...hey look who's still alive! -dodges rotten fruit- Yeah...sorry about disappearing on you guys like that with no warning. I'm in my senior year of highschool, which means lots of FUN work that needs to be done before next summer. Try not to drown in the sarcasm. Between work, school, and trying to figure out how to pay for college next year, I've barely had time to work on my own novels, much less fanfiction. Plus, Sirius and Co. has been characternapped by the other characters in my mind and are being held hostage until I can figure out a way to get them back, meaning I can't play with them. Anyone know how to sneak past a six-headed snake god without getting killed?

On a more Sirius note (pun intended), enjoy the really belated chapter. I'll try to get another out soon, but don't expect much. If I can get some of the college financial information worked out before January, I might have more time (...to free my characters from captivity...), and more inspiration to write, but until then updates will be sporadic.

To my readers who have had such patience even though I practically dropped off the face of the earth...THANK YOU! If we could meet in real life, I would glomp each and every one of you.

-Embee

The Broken Veil: Lefu, Mass Shinigami-Napper

Any intent to go and drag Sirius's sorry ass back to the hospital was forgotten when Lily awoke.

"James?" Lily asked weakly, making the other three fall silent. Satoki immediately reached over and opened up her roommate's curtain with her one good arm.

Lilly looked pale and tired, but otherwise unharmed. Her eyes widened when she saw that she was in a hospital, and saw the state of Satoki's body.

"What…happened?" Lily asked quietly.

Oszlár and Lefu swapped a worried look. They didn't know how much Lily knew about James's Hollowfication, or how she had been attacked in the first place.

"Potter-san, what do you remember?" Satoki asked, taking charge of the situation.

Lily's pretty green eyes went vacant for a moment as she tried to remember.

"Well…James and I were about to go on a walk in the forest," she began slowly, "when James had a sudden headache." As she spoke, her hand rose to touch her own head, and a brief pained expression crossed her face. Lefu frowned. "I remember turning around to help James back into the house…then…nothing." She lowered her hand to touch her stomach. "How was I hurt? Where is James?"

Satoki watched Lily silently for a few moments, then said without turning around to face the two boys,

"Get out."

For a moment, both Lefu and Oszlár were surprised. Then when Lefu saw Satoki's hand flinch towards something beneath the sheets, he quickly grabbed Oszlár by the shoulder and dragged the smaller boy out of the room.

"We're out!"

Lefu breathed a sigh of relief when he exited the room unharmed, although he was a little disconcerted to see the tips of Satoki's daggers poking through the wall. It was almost as if Satoki had seriously tried to kill him.

Turning his mind to less panicky thoughts, Lefu leered down at Oszlár.

"Already kicking you out of the room, Shorty-chan," he said. "You're sleeping on the couch tonight."

Oszlár just glared at Lefu as they waited to be let back into the room.

Inside, Satoki was carefully explaining what had happened to James. She left out no detail. Lily broke down in tears when she heard about James's mutation, her sobs wracking her entire body. Satoki reached across with her good hand to gently touch Lily on the shoulder. The two boys had been kicked out of the hospital room for just that purpose, because Satoki knew they would only get in the way when Lily started crying. Lefu would probably make a perverted comment in some strange attempt to distract her, and Oszlár would panic and try to console Lily. Either action would only make things worse.

"I grieve for you," Satoki said simply.

Finally, Lily got herself back under control, putting a hand to her stomach, which had begun aching. Her eyes were already red and puffy.

"Where…is Sirius?"

Satoki let her hand fall. "I do not know. He has disappeared and has yet to return."

"Satoki-san…I am sorry that you had to protect me," Lily said after a brief silence. "Because of that…you were terribly hurt."

Although Satoki looked unconcerned and shrugged off Lily's apology, Lily could tell how much her wounds pained her. "Do not apologize, Potter-san. You are a friend, and I am glad I could have sacrificed myself to protect such a friend." Here Satoki paused and gave Lily a rare smile. "We are the only two women in this motley group. We must stick together if we are to keep them under control."

