"Mm...huh?"

Chinatsu opened her eyes, sitting up and looking around the room. It looked like it was very early in the morning; Isamu wasn't inside yet, the sun was amazingly bright and close to the horizon, Gendo had his eyes closed and was still leaning against the wall, Setsuo, Eiji and Fujiko were still sleeping, and Kenshin was passed out on his futon drooling. Amaterasu had her head under the sheets. Chinatsu looked around the room, at a loss.

"Well...what do I do now?" She mumbled to herself, before getting up and walking over to the kitchen.

"Hm...everybody's going to be hungover when they wake up..." She winced at a small but annoying pulsating headache behind her left eye, "So I should probably try and make breakfast or something."

She began to poke around the kitchen, getting ready for the morning from Hell.

Setsuo opened his eyes, sitting up and looking around. Gendo was doing that weird thing where he either sleeps or just pretends to sleep because he's paranoid, Kenshin was sprawled face-down in the covers, snoring, Amaterasu was balled up in the fetal position under her sheets, Chinatsu was throwing random ingredients into the pot of boiling water over the fire pit to try and make something edible, and Setsuo glanced out the window just in time to hear Isamu scream obscenities as he opened his eyes and got a face full of sun, before rolling off the roof with his hands over his eyes. Setsuo laid back down and rolled over in time to hear the loud 'thud' outside and Chinatsu running out after him, screaming something about 'dumbasses that sleep on the goddamn roof'.

Kenshin opened one eye and sat up quickly enough to lose his balance and fall back over. He then picked himself up, choked back vomit, and stared on as Chinatsu accidentally touched the metal pot and burned herself, sticking her finger in her mouth a moment afterwards. Isamu was laying in a heap in the corner of the room, facing the wall. Gendo was walking out the back door and heading towards the river. He crawled out the front door to go vomit outside.

Eiji rolled onto his stomach, hearing a lot of noise. It woke him up, and he wasn't happy about that. Sitting up to see who was being loud, he heard Kenshin vomiting loudly outside the front door (and was that the sound of agonized sobbing?), before watching Isamu crawl out the back door and begin doing the same thing. Chinatsu squealed about how disgusting that was, before getting a hand rag and starting to try and smother a small fire threatening to erupt from the cauldron of whatever the hell she was cooking. Sighing, Eiji stood up and tied his hair back in a braid, before deciding to go sleep in the grassy hill nearby where it was quiet.

Fujiko opened her eyes, sitting up to see what all the noises were. She looked to Amaterasu and was surprised to see her still sleeping, her head under her pillow and the odd giggle coming from her. Shrugging, Fujiko looked to see Chinatsu now reading the back of some labels Amaterasu had put on some things in containers.

"Hm...cod roe? Would that go well with fruit?"

She seemed to ponder it a bit, before shrugging, dumping the contents of the container into the boiling...concoction, smiling to herself.

"Oh well! It'll all turn out alright in the end, I bet."

Gendo walked in at that moment in only his hakama, his top slung over his shoulder and currently pulling his hair back into the normal ponytail. Chinatsu turned to see him walk in shirtless and jumped, spilling boiling hot...things...all over the floor, before beginning to mop it up quickly.

"For God's sake Gendo, put on a shirt!" She muttered, Gendo ignoring her. Fujiko spotted the form of Isamu outside, curled into the fetal position. She looked the opposite direction, and saw Kenshin doing the exact same thing.

"...Huh?" Fujiko had no idea what was going on, only standing up and walking towards the door. She wanted to go chase dragonflies in the flowery field next to the grassy hill nearby.

Setsuo opened his eyes again, unable to ignore the noises now. He spotted Kenshin and Isamu sitting on either side of the tub of cold water that Amaterasu used to wash dishes, both with their heads submerged. They would come up for breath now and then before submerging their heads once again, ignoring one another as they did. Chinatsu was humming as the stuff in the metal pot over the fire pit seemed to be gurgling, an odd smell floating through the shack. Gendo was sipping tea and had a wet rag on his forehead, apparently nursing his headache. Amaterasu was still giggling now and then, giving the odd mumble of something or other in a soft muffled tone. Setsuo was quick to put his hair in a ponytail, grab a book on the Battle of Sekigahara and the Art of War before walking out the door to go read under a shady tree, declining on Chinatsu's offer of taste-testing the food she was making.

