All i want is another beer

[tsunda]

Ana rubbed her temples as she walked out of the meeting with the healing division captains. There was very heated argument that ended with Ana fusing all of the healing divisions into three different groups, the battle field healers, hospital healers, and healing kido experts. Ana's head throbbed with pain as the scent of blood filled her nostrils, she was walking by the ER area of the hospital. The voices in the hospital almost made her cry because of how loud they where. The lights were each light a strong fiery kido. The worst part was, she was severely hung over!

She had drank 23 drinks last night and ate 4 different restaurants out of food. Now she regretted it with all her soul. She was in so much pain that she was just saying random things to people as they walked up to her with medical charts and questions. By the time she reached the room where the 3 people she had appointed directors of the hospital she had made the decision to skip the meeting.

She also had a notice sent out to all her students that her advanced healing kido class was canceled. She was almost out of the hospital when two 11th squad members made her feel like ripping her head off, they were yelling so loud. Ana just walked right up to them and grabbed both of their collars and yelled "While you are in this squad house, your under my care and direction! Don't yell at the orderly for doing his job! Both of you will clean this floor till it sparkles! Do I make myself clear!?!" The men were truly scared, they just nodded yes to her. She looked over at the orderly and just smiled and nodded.

She just walked out of the hospital and tried to make her way to her room, no one would dare bother her there. She turned the corner and saw two men carrying another man in their arms, the man was covered in blood. Ana just told the men to stop and put him down. they complied, they wouldn't shut up either. Ana just said "One of you go into the hospital and prepare the ER. Tell the man at the desk what happened. You!" she pointed to one man, signaling him to go into the hospital. She then began to tie her hair up so it wouldn't get in the way. "What happened to him?" Ana asked the remaining man. "We were messing around and he fell into a rake of swords." Ana nodded and knelt over the man, multiple cut wounds, deep to.

Ana moved her reiatsu to her hands and they began glowing a light purple. "Healing art 23. Distributed healing." The simple healing art went a long way. A purple reiatsu spread to form a thin membrane on each of his wounds. They began repairing lost tissue and stopping the lose of blood. She then got up and feel over. Her hang over was getting worse. She stood up more slowly this time and said "Okay he will be fine. Bye." The man looked insulted as Ana left. She didn't care her bed was calling to her to much.

Then before she could make it to her quarters a bar called more loudly to her than her bed. So she went in and had a few beers. She couldn't get over how bad the day was and it wasn't even over! No one would leave her alone and she couldn't get any rest. Now she was drunk in some bar in the Seireitei. She reached into her wallet and put the money on the table and said "Give me another, but how about sake this time." SHe had lost count of how many she had drank now.

She took the drink from the bartenders hands and sipped it slowly, she was running out of cash and needed to make this one last a little longer. She didn't realize that she was hunched over on the counter and looked like a slob. Why did she take this job? She was the newest captain around and she still wasn't use to the job yet. She thought she was really unqualified for the job. Then she realized something else, this was the booze talking.

She smiled, sat up, and downed the whole shot. Then someone sat right next to her, she turned and saw....

[Tanaka]

Newly appointed people to any post should know they are constantly being assessed and judged, make a slip up too early on and it is liable to stain your career forever. Everyone wants to know what you can do and just how good at it you will be. As such Anabell could expect to be watched by her fellow captains, even the vice captains and certainly members of her own squad, many of whom will of course have languished in obscurity their whole spiritual lives. However, there were also perhaps more unexpected observers. For instance who would expect the fourth seat of second division to be watching her, but he was. Well perhaps watching her was a tad inaccurate, rather he was gauging her, gauging her work, her methods, her innovations, gauging her as so many others were. Takeki, the above man, had always been interested in the work of fourth division. Back in his academy days he had originally sought them out for their rare intellectual calibre, something al too lacking in this day and age. After all, almost any man can cut someone’s arm off, it takes a whole different class of person to put it back on and Takeki was loath to spend time with those he viewed as intellectually stunted. Whilst originally it had only been a means by which to keep his sanity he soon realised the advantages on keeping tabs on progress made and changes within the fourth division, among others. After all, his business was in a large part killing and efficient killers with a plan in mind know the limits of medical progress and know how to get round them. Plus there was of course self interest, it would be a good idea if he knew how to patch himself up if only in a rudimentary fashion in order to hold out until the professional healers arrived. So, he kept an eye on the fourth, indeed he was no stranger to the halls of these hospitals and the grounds frequented by the members of this division but he was rarely if ever noticed. Not because he snuck around, though he was capable of as much, but because he was a non entity, an unremarkable figure that drew no attention to himself, easily missed and forgotten in the hustle and bustle of a hospital.

