Chapter 0
It was a dark, rainy night when the first Soul Society fell.
At the time, the rain didn't seem to bother 3rd Division's Lieutenant, Izuru Kira, as he dashed through the forest. He had much bigger things to worry about.
Eventually, he reached a small forest clearing, where several Soul Reapers were gathered under a large tree. One of the Soul Reapers was lying on the ground, groaning at a large wound on his chest, while another, a medic, attempted to treat him.
"How is he, Hanataro?" Kira asked, flash-stepping to the medic's side.
"L-Lieutenant Kira!" Hanataro jumped in surprise, before gathering his nerves to give a report. "He's stabilised, but it's not looking good. We need to get him back to Soul Society, so I can begin proper treatment."
"Hmm..." Kira thought a moment. "It'll be difficult to move him in this weather and it'd be disastrous if we were attacked by Hollows..."
As if to prove him right, the group could hear the eerie howl of several Hollows getting closer and closer.
"I'm fine, Kira..." The injured Soul Reaper tried to sit up. "It's just a light scratch..."
"Aah! You can't do that or you'll reopen your wounds!" Hanataro tried to force the Soul Reaper back down but, before he could, the Soul Reaper fell back coughing.
"Don't be an idiot, Suto." Kira growled. "Nobody's going to be happy if you die through your own stupidity."
"Sorry Captain..." Suto groaned in pain.
"This is all messed up..." One of the Soul Reapers sighed. "I knew I should've listened to my horoscope today..."
"What did it say, Roulerre?" Another Soul Reaper asked, with a slight smile. "Capricorns have a high chance of being mauled by Hollows today?"
"I'm Sagittarius, you tit!" Division 7's Sixth Seat Roulerre was a tall, skinny man with messy, red hair. He wore around his neck a variety of 'lucky charms', including a horse shoe, a four-leafed clover and three of Ikkaku Madarame's teeth. His skin was unnaturally pale and, if you looked closely, you could see several numbers scribbled on his hand.
"Rinku, don't antagonise Roulerre. The last thing we need right now is-" Kira began, but he was interrupted by Suto.
"Leave it Lieutenant." Suto gave a weak smile. "He's just trying to lighten the mood." Suto turned his head to Hanataro. "I don't suppose you've got any of that medicinal alcohol left?"
"Sorry..." Hanataro shook his head. Suddenly, a small brown flask flew towards him, almost hitting him on the head.
"There." Rinku smiled. "From my private stock. You'd better like it, since it's the last one I've got left."
Division 8's Fourth Seat Rinku was about the same heigth as Roulerre. He had a deep tan, and short, neatly groomed hair, which contrasted with the unshaved stubble on his chin. He constantly stunk of strong perfume, which most people just assumed he wore to cover up the smell of whisky.
Hanataro unscrewed it and poured a bit into Suto's mouth.
"That hit the spot..." Suto beamed. Suddenly, he started up a coughing fit, while Hanataro tried to calm him.
"Alright, I've decided!" Kira suddenly announced. "Myself and Zekkou will head back to Soul Society, in search of aid. Kawari, Roulerre, Senshuken and Rinku will stay with Suto and Hanataro to fight off any remaining Hollow attacks!"
"Understood Lieutenant!" The rest of the Soul Reapers saluted. As if hearing this, the Hollows began howling again.
While Kawari, Senshuken and Rinku prepared for combat, Zekkou flash-stepped beside Kira and nodded to show he was ready.
Zekkou was the Eighth Seat of the First Division. First Division usually stayed at headquarters, so Kira was surprised when he was told to take Zekkou with him, for their mission. But he was a capable fighter and, when things took a turn for the worse, Kira was glad he'd brought him along. Zekkou was the oldest among the group. His hair was completely grey, even though he didn't seem that old, and he had it wrapped up in a ponytail.
Kira nodded back and the two took off into the night, unaware what horrible events they would soon witness...
"Suto, how are you doing?" The Soul Reaper named Kawari knelt down in front of his stricken friend.
