[CB] Status report (Taka)

The man clad in black stroke briskly through the streets of Seireitei. As his walked the red sash he wore around his waist flew behind him like a streamer. It wasn't his pace that levitated the cloth, but the somewhat high winds as well. He moved with purpose, his duty clear. In minutes he came within sight of the compound that belonged to the 2nd Division. There were men out side of the gate. He stopped before them and place his arms behind his back.
"Greetings." He stated to the two guards. Both shinigami stared blankly at the man as if he'd spoken a foreign language. He wore the same type of uniform that the Onmitsukidō wore except for the crimson belt. At first they had mistaken them for one from that group. But now they knew differently.
"Okay......" The short haired man on the right said, as he looked to his friend for support. The other man shrugged just as dumbfounded as his companion. Several awkward moments passed without either party saying a word. The shinigami continued to stare at their strange visitor until finally took a step forward both men were quick to bar his path. "I am sorry, but we cannot allow you to pass at this time." Although they said this with as much authority as they could muster, they were still quite frightened of the man before them. They had heard stories. Since there was so little known about them it was hard to figure out how much of it was rumor. Even if half of it wasn't true, the Keepers weren't someone to trifle with. They weren't about to let such a person inter the Division unchecked.
"Very well." The man replied simply. "This is to be delivered to Tatsu Chirako" He reached into the folds of his shirt and pulled out a small wooden box. It was a maple finish and barely 3 inches deep, 2 inches wide, and a foot in length. Affixed to the top of the box was a white envelope with a red wax sealing it. The man in black held out the item out to the two men. Once more they shared a look then shrugged. It was true they didn't want to let him in, but they weren't against delivering the letter if it meant he'd leave.
"Uh.....sure...." The short haired man said and took the parcel from the man. Upon releasing the box from his hand he bowed to the one he had given it to.
"Be sure he receives it before nightfall." The man in black said before turning and walking away. Neither of the men moved. Instead they watched as the man slowly moved down the lane. They kept watching until he was gone from sight. Once he was gone they looked at one another then at the box. It was then they noted there was a golden lock upon the small box. Engraved on the metal was the same symbol as the wax seal on the letter; a mitsudomoe.
"I guess I'll take it to him." the man muttered and opened the door and entered the squad ground looking for Tatsu.

Tatsu was within his quarters assuming the third seated member of the division had one. It was obvious he wasn't expecting anyone, his weapon was far from him, a bowl of rice seated on his desk besides a pile of paper handed out to him, he was doing his duties huming a little tune to himself. The windows were open and the breeze rolled in gently when someone knocked on the door. With a moments thought Tatsu simply said ''Come in'' not in a way that would sound as if the person who knocked on the door. The samurai turned to see the man walk in, a box in hand obviously for the seated officer. ''Thank you, who sent it?'' Sitting down the shinigami looked at the box and the letter, it was a very neat box, he felt the wood with his hands before laying his eyes on the letter once again, looking at the guards as if sending him away. ''Thanks, I need my privacy for the moment'' Unfolding the paper within the letter Tatsu started to read, his eyes going from top to bottom, reading the line. His eyes lifted as the dark shape landed on the wall, creating some kind of opening, he noticed his hand doing some reaction with the seals, he sighed and stood up.

Fastening his sword to his belt, and pulling his hair together in the back of his head, placing the tarnished, yet holding bandanna in his hair. Taking a deep breath he stepped within the darkness, waiting to see what would wait for him on the other side, he made sure to note the wind, the spiritual pressure around him. Hand on his katana he glanced around, waiting on the situation to unfold before him, the samurai didn't move. If a higher officer stood before him he would even proceed with the respective greetings. He took more steps forward within the darkness, ultimately crossing the portal.

As he stepped through the waiting maw the darkness seemed deepen. The light from the room he had left was cut off almost immediately. But just as quickly as this darkness consumed him, so did a rush of cold. A severe chill engulfed the area. Although he stood on something it was impossible to say if there was ground below his feet. For a moment it was as if there was nothing in any direction around Tatsu. But then the chill vanished and strange darkness receded. As the shadow retreated the room be could be seen. A twenty foot square room with two torches on on either side of Tatsu. Etched on the floor was several symbols and signs in encircling a large mitsudomoe. Directly in front of Tatsu was an open door. The light barely lit the room, but not anything beyond the threshold of the exit. Although there was no light there were sounds drifting to the chamber. It was too far away to make sense of these noises, but one of these sounds was very clear; footsteps. This sound alone seemed to break through the almost empty sound of the small room. There was nothing else in the room, there was no furniture or decorations other than the lamps the hung to the walls. The footsteps drew closer and closer and yet the owner could not be seen. Then the sounds stopped and through the doorway a young man stepped.


