Gotta love that new captain smell.

Today was absolutely perfect! The sun was shining happily through only the slightest bit of clouds, birds were chirping cheerfully and a happy tune was hummed by the young looking man with the brand new captain's haori on. A toothy grin was plastered on Daisuke's face, showing his perfectly white teeth as he seemingly glided through the halls of the 9th Division. Over three centuries of what Daisuke considered hard work and service had finally paid off! He was finally a captain! This thought had been swimming through his mind like a salmon going upstream for the last 3 hours, images of the impressed looks of his fellow captains still burned brightly whenever he closed his eyes.

With a lively spring in his step, couldn't help but give a wink and an occasional wolf whistle to every female squad member he came across...not that he wouldn't have anyways, but still, this time he did it with extra feeling. After the last girl past him in the hall, Daisuke stopped in his tracks, a look of shock on his face.

Can I get in trouble for flirting with my subordinates now?!

How had he not thought about this before?! With a slightly panicky look on his flawless face, Daisuke gently slid open the door to his new office. Oh lord it was beautiful. Emerald green eyes looked upwards from the floor and widened slightly, his smile now returning as he entered, running a slim finger along the length of the mahogany desk. This was his now...this whole room was his now! With another gentle slide, Daisuke shut the door behind him, taking a moment to pause in silence before throwing his arms in the air in victory "YAHOOOOO!!!!" he exclaimed as he jumped on his desk and began doing a small victory dance. "YES!" He shouted as he hopped off the desk and into his chair.

With a content sigh, Daisuke threw his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair, he could already see a small stack of paperwork sitting in the corner but eh, he'd get to it eventually....maybe.

Kinoen stomped angrily down the long, winding hall of the 9th division headquarters, he was not pleased at all with the prospect of a new captain. It would mean more paperwork for him, and less for whatever lazy jack-off they hired this time.

Kinoen turned a corner, his shoulder-length brown hair bounced slightly due to the speed at which he was walking. On the way to the captain's quarters, he passed several, very offended looking females, to which he apologized for whatever the captain had done. Was this guy for real? There was no way.. had he been flirting.. on duty.. on his first day.

Kinoen growled angrily, his orange eyes narrowing and his cat-like canine teeth showing plainly in a scowl of most unpleasantness.

Kinoen turned, facing the captain's quarters and hearing a loud yell, seemingly a yell of victory. He sighed, slipping his hands in his pockets at the second yell and waiting a moment. He heard the soft "thump" of an ass hitting a chair, and he decided to move in.

Kinoen calmly planted the flat of his foot in the middle of the door, pushing right to slide the length of the door open, using his momentum to throw himself into the room, using his other foot to close the door behind him mid-spin, and land, cross-legged, in front of the captain's desk.

"Good afternoon, sir." Kinoen started, "I am your vice captain, Kinoen Luesen." He said, an aloof air about him.

Kinoen forced a smile, "While I am happy to have a new captain, there are some protocols we should discuss..."

Perfectly formed ears perked slightly as he heard rapidly approaching footsteps. With a yawn, Daisuke sat up and watched patiently as one of his subordinates scurried into the room, immediately sitting cross legged in front of his desk. Daisuke couldn't help but let out a brief chuckle at his new Vice Captain's serious demeanor. With a raised eyebrow, Daisuke stood up "No need to be so formal kid." A kind smile formed on his face as he pointed to a cushy chair nearby opposite of his desk. "Take a seat if you want."

This one seemed a bit irritated, most likely at the fact that Daisuke was his new captain, an understandable problem for those with a more serious take on work. "Ya know kid, I make it a priority to figure people out, and I'm damned good at it too if I do say so myself." Daisuke said gently, a smile still on his face "Do me a favor and take that stick outta your behind and talk to me, off the record of course."

A swift dig in his uniform and Daisuke produced a small bottle of sake and two cups. "Come, drink up." With steadiness like a bartender, Daisuke poured both cups full without spilling a drop, handing one over to Kinoen. "I won't take no for an answer...Oh, and you can call me Daisuke, Daisuke Onigawa." His smile grew wider, showing his pearly white teeth again as he took a sip from his own cup "Pleasure to meet ya."

Kinoen rose an eyebrow, had he been formal with the captain? That wasn't his intention.. He was trying to come off as needing some respect here. He glanced sideways at his lieutenant's badge, did it mean nothing?

Kinoen's eye twitched a little, this captain was rubbing him the wrong way, he shook his head slowly, taking the cup from the captain and downing the cup in one swig, the familiar burn of alcohol rushing down his throat as he spoke.

"Look, sir. I don't think you should abuse your captaincy by flirting with every girl you run into." Kinoen held up his right index finger, as to indicate he was listing points, "You also should not offer to talk to any subordinate, no matter how close they are to your position, 'off the record'", at this, Kinoen also held up his middle finger, showing his elongated, claw-like nails nicely. "You also should not be serving alcohol during duty hours, especially not when you don't know how well they hold it." Ring finger, "and lastly, I will not address you by your name, rather as Onigawa-Taicho." Pinkie.

Kinoen glared and scowled at the captain, his cat-like canines and orange eyes showing plainly, "Let's get one thing straight, I will not have you tarnishing the respect that this division demands by acting recklessly and in disregard for the rules." His scowl widened, "I don't care if you're my superior, it can not be done."

Daisuke kept his smile on his face, listening patiently as his Vice captain lectured him about following the rules. Daisuke didn't need his empathetic skills to tell that Kinoen didn't like him, a shame really. Here he was trying to be friendly too...ah well, the kid would come around eventually right? "Yes yes apologies all around."

