The Return (Bishamon)

Shioshi stumbled as he rushed madly through the Barrack's corridors, searching for the person he knew was somewhere in the building. It had been a long time since he'd walked the roads of Soul Society, the hallways of the Seventh Division. It had been a long time since he'd been home. Yet, even now that he'd returned, he wouldn't stop until he found his friend. Bishamon Saitou. He wondered how far his friend had advanced in the Division since he'd left, if he had managed to do as well as he'd hoped. Ever since the mission, he hadn't seen him, and hadn't really had the chance, since he'd been on Earth. Now, though, he was determined to at least let Bishamon know he'd returned.

The Shinigami careened around a corner, nearly collided with another Seventh Division member, and then sprinted forward, until he founded one last corner and the Mess Hall loomed before him. He finally slowed his pace, allowing himself to catch his breath as he composed himself. Then, standing straight and allowing his arms to rest comfortably at his sides, something he had trouble doing after so long in the Real World hunting Hollows, he went into the Mess Room. He was already looking around the room, and as he did, he wondered what Bishamon would say to him after he had been gone for more an incredibly long time. All of the tables were near to their capacity, but he didn't care. He began to walk among them, looking at the many faces and trying to find a familiar one.

It had been a tough couple of days, the amount of work was draining, and the repetitive nature of reading over squad reports, and signing them off was almost unbearable for a sloth like Bishamon. It seemed the higher in the ranks he got, the harder the work was; which made sense, but he was still going to complain about it. And the bland, bleak room didn't exactly grant him any motivation; which he desperately needed. Seeing no point in continuing his work on an empty stomach he decided to put down his pen and paper, his eyes veered over to the large pile of papers, which still needed looking over. He rubbed his eyes, and peered over to the pile of completed papers, it seemed that in that long, couple of hours, he only managed to look over 3 pieces, he leaned back in his chair, looking to the ceiling for help, but a roar from his stomach snapped him back into focus.

He then stood up, and made his way to get some food; he wouldn't usually eat with other squad seven members - not because he disliked them or anything, in fact it was quite the opposite, he rather enjoyed there company, which made it much harder to get back to work, and considering their captains recent absents, Bishamon was basically the one in charge, which meant it was up to him when he works, so distractions were not helping. But today it was a welcome distraction, as he took a seat on one of the many crowded tables. It seemed Bishamon's relaxed attitude had rubbed off on some of the squad members, as they were also skipping out on their duties, probably not something to be proud of, but this made the majority of them easier to talk to talk to.

A bit of banter, and a few bottles of sake later, Bishamon thought it was about time to get back to work. He lifted his head, but then saw another welcome distraction, it almost looked like Shioshi, no it was. He couldn't remember the last time he saw him, it seemed work would come later. Bishamon stood up, and waved to his friend "Yo, Shioshi! Pull up a chair!" He then told the shinigami's on his table to get back to work, and most of them walked off, after a few moans and groans; leaving the head of the table empty, giving the two some peace.

Shioshi turned at the sound of Bishamon's voice, and as his eyes fell upon him, shooing away some other Shinigami, a grin spread across his features and he made his way quickly through the crowded room. He slid into the seat opposite Bishamon and was about to speak when he noticed the Lieutenant's Badge on his arm. His eyes widened, and he felt his mouth gaping. His friend had made it to the Vice-Captain position?! That meant that he had his Shikai! Shioshi nearly leapt from his seat then, though out of surprise, exhilaration or shock, he wasn't quite sure. Another grin, this one even bigger, suddenly plastered itself on his face. He reached over and clapped Bishamon on his shoulder.

"Congratulations, Lieutenant Saitou! I've gotta say, the Badge suits you, my friend," he said, unable to even reduce the size of his smile. He certainly hadn't been expecting this, but he would deal. He had, of course, been aiming for the Vice-Captain position himself, but the fact that his friend had gotten it instead of him didn't faze him whatsoever. "So apparently, I've missed quite a bit. I have every intention of finding out just what all of that is, but first..." he said, drawing out the end as he glanced around the room once again. Then, he sighed, and, gathering himself, drove on. He wanted to know how Bishamon had gotten the position, what had ended up leading to his accomplishment.

