About 25 Years ago

Bashira was once again in a foul mood. Technically, having kids meant that Bashira now had a very small but still legitimate clan. Despite it consisted of just 3 kids, late husband, and herself, it had been decreed due to her position and influence that it be deemed royal in status. First they make her take a last name, then they force a clan title on her family. This was a series of things that she never wanted to deal with, and now this status was of course becoming a form of grief and irritation.

Shisuke Moriyama, the current holder of the title Kenpachi, had found her Clan's status as royal to be a disgrace, a joke. The fact that she agreed with him didn't help in the matter, but given the man's position, she was starting to worry for her children's safety. Yunaka could handle herself, being the eldest and managing a decent position in her division. But Akihiko and Shiori were different. The former was struggling to find his place in life, and Shiori was too young to even get into the academy.

Desperate times called for desperate measures. She needed Moriyama out of his position, and for Kenpachi, that usually meant death. But she couldn't come up with a good reason to just kill him herself. That would be entirely unnecessary and wouldn't look good at all. Poor optics on the Captain Commander and her family. So now that Moriyama had become the most infuriating person in the Gotei, Bashira found reason to call upon the help of the last person to hold that rent free place in her mind. Ika Mazi.

Bashira waited for him in a place that not many dared to tread. A slight breeze kicked up dust and blew it past Bashira as she watched distant trees away in the wind. The scenery was nice, but it wasn't the idea place for self reflection or meditation, given the purpose of these grounds. But for the task she had in mind, it was perfect.

The smoke eminating from Ika's clove infused cigarette arrived to the scene of this particular meeting several seconds before Ika did. This was a strange choice of venue, it wasn't exactly a place for happy conversations between friends or comrades given this was usually the last resting place of the condemned. Sano had been here once, but their fathers mercy had 'spared' them the glory of an execution in favor of letting them rot away in the Maggots Nest. Fatherly love was strange that way.

Bashira herself had always been one of their dads favorites, she'd served him loyally, much more loyally than either Sano or Ika had during their tenures with the Gotei and because of that she was now a noble and the Captain Commander. It was funny how the world worked, Ika had been ordained as the eventual leader the minute his brother became incarcerated and now he stood face to face with the woman who almost certainly ensured he'd never live to see that position he was forced to idolize for most of his life. In a way, he almost wanted to thank her. Life was much more.. simple this way. He still had plenty of weight, and none of the responsibility.

So why couldn't he like her the way he should?..

"Sou-Taichou, fancy seeing you out and about at this particular venue. I imagine if you wanted to meet me here the topic must be.. particularly precarious, that or you want an excuse to get rid of me and you thought it'd be funny to make me walk myself to my own execution. That'd definitely be a hoot, but you've never been much of a prankster and you've certainly never intentionally sought my company."

Ika would take another puff off his cigarette, letting the smoke fill the air between the two of them. "So out with it, what is the nature of this little pow-wow we've got going on here?"

"If I was going to execute you, I'd make sure there was an audience. I may not like you, but I wouldn't dare rob you of a chance to off one last quip towards the Gotei. Maybe another shot at your father." Bashira turned to face him, acknowledging that this may be the first time he would do as she asked without much in the way of pushback. And besides, there weren't a lot of options for who she could ask to do such a thing. With the father of her kids no longer with them for the better part of a decade, protecting her family now fell squarely on her shoulders, and she'd do whatever was necessary.

"I'll get to the point, since we both have better things to do right now. I need you to find help me find a way to deal with Shisuke Moriyama. My normal methods of dealing with confrontation will only result in me having to deal with him myself, but i don't feel that this is the best way to remove him from his post." The smell of cloves reached her nose. Wouldn't be long before she acquired a headache from that stench. She pulled a pipe she'd tucked away and lit the prepacked tobacco within, taking a drag from the lavender infused leaves. "The level of insolence and disrespect he shows myself and my family borders on insubordination. You've seen how any attempt to reason with him end in failure. At this point I'm beginning worry for my family's safety, and... I'll be honest, things are getting dire."

Ika would offer a wry and mischievous smile in Bashira's direction after hearing her return fire from his previous comments. "You say you don't like me yet you'd allow me one last chance to slander our beloved father? Maybe I'd misjudged you after-all.."

Ika would hold his still lit cigarette at his side, letting the embers from it slowly drip to the ground by his shoes as he thought of what to say next. "If it makes you feel any better, I woudn't waste my last words on a long-dead fool and so with that in mind we can easily disqualify both of our fathers as objects for that particular speech. I also wouldn't waste them on the Gotei, no ones listening and I have better things to ponder in those precious moments than the politics of a glorified management team."

Ika's needling, to an onlooker, was harsh. It would be almost shocking to hear nearly anyone else speak this way to the Sou-Taichou, but he knew he had some allowances where others did not. Even still, he was careful. His comments were just playful enough to avoid her full ire, but still pointed enough to illicit his desired response when he wanted it. On the bright side, it seemed Bashira had better things to do than score points in a shit-talking contest, as she had already moved on to the real point of this whole discussion. Shisuke Moriyama.. a man Ika had admittedly no real love for, but knew to be a staple within the Gotei.

"So you want to get rid of Shisuke Moriyama eh?.. Not sure how his elders will like that but I suppose given your current title that matters a little less. Still, can we at least drop the pretense that you're desperately concerned for the health of your family here? It's not exactly likely he'd act against them given what it would mean. Shisuke is a pain in the ass like myself, he's just less useful in the interim and a lot easier to make.. disappear."

