"Ah, I can't move! Someone-!" Tsuki yelled out as she sat up but suddenly stopped, holding her breath so the poison wouldn't get to her. But there was no poison, for she was in a totally different place. "Huh? Where am I?" she continued while looking around. "I'm in a forest? How did I get here?" – she suddenly felt a pain in her neck and reached up to rub at it – "Ugh, my neck hurts…Wait! Someone must have hit me and taken me here! But who…?"

Suddenly she heard a sound in the bushes and immediately her hand went for the hilt of her sword. She thought it might be Tsuyoi again, back for yet another fight, but it wasn't. A woman walked through the bushes and faced Tsuki with her arms crossed.

She stood a couple inches taller than Tsuki and had her long light brown hair up in a ponytail. Her deep-blue colored eyes peered from under her long bangs which were brushed over to the left side of her face. She wore a silver breast plate under a kimono-like skirt which was tied with a light blue sash and opened slightly, revealing one of her legs. She wore skin tight black shorts under the skirt and silver armor on her knees and calves. On her feet were the same boots as Tsuyoi, but with blue colored leg warmers around the ankles. On her left shoulder, elbows, and around her wrists were the same silver armor that Tsuyoi wore and draped over her shoulder – and coming from under the breast plate – was a sky blue cape. Around her neck was a dark blue choker with a blue ribbon over it, tied in the back and had silver bells hanging off of it. She seemed to be peering into Tsuki's very soul as she looked at her.

"So you're awake." she suddenly said with a smile before approaching.

For a moment Tsuki was speechless, and her eyes narrowed as she backed away, asking with suspicion, "You…don't want to fight me?"

"Of course not! Do you think that man with the long nails could control me? Please!" The woman said with a burst of laughter. "I'm not as gullible as my dumb brother! Who do you think I am?"

Tsuki relaxed and asked where she had been all this time. Ai told her that she was watching her from the first day when she found herself away from Tsuki. "My brother nearly found me that day when he ambushed you at fourth division." She continued. "I almost thought he would catch me!"

Suddenly overwhelmed with relief that the other half of her zanpaku-tô wasn't on the other side, Tsuki rushed forward and hugged the one who had watched over her from the sidelines. Ai smiled warmly and sighed at first, but then became fidgety and said with a slight frown, "Come on, you know I'm not the mushy type!"

"Sorry Ai-chan…" she said after pulling away from the hug. Her zanpaku-tô asked why she called her Ai-chan and she continued, "Don't you remember? It's to tell you and your brother apart."

"I don't wanna have a sissy name!" Ai complained as she crossed her arms. "It suits my brother better. Give it to him."

"But you're the female. Others will make fun if your brother has the girly name." Tsuki told the stubborn woman, who was muttering something about Ichigo. "Anyway, are you the one who brought me here?"

"Nope. I just found you a day ago lying on the ground." Ai replied. "And I decided to protect you until you woke up. Then I would reveal myself to you."

"Did you see who left me here then?" Tsuki asked further, curious to know who saved her.

Once again, her zanpaku-tô said no and the shinigami crossed her arms in a huff. "But one thing's for sure, I'm never going to forgive that stuck up captain of yours because of what he's done to you." Ai said aloud after a few moments angrily. "If I ever see him again I'm gonna punch that stupid pretty boy face of his!"

Tsuki smiled warmly with sadness while her zanpaku-tô suggested they get out of the forest. And so the two of them started their trek out of the woods. Not too long after they started, the two females arrived in a clearing of trees. There waiting for them was…

"Tsuyoi-kun!" Tsuki shouted out as the two of them saw the male half of her zanpaku-tô standing there with claymore sword in hand.

"You're quite the persistent one, brother." Ai said while stepping forward to protect her owner. "Won't you ever leave us alone?"

"Why do you protect her? Didn't you hear Muramasa?" Tsuyoi asked with his eyes narrowed at his sister. "Or are you on the soul reaper's side instead…?"

"What are you going to do about it? Bring me to a side that has no real objective?" Ai said to him in response. When Tsuyoi frowned with surprise, she smirked and continued, "See, your Muramasa doesn't really want freedom for the zanpaku-tô. I've seen everything and I believe he has a hidden objective. I'm not yet sure what, but he's been using you and the others as pawns."

