Hail to the King, Baby. (Shinigami/Open)

"I expected it to be heavier..." Was all Sal Norongachi, former Exile, former Criminal, Eternal Berserker, could think.

The crisp white haori hung on his shoulders with not a ruffle or crease in sight. Brown eyes gazed into the mirror of his quarters as his attendant made the final adjustments to the garment.

If you had said to Sal Norongachi a hundred years ago that he would be part of the Gotei again, let along here of all places would have been laughable, insulting even. None the less, here he was.

"They are ready for you sir." The attendant said with a bow and Norongachi could only nod his acknowledgement.

The scarred warrior adjusted his Zanpakuto, which hung upon his back, its handle poking from under his haori, and then with a calming breath turned toward the door.

In the meeting hall, the Captains would be gathered as would the bulk of the Shinigami, all eager to meet the new leader of the Gotei. Captain Commander...it still seemed like a whacked out acid trip to him as he walked down the stairs, his old worn army boots clicking upon the stone.

Norongachi came to a set of large wooden double doors and stopped. His heart raced for a moment, thundering in his chest, and then realization dawned- He was now the most powerful man in all of Soul Society.

I'm a Rock n Roll Star...

The doors swung open and he was greeted by a sea of faces, some known, some unknown and he walked forward to the end of the stage and let the dark gaze that had been so many beings last earthly memory slide across them.


Now what the hell...was he going to say?

Satoshi walked from his quarters to class. He sat down and class began immediately. They went through the whole day learning zanpakuto tactics, which was a bore to Satoshi, considering his past experiences. He watched closely, however, realizing that there were certain patterns and repetitions in the movements and combos that they performed. Satoshi took the time to memorize the patterns, not to use them, but for his own cause. He went through the class, and requested his friend to stay after for a little extra sparring. She was beautiful, blonde and having a shy manner, that added brilliantly to her cuteness. Satoshi had a crush on this girl, but would never admit it to anyone, due to the awkwardness that lied in the friendship he had with her older brother.

"Attack me with the combos we learned today, I need to try something. Don't hold back either." Satoshi asked of his friend. She smiled and nodded as the wind blew effortlessly through her hair. A cynical smile crossed her face as she jolted forward. Diagonal strike to the neck, upward strike to the gut, and so on. Speedy attacks flew at Satoshi, and due to him knowing the attacks, he effortlessly blocked them. He waited for the final move of the combo. A forward stab and then a block for downward strikes. They were using their actual zanpakutos in this spar, so it was of dire importance that he had the timing perfect on this. Her blade stabbed forward and just before impact, he raised his sword vertically, they white bending hilt shining valiantly in the sunlight. The tip of her zanpakuto was halted by the center of his blade. The next part required great speed. "Sorry for this." He said with a frown on his face as he let go of his sword, swinging around, driving a fist into her neck. He then spun around the opposite direction, in time to kick his zanpakuto to the air, his foot making contact with the hilt just before it hit the ground. The lovely girl fell hard to the ground and struggled to get up until she felt the cold of Satoshi's dull end of the blade touch her throat. Game over.

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Satoshi hurried along to go to the meeting. Everyone was meeting their new Commander. He sprinted through the slow clouds, and after realizing he wouldn't make it like this, he kicked off the air, making his way to the rooftops. He traveled along them for the next 5 minutes. He was late to the meeting already. He sprinted the last mile or so. It hurt, but he couldn't afford to be much later. He finally arrived at the area where the new Commander was going to make his announcements.

He didn't want to just barge through the front door and make a huge scene, so he instead kicked off the air, and made his way higher to the roof of the building that the Commander was going to be in. He approached the ledge and then was automatically surrounded by blades belonging to the men and women of a defense squad set up surrounding the area for security. Satoshi raised his hands, and slowly moved his left hand to his shirt, pulling out his Academy papers and his I.D. "I don't want to hurt anyone. My name is Satoshi Sonkei. I am a student at the academy, and i didn't want to make a scene." Satoshi said and breathed deeply. He was about to speak again when a firm fist smashed into his jaw.

