So You Wanna Be A Specimen? [Kabuto?]

The deputy department head of specimen retrival. Hiruko was a peculiar individual who had undergone some serious cosmetic changes in his time during the Gotei and the Third Division, a member of the Twelfth Division prior to that. Despite that, he was a dedicated researcher and avid participant of the acquisition of specimens for the continued research.. ah it was a beautiful thing.

Today was a different kind of specimen acquisition though, it was new blood and so Hiruko was to investigate and put him through the tests. Did he need to be the wittiest among shinigami? No. A healthy body to experiment on or a powerful force that could acquire testing subjects were more than enough for this division.

Now he was just waiting inside the laboratory, the slick office was clinically clean and the smell of antiseptic was putrid. Just like home for this man dressed in shihakusho and awaiting the applicant.

SEIREITEI
Familiar hallways.

Glaring lights bore into the man's vision, familiar pangs we he glanced over various signage, names and locations churning into one another. Bordering on vertigo, Kabuto felt lucky to - at least he hoped he had - found the research and development building. The lapse of confidence wouldn't last particularly long, pointless memories rushing to the surface.

Kabuto had finally managed to get into the Gotei 'United' compound, surprised by the lack of overall change, and more than that, by his own recollection. Names flew by one another, smashing against the walls of his skull in riot. Busy paperwork, nonsensical treatment, all coordinating into the mother of all headaches as the man cradled his temple. Footsteps lapped in the near empty halls, an occasional shinigami passing him with no attention spared.

"Hm." a disgruntled sigh, his focus sliding across placards on the walls. Despite the noise in his skull, Yuben'na was quiet. Concerningly, so was his other passenger, the usual laughter at Kabuto's expense... Gone. Not that he minded the lapse in judgment, the silence left him uneasy. I'll probably find out what's going on later... Silent, lonely words.

Filled with dread.

A receptionist of some kind had sent him down this way, to look for 'Hiruko'. The name felt damp in his mind, discarded to the side and left to rot. A familiar one, but not a pleasant one. And so, holding his breath, the man knocked, before pushing the door open. "Hiruko?" half-mutter, half-question as he leaned down beneath the doorframe, scars flashing the officer as Kabuto's cloak shifted and he stood straight, eyes sifting across the room.

This... Doesn't seem right.

He turned around, the coat that was over his shihakusho looking more like a labcoat than a typical haori and the man that looked like he came from another planet gave the newcomer a couple of looks after hearing his name called. Healthy body, that was good. He'd need that if he was going to last as a test subject, or did he want something more? Did he have something tucked away in his noggin' that betrayed some wit?

It required elucidation, the greatest reason for him to be in this collection of misfits. To acquire that knowledge which escaped him so thoroughly. One day all the world's secrets would be laid bare for the one called Hiruko.

"Itagaki Kabuto, yes? Bigger than I was expecting. Good, good. I expect you have a good repetoire of knowledge in that head of your's, correct?"

SEIREITEI
The man looked... Different, from what Kabuto had expected. Not that he was one to talk, his scar stretching against a tightened jaw. The muscle knotted, grinding teeth behind pursed lips, the man's voice a cattle prod to bare skin. Disgust clouded his mind, murky thoughts churning underneath the surface, denied to him.

"In a way." he stated, curt in tone. "Not in one you'd be able to make much use of, Hiruko." Fire burned beneath his face, itching with pain. Unsure of instinct or a voice unheard, his knuckles tensed as his spine rushed with caution.

"You don't remember me, do you?" Kabuto's voice inquisitive. His eyebrow would raise, scratching aimlessly behind his ear. Or can't recognize Kabuto's musings would find little purchase as he locked eyes with the remarkably... alien member of the Gotei. Did he model himself after Kurotsuchi?

"Unfortunate, all testing is subject to the discretion and approval of the captain and the loss of Kurotsuchi is a sad thing indeed. Mhm, mhm."

He started to himself at the mention that the giant had no use for Hiruko and whatever those absurd intentions might've been, the next statement did make his eyes narrow while the tail flicked idly. A weapon in a way but often only ever used on his assignments in the Human World which involved capture.

"Do I have reason to know you? Irregardless of whether or not we've met, I don't particularly care to remember research nor people that aren't pertinent to current studies or goals... do you happen to fall into any of those particular fields?"

What fields? Hiruko didn't care to specify since he was increasingly certain that he'd never met this man and if he did, he maintained that it unnecessary to remember people who had faded from relevancy. There was just the research for this man.. thing called a shinigami.

