"Honourable Taichō and Fukutaichō, this assembly will hear your thoughts regarding the matter of...," the head speaker of the Central Chambers of the 46 magisters spoke. He was a plump man, though with a long and stern face adorned by a short and well-kempt beard. He seemed to ponder over the right word for a moment as his equally stern eyes, maladroitly searched the faces in the room. "reform."

The word choice reflected the likely disdain he held for the matter laid before the assembly. Indeed, presently various snickers and muffled laughter broke the silence of those assembled. Those with a permanent seat in Soul Society's top legislature seemed universally agree with the head speaker, although the present members of the Gōtei 13 seemed less vocal. Ordinarily, the armed branch of Seireitei left all daily governance to Central 46 while they busied themselves keeping Soul Society and Gense safe from Hollows. Well, as safe as can be. 

On this occasion, however, the Gōtei 13's presence was specifically requested and they would have a vote in today's assembly. The reason for this rare yet not unheard-of occurrence was that the whole matter originated from the Gōtei 13 itself. Two days before, Takahashi Morimoto, the Taichō of the eighth division had gone up to the main entrance of Central 46 and nailed a proclamation on its doors. The contents of this piece of paper so shocked Central 46 and the other Bantai that they called an emergency vote.

The head speaker cleared his throat. "Ahem. Before we begin our round of speaking, let me reiterate the rules of this house for those less frequently part of our assembly. First, the assembly convenes from dawn 'til dusk. Second, every noble house gets a turn to speak their mind through their appointed representative. So every Bantai of the Gōtei 13 also gets their turn to speak through their Taichō or their Fukutaichō. The greater houses go first, and the Bantai next started with Sotaichō Takasugi. Voting will come immediately after." 

The Central 46 members shuffled in their seats, most of them groaning with the boring proceedings they didn't need to be explained to them.

"This proclamation, this folly, this rag so unwholesomely hammered to the doors of this sacred place, was presented to us by the...honourable...Taichō of the Hachibantai of the Gōtei 13, Takahashi Morimoto. We've all read it by now; the dissolution of our assembly, the instatement of a provisional republican government and the organisation of free and fair elections through the whole of Soul Society. I'll leave the floor to the speakers of the noble houses."

And so one by one the noble houses came and went, each denouncing the proclamation either scornfully or with flowery words and after paying lip service to the idea of granting the denizens of Rukongai some modicum of political representation. None were willing to relinquish their power, any power, to the idea of a free democracy. At best, they commended Takahashi Morimoto's past service as Sotaichō and that therefore, his opinion is always appreciated but ultimately cast aside. 

"Quite right. Now for the Bantai speakers. Sotaichō Takasugi Masao."

Takasugi listened with all the visible interest of a student suffering though his hundredth academic lecture. Politics, politicians, pol - hell, after the last noble house spewed forth their opinions he was just about ready to include any word starting with 'pol' to his internal shitlist. It was no secret that Takasugi Homare Tsukasa Masao was not the chambers' first choice of Soutaichou to replace the legendary Takahashi, but he had been available, showed much promise, and above all else, was controllable. At least, on paper.

Takasugi stood slowly, his chair creaking with an obnoxious grind as it slid backwards against the floor. He paused to look around the room, bile on the back of his tongue as he counted the sheer number of elderly farts that ran his and his subordinate's lives. The urge to simply speak his mind fought valiantly with the teeth that secured his tongue flat, until finally, a polite but impatient cough broke the balance of his self control.

"Eh... there be enough idiots running around within the gotei" he jabbed in the direction of the signed declaration of intent for emphasis with a long, broken nail, "to convince me and mine tha' adding more to the list is a waste o' time."

There came a gradual ripple of discontent from the room - was he referring to the shinigami who had signed the declaration? Or Chambers for even entertaining the rebels instead of putting them down immediately without mercy?

Takasugi coughed, and the muted beginnings of outrage fizzled down to the covert exchanging of notes and the livid side-eyed expressions of the council. He continued.

"Ain't ever met a normal soul in any Rukon district who knew tha' first thing about keepin' the order. No tavern wench. No street patrol. There ain't an establishment in the whole damn place, legal, illegal, legit, under tha' table that houses a single soul with any idea how to hunt a hollow, and trust me, I've visited em' all."

More murmurs of discontent. He continued on. It was probably the longest speech he had ever given.

"An' you farts wanna give them a say over where I stick my blade!? Who I take orders from!? Nah. Me and mine are good as we are. We support Chambers, that's all that's to be said on it."

It was apparently difficult for him to keep his distaste out of his final words, if he had even managed to succeed in doing so for the rest of it.

The head speaker sighed and shook his head. "Yes, a very...eloquently put rebuttal," he spoke with for the rest no visible change of facial expression. He looked to the right of the Sotaichō but found no one there. "The Nibantai's representative seems to be absent."

A vague black smear in the shape of a human clad in a black tunic flew by the head speaker. As quick as they came, they left. People looked left and right and up, uncertain of what just happened.

"What in Soul Society...," the head speaker said, looking down at his hands and finding a scroll with the Onmitsukidō's seal on it lying in his grasp. Slightly confused, he undid the seal and read the contents of the scroll. Then he flatly proclaimed: "The Onmitsukidō stands with Central Chambers 46 in secret and awaits further orders. In secret."

He passed the scroll over to an aide who confirmed its contents. With that, the Sanbantai and Yonbantai came and went, and so on until it was the eighth's turn to speak.

Takahashi Morimoto had been perfectly silent and had sat perfectly still up until that point. He rose slowly and stepped forward with deliberately slow motions. "I don't expect you to vote against yourself. I don't expect this ancient institution to do anything that would delegitimize itself. It can't. By its definition, it can't."