"What the fuck are you thinking? That was for making a scene up here! We took you as a security risk and almost killed you!" Satoshi apologized to the squad and requested that he sit on the ledge of the roof, rather than just going down to the stage and making even more of a scene than he already had. The leader of the squad nodded and they kept a very VERY close watch on Satoshi as he kneeled by the ledge, watching the new Commander come through the door. He watched and waited to hear what he had to say.

Artemis had just locked up his dojo in town a frown etched on his face as his eyes though normally bright and full of life just seemed dull and hard. It had been a hard day for him, as a dragon he constantly had to see humans grow old, or succumb to sickness and today he had learned that one of his students had died because of something so trivial as a car wreck. The boy had only been 16…the poor child never got to enjoy life. A low growl permeated the air as Artemis turned his back on the now dark dojo, tossing his dark jacket on he pulled out a small phone and dialed terra. When her voice mail picked up he left a short yet familiar message; “Terra I will be home late…” after five hundred years she would recognize his tone.

After thirty minutes of wandering the streets in town he felt a spike of power appear out of nothing behind him. His arms had started to change under his jacket as his claws extended and took the familiar shape. “I have no idea who you are, but if you’ve come to slay the dragon you picked the wrong day.” He turned around his now bright yellow eyes locked on the form of a young shinigami, a lieutenant’s sash tied on his arm.

“Then you would be Mister Talog I presume?” The shinigami spoke in a hesitant tone as his hand rested warily on the zanpakuto at his hip. When Artemis nodded he physically relaxed and continued, “I have come to inform you that a previous acquaintance, Sal Norogachi has been promoted to the station of Captain Commander. As I understand you and him have had a rocky past but, somehow are friends none the less-

“Get to the point reaper.” Artemis growled already mad.

“I am under the orders of other captains to bring you to his coronation should you accept the invitation.” The Reaper stepped aside to reveal a very ancient looking door in the middle of the path.

Artemis smiled, with each death flowers will rise from it “Let’s go…”

They were all looking at him. All waiting, wondering what inspiring words would fall from his tongue. Sal was wondering the same, wondering it quite intensely as he grimaced out at the crowd.

He reached the edge of the stage and like a sea of black starting with the white front row of captains haori, they took to one knee and bowed. Norongachi would only raise a brow to this, the only time someone ever bowed to him before was when he'd gut punched them.

"None of that." He said, his voice incredibly loud in the hushed space. "Up, all of you." And they did, some a little unsure but eventually they got back to their feet.

"Times have changed. We will have to change as well." Sal began. "It used to be our job to maintain the balance and nothing more. The world would deal with the worlds problems. That was our stance, it has been our stance for as long as any of us can remember. It isn't now, that changes today. *WE* made this mess, it was one of us, one of our own that brought the world to the brink of ruin. We won't just watch as they struggle, as they try to piece together what's left." His voice was passionate, of course it was. It was something he truly believed, had believed for 200 years.

"Know this; Whatever may come, I won't sit idle like those before me- A General in a war room while my men die on the field. I'll be there with you, I'll bring you home. Now...go...get drunk or something." He finished with a smile and a dismissive wave of his hand.

It was all he wanted to say, it was all he felt they needed to know about the Norongachi regime. He turned from the crowd, whether there was applause of not he didn't hear, he just wanted off this stage and straight into a bottle of whiskey as quickly as possible.

Amidst the sea of Shinigami stood Weiss, awestruck by the presence and power of the man who had emerged from behind the doors. Even though he was new to the ranks of the Shinigami, he had heard of the new Captain-Commander. Whispers had spread throughout the academy for months telling tales of his deeds, rumours of his blackest moments, and comments on his strong accent and ability to drink even the strongest under the table.

Such tales were surely only gossip, but staring at the powerful man, who seemed a little nervous, Weiss could believe most of what he had heard.

