Shadow Reapers

(I'm still trying to think of some way I can deveate from the main story, bur nothing's coming to mind. You will have a chance to let your character run free once they get into Seireitei, since they'll all be split up into groups of two. Until then, I'll try to keep my posts as open as I can so anyone can jump in.)

Kukaku smiled. "Yeah, I can. It'll be difficult, and I love a challenge." She took a puff from a thin pipe she had been smoking during the conversation. "However, I'm only doing this because of Yoruichi. Even though I trust Yoruichi, I don't trust you kids." She got to her feet. "I'm going to have my little brother keep an eye on you all to make sure you don't try something."

She went over to one of the other sliding doors in the room and knocked. "Hey, are you ready?"

"Oh...J-Just a moment," a familiar male voice from the other side said.

"I'm opening the door now, so behave." She opened the door and on the other side was a man on his knees with his head lowered.

"How do you do? My name is Ganju Shiba. Pleased to meet you."

(I believe I said Ichidan's girlfriend's name was Raina, right? If you guys remember and it's not, let me know so I can edit my post. I'd really like to see what everyone thinks about Ganju being Kukaku's brother, so at least post their reaction to seeing him again if nothing else.)

As Renji made his way back to his squad's headquarters Aizen's words played back over and over in his head. The more he thought about it, the more Ichidan's punishment seemed strange, just as the captain had pointed out. But surely the Council had a good reason for it, otherwise such an execution wouldn't have been ordered in the first place.

"Renji!" He stopped at the sound of a woman's voice. He turned to see the owner of that voice running toward him. She was out of breath when she caught up to him, but she managed to stand straight nonetheless. She looked about the same age as Renji, with sky blue eyes and long black hair. Her hair had a sort of blue shine to it that could only be seen if the light reflected off of it just right.

"Raina..."

"I just found out about Ichidan," she told him.

Renji wasn't at all surprised the she had found out. Just as Aizen had said, the method of execution that was going to be used on Ichidan was usually reserved for those the level of captain. It's no surprise that word would soon spread.

"Yeah..." was all he could say.

"How could you do this to him!?" she demanded. "He's your friend! You two grew up together! You had to have known what they are going to do to him!"

"There wasn't anything I could do, Raina!" he shouted, matching the volume of his voice with her's. "I'm a vice-captain now. If I'm given an order I have to obey, even if it means bringing a friend to his death!"

"How can you say that!? You two are like brothers, and you would let him die because of some order!?"

"He knew what he got himself into when he committed his crimes! He transferred his Death God powers to a human, such a thing is forbidden. That same human, along with five companions, showed up yesterday and defeated Jidanbou! Because of Ichidan the very balance of Soul Society may be at risk. If that kid is still alive, there's no telling what kind of damage he may cause!"

"I know Ichidan, he wouldn't have done it without a good reason!" she told him.

"It doesn't matter! The Council made its decision, there's nothing anyone can do! As a Death God you know what'll happen if he isn't made an example of!"

Raina's head dropped, her hair falling in front of her face and hiding it. She was silent for a while, then whispered, "Yes Renji...I know." Tears began to drip from her face.

Renji knew he had said too much and wished he could take it back. "Raina, I'm sorry..."

"No, you're right, Renji. You're absolutely right. It's just..." She used her sleeve to dry some of her tears. "We were going to keep it a secret so we could surprise everyone."

"What are you talking about?" Renji asked.

"The day before Ichidan left for Earth he...he..." She lifted her head so she could look Renji in the eyes. "...he asked me to marry him."

Renji didn't know what to say. The news was so unexpected. He knew just how much Ichidan and Raina were into each other, but he never expected this. "Raina...I..."

"I know it's a lot to ask, Renji," she said, "but you're a vice-captain. Can't you do anything? Can't you appeal to the Council and try to change their minds?"

Renji suddenly found it difficult to look her in the eye. He had to look away when he said, "You know what my answer is going to be."

