I don't own Bleach or Kateyou Hitman Reborn!
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His Inner World's landscape sports a cramped city who's alleyways are a virtual labyrinth while the sky above is a night sky with distance stars and an aurora snakes its way over head. It's always a clear night with no moon in sight, with only starlight lighting up the night. Yoshi snickers at how that rhythms as he stands on a roof of a building, waiting patiently for his Zanpakuto spirit to either make an appearance or not.
He's still clearly not deemed strong enough by his Zanpakuto although he's seen them, so clearly it's a matter of him growing stronger so that he can finally speak with the spirit and be able to hear its name, which is expected as he's only graduated from Shin'o Academy half a decade ago and there's Shinigami who have lived for centuries who have yet to learn their Zanpakuto's name or hold a conversation with their spirits. Yoshi's been a member of the Fourth Division as his Zanpakuto's sealed form is that of a Tanto, which makes it hard for him to be taken seriously in a Zanjutsu spars or in any kind of fight that requires him to rely upon his Zanpakuto as his only weapon and he seeing as he does want to make a difference, Yoshi focus on mastering the other skills that they teach which are Hakuda, Hoho, and Kido.
Yoshi smiles the dark cloaked spirit makes its appearance across from him. Slowly, the Zanpakuto spirit moves from the crouch and stands but doesn't make to move closer to him. He would love to know what what appearance his Zanpakuto is under that dark, heavy looking cloak. All he knows is that the Zanpakuto spirit is quick, agile, flexible, and seems to have a sixth sense when it comes to his intention, after all, he use to chase the spirit through the buildings, streets, alleyways, and the roof tops. The cloak helps the spirit to blend into the darkness of the alleyways and doesn't do anything to hinder the Zanpakuto.
It's only been in the past three months that he'd figured out the trick to get the spirit to come to him willingly. As of yet, his Zanpakuto spirit has spoken to him nor does the spirit seem overly calm, there's this sense of relentlessness, impatience. Yoshi has tried talking with the spirit, only for them to just, leave and, well, he's given chase, which lead him losing the spirit down among the sprawling cramped city.
It's frustrating that his Zanpakuto spirit refuses to speak to him, he's been reassured by various people that at least he's able to get to his Inner World along with get an idea of what manner of spirit resides within his soul. It's cold comfort, in his mind, that he's done his best to visit weekly upon graduation, particularly when he'd been rushing to get familiar with how his Division is structure, their duties, what's expected of him, and etc. Even now, he's still getting the hang of learning to deal with his fellow Division members and of how other Divisions seem to have certain expectations in regards to him and how he's suppose to act.
And it's gone. The brunette Shinigami mentally thinks to himself as the spirit is quick to turn on its heel and walks right off the edge of the roof. "So tempted... So very tempted..."
In the end, he glances around the roof tops and, well, he's had a busy day and expects there to be more patients tomorrow. "Festival of Bonding, who the fuck came up with that idea? Let alone having it be a seven day event." Yoshi murmurs as he heads for the tallest roof nearest to him, it's only the second day and already they're having trouble with dealing with the various drunken idiots along with the tournaments going on that range from Hakuda to Zanjutsu.
He's had tried to sign up for the Hakuda tournament but, well, one look at which Division he's a member of and they pretty much laughed. "Assholes..." The young Shinigami sighs, he'd refused to move or storm off only to be push out of the way when the next person entered into the room to sign up as well. Not that he'd left but, well, they just ignored him.
Once on that roof, Yoshi moves onto the center of it and then lays down, staring up at the night sky. The orange aurora continues to shimmer above his head as it goes through every shade imaginable for orange.
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Tsuna senses the appearance of the other and there's that familiar pull yet he doesn't want to seek out the other for the other confuses him greatly. The other's very appearance unsettles Tsuna and he's not sure why. With the simple wish of hiding from the other, the surrounding shadows move about him and it's not long before there's a cloak covering his body, it doesn't weight much nor does it hinder his range of motion.
Without thinking, he knows the distance between the other and himself. The other doesn't do anything to hide. Has never wanted to hide from me.
After sometime, Tsuna gives in and allows himself head in the direction of the other. Dimly, he wonders when it's safe for him to exit out of HDWM for it seems so long since the Event that sent him away from those he cared about. Nothing besides Survival matters to him and yet, Tsuna feels like he's missing out on something vital. Does it matter? I am going to Survive! No matter what!
The other is on a roof of a building and... There's a sense of Deja Vu, the other is in motion. Crouching down, he watches the other with interest and can see the flaws in the movements that he could take advantage of.
Fingers twitching in rhythm with the other's movement, Tsuna finds himself at a loss on describing what it is he sees. There's no enemies to fight and there's a word for it, forgotten and yet at the tip of his tongue. It's clear that the other could be better, that the other should be better then what he's seeing.
There's emotions rolling off the other too, but they didn't matter as much as getting the rhythm of the motions. Then the other changes things up and he continues to watch. Sky walking? Is that a thing now?
In the end, the other seems to finish up before there's some slower, more exhausted stretching. Which strikes him as the right thing to do. Finally, the other's done and lays down on the roof, staring up at the forever night sky.
It's on the roof by the time he thinks that's where he wants to be and while the other is startled, there's something missing, a sound? The other stares at him and there's something very confusing, finding the other looking at him. Words come out but Tsuna ignores them and then, he leaves, stepping off the roof, the other doesn't follow and he... kind of... wanted him to? Looking up at the roof, Tsuna doesn't know why he expects the other to come after him only, the other had done so before?
Trying to remember irritates him and so he stops, turning on his heels, stalks off. There's still that tiny feeling that there should be more to do with the other but Tsuna doesn't pay it any heed as he fulfilled the urge, the pull, that tries him to the other. There's nothing more for him besides headaches and feeling like he's missing something when he's with the other.
