Shirakawa Mansion

"Masa-nii?"

"Hmm?" Masaru turned to Nozomi, who stood across from him on the other side of his desk. "What'cha doin?"

"Just some paperwork." He said, giving a small smile. "Kinda boring, but it needs to be done."

"Oh, you always have to do paperwork."

"There's a lot of it." Masaru shrugged, "Did you clean your room?"

Nozomi smiled brightly, "Yup! All clean and I did it all by myself."

Masaru thought it best to teach Nozomi to not rely on the servants to do all the cleaning. He was glad she understood where he was coming from when he taught her these things, if not he didn't know what he'd do.

'Psh, you're such a dad.'

'What?' Masaru questioned, throughout the years he'd grown used to whatever Shubi had to say.

'Shubi, leave him be.' The familiar voice of his zanpakutou, Gokkan no Ikari stated.

"Masa-nii, think we can go out and play when you're done with work?"

"I don't see why not."

Nozomi brightened, "Yay! I'm gonna go play with Shizue while I wait then."

Masaru chuckled, "Alright, I'll try to hurry."

He looked over at the small pile he still needed to complete, it wasn't much...something he could finish in the thirty minutes.

[After Captain's Meeting/Picking up Nozomi from 4th]

Once Masaru and Xarath arrived, it didn't take long to brief Shizue of the situation, since she'd watched Nozomi numerous times before, the woman knew what to do and what no to. Masaru knew she'd be in good hands until he returned.

From there, Masaru headed to his room and approached the bedside table before opening the drawer. Quickly, he grabbed something wrapped up in a cloth, placing it within his shihakusho. They'd come in handy if they became necessary, as he never left on a mission without them unless it was called suddenly.

"We're going to the World of the Living to investigate an...unusual problem." He said, turning to Xarath. "There's been a large increase in shinigami deaths, and hollows are apparently being completely destroyed. There's no trace for it though, the cause is unknown and as far as we know, undetectable."

Once they arrived at the mansion Xarath greeted Shizue and bid Nozomi farewell before waiting for the noble to get whatever he needed and return.

Surprisingly it didn't take his captain long.

Quote :

"There's been a large increase in shinigami deaths, and hollows are apparently being completely destroyed. There's no trace for it though, the cause is unknown and as far as we know, undetectable."

Xarath nodded before clicking his tongue. "So we'll simply go and investigate?" Didn't seem like such a bad mission.
Then again... unknown cause of death was not something one should underestimate.

"We better hurry then." he murmured.

Masaru gave a nod, "Mhmm, we'll meet up with Ozera-Fukutaicho and Oukami-taicho at the senkaimon and start the investigation once we reach the human world. I've gotten what I came here for, so we can get going now."

[After A Numbing Conversation In Rukongai]

Masaru arrived home late, tired and exhausted after the day's events. There hadn't been many survivors, some of them were just barely alive when they'd been found. Some had thankfully not been in the division at the time, such as a team that was sent on a mission earlier. In total, there were about forty of them still alive. One member, Akiye, had been one of the severely injured but she'd tried to talk to him when he'd visited. She'd tried to apologize, for what Masaru didn't know, and then tried to explain what had happened before she'd blacked out.

He had stayed at the Fourth making sure his surviving subordinates were alright, not leaving until it was probably well past midnight. Nozomi had been brought back and put to bed, much to his relief. He'd gone straight to his room, showered for about an hour; letting the warm waters sooth his stress before preparing for a few hours of sleep.


Masaru awoke from what he could only recall as a dreamless slumber, his eyes slowly but surely adjusting to the morning light. He moved, or well, attempted to move, but noticed something or rather someone beside him that hadn't been there when he'd gone to sleep.

Nozomi lay beside him, cuddled up nearly in a ball at his side still sleeping soundly. He assumed she'd awoken in the middle of the night or shortly after he'd fallen asleep. She'd done this twice before, when she had nightmares.

'She was worried.' Ikari stated, Masaru only gave a nod so as to remain quiet.

As silently and carefully as he could, he moved from the bed and headed towards his closet. He grabbed a fresh shihakusho before heading over to the door that led to his private gardens to grab a clothes basket to retrieve his cleaned haori and sash. Once he had what he needed he headed into the bathroom to bathe again and get dressed.

The door creaked slightly as he exited the bathroom. He didn't get far though before he felt a weight hit him, causing him to stumble back a few steps.

"Masa-nii!" Nozomi exclaimed, her small arms hugging him around the neck once she'd jumped at him from the bed. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

"I'm alright." Masaru replied, his tone calm as he kept Nozomi up using his arms. "Things were rough but I got through it fine." He wasn't going to go into detail with her though. Despite how mature she acted, he didn't want to worry her with such things at her age. He couldn't tell her about the destruction that had gone on, she'd seen it though...that much he could guess. He wouldn't tell her about Xarath either...she'd be heartbroken as well. Until he knew the full details as to what had motivated Xarath to leave, he wasn't going to say or assume anything. Until he knew the truth, Nozomi could not know.

"Are you going to be gone long today?" She asked, looking up at him.

Masaru nodded, "I need to check in with my subordinates and the other captains. There's going to be some changes and rebuilding happening and I'm sure I'm required to be there. I'll try to get back before it's dark though, alright?"

"Okay." Nozomi answered, though she seemed a little disappointed. She understood though, knowing Masaru held a serious responsibility in his positions. "I'll play with Shizue-san when she's done cleaning."

"Sounds like a plan then." Masaru gave a small smile before sitting Nozomi down on her feet, putting her on the floor. "I'll see you when I get back."

"Okay."

With a final wave goodbye, Masaru left his room and soon the mansion itself.