Hello everybody! I'm back again! Now this story has been done a thousand times, but I'm hoping it's an original take on it! This disclaimer is for this whole fanfiction: I do NOT own Bleach, just my OC's.
Byakuya had only been a lieutenant a week before he was called into Soutaichou Yamamoto's headquarters. To say he was nervous was an understatement, but he hid it behind a mask of indifference. He and four of his fellow squad members were summoned, for what he had no idea. It didn't take him long to get there. Quietly, he and his men were ushered into the spacious office. The Soutaichou was sat in his seat, still as a statue. Byakuya and the men bowed respectfully.
"At ease, men," rumbled the aged captain. "I have summoned you here, Kuckiki Fukutaichou , third seat Makki, fourth seat Jusiree, fifth seat Kota and sixith seat Lonos to discuss the Shinihana."
Stunned silence followed these words. Byakuya frowned. The Shinihana were an anti-shinigami organisation deep in the outskirts of the Rukongai. As far as he was aware, they didn't pose a threat to the Seritei or anyone in it.
"Sir, what seems to be the problem?" Byakuya asked, respectful despite his confusion.
"Two shinigami are missing and four were found dead this morning with a black rose, the Shinihana's signature flower, on their chests. I cannot ignore such a blatant act of aggression. As such, I am dispatching your team on a scout mission. I want you and your team to find out where the Shinihana are based, how many members there are and if possible, find out how powerful they are. If you have not returned within a week, then we will assume you dead and launch an attack. This is a vital mission that i am entrusting to you, Kuchiki Fukutaichou. You will leave as soon as you are ready. Do you have any queries?"
"No sir!" the men barked in unison.
"Dismissed, be careful," the Soutaichou growled, "we don't need any more deaths."
In twenty minutes, the team were gathered in front of the West Gate. Byakuya was, once again, slightly nervous. He had never once been far into the Rukongai. He had heard the stories of the vicious bandits, the poverty, the lawlessness of it...but he had thought that his grandfather had been exaggerating them to stop him wandering off as a child. Now...he wasn't so sure. Yet again, he hid it under a mask of determination. He wasn't a child anymore and therefore could not indulge such thinking.
"Ready men?" he said, keeping his tone calm and quiet. The men nodded. He turned to the gatekeeper and nodded. Slowly, the huge white gate was pushed upwards. He heard one of the men, Makki he presumed, gasp in awe of the strength of the gatekeeper, Jidanbo. Byakuya made no spectacle of how impressed he was, opting instead to walk brusquely past Jidanbo and out into the streets ahead. The men followed immediately.
The streets were empty. They had shun'po'd or walked through the first seven districts and they hadn't seen a single sign of life. Not one street vendor, not one playing child, not one homeless person... it was like the whole Rukongai was holding its breath, waiting for something.
A strong gust of wind blew through the street, making his hair flap wildly. Byakuya frowned in annoyance, shielding his eyes from the dust being blow around. His companions weren't doing much better. Although none of them had long hair like Byakuya, but the dust was causing them as many problems. Then as soon as it had started up, it died. Byakuya frowned. Something wasn't quite right. The wind had felt...electric. Almost like Kido. That wasn't normal. The third seat, Makki had noticed it as well.
"Kuchiki Fukutaichou? Did you feel that?" he asked tremulously, big blue eyes wide as coins.
"Yes, I did."" It felt like-"
"Kido?" interrupted a voice from above. Jushiree, Lonos, Kota and Makki whirled around, trying to locate the speaker. Byakuya's eyes narrowed, searching for reiatsu. He felt nothing other than his comrades. He heard silvery laughter to his left, then his right, then in front of him, yet above him as well. It was obvious that this person was using Shun'po or something very similar. Almost unconsciously, his hand went to the hilt of his zanpak-uto. Then, he saw a black-clad figure stop a few feet in front of him. It was obviously a man, with short, black hair and almost white eyes, narrowed in sadistic humour.
"Look what we have here!" he laughed, eyeing the five shingami with amusement. "Such fun!"
"You act very confident for someone who is outnumbered!" Kota shouted, annoyed to have to point out the obvious. The man grinned even wider. Then Byakuya's eyes widened.
"Kota, be quiet!" he snapped, something just occurring to him.
"Kuchiki fukutaichou?"
"A fukutaichou? Oh, what a rare treat!" the man said, clapping his hands.
"He's not alone." Byakuya said, keeping his tone even, "That wasn't Shun'po earlier, was it?"