He had white hair that seemed to glow in darkness. Almost as if his hair absorbed the light coming from the lamps. He gave a small nod to the visitor. His hand raised and moved the scarf from covering his mouth. The metal gauntlet on his hand clinked as he shifted. On the scarf was the same mitsudomoe that was on the floor as on Tatsu's wrist.
"Hello there Mr. Chirako." Said the mellow voice. It sounded like that of a very older man despite his young appearance. "I am Kurotaka, I'm to take you to Lord Tyrannus." he said with a bow. As he rose from the bow he gave the man a small smile. "If you would follow me." Kurotaka said as he turned and stepped out of the chamber. As before he vanished from sight. Once more darkness existed right outside the door even though the man had just stepped through.

Tatsu felt a chill as the air rolled through the darkness, he didn't know where he was, or in what he was, he looked around and all he could see was darkness. He didn't think much more of his situation he had an idea of what would happen in the near future. Soon after the darkness established itself, it seemed like it slowly rolled away, letting its place to a dim light and a small room, at that time he was already missing his bowl of rice he had left behind. Breaking the silence, foosteps came softly to his ears, he didn't brandish his weapon or anything, he merely stood there and waited for the figure to present itself. A smaller man appeared shortly after, his hair had something unique about it, it wouldn't surprise the samurai if this fellow had some light ability related to his zanpakuto.

''Greetings'' Tatsu said out of pure politeness back to the man, who offered, even though the shinigami didn't have much of a choice. Didn't know he was a lord. the tall man thought to himself while he started to walk behind the white haired man. Tatsu knew that if he would ask questions, there were great chances that he would get no answer at all, but he still risked one trying his luck see if this guy was a rookie or not. ''Are we still within seireitei?'' He said on a whim just like that, as if it was a normal question. He didn't speak any further, he took mental notice of every turn, every detail of this area, he never knew when he could be here under hostile circumstances...

The samurai thought about his situation once again, he had a hunch why he was there, it was most likely because he said he would do anything to get out of that icky situation he was in back in the past. He thought about what kind of assignment he would be given, or what kind of task would be asked from him, there was alot of people Tatsu wouldn't mind going up against, deep inside he hoped he could get a rank within the organization, that way he could leak information to Kuro, but of course this was all in his mind. He wanted to know more about this group of sashed shinigami. For sure that if they were this many, somewhere something had to be right in its rank, somewhere there was a general goal that made it worth it for everyone inside to follow it, or at the least, he thought so.

''Do I need to relinquish my weapon?''

The man said on a neutral tone, normally when you meet nobles and lords, he thought you'd have to give away your weapon to minimize the amount of danger someone represents before someone so important, even though this was Tyrannus he was talking about, no doubt the man knew how to handle himself quite well. Giving another glance around, Tatsu looked for other folks wearing the red sash, trying to see if everyone wore it, or just specific members, knowing who was strong within the group would be an interesting step to take within this situation, even though he wasn't the most subtle member of the second division, Tatsu was somewhat good at information gathering, simply because he was so aware of his surroundings. He looked for doors, other people, designs of the walls, paintings, anything that could help him find a way out if an urgent need of getting away would arise in the near future.

The hallway was long. On either sides were various metal doors all closes. There were no windows to spy what was going on behind them. Nor did any sound escape the metallic barriers. Kurotaka walked a small space ahead of Tatsu. Upon closer inspection he was a foot or more shorter than the samurai. Each step he took made no sound. Which seemed to imply he had purposefully made sounds as he walked when Tatsu had just appeared. His reiatsu was almost non-existent. It Tatsu wasn't watching him it was almost if the man wasn't even there. For a moment he seemed to not even register the question. It wasn't until several steps later that he responded.
"No harm should come to you in this place." the man called Kuro said. "Any hostile actions will be met with an equally hostile response." As if some hidden spell had been broken a sound wafted down the long, poorly lit, hallway. This sound almost a whisper, but slowly built up as they approached what could only be the source of the sound. Further down the hallway light spilled through and open door. With the rest of the hall poorly lit it made the light seem all the brighter. When they came to the door the white haired man stepped deftly through. This new room was perhaps double the size of the one Tatsu had first appeared in. The sound was crystal clear as one could see four figures kneeling in a circle around a metal table in the middle of the room. These figures were covered from head to toe in dark black robes. It was impossible to see if they were male or female. Their voices melted into one voice making the task of identifying them even more troublesome.

Although they were a few feet away, their words grew no clearer. It was like listening to music through a thick wall. A strange smell filled the room. An odd fragrance both sweet and sickly. There were others in the strange chamber other than the strange chanters. First and foremost was Tyrannus. He stood towards the center, but not alone. To his right was another robed person, but of more interest was the person right before him. This person was laying on what looked like stone altar. Laying was putting it nicely. The woman was chained down so that she could barely move her body. She unlike the rest of those present was completely naked. Her mouth had a gag in it. Saliva ran down the sides of her mouth as she attempted tried to speak. If anything she was probably trying to scream or protest as her eyes weren't covered. She got to see everything. Tears streamed down her face. She shook her head violently, but the shackles that held her were too strong. No matter how much she tried she couldn't seem to summon even a fraction of her energy. Little did she know that the cuff were crafted from sekiseki. The stone kept her reiryoku drained to a point making her almost human in strength. This woman was in fact a shinigami. A shinigami taken from the 9th division only days ago. She had been rendered unconscious and days later she had awoken in a cell.

