutched his zanpakutou sub consciously, a black ribbon wrapped around the handle of the other wise paper white katana, giving it a ghostly appearance. It was befitting of him, not that his own zanpakutou was particularly cheerful either, but at least it did not give off a haunting rieatsu.

Walking to the end of the room, Hiiro followed him, closely, Kasumi guessing it was to get as close as possible to him, and as far away from Muriasachi as possible. He smiled as he watched her dart away from him, his twisted body language watching her as she moved, analyzing no doubt how she ticked. A poisonous gaze brought his eye sight back to Kasumi as he stepped in front of his teammates, the members of 12th squad, Jun coming up right behind him. 12th squad came behind her, all in sync as if the drill of simply walking had been pounded into their head. Muriasachi certainly called for an organized squad.

Walking out of the room, Kasumi looked forward, only noticing that there were more doors than he had remembered, and concealing his inability to perfectly recall which door it was. His steps evened out as it came back to him, the door straight ahead of him before the hall way took another left. Walking into the dead end of the hall, where it turned to the right, and into the door, Kasumi paused and punched in the five digit code that pad locked the doors. The room seemed to be kept in air tight condition when it was not in use, as it let the tight squealing sound out as it opened. Lights flickered on in the room, making another flight of stairs visible. Kasumi looked at Hiiro with a comic exasperation face on before walking into the next flight of stairs. Lights came on as he went down, only lighting the three steps in front of him, because of the powerful lenses that caused the light to be harnessed. As such, even though the light was a bright one, he could only see the steps three ahead of him, beyond that, they were cut off into total darkness.

Kasumi moved down the stairs until he hit solid ground, reaching the floor level. At that point, the real lab was exposed as it flashed on with lights. Kasumi was amazed. He was not joking in it being a lab that rivaled that of 12th division barracks. The stair case spiraled down, from the out side looking like a simple cylinder as the walls that came around it from the out side made it look like such. From there, the computers spread through the room in the same spiral form until they reached the out skirts of the massive room. The computers were all connected in a high powered tech stability lab, making them like one huge tube of computers. It was even beautiful to Kasumi, who hated labs and such with a passion. The sleek white of the room made it look even more fancy, and neat. Kasumi took in a breath, it even smelled clean. What was this.

Looking over to Muriasachi, Kasumi did not know whether to laugh or to be scared. He had an expression like he was happy, or some other branching motive. The air about him became even more uneasy, and Kasumi took a step away. He had been briefed only about this computer tech lab from the piece of paper that was showing the format for the lab. Against the walls, there were many more machines, that obviously had different purposes than the computer based machines. Kasumi could only guess what happened in them.

Catching Kasumi off guard, Muriasachi spoke. "4th seat Jun-chan, please take my and 12th squads place and go to the communications bay. When your done, come back. We have work to do." As he said that, he rubbed hands together, and folded them. Kasumi looked at Hiiro and smiled at Jun, who did not smile back, but gave a kind gesture. Kasumi knew that he had to speak.

"As you all know, this is the computer based tech and computer lab facility of the Ginsuchi's royal house. In the main..." "We do not need your briefing. Who do you think we are being lectured about a lab by an 11th squad member. Go. I can handle the rest," Muriasachi interrupted. Kasumi could only stand and listen as he was told off, the humility on his face clearly evident. For someone who knew him as well as Hiiro, they would be able to tell that what he was feeling would make the average person either keel over and cry, or throw themselves at Muriasachi in cold anger. Kasumi did neither. He could not, and would not want to fight Muriasachi, and being bent on your emotions made you weak. He was strong. He listened, the emotions boiling up inside.

"Sorry Muriasachi-sama. I will leave now. 4th seat Jun-san, please come." With a bowed head, as if his tail was in between his legs in a metaphoric sense, he nodded and turned back to the stair case, now empty where all the men and women from the 12th squad had come out. It was time to leave.

