A new start... or?

There was, if he were to be asked, nothing worse in this world than math. Seriously now, who really needed it? It certainly was unnecessary.
Oh, he knew quite well how childish he was currently being, but seriously now... it was about math.

Xarath whined in frustration before two tongue clicks left his rosy lips. His long, thin fingers were by know pulling on his, for once, loose hair. The tie he had removed during his fight.
A fight against his hardest enemy.

Information gathering! Why had he just joined this Division? He should have been aware of the fact that well... math was a rather important factor when collecting information.

"Ohhhhh join the Information Squad. It's the only thing you don't fail completely." he thought angrily, flashing green orbs still fixed on the paperwork laying, by far too innocently, in front of him on his desk. Every day the same problem and every day he bit himself through it.
If it was not for his stubbornness... and his damn loyalty he knew he would already long ago ditched this Division.
No... not really damn... Once more he clicked his tongue, his shoulders slightly slumming forward as he breathed out audible. It was not a bad thing to be loyal. Especially when being loyal to such a shining person.

Feeling how the anger and frustration have finally subsided did he let go of his hair, loose bangs brushing his cheeks softly, and picked up the pen, which he had placed down earlier, to get back to work. The afternoon sun, which was busily shining through the open window behind him, would have heated up his back if it was not for the slight breeze cooling him down again, once in a while playing with strands of his hair. The happy chatter of the members who gathered under his window and the melodious twitter of the birds was already tuned out by him - Xarath clicked his tongue from time to time while writing down numbers with his right hand. The left... the left he used to count.

Math truly was an evil beast.

After three hours, two hours longer than usually, was he finally done. Though he was feeling anything but pride. Too long, he had taken far too long. That certainly would earn him a disapproving look of Oukami-taichou again. Xarath swallowed heavily before clicking his tongue three times, standing up slowly. He stretched his arms over his head, the fingers of his right hand wrapping around the wrist of his left one, while standing on his toes.

Once he felt the tension of sitting far too long in the same position leave him did he carefully pick up the pile of papers. They needed to be signed.
They needed to be signed by her.

Again he clicked his tongue before he made his way over to her office, his strides, like far too often, were missing confidence. The corridors by now were deserted, though he was not surprised about that. It was late already and like usually only his captain and him remained. He had no clue why Oukami-taichou always stayed longer. Even though she was strict... she was stunning and strong and... why she had no social life he could not understand. People should be hooked like moths to light by such a shining person... and not try to avoid her.

"They are probably jealous." he decided, before already arriving in front of her door.

Immediately he held the papers with his left arm towards his chest - his right hand he used to knock on her door before swiping some loose strands of hair behind his right ear. Then he kneed down and bowed his head slightly. "Oukami-taichou?"

The female Oukami had been coped up in her Office all day. It was an unavoidable occurrence, especially as the Captain of the 5th Division. There was too much information to sift through, too much information to dissect, analyze and then document. It was not a task for the squeamish. She was all but squeamish.

Her Office, or as many of her subordinates called it, Oukami's Brewery, lay at the center of the entire Division grounds. She sat within her black leather chair, behind her brown wooden desk and under the shroud of blackness. Her Office was always devoid of light, for the most part. All that illuminated this darkened area was a single, large candle. It lay erect at the far left side of her desk. Ample light to read and write. That was all she required, the bare minimum.

Her customized 5th Division haori hung over her chair, the black wolf fur caressing the back of her neck. She now only wore her black kosode and thus her large, black tattoo lay spread across her right arm for all to see. Her breasts sat as neighbors in magnificent cleavage. Her ponytail lay tossed over the back of the chair, its total length reaching a quarter way down into the darkness. Her back was pressed against the chair and her arms lay slightly curled on her lap. Her feet were overlapped, allowing her legs to press against each other. A frown hung her expression. No tension nor angst. Her eyelids were shut. It was all just peace and-

Ruby hears the disturbing knock. Xarath. It could only be Xarath. No one else would remain here this late. He was both a nuisance and a godsend.

"Oukami-taichou?"

Unmoved, Rubianca calls out calmly. "Enter."

"Enter."

Xarath closed his eyes for a moment, his long lashes softly brushing against his pale cheeks before green orbs once more settled on the hard wood in front of him.

Slowly he pushed himself up, his back straight and his head held up. A show he had performed during his childhood so it was already something that happened automatically.
Good.

Carefully he opened the heavy door, making sure not a single noise was made, before stepping into the darkened room and closing it behind him just as silently.
He waited a few seconds, until his eyes finally adjusted to the barely lit room. Once he could make out the silhouette of his captain did he lower his head slightly before stepping up to the wide desk, stopping a foot in front of it.

"Oukami-taichou." he murmured, before carefully placing the papers in front of her - making sure they were already turned around for her to read them without having to turn them herself.