Now she found herself naked in a semi-dark room on a cold stone slab. To say she was frightened would not do her justice. Tyrannus held out his hand and the man in the robe pulled out a small box. From this box the man in the red sash removed a necklace. Dangling from the end of it was a small round bauble. As the gem came free from the box it began to shine. To this the girl renewed her muffled screams. The sight of it seemed to horrify her. That same light had gotten her thrown into this place. Very slowly he undid the clasp and put the chain around her neck. The gem flared even brighter as it rested upon her chest. She wiggled even more as if contact with the stone burned her flesh. The chanting figures seemed to grow louder and the lights that hung on the wall seemed to flicker. Tyrannus opened his hand once more and the robed figured went to their knees and held a sheathed sword above his head. Tyrannus' hand pulled the weapon free and then raised the naked blade up in the dim light. The girl went crazy. She shook for all she was worth, but nothing had changed from her last attempts. In a single motion the sword came down straight through her heart. The woman's body went tense and her protests stopped. There was no blood here the zanpukto had pierced her body. A second later she started to twitch and shake violently. Her eyes had rolled backwards so that only the whites were visible. As her body shook the gem on her neck glowed even brighter. The man in the red sash turned away from the woman's apparent seizure taking notice of those that had entered.
"Is it that time already?" he asked non-nonchalantly "Where does the time go?" he said clicking his tongue. "Do finish up here." He said to the kneeling figure holding the sheath. To this the figured nodded and stood up over the convulsing woman. "Shall we?" Tyrannus said as he gestured back toward the door the two had used to enter.
"Yes, Lord Tyrannus." Kurotaka nodded and headed out.

Tatsu looked at the hallway, his glance as unmoving as ever, blinking once in while he looked at the doors, he tried to identify sounds that could be coming from the metallic barriers but all his efforts were in a vain. He could not see the other side of the hallway, and he noted the footsteps of the man before him made no sound, the spiritual control of the samurai was too low for him to actually notice the reiatsu of kurotaka, not that he actually tried to notice it. The samurai's spiritual energy was always present, not very strong but present. A short amount of time passed as they crossed the hallway, to open a door leading to a room filled with sounds this time, although Tatsu didn't have much to think of the situation at first.

Walking inside giving the room a look and everybody within the room a glance the man quickly understood the situation that was happening before him. His face didn't falter as he looked at the situation, he looked around, four people were chanting, on the other side of the room, the samurai could see the man he had met in the past. Only this time it was a very different meeting, last they had met the samurai was on the verge of mental break down. This man in front of him, knew the limits of the samurai, which made him more dangerous than anyone else within the soul society. And on an even more dangerous side, Tatsu owed this man so much he couldn't even say anything he saw to this day.

Soon enough, the eyes of the samurai glanced at the woman on the table, he didn't know her but something inside him told him that he wouldn't have much time to get to know her either, being chained up on a table naked doesn't fare well with ones health, specially when you are surrounded by one of the most dangerous persons within soul society. Tatsu looked at the situation without flinching it was as if he wasn't afflicted by the situation, but inside there was a turmoil, he didn't know how to react to the situation. Blinking once, the samurai took a deep breath and shut down those humanity sensors within himself, he decided that for the time being, he only needed to be the soldier he was meant to be, he surrendered the feelings within himself and waited, the girl tried to scream, she probably couldn't see her, but the door could be heard, maybe giving a glance at the pair who had entered the room. Somewhere within himself, he was glad she was about to die, because he wouldn't want anyone going around saying that Tatsu Chirako was about to cooperate with an organization going around sacrificing people in dark rituals.

The chanting kept going and somehow, to the samurai the situation seemed to go further away from him, the gagged screams seemed to vanished yet the girl was still alive, he felt this everytime he turned his blade on omnitsukido members in the past, the screams of people knowing they were about to die and had no other solution. He knew this feeling, this was most likely how a seasoned murderer felt inside before doing the great act. Sliding his eyes upward to the necklace, he was curious at how a necklace like this was able to glow, most likely a reaction to the spiritual energy being used in the air, turning his glance down Tatsu understood why the girl was unable to run away, damned Sekiseki, the bane of all shinigami.

What had this woman done, crossed the mind of the samurai, but he quickly abandoned the idea of actually asking them, she most likely ended up on their bad side and they had decided that they would use her to a better purpose, which obviously ended up being a sacrifice.

The chanting went up and up in tone and the necklace was put on the woman, the chanting continued as blades were risen and quickly it was dropped down on the woman stopping her complaints and jerks immediately. She was dead and without noticing the tall man had quenched his fist and released it at the moment she died, this feeling was something he had hoped he wouldn't notice again in a long time. The woman's nerve were acting up when the pair finally got noticed, but a scheduled meeting like this couldn't of happened at the same time a guest was on the way, so the samurai didn't believe he hadn't planned this, Tyrannus wanted Tatsu to see this, or atleast that is what the samurai thought.

