Chapter 2: Split Realities
Soul Society-Squad One Captain's Meeting
Sirens went off throughout the Seireitei as Shinigami frantically scramble to their respective posts. "ALERT, ALERT!" a robot voiced sounded throughout the speakers of the area. A man in a white haori over his black Shinigami robe quickly sprinted through the crowd of scattered soul reapers with a worried expression on his face. 'I must hurry, she needs my help. I should've been the one who investigated, not her.' As he looked up, he saw the squad one barracks and with a determined stature, he bolted towards the door.
"This emergency meeting has been called in order to address the attack on squad 9," said the old, white bearded man standing in front of 11 other captains. "We will send an advanced squad of five captains in order to put an end to this nonsense. I will choos-"
A clearly fatigued captain interrupted the cane holding leader as the others turned their attention to where the outburst came from. Visibly flustered and with a hand still on the opened door, the brown haired man exclaimed, "Choose me Head Captain! I'll go and handle this." The old man did not acknowledge the captain and stood unfazed having his back turned to him grumbled, "You're late Captain Kisuke Urahara….and no I will not allow you to go."
The shocked man walked toward the head Captain with fear in his eyes as cried out in desperation, "But Captain Yamamoto, I sent my lieutenant who might be in terrible dang-"
"KISUKE, know your place!" exclaimed a short, purple haired woman who appeared angered at her colleague's disobedience. Kisuke took deep breath and change his demeanor as if he was all the sudden calm with the current situation. As he looked back at the golden eyed captain who was scolding him, he walked towards the center of the group of captains.
"My apologies sir," Kisuke said with a less aggressive tone towards the disgruntled bald leader. "Let me explain myself. Though I can not fully prove it, I believe Sōsuke Aizen is responsible for the Rukongai disappearances as well as the attacks on squad 9. I've theorized that the missing bodies as well as the clothes still being left on the ground with the gathering of footprints are some kind of experimentation. While doing research of my own, I've concluded that these trials are an attempt of….Hollowfication."
His fellow officers looked at him with an array of different reactions. Some were shocked, while others were in disbelief. As they whispered among themselves, one voice spoke up to quiet the rest. "I always knew he couldn't be trusted," the long blonde haired man scoffed as the others listened intently to what the captain had to say next. "It wouldn't surprise me at all if that were the case. I've known that boy since he was in his mother's womb. That's why I picked him as my lieutenant to keep an eye on him. He has always tried to hide in plain sight, and although I haven't witness any experimentations, Head Captain, I believe what Urahara is saying. I don't know if you have a task force already picked out, but Kisuke and I should go."
Old man Yama analyzed over the two captain's assessments and bellowed out, "Very well, Kisuke Urahara, you may go investigate the attack on squad 9 division and the disappearances of the Shinigami. Shinji Hirako, Shunsui Kyōraku, Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi, and Love Aikawa will accompany you. Do not make me regret my decision Captain of Squad 12, handle this swiftly and capture whoever is responsible for these crimes against the Soul Society."
Before Kisuke could answer, two cloak wearing men came in the doorway. The former having a tall, muscular stature donning slender, square framed glasses while the latter had a very large, heavy build with a thick pink mustache. 'The Kidō Corps?! Man, the old man is serious," as the bearded, straw hat wearing captain thought to himself. "I was thinking about sending Lisa, but given what Urahara had to say…I think I should go instead." The two men stopped and looked towards the head captain with the taller of the two speaking up. "You called for us, Captain Yamamoto? What seems to be the problem?"
"Commander of the The Kidō Corps, Tessai Tsukabishi, you and your subordinate, Hachigen Ushōda will accompany the task force of captains to the Rukongai Distant immediately to take care of the matter at hand. Now if there are no further interruptions, I suggest you all leave at once. The other captains will take post and guard the Seireitei."
The group of captains all nodded in agreement at the old man's words as they all started disperse to their respective assignments. The dark complected woman walked towards Kisuke with a remorseful look in her golden eyes. "Hey Kisuke, sorry about that earlier," she said softly. "I was just looking out for you and I didn't realize the situation. If I had known that…I would have been right beside you protesting to the Head Captain as well." She paused and gazed into the distance as she was puzzled about something. "I-is it true though…the stuff about Aizen," As she reached her hand towards the brown haired man to give a sense of comfort.
Kisuke looked back at her and let out a sigh. "I can't say for certainty, Yoruichi. However, I've got a feeling about this. Something isn't right with Aizen; there is something I'm missing about the situation. But in any case, I've got to go…Hiyori needs me." As he began to walk towards the group of men waiting for him outside the door, Yoruichi spoke with a hint of concern in her voice. "Be careful out there…if it comes down to it, I'll be there if you need me."
Kisuke turned back towards her with a faint smile and a nod. "Don't worry, I'll be okay. It all will."
Rukongai District
"Damn...damn….damn...," painted Kensei visibly worn down. He had cuts all over his body, but none were life threatening. He reached up to tend to a gash below his right eye as he looked with hatred at the man with the square glasses. "How is this even possible?! You haven't even moved an inch!"