Fingertips slid along her skin softly, gently tracing her-

"-on't know why you're even bothering trying-" The noise caught her ear, as did shouting, and she burrowed deeper into the sheets to escape the noise.

Hot breath on her throat, teasing nipping at her neck-

"-ot my fault you suck at cooki-" Another murmur dragging her back to reality; she desperately clung to the palest silver threads that the sweet dream was composed of, trying to fall back into her lovely dream.

"You still think you can get away from me?" Someone was speaking against her chest, before they planted hot, open-mouth kisses on her collarbone-

"-ho's makin' that noise? Sounds like somebody's getting fuc-" A snippet of speech that was loud, but quickly faded away into the background as she settled back into her dream, unconsciously gripping the sheets so tightly that her knuckles whitened.

"Adorable. But still naive." A smooth voice in her ear, before a hand caught her wrists and pinned them above her head, another hand flattening against her stomach and sliding upwards to close around her jaw. Hot breath against her lips, hovering-

"Ma?"

The single word snapped her awake, and Amaterasu shot up with a hand clasped over her heart. Her breathing was heavy, her face was flushed, and her clothes felt entirely too hot to be comfortable. She looked at the people in the room, ignoring the horrible spinning that the room was doing right now. Isamu and Kenshin were sitting on either side of the tub of cold water, shirtless, and splashing cold water on themselves now and then to keep cool. Both their heads were soaked. Kenshin and Isamu were both staring at Amaterasu, and it had been Kenshin that had spoken. Chinatsu had bowls of some dark broth-like liquid with chunks of something or other floating in it, sitting on the table. A large spoon of it was being offered to Gendo, who was refusing steadfastly.

"Mm?" Amaterasu could only manage that, not trusting herself to speak and say something she would later regret. They were all staring now.

"Are you...alright?" Chinatsu asked with confusion, and Amaterasu nodded quickly.

Bad decision.

Instantly Amaterasu was sent crawling out the back door, avoiding a pile of vomit, and beginning to add her own. Horrible, horrible, it felt like the lining of her stomach was coming out. When she was done, Amaterasu crawled over to a sunny spot and curled up there, wanting to die at that exact moment. It wasn't just that her insides were on fire, it was deep, hot guilt in her chest. She hadn't had a dream like...that...in a long time. Urges like those had disappeared a very long time ago, she had thought. Even worse, she knew exactly who the man had been in that steamy dream. Of course it was him.

"Ma, you alright?" Isamu called, and Amaterasu nodded where he could see it. She was on her knees now, looking over to those within the shack and meeting nobody's eyes.

"'M fine." She staggered inside, falling to the tub and dipping her head in it as well. She pulled her head out and shook it to throw off extra water, before moving to the table and sitting on her cushion, closing her eyes tightly and feeling the world spin off its axis as soon as she did.

The rest of the day passed slowly, Amaterasu seeing the things that Chinatsu had cooked and ignoring how many ingredients were lost at her attempt, not feeling like doing anything about it. They all (the adults, anyway) recovered from their hangovers, Amaterasu being out of commission for most of the day with her own massive hangover, which left Chinatsu in charge of everything (she just started doing housework and didn't let anybody else tell her not to). Eiji, Fujiko and Setsuo returned after it seemed to get cloudy, all moving quietly around Amaterasu so as not to accidentally be too loud and get snapped at. Chinatsu's stew of things unknown was surprisingly edible, since Setsuo was the only one with the resolve to actually try it (he only did it to keep Chinatsu from getting her feelings hurt), and then told them all of it.

"Huh. It's actually not poisonous. Go figure." Isamu mumbled, before getting whacked in the head with a wooden spoon.

"Don't be a jackass, Isamu!" Chinatsu snapped at him, as Eiji heard someone at the door. Everyone stopped, looking at one another curiously. Nobody ever came out to the house; it was in the middle of nowhere. Amaterasu, after spending the entire day lazing around in a foul mood, stood and ambled her way to the thick cloth hanging down to separate the inside of the shack from the outside, lifting it and staring with the most deadpan of expressions.

