This was certainly not the Kuchiki manor. Certainly not anywhere that he recognised within Soul Society, for that matter, and he isn't entirely sure what to make of it. In spite of everything, he doesn't seem wary, even with the multitude of reiatsu signatures assaulting his senses— Bemused, perhaps, as he searches for anything, or anyone at all that was familiar to him.


((OOC: I couldn't help it. Have a fashion-reject Kuchiki with flamingo-butt hair. He's from before the "betrayal" and so will act accordingly.

Apologies in advance in case of slow tags. o/

Edit: Also icons will be sporadically resetting themselves as I work on icon keywords, sorry. >.<''))

Afraid to overstep her grounds, Matsumoto Rangiku had made sure to keep away from Her Toshiro's home for fear of getting in the way of Unohana-taichou as she took care of Ukitake-Taichou. She didn't want to meet them so informally for who they were to Toshiro. She knew them from home, but hadn't spoken with them much as she was still a low class Shinigami in her time.

She felt a little bad for the thoughts she had had on Urahara-sama. Toshiro had to explain to her that what had happened with the former captains was not his doing but Aizen's. All of this was confusing her. So she spent most of her time the past few days, just exploring the Nexus in hopes of gtting used to her new home until those who were close to her Toshiro were ready to welcome her.

(ooc: those referred to: Toshiro snowtoppedcpt       Unohana healersoutaicho        Ukitake pisceslightning      Urahara right_my_wrong )

[Guess who's tried to take up snowboarding? Now try an guess who's failing miserably at it. If you guessed Knight, you'd be correct. It's too cold to surf, and this had once been suggested as an alternative, but the poor bastard really can't get the hang of it. It probably doesn't help that he turned his surfboard upside down and is trying to use it as a snowboard.

But he wasn't hungry, so hunting would be a waste, and he needed to keep himself occupied somehow. If he was just sitting around he'd get anxious and probably start breaking things and then he'd get in trouble. So he resorted to things like this.

But snowboarding is still an entirely different animal than surfing, and he's trying to treat it the same way. After falling on his ass for the millionth time he gives a frustrated huff. It was still cold and wrapping himself up in some fur he'd ripped off of a hollow somewhere was only barely helping.]

This's stupid... When does it get warm again?

[She was resting in her room when she felt Gin's reiatsu. If she was feeling it even through Urahara's defensive shields, he had to be nearby, and that meant everyone else was in danger.

If she knew anything about Gin, she knew that he would look for her. And that he would never, never give up until he found her. He wouldn't hesitate to kill or injure anyone who got in his way.

She had to leave. She had to protect them.

Getting up, she takes her zanpakuto, staring at it for a moment, letting Haineko shout at her for being a fool without bothering to answer. She sheathed it carefully and put it on, slipping down towards the entrance as quietly as she could.]


[OOC: Locked to those in Urahara's house for the moment.]

[So. After a rather interesting debacle, one that involved a bit of name calling, Gin is off to go find his Ran. This involved a lot of searching and chasing. A lot of disappointment and sadness. A bit of moping. It also involved a bit of running around to make sure Aizen-sama wasn't following him. Aizen-sama. That took a lot to remember, gave him headaches too.

Speaking of headaches, as he was ambling along looking for his kitty-Ran-he got a bunch of splitting ones that almost made him want to kill himself or kill everyone in the general vicinity. Luckily for the rabbits and gophers and moles, and the occasional fish, the headaches stopped. Well, no, more like headaches stop and horrible indescribably pain followed.

It accumulated with Gin gripping his head, trying not to scream and failing. The screams could be heard, scaring the poor little furry animals. After that was over, he stopped gripping his head, stopped getting those damn headaches and simply smiled.

He was back.]

Ran~

[He's still looking for her of course. Still wanting to find Rangiku. But, of course, this time he could actually use his brain with all his memories. Not that anyone knew, of course. He still kept that slightly dopey look on his face, that innocent-who me?- smile. Course, that smile turned a bit desperate as he went on searching.]

RAN? Are you HERE? CAN YOU HEAR ME? 

RAN

[Off he went, shouting and shouting and shouting. That was what his idiot self would do right? Run head first into a wall and keep on running, to get to the other side. He had a panicked look on his face, close to tears really. Ran was still so very far away. So very far. He felt....a bit dismayed really. Would she take him back? Did he have to steal her away? WHERE THE HELL WAS SHE? DAMN URAHARA. Should killed him ages ago, should've tried to kill him ages ago. ]

I'M SORRY FOR LEAVING! Come back.

Please?

I just want to talk.

Talk. And I'm by myself!

Just you and me.