"Yo, Kensei, calm down," reminded Hiyori who also looked strained and had suffered a quite of bit of damage from the one sided battle. "You're the one who said we have to remain calm." Her sword appeared different than the normal bladed katana. It was a large cleaver with a serrated saw-like blade. She stood back up and shot the grey haired captain a smirk before glancing back at the three men. "Maybe instead of attacking Sōsuke head on, we should focus on taking out the kid and that other blind dumbass. Aizen doesn't appear like he's on the offensive rather he's just passively countering every one of our attempts to land a hit on him…Let's just focus on shifting the numbers in our favor."
Kensei appeared rather surprised by the lieutenant's logic and quickly gave her a confident smile back. "Hell yeah, two against one is a lot better than three against two. I don't know what he meant when he said we were apart of his plan, but if we keep on trying this same strategy I'm sure we're going to find out. I'm surprised you were the less impulsive of the two of us and came up with a solid plan. Let's do this."
He and the hot-headed lieutenant quickly flash stepped behind the grey haired boy and Kaname. As they went in for the attack, they were both countered by the respective opponents. "Let's see how you do without trying to stab me in the back…..Kaname," challenged the tempered grey haired Captain. Tōsen and he were deadlocked as Tōsen ignored his earlier comments to look back at his leader. "Lord Aizen, sorry to intervene your observation of their power levels, should I leave them back to you?"
The brown haired leader coolly responded, "Amusing….no Kaname it's quite alright. I'll let you finish your mission. I've gathered all the data I need, you and Gin can get the process started."
"Very well…Cry, Suzumushi," as he said that a high pitched tone pulsed throughout the area. Kensei looked visibly shocked as he could not hear anything. The world turned black as he lost vision of his opponent. He clutched onto his combat bladed knife and declared, "Not this time, Tōsen!" As he said that, he swung his knife directly to his left and with that, multiple blades of wind shot out of the small weapon. The air like blades whirled around violently and connected, then exploded on contact with Kaname.
His world turned back to normal as he looked to his left and saw Kaname on the ground holding his bloodied shoulder. "That's nice little trick," he shot at the injured man. "Making my hearing and vision impaired while killing your enemy quickly. Too bad my blades cut foes down from a distance….So you seem to be at a disadvantage. I'll make you pay."
Meanwhile, Hiyori and Gin were clashing left and right violently at increased speeds. Gin shot his blade at Hiyori, but she dodged to her left and parried as the blade kept extending past her. She closed the distance between the two grinding her cleaver like blade against Gin's sword. Within striking range, she separated the clash between the elongated weapon and violently swung her blade towards his chest. Out of the corner of her eye, she looked shocked that the stretched out sword was gone. She looked back and saw Gin holding his Zanpakutō, and immediately flash stepped to a safe distance. 'How is that possible? He was wide open…How did that blade go back to normal without me noticing it?'
"You seem confused," mocked the cunning child smiling towards his enemy. "I don't blame you for thinking that way at all," shrugging nonchalantly at the baffled lieutenant. "Honestly, I really don't know how that other guy grabbed my Shinsō. Those captains are pretty strong, I guess." He then looked at his blade and began to slightly frown as he noticed miniscule pieces on the edge of his sword were missing. His eyes moved back on the girl who now appeared to be smirking at him.
"Ahh, you're just now realizing it huh, shorty? You're not the only one who has shikai abilities you dumbass. My Kubikiri Orochi has plenty of fight in her. Why don't you find out for yourself?"
To her surprise, Gin did not react in the way she thought, as he smiled back at her even greater. This upset her even more causing the lieutenant to charge at the boy. As she attempting to slash Gin from different angles, none came close as he was about to dodge all of her attacks. He then went on the offensive with a barrage of thrusts towards Hiyori which seemed as though there were ten different blades coming at her. She struggled to keep up with his speed and finally was slashed on her side by the extending sword.
Blood gushed from the wound as she gripped her hand over it tight wincing in pain. She looked back at the malevolent kid with fury. She rose up her sword and shouted, "This isn't over, dumbass!" With a swing of her Zanpakutō, the jagged edges of her sword released and rushed towards Gin. Stunned by the speeds of the detached blades, Gin quickly blocked several of the shards but was unable to counter all of them as two sliced his arm and leg. He grimaced in pain from the cuts and scanned his sword to see yet again some tiny pieces of his sword had been taken from engaging the blades.
The separated pieces attached back onto Hiyori's Zanpakutō and with a violent charge towards the injured, shocked child she declared, "It's over, shorty!" With his back away from the charging lieutenant, Gin slowly turned his head and opened his eyes where his pupils were visible for the first time. As his clear blue eyes stared into his enemy, he coldly responded, "Pierce her flesh, Shinsō." The blade tore through his black robe and rapidly advanced towards the lieutenant puncturing her shoulder. 'Damn, he got me.' She fell onto the ground and lost grip of her sword which was now back in its normal katana looking state.
Having defeated his opponent, Kensei glanced over to his right to see the fallen lieutenant. "Hiyori! No!" He flashed stepped over to her and looked down to assess the extent of her injuries. She looked up at him with a faint smile and gently spoke. "Sorry, I couldn't help acting rash again." She closed her eyes and drifted into a state of unconsciousness.
