AN:

Good tidings to all. Here we are at chapter twelve and I can admit now that I shall be wrapping this story up soon. Got a few more chapters I can squeeze out of it and since school is now done for me, I will have no problems popping out chapters back to back. Plus I have another story (unrelated to this one unfortunately) that will be set in an AU and co-star Grimmjow J (cause hes just so beast) and I'm ready to work on it.

I wanna thank ya'll for riding on this ride of revenge with these crazy individuals. But from here on out, the loose ends will now be tied together. All those unanswered questions… will finally be answered. YAY!

And now I present to you… Chapter Twelve. Enjoy ^_^

It was early in the morning. Close to dawn. And Rai was the only one up as he sat in his room. All he could do was dwell upon the entire situation. It had been a rather chaotic few days and he still had trouble trying to understand why it had lasted this long. It seemed like every day was something new and with it, came another family member being taken and another family member escaping.

We need to get on one accord so we can stop with this back and forth nonsense and let this guy get whatever it is that is in him out of his system, Rai thought to himself. He had not even seen Reizo in person and he was beginning to really despise him. Something had to be done about him.

Maybe if we personally deliver mom to him, he will leave us the hell alone. Rai knew it was a horrible thought to think. But if it meant peace…

"You're forever thinking about something. One day your face is going to turn into a permanent scowl," Airi said, appearing from no where beside him. Rai was a little startled but that was Airi. She had the capability to pop up when she wanted to. It was creepy sometimes, but it was a valuable asset to possess.

"I'm just tired, you know? I'm tired of the run around. I'm annoyed that I understand very little about this situation but have been drug directly into the middle of it. I just want it to be over. That's all," Rai explained to Airi. She rubbed her hand down the side of his arm and moved to sit closer to him.

"It's going to get better though. I have the feeling that this is going to come to a close soon," Airi stated. Rai nodded his head once to show that he heard her. But he honestly did not believe her. There was too much going on and who knew how long it was going to be until it was all over.

"If you say so," Rai said in disbelief. Airi could detect the doubt in his voice and she immediately frowned up.

"I know so. Life is too short to doubt everything. You give in to negative thoughts and I guarantee you that everything bad will happen. That's why I like to stay positive at all times. Do you understand me?" Airi grabbed Rai's other arm and twisted his upper body so that he faced her and could look into her eyes.

Of all the thoughts that formulated in his head, being positive was one that never made it in the circulation. He felt rather stupid that someone else had to teach him a new philosophy but did not let it bother him too much. In fact, he liked that someone else was able to pass a new form of knowledge to him.

Yep, Airi Sado was a keeper.

Rai repositions his body to be closer to Airi and stares down into her eyes. He leans over and kisses her gently on the lips. Airi instinctively brings her arm up to caress the side of Rai's face.

This felt good, to the both of them. Neither one of them wanted it to end.

But unfortunately it did.

The sound of a door being opened was heard. Normally it would have been passed off as someone else in the house waking up and moving around.

But the sound of the door being opened came from the front. And there was no reason for anyone to be going out the front door at this time of night.

Rai stopped kissing Airi, which left her confused. Before she could question what was happening, Rai placed a finger over her lips.

"Someone is here," Rai said, which earned him an even more confused look from Airi. Rai slowly stood up from the bed and began to make his way towards the front door. Airi followed.

Rai rounded the corner just in time to see someone moving towards his mother's room door. Swiftly, he moved behind the intruder to take him out. But before he could do so, he was thwarted by another person.

Instinctively, Rai moved back as a fist went flying in front of his face, just barely missing its destination. Rai grabs the arm connected to the fist and pulls it across, making the person fly the other direction. The sound of him crashing into the ground echoed through out the house. Rai was sure that eventually, somebody was going to wake up.

"What's going on?" Rukia asked, sleepily, as she opened her door. Big mistake. The person who had been trying to get into her room, snatched her up without a moments notice and began to make his way towards a side window that was nearby.

To his luck, Airi caught wind of what he was going to try to do and rushed him, colliding directly into his stomach with a nice solid thud.

"Whoa," Rai said. There was not much he could really say. Airi stood up with a smile and straightened herself up.

"Next time you decide to take someone out, Airi, make sure I'm not in their arms," Rukia said as she struggled to get up. Airi goes over to help her up. Rai looks around the room in suspicion.

"Odd. Why would they only send two?" Rai questioned.

As if on cue, a group of men in black came rushing into the house.

Stealth Force Retrieval.

Rai and Airi both took off into a run to meet the men and fight them off. They knew exactly what they were trying to get and they were going to make sure that they did not obtain Rukia.

"Mom! Get out of here!" Rai shouted as he tried to take on as many men as possible. That's when it seemed as if the whole house was awake. Immediately, Isshin, Byakuya, Chad, and Renji were down stairs, fighting. Rukia tried to jump into the fight but the moment Rai noticed, he blocked any moves coming her way.

"Move Rai!" Rukia shouted.

"No mom! They want you. Get out of here while you can!" Rai said back.

Rukia was about to make a run for the window when she stopped. The second she stopped, a hand reached through the open window and snatched her through. Rai caught the tail end of it and when he tried to run after her, they had disappeared. Rai's blood had began to boil. He didn't like this. He didn't like this one bit.

As everyone were fighting off the remaining men, Rai calmly walked back to the scene of the battle and just in time. He had to witness his grandfather get stabbed.

Isshin grabbed his side as the man removed his blade from his side and fell to the ground. That tipped Rai over the edge.

The man that had stabbed Isshin tried to make his way towards Rai. But never got close.