Lily gave Satoki a half-hearted smile in return.

"You two may come in now," Satoki said, raising her voice so Lefu and Oszlár could hear her. They quickly re-entered the room, but Satoki didn't give them any time to question Lily's distraught appearance.

"Ureftu, is it possible that there are symptoms of this mutation that can alert us to it happening again?" Satoki asked.

Lefu looked thoughtful. "Probably. Why?"

Satoki looked back at Lily. "Potter-san, please describe how Potter-san acted in this past month."

"Oi, at least make some kind of distinction between them," Lefu said with a scowl. "How are we supposed to tell the difference?"

He was ignored.

Lily nodded. "He has been complaining of headaches for some weeks now, but it was only recently that they started to become more severe. He has also caught several colds, one right after the other, but they were very different than normal colds. The colds did something to his eyes and voice, darkening his irises and hurting his throat so he could barely talk. And when he did…" Lily shuddered. "He sounded…dark. These colds could come on suddenly, and disappear just as fast, so much that sometimes James would be fine for one hour and sicker than a dog the next."

"What about you, Potter-san?" Satoki continued. "Have you experienced anything similar in the past months?"

Lily smiled a little weakly. "Just a few headaches, but they are probably from the little rest I've gotten lately, having to take care of James."

Lefu felt his blood run cold. Now he knew why Satoki was asking these questions. The symptoms James had been showing could easily have been early-warning signs of his Hollowfication. If Lily were showing similar signs…then she could be doomed for the same fate.

It would make sense, Lily regained her memories after James, Lefu thought. So she would start Hollowfication after him.

"Well, I'm sure that resting up here will stop those headaches," Lefu lied easily. "Shorty and I will leave you two pretty ladies to your beauty sleep."

Before Oszlár could protest (or Satoki find some more projectiles), Lefu dragged the redhead out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Lefu quickly looked over his companion, and frowned when he saw that Oszlár was still looking very weak.

So Lefu once again did the logical thing and kidnapped Oszlár.

"What the hell are you doing?" Oszlár demanded as Lefu carried him back down the halls. By this point, everyone they passed simply ignored them.

"You need your beauty sleep too, Shorty-hime," Lefu teased, and then threw Oszlár unceremoniously onto the bed. "I'm going to find White, so you just stay put."

As he spoke, Lefu pulled out a small mechanical device and clicked a button before sticking it to Oszlár's forehead.

"What…are you…doing…" Oszlár tried to say, but he was asleep before he could finish his question.

Lefu smiled. Ah, the perks of having full access to an entire research facility (even if most of that access had to come through illicit means). Not wanting to waste any more time by walking through the building like a normal person, Lefu simply walked over to the window and jumped out.

Hallways were for squares, anyway.

OoOoOoOoO

"I see," Ukitake said after hearing Sirius's story. "Then you will be leaving immediately?"

Sirius nodded. "Yes, Ukitake-taicho. I will most likely not return at all until…my mission is complete."

Ukitaki was silent for a moment. "Sirius…good luck. I pray that you…will have the strength you need to succeed. You must regain your friend's lost pride."

"Thank you, Ukitake-taicho."

"I also…must apologize," Ukitake said slowly. "It was I who convinced Yamamoto-sensei to allow you be the one to…kill your friend. I had thought that you would rather do it yourself."

At this point, Sirius was beyond feeling any kind of emotion. "Do not apologize, Ukitake-taicho. It was my own fault for not being strong enough to stop him."

After being dismissed from the Thirteenth Division office, Sirius quickly packed. He briefly considered filing for a Gigai, but then decided that trying to obtain one would take too long, and he might run into Lefu, something he was trying to avoid. Plus, he doubted he would need to contact any mortals. It didn't take him long to be ready to leave.

If Sirius was hoping to get out of the Soul Society without being caught by any of his friends, he was sorely mistaken. He hadn't even made it halfway through the Seireitei before Lefu found him.

"How the hell did you find me?" Sirius asked incredulously when Lefu appeared out of nowhere and tackled him from behind.

