SPOILER: Click to show

Note
This is a Past thread.

It was a hot summer day in the middle of the month of july, the sun seemed to be in the middle of the sky as Taisho made his way to the fifth division, He was wearing his shinigami uniform like any other would, he had made sure to dress full, making sure all his manly muscles were hidden mostly. The middle of his manly chest could be noticed threw the gap between the fabic. It was hard to keep his good looks hidden anyway. He didn't think his Taicho would truly mind looking at a true man. Though that's if she could see, she was not a very tall lady. Noted to not say that to his captain though, things could get messy. Making a comment about her short height could get bruises on his manly body.

That he could not let happen, with all this in his brain he had made it to the fifth division, He had made sure to fix his robes before he got near his captains office. He was in fact only the third seat he had not had the pleasure of spending a lot of time with the young lady, He was always busy with tasks she had gave him through the fukutaicho. He still did not under stand why she called him today. He would take a deep breath taking in his smell and calming his stomach. Then he caught the scent of him self, He was very vanilla like smell to him, must of been the lotion he put on this morning. A bright smile came over his face. Lotion truly was manly and sun tanning was also manly. Had to keep that image up, He stand up straight before bringing his right hand up to the wall knocking his right hand off the wood. Then speaking with a loud voice.

" Techimaru Taisho, Thrid seat. Permission to enter, Taicho Tachibana."

The sweltering heat obviously brought displeasure to the Captain of the fifth division, who idly and almost lazily sat upon her office chair; whilst she aimed to catch even the slightest breeze from outside with each open window. Her hair, seemingly messy from previous bouts of sweating or perhaps a lack of care to look professional while in the privacy and comfort of her 'enclosure', had loose, violet-plum strands falling and framing her face. Her eyes feigned a sense of weariness, as her left hand attended to signatures and paperwork, while her right held a fan to help cool herself off. The short female's expression could portray a disliking to the summer's weather conditions, but then again, who didn't like to be comfortable?

Thankfully, a cold glass of water quenched her thirst, helping somewhat with the hot weather that seemingly rolled in. While it did hydrate, cool and refuel, Ume could see herself frequently bringing the cold, clear liquid to her naturally pale lips, until the wonderful glass would become empty. In this heat, anyone could repeatedly go through water like his or her body was a bottomless pit. So, she forced herself to relax, not wanting to have to get up and replace her glass, nor have to frequently excuse herself to the ladies room.

Luckily, the woman was close to finishing her paperwork pile! Afterward, she could take a slight break, before her lieutenant hopeful would show his face... Hopefully, of course. Taisho was unaware of his promotion, probably wondering if he faced punishment of some sort. If there was a reasonable explanation, Ume would have surely penalized him by now for his obsessive-compulsive urge to tan and his narcissism! How could he enjoy tanning?!

Oh, the sun! Her most harmful enemy! The way her skin would pinken, darken, fry and blister, in extreme cases! The burning sensation that pulsed painfully, disabling her ability or desire to move! The horrid sunburn she usually couldn't prevent when she walked outside among people.

The thought figuratively chilled her to the bone... If only, if only! The heat annoyed her.

The knock on the door alarmed her, for the combat-construction-lady had obviously spiraled into a daze, replying, "Yes, come in." She spoke, knowing that his overloaded vanilla fragrance would likely flood the room as soon as he entered, lingering like unbearable flatulence that broke concentration, killed people with the smell, and caused massive migraines. Maybe Ume was exaggerating, but maybe she wasn't...

As he heard his captains voice he smiled slightly, by the tone of her voice she didn't seem like she wanted to rip him apart with her bare hands. Cause that would be very very painful indeed, and really Taisho did not want to feel his body get ripped from limb to limb. He shook his head softly before taking a smell of him self, Oh shit...he forgot to use the lotion that had no scent..he may die for this.

He would slide open the door taking a step into the room before closing the door, His eyes were closed once he entered the room, he took a smell of the room, and it smelt like old lady. With that he opened his eyes to see his taicho behind her desk, seeming to be finishing some paper work. She also gave off the look the heat was bothering her, her hair was a mess and she was drinking water, and that smell gave the idea she was not enjoying this heat.

"You called for me..Taicho.."

His voice was calm and cool trying to keep in a good frame of mind, she was so pale to himself, he needed to fix that, she looked so unhealthy but some health books also said Taisho was the unhealthy one. He smiled softly taking another step forward not really sure if he should take a seat. He was man enough to stand there and await his captain to give him orders. He would stand up more straight allowing the light to shine on his open parts of his skin, mostly his arms of course.

