PLAYER
13th Division - Vice Captain
"Enjoy yourself while you can."
Yoshinori Okamoto
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Post by Yoshinori Okamoto on Apr 4, 2022 1:32:08 GMT -5
To Rekka's half joking statement pertaining to whether or not the raven haired Shinigami could become Hyakuji's Vice-Captain before him, Yoshinori only offered a nonchalant shrug. "If you wish to take the spot ahead of me, feel free. I certainly won't feel a type of way about it. But as you said, you would need to take the position for the reason that I'm moving to do so. Hyakuji is a noble enough man, I suppose. But every powerful person needs a balance. Or multiple balances. It is easy to claim to be a support beam, but it is a different matter to stand up to the commander when there is a call made that you do not believe is in the best interest of the whole." Turning his eyes once more towards the window, Yoshinori allowed a low hum to rumble in his throat. To him, it would be a burden off his shoulders if Rekka were to rise to the occasion. Becoming a Vice-Captain in itself was already a commitment. To become the First Division Vice-Captain was another matter altogether. Yoshinori's own reluctance to take the position was only matched by a desire to ensure a pleasant future for Soul Society, as well as the dimensions it was connected to. However, he wasn't married to the concept of becoming the First Division Vice-Captain. "Either way, I'm not competing with you for it. You want it, I'll step aside. But do it for the right reasons." He said, a low sigh escaping him. Then, as Rekka shifted the topic slightly, Yoshinori met the statement with yet another shrug. He seemed to like doing that. "It depends, really. I have no hard criteria for it. The circumstance will dictate the decision, I'm sure." The silver haired man seemed purposely cryptic, not committing to any type of explanation for whatever he meant by 'no criteria'. Did he truly have no baseline to set his expectations for Hyakuji on? How bizarre. "I trust he and I will both know the moment our paths diverge." Yoshinori finished, having finally found an answer that seemed to please him, even if it provided no more clarity than anything else he had asserted to within these past few seconds. Then, just as Yoshinori was thinking about settling into silence for the time being, a thought came to mind. A thought that soon gained a solid voice, borne from a desire to satiate his own curiosity. "Why do you follow Hyakuji?"Post Count: 8 | Hageshi Rekka |
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Post by Hageshi Rekka on Apr 4, 2022 7:23:05 GMT -5
So Yoshinori actually took it seriously, huh. Rekka had intended for his offer to be Hyakuji's Vice-Captain to be a whole joke, instead of merely a half one. And he was about to clarify it, but the silver-haired man continued on.
"Wait wait wait! That was a joke! There's no way I could handle that much workload anyway!" Rekka frantically waved his hands before him.
Finally, the other man seemed to take the hint and switched topics, indicating that he seemingly had no idea what concrete events would lead to him and Hyakuji's paths diverging. Yoshinori seemed to be content to let whatever future circumstances dictate that, since he believed that he'd know when the time would come.
"Why do you follow Hyakuji?"
That question appeared to come out of everywhere and nowhere at the same time, causing Rekka's scarlet eyes to widen in surprise. He was silent for a few moments, having to stop and think exactly why he followed his Senpai. Then finally, he spoke.
"When I was first appointed as the Ninth Division's Third Seat, I wasn't really into it. Sure, Iroh gave me a reason to be a Shinigami, but I didn't feel like being an officer. So all I did during my early days was laze around in my room playing games and torching the butts of anyone who tried to stop me. Until the day I couldn't torch the butt of one uncultured Harem Protag with a stick up it.
I lost, pretty badly. Then I realized. I wanted to be someone like that. Someone who didn't just have power, but a purpose to back it up as well. Someone whose real power was making people want to be better for him. So I worked hard to improve myself. When I get outta here tomorrow, I'm gonna fix up the old Third Seat Office. Also, I'll be getting my own unit, and I hope that I can be to them what Senpai was for me."
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PLAYER
13th Division - Vice Captain
"Enjoy yourself while you can."