"We do not need your briefing. Who do you think we are being lectured about a lab by an 11th squad member. Go. I can handle the rest,"

Silence once again seemed to be the only way out of the rage that had other wise consumed Kasumi. Thw white acted as a sanctuary that sheilded him from his own thoughts. Looking down at the floor, he waited for the long awaited silence. But it did not come. Hiiro spoke, disturbing him once again, but at the same time, taking the place of the quiet and soothing him all the same. She was so inoocent. He had not seen her be tough even as the 5th seat she was. One day she would have to be more assertive if she hoped of keeping the respect of the seated officer's name.

She asked how long "Jun-chan," had been within the 12th squad. Kasumi bit his lip. Even though Jun-sama was a 4th seat, she was full of pride. Chan was not enough for her to consider you respectful. No matter what level, unless captains position, she demanded the most respect. It was the latest trend of the 12th squad it seemed. It was one of the more respected squads.

He saw Jun's feet shift strongly towards the hall way, where it turned to go to the communications bay. She was such a demanding presence. She was not cruel, she was not mean, just up held the strict rules of her up bringing. She was honorable, and she was humble in the appropiate situations. She was, however, one of the hardest workers in 12th squad, stuck with always being in the main research facilities, the vice president of the research barue, the huge section of Soul Society that was not directly controlled by the shinigami captain, but by who ever the president was. It was currently controlled by Muriasachi, who had gotten his greedy hands onto the rank. Jun however had become the vice president, making her of huge importance in this matter of research. She was more than useful, and as far as operating, almost at par with Muriasachi, although not as twieked and twisted. She was formidable, and respectable, where he found it hard to do so with Muriasachi.

Either way, "chan" was not enough for Hiiro to call her. She was a lower seat, and had still to learn her place. It was wrong that she called her vice captain kun, but he did not mind, seeing as their relationship had gone beyond since he was simply her vice. They had been friends forever. But it was not so with her and Jun.

"Hiiro-dono, I am your superior. There is no reason for you to be so casual around you vice captain and a 4th seat. Please know your place. Kasumi-san, please take me to the communication bay whenever you are ready. As for your question Hiiro-dono, you do not need to know, so why do you ask. Small talk is not important in situations like this. If you are interested in me, take the time to find out for yourself. Dont bother me about it."

Jun said this as she walked past Hiiro, who was, no doubt, shocked. Jun had not shown herself until now, and although she was more complicated than this icy barrier she placed around herself, this was the 4th seat of the 12th squad. It was the typical answer to such a unimportant question. She had enquried that Hiiro look it up on archives, and research her if she wanted to know something else. It was funny. For the vice president, researching everyone and everything was about second nature. Knowing her, she had done ample research on Hiiro, a new member of the 11th squad, and although there was not much on her, knew almost everything about her, based on calculations that she had made. it was how they had started knowing each other. They had a friend like friendship, where they did not talk to each other much, but understood each other. But she knew everything about him. She knew everything official aout himself before he did. Shinigami could not hide anything from her, other than Muriasachi. She was very smart, and combined with the proper sort of technology, she could do anything with wits.

"Yes yes. Ok," kasumi said in response to Jun. She knew that she could not boss him around. She knew that she could not make one single commend, and would not. She might ask something with the clear message of what she wants to happen, but she would not break the codes of the shinigami to step across her authority.

Kasumi turned in the same way she had, and started walking, causing her to take up his rear, and Hiiro to be on his left, on the other side of her the wall stuck up. It was a hall way that could easily fit four people walking side by side, making it easy for the three of them. The two girls walked behind kasumi, both a step behind him. He could not wait for time alone with Hiiro. it was those times that he loved the most.

The small lights that were simply there as decoration, and served as small bright patches, other than the well lit hall way, zoomed by as they walked at the quickened pace, led by Kasumi, wanting to get this over and done with. He knew that Jun knew how to work the communication projection machine, and that a briefing on such would be useless. He just had to show her where it was.