"I just... want..." Even to his ear, his voice is harsh from not being used. Just want... What? What did I want?
To Survive, yes, that's what I want. And so, Tsuna heads away from the other with only the stars and the orange aurora as company.
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The rest of the patrol, dead and all due to the Hollow before him. Sure, they numbered five but they had a Seat leading the patrol personally to hunt down what had been thought of as a minor Hollow that's been sighted and has likely been devouring people living far south of the Rukongai, one of the higher numbers. Yoshi's been able to evade the various clawed appendages using Hoho and is thankful that his Zanpakuto is so short as it allows him to be quick with it.
Despair at his situation and self disgust at his lack of confidence at surviving this situation, never mind the whole unable to be quick enough to do anything to save the other members of the patrol, but then, he'd been ordered to keep his distance by Tenth Division Seat, the man's name escapes him. Stop it! Focus! It just needs to land a single blow and I'd be done for! Yoshi scolds himself.
Be in the here... In the now... The brunette Shinigami reminds himself.
Still, his stamina is slowly getting exhausted and the few strikes he's landed don't do anything to slow or cause the Hollow to pause in its relentless attacks. His arms are feeling heavy and he's finding it hard to keep his breathing stable, let alone from his emotions fluctuating all over the place. His death is drawing near and it's clear that the weasel masked Hollow is aware of this, it's beginning to toy with him and he hates that it feels confident to do so.
His sealed Zanpakuto is sent flying a foot away as two clawed appendages come at him from the top and from the left. Then, it's like time comes to a stand still. There's someone mentally standing behind him and then, that person steps forward and there's this orange colored Reiryoku alight upon his hands while orange is tinting his vision, time resumes only he's not the one in control of his body.
Whoever is in control seems to be able evade the two appendages and the tables are quick to turn as whoever is in control figures out how to truly fight with his body, it's clear that whoever it is, isn't use to his height nor his reach, but adapts their Hakuda style to his body is while having little to no trouble with dealing with the multi-limbs that the weasel masked Hollow has. There's burn marks upon the white plates and black flesh of the Hollow.
Get the tanto! Go for the head! Yoshi shouts at the person.
The person ignores his advice for the next few minutes before, finally, shattering part of the mask viva the right cheek. Then the person seem to freeze, confused at the human face that's almost peeking out. Use the hilt of the Tanto! The Tanto! It'll purify them!
Soon enough, the person seems to decide his advise is worth following after the Hollow madly chuckling, destroying more of the mask in hopes of causing the person in control to waver in wanting to do combat them. After all, the orange Reiryoku seemed to dim upon his body coming to a stop. As his hand grips his Zanpakuto, the orange flame appearing Reiryoku seems to transfer from his hands into the tanto's blade, causing it to alter slightly as a flame pattern etches itself onto the metal of the blade's edge.
It's the Hollow's turn to freeze at the sight of the Zanpakuto, the Hollow tries to buy time but, well, the hilt slams rather forcefully under the Hollow's jaw and, well, it works, then again, orange flame Reiryoku spreads from that point. He mentally winces as the Gates of Hell make their appearance and then, well, the orange tint is gone and a glance at his Zanpakuto reveals that the flame etchings remain while the Reiryoku is nowhere to be found upon his Zanpakuto.
Yoshi's back in control and witnesses Hell claim the man now that he's been cleansed of the sins committed as a Hollow. It's not long before the Gates close and feels the exhaustion from his own fight along with feeling that his body had been pushed passed its usual limits. Sheathing his Zanpakuto, he finds himself falling onto his ass as he tries to make sense of what happened along with feeling a touch unnerved by the fact that, he'd been saved by his own Zanpakuto, cause he can't think of who else that could have been, let alone how his Tanto could be altered in such a way...
Now what should I do? I mean, Shinigami aren't very well liked out this far? Yoshi begins to ponder his current situation, after all, the issue with his Zanpakuto spirit can be worried over once he's back at Seireitei and in the safety of his room.
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The other isn't here and yet, Tsuna knows he's not alone. He will find it and if it doesn't belong, then he'll destroy it with his Dying Will. And so, he takes to the air, for a few seconds, he just allows himself to enjoy the sensation of flight before feeling the unusual presence that isn't the other moving about.
It's not long before that unusual presence takes to the air itself. He gives chase and yet, he just can't get close nor can he predict what's going on with the unusual presence. It's not hostile but...
He continues his pursue until it's him that runs out of energy and, well, Tsuna finally gives up. The Sky Flame User does his very best to try and charge his own energy reserves up but, well... I've been played.
He's unable to hold onto his HDWM any more and he knows he's going to fall asleep the moment it's gone. Finding a room with a bed, he just reaches it as it comes to an end, exhaustion and sleep finally overtaking him.
"Your safe..." That's the last thing he hears.
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Sitting on the floor of his room, Yoshi has his Zanpakuto unsheathed and staring once more at he flame designed that's etched along the cutting edge of his Tanto. It had been a pain dealing with the local inhabitants of that village once they realized he'd been the only survivor of the patrol and that the Hollow had been dealt with. More then a few looked like they wanted to kill him themselves, likely thinking they can blame the death viva injuries dealt with due to the Hollow except that he'd been able to bluff about having sent a Jigokucho to report his survival and the death of not just the Hollow but his patrol.
None called him on it, thankfully, as he's pretty sure that if one of them had been carrying one of the Hell Butterflies, nobody told him nor did they entrust it with him, meaning that it's likely been destroyed. Which would be kind of depressing... The Shinigami mentally admits, like all new and inexperienced Shinigami, he'd been tasked taking care of the little messengers. Which is why he hopes they weren't sent with one in their possession.
