Blood flew from his blade as he gave a sharp flick of his wrist, turning his body to face the enemy. They snarled and howled at him in terror and anger as their leader fell at his feet, its bone white mask cracked and torso cut cleanly through. The man raised his blade with one arm, the other hanging limply at his side as he shouted in a booming voice that demanded nothing short of total obedience.

"Leave! Return to your own side of this world, or you'll die by my hand just as the one who lead you here has!"

He was answered by one of the creatures lunging out at him, its boar like body charging across the ground, intending to gore him on one of its four cruelly curved tusks. The man gave a small frown, barely registered on his blank face before gripping his long blade in his other hand. In a practiced motion he angled the tusks away from his body with the blade before turning it at an even sharper angle and thrusting it through one of the boar's eyes, bringing the raging beast to its end. He once again let the blood coating his blade spray through the air, this time at the group of monster.

"Now, leave." he called again, there was no great howling or outlashes, the hollows starting to slowly back away before turning on their heels and fleeing in a group away from the towering Shinigami. The man sighed before turning toward a small patch of tall grass, shaking his head. "I know you're there, no need to go after them." he said with a grunt.

At his words a young woman with short brown hair popped her head out of the grass. "Well according to the law you're supposed to kill them all." she countered, crossing her arms. She wore a knowing smirk, her feline like green eyes glinting with humor.

"Cera, you know how I feel about this issue, so let's not dwell on it any longer. What brings the Omnitsukido out this far in Rukongai?" he asked curiously, sheathing his blade as he turned, adjusting the leather harness that hung across his chest and shoulder.

The girl stepped out of the brush, shaking her head. "You know I can't tell you that, Takeshi. However if you hear any rumors about a Shinigami that's recently acquired some stolen Asauchi...let me know, wouldn't mind a reenactment of the Hanging Dog." she grinned softly, giving him a two fingered salute before disappearing in shunpo.

Takeshi gave a light, barely noticeable smile as he turned to begin heading back towards the 10th Division barracks, thinking back to that little sting in the "Hanging Dog" district of Rukongai.

25 years prior

"You sure this guy's on the up and up Yama?" the short, gang enforcer asked the far more imposing man next to him as they walked down the dirty streets of Inuzuri, the random passerby every few seconds taking care to give them a wide berth, knowing the reputation of the Makeinu Gang, which had been spreading its arms out across most of Rukongai as of late, though this was easily its most well controlled region at the moment. The two that were heading down the street at the moment were known to most as Yama and Same. The former had only recently joined, but had earned recognition as being a top rate warrior and capable leader, while the latter was of the older breed, known for his unwavering loyalty to the family boss: Kenshi Yamato. Both had been paired together for several months, with Yama often acting as muscle when needed, while Same did most of the smooth talking. The meeting that they were headed to now required a little bit of both intimidation, and a well polished silver tongue. By some coincidence, they had come across a black market merchant who had claimed to have Asauchi among his many wares.

"He wouldn't be fool enough to try and trick us. If he is, he'll meet his end like anybody else who would have the gal for that kind of treachery." Yama said simply, adjusting a leather harness that held his own sword on the small of his back.

"Ehhh, I dunno, remember that little bitch from the Gotei that tried to buy information off of us? Y'know? Coconut head?" he chuckled, scratching at the tattoo of a shark on his neck.

"She was Omnitsukido, not regular Gotei." Yama corrected. "She wasn't really looking for information, she was seeing if we had it in the first place. Luckily you were able to convince her without even knowing, that we did not have the information that she wanted."

"What? She was one of those killers? Damn, I'm surprised we haven't gotten knifed in our sleep." he shivered.

Yama gave a short laugh as they entered a decently sized gambling den, stopping and turning to the other. "Alright, now I'm going to let you speak for the majority, but try to keep it a bit more professional. These guys don't haggle with high value items." he explained in a low voice.

The tattooed man gave a short nod. "Yep, got that clear. You got a plan if this all goes tits up?" he asked, crossing his arms expectantly.

"Yeah, I had a few of the little brothers hang around the tables." he said as he patted the shorter man on the shoulder, walking through the gambling area and toward the private rooms where all manner of debauchery could take place without prying eyes looking in. The two entered one of the few rooms, finding it to be populated by nothing but a small round table and two chairs on either side. There was a boarded up window on the back wall of the room, with two dim lanterns hung on each side of it. In the chair closest to them, with their backed turned sat a figure wearing a set of voluminous robes and a fake hollow mask.

"Have a seat, gentleman." came a liquid smooth, androgynous voice from behind the mask as the merchant waved a hand to the other chairs, before sliding that hand back beneath the robes. Both of the gang members took their seats while the merchant began to speak again. "By your rather grumpy faces I take it you're here for only business? Shame, I have some lovely opiates for sale as well..." the figure purred, trailing off as if to try and elicit interest, only to see both of its potential customers frown. "Ah, was worth a try~ Now as for my special stock, the going price is 4,500 per blade."

Same jumped from his seat, slamming his hands on the table. "What?! That's highway robbery! If you expect us to pay-"

"Same, calm yourself." Yama said with a low growl, looking back to the merchant. "The price is steep, so my boss would most likely want us to get a sample to test, to make sure that it is indeed an Asauchi before paying full price. Perhaps a rented blade at 500 per month?" the younger of the two suggested.