Looking up, kasumi saw the door at the end of the hall way, only a short distance away now. The doors were made of rice paper that, when pullled back, had another real door with a handle behind them. The rice paper simply made them look nicer. Three, two, one more stepd until the door was in his reach, and then he was there. Kasumi raised his arm and pulled back the rice paper door, to reveal another door, made of wood. it was not locked, and did not seem to have any sort of locking or security.

Opening it the same way he would open another door, by twisting the handle, Kasumi walked in. As all the other rooms, it was dark until the second after he stepped in, then it, at once lit up into the well lit room that it was. However, this room, unlike the others, had a huge TV like contraption that took up the length of the whole wall. It had what looked to be living border or frame around the edges, and was black screened, or off.

Jun gasped, she had not seen a communication bay this big. Although she gasped, she did not show any other form of emotion, not from trying to hide it, simply because she became busy studying it. "I feel comfortable that you know how to work this better than I. So briefing will be useless Jun-sama. If you dont mind, me and Hiiro have orders to report back to Shuunske-san.

Jun nodded, and bowed as was protocol for her being on the lower rank when leaving the company of a vice captain. "I will be in here for a short while, then return to the tech lab with Muriasachi." Kasumi, in turn nodded, and turned to leave, signalling for Hiiro to come as well, giving her insentive for moving. There had been nothing but awkward energyh coming from her ever since Jun had so harshly corrected her in the hall way.

Walking back outside, and waiting for Hiiro to come out as well, Kasumi closed the door, and sighed. He was done interacting with those two. Although he had a respect for Jun-sama, it was strictly a profesional friendship, and nothing much more. They had known each other in the academy, and she ahd been much different before she came into Muriasachi's company, and then everything changed. He changed her. Either way, they had never been good friends, only friends.

"Come Hiiro-chan. We have to report back to Shuunske." With that, Kasumi started walking back down the long white hall, back to where they had originally come from. Everything was going as expected so far.

The silence only interupted by the tapping sound of their feet on the hard cold ground was finally interupted by Hiiro. It almost came as a shock to Kasumi. The tension had built up since they had left Jun-san's presence. She proposed that they hating them now. He smiled, it was such a light comment in that situation, the reason he loved her so much. She was always trying to lighten the mood, even when it was the wrong time. But he liked it either way, only wanted to look out for her.

Kasumi looked up to the white ceiling, with the lights that shone down upon them both before answering. "No Hiiro. They do not hate us. It is complicated with the 12th squad. You have not been exposed to much yet as a full fledged shinigami, much less a seated officer. But I like it when you try to lighten the mood. I love that you always are willing to reach out for a friend. It makes you stronger than anyone here. People will find their respect for you soon, more so than they already have." With that he looked back at her with a smile on his face. She had done it, broken the heavy mood that hung over them both like a lead blanket.

Another moment of silence ensued before he started talking again, responding to the second thing she had said to him. "Haha. Wouldn't that be nice. Sometimes I wish I could know what I am thinking. But as for you, I am affriad that is not possible. However, I am open to you. Ask me anything. Anytime. Anywhere. I will tell you everything." Kasumi looked forward again, hiding the slight blush that over came his face. "And about that happened with Jun-sama, I was not even expecting that. You never really know what to expect from her. She was brought up by Muriasachi constantly pounding social status into her head. She acts differently than that coldness you saw most of the time. I know her. Don't worry, she will take a liking to you. She looks to see a persons power level. Impress her and she will like you." Kasumi chuckled at the last part, turning it into a joke, yet totally truthful. He knew that she would have formed an opinion on her already, but she was so fresh from the academy that there was so little on her power and battle power that she could not form an opinion. It was an unfare way of treatment, and he was not sure that she would find Hiiro "powerful" enough to be likable, or rather, trusted. But, he did not doubt her. He had not even seen Hiiro fully let go in a battle.

