OOC: Background Information
Background:
Upon entering the winter war against Aizen and his arrancar, Shunsui didn’t have a shred of disbelief of conquest. Aizen was the true opponent to Soul Society and the entire world, but with the extremely talented shinigami on their side he was confident in their road to victory. When Ukitake fell ill after going into Bankai against Stark and Lilinette, Shunsui didn’t want to see his closest friend die, therefore helped Ukitake get to safety. In turn, this meant that Shunsui and Ukitake did not follow the rest of the Shinigami when they followed Aizen into the King’s Realm and wasn’t able to be there to help protect the many who had fallen, including Yamamoto Genryuusai-Shigekuni.
The death of Yamamoto-soutaichou struck Shunsui very hard, knowing that the man was almost like a father to him and Ukitake. Almost all that he had learned in the beginning stages of becoming a Shinigami and even up to the day that the old man died, he had to give him credit for his guidance and wisdom. There had been times where he didn’t necessarily agree with the decisions that Yamamoto-soutaichou made, such as the planned execution of Kuchiki Rukia, but overall, he had a high level of respect for the man.
Needless to say, the incredible loss to Aizen as well as their loss of many shinigami put Shunsui in complete astonishment. In all honesty, out of all of the divisions, the 8th Division seemed to be one of the only divisions in the Gotei 13 that remained virtually unscathed, and for that, he felt very fortunate. Of course, that didn’t make the defeat any less painful when he looked at how nearly every other Division was suffering without a captain, important ranked officers, or were just emotionally jaded by the betrayal. As a whole, the Gotei 13 was in extremely poor shape without a soutaichou to keep a minor form of control.
It was clear that a new soutaichou was needed as quickly as possible and Shunsui was vehement in stating that he did not want to be the candidate. He felt like he wouldn’t be capable of the job when it came down to it and it didn’t feel right in his heart to step in Yamamoto-soutaichou’s footsteps. His heart and instinct believed that there was no one else who could run Seireitei better than Ukitake Jyuushirou.
It was a topic that Shunsui was not sure if Ukitake would want to talk about right away, for everything that had happened with him the past few years. He never had replaced his lieutenant after the death of Shiba Kaien, then there were the deaths of both of his 3rd seats and Yamamoto, and his frail health tormenting him after forcing himself into bankai for the first time in many years. There was almost a personality change in Ukitake, and as disheartening as it was to see him that way, Shunsui helped out in any way that he could.
As a matter of fact, Shunsui found himself helping many of the divisions recoup after the losses and it was discouraging to see the Gotei 13 in such a pathetic state. He refused to believe that Aizen had won after all and it would be just a matter of time before Seireitei was on its feet and retaliating back.
…Shunsui just wasn’t sure how long that matter of time would be.
Once Ukitake regained most of his strength back, things seemed to slowly start to get better. Not just for Shunsui, but for all of Seireitei. It was enough to finalize it in his mind that no one else could be soutaichou except his best friend, and he knew he was going to do whatever possible to see that it happened.