The appointment of Anabell had peaked his curiosity, new captains always would and in the case of fourth division doubly so and thus he made one of his little trips to these bloodstained wards and clinical corridors. He had not so much been following her as moving along in her wake. Talk amongst Anabell’s juniors swiftly revealed the recent reform of the division into a three pronged group. After all, what else would be the talk of the division if not these controversial changes? He made a mental note of this reform with keen, yet reserved interest. Reform was a matter close to what he was pleased to call his heart and he looked forward to finding out just why she had made these changes, he did not yet understand her reasoning and was keen to look inside her mind. But it seemed she was in no state to have her mind probed, there were mutterings about missed appointments but nothing he could understand without asking questions and questions would get him noticed, get him remembered. But it seemed she was in an irritable mood as well and irritable people tended not to respond well to questioning. He judged her mood by her interactions with those two noisy fellows from eleventh division, at least he guessed that was their division, their behaviour fitted the stereotype perfectly and it was the type of person Takeki took not a violent, but radical dislike to. Unfortunately he did not see the incident, merely heard snippets of the conversation but when he passed by those poor fellows a few minutes later he judged her behaviour and indeed reputation must have been quite something if she had them scrubbing the floors, something most eleventh division members would rather die than do if his understanding was accurate. She was quite the formidable woman obviously, he thought as he passed silently on.

By now she had encountered, and dealt with the wounded man, he only saw him, now healed, carried past him and Takeki had no real evidence to suppose it was her handy work, but he guessed as much. Mind you that was insignificant, the treating of relatively simple wounds was not what made her distinct, far from it and if it was he would be severely disappointed. Eventually of course, following in her wake would take him to the bar, this non descript little joint in this non descript little neighbourhood. For the first time since had had been following her he actually laid eyes on the woman, just in time to see her slouched over her drink like the pathetic mess many would have thought of her at the time but even she seemed to realise this and perk up though he doubted this had anything to do with him being so close. Walking forward so silently it was almost a glide with only the soft click of his wooden staff on the floor to signal his approach he sat next to her.

At first glance he looked more like a monk than a shinigami, his traditional robes had the addition of a large black hood swept up over his face, casting his features into seemingly impenetrable shadow with only the slightest hint of a pale skinned jaw, adorned with scraggy uncared for stubble to short or thinly spread to be called a beard protruding from the dark depths. Furthermore he wore no sword at this side or the like but instead carried what seemed to be only a simple, rough wooden staff almost as tall as the man carrying it. About his waste was a solid yet oddly rough and shoddy looking belt, clearly handmade with matching pouches bulging with their load and a back pack to match. His gloved left hand gestured at the shelf towards the back of the bar, the motion taking into account every bottle with almost glacial slowness but at the same time an oddly apt speed, suited to almost this man and this man alone. “Tell me.” He began in quiet, almost understated tones but with every word oddly significant and with every syllable underlined by a strange, almost sinister throaty exhale, halfway between a sigh and a hiss. “Do you wish to continue to take...” He then seemed not so much as stuck for words but unable to chose between the multitude at his disposal, he unspokenly kept his sentence running y carrying on the subtle exhale whilst his fingers wrapped the staff like a man may tap a desk before carrying on. “The edge off of life? Or.” He then gestured slowly to a coffee stall a few shops down, just visible out of the open door. “Put the edge back on? The choice is entirely yours to make. The cost however, for now, is mine.” He then seemed to flick his fingers as a magician may flourish with sleight of hand and a note appeared almost by magic between the fingers of his left hand. “All I ask for in return is a few moments of your time, more time with each drink shall we say?” He then gave what could have been mistaken for a semi amused snort, provided it was heard by someone who had never heard normal laughter before. “But of course good captain, where are my manners? I am the recently appointed fourth seat of second division Takeki Tanaka and it is my most earnest pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He gave a small bow of his head but it was hard to tell if this was out of forced politeness or genuine respect and deference, similarly his tone gave no clue as to whether or not it really was his most earnest pleasure to meet her. She would just have to take him on faith, if she was so inclined to do so. “But what of my offer madam? Can I purchase your time with drink? I assure you it would not be wasted time there are many things I would learn from you. First and foremost why you have recently instigated radical reforms of your division? And please, I beg of you, be detailed, everything of significance lies in the detail.” He then waited patiently for her reply, no matter what it may be he would wait dutifully, he was just that sort of a man.

[tsunda]

Ana looked to her right and saw the hooded man. Ana thought she was seeing things and that someone had slipped something into her drink. She discarded her thoughts though because she knew of every know poison and what they looked and tasted like in drinks. She then thought that maybe a priest had come to make her put the bottle down, if that was the case then he needed to know she was no alcoholic, she just had no stopper.

Then the man asked to know about her. Why, what was she, just a captain. Though maybe this young boy's souls was lost and needed help. Though that was not the case because the man had thought her time could be bought with drinks. She was slightly insulted, this man would think she was some type of bottom class citizen. Then it dawned on her... no one assumes these types of things about other people they don't know.

He had been following her. She knew it, he had seen her every move today. He must have seen the meeting, seen her put squad 11 to work, and heal the man. The sad part of it for her was that she wasn't scared or angry, just flattered. A young man trying so hard to meet her. One again the booze had her thinking. She snapped back to reality for a moment and thought 'He is going to wash every sword of every member of the 11th this week instead of the interns.' She thanked god for those little moments when she was drunk that she could make rationale decisions.

She began to study the man. He was mysterious, wore a hood, and stalked people. She then broke it down in her mind, she quickly eliminated every squad he could be from. Then when he said the 2nd squad it all made sense. His job was hiding from people and killing them. So he either wanted to know about her, or kill her.