Silence came upon them again, foot steps were heard. Kasumi took the bend in the hallways, turning left as the hallway bent, and walked to the door where they had come from, the door that led to the main room, or the entry hall. Readjusting his zanpakutou, Kasumi moved up his pace speed. In making it to the door, he opened it, and sighed. "C'mon, we have to report back to Shuunske-san." Reaching back, Kasumi grabbed Hiiro's hand and pulled her through the door, laughing a little, his face turning slightly pink. "We have waisted enough time with our conversations and such." Another semi joke.

The room looked so nice compared to the halls of the technical faculties that the 12th squad now inhabited. He found nothing charming there but the tech labs, which had stood out to him for being so sleek. Here there were carpeted floor, and the tables in each side of the room, with the plants. It was much calmer, and less intimidating.

Taking a step forward, Kasumi walked to the other door, noticing the pair of shoes that were already taken off and slipped neatly in the corner. It was proper to take you shoes off when going into the house of another family, or even your own, but now, in the house of a Ginsuchi clan member, taking off the shoes before entering was needed. Sliding off his shoes and placing them next to what looked to be Shuunske's, he waited for Hiiro.

After the ten second pause, he stepped aside and opened the rice paper door, to find the normal door. Opening it as well, Kasumi gasped. He had never been in here, only seen and reviewed the maps and such. His eyes widened. It was beautiful. Everything. The ceiling was painted in the form of a 3D sky, making it look like there was litterally nothing but sky above them, despite the lack there of in reality, due to being buried under ground. It took Kasumi's breath away. he did not know if Kiddo had helped in the making of this work of art or not, because he had a hard time believing it was real until he saw the lantern hanging from the ceiling, making it look like the lantern was suspended from the skies many clouds. On the sntry way, beside the doors were two tables, each with the plant jars on them, each with the spiritual energy blockade seal on them.

Looking forward, Kasumi saw the stond floors, that were placed in chunks of stone, carpet surrounding the borders of each stone tile. The small hallway led to, as Kasumi walked forward, another room. A huge room. It was domed, and the sky still was there, only it looked to be as if the sky had almost darkened into the hours just before night. Dusk. Or twilight. It was so beautiful. In the center of the huge dome was a round room, with rice paper doors spread all the way around it at three foot intervals. The round room was huge in itself, and took up most of the room, making the room more of a pathway around the cirlce space. Remembering back to the map, that circle room had been labeled as some fancy word but was some sort of garden. There was something special about it, but he had forgotten.

Walking more, he moved around then cirlce room slowly to see what he had expected from reading the map. Doors came off of the path that wound around the circle room. But remembering which led to Shuunske's office was hard. Only having seen the map was harder than he had though. He had almost gotten lost and half guessed where the tech lab was, but even that was easier as it was at the end of the hall before it turned right. Now this was a cirlce room, with another circle room inside it, and doors coming from it at about ten foot intervals, leaving many doors in the huge room. He remembered something like 11th door over. Ah yes, that was it, because he linked it with the captain of the 11th squad. Kasumi smiled. "Come this way Hiiro-chan." She was no doubt in the most awe of ever in her life. This truly was a royal house. Tapestries and such hung from the walls, The huge dome, the cirlce room. And all of it was under ground. Thr rice paper lanterns were placed in numerous places, making them very populated.

Walking to the 11th door in, Kasumi knocked on it, and waited. If he was correct in choosing this door, he would hear Shuunske-san. it came. "Come in Kasumi-san, Hiiro-chan." Kasumi smiled. Shuunske was such a pro even in his childs body. He could identify them by their rieatsu. He was superios to all the other captains, even though he was so young, and looked to be only 17. He was the most advanced teen, and in his opinion the most powerful and wisest captain around in Soul Society. It was rare for a kid like him to become a captain, and only happened every thousand years, on the rare events that the child prodigies come along.

"Hai." Kasumi answered, before sliding the door open, and stepping in. Shuunske was there, sitting in his desk, writing something. He was finally done with Muriasachi, and back in his captains presence, the captain he loved and respected.