Doubt, Reflections, Intruder[INV]

Mitsuoki was in his room, reading a book to a particular human child about a guy who ended up getting randomly transported to a fantasy world. They had gotten a few chapters in before he heard the loud and rapid thundering of feet, as well as a panic in the halls of the barracks. Mitsuoki held Akane while getting up and gently set her down once he was standing. He marked his book where he left off and set it down, saying "I'll be right back." before heading out. Leaving the room, Mitsuoki grabbed the next person passing him by the shoulder and stopped them dead in their tracks. "What the hell, Noble!?" the man asked with an annoyed expression, immediately switching to "GUAH!" when Mitsuoki's forehead slammed into his nose. "That's Mitsuoki, to you. Why is everyone rushing about? Be swift before my patience runs out with you." he said in a cold, heartless tone. The man, covering his nose, said "We got a-" he was interrupted by the squad's temporary captain and actual lieutenant holding Mitsuoki's wrist. Mitsuoki let him go and turned to face Kira, waiting for the debriefing.

Kira had explained that there was an unfamiliar spiritual pressure felt roaming around near the squad nine barracks and all squad members of all squads were to head in that direction and close off all routes. Normally, the captain would send the lieutenant and other four officers with their own small team to cut off the invaders. They would also head out on their own as a much faster, much more mobile, army of one. Kira was the acting captain but knew he wasn't able to fight on the same level as them. The spiritual pressure sensed was pretty heavy, so he wasn't going to try and be a hero. Mitsuoki was informed that he would be taking four members with him to cut off the Ryoka, and ordered Mitsuoki to go with one of the officers, a man name 'Kenji.' who was reasonably strong. He was the fifth seat officer at present and his zanpakuto was supposedly a physical one, which made him a lot stronger and faster with better cutting power.

Following behind Kenji, Mitsuoki ran through the Squad Three zone and continued moving while trying to think about the target's movement. They were in squad nine's zone, and had been in the area for an unknown amount of time. It would mean that this person was likely disguised as a shinigami. There haven't been any alarms going off prior to the last few moments, so they haven't destroyed anything. It's possible that they've assassinated all of their targets, but no missing squad members have been reported lately. Well, except for certain captains and those deployed outside the seireitei. This person's spiritual pressure was fairly massive to stand out so greatly... Mitsuoki's eyes opened wide and he said "Kenji, hold up." causing their leader to pause and scold Mitsuoki, stating that he better have a good reason. "Our target is in squad nine's zone, they could not have gotten there without passing through any other squad. I will break from the group to relay this message- any of you who come across another shinigami, even if you recognize them, make them show their squad insignia. You would be looking for someone with five, six, eight, ten, eleven, or thirteen- likely traveling among a group of nines." Kenji's expression changed from annoyed to accepting and he nodded, saying "Right. Squad three, move out!" and the two split.

Shiro would see various black butterflies with violet accents, the hell butterflies, moving about. There would be enough of them to reach every squad officer and captain. If Shiro was traveling in a group, she would immediately be asked to show her squad insignia. Once it was discovered she was the member who didn't belong, they would attack her in an attempt to subdue her. If she was not traveling in a group, she would not have to deal with this issue. By this point, it would have likely been a couple of hours that she was roaming around the seireitei.

No one at the Kido Corps centre questioned seeing Mitsuoki randomly show up and begin working with the hell butterflies. It had been a long time since he transferred out; but they knew that if he was there, there was a reason for it, and it was good enough to justify staying out of his way. One member who was new had cautiously approached Mitsuoki while he was giving the butterflies the message to relay and asked about it, but Mitsuoki ignored him and continued working. One of his old roommates had approached behind him and just said to let it slide, informing him that Mitsuoki was an old member of the kidoshu, predating the current Soshi. Once he had finished his task, his roommate asked the question that everyone else was wondering, and Mitsuoki said "Have a group on standby for defensive combat. There's a Ryoka in squad nine's district and we don't know what direction they're heading. Anyone you see, make them show you their squad insignia. If they're from a squad that's against the wall, and not accompanied by an officer, detain them." and began walking out of the Kido Corps' base. While he didn't have the authority to order them around, no one was going to tell him off when there was a Ryoka involved.