Her brother told her that she was wrong; that Muramasa freed them so they could rule over the Soul Society. He was becoming angry and soon he would attack.

"Are you asking for a fight?" Ai asked with an angered look on her face. "Because I'll certainly oblige. You do know what happens when we clash right, brother?" – he gulped with sweat pouring down his face while looking on with shock – "All hell will break loose. Now are you sure you want to do that?"

For a moment he stood there frozen in shock until he shouted that he didn't care. "You've made the wrong decision then…" Ai told him seriously as a couple of fans appeared in her hands. She was about to start a battle with her brother when Tsuki stopped her.

"Wait!" she shouted out with worry. "I don't think you should be fighting!"

Ai looked back at her owner and said, "Someone has to turn him back to normal and you haven't had much luck in your fights with him. Would you rather fight him again?"

Tsuki said nothing, so Ai turned to face her brother once more. "You ready?" she asked and Tsuyoi became serious, nodding with his eyes narrowed.

Faster than lightning, Ai ran forward and thrust a fan into his face, but at the last moment, he dodged. He then backed away quickly and rubbed some blood away from a fresh cut on his cheek.

'So fast!' Tsuki thought as she watched Ai change her fans into the same claymore that Tsuyoi held and attacked again. 'Is this what she means when the two of them clash?'

Suddenly Tsuyoi was knocked back into a tree, breaking it in half and Ai laughed a bit before asking, "Is that all you got? You're still as weak as ever…"

"I'm…not…finished yet." Her brother said slowly as he stood, panting. "I'm still as tough as you…" He then clashed swords with her once more and they struggled.

"Why don't you just turn back to normal?" Ai asked while the two of them still clashed.

"I am normal!" her brother shouted out.

"No! That Muramasa is controlling you." She told him with a growl. "And I'll snap you out of it!"

She then overwhelmed him and slashed again, making him lose his balance. When he backed up, she attacked again and managed to knock his sword out of his hand. It landed a good distance away, right next to Tsuki. Tsuyoi looked on in shock and then glared at his sister, who stood high and mighty with a victorious smirk on her face.

"Now your hell has come brother…" Ai said as the smirk on her face turned to a vicious smile. She then creeped forward and took a firm hold of Tsuyoi's neck.

'Here it comes…' Tsuki thought as Ai brought her free hand up. Suddenly she made a fist and started to knuckle her brother's head hardly with it.

"Wait a minute!" she shouted out after running up to the two of them. "Is this…?"

"Yup!" Ai replied as she continued with what she was doing. "This is what he gets after he goes against his older sister."

Tsuki looked on in shock as Tsuyoi started to ask her to stop. "I give! I give!" he shouted out as he struggled against her grip. "Please let me go!"

"Not until you go back to normal!" his sister told him as she knuckled him even harder.

"I am! I am back!" he said tears coming up in his eyes now. "Ow, that hurts!" Suddenly Ai let go of him and he dropped to the ground. She then grabbed his collar and stared at him, seeing if he was telling the truth.

"I can't believe you!" she shouted after examining him and seeing that he was in fact, telling the truth. "You've been yourself all this time?"

"Is this true, Tsuyoi-kun?" Tsuki asked with surprise.

"Not totally. Muramasa did take control of me," he answered sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. "But when you spoke to me with your heartfelt words, it made me falter and had me thinking if staying on this stranger's side was the best choice. After trying to find Ai-chan and failing, I thought about lots of things that night, and decided to find you."

"If you had already been released from Muramasa's control, why did you fight your sister?" Tsuki questioned further with concern.

"I was…putting on an act." He replied hesitantly. "But that's not what we should be worrying about. We need to go to the world of the living, because that's where Muramasa has gone."

For a moment the two females were silent, until Ai closed her eyes and sighed. "Well, we better get going." She said while looking at her brother. "But when we get back, expect the worst punishment ever."

At first Tsuyoi was scared, but decided to accept it. For now, the three had to head to the Senkaimon to get to the world of the living…