How the tides have changed

[Zenkai Kaizen]

"Damn...no sleep again?"

A voice spoke out as the figure let out a sigh of frustration. His lupine blue eyes glanced towards the window as the rays of light poured in, alerting him it was daytime. A yawn echoed throughout the office as the 3rd division Fuku-Taichou, Zenkai Kaizen, pushed his chair in and looked outside the window. He spent the past few days looking up information on humans, and borrowing books from the Great Spirit Library to see what he could find.

The smell of tea would fill the room within a few minutes, as Kaizen slowly drank. It was one of the few morning habits that he had a tendency to do, and well for some strange reason, tea just seemed to work well with every situation. Kaizen smiled as he placed the cup down and grabbed his cloak. Within a few minutes he found himself walking outside the 3rd division area and towards a small field in Seireitei. It was a small graveyard, to pay respects for those who died in combat. Towards the end of the field was a large stone that had all the names of shinigami who died in the field of battle and several tombstones could be found on the ground.

The tombstones themselves were made by those who felt the need to make one, mainly they were those of lost lovers or high-ranking officers that died. Kaizen smiled faintly as he approached one tombstone and placed a small flower on top of it.

"Hey, I see you're still doing well." Kaizen said in a mocking tone as he squatted down in front of the stone. "Apparently things are getting pretty ugly in the human world, now that some strange cult has popped up. I know, you'd love this, finally getting the chance to pick at a different being's brain and see why they think that way."

Kaizen chuckled as his left hand grabbed the guard of his zanpaku-to. It comforted him, not to mention it kept his hands busy and it served as a reminder. A reminder from that unfortunate day, where the world seemed to flip upside down and cast him into the pit of hell.

"I've been doing some research myself and I've found some pretty interesting things, apparently they're called fullbringers. These strange humans, I want to know more....I want to know what their powers are to the fullest extent. Hopefully, I can find those out at the next Captain's meeting."

Kaizen gave a glance behind him, then towards the sky as the blue sky seemed to mock his very existence.

"I can't wait. Oh, by the way, happy anniversary. I've lost count on how many years, but hey I brought you flowers."

He chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. A somber look came into his eyes as he stood up; a small tear crawling on the right side of his face. The memory was clear in his head, like a bad nightmare, but yet he had to keep going. He had to become captain, for his own sake, and to protect those around him. His right hand softly touched his lieutenant badge on his left arm.

"I’m still a vice-captain, but I'm close to becoming a captain. I'll make it for us, for the dreams that we had, and to find out everything I can in this world. I made a promise to you didn't I? Well, I'm almost done completing it. Either way, I know this was short and made no sense, but....thanks for listening. I owe you one dear."

"Still talking to yourself?"

A voice spoke out as soon as Kaizen finished his sentence. Kaizen grinned softly as his eyes continued to stay in their somber state, and shook his head towards Ookakiba's statement.

"Shut up, Ookakiba."

Kaizen responded as he closed his eyes, reminiscing to the days back when he was young. For a moment as he remembered the world he used to live in, time seemed to stop around him.

[Zenkai Taiyou]

Taiyou sat cross legged on top of a desk in the 3rd division library. She realized that she probably should have gone through some formality with invading their property or whatever, but the shinigami honestly didn't care. She sat with a book in her lap, a pencil in her mouth, and a couple of scattered pages of maps and notes she had already taken from her own division the night before. She even had several copies of human newspapers from several parts of the world, mainly in Japanese and modern Arabic. The 10th division vice captain knitted together her brow under her nest of hair as she scanned through the text in front of her, furious and impatient. She was currently pulling data together from wherever she could. Odd, unexplainable phenomena, ancient gods, cults, their possible location...Anything. This was total bullshit; they had had hints in the past, over and over again, and it frustrated her. Oh, the key details and huge chunks of the story was missing, but why? The hollows, her captain's mysterious death...How could the shinigami have overlooked this for centuries? Why did she?
The woman's attention wavered towards the maps by her side, one of which was of Karakura Town. Taiyou signed as she ran a hand through her hair as she picked up the piece of paper.
"What's so special about you?" she muttered.
She couldn't speak so well with a pencil in her mouth.
Meanwhile, a 3rd division shinigami awkwardly approached her. He had cropped short black hair and possessed a pair of glasses that were 20 years out of style.
"Hey," Taiyou said, giving the man a nod. She recognized his face as she had made frequent trips back to her old division.
The shinigami nodded.
"Hello, Taiyou-san," he greeted.
He coughed politely.
"You're sitting on the table, ma'am," he pointed out, "You really shouldn't-"
"Yeah, well, not your fault, isn't it? If it's a problem, tell my brother. And tell him that it's damn comfy," she returned with a smile as she took the pen out of her mouth and scribbled some notes down fiercely onto her papers.
The shinigami chuckled.
"Yes, ma'am," he replied, pointing towards the book.
"Are you done with that?"