She nodded. "Yes...I suppose I do. I'm...sorry to have bothered you...you must be very busy." She began to walk away.

Before she left, Renji managed to say, "I'm sorry." She didn't respond, she just kept walking. For the first time in years, Renji felt utterly helpless.

(So, Raina is supposed to be Stella's second character. But, since she can't post as often as us I'd like Ayumi to control Raina when Stella's gone. Just to recap, Stella will control Raina, kitty15 will control Renji, and Ayumi will control another character that will be revealed at a later date. Is everyone okay with that? Also, Raina is a character I made up, so no pictures or wikipedia links for her.)

***And I've been out, tending to my poor physical health. And, yes, I did crack a rib and bruise two or three in the area around it, in the exact same place as last time. Talk about aggravated wounds...ugh...***



Audra

I glanced between Kukaku and Ganju. They were an odd pair; where she was obviously aggressive and very assertive, Ganju seemed timid.

"Um..." I started, addressing them both. "Thank you. For helping us." Kukaku looked at me, still cocking that eyebrow. I continued. "I know it must be a hassle, wasting your time for us. But it means a lot; it really does."

"Whatever." She gestured for Ganju to stand and come out of the room.



***All I had...***

(Not quite the reaction I was expecting. You do know Ganju is the guy Kai was fighting the night before, right?)

Ganju got his first look at everyone once he was at his feet. That's when he saw Kai. There was a moment of silence in the room as they stared at each other.

Ganju pointed at Kai with a mixture of surprise and anger. "You're that Death God from last night! What the hell are you doing here!?"

"Me!?" Kai shouted back. "What are you doing here!?"

Kukaku looked from Kai to Ganju. She seemed just a little too calm when she asked, "You two know each other?"

"You couldn't wait until tonight so you came to my home to fight me! That's it, isn't it!?"

"Idiot! That's not why I'm here! I didn't even know you lived here!"

"Liar! If it's a fight you want, you'll get one!" Ganju rushed up to Kai, his hand already balled up into a fist. Kai moved out of the way and kicked the man in the stomach, knocking him back a few steps. Kai then rushed in to throw his own punch. Ganju lifted his arm in time to block it and cracked Kai in the face. The two of them continued to duke it out. The fight moved into the next room over when Ganju tackled Kai through the thin paper wall.

(If you guys don't know what to post, try to get your characters to intervine. Try to break up the fight. Just a suggestion since you guys said you've been having trouble thinking of what to post lately.)

2

Post guys.

We know Dynamo, there's no need to remind us. I'll post either tomorrow or Monday.

All right. As long as you know. I was just worried you guys might have forgotten, that's all. It has been three days since someone other than myself has posted. When no one posts for more than two days I tend to get a little anxious. It's just the way I am.

You probably already read my PM, but the VG Rumble site is finished. As soon as I finish up one of my assignments I'll get the storybook up and running.

Yeah, I've only had a quick look at the site so far but I'll check it out again later.

And seriously Dynamo, three days isn't a long time to wait for a post when there's so few members in the storybook. On the site I used to RP on, this would have been considered to be absurdly active XD

I'll try to keep that in mind...

Kestrel

It was embarrassing to watch Kai fight with Ganju so Kestrel decided instead to politely direct her eyes to the floor and sighs of exasperation seemed to weave through the air until the fight came suddenly to a halt.

"Stop fighting!" Kukaku had shouted, springing to her feet in one fluid movement that reminded Kes of a sword being drawn. She cut between the two with just a single step, Kai backing off with what Kestrel would have liked to consider a belated respect for the owner of the house and Ganju looked meek and scared.

"Yes Kukaku," Ganju said quickly, his eyes still burning with hatred for Kai but his temper withdrew again and he bowed his head a little. Kestrel smiled, glad to see it has been resolved but then astonished as Kukaku hit Ganju on the head. Was that what Yoruichi meant when he warned of her temper? She proceeded to shout for a short while about the damage to her house and then sent Ganju packing with a sharp kick and some hissed commands that Kestrel's brain was too surprised to take in.