[He repeated these words over and over, searching and searching. He could feel her but he couldn't find her. The frustration is quite true, the desperation, perhaps. The feeling of utter lonliness was also quite true. Aizen-sama may be Aizen-sama but he was not Ran. ]

(OOC: Hrm, Gin's back. And he's searching for his Rangiku. Come by if you wish, he might be pleasant to you or he might not. Don't worry, he won't kill anyone. He might even not choke you.

EDIT: Gah, apparently I forgot how really frantic Gin is when he had amnesia. *Stabs self in head*)

*Grimmjow's reiatsu had briefly vanished from Seireitei as the turncoat Arrancar went home for the day. Now, however, he has reappeared, fast asleep in the snow just inside the Ninth. One thing that would be instantly noticeable was that he was now wearing the haori of the Ninth. More subtle would be his somewhat stronger reiatsu, as he'd just spent about a year training and getting stronger in his Seireitei. However, the previous night had been celebrating his promotion to Tosen's old spot, so whoever woke him up would get to deal with a very hungover kitty. Though they might want to anyway, as he was snoring rather loudly.*

(Updated to about a year after the end of the war. I'll get the details on that and what he's been doing since up in his journal as soon as I get around to it...)

[Sitting back against a tree somewhere within the Neutral area, and almost completely covered in snow, was the quiet and still form of a certain spirit. He'd merely fallen asleep and had never noticed when the snow had started falling, giving him such a cold wintery blanket to be under..

It really wasn't like him to fall asleep in such an open place, but even he had to succumb to the need for rest. Which didn't seem to care where he was when it demanded the need for stillness..


Snow made a nice blanket, apparently. He seemed snug.]

[It is the neutral zone. Ichigo is here, and he doesn't really know why.]

[He'd been looking for a way back home. But he didn't find it... so since one didn't appear until he'd been here for a while last time, he's going to get his books out of the bag he's carrying and glare at them like they belong to Aizen. Sure, he missed six months of school due to plot. But anyone who called him a dropout is eating their words next year.]

[...as soon as he's solved his world's little Aizen problem. But he can't do anything about that here.]


[[OOC: I am trying to be sure I have Ichigo cold. If anything seems off, strange, misplaced, mistyped, mishandled, misspelled, or suffering from sniffles, drop me a pm. No grudges held, nothing personal taken, I don't care if you didn't tag. :D?]]

[Look who is once more on his platform ready to address the Seireitei. He has put a lot of thought into how to structure the Gotei here - with an influx of people from one squad, duplicates of captains, and hardly any divisional members for other squads. Not to mention the alternate realities, and the possibility of traitors.

He has decided to combine the squad duties, to doubly make sure they are done and to help spread the labour between those divisions with plenty of members and those with few. He has also made sure that the three 'traitor' divisions have been assigned to combine with one of the more powerful or trusted divisions.

This was not meant as an insult, and there was the possibility of nobody noticing how the arrangements had fallen, but he wished to be certain those three divisions were well protected in case of dissention or defection from any of the versions of traitors who claimed alliegance.

Fifth was obviously the most potentially dangerous, so he had assigned Thirteenth to combine with it, knowing there were quite a few versions of Ukitake-taichou, and the man could certainly be trusted to hold his own if necessary. Ichimaru being the second greatest threat, or so he personally believed, he had assigned Kyouraku to join with Third.

Himself and Sixth would personally be responsible for joining with Ninth, partially because of the work already done together for the sake of the border patrols.

The following speech has also been sent out to each Division in documentation form.]

Due to variations in numbers within each Division, combined efforts will be necessary to ensure the smooth and organised running of the Gotei. All Captains will be of equal authority in each squad, and are expected to work with those Divisions assigned to them with full co-operation.

( Divisonal Groups )

[Several new buildings have been constructed within the last few days, including full barracks to support each Division. It is these buildings he addresses now.]

( Buildings and Uses of )

Each Group will be assigned individual duties to work towards a more ordered Seireitei.

( Group Duty Assignments )

---

( Renji, Kira and Hisagi )


[ooc: Okay... I am incredibly sorry for that ridiculous wall of text. I've been working on it ages and hope it's okay. =D

The Renji referred to is fangswillreach the Kira s0litarybeauty and the Hisagi ltnumbernine]

[A chance comment from Kukaku told Isane that Urahara’s birthday is today. She knows how much strain he’s been under, so she decided to do something nice for him. So, she managed to secretly make him a cake (strawberry) for him. So when he left on some errand or another, she decked out the eating area with green and white balloons and a few streamers, and set the cake on the table.

Now, they just need the birthday boy to return.]


[OOC: Open to Urahara (right_my_wrong) and his friends!]