Ika smirked, watching as the clove laced smoke began to intermingle with the tobacco flowing forth from Bashira's pipe. "The easiest way to get rid of a Kenpachi naturally is to have them defeated in a battle for their position obviously, in that sense he's much easier to dispose of than most nobles and Captains who might give you trouble. The problem is you need someone expendable, who isn't yet a Captain, to defeat him and take his position.. That's quite the predicament my dear Sou-Taichou, but I'm guessing you're hoping I have something, or someone in mind who might be able to accomplish this task, and who's failure wouldn't result in turmoil? Is that correct or am I just.. putting evil notions into that pretty little head of yours?"

Bashira was in luck when it came to Ika's bombardment of his father's reputation. Sure, the old man man did have his flaws and was somewhat deserving of criticism, but Ika always managed to take it too far. As far as luck went, Bashira had had years of practice in the art of compartmentalizing the irritation and anger Ika tended to incur on these rants and just... bottle it up for later. Was it the healthiest way to deal with it? Nope, but it wasn't like she could deal with it by firing him. That just wasn't possible. And he'd gone a little easier on the old man and the Gotei this time.

Right, better just get back to the main subject of the conversation. Her concerns regarding family safety were legitimate, since Moriyama might not do much to stop anyone in his division from harassing her family. Though after enough of that, she'd probably be considered in the right fir directly stepping in. Either way, she didn't want it to come to that. "That's... a good point. The title of Kenpachi is passed on through bloodshed, so that does give us an opportunity to dispose of him through proper channels."

Bashira took another lengthy drag from her pipe, smoke wafting from her lips and nostrils as she pondered the idea further. Again, Ika was right. All they needed to do was find someone strong enough to kill Moriyama, but not so much of consequence that their death could cause issues. Problem was, she couldn't think of someone to fill those shoes at the moment. "That's certainly a way of going about it, but finding someone like that would be... difficult. If you can think of anyone with that kind of potential... perhaps it can be a work in progress. A long game so to speak, putting pieces in place, build someone up to the point where they can take him down..."

Ika would chortle at the girls measured disregard towards his statements about both his father and the Gotei. The reverence the woman held for both was admirable, but it served as a very easy path to rile her up on most occasions. Today was not one of those instances, and Bashira had seemingly moved onto the more pressing topic of the Kenpachi. "Those Kenpachi types have never been particularly bright, they won't see the plan coming unless you announce it to the world. The Moriyama's would suspect it to be an act against them if it were a member of one of the noble families, and they'd suspect worse if it were a fellow Captain which means it has to be someone that is currently a Vice Captain or lower."

Ika's lips would curl into a smile as he watched Bashira squirm a bit, tiding her nerves over with a pipe, some smoke and little else was almost charming, but there was more pressing business to attend to presently. "Oh I know just the person for this particular exercise, but I would need assurances to both their time and promotion should they do the deed.. Hayate has been the most qualified Vice-Captain in the Gotei for years, it's almost criminal that he was passed over for people like Okami and some of the others. I don't even know that I'd need to train him in order to help him secure this particular victory, but I trust that you'll want more in the way of assurance than my blind faith."

Ika smiled a bit, glancing up towards the giant execution monolith they'd decided to meet at. "I mean, or I could drag the man here myself. The Sokyoku is probably itching to be used after all this time don't you think? Might wanna make sure it still works!"

"This does need to be done without drawing suspicion of an actual plot against another clan. None of this can be traced back to me whatsoever, so caution must be observed." all they needed to do was find someone who was perfectly capable of taking on Moriyama and winning, though they couldn't be a Captain. That meant a particularly strong lieutenant or the like would do fine. All they had to do was find one, and that would be be a good start. Luckily, it seemed that Ika already had someone in mind.

"I suppose he has been quite capable, hasn't he? Though he might not need training, it still wouldn't hurt to hone his edge a little further." Bashira nodded, content enough with this suggestion. Though she'd still need assurance indeed. Would Hayate actually agree to such a thing? Would he be able to keep his damn mouth shut about this? Or would he blab and blow the whole plot to the wind? "I'll need to meet with him, learn more about him if that's alright. I'm sure you mean it when you say you feel he's perfect for this task. But I need to make sure myself. See what he's truly capable of against an opponent like Moriyama."

Ika chortled a bit at the suggestion that this needed to be kept a secret. Frankly, that much was more than a little obvious, the Moriyama's were still in the running for the most well-to-do clan in the entirety of the Gotei, and them finding out about a plot like this would mean exceptionally bad things for everyone involved. "Yes yes I understand your need for caution Bashira, the Moriyama aren't exactly a clan afraid of a little bloodshed and them finding out about this is far more likely to result in harm befalling your family than maintenance of the current status quo is. I'm intimately familiar with the danger of matters such as these, and I trust Hayate's confidence on issues such as this."

Ika continued to listen, letting his fingers lazily dance against his leg in his pocket as the woman continued to prattle on. "It wouldn't hurt but he's also not going to wait forever for you to make your determination on him. A quarter-century is more time than he needs but if it quells your nerves he'd probably accept it. I'd be happy to set up a meeting between you two in the interim once I've explained this plan to him in the detail it requires."

Ika would smile a bit, leaving his eyes lazily locked on the Captain Commanders visage. "Will there be anything else, Captain Commander?"