An Evening with the Captain [Private]

Ryushin Chaozu

The 4th division had recently been given a gift. What was that gift might you ask? Well it came in the form of someone special. A man who knew how to lead. A shinigami that strived to protect, preserve and repair. He was the guy you would go to if you were missing an arm, a kidney, a spleen or even half your face. He could fix it. It was his job after all. This mans name was Ryushin Chaozu and he now lived in the 4th division barracks alongside the rest of his division. Everyone in the squad looked up to him, even though he hadn't been here for that long. Some may have been hostile at first, but his nature crumbled everyones protective walls and allowed him into their lives. he was a captain ready to lead the 4th division into battle, but also everyones friend. A father figure, older brother or simply someone to play games over the table with. Not a single member was left out. He included everyone. Even the shy and young people were not out of his reach.

Ryushin spent today in his office, finishing the last paper he had on his desk and scribbling his signature across the dotted line before sliding it neatly onto a pile of filled out papers. he then sunk back into his chair and threw his arms behind his head in a relaxed pose. He was finally finished with the important stuff and could now spend the rest of the day doing whatever he wanted to do. He looked over to the clock on the wall, suddenly realising that not much of his day even remained.

"Oh great... maybe I should stop taking coffee breaks..."

Ryushin chuckled to himself before closing his eyes. Maybe a short nap would do him some good or something. It's not like he had actually planned to do anything once he was finished. Maybe someone would come entertain him for a while.

Ryushin Chaozu

The pitter patter of tiny feet across wooden floor boards raised Ryushins eyebrow a bit. He could hear it from his silent room and couldn't quite put his finger on what it could have been. Did somebody let a puppy lose? A cat? Did somebody lose a toddler? Maybe someone was trying to play a practical joke on him. It wouldn't be the first time someone has tried to fool him. Ryushin hasn't exactly got the strongest of wills and is frightened by simple things. He watched the door closely as he heard the sounds move up and down the corridor outside. 'Weird' he thought to himself. His curiosity was getting the better of him. Just as he was about to stand up from his desk, a knocking could be heard from the door. Somebody WAS there.

It was a quiet voice. Quite feminine and unsure of itself. As if they were scared of opening the door in case they broke a rule or two. Ryushin smiled as he could recognise that voice even if they had only met for a short time. Ryushin wandered over to the middle of the room and moved over to the door, calling out to the other side.

"Finally managed to find your way to my room have you Kaida?"

Ryushin grabbed the door handle and tugged it open to reveal the short, cute little girl standing there holding papers in her hands. She really was something. Small, smooth. It saddened Ryushin to see someone of such an age and stature to have had the misfortune to end up in such a world. The events happened in the spiritual world all around them were not for the faint of heart. Ryushin turned from Kaida once she had finished explaining why she was there and walked over to his couch where he threw himself onto his back and laid back casually.

"Just put the papers on my desk and I'll get to them later. Iv'e had enough of writing notes and filling out forms today as it is."

Ryushin flexed his hands, trying to remove some of the tension of having held onto a pen for way too long. Captains had to get used to this rubbish. The workload was never light these days. Ryushin wanted to wait for Kaida to do as he said before asking his next question.

"How are you finding your new home then? Gotten lost a few times I bet."

Ryushin chuckled to himself.

"The number of people I have to escort to their rooms because they can't find it never ceased to bring a smile to my face."

Ryushin Chaozu

Ryushin threw his arms up and rested his head on his hands behind him. He was trying to get comfortable as he had spent most of the day scribbling on bits of paper. Not exactly the most fun of pass times but he had to do it. His eyes locked onto Kaida as she moved about the room, putting the papers down and turned round to look at him. Ryushin couldn't help but laugh a when he heard Kaida had managed to trip into the door. Who does that?

"Well I certainly hope you apologised to the door for assaulting it with your head"

Ryushin continued to chuckle but he knew better than that. He sucked up his sense of humour and let out a deep sigh as though he was scolding himself. He didn't want to give Kaida the wrong impression. She probably thought he was a lazy slacker that only pulled her into the division because he had nothing better to do. That was definitely the wrong image he had hoped she would get.

"Well, look out next time. I'd rather your first day here didn't end with you in the infirmary."

Ryushins tone could often be misread as he doesn't always think about the words he uses until after he says them. What could sound sarcastic or even offensive is often just a playful ruse to lighten the mood. Ryushin disliked depressing negative atmospheres and sought to erase them but would often slip up and make things worse. It's just how he did things.

He continued to listen to what Kaida was saying, taking in her words and acknowledging them with the occasional nod. He wasn't surprised that she was getting lost so easy. In fact, he sort of forgot to do something he should have done when she was sorting herself out this morning. Ryushin sat up and spun round to put his feet on the floor. He reached up and ruffled his blonde hair for a moment then looked back at kaida.