"What mission, or event, or attack, or whatever it is, led to your promotion? I'm especially curious to know if it had any sort of action to do with it. I mean, as I once told you, I was aiming for the position of Lieutenant as well. So you understand why I'd want to learn how my friend managed to do it! For, I'll need to know if I ever want to have a chance myself. It'll at least help me to plan ahead!" he finished, chuckling to himself as he did. He rested comfortably in his chair, laying his hand lightly on the hilt of his Zanpakutou. Once his friend told him about how he'd gotten his position, he'd tell him about his time in the Real World, as, it was certainly an interesting string of events. So, comfortable with his position, he awaited Bishamon's response.

It was definitely Shioshi that was for sure, even if Bishamon couldn't remember his face, he would have certainly recognised him, due to his talkative nature, but it always managed to amuse him somewhat. Although the large gin, was quite creepy. Bishamon had a lot of questions for Shioshi, and it seemed like he also had a lot for Bishamon, it looked like he wouldn't be getting any work done today, much to his 'disappointment'. Just as he was about to ask him one of his many questions, but Shioshi beat him to it. He gave him a thankful smile, as he congratulated him on his position, it didn't feel any different these days, but Shioshi had been gone for a while, so it was a normal reaction. It had been a while since he was granted the position though; he did have to think back. He was disappointed about the events that led up to his promotion, he would have wanted to say he saved the captains life, or something along those lines, but the truth was much less dramatic.

Bishamon let out a nervous laugh, it felt like his answer would disappoint Shioshi, as he did seem extremely enthusiastic about the whole situation, "Well, you see...the truth is, I didn't do anything special, a lot, and I mean a lot of paper work, and just really doing that sort of thing for a while." He knew that wasn't the answer Shioshi wanted to hear. "So yeah, that's all there is to it really...I suppose you need some sort of skill in fighting, but you've seen me fight, and I'm not too great at that, so you could probably take my position if you done a bit of paper work here and there." He chuckled at his statement, and then smiled.

"Sorry about that, you're probably disappointed, but I wouldn't exactly be doing any special mission or anything like that, remember I'm a bit of a slacker" He said in a joking manner, "So, anyway, what about you? I heard you had a mission in the world of the living, what took you so long? And what was it exactly?" Although Bishamon gave a pretty boring answer, Shioshi's story would probably be a lot more interesting.

Shioshi couldn't help but grin at Bishamon's explanation; same old, same old with him. Finally able to ease into his usual friendly-yet-calm state, he leaned back in his chair and thought. His mission had been... interesting, to say the least. Although it certainly wasn't something the whole Seireitei would go into an uproar about, it was still the most difficult task he had ever performed. Now that he thought about it, it was all a bit hazy. However, he would do his best to recall what had happened so that his friend would not be disappointed. Sure, he had been hoping Bishamon's story would be better, but at least now he knew he was better at storytelling than him. He shut his eyes, focused, and then began.

"Well, I suppose I should start out by saying what the mission was originally supposed to be. Me, a few other unranked Shinigami and some more powerful Shinigami, still unranked, although one of them had unlocked their Zanpakutou's Shikai appearance. He hadn't managed to learn any of his Zanpakutou's abilities, however, but he was still the senior officer in charge of the mission, and certainly earned that position while we were out there. His name was Aiten Keyer," began the Shinigami, and as he warmed up to the position of storyteller, the words began to flow smoother and smoother until they came from his mouth much like an incredible poem. At least, that's what he hoped it came across like. You never could know, though, unless someone told you.

"Anyways, we were to take care of a few stronger-than-average Hollow. Nothing we couldn't handle... right? Well, wrong. When we got to where they were hiding, we were completely overwhelmed by a massive group of Hollow, way more than we were told about. With no choice but to retreat, we did so, with half of us having no choice but to stay behind to hold off the Hollow. All the senior-ranking Shinigami but Aiten stayed behind, which he protested to greatly but everyone else was against, since he was the group leader. None of them survived... It was horrible," he said, his voice coming down to a whisper as he finished. He shook off the reverie that threatened to overwhelm him, and then, he decided to take a break for a moment to see what Bishamon's reaction to his story so far would be.