Still, that bluff kept me safe enough to patch myself up. The brunette thinks to himself. He'd had been in charge of their field rations, carrying those along with his medical supplies, so he hadn't been strapped for food, for a change being given the duties of the patrol's pack mule ensured he had what he needed.
The trip back had been quick as there had just been him and he hadn't stopped off at any of the bars the Seat had them stop at once they were out of the Seireitei. He's revisited the whole incident many times during debriefings with higher ups before he'd been released to get checked over by his own Division. He'd been kept overnight just to be on the safe side and then he'd been visited by various people looking for juice details about the incident.
So yes, he's had a tiring week and, well, he's not sure if he's really up for doing some training within his Inner World but, well, he wants answers about what happened, after all, he hadn't shared that minor detail about being a passenger in his own body for the final portion of the fight. "Maybe they want to finally talk?" Yoshi wonders to himself and he can't help but be curious about his Zanpakuto spirit, he's always been curious about them.
"Guess that answers that..." The brunette Shinigami of close to a hundred years now muses with a sigh. Sheathing his Zanpakuto and lays it on his lap, beginning to meditate and enter into his Inner World.
Within seconds of opening his eyes, he knows something major has happened within himself as there's a very obvious change. It had always been night but now, now there's orange breaking up the horizon, casting some light across the cramp sprawling city, giving the buildings some color and the windows to reflect light. It's startling how much that seems to change how his Inner World looks.
Looking straight up, it's still dark and some stars can almost be seen while the aurora is no where in sight. Looking around, he notices how that orange is all along the horizon of his Inner World. He scouts around to be sure from the tallest building he can get to quickly. The light brightens and dims at the pace of a rhythm that's rather calming as Yoshi watches for a pretty long while, minutes ticking away before he then begins to scan the streets and alleyways below then the roof tops.
As he studies the buildings, he goes begin to go into a search pattern in hopes of catching sight of the elusive cloaked spirit. Yoshi searches and searches, there's no movement, no flash of a rippling cloth within shadows or within the reflected light that's breaking from the horizon. Stopping upon a house's roof, the Shinigami runs a hand through his hair, it's not in its usual pony tail, so the back does flies about as he moves, which he then begins to rearrange along with flattening it with his fingers.
As he holds the back of his hair into a make shift ponytail, he lets it drop slowly from his fingers as he thinks he hears a soft hum. Yoshi isn't sure if he heard it before but he hears it now. It's coming from the house on the other side of the street.
Within seconds, he's before the front door having used Shunpo to get there in a flash. Yoshi smirks slightly at the pun before reaching out to grip the doorknob. It opens and the humming increases, coming from the next level of the house.
The main floor seems pretty typical for this city from his previous investigation. From his own reading of the conditions of the World of the Living, there's no city similar nor do they seem to hold the same decor he's found within his Inner World's city as the streets are far too wide, there's metal poles sporting curves place about, and what appears to be sign posts with metal used in the creation... It's something he's come to accept, him not really knowing all that much about the city that exists within his Inner World, it's also clear that some of the buildings are not unlike barracks only with additional rooms and then there's those levels that sport those short walls that don't even reach the ceiling along with not sporting any beds of any kind, the set up isn't unlike an office but it's not secure enough to be an office...
Blinking, he finds himself before a door and the humming is much louder here. Studying the door, it's plain and without decoration, so he grips the door knob and twists it, the door gives way easily. He stiffens at the sight of a beautiful man or handsome woman, it's hard to tell. The person turns their sapphire blue eyes upon him and then smiles gently, which causes Yoshi to feel his insides twist and it feels like something if fluttering within along with the urge to duck his head.
The Shinigami doesn't though and takes in the rest of the other's appearance. The skin is tan while the hair is a bright blond with highlights of an almost white blue, which is long, messy oddly enough, and is done in a high ponytail. The clothing is very unusual, likely foreign in nature. The top is a simple rich red with hints of orange and yellow flame patterns around the sleeves, the neck, and the bottom, there's a white vest sporting a hood with light blue symbol that is two lines crossing on the person's right. The bottom portion are even more abnormal as they seem to actually fit the legs shape and are a faded black. The footwear has the feet covered in white with light blue trim, the material looks durable and there's orange string about the front of the item.
"It's good to see you found your way here, I had thought I'd need to go fetch you myself." The voice states, the words carry a weight to them, and he blinks, not sure what to make of the person before him. "The state of you is rather sad, depressing even."
"Huh?" It's not like he understand that statement, after all, he returned hale in body, although he's still rather shaken over the deaths of his fellow Shinigami. It's hard not to be, he knows and none fault him for mentally beating himself up over the What ifs and Could have, etc.
"Met your other half, he answers to Tsuna." The person states, gesturing slightly with a hand towards the lump upon the furniture. He stills at the sight, eyes wide, for there's a thirteen, maybe being generous, fifteen year old on the bed who, well, sports the same shade of brown hair done up in a style he recalls having his hair done up in back when he'd woke in one of the towns of east Rukongai, kept it that style until he got admitted into the Shin'o Academy and noting how common it was for Shinigami to have long hair. "Or... Dame-Tsuna as he was labeled." There's an underline of a lot of anger there and his gaze snaps back to the person.
"I don't understand, what do you mean by other half?" He asks after returning to studying, the cloths are kind of in line with what the other person is wearing, only it seems to be long sleeves on top of having a hood attached in an orange. Yoshi physically looks to be in his late teens, namely seventeen and it's likely why so many of his fellow Shinigami dismiss him to carelessly as they take in his 'age' and figure he's 'young' and 'inexperienced', his membership to Fourth Division doesn't help to correct that impression, while most experience the static aging thing in their twenty, generally.
