A/N: It has come to my attention that this has been lacking severing in Hitsugaya x OC goodness, and there will be some in this chapter. That is the main reason many of you clicked on this story, granted, probably because of the M rating XD (Yes, I know your ways, my dear readers. I'm like that as well, as most of the best fics are rated M) I'd like to inform you that the reason I have this rated M is the blood and gore that we have yet to get to (That's odd. The battle's over. Why would there be any blood and gore now?), and a sprite in this chapter (Sorry, it's not a lime, it's a sprite XD)

And finally, Mickaela, we get to reveal the true antagonist of this story. (When I say "Mickaela," I'm not making a reference to something, I'm actually addressing my friend Mickaela, who reads this story and I happen to bounce ideas off of every once and a while) Also, we get an appearance from my favorite character, Ichimaru Gin ^.^ And we get to see the Sakane x Canon Character I mentioned earlier.

EDIT: Fixed some minor grammar issues and did some minor re-wording.

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Creatures of Myth: Hidden Enemies

Chapter Eleven: Broken Façade

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"Is it true, what they say?

Are we too blind to find the way?

Fear of the unknown cloud our hearts today.

.

See who I am

Break through the surface

Reach for my hand

And show them that we can

Free our minds, and find a way

The world is in our hands."

-See Who I Am, Within Temptation

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Ao walked silently down the streets of Seireitei, once again sporting a mask pure white mask upon her face, albeit not her usual one, as it had been damaged irreversibly. She'd let up on some inhibitions and kept her wings visible.

Her appearance turned heads and solicited whispers. She was dressed like a noble today, unlike most days when she dressed like an ordinary soldier. Although most of these Shinigami had never seen her before, her name and status seemed to be common knowledge nowadays. Not only her social status, but her marital status as well.

She had her hair done up with the little gold hair ornaments she'd been wearing in the day the battle had started, and it only seemed fitting that she should be wearing them the day it ended. Ao wore very little jewelry besides the hair ornaments and one other piece. Yesterday after the Shinigami Women's Association meeting, she'd met up with Toushirou, who had been doing some… shopping.

A soft smile adorned her face beneath her mask as she gazed down at the dainty ring that now embraced her left ring finger.

Elated, she continued off towards the Tenth District of Seireitei.

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Hitsugaya signed another paper. There was so much paperwork to fill out, but he could care less. Hitsugaya Toushirou was happy. Today he was to have lunch with his best friend and his Fiancée, and he couldn't be any more glad.

The past few days had been rather hectic, especially when Inoue Orihime went missing, but that matter had been resolved and the battle between the Tengu and Kitsune was over for now, at very least until Shimizu Hakyu was found.

The only thing he had to not be happy about, was that Ao and Momo weren't the only ones he'd be having lunch with.

Just as he finished the last of his paperwork, a terse knock came at the door. Hitsugaya cringed. This was the guest he wasn't too thrilled about. "Come in, Shiramae-sama," he called.

The ice woman entered without a sound, staring at him with barely-veiled contempt. "Where are the other guests?" she asked flatly.

"They're not here yet. You're a bit early." He stood and stepped around his desk.

She nodded and continued to sit regally on the couch.

"SHIRO-CHAAAAAN!" cried a familiar voice as she burst through the door, carrying a wicker picnic basket. Momo ran and squished him in a tight hug. "Ooo, I was so lucky that Nazo-taichou said I could leave before I finished my paperwork and finish it later!"

"It's good to see you, too, Momo."

"Nazo-taichou is so wonderful! She's so much better than the last one my division had, huh?"

Hitsugaya sighed. She avoided Aizen's name like the plague. "Hinamori, you could put Matsumoto as the captain of the fifth division and even she'd be better than the last one," he dead-panned.

Momo laughed, though he could tell it was sort of half-hearted.

He heard a sudden rustle of feathers and turned to see a masked face just inches from his. Hitsugaya chuckled. "You know, if you weren't wearing that mask, this would be the perfect opportunity…" he trailed off.

