A New Chapter

Since his return to the Soul Society, Komamura had been hard at work settling back into the thick of things after his extended absence. For nine years he'd been embroiled in conflicts with powerful spiritual beings on a daily basis, and he was at last free to resume his duties as a Captain, and fulfill his vow to the man who'd seen past his appearance and allowed him to join the ranks of the Shinigami all those years ago.

He'd formally assumed captaincy over the Ninth Division, and his first order of business had been to personally meet up with each of his seated officers, so that he might know them better and establish a proper working relationship.

As the Captain of the Ninth Division, Sajin found himself in charge of the Seireitei Communication magazine. It was a different sort of work than what he was used to, but his work ethic had always been impeccable. Due to his appearance and the terrible treatment he'd suffered in the past because of it he still found himself struggling with the kind of low self-esteem that never truly goes away, it had been worse as of late.

What Sajin experienced as his failure to save Kaname, a man he'd loved deeply, loomed like a shadow at his back, ever eager to sink its cold talons into his psyche. He'd been too weak to defeat Bambietta without restorting the Humanization Technique, which had prevented him from serving Soul Society. When the Kido Corps revolted, he hadn't been there to uphold his oath, and many of Tousen's former subordinates had been killed in the initial attack. Indeed, Komamura's mind always seemed to find a way to twist tragedies and other painful occurences into his fault, whether they actually were so or otherwise.

Yet centuries of blaming himself for everything, and the vivid memories of physical and emotional abuse he'd suffered through in the past gave Komamura something else, a sense of compassion that his subordinates had always found reassuring. The current situation would turn out to be no different.'

Putting the pencil down, Sajin examined the man before him. He was sweaty, fidgeting, and nervous, fearful even.. the man was Toshinori, a seated officer in the Ninth Division, and a man that had just informed the Captain that someone had managed to ruin more than eight-hundred copies of the Seireitei Communication Magazine in print. He claimed not to know who that someone was, but he could not lie to Sajin, for his senses were acute enough that he could practically smell it.

"I am dissapointed in you Toshinori-san, we are all fallible beings capable of making mistakes, but true integrity involves admitting them."

Komamura's voice held no anger, but his disapproval was clear enough to get his point across regardless. Golden eyes met those of his subordinate, and the other man turned away in shame before he muttered, his voice trembling. "I screwed up, taichou.."

Sajin nodded solemnly before speaking. "Myself and Hisagi-fukutaichou will be attending an official meeting shortly and will be unavailable for some time. Explain the issue to Third Seat Hiroshi-san and I will join you when I return to help set this right."

Some time later Sajin Komamura found himself entering the large room in which most meetings were held. His eyes instinctively trailed to where Yamamoto used to stand, and he couldn't help the melancholy he always felt upon being reminded of his death.

His eyes were drawn to Hein Ueda, as they often were. The presence of such a hoodlum within the Gotei 13 worried him immensely, a feeling that was only magnified by the fact that the wicked man now was the superiour of many of Sajin's former subordinates, yet another consequence of his weakness during the Blood War. If only he'd been stronger back then.

With these concerns weighing heavily on his mind, Sajin Komamura assumed his position in the right row of Captains, as he looked towards the Captain-Commander.