Tatsu didn't speak, only stared at the blond(?) man in front of seemingly just noticed them, his eyes drifted back to the woman who still seemed to have a seizure and then back to Tyrannus who invited the pair to proceed. Giving a single nod Tatsu waited on Tyrannus to keep on walking in the right path. Tatsu was all ears, he had nothing to say and his heart was beating, he didn't know how he should feel, its true that he enjoyed fighting members of the onmitsukido back in the past, it was his truest form of training, but taking pleasure in actually killing people wasn't something the samurai wanted to resolve back to.

The trio returned to the hallway. No sooner had they left the room that the door slammed shut. The light gone, it was a rather gloomy atmosphere. Despite this Tyrannus gave Tatsu a big smile. A smile with almost childlike innocence yet eyes that spoke the opposite. Someone that had seen and knew things that would drive a man insane or perhaps worse. Still it was a genuine smile or just a very good facade. Kurotaka had retreated behind them as they proceeded down the newly darkened hallway.
"How are you Tatsu?" He said rather cheerfully. "It has been awhile hasn't it?" His hand patted the other man on the shoulder gently. Again the smile. A hint of something else. The cat that ate the canary? No killing intent, no even a sliver of animosity. Just a flicker. A humming bird would have been hard pressed to catch it and even then it would doubt it. Like a subliminal message in blinks. "You are looking much better than when we first met." He was of course referring to the time he saved the man from death. A death sentence at that. A death sentence that wasn't going to be carried out. Of course he didn't know that. Still such men had their uses. And Tyrannus would be sure to get his money's worth.

It only took a minute and a half for them to reach what had to be the end of the hallway. Two double doors with the now familiar symbol found on Tyrannus' armband. It took only a simple push from the man to send them inwards and grant them access to a more lit area. Majority of the brightness came from the skylight many feet above their heads as the came through the doors. The floor was polished white marble with swirls and spots of black. There were black pillars that lined the chamber. Eight ebony towers reaching above them. To the right and left was a hallway leading off into another room. Straight ahead at the far end of the lobby like area was another set of double doors.

"Ahhhhhhhh" Tyrannus sighed stretching and twisting his head left then right as to remove some kind of discomfort. "Feels good to be out of there. So moody, no?" The last part he directed to Kurotaka as he entered the room behind them. The white haired man only nodded, but said nothing. He turned swiftly to the seemingly silent subordinate. "Gather the others please. Our meeting will start shortly." Kurotaka nodded again. As quietly as he had come he now left. Shunpo'd away in an instant. Tyrannus frowned and shook his head. "He really needs to relax." He commented after the shorter man had vanished. "Always so tense."

Tatsu looked at Tyrannus, without saying much, he knew he owed respect to the blond man in front of him. When the samurai saw the man smile, he offered a smile back, it was honest but there was some discomfort within it, hidding within his traits, he didn't know how to handle the situation accurately. ''I am good, thank you for asking....should I be calling you lord now?'' He chuckled at the sound of it, the sound of it felt so ancient. Giving the man a nod, he offered his hand for a handshake. ''It has been a while-'' Cutting his phrase a bit unstabilized by the blond man's reaction, his look of mischief. ''And I fare better than last we met, I tend to keep my sanity better when my life isn't forfeit..''

After their idle chat, Tyrannus openned a large door with a simple push of his arms, letting the skylight flood the eyes of the samurai, who lifted his left hand to shield the light away from his eyes. He turned his glance at the other person who seemed to be shooed away from the scene, it was a little golden moment to turn back to the man and ask him a question, he hoped would be answered frankly. ''I hope you are not sending me on a mission that will ruin the everything that I am..'' Tatsu said with a light laughter as if adding in some sarcasm to himself, this was a light note of humor not many people had seen from Tatsu. ''How many will we be?'' The samurai asked, as if trying to fill in the blank in a conversation that was going no where.

"I'm no lord." He said as he started across the chamber. "That kid is always talking like that. Just the way he is." his hand pointed at the Kurotaka's last location" You see? It gives people the wrong impression of me! I've told him to stop, but he just falls back into doing it each time." He shook his head in disdain. He gave the matter a soft click of his tongue. The fact is he didn't mind it either way, but he had tried to make the other man not to address him like that. But he was the leader of the group. Being addressed formally shouldn't be too much of a problem. He wasn't a lord, but he did have such responsibilities and powers such a position might hold.

The blonde smiled and stopped walking at Tatsu's question. Would he be sent on a mission on their behalf? To this Tyrannus took a moment to look at the samurai. He had changed since he had last met him. There was a considerable change in spiritual pressure coming from the man. But the situation could have played a part in that. Needless to say he was stronger in body as well as reiryoku than the tattered man that he had visited. All of these things swiftly flowed through his head. Finally he considered Tatsu's question in full. It was true he had entertained the idea at one point, but he wasn't entirely sure to what end he'd use this man. There were many things he could think of that needed doing, but there was no rush to accomplish them. All in good time.
"No." he said to Tatsu after a moment of deep thought. "Nothing like that at all." he said in a normal tone. "Unless you wish such things, I can have it arranged. But I don't think you're suited for such things." he took a second to rub his chin, his index finger and thumb caressing his jaw. In the end he raised his hands in defeat. "No, nothing I can think of." he repeated. He smiled again to lighten the atmosphere. He gestured to the far end of the hallway. "Come."