"You're going to be fine, just hang on," he said softly as he looked up at her enemy who was slyly enjoying the scene in front of him. He then stood back up to approach his opponent. "You bastard, I'm not going to hold back, even if you are just a kid…..Bankai!" Immense spiritual pressure rose from the captain as an explosion of wind swirled around him cutting Gin's vision off of the captain. As the storm settled, Gin noticed the man had a different weapon than the combat knife he was holding earlier.
"Tekken Tachikaze," Kensei said sternly as he held firm on his stance. He clenched a pair of large knuckle blades in each hand. Both blades had a curved silver edge, which tapered off to an outward point on either side. Segmented purple bands wrapped around the entirety of his arms, much like armor, while a thicker purple band arched behind him, over his head, with its ends protruding from under his shoulders.
"That's scary stuff there Captain Muguruma. A Bankai, eh? Can't say that I have that down yet. Are you mad because your friend got hurt? You know, she was the one that attacked me first, I was only defending myself. Although, she was rather weak so I suppose I could've used a little more restrain," Gin quipped as he seemed unfazed by the increased captain's Reiatsu.
A surge of anger rushed through Kensei as Gin's comments upset him. He flash stepped towards the kid and unleashed a barrage of punches that had immense explosive power. With each strike, he increased his speed of the punches attempting to show no mercy towards the sly child who was now clearly suffering from his punches as he was coughing up blood. As he stopped his relentless attack, he saw Gin was now unconscious and had no fight left in him. He glared down at the downed opponent and back over to his fallen comrade and shouted, "Aizen, you're next. It's time we settle this."
"How intriguing," the cold man responded. "Why don't you see what's happening to those lieutenants over there?"
"What the hell are you talking about? Mashiro is stil-," the captain scoffed as he turned his jaw dropped as he was frozen in place. "It…It can't be. How?" He swiftly shifted over to his left to view his defeated adversary who was now not there anymore. Confused by the situation, he glanced over to the tent and saw a comatosed Mashiro who had a strange bee like mask on her face. "Aizen! What the hell did you do to her!" Kensei commended as he turned back to face the calm, calculated lieutenant. To his astonishment, there were two figures back at Aizen's side. "That kid…and Kaname…I defeated both of them. How is this possible? They're conscious and don't have as much as a scratch on them!"
"Complete hypnosis….captivating, isn't it?" Aizen coolly remarked. "My Kyōka Suigetsu ability is remarkable. You thought you were fighting Gin and Kaname..Just as I predicted."
Kensei still frozen in place unable to move was then startled by a howling noise coming from behind him. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH," shrieked a mask wearing Hiyori which donned a prominent horn centered on the forehead and a row of diamond-shaped markings over the eyebrows.
"Hi-Hiyori," gasped Kensei as he couldn't grasp what was taking place in front of him. The masked lieutenant was showing no signs of response or even cognizant response. She stormed head on to strike the captain with a flurry of lunges. 'I don't know if this is real or a façade but I'm not going to attack her,' assessed the distraught Kensei. He dodged to the left and right and flash stepped to create distance between them.
The angered hollowfied Hiyori then lowered her head and charged a red like beam on her horn. 'Is that….a cero?' The cero released and shot towards Kensei who jumped up to the sky to avoid it. He looked off in the distance to see the destructive power it caused. The energy beam connected into a group of trees annihilating them entirely. As he kept ascending, he spotted Hiyori above him. Before he could react, the masked girl sent him flying towards the ground with a powerful kick. 'She got faster? Shit…..' Kensei inwardly reflected. As he laid on the ground battered, he attempted to get up only to find the girl bearing down and raising her katana for the finishing blow.
"Yo, glad we showed up in time," an afro headed man said with a confident tone. Kensei looked up to see him clashing with the hollowfied Hiyori. He then glanced to his right to see five other figures with four donning captain robes.
"Damn, twice in one night I was saved, thanks Love," Kensei said gratefully. "Look I don't know if you're aware what's going on…. Hell this might be an illusion for all I know but Aizen is-"
"Yeah, Kisuke and Shinji told us," Love acknowledged the white haired captain's doubts. "Bankai, eh? You must've really been in trouble to use that…or worse just pissed off."
The others gathered around to pick up Kensei and aided him to get his composure back as Love and the masked girl clashed back and forth. Kisuke then flash stepped towards the three watching in the distance.
"So, I guess I was right about you," Aizen addressed to the shaggy brown haired captain approaching them. "You are indeed the man I thought you would be."
Sorry if this build up is too slow! I wanted to get the Captain's meeting as well as some battle scenes going before the task force coming in. As for Hiyori's shikai, it was never given an ability to my knowledge so I gave it similar cutting power like Kenpachi's shikai however, it's only as effective to what power level she's facing. Since it was Gin, it did minimal damage as well as the jagged blades can detach and reattach in case you were wondering! The Visoreds will still be a thing, but the amount of them might change so who knows?;) Oh, don't worry, that carrot topped soul reaper will be introduced in due time! Thanks for reading and feel free to drop a review to tell me what you think!