Bishamon was enthralled by Shioshi's story; it seemed he hadn't changed too much from his absent, he remembered Shioshi's stories, from when they had those chats, some of the stories he told were shocking, unbelievable, and some were just damn right ridicules, but they were always interesting, and Bishamon loved hearing him tell stories, and this one was no exception. By the sounds of it, it was a miracle that Shioshi survived, however much he enjoyed the tail, the subject of it was pretty serious, some shinigami's had been killed in this mission, which was never good, no matter what rank they were. The conversation turned abit gloomy for a second, but his friend managed to survive, which made him happy, despite the deaths of the other shinigami's. "Well, you survived. That's good" He smiled at Shioshi trying to reassure him that it would be alright.

"But I gotta say you really shouldn't be so careless, if I were you...I would of definitely turned down the mission, or tried to get more shinigami's on my side. Hollow's are unpredictable, if they tell you to find one, just think there could possibly be ten, or something like that" He said that in a somewhat joking matter, but he was serious. Many shinigami's had fallen by the hands of hollow's due to lack of preparation, or some miscalculation like that. "Well whatever. It's a learning experience, and it will help you live longer. Just be sure to visit the graves of your fallen comrades and thank them. It's the least you can do."

Bishamon fell back into his chair; swinging back and forth, letting his mind wander. "So Shioshi how long have you been back?" Argh, I'll probably have to fill out some sort of form about his return. He poured himself another cup of sake, and slid the bottle over to Shioshi, offering him some. Bishamon quickly finished his drink, and awaited Shioshi response, hoping the conversation could become more lax and carefree, rather than talking about near death experiences.

Shioshi eyed his friend with a grin; he certainly knew how to change a subject. He hadn't been finished with his story yet, of course, but he could understand the want for a happier topic since it had been such a long time since he'd returned. He leaned forward as his mind raced. He would finish the story later, to be sure, but now, he would simply change to a happier subject. How long had he been back? Well, in about three minutes it would be exactly three hours. A little grin of amusement spread across his face as he cleared his throat and got ready to speak once more. He rolled his shoulders for a moment, letting out the tension that had built from the telling of the beginning of his story of what had occurred in the Real World.

"Well, in about... Well, actually two minutes now, it will have been a full three hours," he said, smirking as he did so. He couldn't help but feel humor when it came to the subject; Aiten had, of course, reported to their superior officers for a debriefing of the tragic events that had occurred in the Real World, while Shioshi had returned here, to the Barracks, as quickly and as soon as he could. Now here he was, speaking to Bishamon about twenty minutes after having entered the building, out of breath from running all the way across the Seireitei without the use of Shunpo, since he had not yet learned how to use it. "Surely, though, you don't want to talk about my trip from the Senkaimon to the Barracks, so..." he began, thinking of a question to ask his friend. Then another name popped into his mind, and he spoke immediately.

"Oh, yes. How is Draylon these days? I should probably go visit him as soon as I'm done here, actually," he asked, his voice filled with excitement. Sure, he and Bishamon were better friends than he and Draylon, but they were still friends, and Shioshi didn't have all too many in the Soul Society.

Only three hours, he probably came straight here. Bishamon wasn't sure if he got any other information about what's recently occurred, well regardless he might as well tell him anyway, it was quite important to say the least. But before he got a chance to say anything about that, Shioshi mentioned a familiar name; one he hadn't heard in a while. Truth is, he didn't know much more, he remembered the last time he saw him; it was that spar they had, which didn't end too well, but he only heard that he either went on a prolonged mission or went rogue, or died on a mission. But all of these were just rumours so Bishamon chose to ignore them, he wouldn't exactly call himself best friends with Dray, but they did graduate the academy together, and they did have a rivalry of sorts, which did push Bishamon to get stronger, and Dray possibly had the same attitude. But if Dray did go on a prolonged mission in the world of the living, he didn't think that he would tell him about it, he was like that. He never really told him about anything to do with work; he probably saw it as ‘uncool’ or whatever.