The head speaker frowned. "Then, why make your proclamation? If you knew?"

Morimoto glanced at the head speaker, then at the Sotaichō. "I have a question for the Sotaichō before I begin my explanation."

The head speaker groaned. "Fine, as long as the Sotaichō allows it then ask away."

Morimoto nodded and shifted his gaze and attention to Takasugi. "You said the Rukons don't know the first thing about fighting a Hollow. Do you think these people do?" he began and stretched out his hands, gesturing at the Central 46 members. "There are forty-six of them and only thirteen of us. Do you think they could win if we started butchering them? Do you believe they even stand a chance? What's the difference then?"

Takasugi shrugged - it made no difference whether he wanted to hear anything Morimoto had to say or not, he was going to be subjected to it anyway. It wasn't that he didn't respect the man, or rather acknowledge him for Takasugi had little respect to spare for the vast majority of individuals. It wasn't that he felt like he was above the politics either, or the issues at hand, more... he felt they went so far over his head he may as well not be involved at all. Still, he was the Soutaichou and with the acceptance of that position came its fair share of bureaucracy. He lifted a finger from the table slightly and inclined his head in affirmation. Better to get it over and done with. 

"Aye." he replied simply, tapping his nail against the table. "More to warfare than bein' able to handle a blade, and more to commanding men than cracking the whip. I reckon there's more combined experience in this whole room than there is ou' there."

He paused for a second, lip twitching in amusement. "I'm reckonin' any young seated brat could take this lot on. Wouldn' know the first thing about deployin' our forces after though, would they? Or..." he grinned somewhat salaciously, "how to deal with the bodies. Couldn't tell ya when Chambers was first founded but I can tell ya between then an' now they've gathered more intel than we know. More experience than we know. An' honestly? More power to em. It ain't that I'm not understandin' ya Takahashi Taichou. I'm just disagreein'."

The head speaker, for the first time this session, picked up his gavel and hammered it home. "I must object to this line of questioning! It is with complete contempt of this assembly!" 

A wan, crooked smile appeared on Morimoto's face; just the left corner of his mouth drawing up in a half-grimace. "In case you hadn't realised, I don't recognise the authority of this assembly and as such, I do not recognise any contempt that may come of my scorning of it. Can I continue my questioning?" 

The head speaker groaned, looked around the room and settled back his gavel. Perhaps he was content with letting Morimoto hang himself, in the knowledge that 98% of the assembly would back the noble houses' oligarchy. Even if Morimoto could convince all of the thirteen Taichō, they would still come up at least 32 votes short of the simple majority he needed to pass the reform. Never did it occur to the head speaker, despite being told just now what the Gotei 13 were capable of, that if all of the Taichō were to side with Moritmoto there wouldn't be any vote. "I'd wish I could stop you, but I can't. Only the Sotaichō may refuse to answer your questions."

"Sotaichō, I agree that not many know the first thing about deploying troops, and scheduling proper patrols — though I sometimes question our own competence at that. I'm sure you know what I mean. How many people did you lose due to...the unfortunate coming together of materialised risk and circumstance?"

Takasugi watched the Head Speaker with marginal interest and wondered at the sweat on his brow. These people really did perform badly under pressure, that much of what Morimoto said was true, but that's what was to be expected of the 'brains' running the show. The issue was, he couldn't see that changing even if Rukon citizens were given a more equal say - if anything, it would only make matters worse. After a pregnant pause, during which Takasugi watched as a droplet of moisture gathered at the speaker's temple and at the neckline of his gown, he replied in such a way that voiced his thoughts with an note of finality.

"Enough. Not enough fer the hollow. Not enough fer the Arrancar. And a drop in th' ocean for the damned Quincy. But it dont change the fact it could'a and probably would'a been more if civilians had a say. There's a reason we leave loved ones behind when we take up with the Shinigami. Ain't a man or woman or even damned kid here that don't understand why. Can't handle it. Can't be trusted wi' it. Doubt there's a member here, elderly, young that don't know the cost and get it's necessary an' can only be mitiga-..." he paused, unsure of the word. "...weathered by the experience of hundreds o' years."

It was plain to see he had grown tired of talking circles around the topic. "I said my bit. On with th' vote."

Morimoto frowned. "Very well, but I still have my turn to explain my position to the assembly." 

He looked out the skylight windows at the sun and ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek. "Is birth a defining factor on one's worth? Is it fair and equal that, just because you were born a certain way or rather, you weren't born in Soul Society that you are sentenced to abject poverty? No, I say..."

Hours passed while Morimoto went on about equity, equality, and the manifest destiny within sovereign individuals. Even if he were trying to make a point, he failed to do so. All these concepts were left untied, never finalising or even used in a solid argument why the assembly should vote for reform. When he was finally done with his meandering philosophy class which offered no answers he simply ended with. "That is why I believe, the past ought to be destroyed." 

The head speaker shook awake from a shallow slumber, resting his face on the knuckles of his fist before being pulled back to reality by Morimoto's cessation. "Yes, thank you Hachibantai Taichō for that excellent freshman-year political philosophy class. We are all thoroughly refreshed on the matter," he said before looking at the skylights and noticing the darkness outside.

Morimoto also observed the light, then glanced at Takasugi.

"This assembly is adjourned for the night. Voting will start first thing tomorrow!" 

With a final stroke of the gavel, the room emptied.

Hours have passed..., Morimoto managed to drag his turn on for a little longer than he first expected by questioning the Sotaichō. In the meanwhile, in the Ichibantai barracks, events were unfolding. Events which Morimoto had every intention to keep Takasugi out of by stalling him here.