He mind, being a fickle thing, changed to the subject of his name. She had heard it before. She had never heard it actually said but she had seen it. Her mind eliminated the list of perverts she knew. Then she took into account that he knew how to get around the hospital. He must have been there before, allot to know enough to follow me and not get caught. Maybe he use to be in the squad, but then she remembered that he was not on the list of transfers from this month.

'Maybe there is a clue in what I did today.' Ana thought. She opened her eyes wide when she realized it, he took some healing kido classes a while back. He was a talented young boy who should great promise for the fourth, but made a sudden move for the second. 'Shame kid had talent.' Ana thought. She had also seen his name on the list of people doing out of squad volunteering at the hospital. He had gotten great patient reviews. Maybe this boy did deserve a moment of her time. 'What's the worse that could happen?' Ana changed he mind for a moment when she asked herself that question, but he curious side gave in, she would let him ask some questions.

"Okay kid. 1) I'm not some drunk you can buy with drinks, but I will say yes to your proposition. 2) Don't ever follow me around because next time your going to be doing some things that even the most mindless hollow would hate doing. Now here is how it goes every shot I get you get three questions, but I won't talk to you unless you take that damn hood off." She turned to him and put her long hair up into a pony tail.
Who knows maybe this will be fun Ana though. She knew in the back of her head though that this would be related to getting to understand the untalented new captain. She thought that maybe this was all just a plan to humiliate her. If it was she wouldn't be caught off guard, she needed to stay sober from now on. She needed to out wit this man.

"Why don't we go to this restaurant down the street, great noodles. Every bowl you get three question, but if you run out of questions I still get to eat, is that okay with you?" As Ana waited for a response she just rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "Today just won't get any easier will it? First the crazy hospital now a stalker, god you think I would just quit!" In the back of her head she knew she loved the job. She liked the feeling of doing something worth while. May be that's all this man wanted from the questions.

[Tanaka]

Had Takeki possessed the luxury of peering into her thoughts he would have found her initial mental reaction to his presence quite fascinating, thinking him the sort of man who would slip things in her drink first and a priest second, though the latter was more understandable. Indeed even the first was surprisingly close to the mark but he had no interest in killing or capturing her and if he did he would not be so brazen as to publicly sit next to her. Her reactions said as much about her as it did him, if not more but alas he could not peer into her mind as such so many interesting things passed him by not least her dawning realisation. Interestingly he would not have objected to cleaning the swords of eleventh division, provided of course he got the answers he wanted, plus in doing such a thing he would have become familiar with every weapon the division could field, judge size, complexity, weight, power of the follow through and how nimble it could be, whether they were thrusting blades or cutting ones, the list goes on. He would have gained knowledge and knowledge is power, though it is folly to increase one’s power at the expense of one’s authority he had little true authority and the knowledge garnered from her and the weapons would have made the degrading task worthwhile. But all of this was a side issue which never crossed his mind. Rather he waited in silent, reserved expectancy for her reply. When he got it he was unsure of just how to react. Initially he had thought that everything had gone wrong and gave a single tap on his staff with the upmost finger on his right hand, a gesture similar in purpose to that disappointed sharp sigh people often give when their plans have gone wrong and it is time to pack up and go home. But he stopped when she agreed to his idea and though he was still silent he was smiling slightly inside his own little mind. She may not have been an alcoholic but she seemed to like the idea of a drink enough to over ride her normal sensibilities, he already had a vital piece of information but it would only really be useful if he was plotting her downfall, not something he had in mind at the current time and something he had no desire to bring about, fractious in fighting could only do them harm and there were quite enough people trying to do that already. Then again he could try to burry this knowledge, no, no it was too obvious, no third party could hide this no matter how talented. Ah well, it was still good to know. Her second point about following her, and more importantly what she would do if he did it again provoked another one of those bizarre semi amused snorts. He was not mocking her, nor was he veining amusement, he was just not the most articulate of men when it came to emotion despite his vocabulary. He was the sort of man who could conjure up the most beautiful arrangement of words but not but the passion behind them which such beauty would depend on and thus he hardly ever tried and instead opted for concise and clear communication.