Not in front of his homicidal soon to be mother-in-law, goddammit!

Even though Ao's face was covered by the her pallid mask, Hitsugaya knew she was blushing. "Speaking of masks," he continued as he plucked the elegant mask from her face, revealing her mildly shocked expression and confirming his theory.

Ao laughed. "You know, that one is enchanted as well."

Aha, so that was it. She was making sure the last mask hadn't simply been too damaged for the enchantment to hold up. "Well at least any doubts you may have had have now been proved groundless," he said coolly, crossing his arms.

Ao stuttered to find a response, her eyes widening comically.

Toushirou gave her a reassuring wink and turned back to his other guests. "Now, let's get this lunch started and done with before Matsumoto catches wind of this and shows up with sake."

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It had been a long time since he'd been in the halls of the Gobantai. Not since Aizen had still been captain. And now he was paying a visit the person in the exact same position the traitor had been. Hopefully, he'd be wrong about this one. He already had the scars from the last time he'd tried to take down an evil bastard, and he could only hope…

It was self-destructive, he understood as much. He didn't even have a good reason like before. The thing was, he didn't miss Aizen at all, so why was he seeking out another like him? Perhaps hanging with conniving assholes had grown on him, somewhat.

Ichimaru stepped in to the room where she sat. The moment he stepped in, the woman perked up. "Oh, hiya there, Ichimaru-kun! How're you doing?" Nazo Sakane asked happily.

Retaining his signature grin, he replied, "I'm doin' fine, Nazo-taichou, how 'bout you?"

The eccentric taichou stood from her seat at the desk. "I'm fine, too, thanks, and call me Sakane," she said with an overly happy grin. "Can I get you some tea? Coffee? Fish?" she inquired.

"Let's skip the pleasantries," Ichimaru said with a little less of his usual playfulness, "Let's get righ' down ta business."

Sakane tilted her head to the side comically, "Huh?"

"Ya can drop the act, Sakane."

She frowned with a pout. "I'm not sure what you mean, Ichimaru-kun," she said, sounding hurt.

Gin put on his serious face, which wasn't much different from his usual, but still. "I mean I see that you're doin' somethin', I just can't tell what."

Her pout disappeared and her lips formed a hard line as she tilted her chin upwards and narrowed her eyes slightly. Just then Gin felt like Aizen was staring him down, that condescending glare that he swore only Aizen would ever be able to pull off.

It was a sign that she would kill him if he didn't give her a reason not to, and quickly.

She blinked slowly and the glare softened. Gracefully, she stepped towards her desk and retrieved a handkerchief. "I should of figured you, of all people would have figured it out sooner or later, Gin," she told him in that same scary, 'You're starting to become a threat' way that Aizen would, as she wiped the concealing make-up off her face, revealing beautiful crimson markings lining her eyes, forehead, and upper cheeks. "However, if you expect me to tell you my plans, you're sorely mistaken. All I will reveal is that what I'm planning has already affected Soul Society and will cause no further damage to Seireitei or any of the Shinigami."

Gin nodded. "Of course. Goddesses like yourself rarely bother themselves wi' affairs of the likes of us."

She threw him a bored glance. "Yamamoto knows I'm a Fujin. Such knowledge will grant you no influence over me."

"Oh, I wasn't lookin' ta blackmail ya, Sakane-chan, it was a compliment," he said mischievously.

The wind kami looked him over for a moment. He noticed her tense slightly, and his grin spread further. "I've already gathered that ya would 'ave ta be after one of Kurosaki's friends, and I must assume that it's Orihime-chan," he paused and walked towards her at a curve, making her narrowed eyes have to follow him. "She's such a pretty thing, don'cha agree? And one of those Senka Maidens, as well." He stopped right in front of her. "And for such a powerful being such as yerself, I suppose she'd seem mighty tasty, am I right?"

Sakane face stayed in that unreadable expression. "I thought you said you didn't know what I was doing."

