"So, any idea why the Old Man called us up here at such an ungodly hour?" asked Tatsuki, yawning.
For some odd reason she had been called along with Yumechika and Ikkaku while Zaraki and Yachiru were off killing Hollows in the Rukon district again.
Ever since the Winter War ended so abruptly, she had started to sleep in when not on duty. It had gotten rather boring, to be frank. The only real excitement recently was the whole incident with the Valley of Screams.
She had joined in the last battle, but she didn't get any action other than that. It sucked!
"No idea. And since when were we called to sub for the captain?" complained Ikkaku.
"Something stinks about this, and for once I don't think it's fatso over there," said Tatsuki.
Soi Fon's lieutenant looked offended, but her glare shut him up before he complained.
He was fat.
Suddenly her attention was drawn to the lieutenant of Squad one...who passed out as soon as he crossed the bridge.
And then she heard it. A voice, whispering to her in the back of her head. She had experienced legilmency once, when she had heard about it. Snape had given her a crash course, and learned she had a rough shield around her mind courtesy of her spiritual power. It would rebuff all but the strongest sorcerers.
This almost felt like that, but the touch was different in many ways.
For one thing, she felt the clear sense of sadness and loneliness from it. It appeared to be calling out to her sword, but she no longer had a proper one since she released Kyoko back to her life.
That didn't mean she couldn't hang out with her sword spirit, it just meant she allowed her friend to live out her own life in the way she choose.
Her familiar had no problems pretending to be her sword.
The whispering grew more intent, as it tried to bring Kyoko out. Her familiar was a being of pure Time Magic, not spiritual powers. The whispering died down, but she could still hear the voice in her mind.
She could hear it crying out for a master who was gone...or sealed away.
She watched impassively as the zanpakuto escaped their partners control...and rebelled against them. She was the only one who didn't suffer from the fact.
"Kyoko, time to go all out!" she said with glee.
Kyoko roared, and turned into her true form. Her tail coiled around Tatsuki lazily, while her wings curled around her partner in a protective manner.
"Impossible. No zanpakuto should be able to avoid my control," said the mysterious figure.
That voice...he's the one who is crying?
"Kyoko isn't my zanpakuto. I let her go at her own wish. This is my familiar," said Tatsuki grinning. Finally, a worthy fight!
"No matter...The sword of a mere third seat is of no concern to me," said the figure.
"Third seat with a bankai that can kick your ass," said Tatsuki cheekily.
She ran, intending to end it immediately. She ended up blocked by what she assumed was Yumechika's sword spirit.
"Hello, peacock boya!" grinned Tatsuki.
Ruriro Kujaku grinned at her. She was one of the few he approved of, because she was the only person who had ever seen his real shikai form. She was only person Yumechika could relate to.
She ended up being thrown into the arms of Yumechika, and got up embarrassed. How the hell had that figure thrown her like that? She was the second strongest woman in the Soul Society!
(The first would always be Unohana, who was also the scariest woman around.)
By morning, only Tatsuki was able to function normally. The swords had gone completely berserk during the night, causing untold amounts of damage. It would take weeks to repair everything. Good thing the builders had lots of practice thanks to Ichigo and Zaraki running amok.
(Shirosaki too, but he was usually let out in Hueco Mundo where he teamed up with Grimmjow to cause havoc.)
All they knew was their opponent was named Muramasa. Byakuya had gone missing within hours of the attack. The last anyone saw of him, he was enveloped in a cloud of pink sword blades.
Tatsuki knew something was off about that, because he wouldn't go down so easily. She remembered hearing about a sword named Muramasa, but she couldn't remember where.
She went home to get ahold of Ichigo and to see if Rukia had survived the trip. Her sword had attempted to kill her while they were running.
Ulquiorra was with Ichigo and Rukia. The Espada had heard about the trouble the soul society was having and wanted to make sure it didn't spill over to their end.
"This Muramasa character is a pain in the ass," whined Tatsuki.
"Did you say Muramasa? By any chance did he had the spiritual pressure of a zanpakuto?" asked Ulquiorra.
"He did claim to be one...why?"
"A rogue zanpakuto has been seen repeatedly for several hundred years in Menos Forest. Supposedly he kills and devours their spiritual pressure, but no one has ever bothered to confirm it," said the Espada.
"I think he was crying," said Tatsuki suddenly.
"Huh?" seemed to be the answer to that statement.
"I could hear someone crying in my head. When the guy spoke I realized it was him. I think he's been alone for a long time," said Tatsuki.
"And I bet he tried to take over, didn't he?" grinned Ichigo.
"Tried and failed. Kyoko went back to her family almost a year ago," grinned Tatsuki.
"Dear lord...you cause enough damage without your sword, I don't want to see what you could do with a sword," said Rukia.
Tatsuki grinned.
"Imagine what I can do once I sync up with my familiar," she said ominously. Rukia shuddered.
She had seen Kyoko. She didn't want to see what would happen when Kyoko the dragon and Adhara/Tatsuki joined forces.
"We'll go in the morning. Rukia, if you try to leave early I will stun you and leave your sorry ass in the care of Unohana. Am I clear?"