A slight shift in the shadows within his hood indicated that he was now looking at her more directly but being unable to see his eyes made this hard to judge. “You almost tempt me to follow you again just so I can see the extent of the degradation your mind can conjure up, but there would be no profit in such an action and I do not want you...” Once again he seemed to hang his sentence in the air for a few moments, dragging it on by an almost silent continuation of his odd, soft yet sinister exhale. “Agitated.” He accompanied this with a slightly calming and dismissing wave of the hand, as if telling her to ignore his more aggravating actions and silently apologising. But much like his speech it was understated, as if the gesture were scaled down and could be missed if you were not paying attention to him. “Furthermore dismiss my apparent rudeness before, it was not my intention. I merely lack the knack of phrasing things well..... It seemed the best way at the time.” Her idea that every shot would get him three questions appealed, though he did not voice this, certainly earlier on his planed questioning his queries would provoke complex answers. It did not look as though he were going to be forking out much cash to keep her talking, he may even be able to indulge somewhat himself. However, such pleased thoughts were rapidly wiped away by her condition that he remove his hood. He was not exactly embarrassed about his appearance, indeed he did not care but rather there were things he liked to hide, still if he did not draw attention to the fact he might just get away with this. His fingers wrapped on his staff once again as he debated the issue silently in his mind for a few moments before slowly saying. “Agreed.” Whilst he had been mulling this issue over she had been working out a way to outsmart him, perhaps an unnecessary precaution but an admirable degree of reflection and care that Takeki would certainly appreciate. He even suspected that those were her motives when she suggested moving to the restaurant on the corner. Still, alcohol or food it mattered little to him he would still have her time and that was what mattered. Rising with a slowness to match his speech he held his staff in one hand as if he genuinely required it to walk and yet oddly seemed to be putting no weight on it whatsoever. Gesturing out of the door he said. “Shall we go?” It was not so much of a question as a statement, it would have been more accurate to say ‘we shall go.’ But he was being polite, he always tried to be but his manner often made this impossible. Turning slowly he walked towards the restaurant, as he moved through the open streets he kept close to the walls, not only was it a traditional sign of modesty but it kept you out of the public eye whilst those who stride down the centre are always noticed and as has already been said Takeki was one of those people who exploited his ability not to be noticed. But also the walls were where the shadows were and if push came to shove it was those he would so often take shelter in. As he paced along he seemed to take one stride to two or three of other peoples and yet oddly was able to keep up with them in a way that would make your mind hurt if you thought about it for too long.

Moving into the restaurant he immediately sat himself down in an obscured booth tucked away to the side, assuming she would join him before sliding a menu card towards her, gesturing to it, prompting her to make her choice. His staff was propped up on the wall behind him and it was only now, now that they were tucked away, that he would remove his hood and even then only out of necessity. He swiped it down gently with his gloved right hand and revealed a face which held none of the normal features that would warrant concealment. He was not ugly, scared or deformed. Indeed the worst thing that could be said of him was that he was scruffy and unkempt. The untidy, unfashionable stubble which had gone too far to be fashionable but was too short to look anything like a respectable beard ran along the entirety of his jaw and simply looked bad, there was no roguish charm about it, it was just plain bad. His skin was pale but not with beautiful, white porcelain perfection but rather with an unhealthy yellow tinge. This was, shall we say complimented, by a slightly dirty appearance, though no actual dirt clung to his face nor did he have any spots, he just had that slightly odd lack of freshness that comes with forgetting to wash your face this morning. Already sunken sockets were deepened by semi permanent grey bags under his eyes. His forehead was high, made higher by swept back hair which was as black as tar. Heavy, brooding eyebrows gave him the appearance of a permanent contemplative frown made all the worse for the frown lines on his brow, lines which should not have been present in a man who looked in his early twenties. His head was ever so slightly bowed, all in all not only did he look like a man who had given up caring about his appearance but furthermore he looked on the verge of giving up on life, nothing could be further from the truth but he seemed grey, tired, worn down and even work out. Only one feature contradicted all this, his eyes.

They were bright blue, sharp blue even. There were not the soft eyes lovers swam in, indeed if these eyes were waters they would likely be shark infested. Instead these were eyes that cut and even hinted at a man who’s mind at least was capable of cutting right to the heart of things in a single decisive stroke, a skill Takeki had realised was best deployed in moderation. Not only did they seem to pierce but they seemed to watch as well. They never moved, they did not flick across the room taking into account everything. Rather they gave the impression that they were doing all this without ever having to stir. They were the sort of eyes where someone standing well behind him would get the odd sensation of being watched. These eyes slowly moved to latch onto Ana’s own and most people in this situation felt like he was boring down into their souls even though he made no effort to do so. But he was trying to bore into her mind, with question though, not his eyes.

Leaning back in his seat he closed his eyes for a few moments in patient, pondering thought seeing no reason to rush this at all and choosing his words carefully. “I trust the menu meets with your satisfaction, order what you will. I will abstain for the moment and instead devote the entirety of my attention to you, good captain.” He now steeped his fingers, since he was no longer gripping his staff and asked his first question. “I have always had an interest in reform and reformers, I count myself amongst their ranks and I am sure you would agree with me had you ever read my publication. When I originally began monitoring you and your impact I did so simply to see how the capabilities of this division have changed only to hear your yourself have made changes, reforms. You have reformed the nature of your division from a loose system based on personal ability and specialisation into a stricter three pronged approach. First I want you to talk me though not only the practical impacts and implications of this change but also why you made them. I want to know your reasoning. I find myself fascinated and, hopefully pleasantly, surprised. I hope your answer will be illuminating and it is an unfortunate fact that so many of us cannot be illuminating without being longwinded, working on this assumption feel free to make this a one question bowl, I am not without generosity.”

[tsunda]

Ana walked out of the bar. Light hit her eyes and she had to blink for a moment as her eye's adjusted to the light. The street was empty, which was expected because of how unpopular this street is in the middle of the day. The man was walking at her side. He was an interesting fellow with, in Ana's opinion, way to much free time. She remembered back to her days as a intern at the hospital.

She was working only 4 hours a day back then! That was only a memory now because she was a captain and not allowed to relax. She sighed, now only seconds away from the noodle shop, at how nice her life was back then. Not that she didn't like being captain but she missed the free time.