Yoshinori Okamoto
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Post by Yoshinori Okamoto on Apr 11, 2022 11:04:48 GMT -5
Yoshinori seemed to offer very little on the topic of Rekka's jest towards pursuing a First Division Vice-Captainship. Yoshinori couldn't blame him. It was a lot of work. While Yoshinori had never been a Vice-Captain himself, his stint as Commander of the Detention Unit certainly brought along its own share of paper work, monitoring and behind the scenes shadow work. Couple that with in the field operations and you're bound to be quite the busy bee. However, what truly captivated him was Rekka's explanation as to his own transformation from career deviant to wishing to model himself from Hyakuji's example. A low hum escaped the silver haired gentleman at that, crossing his arms over his chest. Thankfully, Yoshinori chose to mentally block out the reference to Hyakuji as an "Uncultured Harem Protagonist", in favor of the greater picture. Eventually, Yoshinori offered a simple nod. "Iroh Tsukishima is the definition of heart as a Shinigami. Earnestness, and service. Unfortunately, I only came to realize that once he was already dead." Yoshinori released a gentle exhale at that. It seemed that lurking below the surface, Yoshinori had his own history with the deceased Tenth Division Third Seat. "I will be brutally honest with you. After the mission to New York, I considered you reckless. I still do, to a degree. However, you have a set of qualities about you that make the vital difference when it comes to a Shinigami. You have a desire to continuously work on yourself. A desire to learn, without the stubbornness of one who believes they know all there is to know. It is much more common than you think, especially amongst peers who have lived centuries upon centuries."His emerald eyes settling upon Rekka, Yoshinori moved to continue, "We defend, and protect. Maintain that purpose about you, and try not to waver from it. If you manage to do that, you will be far more principled than most. That is all I can ask for in a being with power."Waving his hand to the side, Yoshinori asked one more question, "In the end, what is it you want? What is your end goal?"Post Count: 9 | Hageshi Rekka |
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Post by Hageshi Rekka on Apr 11, 2022 20:57:19 GMT -5
Taking the cue from a snippet of the conversation, Yoshinori brought up his opinion on the late Iroh Tsukishima, causing Rekka to feel an ever so subtle tightening in his chest. Reminiscing on how his friend used to conduct himself all the way until his death, the scarlet-eyed youth spoke.
"Yeah, Iroh really was like that. Being an officer suited him more than it did me. He was a Shinigami for all the right reasons."
The silver-haired man's opinion of his counterpart, however, probably would have hurt more if said counterpart cared more what others thought of him.
"I will be brutally honest with you. After the mission to New York, I considered you reckless. I still do, to a degree. However, you have a set of qualities about you that make the vital difference when it comes to a Shinigami. You have a desire to continuously work on yourself. A desire to learn, without the stubbornness of one who believes they know all there is to know. It is much more common than you think, especially amongst peers who have lived centuries upon centuries."
Scratch that. It was as generous a statement as possible for the current Hageshi Rekka. And while it wasn't what most people would notice, it was something subconscious to the fiery Shinigami. As long as humanity continued to progress, so would he.
Once more, Yoshinori emphasized their race's duty to defend and protect, a reiteration of what Iroh had inspired within the boy he saved from Academy expulsion so long ago.
"In the end, what is it you want? What is your end goal?"
"You said so yourself, Yoshi-san. The duty of a Shinigami is to defend and protect. As for me, the Living World and the people in it are very beautiful and important. I want to preserve the Living World so all can enjoy its wonders for generations to come. My end goal, as you say, is a bit more radical.
As you can see, the conflicts between the spiritual races often turn the Living World into an unwilling battlefield. Not all combatants in it are as generous as to ensure that no mortals get hurt in the crossfire. And obviously, we nor the humans can't enjoy the Living World if that keeps happening. But Senpai plans to create a universe where all live in peace. I haven't asked him how he'll accomplish that, but I'll go along with however he plans to."
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PLAYER
13th Division - Vice Captain
"Enjoy yourself while you can."