Lefu punched Sirius in the stomach, making him bend over in pain. Ignoring the startled looks from the innocent bystanders, he then proceeded to sling Sirius over his shoulders.

"Worry not, it's just a fukutaicho-napping," Lefu said with a cocky grin. As he disappeared with his captive, many people (mostly passing wizards) wondered if they should do something to help. The native shinigami quickly assured their guests that such a thing was a common occurrence, and it was generally a good idea to pretend it never happened.

"Lefu, put me down!" Sirius demanded, although he highly doubted Lefu would follow the order. "How did you find me in the first place, I had my reiatsu masked and everything," he repeated instead, hoping to discover how to avoid detection next time.

Lefu gave his captive a pitying look. "Oh you poor, naive White. I've been stalking you for over six months now. A petty little thing like suppressing your reiatsu can't hide yourself from me!"

Sirius felt very, very disturbed, and even Karu no Riken was struck dumb with shock.

"Hey, it was either me or Kurotsuchi-taicho!"

Somehow that didn't make Sirius feel any better.

"You know, Goldmane, there are some things better left unsaid," Sirius complained. "Now I'm going to have nightmares about you following me."

Lefu just laughed.

"What I want to know, White, is why you thought you could go gallivanting off on your secret mission without telling us," he said, holding up the bag Sirius had packed. Sirius hadn't even realised Lefu had taken it.

"I'm not going to ask how you know that," Sirius answered.

"Hidden cameras are very handy little devices," Lefu laughed, and then suddenly turned serious. "We're your friends, Sirius. You should be able to trust us. It's not heroic that you're trying to protect us by doing this mission on your own, it's stupid. We can take care of ourselves, and we'd be happy to sacrifice our safety to help you. Do you really think Satoki would have risked her life to save Lily if she didn't care? Or last year, would Oszlár have given his eye if he hadn't wanted to help?"

Sirius was silent, and Lefu took that as a cue to continue.

"You're not forcing us to do anything, so don't you dare think it's your fault if we get hurt. We're choosing to help you, and to help James. What kind of friends would we be if we let you go on your own?"

Lefu stopped on top of a building before entering the Fourth Division and released Sirius, who fell to the ground in a tangled heap. The black man smiled and held out a hand.

"We're going to help you find James, Sirius," he said. "And we're all going to return to the Soul Society, un-Hollowfied and in one piece."

After realising that Lefu was right, Sirius grinned and reached up to allow Lefu to pull him to his feet.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Just don't make me spout philosophical crap again. Next thing you know, I'll be singing songs and pooping rainbows."

Sirius rolled his eyes and laughed. "Remember what I said about 'things better left unsaid?"

OoOoOoOoO

Sirius was very glad to re-enter the hospital on his own two feet, instead of being dragged through by Lefu. He was a fukutaicho, after all, and he had to keep up appearances.

"You go ahead into Shorty's room," Lefu said when they reached the landing. To the relief of the hospital workers, they had simply walked through the hallways. "I'm going to get Demon-Girl."

Before Sirius could warn Lefu about the danger of such an action, or ask why he was doing such a stupid thing, Lefu had already started walking down the hall. Shrugging, Sirius simply decided to pick up the pieces once Satoki was finished.

He was a little surprised to find that Oszlár was dead asleep, until he saw the small device attached to Oszlár's forehead. Sirius grinned and knocked it off. Almost immediately, Oszlár shot up. He blinked for a few moments, before his face darkened.

"I'm going to kill him," Oszlár muttered dangerously, before noticing that Sirius was in the room. "Padfoot!"

And then Oszlár punched Sirius, who winced. For a supposedly injured kid, he could pack a heavy punch.

"That's for ditching us," Oszlár growled. "Where the hell did you go?"

Sirius pouted. "I thought you were injured," he complained. "You seem perfectly fine to me."

Oszlár froze for a moment, and then suddenly stiffened. "I was…just overwhelmed by the reiatsu."