"Huh?" Taiyou replied in a vague sort of voice, turning her attention towards the volume.
"Oh...Yeah, I am. Put it away for me...? Thanks."
The man nodded as he picked up the text and started to walk away. Suddenly, the woman was inspired with an idea.
"Hey, do you have any files on Karakura Town?"
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Fifteen minutes later, Taiyou exited the library with a manila folder full of more information. The 10th division had information regarding the human world, due to their extensive traveling, and she had found a few bits of information about this place from it. However, she wanted specifics; what the people were like, how many churches and temples, the population. Too flustered to go through all of it in one go, she had spent a while in the copier room until it was clear that unless she was willing to pay for her work, money for another cartilage of ink was going to have to be taken out of the budget. Besides, she only had a drink and maybe a piece or two of toast, but that wasn't breakfest.
Taiyou was hungry, and she wanted food.
Probably should go pay a visit to Kaizen before I go, she realized, and made her way towards his office.

She knocked on his closed office door.
"Hey, Kaizen, it's me!" she called out.
No answer.
The woman frowned and tried again.
Still no response.
"Whatever," she muttered as she let herself in.
There was no one there, though she could tell he had been there that morning- a cup of tea was placed there.
Casually, Taiyou touched the side of it; it was still warm. Her eyes trailed towards where he kept his cloak. It was gone.
"Huh," she muttered as she walked out, closing the door behind her.
Where is he?
The woman left the division, and started to make her way down the path. Her eyes drifted towards the graveyard. She sighed.
"I'm hungry," she muttered as she made her way up towards the burial ground.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Within a few minutes, Taiyou had entered the small yard. She shifted uncomfortably in place; the place always left her feeling a little uncomfortable. The woman found her brother, who was talking thoughtfully to a grave. She didn't have to ask who it was; she knew. She silently approached him, standing two paces behind him. His eyes were closed. What was he thinking about?
"Hey, morning," Taiyou greeted quietly, clutching her papers and folder.
Her eyes scanned the graveyard, quickly finding Tachibana's. The woman bit her lip, suddenly feeling a little insecure and overwhelmed.
"You ate yet?" she asked, trying to shake her mind out of the depressing mood.

[Zenkai Kaizen]

His right eye opened slightly as he felt the presence of a familiar reiatsu approaching. A faint smile appeared on his face as he fully opened his eyes, the somber look no longer there. It was time to move on and get business taken care of, he gave his respects and gifts, and it was time to go.

"Goodbye for now."

Kaizen whispered to nobody in particular as he turned around and began to walk away from the grave. His face was stoic as he stopped towards the entrance and gave a quick glance towards his younger sibling.

"Oye, if you want to get some food, I suggest you hurry. I'm not going to wait for you all day."

Kaizen said mockingly as a grin formed on his face. He wouldn't wait for her, he knew she would follow. That was the connect they had over the years when she spent time in the 3rd division. For any bystander it would be weird to watch how he could act so nonchalant after visiting a graveyard, but this was just the way he is. He had gotten over her death almost a century ago, or at least something like that.

It would be a few minutes till they returned back to the third division as Kaizen walked over to his tea. It was still warm thankfully, he only was at the graveyard for about 5-10 minutes at the most. Placing the tea down once more, his eyes glanced towards his younger sister.

"I take it you heard about the humans too? I really hope you didn't mess up the tables again, otherwise I'll be the one getting blamed again."

Kaizen said as he glared at Taiyou while he placed two warm bowls of ramen at the table. He had heard from one of the lower division members that his sister was in the library, and he knew she had a habit of sitting on the tables, instead of chairs. It was something that he frowned upon. He glanced towards the window as he smiled.

"Apparently, there's some information about some humans causing a racket in the real world, I've dug up some information, but they're mostly just theories for now. Have you heard anything else? Or are well all lost in the dark? But anyways, how does it feel to be part of the vice-captain rank now?"

Kaizen said as he patted the shinigami on the head and ruffled her hair.

