I'm Only a Little Homesick [Beetle, Rose]

Wow, she hadn't been in Soul Society for a long while! It felt weird to be back home. She had gotten so accustomed to the Living World that coming back felt...well, weird. But, there was still some excitement at coming back! After all, she had been getting pretty homesick lately, even with the Beetle Series to keep her company.

So, with a smile on her face and a pep to her step, Beetle gave friendly waves to those she came across, walking through the barracks of the Gotei.

Thankfully, not a whole lot had changed with this place. Well, aside from the building that she didn't recognize. She walked to the front and looked up, seeing the symbol on the barracks. Eighth Division? The last time she had been here, there had only been six. Well, technically seven, including the Veteran's Division, but, that hardly counted in her mind.

But, she wanted to see what this new division was about! She had heard some not-so-great gossiping about the Combat Division while she was walking through, so, maybe this could be a new start for her! Walking up to the door, Beetle knocked on the door of the main office a couple times, rocking back and forth on her feet.

There was always something going on at the Eighth Division barracks these days. Things had been quiet for a little while, just after Rose had opened his doors, but once the recruitment had begun everything had kicked into gear. So, at the sound of knocking at the door, he was hardly surprised. Had he the luxury of a greater number of seated officers, he might not have had to answer it himself, but he did not mind handling the occasional inquiry himself anyway.

Wavy blonde hair was still in motion as Rose opened the door and looked down at Beetle, an innocent smile resting on his lips before they parted. If anything, at least his Captain's haori identified his status, complete with his usual frills and baubles.

"Good Afternoon, Miss. Are you here about a transfer, or is there something else that the Eighth Division can help you with today?"

Beetle rocked back and forth eagerly on her heels as she waited for someone to answer the door, immediately perking up and standing a bit straighter once she heard the latch click. A guy with wavy blonde hair came from behind the door, and as Beetle looked him up and down, she noticed the Captain's haori. Huh, so this guy was the Captain? Cool! Giving a small wave, Beetle gave a bright, beaming smile to the man.

"Hiya! Um, kinda both, actually! I'm returning from a...pretty long bit of temp leave, and I noticed this place. Didn't recognize it since I was here last, so I wanted to come see what it was all about!"

Something about the guy seemed familiar. Maybe she had seen him or read a description of him when she was looking into the Soul Society history, back when she was just recently spawned? Her bright expression turned to puzzled as she tilted her head to the side for a moment, looking away from him to ponder it, but, quickly returned to attention.

"I can tell you're the Captain, so I hope that this is okay, but, what's your name? What's the Eighth Division for, anyhow? I've been looking into possibly transferring to another division, since, I wanna be somewhere that needs me the most."

Propping the door open with his frame, Rose's welcoming smile grew broader as he watched Beetle bounce in place as he greeted her. He couldn't help but be amused by the idea of another returning Shinigami finding their way to his Division, he was hoping to amass quite a collection now.

"Captain Otoribashi, at your service, and recently returned from a rather long absence myself. That was what prompted the Head Captain to create this Division, actually, which is probably why you haven't seen this place before. As I had this place built up all special."

She looked like an earnest girl, at least, but that was only the tip of anyone's iceberg. There would be time yet to make a proper judgement call, though, he certainly did not have to rush to fill his squad up. Pushing the door open further, he made a little gesture for her to enter.

"The Eighth Division is the first one not to have a specific function. We instead support every other specialised Division, spreading our influence across all elements of the Gotei. So if you want to be somewhere that needs you, the Eighth will find where that is."

She knew that he had seemed familiar! The name Otoribashi made her perk up, having remembered reading about him when she was studying on the history of Soul Society. A big grin spread across her face at the mention of his name, but she kept her excitement, to some extent, tamed. She nodded in understanding, taking another moment to look around at the new building, before turning her attention back to Rose.

"Name's Beetle Yuudeshi, sir! It's awesome that you could get a place like this built up all special-like!"

She was quick to give her name -- after all, he had given her, his, so it was only polite to return the favor!

As the Captain opened the door further, giving her room and permission to enter, Beetle didn't waste a moment, happily stepping in and admiring the craftsmanship of the interior just as much as she had the exterior. Maybe it was because she hadn't been home in so long, but there was something special and exciting about the first thing she came across being an entirely new building for an entirely new division!

Sitting down in a chair and folding her hands neatly in her lap, she paid close attention to what Rose was saying. The prospect of a versatile division that sought to give a helping hand to the others that might need it was fascinating, and just so happened to fit with what she wanted to be within the Gotei.

"So, when you say that, do you mean that I could go to help the Fourth or the Third Divisions at any time, if I wanted to?"

The name Yuudeshi rang a bell or two in turn, though his mirthful expression might have belied any such knowledge. They were important people back in Karakura, although their influence within the Gotei was nonexistent in the current age.

"They already had some structural plans to hand, apparently for an intended Seventh Division barracks that never came to fruition, so I just made a few improvements."