Sirius highly doubted that. The redhead had done fine during the Battle of Hogwarts, when there was so much reiatsu flooding the place the space was warped for weeks. He was prevented from interrogating Oszlár by the rather loud arrival of Lefu and Satoki.

As Satoki had been unwilling to leave Lily, although the former witch was sleeping peacefully, Lefu had simply dragged her bed through the hall. Satoki looked less than pleased, but Sirius was amused to find that somehow her one good hand had been tied to the bed, and thus she could launch no attacks on her captor.

"You're going to get us killed," Oszlár deadpanned. "I am not bailing you out when Unohana-taicho hears that you've been disturbing her hospital."

Lefu shrugged, surprisingly unconcerned.

"Eh, I'll just hide in my lab. If all else fails, I can always blame you, Shorty."

Oszlár's face turned red, but Satoki interrupted his protest.

"If it is…agreeable," she began in a dangerous tone. Sirius made a mental note to make himself scarce when Satoki was released from the hospital, "kindly explain to us why you have gathered us here, Ureftu."

The black man nodded seriously and pulled up a chair.

"White's been given the mission to track down James and kill him," he began without any preamble. "He tried sneaking off to do it on his own, but I convinced him to accept our help."

Sirius resisted the urge to roll his eyes. If that was convincing, I'd hate to see demanding.

"He has three months to kill James, and if he can't, he'll be executed for treason," Lefu continued. It was in no way surprising to Sirius that Lefu knew the details, despite Sirius not telling him. "That gives us three months to find a way to reverse the Hollowfication and bring James back alive."

Oszlár interrupted. "But Hollowfication is irreversible, and it's going to be hard enough simply keeping ourselves alive."

"I know, but…I don't think James when through a true Hollowfication process," Lefu answered, to the shock of his listeners. "The more I thought about it, the more it became apparent. His mutation was like no other documented Hollowfication, even that of Kurosaki Ichigo. And James's reiatsu was vastly different from any Hollow. There's a slight chance that we might be able to undo the damage."

"Then we'll take that chance," Sirius said immediately. "No matter how small, it's better than nothing."

Lefu nodded. "I know. But Sirius…Lily's starting to show the same signs James did before he Hollowfied."

Sirius turned pale.

"I don't know what's causing their Hollowfication rate to accelerate so much," Lefu lied, not wanting Sirius to blame himself even more. He knew that Sirius could very well be the reason for their accelerated mutation. "But I intend to find out. I can place Lily in a stasis, which should slow down the process."

"We have three months to find Potter-san and a way to reverse his mutation, and three months to find a way to stop Potter-san's own impending Hollowfication, correct?" Satoki said, wiggling her now-free hand to regain feeling. It was very embarrassing that she had allowed Lefu to trick her. "I see one problem with that plan. How are we to find Potter-san? He has disappeared, and has obviously masked his reiatsu."

Lefu grinned. "This is what we're going to do. I'll stay behind to monitor Lily, while you three look for James. I'll give you something to track his reiatsu. This way, I'll have access to whatever information and machines we need, and you three will still be able to easily contact the Soul Society. Sound good?"

All three nodded. Sirius, for the first time since seeing James degenerate into a monster, felt a ray of hope. He had a chance to fix his mistake.

"Good," the black man continued. "You two spend the rest of the day resting up, and White will talk to Unohana-taicho to see if speed up the healing process." Sirius once again turned pale, this time at the thought of approaching the Fourth Division taicho, especially given his earlier behaviour in her hospital. "I'll go collect the things you'll need and set up my lab to keep Lily. First thing tomorrow morning, you three will set out."

And with that, the plan was set into motion. Oszlár and Satoki were left to rest (Lefu conveniently forgot to put Satoki's bed back), Sirius went to approach Unohana-taicho, and Lefu disappeared into the Twelfth Division.

They were going to get James back, or die trying.

P.S. If anyone has any information on financial aid for homeschooled students, particularly in Texas, or even any writing contests, please let me know. There's a college I really want to go to, but I need to raise some money for it. Any help is much appreciated.