Gathering of the Lawless

**Date Started:** 18 November, 2021
**Date Completed:** Ongoing
**Previous Role-Play**: N/A
**Next Role-Play**: N/A
**Users Involved:** User:Ash9876, User:AbysmalShadows, User:ComicMaster619, User:Sir Ice Man
**Setting:** Gotei 13
**Characters Involved**: Yasha Miyagawa, Okisato Nagasone, Nagoriyuki Magatsuchi, Otsuya, Mikuji, Taopaipai Nobunaga, Yashiro Mitsuhide, Harunosuke Kinwashi

*The soldier takes up his blade.
The criminal takes up his blade.
The soldier kills his foe.
The criminal kills his foe.
The soldier returns to his prison.
The criminal is punished with prison.*
## Criminal or Soldier?

"Phew, what a week." A man sighed as he stood in a mostly abandoned part of the Seireitei, smoking from a pipe. He was wearing a Shinigami uniform, but he did not feel like a soldier. There was a lack of discipline, no conscious effort maintained for decorum. The man with red hair and a scar across his face was none other than Yasha Miyagawa, the recently inaugurated 6th Seat of the Fourth Division. "I can't even get my supply, what a pain."

"Eh? *You're* here as well!?" A boisterous voice proclaimed as he made his way to what appeared to be a gathering spot. Compared to Yasha, the man was much bulkier. His shihakushō was actually fairly tight around his shoulders and biceps. The man, with his bulked physique and well-groomed facial hair looked at the scrawnier man in front of him. "What, did someone want to 'see their inner world', Miyagawa?!"

"Tch, Nagasone? How about you fuck right off."

"How can I!? I'm part of the Twelfth Division now ya' know!" Okisato Nagasone was the newly promoted 9th Seat of the Twelfth Division. Much like Yasha, he did not behave like a soldier. Yet, his placement here was odd.

A tall figure strode in, a wild mane of hair that was crimson like blood, with a Shinigami uniform modified by personal taste. He was guzzling a drink from an enormous gourd with teeth at its end. It radiated an enormous amount of dense reiatsu, and if he looked closely enough, he could see faint tiny particles of reishi breaking off from the surrounding buildings and flow into the gourd. The man in question with large pointed ears and blood tinted eyes looked bored, and out of place. His gait was like a predator, he didn't walk so much as stalk, and his presence just seemed to loom all over the place. Indeed, this man was Nagoriyuki Magatsuchi.

He blinked in surprise at the two people conversing and who had failed to bow before his majesty. Right, Gotei 13. He wasn't used to being ignored so casually. He had commanded respect before but after his.... humiliation at the hands of the Gotei 13, and his conscription, he was forced to get used to many new things like this.

Approaching the two, he was idly struck by a sense of familiarity in the voices, and lo and behold, one was Yasha Miyagawa. He was well known entity, a shrewd businessman, and an alchemist to boot, said to have a hand in every pocket in the lower districts. He had worked for him on occasion. The man paid well. Still it was a surprise to see him here. Were the Gotei 13 that desperate they'd snatch anyone with an iota of power? Seemed like it. Looking at the other bastard, he was equally surprised to find the infamous Okisato Nagasone.

Now him? With his resume, he thought for sure if the Gotei 13 got their hands on him he'd have been executed on the spot. Those weapons of his were very much illegal, and a danger to the Gotei 13 if the rumors were true. He'd also made use of the man's weapons having outfitted some of his best people with those weapons.

He could sense several more approaching reiatsu in the area. It was going to be one of those meetings. How did he know? Cause he had done this plenty of time himself whenever they got new blood. Had to let them know what the new hierarchy was. Who was really in charge.