"Your actual name, you both sport parts of it, Tsuna is who you were before arriving in this dimension and Yoshi is who you fashioned yourself into being upon arrival." The being who he now suspects is his Zanpakuto spirit explains. "The beginnings of the split happened long before you had been sent out of your birth dimensional, from what I've gathered, and it finalized when Tsuna didn't feel 'safe' here, choosing to hide, pulling all that defined him into himself, holding it within. I'm sure you can guess the rest."
"Oh..." It's a hard concept to wrap his mind around, after all, he's pretty sure that it's not healthy to splinter a Soul into two halves. "He was... He kept getting drawn to..." Yoshi finally manages to find his voice enough to vocalize. "Kill me?"
The other seems to find that amusing and chuckles, head shaking. "No, Yoshi, he wanted to be whole but he was too wrapped up in the concept that he wasn't in a safe or secure location to allow himself to come out of his primal, driven state and get on with it." He's at a loss as to why the younger looking other half of himself didn't feel safe, after all, he's been living in the Seireitei for a bit over a hundred years now, given he had lived within its walls back when he was attending Shin'o Academy.
Frowning, he considers what information he has for a time, the spirit returns to humming, which seems to cause Tsuna to sigh softly, seemingly falling into a deeper sleep and inquires, "Is the Soul Society so different from that other dimension that he couldn't come to grips with the current dimension?" It's the only thing that makes sense at this point.
"Yes, the Reiryoku is vastly different and interacts with that world in a different fashion but the ultimate difference has to do existence of an afterlife along with the fact that most souls generally reenter the Reincarnation Cycle directly upon death or not long after it." And that causes him to thoughtfully exclaim, "What?! You can't be serious?! What about Hollows? Or... or..." It's hard for him to wrap his mind around the very idea!
"If it's such an alien thought to you, that does go a long way with explaining his aversion of exiting out of his previous state, doesn't it?" The spirit remarks and, well, yea, maybe. "I guess it's a matter of perspective." He murmurs as he runs a hand through his hair, feeling the need to do something with his hands.
There's a clear knowing look in the other's eyes concerning how half hearted that statement had been said along with the fact that he doesn't really give it the belief it's due, but, really, he's kind of convinced that he's somehow fallen asleep and that this is a dream. "Well! Ready to begin?" The blond person inquires with what sounds like fake cheer.
"Begin?" He wonders out loud and then watches as the spirit nudges the sleeping teenager awake. As Tsuna stirs, he feels his Reiryoku begin to pool within his being, getting ready for something while wisps of that orange flame begins to flicker from the other brunette's body before flaring up as Tsuna blinks sleepily at him with those same hazel eyes he's seen in the mirror and then, they glow orange as they sharpen and sleep fades.
His Reiryoku enshrouds him as the orange flame does the same with Tsuna. Then... they reach out to each other and he's pretty sure their eyes widen as the two touch. The two energies swirl about one another and begin to pull more into what's happening, it's soon a whirlpool of energy and his beginning to feel himself getting dragged towards the center. He tries to pull away, arms up to defend his face but, it's too strong.
The self of the past and the self of the present find themselves keeping to themselves but, little by little, the boundaries between them give way and in time, a desire to Know more of the other takes hold, memories begin to be shared, for Tsuna, it also dredges up memories that had been forgotten about from his toddler-hood begin to surface and how that came crashing down upon getting Sealed. Everything is shared in a large disorganize mess of memories, emotions, and echos of a Will that had been trapped behind an icy Seal and a Will that developed when there was a void of a Will within an truly empty shell of a teen, a teen that would grow and develop free from the traumas of old.
It takes time but the two halves then begin to sort themselves into a single being. It's not an easy process as each didn't want to die and yet, it was unavoidable as the Soul needed to mend the divide within itself. As Tsunayoshi finally heals from the splintering of his Soul, the teen wakes to find the Zanpakuto spirit standing before him and in their truest form, that of a fire bird that's general body plan is that of an eagle but there's hints in the beak, shape of the head, and talons that it's not a full eagle. The main body coloring is a rich red with orange and yellow mixed in while the head, along the back, and tail is the colors of the hottest flames, with orange and yellow giving way to white and a very bright pale blue. There's four eyes upon the head, both sets of eyes are the same sapphire blue of the human shaped form.
"I am Hamonibado! Know that I am always with you, Tsunayoshi and that I will always be proud of you! For you are Mine!" The beak doesn't move and it takes him seconds to realize what this means.
Bowing, the Sky Shinigami says, "My thanks, Hamonibado, for choosing me."
It's then that the featureless landscape fades and he wakes in his room. Looking down at Hamonibado, it hasn't really visibly changed, it's sealed form is that of a Tanto and he can kind of guess as to why that is. Still, he's hungry and his body is feeling rather... cramped. Moving the Zanpakuto from his lap, he takes a few minutes to, well, get up along with dealing with what feels like muscle cramps and that feeling of sleeping limbs.
"What a pain..." But, perhaps, it make sense why his body would end up in this state, after all, he now has Sky Flames to go along with local Reiryoku. It's going to be some time before his body adjusts to having those two energies existing and mixing with one another, never mind he's having trouble between two sets of muscle memory that's happening as he limps towards the place he stashed some of non-perishable foods for him to snack on later as Yoshi.
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"Soar, Hamonibado!" The Zanpakuto transforms into a pair of shorter Tanto that are doubled bladed with bright orange cloth stripes that come from the base of the hilts, the cloth stripes are quick to wrap around his hands, becoming a pair of finger less gloves. It's a marvel to him that he's achieved the ability to transform Hamonibado into a more powerful form.