Once they reached the front of the noodle shop Ana looked up at the small red establishment. It was old and family owned but it was Ana's favorite place to get noodles. Her thoughts went back to the boy though. He used so much intellectual vocabulary that it made him seem stuck up. Then Ana thought that maybe he used it as a way to be remembered. She realized, as usual, that the effect of the shots were still effecting her.

Once they entered a nice young lady sat them down at a booth and they sat opposite each other. He offered her the proposition of one cup per question, Ana had no complaints, she could eat a lot of these noodles. She did mind him not getting something. She observed him some more as he talked. She listened and thought at the same time, a skill many find difficult.

'The boy likes to feel smarter than other, a certain pleasantness to his speech shows that as well. He talks without thinking though, showing lack of concern for what people interpret his speech as. He also likes the hospital and was almost in the 4th squad.' Ana had almost had this boys personality figured out, she thought. She heard his question but it was unimportant as of now. She wanted this boy to eat.

Ana had this belief that if someone could eat in front of her, they could be comfortable around her. So she picked up the menu and made it look like she was thinking about wording her answer but, she was rally selecting a noodle dish that served to this boy's personality. She had found it in seconds. "The old-style meets new style Elegance dish" 'Ironic.... they have a dish that speaks to my analysis of this boy... Note to self talk to Frank about getting a consultant for naming his dishes...' She casts those unimportant thoughts away quickly, the waitress was her.

She wore a simple outfit, a long gray skirt with a white top. The girl didn't appear to be older than 14 and had a very serious look on her face. She was holding a small white note pad and a black ink pen. She had average length brown hair that was tied neatly in a ponytail. This girl was very obviously trying hard not to look her age, but look older. She wasn't exactly pulling the look off.

She smiled though and said "Hello welcome to Family style noodles! What can I get you today?" She was personable and pronounced her words clearly but there was a hoarseness in her voice. This sent Ana's mind into work, almost completely without her control. She began considering factors. 'This girl was working hard and wanted to seem mature, may mean she had a hard life. Which may mean she has to take care of some people, why she was working. So if she is working in a place like this, she isn't making to much money. So she needs every penny meaning she can't miss work, even if she is sick.' Ana had diagnosed her waitresses life almost instantly, that made her smile.

"Well I don't want to work you to hard so I will leave you a nice big tip with Frank. How about you just put our order in then have another waitress come out?" the waitresses eyes lit up and she said "Yes mama Thank you! What can I get you?" Ana felt good inside, this girl was truly happy, she could have a little free time. "I will get the Super spice string noodle bowl and he will have The old-style meets new style Elegance dish. That's all." The waitress took the menus, put the order in and left.
No matter how happy Ana was, she had to answer the question now. She turned to him. She had a smile on her face and her light brown hair was still up in its neat pony tail. She began thinking. This mornings meeting had been so long and stressed out that now she felt it all relived in her head again. Her headache returned.

She did her multitasking again and thought about the two aspects of a question, 1) the answer and 2) the why. 'Why would he want to know about that... He isn't even part of the division yet he is more intrigued than most of the squad members... He is impressed as well... At least he sees it from my stand point... That's a good quality in a young man. Focus Ana!' She thought to herself again 'Maybe he isn't satisfied with the 2nd squad. Maybe he is thinking of a transfer... Most likely not though, he is a devoted kid, I can tell that much. Why does he want to know?!? Ug... my headache is getting worse now. I should just focus on the answer... give me less stress.' So he thoughts shifted.

She began analyzing her reasoning maybe further than she actually did in the meeting. She had someone who could see both ends and in some form believed in her.' These thoughts made her start to like the boy a bit. She wanted to make sure he understood what was happening in a squad he obviously cared a lot about. So she had her ideas together now she need to form them into an intellectual sentence, that would make her seem educated, intelligent, and graceful. 'Wow this man is creepy... he makes me want to speak more intelligently... I could see how that could get annoying.'

She was careful to make sure she didn't vent to the man. She hadn't been able to tell anyone about her problems in days and she knew sometime this week someone was going to get a mouthful of her problems and she would make them listen. 'I really don't envy whoever is tuck with that job... Focus Ana!' She was almost getting violently angry with herself. She decided to just get it over with and just answer his damn question.

'Well that's a good start to your question. I thought this would be boring. Well the original large number of small divisions was good when they all had real jobs, that was when the squad had many more members than it had today. So the smaller divisions caused to many leaders of the divisions to be at the meetings. This gave way to a lack of anything being down because the division captains were fighting each other the whole time. The small divisions also lost us a lot of money because of the funds required for each group to do its unnecessary jobs. Thus I selected the three major jobs we have in the 4th squad. Then made a list of every division there was."

"I then selected the divisions that held relevance and formed them into the three main divisions. Then eliminated some members that weren't exactly up to par with what I want in those divisions." Ana stopped a her food was now brought by a very frumpy looking woman who left without a word. She took a breath then took a whole mouth full of the spicy noodles. The tastes filled her mouth, and the steam filled her nose with the amazing aroma. It was magnificent. She would savor this, so she continued talking with food in her mouth.
"Any who remains without a division will attend to the needs of the other squads and will work in the hospital as nurses and interns so they can learn and grow in their healing. Now this made the leaders very unhappy at how they were losing power, but it was my decision. Now it will be four of us all together and we can make quick strong decisions. We also save enough money to replace all the hospital equipment and raise money for research and development."