Sauntering over to the two of them he smirked and said, "So they got the both of ya too huh? Fuckin Gotei 13 bastards. How'd they get ya anyway?" He pointed at Yasha. "I thought you were fuckin untouchable. What between the blackmail, and before you ask, yes I did know, a lot of us did, and your own personal guard, you should have been able to escape, lay low for a bit. And you," he said indicating to Okisato, "They didn't execute you? After all the Bakkoto you forged and sold? Either you're the luckiest sonvabitch alive or," he paused, his blood red eyes staring dead through him, "You talked. So which was it?"

"They got *you* in this gig too?" Yasha looked at Magatsuchi's wild eyes directly. Anyone worth their salt in the Rukongai's underbelly knew about Nagoriyuki Magatsuchi. Several of his men even looked to Yasha for their own supplies. It was amusing, to say the very least. "You really think I'm going to spill the beans to *you*? I bet my bottom stash you're already plotting ways to kill us right now, bastard."

Okisato bellowed in laughter. "KAKAKAKA! You're right about that Nagoriyuki!" Okisato folded his arms and looked towards Magatsuchi. "I thought I was done for- Wait..."

Okisato looked to the nearby cherry blossom tree and noticed an elderly woman standing atop it. Her presence had only just been noticed, and the moment the bulky man locked eyes with her, she disappeared, shimmering before the crowd of men.

"You are all so boisterous, settle down." The elderly woman with a straw hat said. "Who do we have here...a crime lord, an illegal blacksmith and mercenary-for-hire. My, with all of you here, this old lady feels inadequate." Although she demeaned herself, the sarcasm dripping from her could be cut with a blade.

Otsuya, an elderly assassin who operated in the Rukongai. Her appearance and demeanour made it impossible for the average person to realize death was on their doorstep. By the point that their heads were rolling on the ground, all that Otsuya left behind was the cane she used to sheath her blade. Now, with a zanpakutō strapped to her waist, things seemed a bit different.

"Ugh, why'd they get the *hag* as well." Yasha groaned as he rolled his eyes. There were several clients that were offed by Otsuya's hand. She was a menace in his path.

"Oh, Otsuya-baa!" Okisato exclaimed. Although he sounded cheerful, his expression quickly became furious. "Just *how* many have you stolen from me, eh? When'd you plan on giving them back?!"

"If you may permit me to see the future," Another woman's voice entered the crowd. Long, black hair and red eyes that had magic radiating from their very gaze. "Otsuya-sama is the type to never give up something that has been stolen."

"Ah, the harbinger of misfortune herself. Did your clients see the future they wanted with my *fortunes*?" Yasha snarled. The woman's presence infuriated him. At every turn, her fortunes caused misfortune for everyone else around her.

"Oi oi, Miko-san! You gotta tell me. Just *how* did you manage to stop *my* weapons, eh!?" Okisato's eyes landed squarely on the woman, not giving an inch.

"Ah, Miko-chan. Thank you for all the clients." Beneath the amicability was yet another layer of hostility. Much like Yasha and Okisato, Otsuya was wronged by the woman before her as well.

Mikuji, a fortune teller of the Rukongai. Her fortunes were normally innocent, but she had made it a habit to dig a wench into the plans of the criminals around her.

"My, how harsh. Would you not say so, Nagoriyuki-san?" Mikuji turned to the bloodthirsty man. She wasn't going to be killed *here* anyway, so she may as well provoke the harsh future that excited her.

"Well if it isnt the goddamn Oni-baba!" If there was anyone, anyone in this band of criminals, he was not expecting her. He had been fooled by her appearance before, and she nearly took his head off for the insult. Otsuya was the consummate professional, the de-facto assassin of assassins in the business, and for a brief time his mentor in the art of killing and making it look like goddamn poetry in motion.

Nagoriyuki in a rare display of respect, actually bowed his head (about forty-five degrees) in acknowledgement of Otsuya. He approached her with a wide grin on his face, "As I live and breath, I thought you were retired. Out of the game, yet here are you." Glancing down he noticed the new addition to her waist.