The man's eyes widened, smile getting even bigger still. "Very observant shingami fukutaichou! We're going to have such fun!"
"You keep saying that. Anyway, it wasn't Shun'po, this man just had accomplices that can travel very quickly. He stationed them on the rooftops, maybe hoping that someone would fall for that trick. So how many men do you have?" Byakuya explained, sounding almost bored.
The man's grin shrunk a bit, evidently put out that his little trick had been seen through. "There's five of us, just like you. We'll take your surrender to the Shinihana now, if you don't mind."
"What if we do?" Jushiree challenged, sounding confident, drawing his zanpak-uto. The man smiled, his four accomplices appearing at his side, all in black like him. One caught Byakuya's eye. The person was stood at the far end of the group, evidently trying to disappear. The person was small and thin, but their face was completely covered with bandages, apart from their eyes. They were sorrowful purple orbs surrounded by very pale skin. There was a good foot or two between them and the rest of the group. They seemed to be trying to tell him something silently. The ring-leader coughed.
"That's just fine," he purred, supremely confident, "leave me the fukutaichou. I want his head on my wall."
Then, the group attacked.
As promised, the leader went straight for Byakuya, pulling out a knife. Byakuya raised an eyebrow. A knife? Was that it? Warily, he moved to the side, his arm catching the other man in the gut. He doubled over, winded. Then, he vanished. Byakuya turned, catching the knife as it whistled past his face. Without much thought, he twisted the blade around and threw it to his side. He heard a dull thunk as it was embedded in the wall. The man looked mildly surprised.
"Nice one, fukitaichou!" he applauded, smirking, "Well done!"
Then, he vanished again. Byakuya stiffened in surprise. A long, thin blade was being pressed to his throat. How had he gotten Senbonzakura?!
"Not so sure NOW are you?" he gloated, not noticing Byakuya moving his hand.
"Hado No. 4: Byakurai!" Byakuya muttered, under his breath. He heard the man gasp in surprise, releasing the blade. Byakuya caught it deftly, turning around to look at his opponent. He was clutching his stomach, blood dripping from the wound he had just received. He glared at Byakuya, pure hatred twisting his face into a grimace.
"You'll pay for this, Fukutaichou!" he hissed, unaware of Makki sneaking up behind him. Just as he raised his zanpak-uto, his eyes went wide. His body crackled with purple energy, his mouth open in soundless screams. His eyes rolled back into his skull and he collapsed. Standing behind him was the bandaged person who had caught his attention before. One hand was surrounded by the same energy.
"Kayo-sama, that was the last one," said a distinctly feminine voice, sounding emotionless, "Are you ready to leave?"
"NO, stupid woman! He's still standing!" he hissed, turning to glower at her.
She met his gaze unflinchingly. "I can see that! Would you like someone else to deal with him, Kayo-sama?"
"NO! He's min-"
He was cut off by Byakuya kicking him in the stomach. He flew back a few feet into one of his gang. The woman's head whipped around.
"That was sneaky, well done," she said, her voice showing something akin to humour in it, "But, that won't work again."
She clicked her fingers. Byakuya tensed, expecting something to attack him. Instead, much to his confusion, the Shinihana members dropped down, out cold.
He stared at her. "Why would you do that?!" he demanded, shocked and angry.
She stared at him, eyes welling with tears. "Leave." She whispered.
"What?"
"LEAVE!" she shouted, "Flee, go, get away! Take a comrade with you and go back to the Seritei and say you were ambushed, I don't care! Just go!"
"What? Why?"
"If you stay, you'll die like the others! Don't come after the Shinihana again!"
Byakuya stared. "What did you say?"
"Are you deaf!?"
"I cannot leave without all of my team and I will not let the Shinihana continue with this!" Byakuya stated simply.
"Then your pride will be your death, Shinigami-sama."
Suddenly, something dark sliced open her cheek. She clapped her hand to it, eyes wide.
"No!" she whispered, grabbing his arm, "GO NOW!"
Her warning was too late. Darkness coalesced around Byakuya and he dropped to the ground, bleeding and unconscious. Kayo stood, darkness around him. Growling obscenities under his breath, he limped over to the fallen Shinigami and dragged him towards his companions. Piling them in a heap, he turned to the woman.
"I don't know what you've just done," he growled, "but one more suspicious act and it will mean your death, understand?"
"Y-yes, Kayo-sama!" she muttered, fearfully.
"Then get us out of here, NOW!"
"Yes Kayo-sama!"
In a flash of purple, they were gone.