"So that's the Captain-Commander," he marvelled, tossing his hair over his shoulder as he craned his neck to further study the man. Next to him a man rolled his eyes.

"How did you guess?" he asked sarcastically. Weiss narrowed his eyes.

"I didn't realise Squad Four specialised in answering rhetorical questions," he said smoothly, before giving a warm smile to the now spluttering man. "Please, any time you feel like intruding on my musings, be they silent or otherwise, feel free. I welcome the opinion of such an important man as yourself." His smile widened, and he heard a muffled giggle. The man was silenced before he could respond as Norongachi addressed them. Weiss tilted his head to the side, carefully watching. It was, even for someone as new as himself, nice to feel like the Captain-Commander was in touch with them all. Judging from the response to his order to go and get drunk, he wasn't the only one who felt that way.

"I guess this is the beginning," he murmured, though the beginning of what he wasn't sure. Liver damage was his most immediate concern, but Weiss was not ignorant to the history of the Seireitei and the events that had occurred before he had arrived here. Perhaps this would mark a turning point for them all. He placed his hands together and offered brief, muted applause to the man that was lost in the crowd that surrounded him.

Satoshi watched as the new Captain Commander walked out and began speaking. He listened to his words, and looked as he was the only one not bowing. Satoshi was naturally stubborn, and would not respect anyone who did not earn his respect. Looking over after he was done speaking, noticing that the guards on the roof were now moving to their feet, Satoshi bolted from the roof, jumping high into the sky, plummeting towards the earth. He looked down, looking quickly for something to land in that he wouldn't break his legs with. He looked down, noticing a giant wagon full of hay. He landed in the hay, being completely shrouded and hidden in the hay. He waited as he made a small hole near his face, using the reflection from his Zanpakuto to look up to the roof, watching and waiting until the guards gave up looking for him as they returned to their posts. Satoshi jumped from his hiding and made his way towards where he suspected the new Captain Commander to be. He sheathed his sword as he made his way back towards the stadium, tracing the steps of the Captain Commander.

After a good while of searching for him, he finally laid eyes on the markings that was the Captain Commander. Satoshi sprinted up to him and got in front of the man. He stood erect, not making any movements to bow, only jutting out a hand to shake respectfully. "Greetings Captain Commander. My name is Satoshi Sonkei. I'm training to become the new protege of Squad 2." He said respectfully, waiting for the Captain Commander to return the handshake.

The main hall began to thin as the gathered made their way through a large, open, set of double doors to the left and into a room of even greater size that would host the inauguration shindig.

The Glaswegian felt more than a touch out of place. Although his fellow Shinigami seemed to be enjoying themselves the atmosphere was sedate, reserved even. It wasn't what he was used to in a party but at the very least the alcohol flowed freely and the long banquet table set against the wall facing the entrance was laden with food.

"-and please remember that Central 46 require an audience tomorrow morning." His lieutenant had been prattling on for the better half of ten minutes. Luckily Sal had managed to snag a passing waiter and the bottle of sake he was ferrying around the room. He looked around the room, the small, too small, saucer in his hand and utterly ignored the man.

"So I think it would be best if you didn't drink too much," The first mistake was making this suggestion, the second was actually reaching for the sake bottle on the table beside the towering Scotsman.

"One more inch," Sal said quietly. "Just one more...and i'll cut your fucking arm off." The lieutenant froze mid-reach and then slowly retracted his arm before turning red from embarrassment and mumbling an apology.

"Go and relax. I'll deal with all this later." With that said the man bowed and Sal raised the sake to his retreating back before downing it.

It was about then some random Soul Reaper rushed up to him and started talking at him. As Captain Commander, he should have expected that he would not have any peace tonight but it still irked him that someone was invading his space.

"Sal," He said and picked up the sake bottle to pour himself another while blatantly disregarding the offered hand. "That's all kinds of awesome kid. Go get yourself a drink, mingle and all that jazz." He finished with a forced smile.