Then it cancels out after a few minutes, leaving him feeling rather exhausted. With a soft groan, Tsunayoshi reaches over to the jar and pours himself some water, drinking it. As he's learnt from previous times, just because he now has access to Shikai doesn't mean he's capable of maintaining it, it eats away at both of his energy reserves, which means... "I need to work on my Sky Flame."
Which really shouldn't be that surprising given that his Dying Will had been Sealed near or a bit after he'd been five years old. The pair's excuses had been just that, excuses as it hadn't taken either men under a minute to put a Flame Seal on him and it's clear that the Ninth hadn't even bulked at the idea of not using as complete of a Flame Seal as he could on a child that young. Neither of them wanted him trained nor did they want him to have access to his Sky Flame. Whatever excuses they came up with came after the fact not before it and so, began the hell that had been his childhood and being settled with the hurtful nickname of Dame-Tsuna.
"... Now how to go about doing that?" This is a different dimension after all and this body of mine... It's not exactly flesh and blood. The Shinigami ponders the problem.
"Might as well research the topic, I mean, some of the living do get around to making use of Reiryoku..." Not that they really expand upon the topic at the Shin'o Academy... Tsunayoshi admits as he drinks and eats a few of the snacks he has next to him.
It's a matter of figuring out how to word the request...
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This is going to end badly, he can't shake the feeling as he accompanies the group of Shinigami lead by Lieutenant Shiba in search of the Hollow that killed the man's wife. It's clear that the man is grieving and it's understandable, which is likely why his Captain requested that he, current Fifth Seat of Fourth Division, accompany this disaster of a mission. Tsunayoshi has far more experience with dealing with situations that go... pear shaped then more and has the best track record for ensuring that when they do, people will come out alive, not in good condition but alive at least.
He's got a nickname because of said track record, which in his humble opinion doesn't have anything to do with him being part of the group, after all, in recent decades the number of casualties among the Gotei 13 forces has increased far more drastically then it naturally should and it's unnerving. Tsunayoshi also already knows who's behind it, hard not to, given how his Hyper Intuition reacts to that man in particular but it does react in a more mild way to the man's 'friends' and the way he's been able to dispel the influence of said man's Zanpakuto, after all, Sky Flames weren't native to this universe as the ability does try to disrupt his personal Harmony. Tsunayoshi hasn't been able to prove anything and Knows that Sosuke-teme's hold over the minds of the whole Gotei 13 is iron tight.
"Can't believe that those Captains and Lieutenants were still exiled and the blame of what almost happened was put on former Captain Urahara's head..." He thinks to Hamonibado, who he feels stirs awake as they continue to get near the location of the Hollow. There's a general sense of agreement as the four eyed fire bird begins to fully wake up.
Pushing the matter to the back of his mind, Tsunayoshi glances around the landscape before looking towards the path, it's clear to him that Lieutenant Shiba isn't in the right frame of mind for this mission, after all, the man tried to argue against the need to send others with him. The Sky Shinigami kind of understands that the Lieutenant is hurting and grieving over the death of his wife and really shouldn't be given the leadership position concerning what they are going to be facing, for it's pretty clear what kind of order the Lieutenant is going to give the moment they find the Hollow and it's going to be the most stupid kind imaginable.
Suddenly, there's something streaking through the air and it lands with, there's a shock wave along with sound wave a good half a minute after stuff is kicked up into the air. "What was that?!" Shouts one Tsuyoshi, a member of Twelfth Division and their fourth member. The third is one Nani Kenji, member of Tenth Division.
Without so much as a warning or sound, the Lieutenant is flat out running towards the crash site, forgoing Hoho. "Shunpo." He orders and upon hearing their agreement, he takes the lead, over taking the Lieutenant, who curses before making use of Shunpo himself.
It's a drone? Coming to a stop a good distance from where the Hollow is trying to bat the mechanical spy from the air and said drone firing off tiny missiles in turn. Yea, it is.
The sight of it is rather surreal and even the other Shinigami come to a stop on either side of him. "Am I seeing things?" Kenji inquires in a soft voice, not wanting to attract the attention of either fighters.
"If you're seeing a Hollow with a back filled with tentacles having trouble destroying that metal fly, then no, your not or else we're all seeing things too." Response Tsuyoshi in a dry way while keeping to the same level of voice.
The Lieutenant and current leader of this squad of four recovers from the sight after a few minutes of being dumbfounded, which gives him plenty of time to ready a Kido spell, Bakudo number one which is entitled Sai, which will bind up a target's limbs. Tsunayoshi plans to over charge the spell as well as he's unsure of how powerful said Hollow is. As Lieutenant Shiba unsheathes Nejibana, preparing to enter the fray, he castes the Kido and all of the Hollow's limbs get bound, causing the Hollow to crash to the ground.
It curses as Lieutenant Shiba's Nejibana slices clean through the Hollow's head before the Shinigami realizes the Hollow is unable to break out of such a weak spell. The Hollow is cleansed and the black haired Lieutenant turns to give him a furious look but the Sky Shinigami is unconcerned, after all, the other had been the one to release the soul from its state and while it doesn't satisfy the widower's need for vengeance, the fact that the Hollow has been dealt with by his own Zanpakuto will help speed up the recovery of Lieutenant Shiba's grief and anger. He'll get a slap on the wrist for his action of using the Sai without informing Lieutenant Shiba of his intent but it's a small price to pay overall.
"Someone's in trouble." Remarks Kenji and Tsuyoshi snickers lightly as the Lieutenant sheaths Nejibana. It's then that the drone zips around the various members of the squad, causing Kenji to yelp in surprise when it comes right into his face before it turns its attention onto Tsuyoshi, who bats it away with the back of his left hand with a, "Damn metal bug..."