"Even gave you a shiny new sword. Oh don't give me that look, we're practically family. " Nagoriyuki had few people in his life that he respected. Otsuya was counted among them. Some part may have felt some kinship with the old woman given their shared past, and it was her blade that helped forge him into the warrior he is today.

"Its good to see you Onibaba." Nagoriyuki said after a moments pause. On hearing the voice of the fortune teller however, his mood immediately shifted. He spun around and stormed towards the petite woman.

"I don't know whether I want to fight you or fuck you right now." He pointedly ignored her question. If it wasn't obvious, it was very intentional. "The number of times you cost me good business is damn near incalculable. On the other hand, your meddling certainly put me in more all-out fights than I ever thought I'd get in. They made me a hell of a lot stronger." Nagoriyuki rose to his full height, and towered over the woman in question.

"I'd kill you myself, but it seems everyone else has an axe to grind too. I wouldn't dream of denying them and myself the just desserts of breaking that pride of yours. What does your fortune say about that?" He growled out.

A deep, raspy and booming voice echoed in the chambers, “How many of these pricks are gonna be here, eh?! If I am the first one there and any of those stupid, dumb rascals make me wait, I am gonna blow a bloody gasket.” The man who entered the room had a look that was highly dissonant to the voice, for Taopaipai Nobunaga was a petite, little man with a beautiful face of chiseled features, decked with sparkling golden eyes and decorated with shiny blonde hair tied in a pony-tail, yet still disheveled, kind of like his fiancée's style. A man with a flawless, yet rough, tan skin, Taopaipai was short man, but had a ridiculously muscled body and arms. His bare feet were hairy and leathery, thick and ugly. He was a person of beautiful features and ugly features seemingly splotched together by a twisted creator.

He looked around the room, finding out that he was not the first to arrive after all. His baritone echoed again, “Late to the party, am I? And, oh, if it isn't the bitch of a fortune teller herself! And the killer hag, too! Of all the pricks they could find, they picked the prickliest. Oi, Yasha! Scar still hurts? I hope it does.” His eyes darted across the room. The room already had plenty of people who owed him money or to whom he owed money. He let out a rough, angry chuckle, “Swindlers. Scoundrels.”

"Ugh, they had to get the botched one here too." Yasha groaned. They had encountered each other in battle before and both didn't leave unscarred. The man was nefarious for interfering in Yasha's business, because their businesses overlapped significantly.

Otsuya looked at Nagoriyuki and merely nodded in response to the respect he showed her. It was true that Otsuya was the one responsible for teaching Nagoriyuki his ways. She, inadvertently, created a monster that even she couldn't completely hold back any longer. From student and teacher to fellow enemies on the battlefield. "Family...I suppose we are."

Otsuya's gaze quickly turned to the newcomer. "Ah, child. Your pockets gave me a fine residence." Otsuya chuckled.

Mikuji's eyes dismissed the threat of Nagoriyuki looming over her. "My, your future is looking very grim, Nagoriyuki-san. After all-"

"Your *future* is to remain here, scoundrels."

Accompanied by the deep voice was an overwhelming spiritual pressure that stunned the criminals. Even in their long line of work, there were very few people they encountered who could muster that level of power. Yasha, Otsuya, Okisato and Mikuji alike quickly stopped their bickering and looked towards the man who made his entrance.

The barren area that they stood in suddenly felt like it was filled by wings. Not any wings, but the wings of a bird of prey. The spiritual pressure was stifling, and it felt as if they were being looked down upon from high. Every movement, every thought, every twitch. All could be felt, and all could be taken advantage of. The criminals had no choice to stand in obedience, for *they* were the ones being hunted.

The man who held this presence was none other than Harunosuke Kinwashi, official emissary of the Central 46.

