Something to Fear

Out on the deck of the upper squad barracks belonging to the First Division, stared out onto the skies where the afternoon sun had settled onto the horizon. In his hand, he carried a sake cup filled to the brim; not an uncommon sight, it was almost unusual to see the Captain-Commander without some sort of drink in hand or near him. Though, even so, it seemed to have been filled for quite some time. He hadn't been drinking at all. Quite odd, give his predilections, but something had been bothering him for a while now. That was even stranger. Shunsui was known for his carefree attitude toward life. Even the invasion of the Quincy over a decade ago, save for the death of his mentor, did little to shake the man's nerves. But here he was, lost in his own thoughts as he tried to make sense of the current situation.

Though it was rare, when times like this came up, Shunsui found some modicum of comfort in thinking back to his days at the academy. When Yamamoto was his mentor, passing on the ways of the Shinigami to a younger him, was still alive. When Ukitake, his best friend who often joined him on his drunken escapades as the singular voice of reason, was still alive. When peace and stability had reigned supreme in the true golden age of the Gotei 13. But that era had long since past. Aizen was the trigger that set these motions into events, which first began to shake the foundation of the Soul Society's stability, and the Quincy led by Yhwach that followed them overturned the world entirely. Yet they were still here. Through it all, the Shinigami were still here.

Even so, something had occupied the Captain-Commander's thoughts. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but perhaps it was similar similar to that sort of... sixth sense that animals get when a storm is coming.

Something was coming.

Something to fear.

It was in that moment that a bright light shot into the skies above Seireitei. The light which announced the arrival of the task force sent to the human world through the Senkaimon. The Lieutenants sent to the human world had finally returned.