Rukia winced. She didn't want to cross either of them.
"Agreed."
Tatsuki went with Ichigo when she discovered Rukia had left before them. She was going to stun the girl and leave her ass to Unohana's mercy.
They split up, and it was Ichigo who found Rukia first.
Tatsuki arrived in time to help Rukia regain her sword. Muramasa tried to get Sode no Shiroyuki to leave, but Tatsuki kept him away from the sword.
Rukia would later awaken in Squad Four, with her sword back to normal.
Muramasa attempted to control Tatsuki's sword again, this time targeting specifically. He was shocked to see that her sword was in fact a fake to keep appearances...and that she had released the spirit which was in it to return to her family.
Something about that bothered Muramasa a great deal, which was why he gave the order to all the zanpakuto to kill her on sight.
Only to find them staring at him like he was insane.
"We'll fight our former masters, but there is no way you'll get us to fight her," said Haineko bluntly.
"What?" said Muramasa, taken aback. His power allowed him to control other zanpakuto to the point of killing their masters.
Senbonzakura handed Muramasa a picture of a soul reaper...and it was very obvious the man was high.
"Former squad five captain Sosuke Aizen. He used to be the Soul Society's greatest rival for power after he stole an object of power...until he was stupid enough to kidnap Adhara of Squad Eleven. She broke him," he said simply.
"What object of power?"
"It was called the Hogyoku. It's power could turn a hollow into an Espada. Aizen was about to go to war with the Soul Society until she broke him. After that he became known as Twitchy," said Tobiyume.
"How...did she break him?" asked Muramasa finally.
"She pranked him for a week straight. Then she undermined his entire attack force by slowly getting the Espada to switch to her side without actually trying," they all said in unison.
Muramasa blinked. He hadn't expected them to answer like that.
"Exactly how dangerous is she?"
"She doesn't use her sword during a fight. She doesn't need to," said Ruriro Kujaku.
"What?"
"Fourth Seat Adhara...is the only soul reaper who kills hollows with her fists. She's also the only female in squad eleven," said Senbonzakura.
"She has an unusual power that she rarely uses unless she's pranking someone," said Haineko.
"She also gives the female soul reapers free hair cuts once a month," said Tobiyume.
Muramasa looked at her. He didn't need to know that.
(Tatsuki was rather adept at cutting hair, even though hers refused to grow out until recently. So once a month she would cut the other girl's hair for free. Though they usually left a good tip for her instead.)
"Come to think of it, we've never seen her zanpakuto. She usually stayed inside the inner world," said Haineko.
Muramasa was a bit taken aback. Zanpakuto could see other sword spirits, but not if they stayed in their inner world all the time. Most soul reapers didn't know their partners walked beside them invisible to their eyes.
He was the only one who ever bothered to materialize completely.
"How the hell did you get caught Zanny?" asked Tatsuki amused.
Zangetsu glared at her. It was bad enough Shirosaki called him that when he was hyper, he didn't need her doing it too!
(She had called him Shirosaki once, and the name had stuck.)
Zangetsu had no problems with Tatsuki. She was one of the few people who he actually liked, and she supplied him with the best liquor he had ever had. He was a fun drunk, according to Ichigo.
(Though Ichigo still had nightmares of the time he caught Zangetsu smoking something he didn't want to know the name of with Twitchy. Shirosaki had been with him too, and he still ran screaming.)
Ichigo soon lost consciousness, and Shirosaki took control. He nodded to Tatsuki with a grin, and she held up a bag of candy.
"Two bags of frogs if you take out Zanny and leave him (she nodded to Muramasa) to me," she smirked.
"Deal!"
The fight soon moved, and it wasn't until Ichigo retook control that things really got interesting.
Muramasa wanted to know more about Shirosaki. And he was willing to break Ichigo to do it. It was with the combined power of Shirosaki and Ichigo that threw Muramasa out.
So Muramasa tried his trick again...this time he went after Tatsuki. Zangetsu kept Ichigo busy while he delved into the mind of the only female to survive Squad 11.
Muramasa blinked. This wasn't the world he was expecting at all. It was like he was in the Squad barracks on a lazy summer day. The temperature around him was just right for dozing all afternoon away under the trees.
And such trees!
Cherry Blossoms in full bloom, thick evergreens, rich mahogany, full holly and of course, apples.
There was even a garden (it was replica of the one outside her room, and anyone dumb enough to wreck it had to replant each flower by hand and take care of it for a week. That was enough to keep her squad from harming it.) that was tastefully decorated. The rich scents of the flowers hung in the air, but it wasn't overpowering.
He went into the room just outside the garden.
It was not what he expected either. It was rather plain, but it lead into the most interesting rooms. One was full of books, another with music, chimes, and the one that really drew his attention...had five glass cases.
Three had what appeared to be school clothes, though two were rather colorful compared to the plain gray one. The two colorful ones radiated with power, a power he had never felt before.
The fourth had a standard shihakusho, with the emblem for squad eleven.
But it was the fifth that had him staring.
It was a dress, but unlike one had ever seen before. It seemed to clash with the tomboy personality the girl he had met. The case was chained, but they were rather loose.