"Those papers have arrived earlier." he murmured his explanation. "They are from 3rd Division about their latest missions in Huenco Mundo..." He stopped, clicking his tongue three times. He should not have spoken, the woman could perfectly well read those papers herself. Another tongue click. He sounded like an annoying parrot.

Immediately his head bowed slightly lower, his long jet-black hair forming a curtain around his face.

Though she seemed calmer. Well at least when she told him to enter. Maybe she would not be that annoyed and... or... why... why no crisp tune?

Has something happened?
Nervously he licked over his lips before clicking his tongue three times.

If he needed to know she'd tell him.
He had no right to ask.

Mere seconds after she had commanded her life-long companion to enter her darkened abode, the heavy door whines open. Through her closed eyelids, the distinct hall lights jab at her receptors. How uncomfortable. But, just as quickly, this annoyance diminishes. How wonderful it was to have a subordinate as perceptive and witty as Xarath. Even if his antics were quiet troublesome. She knew he was now bowing his head, acting like a dog. Fucking dog.

"Oukami-taichou."

Ruby's head tilts slightly to the left. Her brown bangs swing in the same direction, appropriately. So formal. A commendable trait. The candle's flame bends ferociously in her direction. She had felt Xarath's movements. She had felt him place the paperwork on her desk.

"Those papers have arrived earlier. They are from 3rd Division about their latest missions in Huenco Mundo..."

Indeed they were. Captain Dubois, the infamous Lioness of Venom. She had always been a complex creature, but one whom completed her work and completed it with utmost precision. Interesting, someone who wasn't a complete trash-bag in the ranks of the Seireitei. But, these papers were irrelevant. Rubianca had received some very, very interesting Intelligence. One of the Gotei 13, arguably the most important and least impressionable, had enacted desertion. The Captain Commander had disappeared. How amusing. Whomever had chosen that cowardly cur should be forced to resign. But even more interesting, Ruby had heard yet another rumor. One of even more consequence. The C46 had chosen her as his replacement. Out of all the damned souls in the Seireitei, they had chosen a Demon. Well, to be fair, they were all Demons.

Her posture unmoved and eyes still closed, Rubianca parts her lips once more. With a tone illustrating her current peace, Ruby speaks. "Xarath..." She pauses for a brief moment. "...you have served under me for so long." Another brief pause. "How far would you go to continue that legacy?"

The air around her was far too calm, far too content. Oh it was never bristling or heavy, but there seemed to cling a certain strictness to her - something mysterious and hard to understand.

Why the change in demeanor though? What had caused this?

"Xarath..."

He blinked his eyes as he was pulled out of his thoughts once more.
Was it affecting him too?

"...you have served under me for so long."

He swallowed heavily before clicking his tongue, unsure if he really wanted to hear what was coming next. Was she going to fire him? Yes, he had complained about the math, but he certainly had no intention of leaving her side.

Though if she was fed up, why the calmness?

"How far would you go to continue that legacy?"

Now he could not help but he utterly confused, which certainly would show in the expression on his face.
What was the meaning of this?

"I am... not sure I really understand, Oukami-taichou." he murmured before clicking his tongue twice. "I thought I made it known that I would be at your side for as long as you wanted me there."

And even then, was he not sure if he really could leave.

It was insignificant though, right now anyway. He wanted to know what was going on.

The Wretched Hag could sense Xarath's every movement, every muscle contraction. She hears the feint yet obvious sound of his rather grotesque gulp followed by his dumbfounded voice.

"I am... not sure I really understand, Oukami-taichou."

Her ears catch the almost unnoticeable tongue clicks. Two of them.

"I thought I made it known that I would be at your side for as long as you wanted me there."

At the end of his final word, without hesitation, Ruby instantly replies. She maintains her postured disposition, though. "It is not a matter of wants, Xarath." Before she continues, Rubianca tilts her head from its left hung side to the right. Her bangs follow as they swipe across her chin and cheek. "It is a matter of acknowledgement." She takes a deep breath, causing her breasts to rise and then fall. "I was presented with a decision point. One that may posses implications far outweighing the harshest of consequences even my mind could fathom. I have chosen. And now I present you with this same decision point. It may not seem a difficult choice on the onset, but its greatest detriment lies deep within. You will be worked doubly, you will be sat under the gaze of greater danger and your vices will be tested to the brink of corruption." She cuts her vocal resonance abruptly at the completion of her last word. A brief moment later, she continues. "I am to be instated as the new Captain Commander and I ask you once more, will you undertake the greatest challenge of your life and continue your service as the Vice Captain of the 1st Division?"

"It is not a matter of wants, Xarath."

Xarath blinked his eyes, had not expected such a fast reply from his captain.
Though... why was it not about want? In the end it all just depended on what she wanted... currently her needs were the only goals he had.

