Along the PRELUDE

**Date Started:** 29 December, 2021
**Date Completed:** Ongoing
**Next Role-Play**: N/A
**Users Involved:** User:PuddingCups, User:Ash9876, User:DazzlingEmerald, User:EmperorSigma, User:Mr.Zeno999, User:Duck Dominator, User:Sir Ice Man, User:Sekiro of the mist, User:Nearó Unlimited,
**Setting:** Seireitei,
**Characters Involved**: Kihana Mine, Xiǎng-Fēng, Kagami Kuchiki, Yuichi Yamakage, Genichiro Sakai, Machi Kuro, Orōrō Orō, Ryujin Suiiki, Aya Tachibana

## Fragments of EXTINCTION

On the same day as the meeting hosted by Captain-Commander Tsunayoshi Nishikawa, another meeting, this one held in the Ninth Division barracks, was hosted by Lt. Orōrō Orō. This one, exclusively for the Lieutenants of Gotei 13, though it was expected that not all would show up, for some of them had business in the *bigger* of the two meetings taking place on the day. Nevertheless, Orō was present, in high spirits, and looking to raise the spirits of the younger officers. Tensions were high in Gotei 13, not only due to the quick drafting and dwindling numbers of the officers, but also due to the challenge posed by those of the Beast Realm. The old man was seated at his position, waiting for others to arrive.

"What are you doing there little youngster, you lost?"

"You idiot that's the lieutenant of the tenth division, start paying attention to other divisions beside ours, dumbass"

The sounds of two shinigami beginging to argue was quickly quelled followed by a soft thud then silence. With it the large doors leading into the meeting area poked open and a white haired boy walked in. The young man was none other than the tenth divisions lieutenant Ryujin Suiiki he walked in with his usual cold expression, those focused silver eyes looking straight forward

Suiiki walked over to Oro, to tell the truth he wasn't in the best of moods. He had just finished waves of paperwork for the week by himself thanks to his captain not doing it normally anyways, but this was also his usual training time that and togashi told him to come here rather than accompany him to the captain meeting

"Suiiki of the tenth, you have my thanks for inviting me to this event" suiiki didn't even know what to make of the man, his appearance was odd but he was an elder to suiiki so he tried to show respect.

“Ah! Good morning, Lt. Suiiki,” Orō greeted the fellow Lieutenant, “I hope the day finds you well, even though I know it probably quite has not. Captain Hiramochi had you buried in paperwork, did he not? I have another question for you, actually. How has jail treated you? Feel free to not answer if you do not feel like it. Please, seat yourself. We will have refreshments soon enough.”

The comment was absurd to suiiki it was disgraceful. A couple of seconds after the elder asked about the prison a tiny shadow dagger flew past his face it wasn't ment to hurt or even come close but suiiki wasn't going to take the comment lightly.

"There was no jail, only the endless torture I was subjected to. Are all in the ninth this blunt or disrespectful. Suiiki wasn't normally like this. Even the piles of papers he had to die witch he admits he doesn't like doing by still does doesn't get him in this mood the torture chamber of the second division didn't do this either honestly it just aimed up to one thing, the unpredictablity of teenage mood swings.

Taking a seat Suiiki noticed he was the only one for the time being, that and the seat was quit comfortable.
"Price payed in pain, bottled up in the halls of torture. Counting vast seconds till the end." Suiiki stated a haiku about the prison. Showing he wasn't in such a bad mood that the habit didn't show.

Orō sat back, “Nice poem, I guess. I do not know. There is a word for that kind of poem, I guess. I do not know. I meant no disrespect with my question. It just seemed like a good ice-breaker. I honestly had no idea that it was, well, *that* bad. Apologies. I *am* blunt. I guess I am at an age where I just do not care and have no filter. Once again, apologies.”

