Title: The White Game

Author: Angel015

Summary: It's been five years since the events of Last Twilight, and all is peaceful. That is, until a new threat rises, one desperate for revenge.

A/N: Yes, it's back, with a whole new adventure filled with mischief and mayhem. I know this chapter is short, but it is only the prologue, future chapters will be longer and have more detail, but I just thought I would throw this out there and see what you think :) This will be updated alongside my other fic; 'Flying Home', so updates will not be regular nor particularly quick unless I have a mountain-load of free time (Unlikely, but one can hope). I do foresee a long wait come September, since I start University then, so I'm hoping to get as much done before then as possible, and hopefully write ahead of what I post, so during the first few months of Uni I have something to keep posting at regular intervals until I get my act together.

It's not essential that you read Last Twilight, but it is strongly recommended, as past events from said story will be mentioned throughout, and there will be many events/positions/relationships/characters that were introduced in the first story that will be a big part of this one. In short, if you haven't already, go and read it before reading this, it will save you a lot of confusion. Of course, if you are feeling brave, you may just ignore my advice and read on! :) But don't say I didn't warn you.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story save my original characters, it all belongs to Tite Kubo. Not me. If I did, Yumichika would be getting hell of a lot more screentime.


The last drops of winter twilight sun filtered through the blinds of the ancient library, casting an orange-pink glow on the dusty old books and scrolls stacked on shelves or scattered over the tables. A tall, slender woman with long silver-white hair was bent over a pile of yellowing parchments, papers and books spread out over the table surrounding her, furiously scribbling notes every time she found something of worth. Her clear blue eyes flicked between pages, long thin fingers constantly keeping track of where she was on her main page. The expression on her face was one of calm concentration, even the growing sound of thundering footsteps unable to break through her focus.

Only once the door slammed open and a large muscled man with a mess of curly black hair stood panting in the doorway, yukata rumpled and creased, did the young-looking woman barely break her concentration.

"What is it?" she asked, her voice sounding almost devoid of emotion, completely deadpan and bored. She didn't once look up from her studies, continuing with her notes.

"Ku-Kumiko, I just received some news! It's about your father!"


"Yep, he's gonna die."

The large crowd of shinigami that had gathered around the courtyard winced collectively as one captain practically threw the other across the clear patch. It was a duel of epic proportions, half the surrounding buildings already partially destroyed, and according to one, it was a fight that was long overdue.

Zaraki couldn't help but grin as he slammed into one of the wooden pillars, the wood splintering and breaking under the force. The shinigami who had been standing there scattered, pressing as away as possible from the maniacal captain as the roof collapsed in with nothing left to support it.

"I hate to admit it, but I think I'd have to agree."

On the other side of the arena stood Yumichika, calm, collected and with an almost smug smirk on his face. His Zanpaktou was fully released, vines hovering around him, just waiting to attack. Zaraki once again launched himself at the pretty-boy. Yumichika however, simply stepped calmly out of the way. The glowing azure vines shot out from the hilt of his zanpaktou as the larger captain flew past, snagging the man by the ankles and stopping him midair before forcefully dragging him to the ground.

Captain Shuuhei and Third seat Ikkaku flinched from the sidelines as Zaraki's face became close friends with dirt. Ikkaku wondered why in the hell he had been so worried about his friend in the days leading up to this fight. Yumichika tended to keep his training private, and other than when he used it in actual battles, which were few and far between these days, Ikkaku had rarely seen him actually use his Shikai. It was much more effective than he had imagined.

Although the ex-fifth seat wasn't using the sword to sword combat the eleventh favoured so much, he was using the vines his Zanpaktou produced creatively. Rather than using them for their main intended use, Zaraki's Reiatsu being far too large for that to cause any effect, he was using them to both prevent Zaraki from getting too close and using their strength to throw him into various solid objects.

Zaraki, already covered in bleeding cuts and bruises laughed into the ground, before using his sword to push himself up into a standing position. Yumichika smirked, sealing his sword and preparing to fight the old fashioned way, though he had a simple kidou spell formed in his hand ready should he need to use it.

Turns out he did, a lot. When fighting Zaraki, it was almost impossible to beat him unless you pulled out all the stops. He was cleverly mixing Kidou with his sword fighting, using simple blast spells every now and again to distract the larger man, before moving in to attack when he wasn't paying attention.

The intense battle went on for another half an hour, Yumi finally getting the deciding blow, something they had agreed on. As much as Zaraki would have love for it to be a fight to the death, he knew there would be several serious ramifications should he actually win that. Namely Ikkaku, Matsumoto and the pretty-boy's sister. So they had agreed the first to get a proper stab would be the winner.

Zaraki stepped back a few paces, examining his wound with an almost bored expression. Then he grinned, sheathing his sword.

Yumichika stood panting, Zanpaktou tip dropped to the floor as he watched Zaraki's reaction with curiosity and if you looked close enough, a bit of smugness.

The vast crowd that had gathered were silent, too stunned to talk or even move.

The great unbeatable had been beaten.

Sort of.


"Right, let's take a look at the two of you," Unohana said, serene as ever, not too long later as she glided into the hospital room the two captains were being held in. If she was shocked at the lack of injuries on the smaller and the opposite on the larger she certainly didn't show it.

Yumichika was sat, seemingly injury free, on a bed on one side of the room, staring out the window, a small smile gracing his features. Zaraki on the other hand, cuts and bruises littering his skin and a rather impressive stab wound in his shoulder, was grinning from ear to ear.

The examination didn't last long. The healer tended to Zaraki first, and halfway through Yumichika's check-up, a dark hell butterfly fluttered in, landing quite annoyingly on top of his head.

"Not this one again," Yumichika muttered darkly, eyes glancing upwards. Unohana simply laughed softly behind her hand, the other reaching out for the insect to crawl onto her finger. Once the message was relayed, she sighed, allowing the butterfly to fly off.

"Emergency captains meeting, we'd better go."


"Who did it?" the high pitched scream of anger echoed through the meeting hall, several captains wincing. Yumichika rubbed his ear, frowning at the sudden ringing sound. Head captain had mentioned a guest, someone who had been desperate to talk to them. She had exploded into the room, silver hair flying and sharp eyes blazing, screaming like a banshee. Her pale blue kimono was creased and ripped in several places, like she had been in a hurry to get here.

The head captain, one of the few who didn't seem to have any sort of reaction, simply raised an eyebrow. "I'm afraid you are going to have to be more specific."

"My father," the woman spat, glaring furiously at the old man, "one of you killed him! And I want to know who!"

The majority of the captains blinked in confusion, looking at each other. There was only one who had a vague idea of what she was talking about, and he was trying very hard to keep the guilty expression from creeping onto his face. Yumichika knew she looked familiar in some ways. The long silver hair, almost overly slender figure and high cheekbones were something he had seen before, less than a decade ago. Add that together with one dead father who looked remarkably similar and the fact that someone in that room had done it, there could only be one clear answer.

Osamu.

Crap.


A/N: Reviews are encouraged and welcomed, good or bad. I know things are a little vague right now, but in time all questions will be answered.

Also, while we're here...did anyone else see Yumi's new look in the manga and almost die from the sheer awesomeness of it? Hopefully, if Kubo went through all the trouble of redesigning his character we may see more of him? *hopes*