If Aomine had an aspect of death like Grimmjow (coincidentally, they have the same seiyuu), and Kagami was a Shinigami.


Aomine was spent. He was stuck between thinking 'Ah, I'm so tired' and 'No, I can go on longer' as he pressed the blood from his dripping wounds. The latter struck out as the winner.

"Oi, bastard. What are you waiting for?"

The other person, resembling more of a monster than a Shinigami, responded in kind. "Aomine, you seem to be at your limit," the fiery redhead said with an exhausted smile as the irritating Hollow-esque mask of his disintegrated.

"I can still continue this fight, Kagami." Aomine bit back a groan of pain as he pushed himself up with his katana. The blood from his forehead was seeping into his eyes, but he would fight. The scar on his chest burned but he would fight. His head was exploding in pain and still, he would choose to fight.

"It's not a matter of whether you can or can't." Kagami glared at him sternly. "It's a matter of life or death."

"Then," Aomine took the last few steps to stand at sword's range from the Shinigami, "kill me. Make sure this fight wasn't for nothing. Let me die by the hands of the one who was able to defeat me. King…"

The conflict and hesitation on Kagami's face as he spoke was enough to make him dig up the strength to snarl in disgust.

"What, you still can't bring it in yourself to do it? This is what a fight, a battle is for! To kill or be killed! This is what I learned as a Hollow. We have it ingrained into our blood. Why can't you understand?"

"I can never be like you Hollows!" Kagami replied sharply. "I am human!"

"Then what is that mask?" Aomine pointed his katana at the redhead's face, at his annoyingly stupid split eyebrows. "Would a human or a Shinigami wear such a thing?"

"I…" He faltered.

"Never mind." Aomine shook his head in disappointment. "Even after the best fight of my life, the one who beat me has to be a coward who can't even control his power."

"You bastard. We can fight all you like, but I don't want to be caught up in your lone king complex."

"Shut up." The redhead did not know what he was talking about. Kagami's friends had killed his comrades. Aomine could only depend on himself, so everything was entirely justified.

"Who are you trying to fool?" Kagami continued heatedly, ranting now. "Why are you trying to play the role of a tyrant? At this rate, you're only going to self-destruct and die alone."

"I said shut up, you—!"

Aomine saw it happen within the reflection of Kagami's disbelieving, widening eyes. The all too familiar and large blade cutting into his shoulder and his own look of shock was reflected as he was thrown carelessly off to the side like a rag doll.

"Ugh!"

"Sorry for cutting in!" The newcomer apologized without a shred of sincerity. His hair was styled in cornrows and an eyepatch covered half his face. A crazed, slasher smile graced his cruel features as he effortlessly wielded the strange, enormous sword.

Kagami stared at the new challenger who had recklessly cut the Sexta Espada down. "W-who the hell...are you?" the redhead asked, his shock apparent. "Another Espada? Hey, answer me!"

"Hai...zaki…you fucking bastard…" Blood spurt from the fresh wound as Aomine strained to look at the wielder of the weapon.

"What, you're still alive, Daiki?"

A clang of swords and Aomine found himself being protected by Kagami's katana as he fended off Haizaki's sword.

"What the fuck are you doing, kid?" Haizaki asked above him.

"That's what I wanna ask." Kagami strained under the pressure the Espada exerted. "Why are you attacking a guy who can't even fight?"

Haizaki burst into surprised laughter as he blocked the redhead's katana and backed up to a sizeable distance. "This is too funny, Daiki! You're so pathetic, having your enemy protect you! You, who always talked pridefully about being a king!" Haizaki halt in his laughter and addressed Kagami. "What's your name, kid?"

"Kagami Taiga," the Shinigami answered warily.

"Kagami." Haizaki calmed down to seriously consider it, and his slasher smile was back again. "I'll remember that before I rip you to shreds!"

The sounds of battle ensued as Aomine lay there, unable to do a thing as his wounds leaked out his life source.

'You're going to die for real, Kagami,' Aomine thought in resignation. 'But I don't want it to have ended like this. I'd rather you kill me instead.'

Seeing the poor guy get kicked down so easily, it really looked like the person Aomine had fought before had disappeared. Because that guy, Haizaki, did not give a damn about principles like honor. All in his mind was the thought of battle.

The little kid was pretty pitiful, too. He knew he had seen her somewhere before, just not where. He had never seen Alex Garcia as a kid, though…

...And these strong Shinigami that popped up to save the day...ridiculous that they would show up right as he was about to lose consciousness...the one that showed up, Kagami called 'Ironheart' was extremely strong. Blatantly so.

