Joining the First Division [Ika/Akane]

It had only been a day since the girl's training with Kurama, finding herself standing before the Captain Commanders door after arranging a meeting with his assistant. She gave her uniform one last looking over, making sure she was neat and tidy to at least be somewhat presentable when she was finally called in. She felt a sudden chill, perhaps second guessing herself as she pushed the door open to see him.

"Uh, thank you for meeting me today Soutaicho, I'm honoured" As she normally did, the girl would bow in greeting to show her respect before fishing the neatly folded letter she had hidden away in her uniform. "I requested this meeting today on the guidance of Captain Kurama, he said I should give this to you". It seemed she was wasting little time, if only to ensure Ika didn't grow tired of their conversation too quickly.

With the document handed over, Akane stood quietly to let him read and come to his own conclusions. For better or for worse, she had begun her journey. Time would tell if the Captain Commander would end it here, or lead the girl on the path to unleash her full potential.

Ika wasn't the best at these kinds of meetings, but they were absolutely something he had grown to enjoy. Ika's ideas were all future based, he wanted to usher in a new age within the Gotei and to ensure that it could manifest itself as a force of good stretching far beyond his time as the Captain Commander. He had targeted a few young up and comers to be the future of the Gotei, and when he heard about the young upstart Akane Makishima he couldn't help but take notice. Kurama had personally recommended her as a member of his squad, and with an endorsement such as that Ika was absolutely not going to turn her away.

As she entered his domain, she would notice that he was a bit more aloof than his predecessors. His eyes cast down towards her lazily, and he sat on his throne with his head on his fist, seemingly busy chain smoking the day away. The only notice she would find that he had even seen her, was a lazy yet genuine smile he cast in her direction. "So.. you're that young upstart I've been hearing about hm? Akane Makishima, fastest graduate in your class, ascending the ranks at a rate I frankly haven't seen in my lifetime.."

Ika would at this point lean forward, straightening his posture up a bit in order to receive the letter she gave him. He read it briefly, taking in the key points before setting it aside in his pocket for a moment. "So.. Kurama has recommended you for my squad hm?.. Well, what interests you about joining the first squad?"

Akane watched on with some confusion, she had not really been introduced to the Captain Commander before this of course, perhaps seeing him in some official events back in the academy. He seemed like less of a distinguished leader and more of a delinquent in the way he sat upon his throne. Not that she would question such a thing just now, if anything it put her more at ease to see he wasn't the stern man she might have expected of such a lofty title.

She didn't quite know how to respond to his claim at being an upstart. She had never really thought of how rapidly she had ascended or how this was perhaps not as normal as she might have thought. "Yes Sir. Captain Kurama approached me yesterday for some training. It was a little out of the blue really" She twisted a long strand of red hair through her fingers idly, perhaps a nervous reaction. "I suppose I believe that the First Division will be able to make the most use of me. And maybe someone among your squad might be able to help me reign in my power" After all, the First was built up by the elite of the Gotei, who would have their own ridiculous levels of energy. Her other option was to go to the research division, but she found the Captain and Vice Captain there to be slightly terrifying, and she wasn't about to become an experiment.

Ika watched the girls behavior, doing his best to get a feel for what exactly she had to offer as far as a prospect went. Per her file, she was far too young and novice to be any kind of fighter in a traditional sense. She didn't have the years of seasoning, the pedigree required to be classified as anything more than a prodigious talent but that was sometimes more than enough. Her energy given her level was.. uncanny. Unique in every way and it had a feel of growth, almost as if it was always on some upward trajectory. Her nerves were clear and betrayed what was an otherwise fairly impressive visage.

As she finished, Ika looked her over for about a moment longer before continuing. "Kurama is my former Vice Captain as I'm sure you know, I trust his gut and in fairness, I've had eyes on you for a while. If he thinks you're a fit for my division and you'd like to join up and have your respective powers honed? I see no reason to deny that, there isn't really a reason to turn you down, at least not in my view so.."

Ika would stand up, extending his hand across the table with a pretty obvious expectation of reciprocation. "Allow me to be the first to welcome you to the squad, Akane Makishima."

Akane watched on in silence after putting forth her case, unsure of if her reasoning was good enough. If anything she might have considered it a little simple reasoning behind what she wanted to achieve. However, it was also the truth. The other divisions were not quite as good a fit really. Her lack of control would really hold her back. However, she was certain that there were others among the ranks of the First Division that must have overcome a problem like that. With her case now put forth, the young shinigami simply waited for judgement.

Much to her surprise, Ika went on to accept her right away. She was speechless really, not expecting to be allowed to join without any sort of back and forth bargaining. So much so that she would reach out in silence to shake the Captain Commander's hand. The moment their hands met however, Ika would get a strange feeling like they had met before. Visions of a climactic battle, a war scarred girl wearing the Commander's coat and finally the term 'Mission Accomplished' would flash through his thoughts for just a moment before it was gone! Akane didn't seem to notice.

"Thank you Sir! I promise I won't let you down"

Ika wasn't really much for bargaining, his goal was simply to help the Gotei progress as he intended as best he could. He wanted to help bring up some of these younger prospects within the Gotei, to allow them to flourish and if that meant he needed to be at the forefront of things? That would suit him just fine. As their hands touched, a vision popped into his mind. A giant burst of energy, acid staining a battlefield rife with blood and death, a son he almost certainly wouldn't claim in lieu of better options, and then it was gone. His eyes danced for but a moment before returning to reality.

Straightening his posture for a moment Ika would step back. "I'm sure you'll do very well, you've got potential for sure. Go ask the quartermaster to make you a place here to sleep and reside in your spare time, and we'll begin training tomorrow."

Akane noticed the minor delay, though couldn't tell what the Captain Commander was thinking in that moment. With their deal struck through, she smiled and awaited further orders. She figured that by now there was no going back. She would need to make sure that she made a good example early on. After all, he seemed to think she was simply going to keep growing, and she felt that he might just be right.

"Yes sir! I'll go do that now" She offered a deeper bow before taking her leave. The girl was enthusiastic at least! And not long after she found herself in her new dorm to finally get some rest for the day. After all, if what she had heard was true, she would need every ounce of energy she could muster to keep up with this training.

(We'll start a new thread for the training)

Ika watched as the girl ran off, seemingly enraptured in her own thoughts and in a way, it brought Ika back to when he was about that young. It was weird watching other Shinigami go through the same cycle of life he had, watching them grow and progress and meet their walls at various points, seeing those with prodigious talent such as this one become so uniquely aware of it like Ika had all those years ago. Ika smirked, a smile slowly came across his face and he slowly wandered forward to shut the door behind her, hobbling back to his desk almost immediately following.

Ika lit a cigarette, playing with the smoke for a minute in his now darkened office as he began to ponder what exactly he wanted his legacy as Captain Commander to be. He knew what his fathers had been, and it was nothing like what Ika wanted to leave behind.

In some ways, maybe this was going to be his legacy.

-Thread end-