[Zenkai Taiyou]

Taiyou grinned as Kaizen hinted providing breakfast.
"Yeah, yeah," she called out after him; she knew he knew she would follow, but the woman wanted a moment to say her goodbyes as well. With that thought in mind, Taiyou quickly scanned Tachibana's grave, again. It was a new grave, only a few months old, and currently, it looked very well kept. A bundle of flowers were placed there, though it was hard to tell how old they were from where she was standing.
Probably by his family, she thought, a little relieved.
She quickly gave an awkward half bow and a wave good bye before running after her brother.

The woman silently followed Kaizen back towards his office, her long braid, wrapped in green silk, bounced almost happily behind her like a tail. Once they arrived, she quickly pulled out a spare chair, placing it on the opposite side of his desk, and placed her array of newspapers, notes, and folder on it, as well. Taiyou grinned mischievously as he scolded her for sitting on the tables with a somewhat stern look to match.
"And how did I mess up any tables, huh? I put my stuff away; I'm no pig," she scoffed as she accepted her ramen, not really knowing how he managed to get two bowls here so soon.

"Thanks," she said, eagerly as she broke apart a pair of chopsticks.
The ramen was good, but it sort of bothered the woman; this wasn't really what she had in mind for breakfast food, and did he make a habit of eating it often? Taiyou had to wonder.

Her mouth was too full to say anything, so she listened and watched as he pulled out a folder containing information on full bringers and their powers. Taiyou's eyes widened, and she hurried up to swallow so she could say something. Actually, she just really wanted to look at it.
I don't want to wait until then, she thought, impatiently.
"Ah! Hey!" she exclaimed with a shocked laugh as Kaizen ruffled her nest of hair. She quickly moved her head out of the way, tucking a strand of white hair behind her right ear. Suddenly, her expression became somber and thoughtful as she reflected upon the experience for the past few months.

"I don't know," Taiyou quietly replied with a slight, almost sad grin, "I've been to busy to find out. Though more people, especially some nobles, all of a sudden think its necessary to start being more polite when they didn't think it was so before. Hypocrites."
With that said, she took another bite from her food.
"Though Minori's been getting a kick out of it...Anyway, I've been looking stuff up too, but it's this cult that's been bothering me the most. Something about hollow and arrancar as being beneficial. Gods. But...they're not. How can the the humans not see that? They can't be complete idiots. Geez..."

Her tone was starting to become angry. As if to prove this, she ate her food in a more vicious way. She had more points, lots of them, but for now this would have to do. However, Taiyou put it off until she had completely devoured her ramen. She sighed, scratching the back of her head, staring into her empty bowl.

"That was good. Thanks again," Taiyou said in a quieter tone, her thoughts turning back to memories of darker days.
"Ya know, I still have memories," she continued in a flat tone.
She didn't bother putting the word to it- she had told Kaizen long ago and if he didn't remember, then so be it.
"And I don't really remember anything about being worshiped or cults; they're getting too big and maybe a bit careless."
She looked up at her brother and smiled, as if to prove this bit of information hinting to the past was fine, she had come to terms with it.

"But, whatever, eh? Karakura Town..I kinda wanna go, now, and check it out. Would be kinda fun. All I've seen was ocean for a while now. It's great. You should check it out, really, but a change of scenery every once in a while would be nice," she continued in a more cheerful voice, picking up the tone again as she stood up to stretch.

[Zenkai Kaizen]

"I could care less about the relationships of these humans, I just want to find out what they really are."

Kaizen said as he placed a folder onto the table and held a few documents in his hand. He raised an eyebrow and grinned as he chuckled to himself. It seemed that he was right in some sense, at least when it came to the special humans.

"This data is incomplete, but there's relevant information on them. These humans that are causing trouble are known as fullbringers. Though, there's not much on them at the moment. There's a theory about their powers, but that has to be finalized. I wonder....perhaps we'll have to go pay these guys a visit someday."

Kaizen said in a hopeful tone as he placed the papers back into the folder. This event had gotten his interest and now he was curious about these 'special humans.' Either way, in order to gain more information he would have to wait till the captain's meeting. His wolf-like blue eyes glanced towards his sister as she spoke about memories.

"Memories of what?"

He asked as he refilled his cup with tea. The only thing he remembered was his time here in the Soul Society and his name, before that everything was a blur. Still, he had enough memories in this life time to last him for a while. Kaizen ignored the last part of his younger sibling's statement as he took a zip from the cup of tea.

"Taiyou, let me ask you something." He paused as he took another zip from his cup. It wasn't something he wanted to ask, but at this moment, it seemed he had no choice. "Do you remember...where I left that book I was reading? I seem to have misplaced it during my stroll yesterday."