Kawari was the Fourth Seat of Division 13. He was shorter than the rest, but no less powerful. He had shoulder-length black hair, which currently looked like it had been dragged through a bush. Which it had. Several times.
"Well, I've got a large gash in my stomach, I've got a splitting headache and I'm covered in my own blood..." Suto chuckled. "So not great..."
He began coughing violently. Kawari waited until he was finished, before speaking.
"Listen, Suto..." He began sweating heavily. "I-I'm sorry. This was my fault and-"
"Damn straight it was your fault!" Suto growled. "What kind of idiot diverts a Hollow attack into his own ally?"
"I-I really wasn't looking where I was aiming..." Kawari admitted. "I know it won't mean much but... I'm sorry..."
"Apology accepted." Suto shrugged.
"Huh?"
"It was an accident." Suto pointed out. "It was just my bad luck that I was in the way." He suddenly shot a suspicious look at Kawari. "It was an accident, right?"
"Yeah." Kawari smiled weakly. "So I'm forgiven?"
"For now." Suto grinned. "But under one condition."
"What?"
Suto motioned for him to come closer and, as Kawari leant in, Suto whispered something into his ear. Kawari's eyes widened in shock.
"Can I count on you?" Suto asked, his face completely serious.
"Y-Yes." Kawari nodded. "I'll do it. But please try and stay alive."
"That's the plan." Suto chuckled. "If I do make it though, I get to set a rabid hollow on you once we get back to Soul Society instead. Deal?"
Before Kawari could answer, Senshuken flash-stepped into view.
Division 11's Sixth Seat, Senshuken, was the tallest among the group, and the least talkative. Like most members of Division 11, he had a variety of scars all over his body, including three claw-like ones on the right side of his face.
"The Hollows are coming." Senshuken explained, in a calm voice. "We're setting up some defenses. We could use Rinban's power."
"Understood." Kawari nodded. He gave a brief glance towards Suto before flash-stepping away with Senshuken.
There was silence for a moment.
"Hey Doc." Suto finally said. "Give it to me straight. What are my chances?"
"N-Not good." Hanataro admitted. "If we can get you to Soul Society, you should be fine, but if not..."
"I'll die, huh?" Suto looked whimsically into the sky. "I wish I could see the stars one last time... Damn clouds..."
"Well, they say every cloud has a silver lining!" Hanataro felt the need to try and lighten the mood. Judging by the look Suto was giving him, it wasn't working. "I-I'm sorry..."
"No, it's fine." Suto smiled. "A silver lining, huh? I guess if you put it like that..."
Kira and Zekkou flash-stepped through the forest in a desperate attempt to reach Soul Society.
"Zekkou, how much further is it?" Kira asked.
"We should be reaching the outskirts of the slums any minute now." Zekkou answered. "After that, it's only about 10 minutes away."
"Right." Kira nodded. "Do you think that Suto will be able to hold out until then?"
"I don't know." Zekkou admitted.
Kira was silent for a moment.
"You shouldn't blame yourself." Zekkou muttered.
"Hmm?"
"You're wondering whether it was your orders which led to Suto being injured." Zekkou explained.
…
"When did you become psychic?"Kira asked, half-jokingly.
"It's written all over your face." Zekkou answered seriously. "You've always been one to doubt your own leadership so it's natural you'd blame yourself for any mistakes. But this wasn't your fault. If you hadn't made the call you did, all of us could've died."
…
"Thanks." Kira smiled weakly. "But it doesn't make me feel much better."
"It never does."
Kira was about to ask Zekkou what he meant, when the two suddenly reached the edge of the slums.
"Not far to go now." Zekkou flashed a quick smile. "We should be able to get help in no time!"
"Yeah." Kira smiled back. "Let's hope we're not too late."
That was when it began.
The two Soul Reapers were suddenly blinded by a bright light appearing from the centre of Soul Society.
"W-What the hell is that?!" Kira gasped.
The light began to expand and expand, growing until it engulfed the headquarters of the Soul Reapers completely. And then it grew some more. Branches of light shot out of it and shot across the sky.