All those in the shack saw was flashes of black material from over her shoulder, Amaterasu tensing up considerably, and her voice growing uncharacteristically hard and hoarse.

"What is it that you want." She barked, Isamu and Gendo already heading up to see who it was, Kenshin trailing behind them. They very barely saw who it was, not recognizing the man at first. It was a tall man in expensive looking clothing, immaculately groomed and looking very, very confident. His short black hair hung to frame his face in a way that served to focus any onlooker's sight directly at his bright blue eyes. And he was smiling, looking entirely too suave for his own good. Behind him were three men, two bulky walls of flesh and one lanky blond man hanging back, looking disinterested with the entire situation. All three had swords, though they didn't look like shinigami. Probably had them forged with normal steel.

The noble in front smiled charmingly at Amaterasu, keeping his hands folded in his luxurious kimono. "My my, Lady Tachibana, you seem so very angry with the sight of me." He reached forward, to brush hair out of her face. "Any particular reason?"

"I have a hangover and I'm also looking at your face." She spoke in annoyed monotone, dodging his hand easily. Isamu and Gendo moved closer behind her, but the veil of cloth hid those in the home from the outsider's view, and a wave of her hand behind her back showed that Amaterasu wanted them to hide themselves. The three men nodded, concealing themselves from sight through the windows. Chinatsu stayed out in the main room of the shack with Eiji, Setsuo and Fujiko. Setsuo hadn't even stopped eating Chinatsu's mystery stew. The nobleman seemed only momentarily taken aback at her rebuke, before smiling casually and shrugging it off.

"Well, that's not the reason I'm here."

"I'm not marrying you. You know I'll never marry, because I've told you just like I've told all the others." Amaterasu stated in dead monotone, careful not to remove her gaze from the four men before her, not even for a second.

"Things change with certain situations, Lady Tachibana. I thought you may have-"

"I haven't. You seem not to know the meaning of the statement "staying away from men forevermore". I'll tell you then. It's when I find absolutely no interest in any man at all, and will never marry one of them. I can raise children on my own, in a little home like this, perfectly happy." Amaterasu narrated, crossing her arms over her chest. One may not have noticed how angry she was if they weren't seeing how she was digging her fingers into her arms. The young man laughed, airily, his glossy blue eyes focusing on Amaterasu's face even sharper than usual.

"This man must have been without compare if the loss of him permitted you to forever waste yourself like this."

"You assume that losing him made me choose this path. Having him was enough to do it, Isao Fujimoto."

"I could treat you so much better. Luxury like you've never even imagined..."

"I've had a taste of luxury. I didn't find it palatable."

The exchange was rapid-fire; every advancement Isao made, Amaterasu countered swiftly. She wasn't impressed, and he knew that he still wasn't getting anywhere. With a slight sigh, he shrugged his shoulders again and closed his eyes with a sly smile.

"I came to give you one last chance. You would really be much better off marrying me, you know. You could have your own children, with me, not taking in grubby, filthy little Rukongai street rats out of the kindness of your soft woman's heart. My home is in a much higher sector, the third. Much safer. Much nicer than this hellhole of a place. And it wouldn't be hard for me to arrange orphanages to take those young kids you're being forced to care for right now-"

It was all Isao got out before he was struck across the face. It wasn't a slap; she Amaterasu hadn't even punched him out. She had closed her hand into a fist and swung the back of her hand at his smug face, striking him with her knuckles accordingly.

"Now really Isao, what sort of woman do you take me for?" Her voice was even, and yet it quivered so slightly on the occasional word as Fujimoto turned his head back from where it had snapped to the left with the force of her blow, his blue eyes remaining serene, but not kind. Amaterasu went on, her eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

"I've lived the wild life, I've known what it feels like to have fire in your blood; a pleasant, maddening burn that makes you do impulsive things. Stupid, stupid things. I've been at the feet of God, and I've slept in gutters with nobody to keep me company but the roaches. And here, I've found something that I think is worth keeping exactly the way it is. Now tell me, spoilt little noble boy, what could you possibly give me that I haven't had already? Something that I really want?" She spoke quietly, with power in her voice, before straightening up and turning around.