He finds it all rather bemusing although something about it stirs up his Hyper Intuition, it's not dangerous, just... Chaotic benign? The brunette muses with a slight frown as he finds it coming to hover about three feet from him. The lens is moving forward and narrow before back and wide while gently bobbing in the air with it's large twin jets keep it from moving much to the side to side.
"Enough, we best head back. Our target has been dealt with." Lieutenant Shiba states upon using Shunpo to appear before them. "Ignore it unless it fires upon us like it did the Hollow." The widower adds while walking back the way they came.
Humming, he follows suit and it takes the pair a few seconds longer before doing the same. "It's creepy..." He hears Kenji whispers to Tsuyoshi. "Captain's been experimenting with a lot of things, likely one of his." Replies the member of Twelfth Division and he mentally sighs, he really wishes that the former Captain Urahara never gave Mayuri said important position within his Division that it ensured that the former Maggot's Nest prisoner would raise to take the vacant post of Captain of Twelfth Division, without anyone with authority above him, Mayuri has free range to proceed as he pleases within the Seirietei and the ability to travel beyond it.
It wouldn't surprise me if that Hollow had been one of Mayuri's at one point... Tsunayoshi mentally admits. He's thankful that whatever files and recordings the former Captain had concerning his unusual Reiryoku, yes the pale blond had figured it out and long before he'd become a Captain, the man had wanted to study it and promised that in exchange of being able to do so, he'd find a way ensuring that it remains a secret from certain parties. As such, Urahara had created this pendant for him to wear, it's in the shape of a feather, that somehow hides or causes disinterest in his Sky Flame and he's content that it works, knowing the hows and whys wasn't really his concern, he's not interested in being a scientist after all, for all that Fourth Division does have more responsibilities then just medical profession, he as Yoshi wanted to be able to save the lives beyond just putting the threat down as fast as he can.
x = I - T - I = x
"That has to be him!" Exclaims Spanner, the teen had called to inform them that a drone finally reached another world. "The facial program gives it eighty-nine percent chance!" The engineer adds, gesturing to the other monitor that scans three pictures before comparing them to the long haired brunette's own face, which is hard to swallow, after all, why would Tsuna want to grow his hair that long? After all, it would only interfere with them being able to find him, after all, and bringing him home.
She finds something strangely familiar about the cloths all four are wearing along with each sporting a katanna, well, except for the brunette who's in possession of an tanto. Even the masked thing reminds her of something as she watches the replay of the fight between the drone and it. "Audio?" Reborn inquires, startling the room as the grown man is intent upon the reply of interactions between the four maybe samurai, well, maybe as the only one sporting the customary long hair is the brunette in question who may or may not be the missing Sky.
"The battery juice is making use of the stored Cloud Flame now and some of that got used up creating missiles to fire at the monster." Spanner answers. "Just transmitting is eating up the battery something furious and the previous scans of the area are kind of... odd, more Shoichi-kun's area then mine. Again, the drone's cutting down functions to keep it transmitting first and foremost and move second."
"Chrome darling?" Mukuro-sama mentally inquires as the recordings give them view of what looks to be a city. "Bleach... That's the Soul Society!" She mentally exclaims to Mukuro-sama as pieces fall into place, that the four are Shinigami, Soul Reapers and... "Boss' collection might have manga under that title!"
"Are you saying that dear Tsuna is dead?" Mukuro-sama asks curiously as the other begin to argue and bicker, she begins to move back towards the walls and the shadows. "Not necessarily... But what might have happened is that he joined the Gotei and became a Soul Reaper. They'd likely found him and noticed his Sky Flame and made assumptions."
Mukuro-sama laughter echos in her mind. "Well my darling, we have a lead over the others then." She's in agreement with him, after all, the others might dismiss her observations at the insane, that Boss somehow ended up in a universe that has a manga based on it.
- x = M } | ] U [ | { M = x -
While Boss did have a few volumes of the manga, it was doing a search on the internet that they found an anime, number of fan fiction about said anime/manga, and a few wiki pages. It became clear that the Tanto was an other sealed form for a Zanpakuto and comparing the shoulder bands, it seems that the brunette with the ponytail is a member of Fourth Division along with the fact that the black haired man and that Hollow were actual characters within the story, of course as they have seen, Metastacia ended up bound in a Kido spell and Kaien killed the Hollow instead of being possessed and killed. Which means the 'plot' as she's learning about it has been altered.
And yes, both Mukuro-sama and her are beginning to suspect that the facial program is likely right and they now have Boss' new appearance and doing some math based off of the information concerning Kaien Shiba's height, it seems that Boss is much taller then he'd been before getting sent to that universe along with likely older, far older then his appearance would suggest. While not a Captain or a Lieutenant, neither of them doubt that Boss hadn't reached a Seat within the Division, after all, Boss hadn't seemed cowed when interacting with a clearly upset Kaien.
They also have good cause to believe that Boss isn't dead as there is a way for the Living to set foot in the Soul Society, sure, Boss might not have done it the way the anime and manga have it done but Sky Flames are Harmony so it stands to reason that the same process might have happened with him. It's now a question of how long Boss has been in that universe and if his memory has been affected during that time, after all, those Souls 'living' in the Soul Society begin to forget about the life before they came to the Soul Society. It seems the reason is so they can reenter the cycle of reincarnation and they can't find any information saying that this doesn't happen to Soul Reapers or they are protected from this.
Not that it Mukuro-sama seems particularly troubled with that thought compared to her, but then, even she has to admit that Boss seemed rather... Brows furled as she tries to think of how to explain it as the machine is prepping up to open up a passage to that other universe. "Unattainable? Just outside of reach?" Mukuro-sama suggests with hints of frustration, it's clear that he's been following along her trail of thought.