"Ah Dray...to be honest with you. I don't really know, I've heard that he went to the world of the living, on a prolonged mission just like you. But I heard this second hand, you know Dray, he doesn't really tell people stuff like that." Bishamon thought of what else to say, but couldn't really think of much more about Dray. "Yeah, so hopefully he'll be back soon."

Bishamon leaned forward, "Anyway! I'm not sure if I should be telling you this, but they'll tell you eventually, or you might have already heard this...you see, there has been a few changes, we're on the brink of war against the rebels, and well, we're kinda getting strict about who goes to the world of the living, I presume you'll be on patrols a lot more often, and me and others of similar rank will be patrolling the UK. But someone will probably tell you in better detail than that." He broke the seriousness of the subject with a laugh, expecting a few questions, if Shioshi was unaware of this.

Leaning back in his chair, Shioshi eyed Bishamon with unveiled surprise. War? Rebels? He hadn't exactly heard of any of this since he'd been gone for so long. However, as he didn't want to bother Bishamon about it, and he had been working on asking fewer questions recently, he instead smirked and allowed his expression to take on an amused look. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to hold out on questions forever, of course, but he would do his best not to ask anything stupid, as he usually tended to do. He was an inquiring person, to be sure. Instead of pressing on with a question as his friend most likely thought he would, Shioshi spoke something different.

"Is that so? And on both subjects, too. Draylon is... Well, I'll just call is missing in action for ease. But that is quite odd. It's not what I would expect from him. Of course, that doesn't really compare to the news of a possible war! I mean, there certainly weren't any 'rebels' when I left on my mission, although I had heard rumors about the thing to do with the Captain. I suppose I'll be hearing about it in more detail soon enough, though, so I'll try my best not to bother you with too many questions," Shioshi said, grinning as he finished. His mind still struggled to digest all of the new information, though; it was quite a bit to take in all at once. Another change in topic would probably do him good for the moment.

"Now then, if you're a Lieutenant, then that must mean you've achieved Shikai! I hope you realize you have to show it to me soon, you know, especially since that whole area is something I'm extremely interested in. Sometimes I think I can feel my Zanpakutou resonating with my when I'm training or fighting, but... Nothing really serious. How did you get your Shikai? Or, I suppose I should ask, what was it like?" he asked, and he immediately warmed to this new topic. This sort of thing was a topic he could truly enjoy. It wasn't like he loved combat on an insane level, of course, but he did enjoy hearing about things like Shikai or Bankai, and the fact that his friend now had a Shikai was of an extreme importance to him. Odd, he knew, but before he'd left for so long, he'd been hoping to get to it before Bishamon, even though his friend had had a head start.

It seemed Shioshi didn't like the topic of war; which was understandable, Bishamon wasn't too keen on discussing that topic for much longer, he just felt that Shioshi had a right to know sooner rather than later. But he was right; he would eventually get more information about it; probably a lot more useful then Bishamon's second hand information on the matter. And the whole thing about Dray was a dry topic as well, so saying he was missing in action would make sense. A grin appeared on his face as he mentioned shikai, he was surprised that wasn't the first thing he mentioned; Shioshi just seemed like that kind of guy who was interested in that sort of stuff, and with good reason, it was extremely interesting. But what would be an appropriate response, he didn't want to give too much away. Bishamon wasn't one to flaunt his shikai and announce what they were, the only ones that knew of it were those who had fought against it, and off the top of his head there were about three or four people.

"Well, you're right, I've managed to achieve that power, but unless you can force me to use it, you won't be seeing it any time soon" He said in a taunting manner "But it's nothing special. Meeting your spirit...or spirits in my case, is pretty interesting to say the least." He chuckled, interesting didn't necessarily mean good, as one of his spirits found it amusing to tease him, and throw a few punches at him for no reason. "I can't say for sure, but I'm pretty sure everyone has a different experience of it, for me it was surprising, but it felt pretty good." He threw a smile at Shioshi. "I take it if you've already reached that level of resonating with your sword, then you're not too far away from achieving it yourself?"