"Old men really don't know how to keep their mouths shut, do they?" A youthful man appeared onto the room seemingly out of nowhere. Long black hair tied into a neat ponytail while spiked at the front, and a Shihakushō which was open enough to reveal the *keisen shōzoku* underneath. Lieutenant of the Second Division, Xiǎng-Fēng, in charge of maintaining a decent public image of his Captain...which he wasn't doing a particularly good job at.

He eyed Suiiki for a moment, trying to understand what had occurred between him and Kamui to cause such a big fuss, but shook his head instead. He put a finger over his mouth and quietly said to himself, "I should probably leave it be...We don't need a fight in the meeting..."

He took his seat, fidgeting with his hands as he waited for the other Lieutenants to make their way.

Orō uttered a devilish cackle, “We really do not! Oh, lookie who we have here! A prestigious Fēng! You, and Lt. Kuchiki, and Lt. Yamakage will really class things up. Then, I, the old fool, can shut up.”

Arriving at the scene were two shinigami one was the 7th division lieutenant, Genichiro Sakai alongside the lieutenant of the 11th division Kenzo Shinzui. "Let's get this meeting over with so I can resume my nap" Genichiro said yawing. "I assume you have a good reason to call me here" Kenzo spoke to Orō.

(Why can't I ever get away from nobles, *have you ever considered you are one Ryujin* quiet kurayami) Suiiki has a brief comment about the listing of great noble house names. Inside his mind But he also began to speed solve the rubix cube he picked up one time in the world of the living.

Wood clacked cross the floor, like the hooves of a beast. Yet, the wood nor the sound did not belong to a beast at all. Simply the strange shoes of an illustrious maiden. The black skirt of the Shinigami's flowed alongside her legs as she walked, slowly but surely into the room where several other death gods, sharing her rank, had already found themselves at home. She didn't consider herself late, everyone else had just been early. Must be. As the doors opened slightly, a sliver of light revealed the dark-skinned girl to be no other than Kihana Mine of the First Division.

"Bickering children." She commented, her voice was calm but stern enough to command both attention and respect. "Even those of you with wrinkles on your face and nothing but time under your belts." The woman held her face down, refusing to look them in the eyes. Her shoes continued to clack against the floor, that irritable sound echoing through the meeting hall. "You should all be ashamed. If I were in your shoes..." Kihana chuckled slightly, laughing at her pun before finally looking up, her face now revealed to those standing before her. "I would be embarrassed."

Kihana was in the first division after all. She held a higher standard for both herself and the soul society. That is the reason she disliked coming to these meetings and seeing those that bring nothing but shame to the Soul Society. Still, they were her same rank and that title alone commanded respect. But commands must be met with accomplishments and respect can be commanded all day, but earning it is rare. Something very few in the room had managed to do in Kihana's eyes.

Entering the room just thereafter was another set of strange sounds, not one with same grace as that of the previous entry or the bickering jammer of the others before her. No this one was metallic in nature, evident by the sound of pressure plates echoing throughout the room with each step it took. Yet once inside the room however, the attention would perhaps less be centered around its feet as that of its singular yellow eye spewing forth from behind the messy black hair it so faintly hid behind.

While its body was seemingly made out of naughy but bolts and scraps of metal, the way the wood beneath its feet would creak and slightly sink into its every step - suggesting that the robotic figure was heavier that what it appeared to be. It did not even wear any of the typical black garnments that was otherwise worn by the other people in the vicinity. Just a metallic, black and grey exterior in the crude depiction of a man.

It didn't say anything as it first entered and approached the other Lieutenants, instead continuing its approach until stopping at the edge of the table. Only to raise its hand, revealing a small devices in the palm of its hand before pressing a Button at it'd side. Doing so would light up a blue holographic image of Yoshino Jūsuke, the Lieutenant of the 12th Division, depiction her image from head-to-toe in a size not much larger than an ordinary doll.

"Lieutenants of the Gotei 13, apologies for the inconvenience but I will not attending this assembly as I've been requested elsewhere at this time. Instead, my assistant Samasu Jū will be acting as my proxy. End of message."