Yoshinori Okamoto
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Post by Yoshinori Okamoto on Apr 19, 2022 15:02:02 GMT -5
The answer seemed to please Yoshinori somewhat. That much was immediately clear. The tugging of a smile crept upon his features, causing an immediate dip of his head forward to hide it. Then, a low chuckle followed. "For someone whose motivation was another, you certainly are taking on his mission and taking it to heart. I commend you." The silver haired man praised. Closing his eyes, Yoshinori extended his right hand, a sudden surge of teal-colored Kido spawning forth from his palm. Seemingly taking a break from conversation, the Third Seat formed a small box made of Kido, in the shape of a perfectly geometrical model of a rectangle. However, just as soon as he conjured the box, he banished from sight, the box warping away, as if transported by the Kido Specialist himself. His brows furrowing with concentration, Yoshinori maintained his silence for almost two minutes before the box returned to his hand, teleported into existence once more. Yet, this time, the box wasn't empty. It held his smoking pipe within. The Kido rectangle beginning to break apart and vanish, Yoshinori swiped up his smoking pipe with perhaps worrying haste. Moving towards the nearby window, Yoshinori sat in a chair positioned close by, his lighter already ablaze as he held the flame underneath the pipe. Trying to keep himself as close to the window as possible, Yoshinori exhaled the first plume of smoke that he had permitted himself to have in...not that long. Maybe his addiction was truly that rampant. It probably was. "You're alright, Rekka. Strange beyond any comparison, surely. But alright. You're becoming a Shinigami that I can throw my support behind. Hopefully you can inspire your delinquent friends to do the same. Had the demons not interrupted our hunt, I would have surely moved to send them home after the first wave of marauding Hollows were defeated." He revealed, his words accentuated by puffs of tobacco smoke. Eyes settling on Rekka once more, Yoshinori leaned forward more in his chair. "If you can change, former leader of whatever you near-dropouts called yourselves...then so can they. They need to, at any rate. There's nothing cool about being left back for several centuries."Post Count: 10 | Hageshi Rekka |
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Post by Hageshi Rekka on Apr 20, 2022 5:50:52 GMT -5
"Uh, thanks. It means a lot." Rekka said, seemingly not used to praise. Then right after saying that, Yoshinori turned his attention to casting some kind of Kido spell, which was almost certainly a utility of some kind. After all, the situation lent itself neither to attacking nor binding, and the fellow Third Seat almost certainly wouldn't attempt to heal his hospitalized counterpart at this late stage. Instead, Rekka contented himself with watching Yoshinori cast, the awe evident on the younger man's face.
Then, after more than two minutes, the silver-haired man finally managed to summon his smoking pipe, which without a doubt had been confiscated upon entry to the hospital. Its owner promptly moved to the window and took a smoke with great relief. And fortunately for Rekka, the inevitable results of his fire-attribute release gave him a great level of resistance to smoke via repeated exposure.
"That's quite the cool spell!" Rekka said. "I usually need prepared cards to cast things like that. Of course, it explains the mechanical aspect of why characters with stats can only cast each spell a certain number of times in battle threads, but anyway that was cool! Can you, like, teach me that so I can reclaim my phones from Senpai whenever he takes them?"
"You're alright, Rekka. Strange beyond any comparison, surely. But alright. You're becoming a Shinigami that I can throw my support behind. Hopefully you can inspire your delinquent friends to do the same. Had the demons not interrupted our hunt, I would have surely moved to send them home after the first wave of marauding Hollows were defeated."
"If you can change, former leader of whatever you near-dropouts called yourselves...then so can they. They need to, at any rate. There's nothing cool about being left back for several centuries."
"There's...a lot to be said about that, huh," said Rekka, once more contemplating. "While a closer look at the records says they weren't, in fact, suspended for the several centuries most people think they were... wait, come to think of it, there's clearly something or someone messing with our perceptions because nobody can really agree about how long they've been in the Academy or what things they've been up to. But anyway, from what I know of my friends, they aren't bad people at heart. They just do a lot of weird stuff by accident, such as...huh, I can't remember any of them. I wonder why."
