Chapter 1

The wind blew heavily through the traditional temple, threatening to throw it to the ground and rip its old roof from the crumbling supports. It was a cloudless day, the sun gently setting over the city of Karakura. The temple, which lay on a high hill on the very outskirts of the city, was thought to be unoccupied by the locals, who avoided it due to superstition. It was supposed to be haunted, and voices could be heard at night.

On this particular afternoon a figure could be seen, sitting with legs hanging out over the walkway that jutted out from the temple over the steep edge of the hill. A white robe fluttered in the strong gusts, brown hair ruffled by the wind. Green eyes watched the sunset, glittering gold in the light. As the sun slid behind the hill on the other side of the town, the figure stepped up, showing off a muscular looking male body under tatty black robes. A diamond could be made out on the back of the white sleeveless robe, with three horizontal lines inside.

With a few strides the man was inside the temple, closing a sliding door behind him. The room inside was empty, but the man seemed to know where he was going. Moving behind the large Buddha statue, the man pressed an unknown button. The back of the Buddha opened up, revealing a long flight of stairs. Without a second glance at the empty room, the man disappeared down the stairs into the dark.

'Hoi! That's foul play!'

Footsteps came down the stairs that led into a huge room, the ceiling looking so much like the night sky that it could have been in the outdoors.

'Hah! Like ya know what that is! C'mon, you ain't holdin' back, are ya?'

The man stopped as soon as he could see the scene, beginning a slow walk to ground level. There was a small group dotted around, some sitting on rocks and others standing around. The man's green eyes focused on two small figures that were fighting in the middle of a ring of rocks.

As he came into the light that was stronger where the group was, heads turned. The atmosphere became tense suddenly, and the two fighters stopped mid-lunge, one giving a little bow and sheathing a short katana.

'Ise-sama.'

The one who bowed, a short, young-loooking girl wearing a red tanktop and black cargo pants, turned away as she said that, hopping onto a tall rock beside a huge figure who was sitting on the same level but had his feet planted on the ground. The other gave a shrug. He was short like the girl, skinny and young-looking as well. Shaved grey hair topped his head save for a long fringe that sat over his piercing blue eyes. With a flick of his head he simply clenched his right hand, which was silver and made of metal, clinking as he moved to the edge of the ring.

'Hiraharu! Where did you go?'

A maroon haired woman moved to Hiraharu, taking his hand and brushing her lips against his. She was beautiful with golden eyes, smooth skin and a lace corset with a knee-length black skirt. Hiraharu gave her a brief smile before sliding his hand out of hers and moving to another white-robe wearing man, who gave him a small smile. Hiraharu sat back, and the air seemed to relax slightly. The man he was next to gave him a nudge.

'You missed the action, Hiraharu.'

The ex-Captain gave the man a sideways glance.

'That so, Kazuhira? You missed a good sunset.'

The conversation seemed to end, and the metal-handed young boy stepped back into the ring hopefully.

'C'mon, Zutilly.'

He addressed the young girl who he had been sparring with before, but she shook her head.

'Naa. I'm done for tonight. Find someone else, Anakai.'

The young boy, Anakai, gave a snarl in annoyance, Zutilly merely smiled.

'Anyway, you look like you're tired after I beat your ass that many times, even with all that foul play.'

She brought her knees up to her chest, watching the boy with an increasing amusement. Anakai merely flipped her off and sat back down. The rest of the group lapsed into silence now. Hiraharu knew his presence stopped the others from feeling comfortable. There were only four members of the group that had escaped the grasp of the Gotei Thirteen all those years ago. Hiraharu looked over at Kazuhira and the maroon-haired woman, Asai Tokime, who had been the Great Kidou Chief and had made it possible for the two Captains and the rest to escape. There was only twelve of them when they found the abandoned temple, and the years had taken their toll. As well as the three Captain-class Shinigami, there was also a small, fat-looking boy who seemed to be the typical Otaku boy that could be found in any Japanese school. Short hair and with glasses that didn't allow his eyes to be seen, he wore a plain white shirt, a tight waistcoat and pinstripe trousers, rather unfitting for a boy of his figure. But Hiraharu knew the boy more than the others; he had been his vice-captain for a few years before being promoted to another division.

The others had joined after they had made their headquarters the temple. The two siblings, Zutilly the small tomboyish girl and her brother Anzai, a towering man with dark skin like his sister but with long, blond dreadlocks, had joined soon after they had escaped Soul Society. The young wild looking boy called Anakai was quite a recent edition and was much too violent for Hiraharu's taste. But the group was not going to be prejudiced, at least not while Hiraharu had a say in it. Any refugee that was running from the Gotei 13 was welcome, almost like a safe-house. At least, that's what he told Tokime and Kazuhira whenever they asked for his reasons…

But now he simply watched as one of the other members stepped in against Anakai, giving a small grin that he knew Kazuhira would be able to see. For now, he'd put his friends mind at rest.