And with that, the image faded and the robotic figure lowered its arm again. Standing in place as its head began to shift to look at one Lieutenant after the other, all for the same amount of time as if to familiarize itself with the ones present.

"Insufficient. Lieutenants. Present. Standing by until further notice." And with that, Samasu took its position to where Yoshiro would've otherwise been sitting. Choosing to stand next to her seat rather than to occupy it, before ceasing all functions with the exception of its ever glowing eye staring into the center of the table.

Outside, there was rapid thudding noises, each echoing in unison. It was if hundreds of stage lights had turned on, as the area outside the barracks seemed to be brimming with spinning, multicolored spotlights, flashing in disarray. In front of the door, was the silouhette of a man, surrounded by the bright lights, which had begun pointing at the door, inevitably also lighting up the room like a flashbang.

"Ohhhh~ my~." Came a flamboyant, energetic voice from the shadowy figure, standing poised like a magazine model while bathing in the brilliant lights, which slowly began to die down, dimming in volume and power. Once the light had completely vanished, Machi Kuro stood still, dressed in a deep purple trenchcoat, which was opened in the front, outlined with gold etching. He wore white robes, differing from the usual black of the Shinigami, and had donned a purple hat, which seemed to have fused with his hair.

"Im sorry everyone, but this dull meeting desired a dramatic entrance." Machi said, flicking his left hand outwards, maintaining the exaggerated pose. His eyes darted to each other being in the room, as he slowly entered the room, each step being taken as if he were on a runway during a fashion show. His face had a sterm glare plastered on it, which seemed to highly contrast his personality.

"Just waiting for the meeting to sta~rt, Feel free to gaze at me gentlemen~" He finished, walking to a wall right beside the entrance, and propping himself up against it.

Arriving a bit late, through the doors of what had become their meeting hall, Yuichi Yamakage appeared in all of his glory. Originally, he intended to not attend this meeting of lieutenants conbsidering there was no reason for them to meet. He wanted to return to the Sixth Division barracks and simply await the return of his Captain so that she could relay all new information to him and they could react accordingly to whatever it was that was going to be neeed.

Even without being told anything, Yuichi was aware that there had to have been something going on for Tsunayoshi to not only personally request information from Kurome and himself. Especially something regardinging *that*. He looked upon the meeting hall and noticed that most of the lieutenants were present.

He took a position against a nearby wall and immediately noticed the lieutenant of the Second Division. "Good to see that everyone is here." He said to himself, waiting for things to unfold.

Another pair of Lieutenants came to attend the meeting. Aya Tachibana, who alongside Genichiro, served as the co-lieutenant of the Seventh Division, and Kagami Kuchiki, Lieutenant of the Fifth Division and Vice Chief of the Kido Corps, whose presence was the most surprising of them all. Kagami wore a faint smile on his face as he looked about the room.

Aya, on the other hand, had only a single purpose for attending this event. She rested her sealed Zanpakuto on her shoulder and marched towards Genichiro. "What's with that look on your face, you idiot? Didn't you hear?" Her eyes fell upon her Co-Lieutenant. "The Captain has called us for an urgent mission. So wipe that sleepy look you're wearing and let's get a move on. You know the Captain doesn't like to be kept waiting. If we're late he's just going to leave us behind!"

“Attention, everyone!” Orō spoke, suddenly dropping his usually jovial tone for a much more serious one.

“This meeting has been organized for numerous purposes. You see, ever since the Head-Captain's rise to the Head-Captainship, we have been focusing more on the individualistic departmental issues, and until the loss of my chance at Captainship of the Ninth Division, I have been a tad bit less focused on the goings of the First Division, and more focused on my own duties as the Lieutenant. I hate being left out of the loop, though, so I ask those with the knowledge of the First Division meeting going on right now… come forward and enlighten the rest of us.”

Orō turned to the Lieutenant of the First Division, and spoke, “I suggest you could start?”