"I've been drunk off passion, and it leaves a trace. I've let a man infect my blood and bring me to my knees because of it, and I've bled all that blood away. I want nothing to do with you, with your bodyguards, or with any other man that seeks to give chase. Get out of my sight."

She moved to head back inside, before feeling a hand on her shoulder.

"Quite a riveting speech. I thought you may react in this manner yet again, and so I came prepared. If your life here and the lives of your pathetic family is all that roots you to this spot, then I'll simply get rid of them for you." Isao muttered, as the bulky bodyguards headed towards the window with swords drawn. The lanky man hung back, still watching apathetically. Amaterasu didn't move as they did, didn't move to stop them as they peered in the windows and only saw a young woman with three children hanging around her, one that was still eating and giving them no attention at all. Fujimoto pulled Amaterasu back against his chest, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning his head on her shoulder.

"How easily you give it all up. Maybe you were just waiting for me to get rid of all this for you."

It was then that he saw her smirking slightly, looking up as the rays of the setting sun light everything ablaze.

"Not at all, Isao. I'm waiting for something else entirely."

The two bulky guards, who had crawled in the windows and advanced on those inside, suddenly flew out of the same windows and skidded in the dirt on either side of the group in the doorway. The lanky blond man looked only slightly interested now, but it was still pure apathy in his manner. Isao, however, was looking around alarmed at what was happening.

"What the hell is happening??" He snapped with anxiety in his voice, before hearing a harsh laugh.

"Hell's knocking, pretty boy."

Isamu leaned out the window, sword over his shoulder and drawn, half-grinning with a manic look about him. Gendo was holding his own sword much more traditionally, stepping out the window casually as Isamu launched himself out it.

"Wh...who the hell are you two?" Isao growled, and Amaterasu chuckled.

"These are my grubby, filthy little Rukongai rats. Only, these two are all grown up."

"'Yer missing one, ma!" A loud voice bellowed from the roof, and Amaterasu sighed as a sword whizzed past her head, impaling itself into Isao's shoulder. He shrieked in pain, letting go of Amaterasu and staggering back. She closed her hand around the hilt of the blade, feeling no friendly hum from the steel and secretly being thankful for that. Kenshin's sword, normal steel.

"Showtime."

She dragged the sword (and Isao) forward and towards her again, slamming her head back into his face and jerking her sword free.

And then all Hell broke loose.

Chinatsu, Eiji and Fujiko were staring through the window at the huge fight out front. Setsuo wasn't interested, only kept eating and reading his copy of The Art of War. Meanwhile, Isamu was clashing swords with a big, beefy bodyguard and it was hard to tell if he was fighting or if he was dancing. Either way, he was grinning and having the time of his life while throwing in showy spins, blocking sword strikes with his geta (the bodyguard wasn't that good with his sword, apparently, because a flat geta bottom could stop his strike) and kicking them away, spitting insults the entire time with a maniacal grin. Gendo was reserved, calm, and quick as lightning, finding holes in his opponent's guard and taking advantage of them with quick slashes meant to wear down the opponent until he could finish it in one fell stroke.

Kenshin landed on the ground, bending his legs as he landed so as not to cripple himself and not be able to do a thing in the fight, seeing Amaterasu shove Isao back and stare at him. She tossed the sword, seeing him catch it easily and level it on his shoulder.

"You want to crack his skull, you go ahead and have your fun. Your old woman of a mother is feeling a little...peaked." Amaterasu sighed, wiping Isao's blood off onto her kimono and sighing. Kenshin shrugged, grinning, and advanced on Isao. It was only then that Amaterasu noted that the lanky blond man was gone, and panic shot through her like lightning. He was gone, and that was never good. She'd lost sight of him when Isao had pulled his little trick, and now he was gone.