Ah, yes, the overbearing stench of vanilla; how long had it been since the last time it flooded her nostrils, stirred a headache within the small confines of her skull? She merely gazed at him as he entered, giving a soft smile and tipped her head gently in greeting. "Please, come and sit. We have some... things to discuss." Ume spoke low, removing the pen from one hand so that appendage could facilitate something greater. It traveled into a drawer of her desk, rummaging through obvious supplies that Ume had stored.

The other limb resumed the rigorous work of fanning her face, which surprisingly she was beginning to feel slightly cooler than before. Perhaps a gentle breeze had smugly embraced her from behind? Not bothering to cross her legs and act lady-like, since she was hardly feminine in behavior, Ume also saw her posture of a way to avoid excessive sweating.

Once he sat, she would address the reasoning in which he was summoned. Surely he would have noticed why their current lieutenant hadn't been around much? Even still, Ume was constantly debating whether this was the right choice, right time, right predicament and right candidate for the empty seat she was sooner or later about to announce. Taisho needed some work, as with herself - hell, a lot of work, especially in her department of 'business' - so today was also a lesson for them both.

Teamwork, camaraderie, anyone?

Taisho did not question his captain any more walking over to the nearest chair he would sit down, making sure he did not break the thing, he always was scared that his manly bib body would break little chairs. After all Ume would need a smaller chair then normal, if she had a big one how the bloody hell would she get in and out of it. She would most likely need a step ladder for sure. He allowed him self to smile leaning his back into the chair as he placed his hands in his lap.

"Taicho, If I may be so bold, why did you summon me here. Did I do something wrong?"

He was slightly confused why he was summoned here, he never really got the chance to see his captain in person very much, she was always sending the fukutaicho to give orders around the division like she should, that said were did the fukutaicho disappear to. Maybe Ume murdered the fukutaicho...was he next.

The unmistakably orange eyes of the Fifth Division Taichou followed her current third seat, only to lose focus in a fraction of a second with a common blink. Her hand grasped the badge within the drawer, but hesitated to reveal its nature until further information was disclosed. She licked her lips to retain moisture on that portion of her skin, concealed from Taisho by the fabric upon her face. The onyx-hued cover likely factored in to her overheated self, but Ume simply shrugged.

"I have a proposition for you, if you'll accept." She spoke in a calmly-eased tone, pausing to see maybe but a quick reaction from her fellow division member. She'd clear her throat and press on, "I think you've already noticed, but the lieutenant hasn't quite been around. To be frank, the LT. had served with the best intentions in the beginning, but over the years has begun to slack off, produce countless errors, and has been quite disrespectful. He's been demoted, and it's safe to assume you'll be the first in line to take on his role and responsibility, should you accept. However, standard protocol would ensure you take on some tests before being granted the promotion; or at least I'd like to test your skills. I'd normally select a few for trial of this position, but you've been working hard and after a debate, I believe you'd do well by my side. Consider this a preview of what the future may hold; but should you deny this position, you'd remain your rank. Be aware of the hard work that comes with a promising position before you jump to conclusions that revolve around a false sense of success and glory." She sighed softly, eyeing the glass as she became quite thirsty for her drink, but reluctant to pull the fabric from her visage. Perhaps it was superstition or some silly sort.

Taisho's eyes some widened when he seen the badge of the fifth division, He always wanted to stand at her side, and be her fukutaicho, He didn't really hit it off with there old Fukutaicho. Perhaps he would accept. But he didn't want to come off like he new this was going to happen. What of course he didn't, did this mean he would get a bigger office and room. He needed more space for him self. He was a big manly man after all. He smiled softly as he taped his chin with his right hand.

"I accept the position taicho, I'm honored to stand at your side."

He would bow his head slightly to show respect to his captain, But doing this he was smiling very wide as he did not want to show his captain his true reaction he kept it hidden, He stopped smiling as he sat back up in his seat crossing his arms over his massive manly chest.

"You would like to test my skills personally?"

In his mind he tried to pin point what she would want to train, perhaps a simple spar....or maybe test how tanning feels. Even though she still looked like she was dying by the heat. Maybe he should fan her....nah.

A long, seemingly deep inhale would replace a sigh of relief; Ume obviously not wanting to express perhaps her concern that he would reject the position. However, his acceptance made things easier for the short, yet capable woman. Even the water seemed unnecessary after his agreement. "Glad to hear, and congratulations." Ume smiled, although not clearly visible. Her small, slender hand extended to hand him the lieutenant badge, the other stretching outward to greet his other appendage with a firm handshake.

