"And who exactly will you 'eliminate'? Are you saying you will eliminate Komamura and the others? Or that you will eliminate all of us? Depending upon your response, I may eliminate you right now. Although, even if you do not respond, I will still eliminate you." — Soi Fon.
°
°
°
°
°°°°°°°°°°
"You look like shit." The blurry silhouette that roused him from his bed clicked their tongue as their form scrambled before an explosion of stinging light battered his heavy eyes.
He felt his body trying to make certain gestures but their meaning was a disoriented mess in his head. He somehow managed to push through the sludge and pull his body to a somewhat stable position.
"Here." His hand moved on instinct and grabbed whatever it was and mindlessly brought it to his mouth. Water. It was a cup of water.
He felt ten times worse and all the more better for it after gulping down the cup of water. It cleared the fog in his head but it also seemed to make him aware of just how much said head was hurting. The sting in his eyes softened, allowing him to open them after a few blinks. It still remained but it was manageable, though the light remained a problem.
"You look like shit." He looked up at Soi Fon who was looking down at him with an expression that had too many bumps to be flat.
"Hngh, that might have been the plan… yesterday." He grunted as he summoned strength to his arms to push himself off his bed. He frowned at the bed.
Soi Fon replied before the question could finish forming in his head as she poured him another cup of water. "Your buddy brought you back. Junpei threw you on the bed."
"I see." He took the cup, looked at it for a second, and drank it straight with closed eyes. His face contorted into a grimace as if he just forced down an unpleasant remedy.
The water helped assuage the worst of it but it also seemed to make him feel the weight of his very bad decision.
He would have called hindsight but the foresight from the night before had been crystal clear on how much he would regret his decision.
"Thanks." His voice was coarse but he could at least manage a simple thanks without feeling like he would throw up.
Soi Fon just hummed and padded towards the window and pushed the curtain wider. She relaxed against it and gave him a most unimpressed stare.
"Getting drunk? Really?" her tone was transparent on how opinions of his actions. "You could have gone for something less… compromising if you were feeling that destructive."
Itachi groaned. Her voice was like needle pricks to the center of his brain. "Maybe."
"Maybe?" there was a slight gasp of disbelief. Whatever she wanted to say was halted by a rhythmic inhale and exhale.
She shed the lecture tone and looked at him with a very rare look of concern. "And getting drunk was the best you could come up with? That is something I would expect from Lady Yoruichi, not you."
The sigh that left Itachi told her just how much he agreed with that statement.
"Except I wasn't exactly looking for the best option." He chuckled, something he was finding himself doing more lately.
Soi Fon chuckled, more at the rare fashion stupidity than any humor in Itachi.
"I guess even you have your own moments of stupidity, Itachi." She shook her head and pushed away from the window. Having been around him for so long and with both of them having been looking over the other's backs since the time of Yoruichi's exile, she never restrained herself to his official capacity if she didn't want to.
Regardless of the rank between them, they were both Itachi and Soi Fon to each other. It was different from his relationship with Junpei or whatever it was with Yoruichi. They were each other's pillars, always in earshot when the other started spiraling down.
"So how was it?" She asked him as she followed him into the wider area of his quarters.
"Messy." Itachi grunted as another spike assaulted his skull. "I don't think I'll be doing that ever again."
"Good. Because I won't be letting it happen again." She diverted to his kitchen and helped herself to some gruel, knowing he wouldn't be eating anything in the state he was in. "Clean up. You don't get the day off just because you got drunk."
Itachi mumbled incoherently which almost made her shake her head in amusement. His hungover made him a bit of a character but it was something they could both do without.
Itachi came out while she was cleaning up seemingly having washed off the edge of the hungover but she could see that his frown lines were more rigid than usual.
"Better."
"I feel better." Itachi corresponded and adjusted his hat just a tad bit lower than usual to effectively provide a shade for his face.
