Dawn of Hardship: Cold Road

Part 1
, Barracks. Dusk.

The Soul Society, despite the many trials and tribulations it endured, was finally in a state of relative peace, being at it's calmest in years, having no notable threats apart from the standard skirmishes and the occasional outburst of  citizens either complaining or making a ruckus. The entire world of the souls was in a state of calm and harmony, all apart from one place. The heart of the Soul Society, the Seireitei, where the death gods called operated, was still fraught with troubles, some troubles being more about the mundanities of the jobs at hand more than the seriousness. Despite the good standing of peace in the Soul Society, the Shinigami were still faced with the still flowing pile of Hollows and aggressive that accompanied the rather boring paperwork and work that was required to keep the regulations of their world in check.

The Thirteenth Division Barracks were quite silent, due to the late time most of the Shinigami had either turned in or were doing paperwork in doors, leaving but a few individuals outside either partaking in some limited relaxation or still doing their last remnants of labor work. Out of the individuals that were outside, one such Shinigami was on the roof of the nearby building, laying down with his arms propping his head up as he quietly gazed at the clear sky, looking at the stars twinkling above him, his black hair spread out messily as he did so while his grey eyes slowly scanned the heavens. While the young man was doing this however, another Shinigami had approached the building he was relaxing on.

"Hey Kei! You done that paperwork we were given today?", the Shinigami asked rather brashly, Kei, who wasn't fazed by his colleague's loud voice, merely closed his eyes in response to him as he opened his mouth.

"No.", he replied firmly, his abrupt answer leaving a rather awkward atmosphere between the two Shinigami.

"Erm, then shouldn't you get onto doing it rather than lazin' around?", the Shinigami asked, his voice slightly shaky due to Kei's rather blunt answer beforehand. Upon hearing the other Shinigami's question, Kei loudly sighed so as to signify being slightly annoyed before replying.

"It's perfectly feasible to do at night, isn't it?", Kei aksed, his voice tinged with annoyance as he resumed starting at the sky.

"I was only asking a question, you don't have to snap at me man!", the Shinigami angrily said before going away to continue his duties, muttering under his breath as he did so. Kei ignored the Shinigami as he continued staring at the stars, feeling the cool air breeze past as he lay there. Once again, the young Shinigami was approached by someone, a young woman who had long, reddish orange hair tied up in a ponytail, as she jumped up onto the roof of the building and started to walk towards Kei, Kei himself glanced at her sideways before slowly getting up into a sitting position.

"Hey Kei.", the woman greeted Kei with a friendly voice before beginning to sit down next to her fellow Shinigami, surprisingly, Kei didn't object to her company but instead observed her sitting down.

"Hey Chiyoko.", he replied bluntly, keeping the same amount of coldness in his voice as he did with the other Shinigami he talked to.

"How you been doing? You know, apart from all of the paperwork." Chiyoko asked him, Kei lay back down again before replying.

"Nothing really, yesterday I was on patrol, that was it.", Kei answered in a bland tone, his eyes moved from Chiyoko to becoming affixed onto the sky.

"So, the same as me then huh?", Chiyoko sighed in a exaggerated way, chuckling as she saw Kei's eyes flit back towards her for a second before returning to the now cloudier sky.

"Hey, I heard from Hideo that you were shouting at him for some reason. What's that about?", Chiyoko asked. Kei got up again and turned to her, her voice signifying that she was curious rather than trying to shout at him about it, Kei sighed lightly before replying.

"He wanted to know if I had done today's paperwork, I said no and then he accused me of being lazy, then I threw a remark at him about how I do my work at night and he went away, that's all.", Kei rushed out, relaying the story as quick as he could while making it sound natural, Chiyoko sighed as she listened to the story before lifting her head to to meet Kei's eyes.

"Huh, I see then, he said you shouted at him about it rather saying you just give him the cold shoulder. Ah well, he probably exaggerated a little, that's all.", Chiyoko said, shrugging at the idea, "However you shouldn't snap at someone when doesn't know how you do your work.", Chiyoko added, forcing Kei to accept defeat.

"I was more annoyed at his manner but fine." Kei admitted, raising his head to look at the now overcast and darkened sky, he got up as he looked at the still sitting Chiyoko.

"It's getting late, I'm turning in.", Kei said before jumping down from the roof of the building and walking off slowly, Chiyoko followed suit before stopping and turning back to Kei.

"Night Kei! Let's hope we get an assignment that's a bit more exciting tomorrow huh?", Chiyoko said joyously, waving at the young Shinigami as he slowly walked away.

"Mmhmm.", Kei hummed in agreement, lifting his hand and giving a lazy wave while continuing to walk away, Chiyoko merely shook her head slightly in a comic fashion before turning back to her own path, smiling slightly as she did so.

Kei proceeded towards his own barracks, heading for his own quarters when he finally reached them, closing the door behind him as he entered. He got some water from the kitchen before sitting at the table, as he drank his drink, Kei eyed the last parts of the paperwork that he needed to finish, it was about some pointless squabble in one of the more civilized areas of the Rukongai, with some rather well known locals, and while Kei thought it was truly meaningless, a small number of his Division was handed paperwork regarding the case along with instructions to write down each of the citizens recollections of the incident. As he finished his drink, Kei thought back to his chat with Chiyoko while staring at the mundane paperwork, an small wry smile appearing on his face.

"Let's hope."