The hadn't even taken ten steps into the chamber when they had stopped to answer Tatus' question. As they moved Tyrannus thought of the other question.
"Just a few friends" He answered as they passed the halfway point and continued on to the second doors. Once again Tyrannus pushed the doors open and they stepped into a much smaller and cozier room. Similar to the grand hallway the two had just came from. A lower wooden ceiling instead of high arching one. The same marble flooring. Unlike the last area this smaller room had people in it. Four men clad in black with red sashes stood at the walls to the left and the right. Their bodies stiffened as Tyrannus walked through the door. On the opposite side of the double doors was a single door. A single door guarded by four soldiers. Confidently the blonde man walked past the men and through the next door. A perfectly round table with seven chairs awaited Tyrannus in the fifty foot room. The wood was dark an dark maple finish that almost looked black. This room had no windows or skylight. Instead a large globe hung from the high ceiling. There was a light switch at the door, but Tyrannus made no effort to use it. The light were already on, and there were people already in the room. In one chair sat Kurotaka. He rose from his seat and nodded as Tyrannus stepped in. Across from him sat a very muscular dark skinned man.


His right elbow sat on the table while his hand cradled his chin. He looked at Tyrannus and glared at Tatsu. The last person in the room was a blonde female. She wasn't sitting she was either about to sit down or had been pacing the room when door had opened. Either way she was shocked to see Tatsu.

Spoiler:

"And who might this be?" She asked sweetly as she moved towards an empty seat. "A friend of yours?" The tall man shook his head and Kurotaka said nothing. Tyrannus only smiled and she rolled her eyes.
"I guess this is all who are coming." Tyrannus said as he took a seat that seemed to be the middle of the round table. "Shuun hasn't reported in? What about Admi?" he asked as he flopped down into the leather cushioned chair. The solid wooden frame blocked the soft pillows from view.
Kurotaka shook his head at the mention of both names. Tyrannus frowned for a second, but then leaned back as much as his chair would allow. "Very well then. Tatsu, please sit." For a moment they had forgotten all about him, but now all eyes were on the shinigami.

Tatsu was glad about the clear answers he received, either way he didn't think he could get anything more for the time being. Chuckling once Tatsu said ''I think inviting people while you are doing some dark deed works better on tarnishing your reputation than being called lord'' Tatsu chuckled a little as he walked through the hall with the presumed lord. Tatsu thought about how the friends of this guy could be, and he knew he would soon be answered as they closed in on the incoming door.

The door opened as two forms revealed themselves within the chamber. The first one was a towering muscle man, and the second, who surprised Tatsu was a woman, who impressed him with her hair, it was one of the rare folks who actually had longer hair than the samurai. Tatsu's hair actually reached the bottom of his back and hers seemed longer to his first impression.

Tatsu glanced back at the towering man, giving him a non-challant huff and turned his glance back to the woman, he allowed her a nod of politeness. He proceeded to move towards a chair but waited to be offered to sit. He didn't speak any word and sat down when he was told to. Before sitting down, he unfastened his zanpakuto and leaned it on the table's side, moving his hand to move his hair from his face and he glanced back at the crowd around him. He chose not to speak as the situation unfolded itself before him, he thought that he wasn't that much of a needed pawn.

He gave a look to Tyrannus, wondering what was his role was in this situation, he wondered if he was supposed to speak, it was obvious that the samurai didn't know what was going on so he waited for the scene to unfold.

"Since Shuun is on mission be sure to fill him in later, Kurotaka." Tyrannus said as Tatsu settled into his chair. The woman sat down and started to run her fingers through her hair. After five or six passes she started to examine the golden locks for split ends. The large man continued to look a cross between very bored and quite tried. Either would best describe his expression at the moment. There wasn't the slightest bit of interest on his face. His fingers silently drummed the surface of the table. Despite his less than enthusiastic appearance his eyes watched Tyrannus. Kurotaka the exact opposite of the large man. He sat as still as a statue as the others fidgeted. His hands were stacked neatly in his lap and his eyes were closed as if he was taking a nap. Tyrannus scanned the room a slight grin upon his face. After a second of silence he raised his hand and pointed to the large man.
"Lukan." The man perked up as his name was called. "How are things going in Rukongai?" A puzzled look came over the man's face. He looked at Tatsu then back to Tyrannus. This look was shared by the woman as well. She had let go of her hair as had both her eyebrows raised. Both her and the dark skinned man's eyes met and then she shrugged. Lukan's mouth opened, but not words came out. He looked at Kurotaka, but didn't get anything as the young man still had his eyes closed. His confusion seemed to increase by the second.