Kaizen grinned as he scratched the back of his head with his left hand. "How embarrassing," he thought.

[Takahashi Andrew]

"Now where did it go...?

Andrew hummed to himself as he started to go through the books of the third division. He had been working on the schedule of the daily duties of his division, he still needed to find a way to help break through the possibility of boredom. That is when he had learned about the library. And if there was a library, then there should be a cook book or two he could borrow to help his mind keep going. He knew that both idleness and monotony would be his downfall, so nothing wrong with spicing a few things up in the fifth by learning a few new recipes and have his division try them out. He continued to look around for a cookbook to use until he heard a couple of voices. As curiosity had called on him to find out what is up, he walked to the source of the sound and saw two faces. One was a guy that he had only seen a few times in his career, but the girl was definitely known to him. He knew his comrade from the tenth division all too well. As he walked to them, he noticed as the lieutenant of the third division was eating ramen for breakfast. As he watched, he simply smirked before standing behind him and looking down with a playful grin. "So, breakfast of champions huh?"

[Zenkai Taiyou]

When Kaizen asked her about which memories, Taiyou responded with a bitter grin.
"Hollow, you dumb ass," she responded, her eyes glaring boldly at his.
In a way, she was a bit hurt he even asked.
Did he forget, already? Taiyou thought, or was she just being overly sentimental?
She shouldn't have brought it up- the subject was making her a little grumpy.
"I don't know what happened to your damned book!" she crossly exclaimed, as she folded her arms across her chest.
"You should be more careful with your things, you know. You probably left it under some tree, or- huh?"


Taiyou could hear someone approach from down the hall, and ceased her lecture. She stared at the door in silence. The moment she saw Andrew, the woman smiled and turned so that she was sitting sideways in her seat to be able to talk to the both of the men easier.
"Hell yeah," Taiyou cried out, sarcastically as she gave her friend a toothy grin and a half bow. The woman was casual in nature, but she was even more so around her friends, captain or no.
"I think we should educate him, huh, Andrew-sensei?" she said as she hugged the back of her chair.
Her playful expression turned to that one of curiosity. Not that she minded, but what was he here for?

[Zenkai Kaizen]

Kaizen watched calmly as Taiyou responded with quite the bitter tone. It seemed she was offended by him asking about what memories, but in all honesty, how could he know which memories she was talking about. He grinned slightly as he patted her head once more, and then chuckled slightly.

"Memories, the things that remind us of who we are and how we came here. Like the song of a bird, they flow like melodies in our mind, creating an emotion in us. It’s perhaps the only way we still know, who we truly are."

Kaizen said calmly, and then grinned as his eyes remained stoic. She had told him about her life as a hollow, and he remembered it, though he always wondered if she was ever sympathetic to the hollows, even after they were purified. Before Kaizen could ask, he felt the presence of a reiatsu, one captain level. His eyes widened slightly as he heard the taichou's voice coming directly behind him, but he quickly changed his facial expression to normal.

His grin changed into a smirk as he took a few steps and placed his tea onto the table. He recognized the voice; it was that of the 5th division captain, Takashi Andrew. Though, he was pleased that the visit from the 5th division captain had saved him from being lectured for the millionth time. A slight chuckle escaped from Kaizen as he turned to face the 5th division captain.

"Ramen is the food of champions, I'm sure you're aware of that Takashi-taichou."

Kaizen joked as he motioned towards the bowl.

"There's still some ramen left if you'd like, I made quite more than I expected. Though, next time, no need to sneak on people like that."

He said mockingly as he looked towards the bowl of ramen once more. He hadn't touched it since he placed it down and it was probably cold by now, he would have to heat it up. He wondered if there was any other flavors of ramen, he would have to ask the shinigami who stood in front of him. Still, it did ring a question, why was the 5th division captain here?

"So, Takashi-taichou, what brings you to the 3rd division? Anything I can help you look for?"

[Takahashi Andrew]

"Why do I have this feeling that I am in the middle of a conversation that already began?"

Andrew had a smile on his face, but still raised his eyebrow. Granted he heard both of them in the distance, but didn't get a good idea what they were talking about. For all he knew, he had a feeling that she wanted him to knock some sense into him. So for now he had been careful with his words. He then chuckled again as he nodded his head. Ramen was pretty good, but he had also been trying to eat a more balanced diet that didn't contain more than just mountains of meat and sugar. But still he gave a kind smile to Kaizen as he shook his head. "No thanks, but thank you for the offer though." He then looked at the many books as he spoke. "I was though looking for a cook book though. There was some recipes that I wanted to try out." He was sure it was somewhere in the massive array of books, but after looking at so many books at one time his mind started to reel for a moment and many of them started to look the same.