"Yes, those do, kind of fit." Chrome whispers out loud before startling at a single word, Mukuro-sama hisses, "What's he doing here?!" "Herbivore."
"Hibari-sama! Wh... what brings you here?" She stammers out in shock and dread, the Demon Prefect has never really looked her way, not really, so it's a rather off putting experience of having his full attention upon her.
The young man's eyes remain staring into her own, it's clear that the answer to that should be obvious, but then, it's only been three days since that drone got successfully sent through. After doing her best to stop fidgeting under the Cloud's gaze, the young man's gaze goes towards the screens before settling on the room below that sports the equipment to open said passage to that other world. "It was the Omnivore then."
"Yes and both Mukuro-sama and I suspect that time is passing at a different rate there." She replies like it's a question instead of the statement it really was. "We suspect that the nature of that universe is affecting Boss, one of those ways might be mentally." "What are you doing?!" Mukuro-sama hisses within and she replies, "He's not going to not follow, not after seeing that Hollow or noticing the Zanpakutos they'd been wearing."
That gives the older Mist pause and it's clear that what she says is true, it's clear from the way the Cloud is watching the activation of the gate. "We could use a distraction to get through the gate." Mukuro-sama muses and it's what she kind of expected.
- x = M } | ] U [ | { M = x -
Her head is spinning, something on her face feels like it's burning, it's the same sensation that's happening within her body only there's this feeling of pins and needles then just burning, and her ears are ringing. Someone is reaching down to her and suddenly, the burning on her face and pain within her body begins to subside, her vision begins to clear... Taking off her eye patch, she is at a loss for words at the sight before her along with the fact that she has her eye back.
"Shshshsh, it's going to be ok." A teen moves and pulls her in, rubbing her back as tears fall down her face. It's hard for her to control her sobbing but once she has, Orihime Inoue, for that's only who this teenager could be, asks if she's going to be ok and she nods.
The other teenager searches her face before nodding and then shuffling over to her right, looking there, Chrome gasps at the sight of Mukuro-sama laying there, looking very pale and breathing very shallowly. Memories assault her mind. Of the passage, of refusing to continue on without her BROTHER and, then, the Cloud with her helps her to pull her BROTHER pass the blockage, the force sends them flying faster and faster...
Hibari Kyoya is sleeping a bit to her left, calm and surreal. Then parts of the Cloud's cloths seems to crack off and fade from existence. Looking down, she finds that her eye patch isn't looking so great either, there's cracks and the surface is flaking, slowly disintegrating. "Our cloths..." She murmurs as she turns to look at the state of Mukuro-sama's own and it's happening to his as well.
"Oh? Oh! Now that's interesting..." The black cat that sounds male muses thoughtfully, she's pretty sure that Yoruichi doesn't know what's the cause of it as well.
"Are ours going to do that too?" Ichigo asks, the orange hair along with black traditional looking cloths and knife like Shikai are the dead give away to his identity. "If they were, they'd have started at the same time as theirs did." Replies Uryu upon pushing up his glasses with a considering look in his eyes.
"... I think I need some new ones. Same for Hibari-sama and Mukuro-sama." She pipes in quietly and is very nervous at the fact that there are the locals also watching. The groups eyes widen and they glance at one another before Yourichi sigh, it's the former Captain that ends up taking the matter into her... claws?
x = I - T - I = x
This would be so funny if it weren't for the fact that everyone is so serious about this... Tsunayoshi thinks as he stares at the Zanpakuto that everyone thinks is Sosuke-teme's body. Glancing around at the gathered Shinigami, he can tell who among them had that run in with Hibari just this morning, the whole Seireitei is on high alert as Hibari hadn't been captured and in the ensuring chaos, people have reported other intruders, two of which sound like Chrome and Mukuro.
His Hyper Intuition is vibrating at the amount of possibilities that have been unleashed within the Seireitei and he just knows that Hamonibado is preening, having won an old bet between them concerning whether time was moving differently between his birth world and this one. Which means he owes the spirit a shrine, he's not sure why they would want one, given that they were a part of him, but well, it hardly matters at this point as he lost and that's the price he promised to pay. "I hope you don't expect me to pursue that right now, it seems that Sosuke-teme's plans are reaching some end point here in the Seireitei." He remarks to Hamonibado.
"I know you'll either start on building one or seek out a rundown one and restore it when you have the breathing space." They respond. Blinking, he finds them being careful in lifting up the Zanpakuto and he wonders where Sosuke-teme is hiding.
"You don't look too broken up over his death, Fifth Seat." Turning he finds Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro to his right and behind him. Giving the Captain of Tenth Division a slightly sad smile, responds, "I'm troubled that someone within our ranks are currently taking advantage of the current chaos to act against the Gotei, Captain Hitsugaya." There's a slight widening of eyes before narrowing them as the child appearing Captain considers what he means by that.
"You think one of our own killed Captain Aizen?" Asks one of those lingering behind at the scene. "All I'm saying is that none of the intruders have killed Shinigami in their previous encounters and I highly doubt they'd do so now. After all, none of them have shown themselves to be able to take down a Captain fast enough to not draw the attention of patrolling Shinigami."
"Are you saying that Captain Aizen was WEAK you bastard?!" Snaps a member of that Division. "No, he's proving his point concerning traitors among our ranks." Captain Hitsugaya states calmly and that causes the Shinigami around to blink stupidly, especially of note are those members of the Fifth Division seem to be caught in some kind of logic loop.
"Enough, everyone return to your duties or find someplace else to be." Captain Hitsugaya snaps and it works but it's clear from some subtle signs that the Tenth Division Captain had noticed the behavior of the Fifth Division members. The Captain walks away and he follows after the 'body', after all, perhaps he'll put a damper on Sosuke-teme's plans with encasing the Zanpakuto in Zero Breakthrough ice.