"Ha, you think these little bitch guards of yours are any trouble to us??" Isamu roared, his sword square through his opponent's chest. With one foot, he pressed it flat against the man's chest and pushed, throwing the body from the blade before flicking said blade and casting blood to the ground. Gendo was silent as the grave as he slashed the man across the throat, ignoring the geyser of hot blood flashing across his front as the man collapsed. He threw blood off the blade as Isamu had done, now watching as Kenshin slashed Isao across his face, shallow enough not to kill him, but enough to permanently scar him up. He knocked Isao down to the ground, putting a foot on his chest and smirking.

"Bad idea threatening us, Fuji-whatever. We're like cockroaches; we're a hard group to ki-" He grinned while speaking, cut off suddenly as Isamu shouted, spotting something Kenshin didn't. A weight hit him, knocking him back into a stagger in the opposite direction. Regaining his balance soon, Kenshin whirled around to see a blond man smiling quite pleasantly, his blade drawn and having sliced in a way and with sufficient force that if it had connected, it would undoubtedly have killed him. There would have been a possible beheading have happened there.

"Well," The blond man began, his eyes bright behind his vaguely impressed tone as they followed the blood now beginning to run down the naked blade, "I wasn't expecting that. Very fast."

"Thanks." Amaterasu muttered between gritted teeth, feeling the steel pressing hard along the deep gash going from elbow to wrist on her left arm. He jerked his sword free as she jumped back, holding her injured arm close to her body as Kenshin was at her side instantly.

"Ma, what happened?? I...I should've seen-"

"No, Kenshin." Amaterasu cut him off, staring at the blond swordsman intensely as he examined the blood on his blade with slight interest, before casually licking it off. "He's fast. He's damn fast. And people don't get that fast on their own." Her eyes narrowed slightly at the blond man, nobody noticing Isao crawling away with a hand over his face. The swordsman shrugged lazily, the blade of his sword now partially clean.

"You caught me. Now that's very interesting; I've never met a housewife that can track a shunpo. I've met even less that can successfully stop an attack using one of their own."

"Shinigami." Isamu spat, Gendo muttering the word under his breath while adjusting his stance. Kenshin, however, was staring at Amaterasu.

"One of your own? What's he talking about...Ma?"

"Not shunpo." She cut him off, staring at the swordsman. "I just paid attention to you not skulking around like a weasel waiting to take a bite of the hens when it thinks the rooster isn't looking."

"Quite a metaphor. But it's quite flawed, actually; you look more of a hen than a rooster, ma'am." The man smiled casually, and the way he did it ignited rancor in her eyes. So casual, so kind and calm, like there was nothing in the world that he cared about. She hated it.

"Who says I'm the rooster? Honey, I'm the mutt that's guarding the goddamn farm."

With that exchange, Kenshin watched as the man disappeared in the blink of an eye. Next thing he knew, Amaterasu shoved him to the ground and then rolled out of the way herself, kicking up at the blond man and knocking him back only a few steps. This guy looked absolutely thrilled.

"Good, good! So it wasn't just some sort of lucky break; it's good to see that I've finally met somebody in Rukongai not in a shihakusho that can follow my moves. I was starting to get...well, a little bit bored." The man mumbled, laughing to himself. Isamu was already advancing like a bull, Gendo sliding around to the man's flank as Amaterasu rose quickly, her arm held against her chest.

"Ah ah ah, I don't think so. Lord Isao, my current employer, likes to play dirty, you see." The man narrated airily, pointing at Isamu. He felt the muscles in his limbs seize painfully, tightening up until they wouldn't move. Gendo fell to a knee next, fighting to stay on his feet as he watched. Kenshin fell last, using his sword to support himself as he watched helplessly.

"Drugged." Amaterasu muttered, waiting for the effect to come to her.

It didn't.

As she remained on her feet, unaffected, the man blinked and then scratched his head.

"Well that's weird. That chemical should've left anybody who drank it completely immobile. That H...the flowery alcohol that you can set on fire, that's what we put it in a little while back. Never liked that sneaky method, takes all the fun out of the job, but looks like Isao was expecting trouble. He just wasn't expecting as much as he got." He mumbled, as Amaterasu looked to her sons quickly.

