~34~

[skycrane]

[Video]

[Filtered to Friends, Family, and Seireitei Friendlies.]

[Kuukaku looks like ragged hell that's been driven over by a sixteen-horse carriage. Almost a month of being in crisis mode - between battling out the invaders in the Rukongai then spending the time ever since between trying to coral the uprisings and protecting the citizens caught between rioters and Seireitei and sometimes protecting the citizens from the shinigami that had grown too tired and frustrated to be able to delineate between innocent and suspect. ]

I'm checking with the Twins for a bit. Not sleeping here, but I got a few trust worthy people watching the camps. Any word on when you guys will be done painting the noble's fucking porches?

[She cards a hand through her hair, looks like she could use a shower, too. The camera swings to indicate she's turning a corner and then stops and begins to...lower? The angle is strange, odd, like her hand is dropping down to her side, the small slice of her face visible is still and wide-eyed. Shocked speechless.]

Wh...? NO! NO!

[Suddenly, the phone seems to drop all together to the ground, landing with a burst of static and something breaking. Through a fractured lens, Kuukaku's feet are seen running towards her house.

A house that is billowing dark, black smoke from its windows.]

Comments

[theoriginal69.livejournal.com]

[Kensei doesn't reply, just flash steps toward her house as fast as he can. Heaven help any fool to get in his way or tries to stop him.]

[shiba-explosion.livejournal.com]

[When he gets there, the house is smoldering. The roof is gone, as is most of the left side of the house - the kitchen, the parlor, her bedroom, the library mostly. The underground complexes such as the workshop and the storage is seemingly untouched. Thin veils of smoke curl into the air, but Kuukaku just sits on the grass, covered from head to toe in soot with her head tucked against her knees.

She doesn't move, doesn't even acknowledge his presence for the moment.]

[theoriginal69.livejournal.com]

[Kensei almost didn't see her because of how dirty she was. He approached slowly, glancing up at her house. At least the fire hadn't set off the gunpowder and other explosive material she kept in her shop.

That thought was only fleeting, however, his attention moving back to the woman in the grass. He murmured her name to indicate his presence before crouching down next to her, placing his hand lightly on her back.]

[shiba-explosion.livejournal.com]

[Her shoulder flinches under his touch as she turns her head to look at him from under ashen bangs and a soot-smeared face. A flash of anger in her eyes shines before its over come by an expression of sheer...done.]

...Fuck.

[theoriginal69.livejournal.com]

[He doesn't really react much to her single word, having an idea of how she felt. His hand remains on her back.]

"The Twins okay?"

[shiba-explosion.livejournal.com]

I dunno...

[She stays still, everything about her, down to her reiatsu, is exhausted and dim.]

The library's gone. The books, been in the family since our founding...

[theoriginal69.livejournal.com]

[His lips draw into a thin line. It didn't look good; had the Twins been capable of doing so, he was sure they would have saved at least some of the books from the flames. A search for both the Twins and gathering the remains of the Shiba household would be in order. Kensei knew both Abarai and Isane were on their way, however, so he didn't bother calling and just focused on Kuukaku. He settled into the grass next to her, trying to be as supportive physically and emotionally as he could.]

Abarai-taichou and Isane-fukutaichou are on their way here, too. We'll get you to somewhere safe, look for the Twins, an' recover what we can.

[shiba-explosion.livejournal.com]

[Just stillness and silence for a few minutes before she gathers enough breath to sigh and answer.]

I guess. Not like we got a choice.