HEAT THE SOUL

**Date Started:** 2 December, 2021
**Date Completed:** Ongoing
**Previous Role-Play**: BREAK THE NOISE
**Next Role-Play**: N/A
**Users Involved:** User:ComicMaster619
**Setting:** Seireitei
**Characters Involved**:
* **Shinigami:** Soichiro Tenma
* **Zanpakutō Spirit:** Higanbana Onmyōkoi

## Whisper, Lonely Captor in the Dark

Walking past the 5th Division barracks, Tenma was saluted by the various members of his company, a normal reaction when the Lieutenant happens to stop by. But it was more than that. Up until now, Tenma had to juggle the responsibilities of interim Captain of not just this division, but that of the Kidō Corps as well, juggling more responsibilities than what one person was realistically able to handle. It wasn't until today that it had finally dawned on him that his true trial had soon arrived. Tenma and four other member of the Kido Corps were fully gowned up, each wearing their traditional face-coverings, with Tenma in question carrying around his two Zanpakutō around his waist, obscured from sight using Bakudō #26: Kyokkō so as not to arouse too much suspicion, given that their department functioned with the utmost secrecy. Appearing using Shunpo, Tenma was joined by last minute officers, bowing in respect to their superior.

“Sir, we’re ready to begin transport of the criminal, what are your orders?” remarked the masked man, the rest of his group following into line, joining up right behind Tenma.

“Our role is not to pass judgement, but to enforce the world’s justice. Our word is law. Our sword, honor. Even if it means discarding both, anyone that would obstruct that justice, is an enemy of the world itself.” Tenma spoke in an unnaturally cold tone, without so much as a hint of emotion to carry his words to his subordinates. It was more than evident Tenma had no intention acting beyond his station, much less taking things into his own hands, his honor wouldn’t allow him to do it. For as long as he could remember, Tenma always considered duty more important than self interest, either too stubborn or prideful to conform to the opinions of others, choosing to uphold the standards. With his orders issued, all that awaited them was to see this trail through to the end, making sure everything followed its natural recourse to the letter.

From the senkaimon, several officers escorting a criminal, a Shinigami of all people, had arrived from the other side, with Tenma and his group carrying sasumata staffs to connect to his neck, his senior officer giving him the signal to tighten his restraints. "Tighten," Tenma repeated, the restraints on his hands growing tighter thanks in part to his reiryoku, made it all the more ready for him to be delivered to the stealth force. As members of the this department, there were certain “liberties” that only this division offered that gave Tenma any sense of freedom from the conventional monotony of Shinigami duty, as they were responsible with upholding and maintaining spiritual law, much like the Gotei 13 and Onmitsukidō. The only difference he felt was the level of finesse and elegance that they did so, using all manner of spells with the utmost anonymity thanks in part to their masks. “Our next destination is the Repentance Cell at Senzaikyū, where you will await your trial.” The trip from the Senkaimon all the way to the white palace from within the Seireitei was all but quiet, a common ambience when their order deals with secrecy.

His company was made up of several senior officers, some of the best that were hand -picked by Tenma since he started his tenure as the Kidō Corps. Among them were some new recruits, the lack of experience in their eyes visible past the face-coverings only reminded him of his own time when he was recruited, being nearly 10 years since joining. The only difference between then and now, aside from experience, was the resolve and sense of purpose he built up, feeling a greater sense of responsibility for watching over his men, the weight, rather than crush him, built him up, more persistent to uphold the Soul Society’s tenets. From his company, the youngest of their order krepted up along his side, keeping a steady pace directly behind him.

“For them to call you in personally to supervise the trial, what could he have done to merit so much attention sir?”

“The man in question broke taboo law, killing a human that has not been ordered to be killed. And it wasn’t the law itself that was the biggest offense, it was the sheer quantity of humans he slaughtered.”

The thought that someone could go through with doing such a missdeedmade his stomach churn, repulsed and ashamed that this man used to be part of the Gotei 13 and was going to pay for it did nothing to alleviate his anger, surprised that he felt so strongly the way he did. If things were different and he was asked to do it, Tenma would have carried out the execution personally, but that was only wishful thinking, and orders were orders. For Tenma, It was the betrayal that stung the most, he thought, if there was something he couldn’t tolerate was action without purpose, the senseless killing this Shinigami did benefited no one, making the loss of life a vainless sacrifice. He was everything Tenma detested. If there was any solace he could find today, was that he would at least have some hand in his demise. The day for his hearing had arrived, with Tenma, accompanied by not just his division, but the stealth force, transporting the guilty Shinigami to Central 46, the involved parties gathering while the judges convened for the trial. The guards, as well as all the security measures were stationed to various parts of the main chamber, keeping them perfectly spread to cover the various entrances, with Tenma himself stationed close to the defendant, keeping his binding in place with Kidō, maintaining a quiet tone as the old men and jury seated themselves to begin.

“The accused will only speak when spoken to, any outburst and we’ll find you in contempt, is that understood?! Let the trial begin,” bellowed one of the wisemen, a loud banging noise erruptd from the gavel smashing across the hard wooden surface of their desk to call attention to the proceedings.