SEIREITEI
The itch that sought a spark - the feeling that would not go unheard. Kabuto's composure a wall worn by invisible soldiers, the disregard of his peer a blow to a forgotten ego; roaring to life with steel on his skin. "A freak like you should know everything." venom laced words the faintest echo following as his face dissapeared, reiatsu roaring to life.

A step forward, away from the door. For a moment, his contempt was visible, radiating off his shoulders. As he opened his mouth to speak, it shifted - turning to words.

Another voice now, though it sounded the same. "Or is part of joining the circus lobotomizing yourself?" a snide veneer as the man took another step forward, a free hand gripping the edge of the operating table. Emerald flashed from behind his eyes, tight-knit brow following with an exasperated sigh. Fingers would trail over the metal, cold to the touch as he closed his eyes for a bit longer than a standard blink.

"Not that I'm much better." a grumble, barely discernable. Kabuto released the table in front of him, glancing to see his handprint carved into the metal. Shit.

"A freak like you should watch your tone in the presence of an unfamiliar environment. This is not the Twelfth that you knew, Itagaki."

He sneered back with a venomous warning woven into the raspy tone. While he could become engorged in this petty display of back and forth which went nowhere, he did not care too. He was a pragmatic individual and inclined towards wanting to get back to his duties, so much to assess and acquire in the form of data which could be stored away and dealt with.

"So what is it that you want? A return to service? I'm very busy you know, don't waste time with nonesense you fool."

People in this division really had poor manners and social skills, didn't they?

SEIREITEI
Twisting emotions crawled against Kabuto's visage, a roadblock of language choking underneath their weight. A moment that would pass, sliding a tray over the scarred examination table. "In part." his composure still slipping, the forced speech sounding pained as he reverted his gaze to Hiruko.

Slumping back against the doorframe, the words seemed to come much easier. "I'll be curt with you," some level of professionalism returned, Yuben'na's snide chimes lashing out - Like you haven't already? - a pregnant pause between his words.

"A lot of what's up here," the man vaguely gestured, encircling a hand loosely by his head. "Isn't where it should be. And frankly, I have no idea how to get it back or where it went." A deep frown now, the faint echoes of a shouting match with a face somewhat similar. A memory like tears in rain, washed away before it could be realized.

Just like the rest of them.

"So I came to where I could remember." an admission of defeat in his voice, sliding slowly down the examination room's wall. "But that's not helping much either."

"If you seek treatment for amnesia then seek out the Second Division and their Kido, or I'll recommend you to more appropriate individuals that specialise in psychology and that kind of intangible research."

Hiruko was a hands on individual of the division, capturing specimens and hunting them or taking them apart with his own hands. The matters of the mind wasn't for him to care about or waste time considering. He placed his hand on his hip while cocking his head a bit to ease the cramps of the distorted body he had made himself into.

"Kurotsuchi Gamukira was the former Captain before her abrupt resignation shortly after the change of leadership - frankly, I imagine things are going to become a lot more of a bother around here than it used to be. More red tape under the vice-captain and new captain-commander. If you want some of those procedures I would recommend being quick about them before they try and clean us up here."

He seemed a little bitter about the whole idea of things changing. Change was good, just not the kind of change that obstructed progress.

SEIREITEI
The man's doldrums would stir as Hiruko spoke, raising his head as he pushed off and against a knee, standing. "The Captain changed?" The first of many questions he could utter, face contorting as his skull roared with noise. His mask hid the visible confusion, cracking at the edges as his mind went wild. What he could remember of his former Captain wasn't very good - but that made it all the more terrifying to consider.

To question the whereabouts of Mayuri, Kabuto was found wanting. His throat closing up, the shouting of his zankpakuto ringing loudly. He is not to be trusted! And not his cheap knockoff here either! His fingers pushed against the cracking metal of his mask, turning his back to the man as he cleared his throat, an impossible ache searing into his scars.

"I appreciate the advice," whistled from beneath gritted teeth, from pain or annoyance unknown - "Sounds like I need to talk to the vice captain then." - but nonetheless filled with a determined arrogance. A too strong grip tightened around the doorknob, metal pinching the inside of the man's fist as he pulled it open.

A half glare was born across Kabuto's shoulder as he exited, the emerald glare of unfounded contempt following the gap of a closing door. "Maybe things do need some cleaning up."

The questions, concerns, concepts and a cruel imagination fought and vied for Kabuto's attention as he exited the office, where's when's and why's mixing with a raw emotion he couldn't place. A feeling of dread was looming, a dark shadow beneath a bright dawn - I don't think I... Like who I was before.