[Zenkai Taiyou]

Taiyou frowned as her brother suggested for Andrew to take the spare bowl of ramen.
"I thought that was yours?" she asked, "Did you already eat breakfast?"
The young woman folded her arms.
"I doubt you did," she muttered with a hint of concern. Didn't people die if they didn't eat properly after a while or something? Besides, eating right was important. She pondered on these thoughts as Andrew explained that he was looking for a specific cookbook.

What the hell?
"What's so important?" she muttered without meaning to as she spaced out, her eyes fixated on the ceiling. It kind of irked her- he was looking for a cook book, now? Taiyou realized she was being unfair- it wasn't like everyone was going to fuss all day long. And half of the Captains and the Vice Captains probably weren't even going to look up information before it, though she could be wrong.
It really, really annoyed her how there wasn't much they could do.

Not much I can do, she thought, her eyes falling upon the data in her lap. In the end, it probably wouldn't be much more than a distraction.
"Heh," she muttered, trying to think up where the cookbooks where. The woman never bothered with that section of the library at all. She had learned what she needed about culinary on the road, spare recipies from cooks or things the merchant had taught her. Taiyou had picked up a book once or twice, but that was a while ago.

"Depends on what you're lookin' for," she suggested, her eyes staring directly at the captain's.
"You should have asked someone for help," she added, wondering vaguely how she had managed to miss running into Andrew that morning.
Her attention turned towards Kaizen.
"You really should check one out, yourself," she said with a small grin.

The woman shook her head as she stood up. Though she hadn't responded to his words earlier, she remembered and appreciated them. Actually, she didn't really understand his simile... Melody, birds, what? But she had understood his message completely.
Who we truly are, huh? So lame, she thought cheerfully as she stretched.

At least all this talk was cheering her up and clearing out her head, a little. Taiyou didn't realize how frustrated she was until now. Normally, she would have been itching to go back to the researching and training by now, but this was kind of relaxing.
Hell, maybe I'll check one out myself, she thought.
"Maybe we should go and check it out?" she suggested to her brother, pointing towards the bowl of ramen, "Unless you're gonna eat that, because I'm not."

[Darake Kitoushi]

The large wooden shoes worn by the 12th Division Captain made no noticeable noise as she roamed through the library of the 3rd Division. Being raised by the second division captain, gave her a slight advantage when she wanted to be silent, and where better to walk quietly than a library? As she shifted through the random texts she tried to find the last of the two books she had been searching the halls to acquire. The first was a book on microtubules and the link to human consciousness and how it is influenced by eletromagnetic fields, she had been meaning to read this text for quite a while, but with current situations arising, she might need to speed up her lab tests and create a workable product. Lives could depend on it, afterall, though human lives mean very little to the 12th Division Captain, the balance of souls is whats more important. A Shinigami's role is first and foremost to preserve this balance at all costs.

The second book was a little more embarrassing, her eyes widened as she found the book and quickly snatched it up. Why was a book like this even in Soul Society? And why here? She just assumed it was something the 3rd Division used to understand people. Gently she lifted the book off the shelf and brushed back the small film of dusk that clung to most books within this ancient place. The book title was 'Emotionally unavailable men and the woman who love them.', she exhaled sharply at the words on the cover. Iza had heard about these self help books but never thought she would actually read one of these novels. She tucked both books under her arm and walked towards the exit, suddenly her nose filled with the scent of ramen. Food? In a Library? How odd. Then again Izanami rarely ate food that wasn't cooked by chefs or servants within the Nakatomi compound.

When she turned the corner she was surprised to see two Vice Captains and the newly appointed Captain of the 5th Division. Normally she might look strangely at Captains having such friendly fraternizing with Vice Captains that were not their own, but considering these were his comrades until recently, she understood. Then again, there was also the little fact that these weren't normal Vice Captains, they were once all peers at Shino Academy and all share the memory of a night their lives were, surely, almost lost.

The aloof Captain raised her reiatsu slightly to announce her presence, with a slight nod to Andrew she quickly switched the books held in her hands and hoping they hadn't noticed the title of her more embarrassing tome. In an even tone she spoke to the three Shinigami.

"Ramen? How odd. Well I am sure I will see you all in two days. Make sure you rest and don't think too much on things until you hear what the Captain Commander has to say. Evening Takahashi-san and Zenkai-Fukutaichous."