Clearly she didn't like using it.
He went into the next room and found her.
"I'm guessing you saw the others, may as well give you the rest of the tour," she said dryly.
"Not many have such detailed worlds, let alone bother to fill them," he said.
"You try sitting in meditation for hours on end. It's rather boring, and filling the rooms killed time."
Muramasa followed her to the secondary world she created for Tatsuki, which seemed to be rather bland compared to Adhara.
Then he came across a room locked tightly.
"That...belonged to Kyoko. She lets me use it now to control the powers she gave to me. I let her go because she wanted to live with her family again," said Tatsuki, almost sad.
"You...didn't abandon her?"
"I would never abandon a friend. She was part of the family, and she still comes around time to time pretending to be my cousin. But she wasn't meant to be a zanpakuto, and I wasn't going to hold her back."
Muramasa left her inner world, thoroughly confused. Tatsuki Arisawa, better known as Adhara Potter around the world, was nothing like he expected.
A tomboy and a fighter, yet her inner world was full of soothing plants. She had only one outfit that wasn't girly, and it was clear that the others (aside from that odd dress) were more used.
"Who or what are you?" he asked.
"I am the infamous Time Sorceress. I just prefer being a soul reaper because that way I don't get dumb requests," she grinned.
"How did you break a captain without killing him or torturing him?"
"I pranked him with the help of others. Breaking him wasn't even my fault. Two of the younger Espada bribed another to bring their favorite show to life, and he snapped. It wasn't my fault that dinosaur was singing the song that never ends," she answered cheekily.
"Singing dinosaur?" he asked, pausing.
Tatsuki stopped, and grinned evilly.
"Are you sure you want to know? He's hard enough to listen to while babysitting..."
"On second thought, forget about it," he said quickly. He didn't like the look in her eyes.
"So out of all the soul reapers, only Ichigo and Renji have gotten their swords back?" asked Tatsuki.
"What about you, Adhara-san?" asked Unohana.
"I let Kyoko go home almost a year ago. She wasn't born to be a zanpakuto, and I wasn't going to force her to," said Tatsuki.
"It's not like you ever used her that much anyway," said Ikkaku.
"Why would I need to? I'm strong enough without forcing her to fight with her powers. She hates fighting, which is why I rarely if every used her. Pranks she could deal with, fighting never."
Kyoko slithered up to Tatsuki's neck.
"This Kyoko, on the other hand, doesn't mind fighting so long as I feed her. I've been using her to fight with a sword," said Tatsuki.
She hissed, and curled closer to her partner. Tatsuki didn't mind sharing body heat.
Tatsuki ran with Ichigo, having heard that Byakuya was in the area. He had been missing for nearly a week since last seen fighting his sword.
Something was wrong, and she intended to get to the bottom of it. She slowed down, and decided to try another approach.
She was going to use her powers to see into the past and locate the missing captain. Then she was going to force the answers out of him.
He wouldn't be missing unless he didn't want to be found.
She found where he was, and slipped into the time stream without Ichigo noticing until ten minutes later. He kept going, knowing she would catch up eventually. With his crappy control, he wasn't too hard to find.
Byakuya found himself stuck. It wasn't because his foot was caught by something, that he could deal with.
It was because for some reason he couldn't move his body, at all. He used his eyes to try and find why.
Adhara walked out of the wooded area slightly annoyed.
"If you had stayed still long enough, I wouldn't have had to use that trick on you," she said irritated.
Senbonzakura appeared, intending to free his partner.
"Back off. I want answers, and I'll let you go once you give me honest ones. Why have you been missing for the past week?"
"I can't tell you."
"Does it have anything to do with why Muramasa has no master?" she asked.
Byakuya said nothing, but his eyes told the truth.
"I thought as much. I found it odd he was wandering around without a partner, but if something happened that would explain it. I'm guessing his master was a Kuchiki then?"
"How did you...?"
"Logic. The only reason I could see for you to even involve yourself personally to the point that you abandon your sister and squad would be if it involved your clan. Your honor would allow nothing less."
"He is a traitor that was sealed nearly four centuries ago after the end of the civil war. He went berserk and my grandfather and Captain Yamamoto had to seal him off. Muramasa was his sword."
"And now he wants to free his master, am I right? I was wondering why I kept hearing that sword crying out in loneliness," she said calmly.
"You...you can hear him?"
"Clear as day. Every time I run into him I hear his soul crying out in pain and loneliness. Would you like some help to find his master?"
"How could you help?"
"Break into Yamamoto's personal office and look at his journals. With all the confusion no one would know it was me and you can find the rogue faster."
"How will I find you?"
"I'll find you. Every step you take, I can find you with ease. It doesn't help that I can look into the past and slip into the time stream whenever I want. I'll let you know when I find where he is," she said, releasing him.
"Why weren't you affected earlier?"
"My original zanpakuto is actually a goddess of time. I didn't want to keep her from her family, so I let her go home. My familiar has been standing in since then," she shrugged.
Byakuya went back to his original destination. He was going to remain by Muramasa until either Adhara found Koga or he did. Either way the embarrassment of the Kuchiki clan would be taken care of.