It was Tyrannus' turn to drum the table. A motion that the other man did not miss. Finally he coughed to clear his throat.
"We've begun our sweeps of the closer districts." The man said in a very deep voice. "So far we've captured a total of thirty seven from the Northern districts. From the South twelve, East twenty, and West nineteen." he spoke slowing choosing his words. When he was done he looked to the woman who seemed to nod encouragement, but at the same time amused by the situation.
"Any favorable results?" Tyrannus asked as the man had stopped speaking.
Again the man looked at the blonde man at the head of the table and the shinigami in the other chair. His lip twitched and an obvious sneer came across his face. One could see the veins bulging on his forehead. The woman suppressed a giggle.
"Less than half." he said after glaring at Tyrannus intently. "We've only completed the first few districts. Progress has been slow. We've met with some complications."
"I'm sure you have." the woman inserted.

"Fair enough. Be sure to keep me updated." Tyrannus said and gave a dismissive wave. "Kor_" There was a flash of light and crackle as the blonde man jerked his head to the side. A bolt of energy tore through the wooden chair. The smoking hole was exactly where his head had just been. As he moved his raised himself Kurotaka was standing right behind the woman's chair his sword drawn and placed against her neck. The woman's hand was upraised and her finger pointing at Tyrannus. "Settle down everyone." The large man had made no movement instead sat there with a smile on his face. As for the woman she had a look that could fuse metal on her face. Such absolute malice that was quite unbecoming of such a beauty. To this stern look Tyrannus only smiled. "I do apologize Lady Rose." he said as softly and gently as someone whose head was almost taken off could sound. The anger faded from the woman's face and Kurotaka retreated. His blade dropped away and was returned to it's sheath. Second later he returned to his seat.
"Lady Rose, how are things in the Academy?" Tyrannus asked keeping his soft and honey filled voice. The hole in the chair was still smoking. She seemed annoyed by the question, but didn't hesitate to answer.
"The same as before. The number of disappearances has increased dramatically. Since there's no bodies or sign of foul play. all the cases are being seen as abandonment of duty." As she spoke she examined her neck to see if the sword had drawn blood.

Tyrannus rubbed his chin thoughtfully and then sighed. He started to lean back and stopped as the chair was missing that part. Instead he leaned forward.
"That brings us to our special guest. Mr Tatsu Chirako." Tyrannus introduced the shinigami with a wave of his hand to those present. The both stared blankly at him. "This is the man I liberated from execution not long ago." Some reaction, but not much. "Mr Chirako was also present during the recent evening at the Shihoin Estate." Those words did get there attention. Even Kurotaka opened one eye to look at Tatsu. "I was curious if you could tell us what happened that night. Much of what occurred has yet to surface."

Tatsu listened to the situation as everything unfolded. With his mind rolling on the situation the samurai understood how big this organization was. His reaction could be noticed when numbers were spoken, he was surprised that they could get that many souls from the districts without even being noticed. Then again souls without much importance didn't draw much attention. He wondered what the required results were, most likely people who had some good spiritual pressure that could join their group. Tatsu gave a glance around the table, there was someone like him, not talking not moving the person who had led him to Tyrannus, somehow Tatsu had alot of respect for that man. Tatsu sat still arms crossed eyes covered by his straw hat red bandanna falling on his shoulder in front of his chest.

The man noticed the looks of confusion within the room when the blonde guy asked them to reveal information within the pressence of the samurai, if it were not for his hat, a surprised glance could've been noticed on his face, but he preferred to remain stable and reserved. He understood that such problems could only be shinigami resistance or somethings he didn't have information on to even understand what was happening. He kept on listening without moving, finally setting his straw hat on the edge of his chair, making his face revealed. Genuine, stern look on his face, he seemed concerned by the information, he understood the weight that was placed on his shoulders, atleast the secrecy of this.

The subject was about to change to the woman when she suddenly lifted her hand, that's when Kurotaka moved right behind her, with a moments thoughts Tatsu had his sword his hand, pushed the handle away with his thumb. The white haired man lifted the woman's hand redirecting the projectile while Tatsu placed his free hand on the handle of his sword and his foot on the edge of the table ready to charge the woman without any hesitation. All this, within a single second. His spiritual pressure flared up, although this was half a ruse half an honest response. He flared up his reiatsu trying to test the other's spiritual strength and to make sure that this threat would be answered in kind. Tatsu saw that the situation had been handle and sat back down without further movement, putting his sword back in its resting spot, ready for further usage.

The blonde man stood up, quelling the blazing rage of the beauty who sat with them at the table, the situation went on without further comments, with this said he understood that they were even within the academy, the samurai made a personal note within his mind that he would need to investigate this.

Giving a general nod to the uninterested folks around the table Tatsu let himself be presented to the crowd. With the following comments the samurai quickly understood what his role was within this meeting. His voice resonated with clear resonance within the room, a tone not too high yet still very hearable. ''Thank you'' He said as Tyrannus allowed him to speak. ''It is true that I was present at the shionin estate t the moment of the assault by Tatsuya, but it started much before that.'' Allowing himself to continue, he started to explain the story from the beginning. ''It began when I was a rogue shinigami. I fought an arrancar with the assistance of captain Kuro'' The fact that the samurai had fought such a foe in the past is a feat of strength in itself. ''We defeated it and it is when I earned the captains trust for saving some of his squad members, not long after I met up with another rogue shinigami called Tatsuya, who said was framed by a member of the shionin family. Time passed and I was caught by the onmitsukido and brought to trial, that was when I was saved by Tyrannus.'' With that said, the samurai motioned to the blonde man, he knew the information wasn't very needed, but having a well built story was always good. ''Soon after my release I was brought as the third seated officer of the second division and quickly asked to follow the captain within the real world, for a rescue mission. Loyal members of the division proceeded to fetch the rogue shinigami from the real world and lead him to the shionin estate.'' With this said, the shinigami took a pause for a moment allowing others to butt in and ask questions if needed, turning his glance to Tyrannus, seeing if he should continue or wait.