'You've escaped death, Kagami. That's good. I can fight you, again.'

And then…

'I don't want to die.'

.

Aomine woke up to the rumble of reiatsu. There were multiple strong reiatsu flying around Los Noches, but the most prominent were the two located above its ceiling. The first he easily recognized as Akashi's, and the second vaguely felt like Kagami's.

'Impossible.'

It certainly was his, but for his reiatsu to have evolved into something eerily similar to an Espada's raw weight was unthinkable. The redhead was a Shinigami of all things.

That unnerving mask of his loomed as a reminder that Kagami Taiga had an unknown monster dwelling deep inside him. Aomine had failed to bring it out fully earlier, but he had captured a glimpse of it. Those irritating and electrifying red eyes surrounded by black sclera left an impression the blue-haired Espada would remember until they met to finish their fight.

'Leave it to Akashi to bring out Kagami's full strength. Why didn't you do this with me, Kagami?

I want to grow stronger to beat you at your best.'

As he scanned the area, he realized Haizaki and his minion were gone. The muscled gorilla was still causing trouble with Kagami's other friends.

The little kid had disappeared and so did Kuroko. Aomine could faintly sense Nijimura's leftover reiatsu in the perimeter. Kise, Murasakibara, and Nijimura plus their Fraccion were no longer in Hueco Mundo. They probably joined the Shinigami trio to play with the Soul Society captains in Seirin.

Aomine felt a tad bit of resentment for leaving him behind. Just a tad.

To be honest with himself, there was no way he would want to be there instead of here in Los Noches.

The intensity of Akashi and Kagami's fight was vigorous enough to be felt way down here. It had Aomine's blood pumping and itching to take up his sword again and fight.

He had only ever seen Akashi's released form once. It was cold and as grandly magnificent as the Espada himself. Akashi Seijuurou was the Quatro Espada, the only one of the 10 highest ranked in the Arrancar army to have a second form beyond Resurreccion. It might have been due to the odd yellow eye of his, but it was a formidable power nonetheless.

That demonic appearance of his, paired with wings as black as night and tears resembling fresh blood and liquid gold, made his skin crawl. Had Aomine been in his panther form, the fur on his skin would have risen and he would have hissed in displeasure. A threat larger than oneself meant death.

Aomine had never had the chance of facing Akashi before, and he knew by the end of their battle, he probably would in the distant future. Unlike with his and Kagami's battle, Akashi and the Shinigami were fighting for their lives. There was a large chance Kagami would not escape this time alive.

He was utterly green with envy of the despair.

.

...

Aomine hadn't realized he had nodded off until his eyes snapped open and the pressure from above pressed to the extremes.

Two thick, black reiatsu surged from the cracked hole in the ceiling. They coiled around him and he instantly recognized Akashi. The other was unknown. There were no traces of Kagami. He wondered in disappointment if the redhead Shinigami had finally kicked the bucket.

A roar resonated from the dome of Los Noches. Aomine raised himself weakly on his elbows in alarm. The thick reiatsu belonged to that of a mindless Hollow's cry for blood. Red blazing eyes flashed behind his lids as another scream tore through Los Noches.

Aomine snapped his head to the bright blue sky in realization.

"Kagami…?"

A boom shook the palace. A hole bore its way from the ceiling to the ground in an explosive wave he soon recognized as a Cero. Akashi's reiatsu gradually grew weaker after the dust settled.

"Shit...What the hell are you, Kagami?" Aomine muttered, the same chill he got from seeing the higher ranked Espada in action crawling down his spine. It was mixed in with excitement as he realized Kagami was stronger than before. "Don't go dying on me if you have a card like that up your sleeve."

His chest seized up and he collapsed onto his back when he realized he wasn't all the way healed yet. Fainting wasn't the most pleasant of experiences in his opinion. Healing always got him so goddamn tired.

He blinked one moment and in the next a dark figure hovered over him curiously. Another blink and there were two more figures gazing down at him.

This was his end. The death gods had come for him to take him away to somewhere worse. It was always worse for people like Aomine. He only wished it was quick, so he would meet his long gone comrades sooner. Speaking of Shinigami…

'Kagami, you better remember my name in the next life time.'

He closed his eyes to the embrace of unconsciousness as the figures above neared closer.

'Time to sleep.'


A/N:

I hinted at some characters' true roles in this fic's plot, but I'm on a writer's block regarding KnB right now, so it will be a slow(er) process.
Also, kinda gore-y this chapter. I was rereading some Bleach, and Kubo's natural gore rubbed off on me