A slight smile appeared on Taopaipai's face. For a moment, he felt challenged, if not shaken, by the sudden surge of spiritual power. This seemed like someone he would love to fight, for there were very few moments in his life spanning over three centuries that he had faced creatures of such level, and they were all very close shaves. His booming, raspy baritone grumbled, clearly trying to out-grumble Kinwashi's voice, “Talk about pressure! Who is *this* guy?!” He then turned to look at Kinwashi straight in the face. Clearly, this was not the occasion to fight, but Taopaipai could not help but pull out his oversized hands attached to his short but bulky arms out of his pockets and clench them into fists, with an unhinged look in the eyes decked in his devastatingly handsome and disarmingly youthful face.

He had kept himself quite from the behind the rest, simply sitting down until he could see the events play out. But the sudden appearance of a reiatsu of this quality made the large man's blood run cold, as if it demanded to be heard among the ruckus playing out. Very large even in compassion to traditional shinigami, the incarcerated gatekeeper, Yashiro Mitsuhide, was now the one under watch, it was more than evident that their warden was on another league entirely. "Hmm, what a way to set the mood, I could just cry right now agh!" The giant belted, his body trembled as he had a, but his face painted a different picture that proved contrary to his body language. Contorting into a crooked smile, Yashiro's breathing became erratic, accelerating to the beat of his own heart, fear giving in to morbid curiosity for the new guest.

Brushing past the other inmates, he made no discretion with the force he used, "push" being the farthest thing he could've have used to knock them out of his way, all so he could catch a glimpse up close.

Nagoriyuki hated this feeling. The atmosphere had become so thick and dense it was like trying to move through water. Even his breath felt stilled and he struggled to breath as the immense power roiling off the friggin emissary of the damned Central 46. It galled at him to know that someone who looked like some needle nosed pencil pusher could be so strong. The nobles of Soul Society were reputed to have crazy power, but this? This was just absurd.

Still, he could at least admire the man and the Gotei 13 for their proactive actions. Afterall he had done the same thing. Many of his own men were those he had recognized as having potential, and rather than watch them be snatched up by a rival power, he acquired them for himself, to bolster his own power and to ensure the strength of his domain. It was also why he knew what was coming next. The pecking order needed to be established. This lot of unruly criminals who had done their damnest to acquire as much power as possible had to be reigned in. Controlled and turned towards whatever purpose they needed.

He fuckin hated it.

Sneering he couldn't help but let the disgust and frustration of the situation roll off him and it probably showed, but he didn't care. Because it meant that the Gotei 13 was desperate. Truly desperate as to conscript some low-lives like them. That gave them a bargaining advantage. If it didn't? Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

"Welcome," The man stated with his slate gold eyes staring directly at all of the criminals in the eye. Even against beings who had ruled the underbelly of the Rukongai for decades, Harunosuke did not give an inch of fear away in his posture or gaze. He was firm, with his arms crossed, and back straight.

"Or I should say, but none of you deserve it." Harunosuke spat, barely giving the criminals a chance to breathe in his presence. "I brought you all here, for a reason I am sure you're all aware of."

Harunosuke continued speaking, and the others remained smothered by his presence. Even if they growled, nothing would get past his incredible spiritual pressure. "Most of these facts have left our records, however, those who have been in the Soul Society long enough will know this very well. The Gotei 13 were founded on a band of criminals."

Harunosuke's statement shocked the group.

"Eh?" Yasha spoke up, raising his eyebrows.

"You heard me. Like all of you, the founding Captains of the Gotei 13 were nothing more than lowly scum. They were defeated by the legendary Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto and became the balancers of the realms. Now that the Gotei 13 has returned to a shell of its glory, your actions that had been ignored by the Gotei 13 for so long have been punished."

"Punished? How are you punishin' us?!" Okisato asked.

"We're soldiers for the Gotei 13. We're in the greatest prison ever to exist, Nagasone." Otsuya told him in response to Harunosuke's statement.

"Otsuya. The runaway child of the Shin'ō Academy...what, 600 years ago? I'm surprised you're still alive." Harunosuke responded.