Everyone watched as Kukaku continued to beat up on her younger brother. They were partly amazed and partly shocked at her short temper. She saw everyone looking and, in the heat of her anger, yelled, "What are you all looking at!?"

Audra, Kestrel, Stella and Ishida spoke in chorus when they answered, "Nothing!"

She then turned to Kai, who was rubbing his cheek where Ganju had punched him. He simply froze as Kukaku walked toward him. He didn't know what it was, the murderous look in her eyes, her angry stride. Whatever he saw, it made his body shiver with fear.

Kukaku grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and held him mere inches away from her face. She stared into his eyes and said, "Listen, brat. This is my house! If you can't behave yourself, then I'll kick you out of here myself. Got it!?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am..."

She smiled, and all her anger seemed to wash away. Her voice was suddenly friendly when she said, "Okay, as long as you understand." She let go of his collar and stepped away towards the door.

Kai suddenly fell to his knees and let out a breath he never remembered holding. It took him a few moments to collect himself before whispering to Ganju, who was laying face down on the floor beside him, "You're sister is really something else..."

"I know."

When Kukaku made it to the door, she said, "All right. Everyone, stand!" Both Kai and Ganju sprang to their feet, obviously still afraid of what she might do to them if they went out of line again. She turned to her guard and said, "Koganehiko, go outside with Shiroganehiko and start the preparations."

"Yes, Master Shiba!" The large man proceded back up the stairs to meet up with his counterpart.

"The rest of you, be quiet and follow me."

*backsies! Boy, this has been an interesting two weeks. In Austria skiing for a week, and then five days in mini med school . A lot of fun, tiring though. Yay for long weekends!

Seriously, Ayumi, whenever you're on you seem to have a new concussion or injury. What do you DO in your free time?*

Stella-

I folded my arms and stumped out of the room after the rest of them. "What's wrong?" Audra asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Seriously, all we seem to do all day is watch Kai get into fights. I thought we were supposed to be helping Ichidan."

"We are," she said defensively. I sighed. It wasn't worth getting into a fight with her over. Well, anything's worth getting into a fight. It's making up after the fight that's the bad bit.

"Nothing," I said, waving her away. "Just me being cynical, I guess."

"Kai is helping Ichidan," she continued anyway.

"But I thought it was supposed to be all of us. And actively helping, not doing all..." I gestured to our surroundings. "This." I shrugged. "I just don't see how any of this is helping. And I know it seems like we have loads of time, but we don't even have a plan for once we're in."

"We need to get in first!" Audra said loudly, and our guide shushed us, so we lowered our voices.

"This can't be the only way to do it," I said.

"Don't be ridiculous, I think Yoruichi would know. Or do you distrust him as well as Kai?" she hissed.

I opened my mouth to retaliate, but we seemed to have reached our destination.

*there's some conflict to keep us entertained while the whole main shebang goes on.*

(Welcome back.)

"This is it," kukaku said when they arrived in front of a steel door. "Ganju, open it."

"Right." Ganju grabbed the door's handle. With one strong heave, he flung open the door. The room on the other side of the door was gigantic and almost pitch black. In the center was a colossal cylinder on a platform. The cylinder extended all the way up into the darkness. There was no doubt that it was the base of the smokestack they had seen outside.

"What is that thing?" Kai asked.

"That's a pretty big fireplace you've got there," Stella commented.

"It's not a fireplace, it's a cannon," Kukaku said. "But more specifically, it's your way into Seireitei."

(Okay, serious talk for a moment. Is it really becoming a chore for everyone to post in this storybook? Let's take a vote. Who thinks this storybook can still be redeemed or if it's just a lost cause?)

I don't know. It's not as fun as it was admittedly.