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PLAYER
13th Division - Vice Captain
"Enjoy yourself while you can."
Yoshinori Okamoto
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Post by Yoshinori Okamoto on Apr 24, 2022 11:58:03 GMT -5
To Rekka's expression of gratitude, Yoshinori offered simply a nod of acknowledgement, saying no more on the subject. Naturally, the conversation then shifted to the elephant in the room: The silver haired Shinigami's display of Kido in order to satisfy his vice. Yoshinori expected some sort of commentary on it, but not on the subject of the spell he utilized. Instead, he figured that comments would come in the form of his inability to even hold a conversation without smoking. It was certainly what the Eighth Division Third Seat thought about himself. To Rekka's exclamation regarding his use of Kido, however, Yoshinori punctuated his response with a smoke laden exhale, "It's a difficult technique to maneuver. Hako Okuri (Farewell Box). Part of it involves the technique and control to create a barrier big enough to shape around the object transporting. Then, it is to transport it. You would require a somewhat clear idea of where it is going, or else it will not work. You cannot send it somewhere if you do not now where that somewhere is, afterall. Another aspect is keeping the shape of the barrier in transit, both ways. A lapse in concentration can be disastrous, especially if you're transporting people. The barrier is what keeps the interior safe. It is extremely technical, and very difficult to accomplish. But, if you wish, I'll teach you sometime." If Yoshinori had any qualms regarding the reasoning behind Rekka's sudden desire to learn the Kido spell, then he did not show it. Afterall, didn't he just use it to reclaim a confiscated item? With the matter of the Kido ability explained, Yoshinori fell silent as Rekka moved onto the Amanto Kujaku Gang. His speculation as to why the gang wasn't all that well renown was centered around some form of mental manipulation, or perception manipulation. Closing his eyes, Yoshinori banished the motion with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Shino Academy is a big place, with classes aplenty and social groups are many. It is quite possible that your friends are simply not as popular as you consider. I graduated from the Academy more than a century ago, and have never heard of them. Yet that can be as simple as we were not in the same social group. In such large spaces, it is completely possible. I did not concern myself with fools anyway. And I do not consider them bad people, but I believe that if you are spending a century being aimless but connecting yourself to being a Shinigami Student just to fit into a routine, you shouldn't waste your own time. Hollow Hunt field trips lose their glamour when you repeat it every year." Crossing his arms over his chest, his emerald eyes regarded Rekka calmly. "On that note, I wish to ask you a question."Post Count: 11 | Hageshi Rekka |
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Post by Hageshi Rekka on Apr 24, 2022 22:37:24 GMT -5
Listening to Yoshinori's explanation of how his summoning spell worked, Rekka simultaneously attempted to develop a method in his head for making the spell work with only his prepared talismans.
"If we marked and connected the item we wanted to summon with another item to serve as an endpoint... hmmmmm, I wonder if it could be done by activating the barrier remotely and making it home onto the endpoint. Of course, I'd have to learn how to make the barrier first so thanks for offering to teach me."
Then the topic moved forward, this time to discuss the mess that was the Amanto Kujaku Gang. Rekka's own theory of some spiritual ability being used to obfuscate everyone's memories and perceptions of his old friends was quickly rebutted by the other man, who proposed a more mundane explanation, being that the large population and varied social groups of the Academy were the cause of the matter. To Rekka, this would have made a good explanation for how this could happen in the Living World, but that a mundane (extraordinary from his perspective) thing could happen in the extraordinary (mundane from his perspective) Soul Society was a shock even for him. If he were a normal human from a normal school on Earth, this was the equivalent of finding ghosts or aliens or a secret underground facility on the school premises.
"Living World phenomena? Here? In Soul Society? How? How fascinating! And you say it happens all the time? And to us, even?" Rekka could not contain his excitement. "It's like how humans heat bathwater with electricity instead of Reiryoku! Come to think of it, does the Captain-Commander heat his bathwater with his Shikai?"
Yoshinori continued, however, saying the gang shouldn't waste their time in the Academy. But Rekka had an answer.
