Bleach Hereafter RPG

"First candidate, enter."

Leonina had since taken the head seat at the table, with Rekka and Ran on either side of her.

"We're not actually interviewing anyone," Ran explained. "Since this is a creative omake, we're gonna review the concepts for the new characters and materialize them when we've decided on one. It's a very meta kind of thing."

"Ah, I see. Is this what the huge stack of files is for?"

"Basically, yes."

Leonina took the first file and opened it. The candidate was a teenage girl with brightly-dyed pigtails, bright hazel eyes, and a scatterbrained smile. She wore a white jacket over what appeared to be a combination of a kimono and sailor uniform and held a Japanese parasol.



"Weren't we saving her for the spinoff?" Rekka asked. "By the way, we haven't decided on whether to call it Rekka and the Multiverse of Rekka or Into the Rekkaverse."

"Into the Multiverse of Rekka?" Osaka suggested, pulling up a seat. "Oooh, I like this candidate, tell me more!"

"I'll just accept that you can see the file from that distance either because spiritually aware people potentially have super senses. Either that or it's just more of the gag character shenanigans your side of the PC slots does," Leonina sighed. "Anyway, her name is Nagiko Abarrientos. 19 years old, Fullbringer, half Filipino and half Japanese. Her Fullbring, Love In Space, is focused through her parasol and allows her to manipulate the fabric of space."

"I remember her," said Rekka. "She was the original candidate for my alt, but the producers decided on Leonina instead because they thought Nagiko was harder to write."

"Why? What was she like?" Leonina asked. "I certainly was never informed that there was a candidate before me."

"Well, you came before the marriage meeting thread had ended, so the panel for the omakes hadn't been established yet," Rekka explained. "As for what she's like..."

"Nagiko was modeled after a certain type of high school student. One that was consistently on the honors roll, but found intellectual exertion mentally taxing so their brain shut off while not in use. Kinda your opposite, actually. She's mostly scatterbrained, but surprisingly deep and intelligent when called for. She's also a musician of sorts."

"So why was she harder to write, then? Explain it to me like I'm five because I feel like I'm getting dumber just by looking at her."

"Because she had to be smart pretty much all the time due to the plot demands, and that would go against her envisioned personality. Also, she can't be a musician because our production team is musically illiterate and can't be bothered to go research."

"Music lessons are expensive after all," replied Leonina. "But she can be a singer instead and do covers."

"Still too much research," Rekka shot back. "We'd need to search up a variety of songs including lots that we don't necessarily like."

"And is there anything wrong with that?! I'm a scientist. Research is my life."

Rekka's eyes sparked with otherworldly power, seemingly possessed. "And it's THEIR real life too! Roleplay is supposed to be an escape from the real world, not an extension of it! You're supposed to be able to do whatever you want, not be forced to do things you hate! And you said it yourself, you're retiring because you can't achieve your purpose and desires as a character!"

Everyone at the table gasped.

"Senpai!" Ran grasped Rekka by the shoulder and motioned for him to look. Rekka looked, only to see Leonina with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been too hard on you," he said gently.

Leonina wiped her eyes. "N-no, it's alright. You do have a point."

Rekka then gave Leonina headpats and stroked her hair.

"I only got to have my hair stroked twice, and not even from Dr. Alexander..." she said dreamily. "I forgive you. Let's do the next candidate."

(655)

Rekka pulled up the next file. In it was a picture of an armored girl with short lilac hair and lavender eyes, holding a cross-shaped shield.



"This candidate was recommended by Harutora King, my predecessor," he said before looking at the attached picture. His eyes then turned wide in surprise as he saw who it was. "Eh?! Mashu?!"

"Myra Beauregard, actually," said Leonina. "Fullbringer, 16 years old, affiliated with the Red Lotus and the House Beauregard mafia."

"Why does it feel like this is forbidden information that I'm not supposed to know?"

"The Shinigami don't know about the Red Lotus yet at this point in time, though I think Hyakuji-senpai knows," explained Ran. "Don't worry, we're in an omake so it doesn't really matter. In here, even I know about stuff like the particulars of the Wishmaker event. I even know the true origins of Hibano!"

"Really??" Leonina exclaimed in excitement, then concentrated really hard. "Woah, that's so cool! Even though I'll only know about the secrets of the Bleach: Hereafter universe here in this omake, I should use the time to discover everything I can!"

"Now, now," Rekka said, putting his hand on his former alt's head. "We're supposed to be discussing Myra here."

"Waaaaaa," Leonina made a cute noise before straightening up. "Alright, alright, to the drawing board we go..."

Leonina began reading the file.

"There aren't really any solid notes on her abilities or personality, though there's a memo that her Fullbring should be artificial in some way. I do have some ideas, though let's see if I can do this... Woah! Pages are appearing! So there are a few options for now.

The first is that Myra was born spiritually aware, but without a set focus for her abilities. So, the mafia lent her out for a Red Lotus experiment to try and imbue her with a Fullbring. The armor and shield are prototype spiritual weapons developed by Red Lotus and bonded to her.

The second is that she did have a Fullbring, shown here as Mash's original form, but it was broken in a battle. So, the mafia lent her out to the Red Lotus for an experimental procedure to fix her Fullbring. The form represented by the Ortinax skin was the result."

"Looks like we'll have to put it to a vote," Ran said. "Decision start!"

Ultimately, the omake panel chose the second option.

"But what about her personality? I literally can't look at her without thinking it's Mash," noted Rekka. "I mean, the Beauregard upbringing should make her quite ladylike, but have an amoral side as well. Maybe she thinks nothing of committing certain illegal acts to the point of naivety?"

"It's totally appealing," said Osaka from a few seats away. "The idea of a proper lady who has good intentions and a pure heart, but simply doesn't know or care that Certain Things Are Wrong and ends up committing crimes as a result."

(491)

"I would very much prefer Shadow into Sharpshooter for her build," said Satsuki.

"Not Commander into Protector?" asked Sora.

"That might have been the past Myra, but we're going for Black Barrel this time around."

"I didn't know you played that, Satsuki-san," said Osaka. "I honestly pegged you more for GBF or Obey Me."

"I don't play digital games to be honest, but I used that trick from earlier to gain the necessary knowledge."

"I see..."

All in all, the panel seemed like they were going to decide on Myra; they were just waiting for Leonina's decision.

"Hmmm, I really like her as well, especially since our faceclaims are close friends," Leonina said. "Still, there's one issue with Myra that would be a problem going forward."

"And what is that problem?" asked Satsuki.

"The Red Lotus has no PC members, and with the other PCs tied up elsewhere, finding roleplay opportunities is going to be especially hard. We'll also have problems determining what to write as fact because the Red Lotus has very little in the way of lore."

"Finding roleplay won't be a problem, at least at the start. Niji and Hibano are both investigating the Red Lotus and seeking to topple Virgil."

"That may be so," said Ran. "But wouldn't getting roped up in such an arc result in the same problem that made Leonina retire in the first place?"

"You do have a point," Satsuki grinned faintly. "Well thought. Now what say you, Rekka-kun, Leonina-chan?"

"We'll save her for later," the two said at the same time.

(260)