The Negotiation Limerick File [Rukia, Alastair]

The repaired Senkaimon, and the gradual reduction of duties left for her to focus on in the former 2nd Division, meant that Rukia could finally take a trip to Earth that had been burning in her mind for some time. She wasn't really interested in everything she'd been hearing about the rest of the shinigami; she had more personal reasons for going down. She'd read every report already, she'd seen Ichigo. Spoken to him.

But there was one person she still hadn't met with, only one person that she thought even might have answers about Orihime. That was why she arrived at the City of Lights, still looking exhausted as ever, bags under her eyes and her Captain's haori worn and tattered in places. No, it wasn't the attire of a woman who was ready for a formal meeting with someone important. But it was the only thing that Rukia, who'd been working unceasingly to save lives, could ever wear these days.

"Kuchiki Rukia, former captain of the Gotei United's 2nd Division. I'm here to meet with Grandmaster Eisfluch."

He, at least, was bound to have answers. If not him, someone down here. Rukia wasn't going to just let these questions go nowhere in her own head.

Several former members of the Gotei had accepted Alastair's offer of employment, so perhaps Rukia would not be surprised that her sudden arrival within the City was treated as another such event. It was a hectic place, even compared to how the metropolis had been previously, as Welpo officials patrolled the streets with a newfound purpose - that of ensuring that everything was in place for the transition. But for all of that potential pandemonium, there was an unmistakable order to everything that was occurring. Like a finely oiled machine, there was a rhythm and sense of unity that might give an outsider pause for thought.

It did not take long at all before she was ushered into the Grandmaster's office, though. Opening into that austere room with only a single desk, behind which Alastair stood, and a lot of empty space. Despite all that emptiness, though, there was really nowhere else to focus on but that of Wahrender's leader as he watched her approach in turn.

"Ms Kuchiki, I will admit that I was surprised to hear that you were here." Formalities came to him as easy as breathing, his tone perhaps familiar of a particular noble brother she had grown to loathe, but there was an unmistakable honesty behind his eyes which might have been refreshing. It was not quite kindness or sympathy, that would have been misplaced, but rather just a genuine intrigue. "Is there something in particular that Wahrender can assist you with?"

Some people, most people even probably would have been impressed by the way everything was running here. In some ways, Rukia was too, but her thoughts were elsewhere. She didn't have time to linger on any of that, and her reasons for being here were more than enough to maintain her focus. She stepped into the office and took a seat opposite Wahrender's leader, wondering just how direct she ought to be.

"There is. Ichigo Kurosaki was my friend a long time ago. So was the woman he took that you call Shirohime. How much do you know? About her, and about the situation."

It wasn't necessarily a probing question; it was genuine, because Rukia needed to know what she was working with here. She had only needed the reports to understand exactly what had happened, exactly who it was Ichigo had taken away from this place.

The relationship between Rukia, Ichigo, and Shirohime was hardly new information to the Grandmaster. He had done his due diligence long ago and judged that the Shinigami had little to do with what had occurred. They had been allies once, before the fall, but there was nothing to indicate that such a bond had transcended Ichigo’s fall. It was not in Wahrender’s best interest to be disclosing any information on the matter to external factors, it was not information that many outside the Higher Circle were privy to, but Alastair could tell that he was likely the one who knew less in this position.

“I know who she once was, Orihime Inoue, along with the power that she was previously able to wield and what became of it. I believe that the Arrancar who was once Ichigo Kurosaki did not come to the City of Lights to seek her out, rather that it was something else which he sought and it was Ms Shirohime’s intervention that spared the lives of countless civilians by forcing him to withdraw.”

There were few things that could be considered a point of contention to Alastair, he was a man of principle and pragmatism both, but she was one of them. It irked him with every passing day that Shirohime’s fate was unknown, both for worry for her wellbeing and concern for what purpose her kidnapping had served. Whatever Ichigo wanted with her, he would not tolerate it.

“Wahrender will see him answer for his crimes, but I will also do everything in my power to find Ms Shirohime and see her returned to safety.”

"Orihime was my friend. I thought she was dead. We all did. That's why Ichigo turned hollow, and I thought he'd died then too."

Rukia had been there, after all. She was alive then, she'd held them all dear. To hear him speak with conviction on the matter of finding her, however, was something that she could only consider reassuring. There were very few things in the world that she still felt that way about.

"I can't keep waiting for something to happen again. With the Gotei gone, there isn't any one group in Soul Society that I think has the means to handle it, and even if they did, they don't have the leads you apparently do. So I want to know what you're doing. I want to know how I can help you do it, if it means Ichigo dies, and Orihime can come back."

Admittedly, Rukia wasn't wholly convinced regarding Orihime's own state; she'd known the woman far too well to think that she would simply tag along with anyone, even Ichigo, if she thought he was doing something she couldn't abide. But she didn't want to voice that; she didn't want to believe it.

"I will not profess to know the reasons why everything turned out the way it did. Her journey before she came to the Vandenreich is something that I would be interested to hear, though I doubt that it is a pleasant story."

Alastair wondered if it was a comfort or a further source of pain for Rukia to be dealing with, between Ichigo and Shirohime, on top of what had already happened. He could certainly tell that it weighed on her, that loss, even after a century. But perhaps it was the resurgence that had caused feelings once buried to bubble back to the surface, for there had been quite a lack of closure.

"I appreciate your desire to take action, and I have neither the reason nor the intent to stop you from doing so, so allow me to extend an olive branch to you. The easiest way for you to help me is to stand alongside me." He let those words rest for a moment, not particularly for dramatic effect but perhaps to give her a moment to contemplate the idea or decide that it was all folly. It might have been worth waiting for a response first, but Alastair wanted to lay out what that meant as plainly as possible.

"Join Wahrender and I can put you in a task force dedicated to this cause that we both share. There is certainly more that will come from your acceptance than solely that duty, make no mistake, but together we can make a difference here. For them and for the countless others that might be caught up in their future actions."