Rose did not mind a little bit of showmanship, a more creative retelling of the facts than was quite accurate, though it was still grounded quite heavily in the truth. But it was an entirely well-put-together building, the craftsmen had been some of the finest in Soul Society after all. One with a finer appreciation for architecture might find some subtle nuances particularly appealing, but Rose enjoyed his new office even if he lacked such knowledge. He didn't sit though, allowing her to lounge as he continued to lean.

"Saying 'Any time' is perhaps an exaggeration. We still have some measure of cohesion and organisation, after all, but if there are particular tasks that you are better suited for or more interested in then it is possible to have priority on such assignments. That is the strength of my Eighth Divison."

As Rose explained the prior plans for the building, Beetle took a look around. Soul Society had some really great and capable hands to be able to structure this, even with the changes he made. But, she quickly turned her attention back to as the topic shifted to her question. She gave an awkward, embarrassed chuckle as she nodded softly.

Nevertheless, she was glad to get elaboration on the topic. Maybe this would be somewhere that she could flourish, given her large pool of talents, both intended and unintended from her creator. Then again, she was entirely unintended in the first place.

"I've got a lot of places I could help! First ones that come to mind are...Research, Earth, and Combat Divisions. Though, the Earth one is mainly because...well, I came to really like the Living World during my leave, and I was in the Combat Division before my leave. Combat was...kind of my big thing when Kakine, my creator, started training me."

More than anything, though, she was worried that she wasn't properly fit for anywhere beyond the Combat Division. After all, that was where she had been stationed before her leave. She wanted to help as much as she could, while also filling in her own desires and goals, to keep the Earth safe and visit it, to progress her Zanpakuto and become stronger, and to expand on the Beetle Series that Kakine had left in her care since his absence. To her, all of it was the start of an adventure, and she wanted to see it all to the end.

"Well, that's the spirit of the Eighth! My Division members don't need to limit themselves to a single aspect, they can shine in whatever environment they find themselves in. That is where I believe true strength resides, unpredictability."

Rose was certainly happy to know that there were always more recruits out there that did not feel attached to one particular discipline. There were the people he could cultivate into the next generation of the Gotei, building up core strength across the board so that they had a solid foundation upon which to define themselves. But there was something else that Beetle had said that caught his ear, a note that struck a different tune.

"Forgive me, but you said you were created? That is not a claim that many make. Forged perhaps, raised more often, but this means something else doesn't it? Would you forgive this old rose for inquiring after a little of that story in return?"

That bright smile only became brighter and more unwavering as Rose praised her spirit and noted its alignment with this new Eighth Division. She giggled softly, happy that she seemed to have potential for this division. But, as Rose inquired of her origins, Beetle gave a firm nod, her smile not wavering for a moment.

"Sure, I don't mind! I was...kind of an accident, honestly. I both am and am not a Shinigami. This might sound a little dramatic, but, at my core, I'm a piece of the power of God."

She smiled sheepishly, aware of how silly that probably seemed. She looked down at her hands, awkwardly rubbing one against the other in her lap. She could tell that the power of CreationConstruction still resided within her, so deeply dormant and weak that it could never hope to compare to Kakine's. Yet, it always served as a reminder as to who and what she is.

"My creator, Kakine Yuudeshi, has this power called CreationConstruction. It's just how it sounds, it let him create just about anything he could think of, even living beings. I'm a fragment of that power, given life by accident. He made a project after he fought with his younger brother, the Beetle Series. I'm the sixth 'Beetle' out of twenty, or...well, seventeen now. But, none of the other Beetles are like me. I'm the only truly sentient and independent one."

A brief moment of sadness passed over Beetle's face as she thought of the Beetle Units she lost during World War 4. They were family to her, and to realize that she could do nothing when they were destroyed was painful. After all, she was a being born from the power of creation and life. Her entire nature was to create, to explore. How could she process the idea of life ending, especially of something she held so close?"

Beetle's response did draw a nod from Rose as she began to explain her origins. That would explain what oddities he could sense from her, or at least give some reason to them. Her nature was not that of an automaton though, she seemed very much alive and that made this an intriguing prospect to the Captain. He had dabbled with modified souls in the most limited sense, most of his exposure to such being due to the machinations of Kisuke Urahara many years ago, so he did imagine that it would only be a matter of time before the man became aware of this latest potential project. It was strange, he almost wanted to protect her from that fate.

"That does sound dramatic, I admit, but life can be so boring without a little exaggeration and stimulus. So, Beetle Yuudeshi, a fragment of God you are."

He could tell, though, as she spoke of her past and the other Beetles that had been lost along the way. Loss was something that Rose was all too familiar with, it was what had driven him away in the first place. Not the fear of losing people, but rather the dull pain of forgetting what it was like when they were there. He had too many of those stories, songs that no one would hear him play again, and yet he was back here again.

"Your creator's powers do sound as terrifying as they are awe-inspiring, though. There are some things that most people should not dabble with to such an extent, for the sake of the rest of us. A life like your own is not something I would want someone to be mass-producing, even if it is for benevolent purposes."