"Tch." Otsuya ducked her eyes underneath her hat. She was incredibly annoyed by the man in front of her.

Taopaipai cleared his throat and spoke, “Pretty sure nobody answered my question, and I am gonna ask more. Who is this guy? What does he wanna do here? When can we bloody get outta here? Speaking of here, ain't getting kinda hard to breathe here. Oh, boy!” He was sweating. He was breathing hard. He released his enormous spiritual pressure, but the overbearing presence of Kinwashi did not budge a bit. Taopaipai responded by releasing even more of his spiritual pressure, but even that did little to ease his suffering. Truly, this man was imposing. If there was one thing that Taopaipai and his fiancée knew, it was to grow in the face of adversity. Even so, Taopaipai realized that there was no way he could stand up to the man looking down at him, and that only excited him more. Unlike his fiancée, whose heart of a warrior stopped beating decades ago, Taopaipai's heart still went strong even when he did not have the strength to back it up.

"From the looks of it, some kind of errand boy. What a travesty. What a disappointment, it's all so...reassuring." Yashiro was more than elated for another opportunity to continue doing what he was charged with before sentenced to "guarding" the well-being of the Soul Society as a member of the Gotei 13. Although, for an imposing figure as Harunosuke was, a part of him had to wonder *Why are you even here in the first place?* it was rare for Central 46 to undo an edict and sentence once it had been decreed, even more so to actively scout out those very offenders. For as much as Harunosuke liked to talk down to them, and as intimidating as his presence was, it didn't change the fact he was all the way down here, conversing with criminals, asking for help. The very height of desperation that brought some comfort to the giant shinigami, giving them at least some measure of equal footing, as little as that was, keeping this thought to himself. Rubbing the shackles around his hands, the constant jingle from all the movement kept ringing in the dark.

From where they stood underneath the Central Great Underground Prison, he had tried to measure the strength between them, surmising that some of them were from the 1st or 2nd level, a step down from anything that would break taboo law in the Soul Society such as Kido or anything involving open warfare on the Gotei 13, at least to his knowledge. "Well well, a real know-it-all isn't he huh," jabbing Nagoriyuki from the side of his head with his elbow, too tall to aim for his side under normal circumstances. "It kinda' makes you wonder what you did to wind up in a place like this too," Yashiro mumbled out loud, crouching to be at some eye level to the rest of the prisoners." With such a one-sided debate, he felt better knowing he could at least speak with someone that wasn't a wall or a bureaucrat, but functioned twofold, as a way to gauge the relative strength of the inmates based loosely on what sort of crimes each was incarcerated for, keeping an eye out for anyone that stood out or piqued his interest.

"Who I am doesn't matter, Taopaipai." Harunosuke snapped to the blonde man's questions. "You're here for one reason; to be service of Soul Society."

Harunosuke allowed the criminals to process what he said for a brief moment.

Yasha, Okisato, Otsuya, Mikuji's eyebrows furrowed as he spoke those words.

"Are you treating us as expendables?" Mikuji asked, raising her iron fan closer to her face.

"Of course not." Harunosuke shut down Mikuji's suspicions immediately. "If you were expendables, you'd be sitting in the Maggot's Nest until you were dragged out to fight."

Harunosuke closed his eyes briefly, taking a breath. "Your crimes have been pardoned solely on the basis of putting your entire being in service of the Soul Society." Harunosuke scanned each criminal with his eyes. "You may commit assassinations, craft Bakkōtō, design drugs, commit magical fraud, or exchange in any manner of illegal wealth." Harunosuke began stating, "*However*, these activities must be done purely for the benefit of the Soul Society."

Harunosuke briefly paused, allowing the criminals time to settle into their new lives. "You've all done nothing with your lives beyond being criminals in the Rukongai. Here, hone that strength you developed fighting one another and use it to save the Soul Society."