Daisuke waved his hand slightly as he downed the rest of his drink "Settle down, I've been here much longer than you'd think." How long HAD it been? Close to 300 years now...yeah...had to be. "Come to think of it, I remember the day you joined our ranks kid." Daisuke scratched the back of his head quizzically, successfully remembering the boy joining.

"My point is, is that I've made it in this squad for as long as I have with no problems, so no need for the reminders....vice captain." There was just the slightest hint of authority in his melodic voice, suggesting that the topic was to be dropped. "Do not presume I am some Academy Student rookie, for I am not."

"If you have any issues with how I run this squad, by all means, feel free to take my place." The toothy smile was maintained as he pulled a few papers towards him, shuffling them into place and skimming over them before looking back at his subordinate "Was there anything else you wanted to add?"

Kinoen never let the scowl leave his face, glaring incessantly at the captain as his hands twitched slightly from the tone the captain was using against him. He didn't like being treated like a little kid. Who was this man to tell him to settle down, there was a line of offended women in the building who could tell the captain HE needed to settle down.

Kinoen forced a broad smile, trying not to make it look like he wanted to rip the taicho's throat out, "I do not presume anything of you, Onigawa-taicho. I only think you needed to be reminded of how important your position is, you can't slack off and still expect to be able to get by anymore. Not as a captain. Oh yes," Kinoen added, smiling for real now, "I know about your history as a slacker, you could have been captain long before I joined, but you were lazy, preferred not to work apparently."

Kinoen stood up suddenly, staring hard at the captain, "I am going to ask you this once." He said, his hands clenching into fists, "Why did you become captain of this division. WHY?" He yelled the last word, "If I don't like your answer, I'm leaving my lieutenant's badge on the table and transferring divisions right now." Kinoen finished with a snarl.

Perfect day indeed....

Daisuke let out a small sigh, clearly the kid wasn't joking...what a shame. "You want to know why do you...?" The seemingly young man trailed off his words slightly, clearing his throat and getting out of his chair. Both hands came together behind him as he walked over to the nearby window, taking in the outside scenery. The cherry blossoms were just starting to bloom, their pink petals illuminated just barely in the bright sunlight.

"Have you ever been in love Lieutenant?" Daisuke paused in silence, waiting to see if the younger man would respond "I have...." Green eyes closed for but a moment before opening again. "I even lost it, and not in the nice way either." He was of course referring to the night he had lost his beloved Mugi to a hollow.

"I shall spare you the long version of my sob story for now....but, I joined so I could prevent losing the people I cared most for but, unlike some who might make a similar vow, I lost sight of myself." This was true, he had forced down the event so far back into his subconscious that he had, for the longest time, forgotten why he had even joined the Gotei 13 in the first place. "It wasn't until recently that I rediscovered my purpose and decided to do something with myself."

Another sigh left his mouth as he turned back to face his subordinate, a slightly smaller smile on his face, his eyes narrowed slightly, trying to hide the painful memories. "So, I guess that's my reasoning....if that's not good enough, well there's the door." Daisuke pointed to the door slowly as he paced back towards his seat, sitting down once more, folding his hands in front of him and resting his chin on them.

Kinoen shook his head slowly, "No, that can't be possible."

He growled, stomping over to the door and almost stumbling towards it, opening it quickly and puking on the floor outside. He stood there, sick to his stomach, while his mind denied everything the captain had just said.

He turned, walking up and making a grab for the captain's coat, missing and stumbling over the desk onto the floor.

"There's... there's no way you... not with the way you..." He stuttered softly under his breath.

"Y..you can't. You can't have the same motivation as me..." He sobbed quietly into the floor, curling up a bit as the old memories came flooding back like a tidal wave, overtaking him as the tears did. The salty water flowing down his cheeks and in his mouth, the taste almost as bitter as the memories.

Daisuke couldn't help but raise an alarmed eyebrow, jumping out of his seat when Kinoen expelled unpleasant body fluids and fell to the floor in a fit of sobs. "We all mourn in different ways kid..." A small, genuine smile formed on his face as he sat down next to his Lieutenant, patting him on the back.

Daisuke simply let the younger man cry until he was finished, heads started to turn in their direction, only to be waved away by their captain. "Alright, up you get." Daisuke said gently after Kinoen settled down some "Don't wanna be caught with your pants down like this kid, gotta be strong for your subordinates." Surprisingly firm hands grasped the Lieutenant by the arm and hoisted him onto his feet.

"Now kid, are we okay? Me and you? It's important for the squad to work as a team right? Tell ya what, I'll be the captain you want IF and only if you build a sense of humor." Daisuke couldn't help but chuckle as he dusted Kinoen off and got a towel, throwing it down on the vomit. All work and no play wasn't good for moral was it? What did the Lieutenant think this was? The military? (LOL)

Kinoen was completely out of it, he barely registered being picked up off the floor. He just stood there, staring blankly at the floor as the captain spoke, hearing the words but not really caring at this point.

It wasn't until the captain mentioned him developing a sense of humor that he smirked and chuckled a little. "Oh don't mistake me Taicho, I have a sense of humor. I just don't have tolerance for slacking off, not usually anyway."

Kinoen shook his head, wiping his face a little and blinking a few times to clear the rest of the tears away, "I'm no stick in the mud, but I do like protocol to be followed." He nodded.

Kinoen smiled, "Yeah, we're okay."