Sixth Division Captain's Office

The captain was silent as he looked over her notes and the full report and then spoke up without raising his head.  "Whoever's been overseeing the student committee since we reopened the school has been a lazy fool," he growled.  His future daughter tried to hide a giggle.  He folded his arms and continued.  "Recovering the money from the merchants whom have been paid twice or overly well - and have not come forward - is dealt with easily enough.  I will write a letter acknowledging the mistake, and if they do not offer a refund or credit, then I will take it further." 

"To whom?" she asked.  "It's the Academy." 

"The student Ayako Ueno and her consorts are within the Academy.  They're protected from the worst that could happen for their actions.  The merchants and entertainers are from the Rukongai, and they know if their actions are caught by the Gotei, a larger complaint can be filed.  Then they will deal with Captain Komamura.  He has little patience for greed and thievery of this sort.  And neither do other merchants once it has been revealed." 

He looked to Makino.  "Do you have plans for what to do with the items that you now have a surplus of?" 

Byakuya nodded. “It is a vote well-deserved of,” he stated before falling silent and considering the next prong in the dilemma before his future daughter. “Considering the embezzlement Ueno has undertaken with the others, you are correct in suspecting that other items of business may not be as they appear. Even more so if she won’t give you the key.” He paused. “Madarame and Ayasegawa owe me a favor. This will do. Have them find out which teacher is the advisor for the committee and then ask for their copy of the key.”

He looked down at the books before him. “If it is as they have stated, then you will be in good shape. If it is not the case….” he left his words hanging for a few minutes.

“Also, it is rare that money is recovered when it has been stolen after a certain time frame. You would be better off finding ways to sell the surplus of supplies in some way at the festival.” He looked to the list of supplies and nodded to himself. “We can paint the excess lanterns - if they exist. Perhaps for extra credit in other classes. If that is a possibility that you approve of, I can consider it further.”

Byakuya tapped a hand along his desk at the mention of Saya selling her works. It would probably defeat the purpose of the event if he were to make an appearance for the best of her pieces. She would be more than likely to give them to him and not allow him to pay for them. It wouldn’t matter if he could afford them or not. It would be the principal of the matter.

But there were always ways around chivalry or the the genteel aspect of nobility if desired.

“Perhaps, if you can acquire Asuhara’s cooperation, he could arrange and take control of a silent auction at the festival for the best pieces. Such will drive up the prices for the items as well as draw a large crowd. That would acquiring enough items to sell first though. You need a starting point to bring the customers in.”

This would be one such idea that would allow him to acquire some of his lady’s art for himself without her gifting it to him.

"Backfire":

Byakuya was always among the first to awaken in Sixth Division, among the first to arrive if he had spent the past evening at his estate. But today, he arrived earlier still. Dew glittered on the grasses and stillness filled the air of a quiet morning. Clouds were still painted golden from the fading dawn. He entered from the back of his garden, unseen by any sentries in the front, and discarded his scarf by the shrine on the opposite side of his office.

It was not the first time he had arrived this way. Usually it meant swift action for his division when true morning greeted them.

Today, he lingered in the doorway by the shrine, looking to a calligraphy scroll to its side. His grandfather’s hand. The words set upon them were one of the many ancient codes he’d memorized at his father’s death. A bamboo pipe dropped in the silence as he followed the strokes, considering his responsibilities.

He turned around and walked to his desk, waiting for his officers to recognize his arrival.

Captain Kuchiki nodded to him. He waited a moment and then issued his orders for the morning. "After you are done putting those files away, find Fifth Seat Nagano. Both of you are to set aside your current work and put together your most concrete findings on the Robin Hood case. Then report with them to this office. Immediately."

His dark eyes narrowed. "Is that understood, Abarai?"

Yorusuke straightened up after his bow and cleared his throat as he shifted the four files in his hands, taking a moment to gather his thoughts before stepping forward. His expression was as composed as always, though the slightest hint of frustration lingered behind his eyes. He placed three of the four files on Captain Kuchiki’s desk, neatly aligned, before speaking.

"Captain Kuchiki," Yorusuke began, his tone steady, "these are the reports of the latest robberies, covering the past two weeks. Each incident has followed a similar pattern—high-profile targets, no casualties, and clean escapes. However, the locations and the timing seem deliberately randomized to make tracking difficult." He opened the top file, revealing several maps with marked locations. "We've been able to identify some consistencies in their method, but nothing that directly ties them to a specific group or individual."

He paused for a moment, his brow furrowing slightly as he continued. "There’s been speculation that they might be receiving insider information, given how quickly they move, but we’ve yet to find solid proof of that. And as for their motive, it appears they're targeting corrupt businesses, redistributing wealth and stolen property back to those from whom it was taken. Still, we can’t confirm whether that’s a cover for something else."

Yorusuke glanced at Renji briefly before focusing back on the captain. "Our current leads are limited, sir, but we’re pursuing all possible angles."

He stood back, still holding the one file that involved not just robbery but murder.

As the officers started their report, Byakuya listened on in silence, his eyes scanning key moments set out before him before returning his focus back to the conclusions they set before him, not what was put on paper. Despite the frustration inherent in the case, his fifth seat dismissed anything he couldn’t put a pattern to and kept his findings to the clearest, bare facts. He was succinct and logical. Although he omitted one key element of their search.

He noted the exchange between the two but kept his silence as his lieutenant went on.

Eyes like sharpened flint, he listened to yet another discussion of the Konoba case, his irritation mounting as he, once again, realized how much could have been handled differently in regards to the infamous Robin Hood thieves if they had kept to their usual annoying thievery instead of provoking the Masanobus. Instead they dared question the order his family had been guarding for centuries. They were a waste of time, and their actions irked him in ways he hadn’t confronted since his first duel with the substitute. But unlike Kurosaki, these fools had no right disrupting the careful balance of his life. They would not escape a severe penalty for their insolence.

And he would bury the Konoba case with their own noose!

“You’ve done well with such a complex case, Officer Nagano, Abarai.” Captain Kuchiki rose from his desk, his face unreadable. “The chaos from these thieves are our priority, not the murder that occurred afterwards. Following those leads would only let these hoodlums continue. If they will not stop even as we investigate their lifestyle, they will face the penalty for their pride.”

He looked to his fifth seat. “What of the findings from Officer Ayumu from Ninth Division? She usually has sharper intel with her expertise, even if it is a whisper.”