Harunosuke turned his back, relieving the criminals of the pressure that was weighing them down. "You've been assigned Divisions and seats based on your previous occupations. Familiarize yourself with the Gotei 13. And remember," Harunosuke turned to face the criminals once more, "Your every move is being tracked. Any ideas and you'll be dragged into the Central Great Underground Prison."

The green-haired man vanished. The stifling aura that surrounded the area vanished with him, allowing the suffocated criminals to finally breathe properly.

"Haaah..." Yasha kneeled on the ground. "What kind of bullshit..."

"Seriously..!" Mikuji felt the same, waving her fan across her face because of the sweat she developed in Harunosuke's presence. "I can't believe we're stuck in this sort of future..."

Otsuya felt the same way, but merely didn't say anything and began to walk away. She had escaped from this life once, several centuries ago. But she unfortunately had to simply return here.

Okisato similarly punched his own fist, "What in the...!" He began saying, "I couldn't even stand up to that monster!! And I'm meant to give my Bakkōtō to *these* people!?"

Nagoriyuki just grinned from ear to eart, his eyes bloodshot and manic as the emissary left. He couldn't help it, he laughed, his voice loud and bellowing drowning out the noise around them.

"Didn't you idiots hear him!? As long as its in service to Soul Society, everything we do, everything we're going to do, all of it! It's already been signed off!" He spread his arms wide as he gazed upward, his eyes shimmering with excitement! "As long as it furthers the agenda of Soul Society, no crime however terrible is off limits. So get strong, become as powerful as you want to be, and have the entire might of the Gotei 13 at your back!"

He looked down at the rest of them to see if they understood. They were already in a prison, a guilded cage. They always had the illusion of choice. They simply refused to see the pathetic hand-me downs they had before as something to despise. "Our operations haven't stopped, they've expanded. This is a new opportunity for us! Just look at the soft silked noble bastard! He had more power than all of us combined! How do you think he got that strong eh!? This is our time now. I'm going to use everything they've got and get as powerful as I can be, and then some. If you want to wallow in pity, go right ahead. When you look up, all yer gonna see is my back as I leave you in the dust."

Finished with his speech, Nagoriyuki promptly turned and left towards the Eleventh Division, a new fire lit inside of him as he planned his next move.

With the immense pressure gone, Taopaipai's suffering plummeted, as did his interest. He returned to his calm, chill self, albiet now bored. He spoke, his voice rising by each second, “So what? Now we do what we have always done, only now with rules and restrictions and administration on our ass? As good as it feels to not be persecuted anymore, I'd much rather be chill and free. Come on, I cannot be the only one feeling this way. I say, boy, do I say, we need to get that prick, whatever his name is, and teach him a few lessons. Then we do whatever we want, only without persecution. Say what?”

"As much as I hate to admit it, that Nagoriyuki is right." Yasha grinned as he looked at Taopaipai. "There's no point in trying to teach *him* a lesson, dumbass. He's not the ringleader. And anyway, he's way too strong. What's the point in trying to be 'free' if we just die?"

"Are you a fool?" Otsuya looked towards Taopaipai with aggravated eyes before turning around. "That man could have killed us all in one breath and it wouldn't have made a difference. How did you survive in *our* world without recognizing what enemies you shouldn't face?" Otsuya leaped to the nearby tree. "I suppose I'll make myself acquainted with my fellow Second Division members. And take it from me. The longer you spend regretting your fate, the less you'll be able to change it."

“Hag, shut your prickly hole!” Taopaipai yelled.

Otsuya disappeared, and with her, Yasha, Mikuji and Okisato began to leave as well.

"I predict we'll all have good fortunes~" Mikuji spoke with a grin.

"For once we might agree with ya'!" Okisato cackled, as all of them departed to their own divisions, intending to make the best use of this opportunity.

“Eh. Everyone gone? Eh? Alright. I suppose I should go, too.” Taopaipai grumbled as he took his leave.