"Well I should have really shown you round the building before you went to get the papers and forms earlier. It's starting to get late already too. Though, I'm awake enough to give you a tour if you don't mind me skipping the boring bits."

Ryushin kept that grin of his on his face, chuckling under his breath as if to say 'whoops, sorry'. In truth, he was happy. New members were always welcome and he always tried to make friends with them. Nobody should have to come work in a division they are unhappy with. Especially since Ryushin was the one that rigged her choice anyway. If kaida wanted to stay, she shouldn't be given a false image. She would see Ryushin and the entire division for who they were. That way she could fit in better if she felt it was the right place for her to be. Ryushin stood from the sofa and wandered over to the door. He then turned to Kaida as he pushed the door open.

"So, fancy joining me on a walk around the place? I'll take you back to your room once iv'e shown you everything unless there's something you needed to do."

Ryushin Chaozu

Ryushin stood in the doorway, waiting for Kaida to accept his offer to go check out the rest of the building. He wasn't in any rush really and would happily stroll around leisurely for the rest of the evening. Kaida claimed that the floor was slippery and that was what caused her to trip up into the door. Ryushin looked down at the wooden floorboards and brushed his feet over it a few times. Weirdly, it made a squeak sound which doesn't usually happen and his foot was gliding across the floorboard. He then smirked and looked back at Kaida.

"I knew someone was going to try and prank me today. They have waxed the floorboards out here. Just watch your footing and you'll survive. The squad always like to try and get the better of me. I think it's because I never get mad about harmless jokes like this. I dread the day they do something evil though."

Ryushin chuckled to himself. Maybe his squad was a bit more intimidating than he had thought since they knew a new recruit was coming today. Maybe they were trying to set up some stupid 'trip into the captain' routine. Not like that hasn't happened before. Guess they didn't consider the door to be closed.

"I'm sure you'll get to meet more of the division members later on. Right now it is pretty quiet as you might have noticed. Everyone's either studying, meeting with friends in other barracks or simply in their rooms resting up. It's day's like this that go by so slowly."

Kaida was looking more and more excited to come and follow Ryushin around the barracks. It made him happy to see that the newest member of his team was so eager to learn. She was very promising and Ryushin was very interested to see how she would develop. Ryushin waited for her to come closer and follow him out of the door, being mindful of the slippery floorboards beneath them. If necessary, Ryushin would hold out a hand to guide her across the hallway to the first room that they were going to explore.

The two would eventually make it to what looked to be some sort of kitchen. Sinks, Cupboards, coffee mugs etc. The place was pretty damn clean and just like every room in this barracks, there was a sofa sitting against a wall that Ryushin often fall onto to nap. Regardless of where he was, if he needed to rest he would.

"So welcome to our kitchen. it's large enough to fit a good 10 people in but since the division is made up of many more than that, people often just take their things to their rooms and deal with it there. I honestly wish they would give us a new one or at least let me extend it. I dislike small kitchens."

Ryushin was looking about, trying to see if there was anything out of place that he could push back into their home. No cutlery had been left out, the table was clean with a vase of flowers on it, the sink was empty and the notes pinned up on the cupboard were all neatly aligned. It looked acceptable for sure.

Ryushin Chaozu

Ryushin had managed to get a hold of Kaida's hand to make sure she didn't trip up on the way to the kitchen. The waxed floorboards certainly were a challenge as even Ryu himself was having to readjust a few times. However the two made it into the next room and ryu let her have a look at the kitchen. She seemed astounded for some reason, as though she had never seen a kitchen before. Sure it was nice but it wasn't all that amazing. It was small and onlky had the basic utilities but then again, he did always look after it. Then Kaida decided to give her opinion on the matter. A window? In here? But it doesn't lead outside at all so... oh...

"A window to the main hall?... See, I didn't consider that. It might help actually, but since the kitchen is so small we hardly ever bother making food for one another and just do it ourselves at different times. Or maybe you'd just like a hole in the wall small enough for only you to crawl through between the kitchen and eating place."

Ryushin chuckled once more. He was certainly giving off a happy vibe. Here he was trying to make a notion at Kaida's short stature. She looked incredibly childlike but that was one of the things that made her unique. In the past some shinigami have been children and Ryu knew that. In fact, several centuries ago, a Shinigami used to carry his vice captain on his back into battle. He was huge however and Ryushin was only just shorter than him. It made Ryu wonder if he could possibly do the sam thing.

"We can move on if you want, but i'd advise staying off the floor to be honest since it's so...clean. Darn wax is gonna be the death of me one of these days. I'd offer to let you hang onto my shoulders if you wanted. It's probably safer than letting you use your feet"

Ryu smiled, weirdly realising that he was still holding Kaida's hand and letting go. He surely was a forgetful man, especially when he was tired.