Down on the ground, Kenji and his group had come across a young woman who was seemingly alone, with long, brown hair. She had a zanpakuto with her, but it lacked any spiritual pressure the way other zanpakuto had. The other three squad members ran up behind him, placing their hands on their zanpakuto in preparation to attack. "Sir, is this the Ryoka?" one of them asked. Kenji had said to Shiro "You there, what squad are you?" After which, he would glance at Shiro's weapon and ask "What's the name of your zanpakuto?" If Shiro hesitated, he would say "Your zanpakuto. You're in the gotei, so it's got a name. What is it?" in a slightly impatient tone. He had already figured her out, Kenji wasn't the average dullard. He'd earned his officer's seat because of his intelligence as well as battle ability, not like some of the others who were lucky enough to have super powerful weapons.

Once Shiro had announced the name of her zanpakuto, or if she hadn't announced any at all and just kept hesitating, Kenji would say "Squad three, capture the Ryoka!" to which his three subordinates would shout "Sir!" and charge at Shiro. They weren't the best of fighters, at least, compared to Shiro; but, she would find that numbers counted for something- even if it was minor. Once they were downed, she would have to face Kenji, who was trained to fight by Renji Abarai of squad six after beating him in a game of chess that Renji had no hopes of winning from the start.

Standing at the top of a fairly tall building, Mitsuoki had kneeled down and watched as his squad's fifth seat and the ryoka interacted. Kenji had elected to ask the girl's squad rather than making her show her emblem, which ran counter to Mitsuoki's order. Anyone could throw out a number between one and thirteen, very few could show an insignia and tell which squad it belonged to. It would seem, however, that Kenji had asked about something else since the girl seemed to freeze. 'The weapon...?' Mitsuoki thought to himself, making the guess from how Kenji gestured to the weapon. The three subordinate members were the first to be sent in. Kenji would likely say he wanted to stay out of their way; but, Mitsuoki knew that he was using them to gauge the invader's skill- which was pretty much the same thing Mitsuoki was doing. One was dispatched by taking a hilt to the jaw, the next by taking a sword to the stomach and the third by taking the last to the torso. Mitsuoki didn't see any blood so he had figured that the person had used the spine of the sword. 'Non-lethal defeat...' he commented in his own mind, paying attention still.

A longer than expected battle had begun between the girl and Kenji, resulting in a considerable amount of damage that Squad Four would be obligated to clean up. He could see that the girl was trying to talk to Kenji, to which Mitsuoki said under his breath "Pointless." Where Kenji was concerned, once the fight begun, there was no use in talking to the enemy. Mitsuoki had watched the battle long enough to notice the girl finally resorting to using a truly lethal attack, similar in nature to one that he had seen before. It was an attack that was surrounded by electrical discharge, belonging to only one human that he knew. Mitsuoki had only ever once heard of two people having the same zanpakuto, but he never met them in person; so, he highly doubted he would meet to spiritual beings with the same power. However, this person was considerably taller than the human who used that attack.

The battle had ended with the two beings performing a type of duel, with the invader utilizing an energy based attack that was powerful enough to send Kenji flying through multiple walls. Mitsuoki didn't spend any time on thinking whether or not he was alright, he was next in line to fight. Mitsuoki flash stepped to the floor before using his Pulse ability to move himself forward at Bala speed for quite some distance. He did this enough times to catch up to Shiro and place his hand on her back before saying "Activate Gatestone, Repentance Cell." which would cause both him and the human to vanish in a cloud of spirit particles before reappearing at the top of the tallest building in the entirety of the Seireitei.

Mitsuoki would quickly take a few small leaps back before pointing his index finger at Shiro with a sphere of energy already positioned at the tip of it. It was a technique he was working on that he hadn't fully perfected; but, at this distance, he couldn't miss. Shiro would easily be able to recognize the attack as a form of Cero, one that Mitsuoki had created. "I will not take the chance of you being an imposter. What was my order the last time we went to eat together?" The question was something that only Shiro would know. Not many spies cared to jot down what food someone was eating, it was honestly such a minor detail that very few people cared to remember it. Once Shiro had answered correctly, the energy at Mitsuoki's finger would fade away and Mitsuoki would say "Shiro...?" in disbelief.

Once she confirmed it was, indeed her, Mitsuoki would step closer and say "You look different... in a good way. You have grown." in a much warmer tone than usual. He would also look down at her weapon and say "He asked for its name, didn't he?" clearly referring to the katana. Whether Shiro answered or not, Mitsuoki would take a seat on top the repentance cell's roof with his legs flat, brushing them off and expecting Shiro to know the usual routine by this point. "Might I ask why it is, that you were in the seireitei?" he would ask in a calm tone once Shiro took a seat, regardless of where she sat.