All eyes were on Tatsu as he began to speak. The large man sat back with his arms against his chest while the woman laid her hands on her crossed legs. Kurotaka remained motionless his single eye trained on the samurai. A flicker went across the large man's face at mention of battling arrancar alongside the captain. Not one of admiration. Something else. Skepticism? After the flare of the man's spiritual power after the woman's outburst he held doubts that the man played any large part in such a confrontation. If so it would have been a fairly weak hollow at that. He held his tongue and let the man finish speaking. Tyrannus put his hands behind his head as he listened to the story unfold. For the most part he knew of these previous events leading up to the man's incarceration. There were a series of reports filed to confirm such things. He gave Tatsu a slight nod as he mentioned the part where he had come to his rescue.

Then came the story of the Shionin affair. To this part both the lady and man paid more attention. The events were shrouded in secrecy. That night there had been some sighting of the estate in flames and explosions. But the nobles had taken great pains in keeping what happened a under wraps. It was convenient that Tatsu had been present and could fill in the gaps. Tyrannus nodded to Tatsu encouraging him to continue, but the Lukan spoke first.
"Who killed Raiden?" he simply asked in his low rumbling voice.
"Please hold your questions til the end." Tyrannus quickly said and then waved for samurai to finish his tale. He too was curious, but rather get all the other facts out of the way then work on the fine details.

The samurai kept his composure for the whole time, his words were collected and his voice steady, he seemingly wasn't stressed about anything happening around him. Taking a quick swig of his bottle he cleared his throat and kept on talking. ''I got released after that.'' Ignoring the question that was tossed at him. ''Kuro knew he could trust me because I knew Tatsuya, immediatly after my release he ordered me to pack up my things and gather at a senkai gate, we crossed at the human world and departed.''

For the next part, Tatsu thought a little about what was happening, he chose to alter a story a little, making sure to keep the people who were in trouble in check and not to spread the fire. ''Tatsuya was alone, waiting for us...Kuro told me to knock him out and drag him back to Seireitei. ''When he came back to himself we strolled in the shionin estate, and he started shouting at the elders. Other guy who could clone himself started to fight Tatsuya.'' Tatsu said that without much respect for the man, but mostly because he didn't remember his name and didn't want to butcher him.

''I was told to wait outside for most of the fight, and I quickly understood why, the fight was out of my league..so I prevented any back up..for ten minutes...or what felt like it I held off troups..When I got my life handed over to me on a platter I re-entered in a gatecrashing way..I could see their fight going on and Kuro yelling 'nobody interfers with their fight' so I have to assume that Tatsuya won the day, but you know it was obvious because at that point there were two Tatsuya...''

The small group listened closely as Tatsu recounted the events of that fateful evening. Or at least most of what he had witnessed of said events. They knew of course that perspective was a problem. Secondhand view of things was never as good as the actual parties in question.
"So it was Tatsuya that killed Raiden?" Lukan both asked and stated. Tyrannus nodded.
"We know Raiden has the ability to copy most people and things." the blonde man added as his fingers drummed the table. From the sound of things Captain Akarui had a hand in the matter as well." The woman giggled and flipped her hair over her shoulder.
"He didn't acknowledge his limits. Was he always that pathetic?" she chortled. The large man shrugged at the somewhat rhetorical question.
"I fought him once, he had promise. An interesting ability." was the stiff reply. "If those two took him don't it wasn't much in the end.
"So could he copy you?" The woman asked leaning forward in her seat. Even Tyrannus raised an eyebrow at the question. To that Lukan only gave a wide grin.
"If he could, he wouldn't be dead." he said flatly. Tyrannus laughed quite loudly and and slapped his hand to the table.
"A very good point." he said still smiling. "Tell us Tatsu, anything else happen in the noble house that night?"

Tatsu thought about the moments, and nothing else happened -in- the noble house that he wouldn't have said, the fight with Raiden was blocked off by Tatsu and other captain class shinigami. ''Most of the captain class fight happened inside of the manor, the names of the involved people were. Captain akarui, the onmitsukido, Tatsuya. -some hesitation appeared in his voice- Some other people that I couldn't name, I don't know them, people loyal to kuro I suppose. There were two woman, and the division 4 captain.''