Rai gave off a roar as he blasted a large red orb from his hands in the direction of all the Stealth Force members. It sent them all flying back, most of them through the newly created hole that was now in the wall of the living room. When the smoke cleared, the bodies of all the Stealth Force members laid scattered on the floor and everyone else stood staring at Rai in the utmost shock.

The only person who could utter a single word was Byakuya. "Oh no," he said. Byakuya was the only person in the room who could explain what had just taken place. But even he was surprised because he never thought that this particular explanation would ever pertain to Rai.

This was something that had not been calculated over twenty years ago.

With all the questions that were floating in the air, everyone scrambled to straighten up the big mess that sat in the living room. And Airi went to fetch a first-aid kit to help cover the wounds of Isshin.

-E-

Rukia woke up to find herself staring into very familiar eyes.

"So I see you are finally awake," Ginrei said, looking down at Rukia.

Rukia had nothing to say at the moment. She did not remember how she got to where she was currently. The last thing she remembered was being snatched through the window of her home and now she was here, with Ginrei looking down at her.

Taking in her surroundings more, she knew exactly where she was. She was in the Council Room. Tied down. On the large table.

"Why am I tied up on the table?" she asked.

"Irrelevant. But I want you to enjoy the view for a while. Relax. I have plans for you too. Maybe your face might help your wayward son remember who is really in charge. He reminds me so much of you, you know. The kid doesn't know how to quit while he's ahead. But it runs in the family apparently," Ginrei said with a smile.

"Let me go or… or I will scream. Reizo's room is not too far. He will hear me. And then he will know that I am here," Rukia said, trying to bargain her way out.

Ginrei smiled even more. "Nice try. Since you've been gone, we've made this room sound proof. No matter how loud you scream in here… no one will hear you." Ginrei turned around to leave the room, leaving a defeated Rukia behind.

-F-

"There is a mythical tale that explains the creation, downfall, and replacement of the Shinigami's. It states that every generation one member of one of The Great Five Noble Clans is born with the Shinigami power and he oversees all of the Five Clans, with his clan being the most powerful. Now it's thrown off as a myth to those not apart of the clans. But to the ones that are born of the clans, it is very true," Byakuya began to explain. He had the full, undivided attention of everyone as they sat in the living room, listening intently, wanting to know what the hell was going on.

"For several generations now, the Shihoin clan has held the Shinigami power within them and Ginrei grew restless with knowing that. When he learned of the tale, he had hoped that his son, my father, would inherit it next. He never did. When I was born, he hoped I would get it. As we see, it never happened. Ginrei was now determined to make sure that the next generation of the Shinigami was in the Kuchiki clan so he devised a plan to increase our chances. He wanted to pair me with someone from one of the Five Clans to ensure that my child would get it next. He refused to force a union so he began to search for very distant relatives of the Five clans that did not live within their Clan Houses," Byakuya continued.

"Wait, I thought there were only four Great Noble Clans," Airi asked.

"Now, there are currently four. But there used to be five. The Kasumioji clan has dispersed due to reasons unknown to us. All we know is that it happened many, many years ago," said Byakuya. When he was sure there were no more questions, he continued on with his explanation.

"Several years after being made the Head of the Kuchiki Clan, Ginrei had found my potential wife, Hisana Yukimora. She lived within the outskirts of Karakura Town with her younger sister, Rukia. But together, Hisana and Rukia were descents from the Yukimora Clan. Ginrei found them and took them in. Hisana married me and Rukia was adopted into the Kuchiki Clan. No one knew then, though, that Hisana could not produce children. If Ginrei had known that fact prior to, I'm sure he would have left her and Rukia were they were."

"I'm glad he didn't," Rai spoke up. His mind was in hyper drive. This was a lot of information to process.

Byakuya continued on. "The moment that Ginrei discovered that Hisana could not have children, he was slightly aggravated. But he remember that he still had Rukia and started to look for a descendent of another clan for her. This is where Renji comes in."

"I'm a descendant from the Himura Clan," Renji said.

"Rukia had made plans to be with Ichigo by the time this information had been revealed and me, personally, I did not want to interfere with them. Ginrei was another story. His drive was so strong by then, he did not care. So he forced Rukia to leave Ichigo and marry Renji. Then forced her to become the next Head of Clan after me. He didn't need her to take that role, he just used it as a cover to keep this information from her. He was going to use it long enough to see if she would ever produce the child with the capabilities to become the next Shinigami. It didn't take long for Ginrei to notice, after Reizo was born, that he was the one. And once Rukia chose to be with Ichigo again, Ginrei took it as the perfect opportunity to get his hands on Reizo and mold him to what he wanted to be."

"Which was?" Renji asked.

"A power force," Byakuya said.

"So, wait. What does that have to do with me?" Rai asked.

"That's the thing. I have no idea. There should have only been one born with the powers. But you obviously possess them as well," Byakuya said.

"This is too much," Rai said, his head was spinning. Once again, he was having another system overload.

"This must be a cruel joke," Isshin laughed. Everyone looked at him strangely. Of everyone, he should be the last one laughing.

"Why do you say that?" Chad asked.

"My family members are descendents of the Kasumioji Clan," Isshin announced.

"Great, just great," Renji mumbled.

"Well that explains how Rai has his powers. But it does not explain what this means. We were under the impression that there could only be one. Now there are two. If information like this gets leaked out, this could be dangerous," Byakuya spoke, half to the everyone and the other half to himself.

"Well isn't this just lovely. If it's not one thing, then it's another," Renji said.

Everyone sat in silence, trying to process. Everything just got deeper.