Facing south, Mitsuoki had parted his legs to let Shiro slide in. She had answered his question, saying that she was curious and that human nature was hard to counter. After which, she put her face in her knees while calling herself a child. Her tone had implied that she had realized just how bad of an idea this all was, which gave Mitsuoki a reason to not scold her too much. The soul reaper had reached his hands around to her waist and pulled himself closer to her, pressing his torso against her back before leaning forward into her. His hands stayed on her hips rather than wrapping around her. "It's okay." he said in a warm tone, or at least, warm compared to his usual one.

Mitsuoki's hands would slide up Shiro's sides from her waist, up her torso and around her arms up to her shoulders before gently pulling her back to remove her face from her knees. His aim was to get her to look forward to the horizon, where he would say "You wanted to see the Seireitei..."

If Shiro had asked about any buildings, Mitsuoki would tell her what it was after taking some time to point to several key locations. "Central forty six is where all of the major decisions are made. They are in charge of legislative and judicial acts- arrests and executions." he would point to the Squad One Barracks and say "The head captain heads the First Squad, as his name would imply. Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto is his name. He is in charge of the thirteen squads as a whole, and has a modicum of sway with Central Forty Six, but not much." he would then point to the Soul Reaper's academy. "He also started the Academy, which in turn gave way to the thirteen squads. At one point, he was an instructor; but, that was a great deal of time ago." He would move his finger slightly to the side, towards a collection of buildings near the academy's grounds. "The Kidoshu stands as a separate organization from the gotei. Their task is maintaining the various enchantments throughout the seireitei, as well as cataloging and creating combat capable kido. They are not supposed to actually participate in combat, but not all are so short sighted as to neglect training. Shinigami who wish to learn extremely powerful kido would require their assistance with the matter. The exception to that is Captains, who are already quite capable when using kido, and other members of the kidoshu- former members included."

Mitsuoki would then stand up and turn, pointing to a large cliff with a massive gash cut into it that was directly attached to the tower they were standing off. "That is Sokyoku Hill, or what is left of it. At one point, the thirteen squads learned a great deal of humility. There was a shinigami who was going to be executed, framed as a traitor. There was a human who she befriended who disagreed with that judgement. He did that." Mitsuoki pointed to the giant, destroyed execution pillars that were going to be used to kill Rukia. "The one who framed her possessed a zanpakuto that had power that was far greater than even the most virtuous of men should be given... and it corrupted him. He went on to kill the entirety of Central Forty-Six. Hollows had been trying to bridge the gap for centuries, millenia even; but he took it to the next level. The Arrancar that we know now were his creations, and he used them to attempt to take over the Soul Society... That human who stopped the shinigami's execution had many disagreements with that." Mitsuoki paused and let out a sigh of disappointment. "With that said, there are many shinigami who still regard humans as weak without acknowledging their potential."

Mitsuoki then turned to face Shiro and pointed down, at the building they were on top of. "This is the Repentance Cell. Those destined to die at Sokyoku Hill spend a minimum of twenty four hours in this tower. It is made of a type of stone that seals Spirit Pressure out, so they cannot break through it easily since any spiritual attack, including those with a zanpakuto, would quickly impact a barrier that even my kido cannot surpass." he would then turn and look out over the horizon. "Personally, I prefer the view from the top of the cell. Were I any good at painting, I would make a portrait of it."

Shiro's question about whether a human could partake in the soul reaper's academy went unanswered since that was not his place to speak on. He was not the head captain, nor was he in high enough of a position to have any kind of sway with the academy's director(s). When she had asked about the human's name, the one who obliterated and scared the execution grounds, Mitsuoki had said "I do not remember. It was not my business to care for his name when I read the reports. I will say, however, that this human would have been stopped much sooner had the captains of the time not been arrogant when confronting him." Some time later in the bird's eye view tour, Shiro had asked if Kenji would ever accept her potential. Mitsuoki's answer was that he could not speak for other soul reapers. He was a very different person from them. Shiro had also commented with a bit of regret about how hard she hit him. Mitsuoki had said "Kenji is not dead, yet. Squad four will take care of him and he will go on to fight another day."