"They could've quit anytime they wanted to. But for various reasons, they've been pushing themselves to graduate, even if something always happens to prevent them from doing so."
"On that note, I wish to ask you a question."
"Okay, what is it?"
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PLAYER
13th Division - Vice Captain
"Enjoy yourself while you can."
Yoshinori Okamoto
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Post by Yoshinori Okamoto on May 1, 2022 13:21:30 GMT -5
"It's like how humans heat bathwater with electricity instead of Reiryoku! Come to think of it, does the Captain-Commander heat his bathwater with his Shikai?"Yoshinori couldn't help but release a smoke laden sigh at the Third Seat's words. For all his heart and enthusiasm, the Shinigami still reflected the persona of one much younger than Rekka was. Or, perhaps it would be more fitting to say that Rekka's personality befit that of a human teenager, not even that of a young, Soul Society born Soul. While the Plus children of Yoshinori's day were much different than Rekka's own personality, the eccentricities they sometimes reflected reminded the silver haired Shinigami of his own youth, some two hundred years ago. Now I sound like an old man.Taking a deep draw from his pipe, the dark skinned man released a prolonged exhale, tobacco smoke billowing from his lungs. A low hum rumbled deep within his throat as he considered his next words. Finally, he opened his mouth to speak. "The Amanto Kujaku Gang acted with a reckless abandon during battle that quite possibly could have done some serious damage to the surrounding area of New York City if left unchecked. In that regard, I'm quite pleased that Hyakuji and I chose to entrap them in a barrier until their unexpected return to Soul Society. Their strength is considerable, on par with a Senior Seated Officer of any Division to be sure. But their combat etiquette can easily turn them into being a burden on squad tactics. After all, a berserker can only stand alone on the battlefield." Not wishing to linger on the subject, Yoshinori was quick to move on. He did have a question for the man after all, one that did not involve ragging on his once friends. "In two weeks time, I will be embarking on a mission within Alexandria, Egypt. A group of Twelfth Division Researchers will be transporting materials geared towards increasing our Denreishinki (Soul Pager)'s ability to detect Hollow activity. In order to do so, I must secure the area and ensure no harm comes to the Researchers while they set up the equipment, and that no one infiltrates Soul Society via the open Senkaimon Gate during the duration." He shook his head, as if trying to convince himself that this was a good idea while he was speaking, "I require assistance. If you will be well by that point, would you like to join me in such an endeavor? It shouldn't be too hazardous, I'm believing. However, I am a cautious man." There, he said it. It was in the air, and now all Yoshinori needed to do was sit tight and await Rekka's response. Post Count: 12 | Hageshi Rekka
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Post by Hageshi Rekka on May 1, 2022 19:48:53 GMT -5
"But their combat etiquette can easily turn them into being a burden on squad tactics. After all, a berserker can only stand alone on the battlefield."
"And you can't always just have a Berserker charge straight into the enemy and expect to get very far. Even if Hercules with his Bond CE can literally solo the final boss of Part 1." Rekka continued the silver-haired man's words, albeit twisted by gaming mechanics. "I'll have to read up on squad tactics though."
"In two weeks time, I will be embarking on a mission within Alexandria, Egypt. A group of Twelfth Division Researchers will be transporting materials geared towards increasing our Denreishinki (Soul Pager)'s ability to detect Hollow activity. In order to do so, I must secure the area and ensure no harm comes to the Researchers while they set up the equipment, and that no one infiltrates Soul Society via the open Senkaimon Gate during the duration."
Rekka figured that this was likely an invitation. After all, visible to him and him alone, a golden exclamation mark was hovering over Yoshinori's head. He turned his head at Yoshinori and hummed at a somewhat higher pitch, encouraging him to go on.
"I require assistance. If you will be well by that point, would you like to join me in such an endeavor? It shouldn't be too hazardous, I'm believing. However, I am a cautious man."
"I'll do it of course." the scarlet-eyed reaper answered. "Something always happens during those kinda things, and you can't have too much backup."
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