She swallowed and then took and a breath and a drink of water, to cool her mouth down. She saw that Takeki wasn't eating so she made a motion for him to dig in, then she continued. "This whole movement will make my life and the work of the division much more practical, strong, and sufficient. I knew I would lose members over this but I would rather have a small strong squad then a large squad of failures. Also I get those division leaders who were just out for their to save their own hides, out of my way. Also not to say I get a much easier life."

She took a breath and continued "I hope that answers your question but if it doesn't mi could try answering it in a different way." She now noticed for the first time that her esteemed questioner had taken his hood off. He wasn't ugly or unkempt but he appeared unkempt. He did have very disturbing eyes but Ana kept her eye contact, she thought that was very important. Before the man could talk she cut him off by saying 'I hope that you make yourself present able before volunteering in my hospital and if not I would think it to be in your best personal interest to get a comb and make yourself nice looking before you enter my hospital. Some people are looking for any reason to complain to the other captains about me, so I don't need you running around looking like a slob." At this she just kept eating, and she finished quickly and downed her water.

[Tanaka]

If Ana believed Takeki considered this something of a free time activity she was considerably in the wrong, this was work and in a big way, not that he was going to let this on quite yet. But she was right in thinking this was not officially assigned work, this was purely a private endeavour. Her sigh caught Takeki’s attention but he did not react to it, instead merely wondered what she could be sighing about, his first thought was of course that she was sighing due to his plans and behaviour but had that been the case she would have just walked away by now. So dismissing this theory he realised he had inadequate information with which to make another and so silently stalked onwards. Once inside the shop it was a place of supreme indifference to him, bar, restaurant, office, hospital ward it all meant nothing to him, so long as he could get the answers he wanted and if making her happy and filling her belly was making her answer his questions then he was all for it. Interestingly Ana’s thoughts about being stuck up could be very close to the mark. He had nothing but contempt and disregard for the muscle bound or psychotic, hack and slash type killers or indeed those of limited intelligence but in his view she was none of these things and thus rather than being arrogant he was trying to be polite and treat her with the degree of intellectual credit she deserved. Once again Takeki would have been fascinated to peer into her mind and see just what she thought of him and why. All of these theories about him feeling superior yet talking without thinking and almost being a member of fourth division. She was incorrect in some fields but judging on the information she had, or thought she had, these mental processes would have warranted a round of applause from Takeki, a man who respected a good mind over everything else. But, considering his lack of psychic ability she went unapplauded. When the waitress arrived Takeki noticed all the little details Ana did but did not pay her any proper mind, his primary concern was making sure no one was trying to kill him, or do him some sort of harm and clearly she was not about to try and do that. After that he assessed people as to whether or not they could help any of his major causes or objectives, this little waitress could not and so he simply stopped caring about her right there and then. He could have gone on to make educated guesswork at her social circumstances just as Ana did, but why should he? That was the major sticking point. But once again Ana’s deductions were to be credited, though acting on them was not something Takeki would have done.

Indeed as Ana said that she would in essence be paying this woman extra to get someone else to do her job Takeki slowly perked one of his furrowed brows and only now did he pay the waitress any special attention as his eyes moved with glacial slowness to look at the woman, still he could detect nothing noteworthy about the woman, not latent hidden power, no razor sharp with, skill, nothing to make her special. Thus he correctly landed upon the assumption that Ana was acting out of charity, there was a fine line between charity and generosity and Takeki most certainly stood on the side of generosity as he would now illustrate. Looking back at Ana he was silent for a moment before saying. “It is to be expected I suppose.” Then he seemed to stop, as if he was finished speaking but suddenly started again as Ana may not know what he was talking about. “Your charity I mean, it comes with the territory it would seem. There are so few in the history of your division that could truly be called mean or tight fisted. Indeed kindness to a fault is far more common, I suppose the quality so often walks hand in hand with the desire to make people better.” A tiny hint of a smile could be seen now on the right hand side of his mouth but he was not smiling in a smug or knowing manner, rather it was a tiny smile at himself, or should we say at his own expense. “One of the many reasons why I would not be part of your division, I can be generous but I am never charitable. When I give something or do something I expect something in return for it. This meal for instance, you aren’t getting the food for free. If I kill hollows I expect to be paid my salary. Were I to treat people I would expect friendship and possible treats in return. There is one important exception to this rule but I’ll leave you to figure that out.” Oddly he did not currently object to having food ordered on his behalf, though he was tempted to make her pay for it, that however, may defeat the entire purpose of what he was doing here. However, he would have to insist she not do so again, in essence she was spending his money without asking to, furthermore he was not that hungry and thirdly he was not as well paid as her. He did not come from money and his wages were substantially lower than hers, she was after all a captain. He was actually spending his own food money on feeding her. He would have to go out and kill his own supper latter. But he would not let this set of circumstances come to her attention lest she start fussing over him or being charitable. Indeed he perceived charity as an insult and would only except it if he were in truly dire circumstances in which case he was more likely to settle on some truly desperate solutions.