Soi Fon was feeling a bit considerate and decided on a slower walk instead of a quick departure to the office, something Itachi silently appreciated.
"The Head Captain might want to talk to you soon. Captain Kuchiki had an extended conversation with him yesterday and then he had a much shorter one with Lady Yoruichi. It's nothing serious according to Lady Yoruichi, but it might be that he found something on his end."
"We'll see." Itachi murmured.
Their slow walk, accompanied by the refreshing morning breeze, looked to be the perfect thing Itachi needed at that moment as his head slowly started oozing out the mess up there.
"I found another thing, not really anything important except that it caught my attention for some reason."
"Shūsuke Amagai: came from the Rukongai and completed his years at the Academy." She looked at him as age blinked a few times before nodding.
"I remember him faintly." Itachi responded quietly, the last traces of wobble in his voice finally giving out to his usual flat tone. "Decent all round. Simple and open."
"After his graduation, he somehow managed to gain an employ into one of the Noble Families, the Kasumiōji, probably through one of his friends in the Academy."
Itachi finally sent a look at Soi Fon's way. It wasn't any particular look except lightly denoting his rising interest. There was no suspicion in him regarding the man Soi Fon was talking about since she had yet to say anything that would rouse it. The Kasumiōji might be a party of great interest to Itachi but there was no blind suspicion towards any single member of the clan from him, not unless proven.
Soi Fon continued, her voice and intonation clear of any suspicion towards the character she was summarizing. Like she said, he only caught her attention unintentionally.
There was nothing suspicious about some Shinigami being put under the employ of nobles, great or small. It was a normal thing. Just like how some promising students might catch the attention of a specific Division who might try to poach them directly after their graduation, the Noble Clans also did the same. How else would they have Shinigami in their employ?
It worked just like any office of power: the best way to get in is to know somebody inside, and it turns out that Shūsuke Amagai had a friend who was the son of one of the guards in the clan.
"Then he must be doing well." Itachi said, a small part of him finding content in the success of any student of his.
"He is. Quite so I might add." She said as they made a small turn that put them on a direct path to the Division's barracks. "He joined the Onmistukidō two years ago. I made him a part of my command a year ago. His skills were too good for anything else."
Itachi sighed. "You've been watching him for two years." It was a stated fact. There was no judgment or inflection of personal opinion.
He joined the Division two years ago and Soi Fon promoted him a year after, which was a few months before the surprise attack that had escalated things. Laid out like that, there was no objective suspicion to be found unless one wanted suspicions to be there.
Him being a part of the Kasumiōji did not make him a suspect, the same way Byakuya, Yoruichi and Soi Fon were not under suspicion despite the suspicious activities by members of their Clan.
"Like I said, small interest. It's not every time I see students like him skilled enough to join other Divisions as Seated Officers yet choose to pick a thankless job like the Onmistukidō." And she was right. There was no recognition to be had as a member of the Onmistukidō as they were all faceless men.
As far as the Gotei 13 was concerned, they were just a secret police force. They would not get any fame or respect or promotion from the Gotei 13 regardless of how strong or skilled they were. The probability for future prospects was practically nonexistent to them.
It was a thankless job, but it was their job.
Shūsuke Amagai had the potential and drive to be a Lieutenant, or even a Captain one day, but he threw it all away behind a mask. All he was now is a codename and a number. It was admirable.
Soi Fon and Itachi shared the same sentiment.
She opened her mouth to speak just as the gates of the barrack came into view at the far end of the path.
"He has never once had any sort of communication with anyone from the Kasumiōji, even after spending more than a decade there."
"Hmm. He's your subordinate; do what you want." Itachi said, still no personal opinion from him. It didn't matter if the man was a suspect or not; the only thing that mattered was what they found out. "Shūsuke Amagai."
Itachi mused as their walk slowed even further the closer they got to the gate. A shadow now had a name.
––––––
Patreøn*com/QuackVader
––––––