Afterward, Taisho asked if Ume wished to test his skills, to which she hesitantly nodded. Sadly, she was debating if working now on his skills would only further her suffering in this heat; to which was ultimately the case, but it had to be done. "It would be best to test you, or at least help you prepare for what's in store with your position. I'd say you have paperwork duty under control... The others, I'm afraid not so much." Ume admitted, wondering how he would take toward her comment. Would he grow upset that she claimed he lacked skill in fighting, of all things? Time would only tell, supposedly.

The day had been a long one for Kiba - Sumie had been kept cooped up in the Third Division all day long, and his own Lieutenant had drawn patrol duty, leaving Kiba alone to handle the myriad paperworks regarding prisoner release forms, acceptance forms and various processing sheets. These had never been what Kiba enjoyed or appreciated doing about the job, and they like nothing else could agitate the Taicho beyond reason, and in this elevated state of aggression, Kiba knew only one thing: he needed a wind down, and as far as he knew, there was only one person around who could 'wind down' the way the stressed Taicho preferred - fisticuffs.

As the Fourth Division Taicho burst through the Fifth Division's main doors, he was approached by a few lower-ranking seated Shinigami, but none had anything interesting to say - 'Stop, Shuchiku-Taicho!', 'Tachibana-Taicho's in a meeting!' - and so Kiba simply brushed by them, a few losing their balance and 'stumbling' to the ground as they encroached too far into his striding space. Perhaps not as refined as he would come to be, Kiba was still among the physically strongest in Soul Society, so it should come as little surprise his 'brushes' could be known to knock air from an unsuspecting, small enough victim.

Before long, Kiba had finally reached the great doors to the Taicho's office, and without hearing the muffled sound of voices speaking, the Fourth Taicho strode up and gave the doors a mighty push, sending them crashing open with a great slam. "Tachibana-Taicho! Let's have us a bra- oh." Kiba blinked as his roll came tumbling to a slow, a rather tall fellow blocking his immediate view of the Taicho. It really only took Kiba a moment to roll his eyes and spot the female, at which point he jerked his thumb to the taller male.

"Am I interrupting something?" This could prove annoying - if Ume was busy, what were the odds she'd want to help Kiba burn out the stress of the day? No, this wasn't swell at all, not when he had such lofty expectations of his day!

A soft smile came over Taisho's face as he took the badge from Umi and with his other hand shook her tiny little hand. He would let out a slow breath calm breath, his worry was gone now. He really thought he was in trouble. He then would tie the badge around his arm firmly. Letting another wide smile cover his tanned face he was about to comment to his taicho until he heard the other person enter the room. How rude they didn't even knock, turning his head he seen the fourth division taicho standing there. He quickly stood up and bowed his head to the captain.

"Taicho-Shuchiku."

He greeted the fourth taicho with the respect he earned, he would then turn back to look at his own taicho. Tilting his head a little he gave her a slightly puzzled face of what to do. "Would you like to finish this meeting at another time. Since we have a guest in are house?" He would rather have his skills tested another day if another taicho was here.

As if the hot weather wasn't enough, Ume's intuition - the gut-wrenching feeling in the pit of her stomach - deduced the imminent 'threat' quickly knocking on her doorstep. With each second passing, the woman heard the battle drums rumbling! Still, it seemed to drift into the subconscious, never to allow the short female the discovery.

As she interacted with her lieutenant, her pumpkin oculars rapidly averted from her over-tanned, over-jacked division member to the violent swinging of the door, followed by the rude entry of the culprit. Thoroughly confused, Ume gave Shuchiku-Taichou a blank and seemingly vacant stare. What was he doing here?

That stare seemed to drag on ever so slowly; her bewildered eyes never faltering or straying from their target. Heck, she snapped from her surprised expression with a shake of her head and from a question asked by Kiba, "Uh..." She muttered between the fabric upon her face, still dumbfounded. Or was she slowly recovering and thinking of a 'plan'?

While his appearance was altogether sudden, unpredictable and entirely wrong-timing, Ume pondered Kiba's worth of being here. Quickly, the gears turned; the combat captain coming to the realization that Kiba, under these circumstances, could prove a valuable asset.

"Actually... No... No you're not. I'm wondering... Would you be willing to help me conduct a test? My new lieutenant could use a good brawl to hone his skills..." Her voice trailed off as she glanced back to Taisho briefly, before furthering her request. "I don't see a better candidate at the moment to aid him... Well, us, I suppose." Ume shrugged, leaning back a bit in her chair.

"Would be a fun opportunity... Every man for themselves, pitted against another. What do you say, Taisho?" She asked, although Taisho likely had no say in the matter... Maybe he did, maybe he thought he did, oh well!