"Oh, I know what yer doin', I just don't know how yer gonna do it. I mean, now that the Kitsune 'ave got 'er, it'll pose quite the challenge. And then ya 'ave got Kurosaki to worry 'bout, 'cause no doubt he'll be coming to 'er rescue."

She made a quiet amused sound and set her handkerchief on the desk next to her. "I have that covered," she exhaled tiredly. "What am I going to do with you, Ichimaru?" The Fujin listlessly fingered the pommel of her Katana.

He knew she could read him like a book. She was exactly like Aizen to that effect. It was frightening, it was disturbing, it was… appealing. Yeah, that was the word for it. Appealing. Right. Now he sounded like Aizen. Ichimaru scoffed mentally. It wasn't appealing, it was goddamned sexy. There, now he sounded more like himself. "I dunno, Sakane-chan. Perhaps ya could find the kindness in yer heart and let me help ya out a bit?" he drawled.

That morbidly amused expression spread over her face once more. "I don't have a heart, Ichimaru," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

She didn't mean she was heartless like a Hollow, she basically meant she had no use for the weaker emotions, love, kindness, joy, the like, nor did she have the patience for mercy. "Ya can borrow mine if ya want. I don't use it much," Ichimaru said playfully. Since she was so much like Aizen, she'd jump at the opportunity for another pawn, if not just the opportunity to have one more person to merely manipulate, but he doubted her and Aizen's similarities ran that deep. Although, unlike Aizen, she was female, and a curvy female at that.

Sakane grinned, and Ichimaru saw what she normally kept hidden. She have sharp, pointed teeth, made solely for the purpose of tearing flesh from the bone. He shivered slightly. Those would hurt. "Is that a proposition, Ichimaru-kun?" she looked him in the eye, her turquoise eyes piercing him teasingly.

"Schemin', powerful, an' well-endowed," he counted them off on his fingers and grinned, "Yep, yer my type." He was pretty sure he was basically guaranteeing that sometime in the near future he'd have that Katana through his chest. Or perhaps, because of his little comment about her borrowing his heart, maybe she'd carve it out of his chest. He seriously, would not put it past her.

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The Fujin adjusted her Haori. Her amused expression turned into one of intrigue. She would thoroughly enjoy toying with him. She truly would. It had been a long time since she last laid with someone. And Ichimaru Gin was up to her standards. Of course, she simply hadn't expected him to try to seduce her shortly after confronting her. It was foolish, but just beautifully reckless enough to pique her interest.

She approached him and ran a finger down the side of his fox-like face. A gesture of affection. His skin was so pale, yet she knew there was no way it would be flawless as hers was. As they continued into her quarters, and she slid off his Haori and top portion of his Shihakusho, her believes were confirmed, for his chest was marred with countless scars, ranging from slight, barely visible imperfections to the jagged, obvious patch of scar tissue on the skin above his heart. She knew enough to know that he'd received that when he attempted to double-cross Aizen Sousuke, an attempt which had ended in utter failure. She longed to add to the blemishes, to mar his pallid flesh by sinking her teeth into him. She'd noticed his shiver when she had first shown him her teeth. He was likely hoping he wouldn't have to experience the deadly fangs. Too bad for him, because she was a biter when it came to bedroom activities.

Nazo Sakane would devour Ichimaru Gin, and he would be extremely lucky if he made it out alive.

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A/N: Ah… Sakane is my baby… I could care less about Ao. Ao seems so Sue-ish to me. It's Sakane, Chiume, and Rentaro that make me proud. I love making character that are sadistic, evil, and overall messed up. We'll probably see what happened to Hakyu next chapter. And we'll get some Hinamori to Sakane interaction. And I'd like to point out to you, Sakane is not Aizen. I haven't just copied Aizen. She doesn't underestimate Ichigo like Aizen did. And she's a bit more self-serving. She doesn't want to rule over everybody, she just wants… never mind. You learn that later.

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