Shioshi chuckled at Bishamon's question, and then managed to compose himself so that he could answer. Him, close to achieving Shikai? Maybe, just possibly, it could happen less than a hundred years from the moment. Sure, his Zanpakutou resonated with him when he was in combat, but did that really mean that he was close to reaching the level that Bishamon had reached while he'd been gone? He doubted it. "Well, my friend, I can tell you this right now. I don't think I'll be reaching Shikai anytime soon. Sure, I want to, and my zanpakutou does resonate with me, but does that really mean I'll get to that any time in the near future? I'll continue to train, and to try to get there in the next couple of decades, but I don't really think I'll get there any time soon," he sighed.

Unless, of course... "Wait, did you start resonating with your zanpakutou just before you got to Shikai, a while before it, or just right when you got your real zanpakutou?" he asked, suddenly all business. If he learned anything to help him along his way from this conversation, then he would push his training to an entirely different level of urgency. He literally began to bounce in his chair at the prospect, and an excited grin began to spread across his face. And there it was; when his calm was finally broken, his excitement and energy would immediately explode, resulting in his current incredible break from his normal personality. He prided himself in cool-headedness and strategy, as he thought he was extremely talented in those areas for his experience, but sometimes... With the grin still plastered on his face, he awaited Bishamon's reply.

Bishamon was surprised that Shioshi's usual energetic nature suddenly took a turn to a more depressing, gloomy one. Bishamon almost felt sorry for him; even though he knew he was exaggerating. It wouldn't take him decades to learn shikai, if Bishamon; who did slack off whenever the opportunity arose, could learn shikai. Then someone hard working like Shioshi could learn it if he trained for a bit. "..." He was about to reassure Shioshi, but it appeared that he done the job himself, as his flamboyancy returned, visibly shaking in his seat thanks to this new found hope perhaps? Bishamon didn't really see what he was so excited about, when he achieved his shikai, he was pleased that he was able to obtain it. But he was hardly over the moon about it. Shioshi looked like a young child at Christmas.

He thought hard about Shioshi's question, and strangely enough he did recall resonating with it only a few weeks before he managed to achieve it...He was in a fight with a Takeshi. He recalled being quite close to death, but then appeared in a sandy dessert (which he would later realise to be his inner-world) although he couldn't see his zanpakuto spirits he could hear them. And that was enough premises to attempt to further communicate with his zanpakuto, which resulted in him learning shikai.

"Well, it was about a a week or two before I learnt shikai, but yes I did resonate with it somewhat...But then again, it's not always the same for everyone is it?" The question was rhetorical "So, just go at your own pace." He yawned and then his eyes veered over to the large clock pinned to the wall; he didn't have to be anywhere, he just liked to know the time. "So anyway, I want to see how much you've grown over your time away, so we're going to have a spar sometime in the week...And that's an order." He said smiling, he remembered their last fight, and that ended a draw, or if either one of them did win; it was by a very small margin.

Shioshi smirked at Bishamon's 'order'. He thought back to their last fight as well, although it had been back before he'd left for his mission, and his friend hadn't even been ranked yet, let alone the Lieutenant. He allowed his hand to fall to his Zanpakutou's hilt, rubbing it lightly with his thumb. Something about the feel of his weapon, its hilt, in his hands, to his fingers, just seemed right. Then his reverie was broken, and he once more grinned maniacally at Bishamon. He then began to chuckle, oddly enough, although there seemed to be no reason behind it. Then he stifled his laughter so he could speak again. Yes, he would certainly enjoy to duel with his friend once again.