The Noble Captain silently turned and once again furthered on her quest back to her office within the twelfth Division. Afterall, she had experiments to observe and books to read.

[Exit Thread]

[Zenkai Kaizen]

"A cook book huh? There are plenty of them within the second floor of the library."

Kaizen stated as he pointed upwards. The entire second floor was devoted to mainly culinary and artistic literature and guides. He had ventured there before, but never really took the time to search through to find interesting foods to make. He wasn't the culinary type and ramen was just too good to pass up.

"Suit yourself."

Kaizen responded to the 5th division captain's polite decline of the ramen while he picked up the bowl and placed it in the freezer. It was nice to have a small office within the spirit library, a great place to relax and unwind. He preferred his actual division office better, but this was a nice substitute.

Before he could speak again, Kaizen turned his head as he looked towards the 12th division captain. He felt her reiatsu through the room, only to spot the two books she was holding. He grinned as he chuckled to himself, watching the female shinigami switch the books so the titles could not be viewed. He wouldn't mention anything about the books she had acquired at the moment, he'd discuss it with her later.

"Nakatomi-Taichou, it’s an honor to see you again."

Kaizen spoke with a friendly tone, right before the Nakatomi female gave her statement. The Nakatomi family was perhaps, the most powerful noble house in Soul Society, and they had three family members included Inazami, as captains. He wasn't too fond of the nobles, but there was a sense of respect that every kid in Rukongai had for them.

"Enjoy the books Nakatomi-Taichou, don't spend too much time reading them."

Kaizen said mockingly as he snickered to himself. He wasn't sure if the others caught on about the book she had, but the captain would know. "This should be interesting." Kaizen thought as he turned back towards Takashi-taichou and his sister. He needed something to occupy his mind, otherwise he'd find himself attempting to dig into that human case.

"Well, what do you say we search for those cookbooks?"

Kaizen proposed as he waited for the two shinigami to respond.

[Takahashi Andrew]

"I know I've been working on eating healthier."

Andrew remembered all of the way back when he was an unseated officer and was working mainly in the restaurant he had been made. He remembered how he had been able to create food that took a lot of time to create along that packed alot of calories. But was okay since he wasn't even an officer at the time. But as his responsibilities as a shinigami raised, he became more aware to take care of what he had. So as he trained his bankai, he started to eat with a considerable amount of understanding. To swear off something completely was a fool's errand because he knew if he even caught the scent of what he swore off from, he'd go on a bender of epic proportions.

But he then went out of his food mindset as he then looked at Taiyou with a confused expression on his face. He definitely was certain there was a conversation that he seemed to have stumbled upon. But that would need to wait. He raised his head as he then saw Izanami. He had wanted to thank her personally for the opportunity, he had found himself to be pretty busy with everything in his division. After all, he was still learning the ins and outs. In fact, he had been so busy with trying to figure out what he needed to do that the captain's meeting had almost escaped his thoughts. Good thing that she did remind everyone. As he waved goodbye to Izanami, he went back to thinking about the cook book again. "It was this cookbook that had a mix of French, German and Italian recipes."

[Zenkai Taiyou]

"Tomi-hime?" Taiyou muttered, a little surprised at the noble woman's arrival. She laughed uncomfortably at Izanami's greeting. Under formal circumstances, the shinigami knew better than to use such cute, short nicknames (she thought they were cute, anyway), but they were at the least school mates and Nakatomi's estate was one of Minori's customers. It wasn't much an excuse, but Taiyou didn't really understand why everyone made such a big fuss over whether someone used 'chan' or 'senpai' or 'domo' and the whole last name only business. It was too damn complicated.

She wrinkled her nose at the mention of 'Zenkai-Fukutaichous', though she waved back, friendly-like, trying not to complain.
Iza's a straight backed noble, that's for sure, Taiyou thought, though it was then that she caught a glimpse of the books the Captain was trying to hide, though Nakatomi had moved too quickly for her to read the title. However, it seemed that Kaizen caught it, as he made a snide comment.
Perhaps a little loose, then? Taiyou thought with a chuckle as the Captain started to leave. There still is hope for that woman, after all.
Taiyou ran to the door frame, waving out so that Izanami could see her.
"See ya later, ya?!" Taiyou called out after her.

She turned around to face Andrew and Kaizen and frowned at Andrew's description of the cook book.
French, German, and Italian?
"That's so vague," Taiyou complained, as she motioned for the two men to follow her. They weren't going to stay inside the office all day, were they?
"You're a chief," she scowled.
"You should know what I'm talking about! Type...I'm assuming you mean meals, right? A mix of European meals. "

She sighed as she walked briskly down the hallway towards the stairs. It was a roundabout route to the second floor library, but Taiyou didn't feel like walking all the way towards the library and then taking the stairs there.
"Come on," the woman practically ordered with a sigh as she began to skip up the steps, the noise echoing through the halls, taking the lead as if she was the one who was Captain.