"Oh, don't worry. They're alive, and it'll wear off in an hour or so. But, the chemical should've crippled you too, I bet. That's why you look like that. Well, I can only guess that something in your reishi canceled it out. Lucky lucky you; I get an opponent, and you can die on your feet!" His voice advanced a couple octaves in pleasure at the idea, as he set the sword straight and advanced slowly.

"M..a..." Kenshin choked out, as Amaterasu backed up slowly, hunting for a weapon that could take a Zanpakuto. Isamu and Gendo's blade would reject her if she touched them and she would die. Kenshin's was plain steel; it would break and she would die. The bodyguards were plain steel as well; those would break and she would die.

"Hurry honey, I'm getting impatient." The cheery swordsman called, though there was a threat in his joyful tone.

Amaterasu wasn't panicking; not at all. Panic was not in her nature. She was a serene creature by nature, content with silence and stillness. But this was bubbling up ancient feelings, sensations of fear and panic and the rush of fighting and adrenaline that were starting to affect her as much as the blood loss from her red-coated left arm was. Thoughts ran through her mind in a steady, incoherent stream. Death. The children. The smiling swordsman and his blade, both advancing too quickly for comfort. The biting pain in her left arm. That near-painful thudding in her chest that pounded in her ears-her deafening pulse. A humming that she was getting more than annoyed with hearing.

"Mother!"

Amaterasu's head snapped back to the window, seeing Setsuo leaning out of it. The blond swordsman was already zigzagging towards her, she could hear his approach from the crunching of the grass under his geta.

"Setsu-" Amaterasu began, reaching for him. She looked back at the blond swordsman, feeling something in the palm of her outstretched hand and instinctively closing her fingers around it. That annoying humming became a frenzied buzzing, like a storm of wasps circling around her head, and she turned to see Setsuo shoving into her hand an old sword that had been sitting in the corner for a very long time. Things slowed down, before speeding up past where she could think about her reactions and just went with those automatic reactions. Everything past then was a flurry of motion, automatic reactions that shouldn't be happening as they did. And before Amaterasu, before anyone knew it, a flurry of blows from the blond yojimbo of Isao's were being parried by the sheathe of the old, brittle-looking sword. She shoved, pushed him back and got room between them and the three immobile men on the yard.

"Well, that's quite impressive. You're moving very fast now, and it's very fun to play around with you." The blond man complimented, Amaterasu huffing and betraying her exhaustion. The remnants of that horrific hangover were being pushed back by the rush of adrenaline, the fight-or-flight response not allowing the painful thudding headache to be noticed. He shrugged, before dashing forward.

"I do need to finish this soon, though. That spoiled little noble boy will be wondering where his yojimbo is."

Steel bit into her shoulder, a deep slash that sent Amaterasu staggering backwards. She didn't shout, only muffled a shriek of pain with gritted teeth. The sword in her hands was vibrating beneath her fingertips, urging, calling her. Telling her. Ordering. She was ignoring it for the moment. The blond sighed, his long ponytail hanging limp behind him and swaying gently as he shook his head in disappointment.

"I was sort of looking for more fight from you, for all that lip service to Isao. Oh well," He shrugged overdramatically, as if it really were a shame, "I guess I'll just kill everybody here and be on my jolly way." He turned, ignoring Amaterasu now and was gone in an instant, heading towards the house.

"Which one should I do first?" He mumbled, deliberating with himself, before seeing Setsuo leaning out the window and in a flash, grabbed him and jerked him out.

"Mm...nah." He tossed Setsuo over towards Kenshin, shunpoing inside the house. A moment later, Eiji was flung out the window by his ponytail, though the man gave Eiji a compliment on his good taste in hairstyle, before Chinatsu was very politely dropped to the ground in her paralysis.

"Found one!" He chirped, pleased with himself, while dragging out a kicking and screaming Fujiko.

"Anyway, I'll start from youngest to oldest. Isao'd be happy with that, I bet." The blade of his sword pressed against Fujiko's neck, and very easily kicked a charging Eiji a good five or six feet, before dropping Fujiko and slicing downwards, through her small neck.

Well, he would have, if a metallic clang hadn't rung out and stopped his blade inches from Fujiko.