He clicked his tongue as she tilted her head, knowing just too well that she was not done yet.

"It is a matter of acknowledgement."

... huh?

"I was presented with a decision point. One that may posses implications far outweighing the harshest of consequences even my mind could fathom. I have chosen. And now I present you with this same decision point. It may not seem a difficult choice on the onset, but its greatest detriment lies deep within. You will be worked doubly, you will be sat under the gaze of greater danger and your vices will be tested to the brink of corruption."

He had not heard her talking this much in such a long time now.
That was, sadly, the first thing he registered.
The second... was that she got promoted.

A sudden surge of pride went through him, making him hold his head high and shoulders straight.
Of course she was promoted. Nobody else but her deserved that position.
True, she had her moments, but in the end she was nothing but professional. Cold, calculating and down to the point. Soul Society needed somebody like that. Three tongue clicks. God yes, they needed it.

"I am to be instated as the new Captain Commander and I ask you once more, will you undertake the greatest challenge of your life and continue your service as the Vice Captain of the 1st Division?"

The greatest challenge of his life?
Why would it be his greatest one? His current goal was what she wanted... she was the closest so far. He had sworn loyalty to her. It was worth more than a stressful life.

Though what did it matter, informing her of that? Nothing at all.

Instead he clicked his tongue, before standing even straighter, fixing her with cold, green orbs - the gold around his pupils blazing lightly at the candle light.

"Yes." he said confidently.

"Yes."

Were it safe to say the female Oukami knew her long time companion would respond with acceptance? Indeed it were. The moment she had laid her sight upon the then lost Xarath, Ruby had known he would follow her to the very end. And the way the stones of fate were being laid, hers. But alas, even though her unmatched foresight rang true, a slight sensation of both joy and relief stirred within the deepness of her soul. But only for a fraction of a second. Her expression had not betrayed her.

"Good. Then prepare, for we begin our transfer tonight." Her voice had been calm. However, her eyes, during her speech, had betrayed her. She now bore fiery emotion within them.

There was just a moment of silence, one in which, much to his annoyance, he feared that she would tell him that it was all nice and dandy, but that she had no need for something like him.

Xarath swallowed heavily before two tongue clicks passed his lips. In the heavy silence that filled the room even he noticed them for once, which immediately made him bite down on the annoying muscle.

"Good. Then prepare, for we begin our transfer tonight."

Oh? Slightly surprised eyes settled back on his captain, noting her change of expression. No... change of the light trapped within her eyes. She was ready to take over and lead them into greatness.
And he was allowed to take part in it... at her side.

"I shall." Tongue click. "Thank you, Oukami-taichou." he murmured softly, bowing deeply.

Of all reactions, she knew what was to come. A resolute agreement and a formal gesture of appreciation.

"I shall. Thank you, Oukami-taichou."

Yes, indeed you are Xarath. Very welcome, that is. In her true fashion, Ruby now glared with lifted, piercing eyes at her Vice Captain. Get the fuck out were the words her eyes wished to scream. And they did.

---

It had been only several hours since Ruby had convened with her Vice Captain. It was quiet then, but not so much now. There were hundreds of her subordinates within the corridors of the 5th Division Head Quarters. What were they doing? Simply, they followed her instructions. Her order; sweep the Divisional grounds, in its entirety, and ensure nothing of importance is left behind for the weasel whom she had chosen to replace her. She knew what he was capable of and to leave something of significance, specifically of relation to her, was a sure way to incite her own downfall.

At that very moment, just ten minutes past 9, Rubianca, the soon to be Wretched Commander, stood next to the 5th Division gates, her arms crossed and cigarette in place.

Calmly Xarath continued to watch her, patiently waiting for her to decide if she wanted the conversation to go on or if he was supposed to leave.

Not, that he did not already know what she would do.

And indeed, her eyes settled onto his and strictly told him that she was kicking him out.
Like usually.

Xarath clicked his tongue twice as he bowed, before turning on his heels and leaving the office as silently as he had entered it.

---

The remaining hours, even though he wanted nothing more than go home and do... something, Xarath had taken the time sweep his office clean. Documents, single papers and books were all neatly tucked away in boxes.

He had always been very throughout, though this time he knew he had to be especially careful that he managed to take everything with them.
Everything.

It had already come to his ears of who would replace her and though he had never had any problems with that man he certainly knew that she did not completely trust him. One could not be the Vice of 5th without seeing information that was so obviously presented to him.

Once had been done he made his way out towards the gates, where he could already see Oukami-taichou's back presented to him. He clicked his tongue twice, as he stopped one step behind her, though otherwise not a single sound was made by him.

He was coming. Xarath Shiru, her Vice Captain. A silent rodent to most, but a priceless comrade to Ruby. She peered out into the orange sunset as Xarath neared behind her.

Loud enough for him to hear, Ruby proclaims "It has all begun."