The woman waited for the two men by one of the Library's second floor entrances, with a door that lead directly into the cuisine section. It was down the hall and to the ...Right? Left? Right?
Damnit, Taiyou thought, a little embarrassed that she was actually uncertain where one of the doors was. This was practically one of her homes, and she didn't know where a friggin door was. Again, she knew she had little to no use for that door but...Really?
Taiyou coughed, deciding not to say anything and waited by the the stairs, deciding to give up the lead as subtly as she could.

[Zenkai Kaizen]

"She sure is demanding."

Kaizen stated as he yawned slightly, a bit tired from the lack of sleep. He made a gesture towards the 5th division captain to follow him as he strolled casually towards the stairs. He wasn't in a rush to get to the books, and it wasn't like the books would get up and walk...hopefully. His eyes glanced diligently around him as he scanned the hallways and surrounding area; taking note of what was occurring around him.

It was a calm day in the library with fewer amounts of people than the norm. Such could be noted by the clear sound produce from the echoes of footsteps. Kaizen took his time as he climbed the steps and kept a watchful eye on the hall beneath the stairs. It was interesting to see what people did in a library, especially when being under surveillance. Perhaps a small observation experiment could be ran to see how some reacted when under constant monitoring by a vigilant eye.

"What happened? I thought you knew the way?"

Kaizen remarked in a mocking tone as he caught up to his younger sibling, poking fun at the fact that she was now lost. Of course, he knew the layout of this library almost to near perfection, but there were a few shady areas that even he got lost in. "Always avoid the fourth floor." Kaizen thought to himself as he walked past Taiyou and made his way directly for the door.

After a brief walk down the hall, Kaizen slid the door on the right open to reveal a large room, filled with at least 30 racks (if not more). With his traditional friendly smile, Kaizen strolled into the room as he glanced lazily around the area. This was one area of the library that he really never bothered to come in, but it held a multitude of recipes and cookbooks from various ages that would astound even the best of chefs and historians.

"Ah." Kaizen spoke to himself as he grabbed a book from one of the shelves and slowly began to skin through the pages. "The cookbook you're looking for should be on the farthest rack to your right. There's a bunch of Western European cooking there."

Kaizen mentioned in a nonchalant tone as his eyes remained glued onto the confines of the book he held. If one were to glance over at it, they would see a faded out cover with the words "strawberry delight" written as a title.

[Takahashi Andrew]

"I've been feeling like using those influences lately. Interesting fact, did you know that those particular cooking styles are intertwined? The ingredients might change but the styles all remain the same."

He had a cheerful expression on his face as he told Taiyou that. Andrew had been doing a lot of research of culinary techniques to help balance him out. He had even been thinking about using beer and wine to help add more flavor to dishes. However, he did learn about something called beer batter and that alone made him uneasy. He remembered when he had been in the fifth division and experimented with frying foods. He had not only been reprimanded for that, the barracks had been swarmed with a variety of cats that caught the scent of fish in the air. But at the moment he had been thinking mainly in regards to desserts. With the movement to captain of a division, Andrew found that baking did help him relax as he read through his reports. So the things he had wanted to cook ranged from a chicken piccata to even black forest cake and tiramisu.

As he looked out into the distance of the books, he then remembered something and grabbed a bundle of string and found a place to tie it to. As he used a double surgeon loop like he had used to truss a bird, he remembered the last time he had been in the library. With the amount of books he had seen, he was almost overwhelmed to the point of losing direction. He had been lost for hours until he had stumbled upon a book where a man was in a similar maze and to make sure he didn't get lost he used a string to give him the way back. Using it as a safety measure, he smiled as he looked at both lieutenants. "Okay Kaizen, lead the way." Though it would be strange for him to use his first name, he used his first name since both of them had the same last name and the same rank.

[Zenkai Taiyou]

Taiyou rolled her eyes at her brother's comment, pounting.

"Well, you know," she muttered as she briskly tailed behind him.

The shinigami beamed when they made a right turn towards the large door.

"Oh, right. I knew that!" she childishly chimed as she gave a rueful grin, embarrassed at her previous screw up.