"Alright, Lieutenant Saitou. I'd be happy to duel you. But don't think that just because you're Vice-Captain now that you'll be any better than me. I may be lesser in Reiatsu, and rank. than you, but I'd like to think that it wouldn't matter. My style hasn't exactly strayed from the 'up-close-and-personal' thing I so enjoy. I'll be in your face the entire time," said Shioshi, his grin now completely taking over his features. "Then, afterwards, once I've won, you get to host the party," he finished. He, to, glanced at the clock; time, it seemed, he still had, so he would stay for a bit longer still. He enjoyed the friendly jabs sent between him and his friend, anyways, especially since he knew he was going to have a harder time in any fight against Bishamon this time around.

It seemed that Shioshi was quite happy to oblige; although he didn't have much choice in the matter. It wasn't often Bishamon enjoyed fighting, especially one for no reason but to fight. However considering it was Shioshi, and he had been friends with him since the kid was in the academy, so it was enjoyable to watch him grow and mature. He did see him as a little brother in a sense, but Bishamon was one not to make many friends, and the friends he did have he tried not to get too close to them. That way nobody will depend on him, nor will they expect an awful lot. But it seemed as he couldn't even do that right, as his Vice Captain position was proof of that. And despite the lack of trying he had made a few good friends; not many, but a few and that was enough and made him stronger somewhat, cliché but true.

Bishamon chuckled "Don't worry Shioshi...I've always known I was better than you." He did enjoy the banter the pair had, and he knew Shioshi did as well, which made him good company for the most part. "Host 'the' party eh? You already planning a little something then?" He leaned back on his chair, slouching down the spine of it "But what do I get when I win? Hmmmm" He took a moment to think "I suppose mopping the floor with you will be enough of a reward." He laughed. Then glanced around the once crowded room, but no one was here, they must have left without Bishamon realising. It seemed there reunion had been cut short. He didn't mind skipping out on work; as long as he wasn't caught of course, but with only those two in this large room, it was fairly obvious that he was doing so.

He shifted his weight forward, and the two front chair legs hit the wooden floor. And then sprung out of his seat "Well Shioshi looks like I need to get back to work." He took a few steps forward, and when he was to the side of his friend, he extended arm, and placed his hand on the young shinigami's shoulder "It's good you're back; now stay out of trouble, okay?" His voice took on a softer, more personal tone. He then continued to walk back to his room hoping to finish his work, or get some shut eye, either would be good. He opened the door at the back of the room "I'll tell you when and where for our match!" He shouted as he closed the door behind him.

As Bishamon called back those last words from the door, Shioshi turned and waved, surprised at his friend's change in demeanor for a moment at the end of their conversation. Then, as the door closed behind the Lieutenant, Shioshi sat in silence, staring down as his hands and thinking. It didn't seem that long ago when he was in the Academy, training to become what he was now; a Shinigami, following the orders of the Gotei 13 and the Captain-Commander. Soon, he thought. Soon, I'll be able to prove myself to everyone. I won't be a burden on my friends. I will not, under any circumstances.

He clenched his hands into fists, and then, with determination set into his face, he stood, fingering the hilt of his Zanpakutou. He was alone in the cafeteria, so no one would see him. He grinned, and slowly drew his weapon from its sheath. Immediately, waves of reassurance emanated through him, calming his tingling nerves. He cleared some space and went to work, his Zanpakutou flashing through the air in series after series of sequences, and Shioshi allowed himself to lose himself in this time and place, in this time where he saw nothing but his Zanpakutou biting through the air faster than the eye could follow, as reflexes and combat demanded. He imagined himself facing a horde of Hollow, and smiled with satisfaction as he cut down foe after foe.

Finally, realizing that he needed his rest for the days that would follow, he sheathed his Zanpakutou, feeling a tinge of sadness as he let go of the hilt. He would find time to truly train, like when he had been at the Academy, and soon. He hadn't done anything of the sort since he'd joined the Division, and just a moment before, in those few, fleeting minutes, he'd felt truly comfortable for the first time since the Academy. Sure, he had friends, such as Bishamon, but for some reason, nothing could ever come close to the feeling he had when he trained with his Zanpakutou. A wide smile spread across his face as he left the cafeteria and headed for his room. This was going to be a good week, after all.