He thought for a while on her choice of meal for him, he very much doubted that she had been able to make an accurate assessment of his taste buds and so she must have chosen it on name alone, which of course she had. A moments pondering on the name made him crack a tiny self amused smile and close his eyes for a moment. It was a surprisingly accurate analysis of him though not completely correct, if she had been utterly accurate he would have retreated into paranoia and a paranoid man is almost always a dangerous one. Oddly he did not over analyse her own choice of dish, what did taste buds reveal about a person after all? He just dismissed the information and concentrated on the meat of the event, the conversation. He could even see the onset of a headache, people’s eyes and foreheads tended to contort slightly and they would no longer sit up as straight as they once had. But he did not try to help mainly because he was in no position to do anything, he possessed no headache pills or the like and saw no point in enquiring into her health when he could do nothing about it, besides considering her profession it might be something of an insult after all he would not be so presumptive as to try and build a house for a qualified architect.

When she was explaining the reforms to her division he became completely silent but as she went on he rummaged around in his belt with his left hand before removing a small note book and a pencil that had been worn down to a stub with frantic scribbling, flicking over to the next empty page she would be able to see on the flip side a large amount of what looked like half coded scribbles, truth be told he had developed his own odd combination of short hand and symbols for taking notes in a hurry which he would latter hone and enter into a larger book. He was writing down every point and justification she made as well as drawing lines off of them and writing down his own thoughts, many of which he would later turn into questions for her or simply just voice his observations. When he was gestured to eat his food he did not make a move, save for continuing his frantic scribbling, after all if he put his writing tools down he may miss a point and although he would doubtless remember it in the short term in the long term he was more likely to forget something important. When she was done he gave a slight nod and moved his little stub of a pencil back up to the top of the page as if about to start moving through her points one by one but he stopped as she cut him off and started telling him to make himself neater, he was torn as to just what to say or do. She was his superior this was true and thus must be obeyed but he did feel she was somewhat overstepping her authority, plus it was pointless of her to order him to make himself presentable, in a few days it would just grow back and he would not care enough about it to do something, besides he had been forced to devalue such petty things as personal appearance during his time in self imposed exile and it was a habit he had not yet gotten out of and most likely never would.

Still, since this talk was now unimportant he at last started eating his meal, he had interoperated that gesture as an order and thus had to obey it, besides he had paid for it, he may as well. Usually when given food he had not made himself he would check it for poisons and the likes, even though he had no reason to think he was a particularly likely target for assassination he still took the precaution, he was aware he was something of a controversial figure and would only become more so as time went on, if someone else came to the same realisation, then he could be in serious danger. But he decided no one here would want to kill him, they had no motive, Ana was the only one who even vaguely could have and not only did she not seem the murdering type but actually seemed comfortable enough around him. Thus he ate and trusted her not to have arranged anything devious. He paid little attention to the taste f the dish, his primary concern was with nutritional value, taste was a luxury to be indulged in after the practical functions had been addressed. Once she had finished her little criticism he took a pause from eating and leant back once again. He was silent for a little while before shrugging. “Very well, I shan’t volunteer.” Was his brief and glib reply, it was partly serious but also supposed to be slightly light hearted, unfortunately he was unable to pull off humour, especially humour that could easily be misinterpreted as insulting. He then gave a slightly dismissive gesture as if to neutralise his words before pressing on more seriously. “Besides I don’t volunteer out of the goodness of my heart. You should have guessed that much. I have never been injured, if ever I visit your hospital it has been to learn, either to leech practical knowledge which has come to naught, my fault entirely, or to observe the practices and people within. That I will not have need to do for some time after our little chat.” He then smiled a tad and although his words had been serious he did not intended to offend. Gesturing slowly at her he said in his ever slow tones. “The only reason I would volunteer now would be for the pleasure of your company and whilst that pleasure is considerable.” At this point he added a slightly perked yet friendly brow and nodded his head gently in her direction. “I must forgo such pleasures until I can afford them, as much as that pains me.” He gave a slightly sinister smile but it was meant to be friendly and personable. He was aware that he had unintentionally offended her earlier when trying to buy her time with drinks and so now he was trying to be more friendly and whilst the intention was genuine it was as though he had learnt how to be friendly by studying tapes of other people being nice. It seemed more like he was following an equation or formula, it seemed slightly off, slightly wrong or forced.