Kiba spared a brief nod to the large fellow who flubbed his name, maintaining focus on Ume as she stuttered and mumbled at his entrance. It always confounded Kiba, how everybody was always so shocked to see him come bursting into rooms - how else would he enter but to do so in a grand manner? Not that he'd even been especially showy this time around...

Still, eventually his fellow Taicho uttered her thoughts, and Kiba nodded briefly at her invitation to a triple threat brawl. Kiba considered the notion, then turned to glance at the man who apparently needed 'honing'.

"Honed, eh? I remember when I took the Fukutaicho spot at the Fourth, I had to take it from twenty other guys who wanted it just as bad and we called that 'honing'. But hey, if you wanna settle for two, I'm not gonna judge. You got someplace in mind, or you just wanna wreck your office while we're here?" Apparently uncaring as to the would-be Fukutaicho's response to Ume, Kiba simply began rolling his neck and shoulders, 'limbering up' as it were. After all, there was no reason he couldn't still get what he wanted out of a Big Brawl instead of a one on one.

Taisho eye's got slightly bigger as he looked at Ume with shock and horror written all over his face. He tried not to show his feelings in front of the other taicho he really didn't care about his own taicho as she had seen him worried as all hell. An all out brawl between the three of them. Maybe he needed to start planning his funeral. He would swallow some what hard as he turned his emotions slightly off so to say as he smiled and nodded to the two taicho's.

"Sounds like a manly thing to do."

He would start to flex his arm muscles right away, trying to get ready for the beating he was going to be given. Looking at the two other people in the room he new he was the weakling. His taicho would be for sure gunning after his ass. So really taisho wasn't sure what he was going to gain from besides blood all over himself.

SPOILER: Click to show

Sorry guys for the delay.

Casually glancing back and forth between her fellow division member and the brute captain, Ume listened to Kiba's little spiel; his reminiscing of his rise to power, if you will. While it seemed he was downplaying the brawl underway, Ume bluntly but truthfully spoke, "Well, I'd say you easily overpower the strength of 20 men, Shuchiku-Taichou?" She chuckled, recalling high praise of his skills from her fellow Shinigami peers; whether or not she had actually witnessed his talents in battle remained unknown - or, rather, she was unable to remember at this specific point in time.

"Let's take this outside, gentlemen." She stood from her chair, noting Taisho's frightened expression."Unorthodox as it seems, you will grow from it. A learning experience, victory or defeat." With that said, she began to exit her office, ushering the two out first, before slipping quietly ahead of the men and acting as a guide; waving, nodding and smiling in greeting to those she passed. Down the hallways, descending stairs, the trio would soon find themselves in the lobby, Ume leading as she traversed the threshold into the summer's heat. However, the journey was far from over; their destination not even the finale. 

Walking with short strides, given her height, Ume walked along the cobblestone-dirt trail, which eventually led to one of the few training grounds: a large, open field with trees scattering the surroundings, as well as equipment, dummies, etc. Whistling and advising her members to steer clear. While they were already prepared, Taisho and Kiba, Ume assumed at the very least, she still had yet to do it.

"Won, didn't I?" Kiba quipped in response to his fellow Taicho's question, smirking slightly as he let himself be ushered free of the office; when Ume took the lead, he'd be quick to follow, rolling his shoulders as he began loosening his kosode. Passing through the lobby, Kiba jerked his head to the side, generating a loud crack from his shoulders as he pulled his kosode free and up, the top of his uniform clutched in a fist over his right shoulder as he followed the leader into the training field.

Kiba smirked as his gaze passed over their training dummies - not nearly so grand as the ones he made, built to last and take much more extreme punishment. Kiba, regretfully, was not easy on his toys, and their poor health was only set in stone in the book of fate when they had the audacity to be classified as toys to be rough with regardless. Still, the Taicho was not one to pass up opportunity, so as they trailed near to one dummy set beside the path, Kiba lashed out with his left forearm, exhaling sharply as his elbow took the wooden construct in one of it's upheld 'limbs'. The arm splintered after the loud report, and Kiba chuckled before draping his removed uniform half over the dummy, to ward eyes from the fallen soldier.

"Tachibana-Taicho, you'll have to swing by the Fourth sometime and pick up a few of our spare dummies. They take hits much better." Kiba chuckled as he began to limber up, extending his arms wide to either side and turning his upper body, the range of motion beginning very restricted, only a few degrees, but increasing with every movement, until Kiba was turning his torso nearly ninety degrees from his waist. After this, Kiba lifted his right leg, grabbing with both hands at the lower calf and raising the limb, exhaling deeply as he brought the knee into his chest; he did several lifts from this position, then repeated the pose for his left leg, sighing deeply afterward as he gently bound from one foot to the next.