At the end of her tour, Shiro's comment about him practicing went unresponded to in favor of her question about what to do now. Mitsuoki had told her that if she turned herself in, she would be treated as an enemy since she resisted arrest. It was a very lopsided form of thinking and one of the many ideals that Mitsuoki disliked. Mitsuoki would turn and look over the horizon. "Shiro." he would say, try‌ing to get her attention. "I would like you to promise me something." he would then say, and pause for her reaction. "I know that you wish to get stronger, but I do not know why, and I do not think that it is my place to ask." he would then turn and place a hand on Shiro's waist, pulling her in just a little bit. "I would like you to promise me that on your quest for power, you will not become like the captain whose power made him turn on those who cared for him the most. Do not make me add another pillar to the thirteen I already have." It was an obvious reference to Haruka's monument, where thirteen pillars stood in representation of those who had fallen. It was his way of saying that she held some form of significance in his life.

"I just want to be strong enough so I can protect the people I care about." ... It was a strange concept to Mitsuoki, who had been training simply because it gave him something to do. He wanted to be able to fight on par with Haruka, which he had accomplished long before he acquired his bankai. After that, he did not want to get stronger, but found himself with far too much time on his hands. In those moments, he thought about how he had failed to protect the only person he cared about, and the only closes thing to friends he had. He was not so close to anyone that he needed to protect them. Akane was somewhat of a little sister to him, and was more than protected amidst the various members of the Gotei. She had over three thousand swords guarding her from every angle, and Mitsuoki constantly at her side. Shiro was the only one who he cared about other than Akane, but she was as strong as Mitsuoki, and did not require protection. There was no logical reason for him to apply the same logic.

Mitsuoki had remembered a report coming in that there was a large explosion of energy in the Rukon districts, but by the time someone had gone to investigate, the source had already vanished. It would make sense... Shiro was presently in the soul society, and she had clearly gotten much stronger. It stood to reason that she was possible training far from the seireitei to avoid drawing too much attention. "Just promise me that you won't lose yourself in the process." he said in an accepting tone of voice. He couldn't stop her from trying to get stronger, but he could at least ask that she stops herself before she adopts an 'anything to get there' mentality. It was something he had seen far too many times.

If Shiro had agreed, Mitsuoki would let out a small sigh. "Since you wish to get stronger, you will need a place to train that cannot be easily found." he said before standing up once more and walking to Shiro's front and extending his hand to help her up. Once they were standing, Mitsuoki would say "Activate Gatestone, Monument." and send the two of them to Haruka's Pillar. He would then place his hand on the pillar and cause the monument to open up, as well as for the stairwell under it to form. "I rebuilt this monument to keep this a secret. Though, I later found out that it wasn't a particularly well hidden one." he would say before gesturing to the gaping hole around them. Mitsuoki would lead Shiro down while saying "I was unhappy to find that someone had come down here, before; but, I was not too terribly angered since that someone was you. I spent the better half of a week reworking the seals and locks just to make sure no one else would get in."

At the bottom, he would place his hand on the side of the wall, next to the black liquid door and cause the liquid to vanish to reveal a large room with a level floor. "This is my training grounds. The one I had in hueco mundo was not a viable option, so I made this one. What do you think?"

Shiro had asked if it was possible for humans to become spiritual beings without dying, to which he was about to tell her about the various types of existing ones, but was quickly told to disregard the query. Then, she had asked if they could do some training right then and there. As she asked that question, Shiro would hear a deep, low groan behind her. When she turned around, a nine foot tall hulking behemoth of a construct would be standing there, looking down on her with no true face, just a series of yellow dots in the middle of its body. Smoke coming off of it from the reishi it was dissipating, the creature would lift a hand and poke Shiro in the stomach. After that, his hand would turn to mist and reform around her while lifting Shiro off the ground and bringing her closer to the yellow dots. He would let out a loud groan and the dots would turn greet, after which, Mitsuoki would say "This is Gol. He likes you." If Shiro had asked for him to put her down, Mitsuoki would turn to Gol and nod, which would result in the golem gently setting Shiro down.

Mitsuoki would then explain, saying "I made Gol to help me build this place. His mind is more or less like a computer. He can process countless amounts of data and use that to reform the training room to almost any terrain needed, the limitations being snowy and underwater environments. He can't talk, but he does seem to have enough self actualization to like, dislike, and hate things. You wanted to train, so try it for yourself. Just tell Gol what kind of environment you want to use." Once Shiro had stated the environment type, Gol would press his hands to the ground and the world around them would begin changing to create a near perfect replicate.