Tatsu closed the trail of his conversation, making it obvious he had nothing more to say, not because he kept it to himself, but mostly because he had said everything he knew of the situation as accurately as possible to the ground. If his estimations were right, most of the people around this table had the ability to forever silence the samurai without much effort. Of course the face of the samurai remained unchanging, fear wasn't really part of Tatsu so he couldn't really show any. He glanced around the room, his eyes marking important information about these people, on the towering man, he tried to remember his appearance, muscle mass, anything that could show what his abilities are. On the silent folk, he self noted the hair, the light footedness and the absorbing reiatsu. On the woman he remembered to note most of her physical appearance. Starting top to middle, to bottom, to middle of her body. He knew most of the details many people knew about tyrannus. Tatsu made the usual refreshinf notes of the dark ritual that happened beforehand but nothing more.

"I see." Tyrannus said as the samurai continued. It would seem he had heard enough from the man. "Seems like quite a night. A shame we missed it. Not much we could have done for the poor Raiden. He wrote his own demise the minute he tried to become more than he was meant to be." He gave a dismissive wave of the matter with this hand. "Overambitious and narrow-minded aren't good traits for a leader, nor are they things once seeks in an underling." The large man rolled his eyes and the woman snorted, but neither said a word. "Good leader knows his soldiers well, but knows himself even better. If he is weak his soldiers are weakened. Anyone following him was a fool." He flashed the group a bright smile, but it quickly faded. Something had occurred to the man.

"Kuro." he said snapping his fingers. Both of the white haired man's eyes snapped open and looked to the blonde man intently "Be sure to retrieve Raiden's zanpukto. I think we should add it to our collection." Lukan gave a silent node.
"Not a bad idea." rumbled the larger man "I'll go get it, tired of all time I've spent in Rukongai." Tyrannus shugged.
"Fine. Lukan will get the sword." the man at the head of the table said. "NO. FIGHTING." he was very firm when he said those two words his eyes locked on the larger man. They sat looking at one another until Lukan nodded his agreement. "Good. Kuro if you would escort Mr Chirako out then." The young man stood up and moved to stand behind Tatsu's seat. The dark skinned man gestured toward the same door that they had entered from.
"This way please."

Tatsu stood up picking up his sword in a swift manner as Kurotaka moved on to the back of his seat. Glancing around, making a personal note to remember their faces, or in special cases their -special attributes- that could be spotted at a first glance. Holstering his sword Tatsu looked at the man. ''Go ahead, it's not like I came in the front door.'' Chuckling to himself as he found it funny, it wasn't everyday the samurai felt like that. Reaching within his shinigami robes without any restraint, he took out a little wrapped ball, which he proceeded to open and reveal a ball of rice. Biting down into it, he walked towards the door.

''If ever you require anything else from me, don't hesitate...but do skip the dark rituals..''

And with that Tatsu waited for the man to open the door and lead the way.

The room had gone silent after Tatsu and the shorter man had left the room. Lady Rose looked to Tyrannus. There was a smirk across his face.
"So what was that all about, exactly?" she asked. Lukan too was looking to the blonde man for an answer. "We could have gotten that information from any guard that was present."
"Perhaps" came a voice from behind Tyrannus. A second later a dark haired man stood in the once vacant spot. "But calling in all the guards would take too much time wouldn't you agree Rose?" A look of disgust came across the woman's face as the man dark haired man walked from behind the chair and took a seat on the other side of Tyrannus. His uniform was that of a normal shinigami, but he wore a red blindfold over his eyes. In the middle of the red fabric was the same dark black mitsudomoe as was on the blonde man's armband. He met the woman's disdain with a bright white smile. "Not to mention draw too much attention."

"Do you think calling in a person linked to the 2nd squad won't!?" she countered. Slamming her hand down onto the table and rising. She seemed to get more agitated the longer she spoke to the man. "Their Division works with the Onmitsukidō which in turn is connected to the Shihoin. Who knows where his loyalties lie." She flopped back down into the chair her arms crossed with a small snort.
"We could kill him." Lukan suggested as he cut a line in the table with his fingernail. He blew the wood chips from beneath his finger and continued to carve the other sides of the heptagon he was making. "Just say the word." He gave a puff and cleared more wood chips from the table's surface. "Course it might get Akarui's attention." the large man grinned. He had seen the Division captain before.
"Not if we make it look like an accident." The dark haired main interjected.

"That won't be necessary." Tyrannus said raising his hand asking them all to stop talking. Sure enough they did and looked at their leader. "He has his uses just as you do Shuun." his hand lowered and he leaned back. "Does his story coincide with what you saw that night?" he asked the dark haired man.
"For the most part, yes." The other man responded after taking a moment to think about it. "He didn't lie."
"That's good enough." Tyrannus said as he clapped his hands together. "Be sure to file a complete report before you return to your post." he stood up and yawned. "We'll get to the other matter later this week, you are dismissed" Lukan rose and walked towards the door. "No fighting." Tyrannus turned and said before the man reached the door. The man stopped and grunted before walking out. The dark haired man was gone when Tyrannus turned back around, but he had already noticed his disappearance. Rose was the last one to rise and strut towards the door. Tyrannus sighed and leaned against the charred back of his chair. A moment later he dusted the ashes from his hand.