"Hm?" He mumbled, looking up at the heavily bleeding Amaterasu. That wound should've left her unable to move, and here she was, wielding that toy of a sword. It was brittle and-

"Shine." Amaterasu spoke quietly, yet powerfully. The man raised his eyebrows, before recognizing the feeling that the air was thickening around them.

"Don't tell me-" He began, before she shouted the next word, raising eyes holding nothing but pure fury to meet his.

"Kyokkou!!"

The man jumped back, aided by the concussive force of the reiatsu blast, and watched her carefully. A Guan Dao spun through the air like an oversized, bladed baton, before snapping into position. Amaterasu stared, her eyes hard as granite, before twisting her neck slightly and hearing the loud snaps.

"I should thank you, I suppose," She began, stretching out her arms and legs while ignoring her heavily bleeding shoulder and sliced up left arm. "I haven't been able to do that in a very long time. A very, very long time."

The yojimbo's shocked expression turned into a gleeful sneer.

"Oh, I see!" He chirped, as Amaterasu ignored the burning stares from her entire family. She was giving up a dark secret that, without Isao's intervention, would have stayed secret awhile longer. She'd have to strangle him with her bare hands later. She caught Kenshin staring blankly out of the corner of her eye, but never looked away from the yojimbo.

"I know what you are. And that just explains it all, doesn't it?" He cheered, very pleased with the new turn of events. Amaterasu raised a brow.

"Explains it all? I suppose it would, if I knew what you needed explaining."

"Well, that tangible buzzing feel in the air. I never would've guessed it was reiatsu. They sealed yours, didn't they?"

"They did."

"Of course they did. Standard procedure for exiled shinigami."

There were more than a few sharp inhalations from the various other people in the small grassy area in front of the shack. Amaterasu's hand tightened around Kyokkou's hilt visibly.

"Yes, standard procedure. I wouldn't expect mercy from shinigami, after all." She nearly hissed, though her face remained serene, emotionless. The yojimbo laughed.

"Sounds like you had a bad experience with them. Then again, having all your shinigami powers sealed away, losing your reiatsu, and supposedly having your Zanpakuto destroyed would make anyone bitter, wouldn't it?" The yojimbo was laughing now, his body totally relaxed but his hand still tight on the hilt of his own Zanpakuto. Amaterasu had already begun to twirl Kyokkou in her hand, building up momentum.

"Attempting to kill my children makes me even more bitter, sir yojimbo." Amaterasu spoke loud enough for him to hear, and he laughed while flourishing his own Zanpakuto.

"I guess we can't be friends then? That's a shame. Well, if you're releasing your Zanpakuto, I'll go ahead and do the same with mine to make things fair. This is going to be so much fun..."

He held the sword in front of him, both hands on the blade.

"Cut, Kumatsune." He smirked, and Amaterasu sighed at seeing the blade split into two hand blades, each with three one foot long claws connected to a metal cylinder that Amaterasu recognized as a grip. Of course it was something small; the man was naturally speedy, and something as big as Kyokkou would only slow him down. Amaterasu watched the blades sink into the cylinder he was gripping. Oh wonderful, they were adjustable.

"Ready?" He asked, noticeably pleased.

"No. We're taking it further out." She responded curtly, looking to Fujiko and the rest of her kids before turning, shunpoing forward. It felt amazing all over again, like she was propelling herself through water at impossible speeds. She, of course, noticed the yojimbo keeping up with her. As soon as she felt they were far enough (out of sight, at least), she stopped and so did he.

"Your name?" She asked him, dismissively, and he laughed.

"They call me Masashi."

"My name is Amaterasu. Amaterasu Tachibana."