His Hyper Intuition alerts him of the ambush and he can Feel the pair who are doing it. Mist explodes about the street and feeling his Sky Flame alter his eyes, opens them to watch the two Mists knock out the other Shinigami, the tridents are already degrading. "Chrome." He nods his head in greeting toward the slip of a girl who's now in possession of both eyes before glancing towards the older Mist. "Mukuro."
He feels their Mist Flames hang about his form, both looking rather startled by how calm is he along with the simple greeting. "Boss." Chrome states in turn after sharing a look at Mukuro.
"I'd prefer Tsunayoshi instead of that." He informs her before regarding the two as they him. Both look drained and it's likely due to them needing a safe place to sleep along with food, but first...
The two move, parting as he enters into Dying Will Mode long enough to fire off a Zero Point Breakthrough shard and it hits the Sosuke-teme's sword, it spreads about it and he can almost hear its screaming before it's fully encased. Tsunayoshi allows himself to smile in a self satisfied way before feeling the twin Mist Flames 'bite' him, only for his Sky Flame to respond while Hamonibado chuckles as Harmony sings, the pair's Flames find a Home within his Sky and he's rather dazed by the feeling of... Well, not being empty seems to fit, but not in the hungry kind of way.
He notices that both are on their asses with bewildered looks of their own, the obscuring Mist fade just as Sui-Feng arrives and glances at the three of them before looking at the fallen Shinigami and then blinking at the Zanpakuto that's encased in Flame ice. A pair of her Division members appear and are quick to pose their respective Zanpakutos at his Mists' throats, he swallows hard at the overwhelming surge of protectiveness and anger at the two who dare threaten to kill them. "Good work in holding them off but... I was told you were escorting Captain Aizen's body."
"Some kind of ice hit the body and revealed it to be a Zanpakuto." Which is the truth. "Then... Where is Captain Aizen's body?"
Approaching the spot, doing his best to appear calm, appears to study the Zanpakuto within the ice. "Perhaps the better question is... Where is Captain Aizen, after all, this is his Kyoka Suigetsu and there's no blood upon the cloth." He states and there's a slight widening of her eyes before she moves to study the Zanpakuto and then the cloth. "I believe if we were to return, there won't be any blood to be found at the site."
Mukuro chuckles in his creepy way and he adds, "The two are exhausted and are just teens, I suggest speaking with Captain Hitsugaya and inform him of this turn of events." There's a look in Captain Sui-Feng's eyes that's clear she isn't sure she wants to leave the pair alive.
"I am more then capable of handling a pair of teenagers, Captain Sui-Feng." The knocked out Shinigami stir. Finally, the very serious Shinigami nods, the pair that had been threatening his Mists' lives take a step back before sheathing their Zanpakuto.
"So be it." The trio leave using Shunpo and leave, he glances at Mukuro, who seems more then a little content to grin like a loon, the chuckling having died down. "So, where to now?" Inquires the older Mist and he blinks before smirking slightly. "I know just the place."
x = I - T - I = x
Their Sky, and yes, that's something she's still getting her head around, their Sky, escorted them to what passes as the Hospital within the Soul Society once giving the recovered Shinigami their marching orders, it turns out that Tsuna is known by Yoshi among the Shinigami and sports the position of Fifth Seat within Fourth Division. Looking back, Chrome acknowledges that it was clear that their Sky had known what he'd been doing, entering Dying Will Mode with ease and firing off that Zero Point Breakthrough ice shard at the Zanpakuto, exiting it before it even hit. The thought that Aizen managing to keep Tsuna enthralled in his Complete Hypnosis is rather bemusing, looking back, after all, Tsuna's a Sky and he'd likely been able to realize someone messing with his mind easily.
They were technically under arrest but given Tsuna's position within the Soul Society, he'd been able to ensure they are imprisoned within a hospital room instead of an actual cell. Given they were examined separately while their Sky went to report the current happenings with his Captain, they were quickly given medicine to down along with something to eat and drink, while sharing a room. Both of them are struggling to stay awake when Tsuna arrives with a tray sporting a tea pot and cups.
Seeing him along with feeling his presence, Chrome yawns as muscles seem to unwind from the tension of being in something akin to a Hospital. "We..." Mukuro-sama trails off and she blinks, wanting to hear this.
"Harmonized." Agrees Tsuna while pouring tea into the cups and there's a soft smile on the Sky's face. "We can talk later, also here." He hands out the tea cups, she takes the offered cup as does Mukuro.
Wonder that is done, their Sky picks up the third cup and takes a sip of in a very showy manner. Hearing a huff from Mukuro-sama, she stifles a giggle before drinking from her own cup. The tea is very good and she drinks some more as does their Sky. "Something to help speed up Reiryoku generation." Tsuna explains upon noticing that Mukuro-sama hasn't taken a sip of the tea.
"Reiryoku... Spirit Energy?" Chrome inquires and the Sky Shinigami hums in a positive manner. "From what the two examiners reported, you both are having trouble generating it and it's worrying them as they can't find a cause for it, even normal Souls are generating it faster then you two."
That's rather surprising and could explain the angry looks along with pitying ones she received, that they've received. Mukuro-sama does his usual laugh but does drink the tea when his laughing is broken up with a jaw cracking yawn. "Good food, medication, and rest should help."
"You leaving?" She asks, dreading that idea of their Sky leaving them alone in this hospital. Tsuna shakes his head, there's a hardness in those eyes. "No, I'm not going anywhere. I'll have someone fetch what little paper work I have to work on and do it. You'll be safe, I promise you that."
She believes him after studying how determined and certain that he's capable of doing just that. Between the full stomach, medication, and the tea, it's not long before she falls asleep.
To be continued . . .
