Counter Measures [Kokoro, Byakuya]

When she’d come back to the Seireitei from her period of soul-searching and visiting her family out in the Outlands, Kokoro hadn’t really expected that she’d be back on the grounds of the Kuchiki Estate quite this soon. If anything, she’d been prepared to never actually come back here, even if she was a little saddened at the notion of splitting from yet another family. Well, these things happened, she guessed. Not to everyone, obviously, but to her. Sitting in a polite seiza in one of the little side rooms of the estate, Kokoro gave a small wave to a few of the Kuchiki passing by outside.

Oh, they’d actually waved back. That was kinda surprising actually, but it was a welcome surprise, and it put a smile on Kokoro’s face even as she continued to think about her plan here.

Obviously, she hadn’t exactly made an appointment to meet with Byakuya Kuchiki for no reason. She was here as 3rd Seat of the 6th Division, not as a former member of the Kuchiki family or anything like that. She didn’t have much in the way of suspicion toward the family, but she did think they might know something she didn’t. Only one way to find out.

The number of meeting requests Byakuya had been receiving recently was unexpected, but to receive one from Kokoro Kuchi-. Right, she wasn't a Kuchiki anymore. He would have to remember that to prevent any offense in their conversation. Either way, the meeting request was intriguing. He doubted she was here as a former member of the family, so what exactly could she want from him?

News of Kokoro entering Kuchiki grounds reached him. He ordered a servant to bring her to his office, where he currently was looking through a few old records.

Soon, the door opened and Byakuya stood to greet Kokoro. First, he took a quick glance to the meeting request to see how her name was signed. He couldn't memorize everyone in the world. "Third Seat Zendan, welcome. Please, take a seat."

"Nice to see ya again, Lord Kuchiki."

There was a fundamentally contradictory way to how Kokoro spoke, formal in every possible "objective" sense but with a tone and friendliness that seemed to wholly ignore notions of elegance and grace. Even just one sentence made it obvious that Kokoro didn't lack understanding of noble sensibilities; she simply didn't care much about them anymore.

Offering Byakuya a bow, Kokoro almost immediately sat seiza, a position she personally thought was pretty comfy, but which she was aware most couldn't stand.

"I know you're probably busy with head of the household stuff, so I don't wanna waste your time with pleasantries and all that. I'm on the investigation for the bombing at the hospital, obviously, and I wanted to ask if you or anyone else in the Kuchiki'd seen anything about that, in terms of suspicious activity around the Seireitei. No offense, but you guys tend to notice people who don't fit in pretty quick, so I thought it'd be worth asking."

As someone who unilaterally "did not fit in," Kokoro would have been one of the first to make a claim like that about the Kuchiki with some degree of malice or spite. However, there wasn't any in her voice. It was just an observation of fact, and if anything, she considered it a pretty good trait that they tended to notice things like that and then cover it up if they had anything bad to say. She'd been perfectly happy around here, so she wasn't one to accuse them of being mean.

"Plus, the nobles don't really hang out in the same circles as a lotta shinigami do. Dunno if any interesting gossip might've come your way about it. Discontent with the Gotei, reasons someone would start problems, stuff like that."