"Pleasure. Let's go." He laughed, before he disappeared. Amaterasu immediately snapped Kyokkou behind her back, hearing a distinctive clang. Even as that was parried, she twisted the blade and caught the second blow aimed for her kidneys. Her reiatsu was freed from the bind that the shinigami did when they sealed her powers; it hummed across her skin in a manner that she wasn't familiar with anymore, one that she'd been immune to for years upon years. And now, it was a maddening sensation that drove her further into a frenzy that she would've have survived without. The attacks came fast, too fast, and the blades of his Zanpakuto sliced through her flimsy kimono in places and stained it further with blood. Masashi's claws sliced through her flesh like butter, as Kyokkou landed heavier blows whenever it could, which wasn't often. They weren't wearing down though, neither one of them. For Masashi, it was because he was having fun. Amaterasu, however, was drunk off the power. Decades of being locked in a normal, powerless body, and having it all again was intoxicating. She didn't even feel when he cut one of her Achilles tendons, though she noticed that she could put no weight on it without her leg collapsing. So, she just put her weight on the other leg and kept right on going.

It didn't take forever for Amaterasu to notice that she wasn't winning anymore.

On the fly she switched to a new tactic, about to put it into action when voices caught her attention. She turned her head to see Kenshin, Isamu and Gendo rushing to her with swords drawn, their bodies noticeably stiff. At the momentary distraction, Masashi dug his Kumatsune claws in a quick jerk, clawing right down Amaterasu's front. She stared blankly, in surprise, at the three men now staring back in blank shock as Amaterasu fell to the ground, unmoving.

"Well, that was so goddamn fun, I don't even know what to say." Masashi mumbled, feeling the sting of wounds and his own blood on his skin and it felt exhilarating. He quickly glanced over at Kenshin, Isamu and Gendo lazily while gesturing to Amaterasu on the ground.

"She fought to the end, so don't blame her. Anyway, I might as well finish you three as well, but there's no real hurry." He began to stride confidently towards the three, preparing his Kumatsune to strike, smiling in a satisfied sort of way.

"Now..." He started, before he was cut off suddenly.

"Carriage of Thunder. Bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six!" He heard a shout behind him, and, only barely recognizing the Bakudo, stared at a heavily sweating Amaterasu whose hands shook slightly, possibly from exhaustion or even from fear of the Kido. Her voice didn't waver, and Masashi raised his Kumatsune.

"No!" He shouted, before she finished the incantation.

"Bakudo number sixty one: Rikujōkōrō!!"

Six thin, wide beams of light slammed into Masashi's midsection, pinning him in place. He couldn't believe it. An exiled shinigami who hadn't done anything with her reiatsu in god knows how many years had just pulled off a Bakudo that caught him perfectly. Amaterasu moved to her feet, using Kyokkou as a crutch for her useless foot.

"Eighth Company, Fifth seat." She said clearly, meeting Masashi's eyes and seeing recognition. He couldn't speak; the Bakudo allowed absolutely no movement at all.

"Isamu, Gendo, Kenshin. Step back." She ordered, and it wasn't in a mother's voice. It was in a booming, commanding voice that made them hesitate. She met eyes with them, shouting again.

"Now!!"

They all staggered back a few steps, watching with mute surprise. Masashi could do nothing but watch, as Amaterasu closed her eyes.

"I hated Kido. Hated it. I'm terrified of using it." She flipped her hair over her shoulder, holding her hand out.

"But I'm damn good at it. How do you think I got my position? It wasn't for drive, or capability with my Zanpakuto. They wanted me in Fifth, but I knew that'd mean I'd be doing Kido all the time, and I refused. But I only showed very good control of it, never did anything like this for them. I've never gone above forty, other than when I was alone and far from anyone that could see me, I don't think." She narrated, now focusing on the pinned Masashi, his Zanpakuto claws hanging limp, the tips of the blades barely scraping the dirt. Amaterasu already knew she was pushing her limit with pulling a level sixty Bakudo as the first Kido she'd done in damn near a century, not to mention a second and much more important reason why she should stop, but Fujiko's near death flashed before her eyes again and she gritted her teeth, said 'fuck it', and decided she was going to wipe this man from existence.

"Hado number eighty-eight: Hiryugekizokushintenraiho!!" Amaterasu roared, very much forgetting the fact that such a powerful Hado could attract unwanted attention. She felt the blast leave her fingertips, and as soon as it did, lost her breath and fell to the ground. She did see it hit the target though, before hearing pure silence. Then, voices telling her they needed to fix her up, and hands beginning to help her towards home. She wasn't conscious much longer than that.