The merchant gave a low sigh, nodding once as while waving a hand, an Asauchi sliding out from the wide sleeve. The mysterious figure caught it by the hilt before setting it down on the table. "This should suffice then. I'll give you a drop point for your coin through one of my associates as you leave."

The two men on the other side of the table nodded as they stood, giving short bows before taking the stolen blade and walking out of the room in unison. As they left the private area and into the main gambling room, multiple men dressed in simple clothing removed themselves from the tables, falling in behind the other two and beginning to surround them, acting as a guard to the two that now carried an item of nearly insurmountable wealth to a gang in Rukongai.

It was a good week before the Makeinu boys found the merchant to have made good on its promise of providing actual Asauchi and not some look alike replica. Kenshi Yamato, the boss of the gang took the sword himself, able to imprint his soul onto the sword and giving himself the power to begin a much more aggressive expansion into the other districts, gaining the funds needed to contact the merchant again, only to find that the mysterious figure had disappeared, as well as one of his top lieutenants.

Kenshi considered this as he knelt in front of a small offering box, lighting one last stick of incense before making a short bow and standing to his feet again, his new Zanpakuto tucked in his expensive haori carefully as he exited the shrine building. He still wasn't sure what to make of the merchant's disappearance, all of those that were involved with black market dealings for any length of time were usually smart enough not to get caught. Then there was the matter of Yama disappearing, the man had come in and clawed his way into a position others would never be able to accomplish even with decades of work. Nearly as soon as he'd gotten in though, he vanished. The Oyabun of the Makeinu gave a low growl, clenching his fists for a moment before exhaling in an effort to calm himself. No, this wasn't something that he truly needed to worry about, he was in a strong position, even if his trusted men didn't wield Zanpakuto, he could still carry this organization to new, and prosperous heights. The man let out a sigh, running a hand over his close shaved head, fingers touching lightly at the scar that tore across his scalp and to both ears. Kenshi smiled lightly, before blinking as he heard a loud cry from one of the guards , one of agony and rage.

The older man was still quite spry, and dashed down the stairs that lead up to the shrine, drawing his blade as he crested the ridge that overlooked the gates to the temple. He froze dead in his tracks as he looked out over the scene in front of him: Both of his guards that he'd brought were dead, one decapitated, the other with a dead hand clutching at a massive gash that went from his left hip up to his right shoulder. The most shocking however, was the figure that stood between both of them, a long nodachi dripping blood onto the ground.

"Yama..." Kenshi muttered, his face drooping in disbelief, which quickly turned to twisted with rage. "You traitorous swine!" he shouted, drawing his blade and launching himself at the man, hoping to get too far inside his personal space to allow for that heavy blade to cute through him.

"I won't deny it, I did betray you, though I never truly followed you." the taller warrior said, his voice neutral and reserved as he jumped back deftly, readying his blade for a follow-up attack. "In fact my entire identity to you is a lie. My name is Oka Takeshi, and by the authority of the Gotei 13 and enforcement of that authority by the Omnitsukido, you are hereby under arrest."

"Why you..." the elderly Yakuza growled, his grip tightening on his blade before the man let out a cry of pain, as two thick needles pierced his body in several exact spots, triggering various pressure points and sending the man crumpling to the ground, his eyes searching up and around to find the source of his attacker, eventually spotting a short, brown haired girl who flashed in front of Yama/Takeshi while he felt hands haul him up, a brown sackcloth bag forced over his head.

Present

Takeshi chuckled lightly at the recollection, remembering how the merchant, Asauchi thieves, and that particular yakuza boss had been removed from the playing field. It had been rather simple, Takeshi infiltrated the organization under disguise, waiting till he was able to be sent on more important deals, such as the one with that got the in contact with the black market merchant. Though the Omnitsukido knew full well that the Asauchi were real, and that there was no need for a so called "trial period," however a lump sum, no matter how large tends to get split up to avoid conspicuous deposits. Multiple smaller payments tend to go to one location, and multiple payments meant that Cera and her skilled corps were able to track down the merchant and the group of thieves that managed to steal the blades in the first place. Normally such things could be swept under the table by connections with nobles, but not when there was enough evidence to fill a room.

Since then he'd transferred out of the 2nd Division, moving to the 10th to fill a vacant officer's position, though most of his time recently had been spent around the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, assisting the 12th Division Captain and President of the Institute with various experiments, including some that involved subjects that some would find a bit, questionable, but Takeshi and the former Detention Squad head knew that some lines had to be stepped over every now and then. The most recent project that the recently minted Captain had in mind was a device that he had named the Hogyoku, though its potential was limitless, neither he nor his research team had found any use for its immense power. Today however, it would be different, today Takeshi had come upon an epiphany on just how to use such great power.

Author's Note

Hey, first chapter of this fic, one that I've had banging around inside my head for months, picking apart things I wanna do with it, never really thinking that I'd put it up. Well, I did, so now you all get to view my trash! Now I don't know how often this will get updated, or even how long it will go on for. If people respond positively to it, I'll try and keep it going, if not, eh I can leave it in my head. Review if you want, criticize if you care.