"Make sure to stretch, big guy. Hate for you to tear something trying to impress your Taicho. Something you learn quick, the guy that doesn't stretch tends to get beat first." Kiba chuckled at this, not actually looking at the larger male as he rolled his shoulders, simply preparing himself, waiting for Ume to give the signal to begin.

SPOILER: Click to show

Taisho has two hours to post or he'll be exited as per the activity rules. Only giving one warning since Court was given extra time on her last post.

Taisho looked at his captain from the reply she made to him, it was more like she was sending himself to his own grave. He let out a breath as he began to follow the two captain's. He kept his distance and nodding to the others who quickly got out of the way of the three shinigami watching through the fifth division. Once they got the training area Taisho took a spot away from both of them a good twenty feet or so.

As soon as he came to a dead stop he began to limber up, stretching his arms and legs and even chest making sure his muscles were ready for the pounding what was going to happen. He some what ignored the fourth division captains remark about the stretching. It wasn't his first time he fought against crazy odd's. However that noted this was no a crazy odd's against him...it was out right insane.

"I'm ready any time you two are."

taisho brought his right leg forward bending it as his right hand came forward as his left hand was behind him, giving him the look of a bird with its wings out, His facial emotion turned to fear to a none emotional look. He new what he had to do, he could not win this fight, but he would stand his ground no matter what.

SPOILER: Click to show

Given the circumstances with Taisho, and my steady decline of inactivity, giving you an option to exit, Brobro. o.ob Sorry for the short and shitty post, tired. :/

Ume would turn to Kiba, nodding lightly and chuckling softly in retort. "Hm, sounds like a plan... I like to encourage human-to-human practice, though; but yes, the dummies are a little out of date." She replied as they walked along and Kiba wanted to work off his skills, Ume noticing Taisho's apprehension. Was this truly a good test for his skills, combating two Captains?

Quickly deciding to limber up, taking a span of probably ten or so minutes to stretch the muscles in her legs, arms, torso and body overall, Ume would casually ask in between this process. "If either of you would rather do this at another time, we can reschedule. Any takers?" She glanced in their directions, stretching her legs and toes whilst sitting on the ground.

She wouldn't judge!

Kiba gave a low sigh as the signal to begin was replaced by a call to see if either wanted to back out. "Tachibana-Taicho, if we didn't want to be a part of this, we probably would have just not followed you." Kiba remarked simply, dropping his arms from their stretched position to his sides, swinging his head from side to side to crack his neck in several places before smirking at the in-position Taisho. Well, at least one of the other two were ready.

Because the goal was to spar, to warm up rather than to cause real pain, Kiba did not open 'full throttle'. Instead he took several steps leaning-forward before dropping low into a hard jump forward, closing the distance between himself and Taisho, putting himself just off the side of the large fukutaicho's center.

Rather than open with a heavy strike, or any action intended to cause true harm, Kiba opened as many in the Fourth did - by meeting an extended arm with an extended arm, his right hand halfheartedly lurching to reach across the front of Taisho to grab the larger man's wrist. It was a standard opening that, if successful, would put Kiba's shoulder at level with Taisho's abdomen - essentially it was the set-up to an all too simple throw, one that would basically pull Taisho over his shoulder and back-first onto the ground, but that was assuming the Fukutaicho was honestly simply paying him no attention; it was not a movement that would catch off guard anybody paying his opponents mind.

Taisho felt that his taichou was offering an out for his own benefit. He did have more important things to do, like tan, after all. So who was he to deny the break? "Another time might be best," he remarked after Kiba had spoken. Perhaps it was partly to spite the other man's desire to fight. Who knew?

[Taisho Exit]

SPOILER: Click to show

Taisho exited as per the activity rules. [link] Points will be halved upon thread completion.

With Taisho bowing out, it took a well placed tap from Ume to divert Kiba's strike away from the man as he left. "Well, I suppose that's that for now. Perhaps you should come back later. If Taisho isn't here, there isn't much point and I have work to do. Good day." Ume gave a halfhearted wave and turned around to head back inside, leaving Kiba a little more than frustrated but without much of an option but to leave and come back another time.

[Thread End]

SPOILER: Click to show

Ume exited as per the activity rules. Points will be halved. [link] As Kiba is the only one left, the thread is over.

Thread Rewards:

Taisho - 4 RP (7/2)

Ume - 4 RP (7/2)

Kiba - 4 RP

Points added, thread locked.