The trial went as well as he would have expected, the sentencing carried out by Central 46 went without a hitch, imprisonment in the Central Great Underground Prison, a punishment that he thought was too lenient, but accepted nonetheless. Carried off by the rest of his officers, there wasn’t a single thing out of place during proceedings. The only thing he hadn’t accounted for was the splitting migraine that besieged him, to the point where he felt light headed, leaning against the wall to regain whatever balance he could muster. A ringing exploded in his ears that, as far as he could make out from the volume, was screaming, but he couldn't make out from where it was coming from, looking in every direction in some vain attempt to locate the source. His expression wasn’t lost on his subordinates, the look expressed through their eyes was a silent language shared by those in this division, small body gestures let the others know that their commander was in need of medical attention. Gathering in formation, they lined themselves up in a circle around him, obscuring Tenma from sight as he was greeted by two senior officers.

“Sir, are you alright? Would you like us to contact the 4th Division for assistance?”

“It’s nothing, just a little tired. Call it stress from all of today's excitement. After the trial, things should start to slow down,” Tenma reassured them, taking a deep breath to compose himself.

“You’ve been running in every which way since before sir, you can’t run both divisions every waking moment. Why don’t you return to the barracks, even you need a break. We can handle the rest, and if your presence is required, we’ll contact you immediately.”

Tenma didn’t like the idea of having to push his work onto others, especially with the lack of leadership both companies had, but his subordinates were right, he wasn’t feeling well, and hadn’t been since the day of the training exercise with the young Kuchiki woman, Kurome. His nights were restless, he was lucky if he could get at least a few hours of sleep. He kept having the same dream for the past few weeks, and couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Snapping back to reality, if his condition was only going to get in the way of him upholding his responsibilities, it was worth getting this sorted out. Not wanting to look weak in the presence of his fellow officers, Tenma kept himself from showing any debilitation on his part, maintaining a stoic bravado as he left.

“Very well, if you all feel so strongly about it, I’ll take a breather at the barracks. At the first sign of trouble, don’t hesitate to contact me. I’ll be in my room.”

In the meantime, his job was done for the day and all but finished, with what little he did have to do easily accomplished by the senior officers in his absence. Sliding the door to the 5th Division building, he was greeted by the boisterous salute of his officers, Tenma giving them a gentle smile to greet them, heading to the Lieutenant's office to change clothes. His room was much larger in comparison to the traditional Shinigami, as this luxury was reserved exclusively to someone of his opposition. At first, Tenma felt overwhelmed by all his thoughts, having to constantly move from one place to another, the constant need to be in several places at once had begun to tire him, since he was in charge of supervising different jobs as he did the best that he could to juggle all the chaos in his life, as both a Shinigami and a high ranking officer in not one but two divisions. On top of finishing his project, it didn’t leave much room for him to simply relax and catch his breath, things only becoming more hectic since his promotion to Lieutenant broadened the scope of his jobs.

But he didn’t complain, if anything, he welcomed all the noise, it was something he had to get used to the higher he progressed in the Gotei 13. And it wasn’t until fairly recently that Tenma had begun to learn to adjust schedule. If he had an assistant of his own, it would no doubt help him by leaps and bounds. But he wasn’t going to fuss over something as small as that. Switching over to a more formal attire, Tenma removed his Shihakushō, gently folding it over to the side, switching into his jinbei sleep attire. It was the early afternoon, so he did find it a little strange to take a small nap around this time. But given his experience, he was going to take advantage of this moment. Before he could lay down, Tenma undid the Kidō he had weaved around his Zanpakutōs that obscured them from sight and masked their Reiatsu. The moment he did so, Tenma was bombarded by all manner of thoughts and words that rushed into his head, the sheer volume and speed that too much for him to process, the pressure alone felt head-splitting, falling down to his knees as he tried to make sense of it all, gripping his head with both hands as he groaned in agony.

“AGHH! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! UGH!” Dropping everything he was doing, covering his ears with his hands, Tenma looked in every direction possible, trying in vain to decipher the origin of the voice. Going so far as to knock his desk over in the frantic search. “Where! Where is it?”

“▄▄▂▂▄, ▅▅▃▄▄▅▅!” The voice roared, screaming in unintelligible words at the top of its lungs, the full brunt of the bloody cries echoing inside Tenma’s head, almost unbearable to handle.

“I can’t hear you?! Who are you?! WHERE ARE YOU?!” Gritting his teeth, Tenma was sure that he was the only one in the room. Wait, that isn’t true, it can't be Tenma thought, his glare shifting from the room to his Zanpakutō, much to his surprise and horror. The blades were vibrating, their Reiatsu flaring up, even if he couldn't make out what it was saying, it was all but evident it was wailing, no doubt the Zanpakutō spirit. The voice sounded like static, a half complete voice, difficult to hear and speaking only in half sentences. This only reminded him of what happened at the academy, how a voice whispered in his ear with all manner of violent thoughts about hurting Aya. It was only expounded further in the Human World when he was running experiments for the 12th Division, with Higanbana Onmyōkoi refusing to help him with the Adjuchas Hollow by not allowing him to use his Shikai. And again with Kurome's training drill, having to resort to using a fake release to fight at half its strength. The room was getting dark, his eyes barely able to stay open as his consciousness began to drift, falling to the floor, landing next to his Zanpakutōs. The only thing he could do now was close his eyes, push all the bad thoughts, the insecurities, to the back of his mind as he drifted off to sleep, slowly and gently letting his eyes close on the whole matter.