( Fly Through Heaven, Sky Crane )

ooc: Happy New Year, BDR! Notifs off, have fun!

[Since it's a special occasion, Kukaku set aside her uniform for the day. The better part of the day has been spent locked in her room, which had been a particularly noisy ordeal, but now that it was getting dark she was outside, dressed in an old family kimono, fukutaicho badge attached to the obi, setting up to light off the fireworks she'd spent the day making.

It was an old New Years tradition in her family. She and Miyako would take the day off, Miyako would spend the day making a big dinner while she and her brothers spent the day making fireworks and then in the evening they'd eat and set them all off. And just because she was here and not with her brothers or her sister didn't mean she was going to let that family tradition die.

She sent up a small charge as a test, looking satisfied as it went off. Good. All of her calculations were correct. She could adjust them as needed if the wind or any other conditions changed. So she began setting up to set off the rest. And beside the wooden box full of fireworks was a smaller wrapped box, since for a certain someone today wasn't just New Years Eve.]


[ooc: Open to anyone, but please no kidnapping/killing/whatnot. Celebratory times here. She's also got a present for right_my_wrong, and will wish any other Uraharas that stop by a happy birthday.]

[He was still trapped inside the Sixth Division holding cells, and if it wasn't for the food that was brought to him every other day, he would have thought that he had been completely forgotten. It had been two months, and yet no sign of any change. Shuuhei couldn't really blame them. He had been programmed to destroy the First Division, after all, and he had killed several border guards.

The other him had cracked the code and ordered him to wait. Cease prior orders, and wait.

He was still waiting.

The small part of him that was still human wondered what for. Execution? Or a lifetime like this, wasting away into nothing? If that was the outcome, he would rather restart the countdown to self-destruction again.

Shuuhei was tired. This world didn't make any sense, and there was a strange ache in his chest that had never been there before. Now that he knew what he could have been. What could have happened.

...and something bothered him more than anything. A name, and the lack of a number on his cheek.]

Kensei...

[Anyone passing by might notice Kira Izuru leaning against a tree just outside of Third, watching some of his officers as they went about their business inside. He's not yet put on his haori. It's still folded in his arms and every now and then he looks down at it in wonder. Perhaps he's trying to work up the nerve to actually put it on.

Of all the things he thought would happen when he met with the acting-soutaichou, he had never imagined leaving the man's office a captain. He's had all the duties of a captain for nearly two years now, but now it's official. He used to imagine what it would be like to become a captain, to wear the haori - would he feel different, wiser, better? He'd already come to the conclusion that he would still be himself, flawed but trying. He's still not sure whether or not that's a good thing, but maybe it's time to find out.]

I can do this. [He finally unfolds the haori, slipping his arms through sleeveless white cloth. He still feels the same, yet it still feels right, somehow.]


[ooc: Assume this post takes place a couple hours after Kira's meeting with Byakuya.]

[Rukia stumbles from a treeline, finding the sudden change of scenery from the swept streets of Seireitei to the knee-deep snow of the Neutral Zone enough to make her pause. Garbed in her usual shihakusho, the itty-bitty shinigami blinks with wide eyes for a moment before regaining her footing, her head swivels around in confusion.]

Where am...oh!

[Realization dawning! Trotting into a quick shunpo, she steers herself towards the urbania that's the core of the Neutral Zone and towards a familiar, warm reiatsu signature. But she isnt' going too fast, though. Who knows what this crazy place might throw at her?]

...Hime? Hime, are you there?

[Some fliers have somehow appeared all over Seireitei and the Neutral Zone. Bright, colorful pages with bold text proclaiming:


And hey, lookit who's testing said canon right now in the Neutral Zone? Firing off a few simple bombs to make sure everything is running nice and smooth, Kuukaku is whistling merrily as she loads another cluster. Want to reserve a seat? Ask about safety procedures in case of fire? She's free to ask now.]



(ooc: So that party that I never really capitalized on? Here it is! Party log thats open to everyone will go up tomorrow for the actual show. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!]

[Hitsugaya was one of the last people who would ever admit to being interested in the shinigami, but here in the nexus he had no granny to look after to take up his time, and that Seireitei place had sure been noisy lately. And so with all the stealth of a barefoot child, he sneaked his way right on in and began exploring with utmost determination and curiosity.

No, it was not a game. It was ... a learning experience. And maybe, just maybe, an expedition to find a Hinamori.]

RENJI!

*he's not flash-stepping, but running through the Seireitei toward Sixth, with a sleeveless white haori flapping behind him. He's got something to show and tell~*

Hey, Renji! Guess what?


((ooc: fff yes this is open to all in Seireitei...watch him run past like a dork!))