"Look out!" Kawari yelled, as the Hollow leapt towards a distracted Roulerre. Luckily, Kawari managed to get to him in time and slashed the Hollow in half, before it could savage Roulerre.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Kawari yelled. "Don't drop your guard in the middle of battle!"
Roulerre was looking into the sky with a dumbfounded expression on his face.
"Are you even listening to me?" Kawari tried shaking him out of his trance, with no success. Eventually he turned to see what Roulerre was looking at. And gasped.
Branches of light were streaking across the night-sky, parting clouds as they went. Soon, the entire sky was alive with this light. Even the Hollows stopped to watch the skies. And they don't usually appreciate beauty much...
"What is all this?" Hanataro wondered, watching the streaks of light.
"Whatever it is, it's beautiful..." Suto's voice had lowered to a croak. "I guess you were right... Every cloud does have a silver lining... Hehehehe..."
Suddenly he began coughing again, but this time something was wrong. Small droplets of blood flew from his mouth and onto his uniform.
"Nononono!" Hanataro panicked, searching in his bag for medical supplies. "Don't die on me Suto! Please!"
"..."
"Suto!"
Soon most of Soul Society had been enveloped by the light, while the two Soul Reapers looked on in awe.
"Lieutenant..." Zekkou was the first to break out of his trance. "Perhaps we should move back a bit. We don't know what that light does and it's getting awfully close."
"..."
Kira was still too shocked to speak.
All of a sudden, there was a horrific rumbling and the light suddenly shot up into the sky, creating a magnificent pillar of light. The cloud seemed to melt away before its incredible power.
"Lieutenant..." Zekkou sounded really nervous now.
"Wait." Kira finally said. "It seems to be fading."
"Huh?"
Zekkou took a closer look. It was true! The light was fading. But, he soon noticed, that wasn't the only thing that was fading. The buildings in Soul Society were slowly becoming transparent
Then, with a slight snap, the light vanished. And so did the Soul Society.
Kira and Zekkou could only look in horror at the large, earthy crater left behind.
"What...?!" Kira couldn't finish his sentence out of sheer shock. Everything was gone.
Everything was gone.
His squad, his Captain, his stuff, his friends,everyone he'd ever known! They were all gone...
The two stood silently for what seemed like an eternity. Then Zekkou spoke up.
"Look!" He gasped. "Over there!"
He pointed to a small figure, in the middle of the crater.
The two Soul Reapers slid down the sides of the crater towards the figure, who was lying unconscious on the ground. As they approached him, Kira spotted a familiar Captain's Cloak.
"Captain Hitsugaya!" Kira turned the figure onto his back.
There was no mistake. It was the young child captain of Squad 10. His clothes were filthy and slightly tattered, and he himself looked like he'd been badly burnt by something.
"Captain Hitsugaya!" Kira attempted to awaken the young captain, but it didn't seem to be working.
"He's still alive." Zekkou checked his pulse. "But he needs medical attention. What should we do?"
"I-I-I..." Kira's mind was a blank. Squad 4 had been in the Soul Society when it disappeared. Come to think about it, they'd needed a healer for Suto too. Would he die as well?!
'No!' He thought to himself. 'You have to be stronger than this. Aside from Captain Hitsugaya, you're now the highest-ranking Soul Reaper alive. Your team is looking to you for support. You can't let them down!'
"Go to the slums which weren't wiped out." He ordered. "There may be a healer there who can help us."
"Understood." Zekkou nodded, before flash-stepping away.
Kira was left alone, in the ruins which once were Soul Society.
Suddenly, he felt something tugging his sleeve." He looked down to see Captain Hitsugaya's slowly regaining consciousness.
"Captain!" He smiled. At least there was some good news. "Are you okay?! What happened?!"
"...Kira..." Hitsugaya's voice was hoarse and weak. Kira could barely make most of it out."...The... so... the... so... gyo... the... per... fect... so... gyo..."
"Don't speak Captain." Kira could see how much pain Hitsugaya was in. "You can tell me later."
"Ku..." Hitsugaya collapsed back again, unconscious.
Kira sat silently for a few moments.
"What the hell are we going to do now?" He finally asked. "What the hell are we going to do now...?"