Turning his attention, at last back to his note book he ceased book in one hand and stub in the other and placed the remains of his pencil on the top of the page, giving a slow, gentle grunt of remembrance accompanied by an approving little nod “ Efficiency, that seemed to be your first point. Admirable enough, indeed it seemed to be your entire point but it is a very big one. First of all you cited efficiency of labour, people not doing things because they were always in meetings. This makes sense, I just hope you still have adequate council. After all you aren’t a god none of us are and the most wise and learned leaders still need advice, the real skill is picking between the advice.” He fiddled with his pencil stub between his fingers for a while and seemed to be mulling something over before giving an approving little smile and a nod. “Three is enough, provided they are a good three and I am sure you pick....excellent advisors.” He once again took his time choosing a word, this time the word excellent and now she would be able to see his face as he pondered over his words. “His eyes seemed to defocus for a moment and a slight vacant smile donned his lips, you could almost see the gears turning in his mind before suddenly his eyes would snap back into focus to bore into Ana’s own and he would slowly cock his head slightly to one side like a dog but not so stupid and when he said the word he would smile thinly but knowingly. He approved very much of that part of her reasoning and so instead twiddle the stub between his fingers with a certain flare before setting it down on the page with a little panache, signalling that he was actually starting to enjoy this, and continuing. “Economic efficiency, you are certainly hearing no complaints from me there. You have enough money to restock the entire hospital, either you have very gifted accountants or...” He then went through that slightly odd facial routine as he picked his words and slowed his pace down again, he realised he had been speaking faster than normal he was enjoying all this a little too much and was thus getting carried away in the moment, he was in danger of not choosing his words with the same considered care as normal. “You have totally inept ones. Laying off a few staff should not yield the many millions needed to replace all hospital equipment, not unless you have emergency requisition orders and they are not in use at the moment since we are not in a state of emergency.” He tapped his note pad a few times and shrugged. “You should be able to buy some equipment at least but I would double check your accounts. Unless of course more people are resigning than I think then something is amiss here.” He then delivered one of the more subtly crushing comments but he genuinely meant it to soften the blow. “Still, you know your team better than I.”

He then set his pad down on the table and took a slow gentle breath, closing his eyes for a moment and arching his fingers. He remained like this for about five seconds before snapping his eyes open, locking on Ana’s face like a clamp. “I have only two criticisms, believe me that’s good. I usually have far more things to say about people’s ideas. Or lack of them in most cases. My first concern lies with your staff size. You said it yourself people are going to resign, quite a lot of relatively high up people as well and therefore gifted. Your department is already stretched, every man counts. You would rather a small strong division than a larger weak one but you can be larger and strong. Go for the three pronged approach it is a good one, dissolve the smaller group, put them into the larger ones in practice. Keep them as they were in name and allow the old, divisive leaders to keep their, ranks, keep their pay. If they are as inward looking as you hint this will stop them resigning. You will not make as bigger saving as you had hoped on salaries but you will make the same saving on equipment and more importantly you will keep your already scarce medical staff. Furthermore make sure the heads of your new three pronged approach have the same rank in name as the people who now no longer have power, merely expressly put into their remit complete power over the rest of their cell, aside from you of course, this will take away the power of those you sought to take it from, without them realising it, or at least without minding.” He seemed to take a pause to allow her to assimilate the idea as well as gently nodding to himself, checking his own words and making sure he had made sense before pressing on once again. “The take the savings you made, all be it smaller than before and do not buy equipment and certainly do not fund research and development. I’ll come to R and D latter. But take all your savings, aside for a little money reserved a security blanket and use it to fund scholarships. We all know that medical training takes longer than training for most other divisions and a lot of our number come from the poorer communities of the Rukongai. I am one of them myself, I used to be a professional thief, amongst other things. Now a lot of people from that background need to start earning money fast, either to support themselves, send money back to desperate families they can’t afford the delay of medical training. Offer scholarships to the poor with your savings. Believe me, recruitment will rise and in say twenty years your division should be back up to full strength and we all know one medical professional is more valuable than ten machines. Plus the healing done in this place of a spiritual nature for the most part. You did it less than an hour ago, apparently the man had serious wounds but you did not use a single machine, if you can train a decent sized staff to act like that you will not need half as many machines, so a big long term saving there, You will have a large staff who can deal with the stress put on your division a stress that I believe will only increase, and also very importantly for your field cell medics can get to the wounded quickly, machines are slow or impossible to move. Go for spiritual or kido healing in a big way, cut on the machines unless there is a radical change in circumstances.”

He tapped his fingers on the table a few times and looked at the half eaten meal in front of him, considering taking a bite but he had things to say, he had one point left leaning forward again he smiled as softly as he could but it looked like a crocodile smile and that might be apt, he had a bite left even though he was trying to be nice. “Finally, do not, as I said, do any research and development. Instead take a few of your more inventive members and possibly a few of your more stuck up ones and second them to twelfth division. They will still be on your staff, reporting to you, under your control and on your payroll and thus researching what you want them to. Unfortunately it will most likely mean that you have to make sacrifices and do favours for twelfth division, the people you send to them will have to work on their projects a little. But you will make a massive saving on equipment. After all you can just use theirs whilst they are there. Plus you will have a very large knowledge base to draw on, these people have millennia of experience and if there is something they cannot understand then they can just turn and ask the next man in the lab for help.” He seemed to relax now and draw his food towards him once again. But before he started eating he raised an apologetic hand. “I am sorry If I offended, I did not mean to do so. These are merely my honest observations and opinions. It can’t hurt to hear this and I am sure as a captain you will be able to hit upon the best solution. It is your job after all and I am sure you are more than capable of it. I have every faith in you, even though I know not all of your peers do. I applaud your efforts and rest assured what you have said thus far has earned you a favourable mention in both the second and seventh chapters of my next publication which I am currently researching. But, pray tell. What do you think of my refinement of your already excellent idea?” Since this was now her turn to do the talking he began eating his meal once again which had by now started to go cold but he ate it none the less he was not a fussy man and she would most likely have guessed this already. He was also expecting a few follow up questions in relation to a few little snippets of him and his life he had let slip, and he was enjoying this banter but the meat of the day was the reforms and he was anxious to hear her response.