With that said, Taiyou eagerly glided into the library. She enjoyed standing next to the railing on the upper floors, looking down or up at the impressive sight of stories full of books and shinigami quietly going about to do their own business. A division member from the second floor happened to look up at that moment. He was of short stature and had cropped short black hair and a goatee. They had been squad members, once upon a time. He gave a faux polite nod to which was replied with Taiyou making a rude gesture followed by a cheerful wave. The woman wanted to ask what was he looking up and why, but that would involve shouting and she knew better than to do that in a library full of scholars who knew how to fight. Never mind that she was Vice Captain of a different squad; she wanted to keep her privileges.




"Mmm?" she muttered idly, her attention shifting towards the rows of books that Kaizen pointed out for Andrew to check out. The woman watched as her brother pulled out a book and began to read it, as naturally as you please.

The cutesy cover caught her attention immanently.

"What ya reading?" she whispered, a smirk grin spreading across her face as she read the title aloud.

"'Strawberry Delight'...Sounds kinda yummy. " she commented, not the least bit surprised by his choice of book.

Taiyou turned towards Andrew, pointing towards the book.

"You should make that sometime! I don't trust his cooking, much," she suggested.

Taiyou didn't bring up the option of her cooking anything.

She was much too busy going to the ocean and stuff.




Suddenly, an idea occurred to her.

Queitly, she walked past the European sections,the tips of her fingers touching the books lightly as she walked past. She stopped when her eyes fell upon one that promised it held 50 Middle Eastern traditional healty and mouth watering meals. The woman solemnly picked the volume up and began to flip through it. It had been a while since she had bothered to make such dishes. Definatly before her promotion, and even then she cooked such things on rare occassions.
I'll check this out, she thought with a grin.
Suddenlly, she wasn't too busy going to the ocean and serving Soul Society and ...stuff.
It wasn't because of her human roots or anything like that, either. No, she wanted to try such foods again simply because she had enjoyed them and wanted to remember their taste to a fault.
I'm a good enough of a cook, she resonded, Besides, things like this is a perfect come back after a lengthly mission where all they had were beans most of the time.

Her mind set, Taiyou turned her attention back towards her brother and the captain.
What now? she vaguely wondered.
They weren't going to sit all day and read stuff about food, were they? She had better things to do.
Like research, she thought with a grimance.
So much work to be done....
The woman's right hand twitched in anticipation, as if it demanded a pencil to be handed to it, immediantly.

[Zenkai Kaizen]

Kaizen smirked as he lowered the top of the book to about mouth height as his eyes glanced towards his younger sister. Strawberries were a guilty pleasure of his, and there was no shame in loving the red fruit delight. The book slowly descended from its current height and found its way towards the side of Taiyou's head as Kaizen gave his sister a light tap on the head with the book.

His eyes flashes towards Andrew-taichou as the captain seemed to be making a rope so he wouldn't get lost. The 3rd division lieutenant gave a slight chuckle as began to walk towards the European section.

"You don't need to worry about getting lost, Andrew-Taichou. You're with me."

The shinigami said confidently as he motioned for the captain and his sibling to follow him. His eyes would wander from shelf to shelf as he admired the various books that were stored in the library. He had been in division for most of his life and even then, he had only managed to read a quarter of the books in this room. Then again, cook books weren't really that entertaining to read. Unless, there was strawberries involved.

Kaizen would motion towards the shelf on his right and left as he came to a stop. It was his signal to let Andrew know that they had arrived at their destination and he was free to look around. His attention turned back towards his sister as she seemed to be antsy about something. He raised an eyebrow as he gave an amused grin towards his younger sibling's facial expression.

"Oh, I’m sorry. Were you looking for something?"

[Takahashi Andrew]

"Strawberry delight? Where did you see that?"

Andrew started to scan through the pages again as he then found what she had pointed out. As he read, he then raised his hand as he spoke. "The kitchen is always open Taiyou, feel free to visit anytime you like," he said while deep in his own world. He continued to read through the recipes, taking note on different things he had wanted to try. He had seen a recipe called bananas foster in the material world, but the trick was that a) it was a flame dish but most importantly b) it required alcohol. When he was younger he knew how protective people can get with their alcohol. It would have to take some cunning and creativity to acquire even a drop to use in one of his dishes. But eventually he had his eye on a tiramisu as he looked at Taiyou. Though he had nodded his head to show Kaizen he was listening about not getting lost, he had been looking at Taiyou curiously. Even as a captain his child like curiousity never left. That was when he had started to talk. "You know why I like to cook? It helps vent off some of the boredom or when I need to relax. What do you like to do to help keep the stress driving you insane?"