everyone has their demons 01 | [shi'kuyo]

Their stroll through the senkaimon would take a different turn than the norm. Upon the bright light that spread forward to welcome them into the world penetration gate two jigokuchō came forward as well. These two would be dismissed however as there was no need for them. Shi'Kuyo and his once older brother had much to talk about... too much to fit into normal a stroll to their destination which he was keeping to himself.

They were going to instead take the scenic route.

The parsing world was one that oft went unseen; a large street-like dimension that existed along the border of the sidewalk dimension; the path provided by the jigokuchō while inside the senkaimon. The jigokuchō were there to keep unknowing pedestrians on the sidewalk and off the street, lest the resident rail-car make a mess of them during its routine run.

Shi'Kuyo spoke clear and still mostly neutral. His tone might not have been a comfort but his words surely would be. "Once you're cleared for duty they'll have to step over messy lines of jurisdiction to even question you, which I doubt they'll do. If they were to even try ...I would make it very difficult for them." He'd been dabbling in the laws and jurisdiction of the soul society and the organizations they housed. Maybe with Seishiro back he would have more time to improve as -sōshi. His knowledge in administration over the Kidōshū was lacking in his opinion.

"If you pass my inspection which only has two parts you won't have to fear the thirteen court guard squadrons." Reluctantly he went on to admit. "That protection comes at a price though. I can't protect you from them if you're a potential danger to us all, that would be a violation of my duties as Commander."

Watching the literal flows of time stream down the sides of the parsing world he made a mental note not to get too enthralled in Seishiro's recount of the past one hundred years; they weren't immune to the judgement of the aforementioned rail-car. Commander or not, inside the dangai the kōtotsu was the only authority. "So let's hear it Itagaki before we have to dash from the kōtotsu." He was sure Seishiro had recounted the tale many times over the years.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"I'm sorry to hear that.. all of that." It was a hard blow hear he had been stuck for so long in a place that had become so easy to reach they simply never though to look there for him. "We had a means to enter Hueco Mundo but no one knew you were there. Even if we had known sending searching parties probably wouldn't have flown with our higher powers here or the ones residing there." Stopping for a moment he came to clarify, a frown on his face. He even grabbed seishiro by the shoulder and turn him so that they would face each other.

He looked into his senpai's eyes. His brother. The first person his father embraced like a son, despite being a few decades younger. He always presumed their bond had been strong enough to superseded the strange details of their respective ages in relation to the others'. "I would have come after you myself." He seemed almost ashamed now guilty even that he had let someone he cared so strong for suffer in loneliness for so long.

"If I had known, I would have come after you myself." It was a strange and warming feeling to know the new Hachibantai-Taichō had free'd the only family he wasn't related to by blood. He had a close working relationship with the prior eighth captain; Doflamingo Xybalanque and old man with a big heart and at that point the Soul Societies oldest captain. He would definitely be inviting the his successor to the next poker game. The other part about the other shinigami, however left a bitter taste in his mouth and at a later time would warrant some looking into.

The rest of Seishiro's story had to be processed and understood correctly. He now had an eye that wasn't his own and it seemed to be having an effect on his soul and to a lesser extent his mind or his emotions at least. Resuming their paced walk he advanced to seishiro's questions marking the darker parts of his story as something they would have to come back to. "This two part assessment actually has three parts because the first part is a two-parter."

"The first part of part one is that you can still use your shinigami abilities. If you who were once shinigami can't use your zanpakutō, shunpō or kidō you're not a shinigami anymore, you're something else." He didn't like the possible implications of that 'something else' so he moved on quickly.

"The second part is that if that eye is affecting your spiritual make-up and can't be removed, which I'm assuming it can't be because its still there in your socket, then I need to know that you using your reiryoku in succession or in large quantities won't cause any adverse reactions. I need to know you can still function to your full capacity without any surprises." He couldn't think of an example surprises but he was sure Itagaki understood what he was getting at.

"The last part is making sure you are mentally stable and not a huge traitor waiting to destroy us all with your doujutsu." He paused verbally but continued to walk. "Sorry I've been getting into mortal realm manga and comics. They tend to have some pretty cool ideas and story lines." He pushed the thoughts of tonight's new releases from his mind. Seishiro was more important than the new issues, especially when since there was already an unseated officer in mortal realm picking up his copies. "Anyway, that last part is ongoing and will take some time to finalize. It part of the official process but as far as I'm concerned you're golden. You only need worry about part two of part one."

It seemed like they had traveled some ways before they neared their exit, but in truth it hadn't been a long trek at all. "Don't get ahead of yourself. I'm not going to test you without your knowing about it and how I'm going to do that isn't a big secret." The next part he said very matter-of-factly as if he was casually going over the details of a solid breakfast. "I'm just gonna slap you around a bit, push you to your limits." He grinned that all to rare grin, the only expression that made him nearly identical to his father. "If I'm lucky, you'll be able to push back. Minamoto-sōshi died before I could test myself against her." He didn't have to try to sound sympathetic about her fate in Itagaki's presence, the older shinigami knew him well enough to know he meant her no ill will in death, despite the fact that their bout never came to be.

For now he ignored his fellow artist's inquiries about the kōtotsu but it was true that they had walked a long ways without so much as an inkling of its looming presence. Just because it hadn't shown up didn't mean anything was wrong. Shinigami were constantly traveling along the senkaimon and they didn't always have jigokuchō.

In short, there was a strong chance the damned thing wasn't here mowing them down because it was elsewhere moving down someone else. Even if it was out of order or whatever they hadn't the means to repair it on hand. There was nothing more to be done about it for now. Still, on the way back they would have to confirm Seishiro's suspicions one way or another.

If Seishiro was even able to go back with him.

The lights opened up as the senkaimon opened to the mortal realm but just as quick it faded when they stepped through leaving darkness as it closed behind them. It was beautiful night with the moon hanging so low over the ocean, if you were into that kinda thing. "First one's on the house." Soon after stepping through he had immediately left Seishiro's side goading him to make the first move. His Tokomaru grin was gone and he was back to business.

He didn't think his elder to be weak, he thought himself savvy and resilient enough to take the hit. It would be a hollowed victory to find he was right and a nice surprise to find he wasn't.

It was nice to hear Seishiro praising a prowess he hadn't yet displayed. "Don't go acting like you and me didn't have our own misadventures as well for small time we were both in the corps." He could appreciate a good story about his father wasn't around to see Itagaki at his best in the Kidōshū. That had been Shi'Kuyo and it had been an inspiring sight for a new master of the arts to see there were still new things to learn and new heights to reach.

He knew his father had reached such peaks but it was Seishiro who made him realize that his father was not alone and that others could go beyond the skills of a master spell weaver. He offered a free shot to the older shinigami, unsure of what tricks he had up his sleeve. When the rogue's blade shot forward he shifted in an attempt to dodge but the incoming speed of the tip caused him to make a deflection with his hands. "I meant Kidō..."

Their difference in spiritual power allowed him deflection of the zanpakutō its current state. However, when he touched the blade on its dull edge, Seishiro's spell took root. The red layer of kidō energy enveloped his body. It seemed Seishiro'd had a spell in mind from the beginning. It also seemed he was still a competent if not clever bastard. "Channelling kidō through your zan'? Is that the blade's ability or yours?." His body resisted his commands, he couldn't move a muscle.

Though for some reason... he was back to grinning.