Chapter XCIX: A Moral Questioning

Martin was able to carry Shirako safely back to the house due to Mr. Rievere's intervention with Jiino Hiyuka. He entered the house to find no one in the main room. "What's going on, Shirako?"

"Everyone with a zanpakuto...has been attacked like I was." Shirako managed. "I believe...a man has invaded Otherworld and created these evil versions of our zanpakuto. It is not as if our zanpakuto have revolted, since I was still able to use Yabokami Seigyo."

Martin's face turned into a scowl. "Those abilities...to be able to create evil clones of someone...they remind me too much of Hangyaku."

"Hangyaku...the man that created Dominick's Black Sclera, right? You explained it when Dominick fought Liomara four months ago."

"Yeah." Martin muttered. "I'm sure...whatever is happening now is somehow related to him."

"I feel Lisa, Rari, and a couple others down in the training room fighting Togosari Seigyo." Shirako said. "I cannot fight right now, but I will survive. They need your help, Martin."

"I know, Shirako." Martin responded. "But first, take some of my energy."

"You'll need it."

"Don't fight." Martin told him. "It's for my peace of mind. I can't just leave you without helping at all."

Just then, Sairyo came in through the northern entrance, carrying an unconscious Kasae on her back. "Martin…" She stuttered. "You came back after all this time…"

"Sairyo!" He exclaimed. "Is Kasae alright? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She said. "You came back at a perfect time, though." As if on cue, Waichei walked in the house from the other entrance, carrying Soriyamo on his back just as Sairyo was with Kasae. "Both Kasae and Soriyamo seem to need immediate medical attention." She explained.

Shirako gave a pained grunt in agreement, but as Waichei set Soriyamo on the floor, he glared in his direction.

"He's losing a lot of blood out of the gash on his stomach." Waichei muttered. "That should be the priority to save his life."

Sairyo set Kasae on the floor next to Soriyamo. "Martin, I'll need your help. You're the only other one here who has trained under Shirako, albeit for only a month. I need you to help close Soriyamo's wound while I treat Kasae."

"I can stop the bleeding, but Lisa and the others need our help down in the training room." Martin responded.

"I can help Lisa and the others." Martin and Shirako both stared as Waichei stood tall above them. "Leave it to me."

Sairyo nodded at him without any thought. "Thanks, Waichei. I owe you another one."

"No, I still owe all of you." Waichei smiled.

Shirako scowled. "I won't allow it." He demanded. "I don't trust you to protect them."

Then, Martin and Sairyo looked over to the wounded man. "Shirako, this isn't the time-"

"Sairyo, you don't understand. This man…" Shirako trailed off.

"Listen, Shirako." Waichei said. "I know you don't trust me, and I am not sure if you ever will, but right now, who else is capable of going down there to help? Sairyo? Martin? If one of them goes down there, then either Kasae or Soriyamo will likely die. We don't have another choice." With that, he turned around and headed to the underground training room.

"Listen, Waichei." Shirako stared him dead in the eye. "If anything happens to any one of them because of you...you answer to me."

"I know, Shirako. I know."

"Lisa!" Rari exclaimed. "You need to run away. He's here for you. He wants to kill you!"

"I know." Lisa replied. "But you're the ones who should run away."

"No, we need to be here to help you." Rari protested.

"It will be difficult for you to do anything." Lisa told him. "You cannot avoid the attack he just launched unless you are a certain distance away."

"But we thought…"

"It is not an auditory attack as you thought. The attack propagates through the air as a wave. Regardless of whether or not you can hear it, the wave will still hit you, and you will feel like your surroundings are collapsing in on you. Like you are being trapped in a small box that you can't escape. That is Togosari Seigyo's ability: to induce severe claustrophobia."

"Well said, Lisa." Her zanpakuto mocked with slow claps. "You sure know me well."

"I must know you well." She said. "To make up for my low combat power, I have become more that well versed with my zanpakuto. You know this. In all of Otherworld, nobody has a higher reiatsu than I do."

"Yes, I know that." Togosari Seigyo muttered while rolling his eyes. "But you know what that means? It means that out of all the zanpakuto in Otherworld, I am the strongest."

"That means nothing to me." Lisa told him. "You must know this as well; anyone touching the blade of Togosari Seigyo will be immune to its claustrophobic effects. That means no specialized attacks will be effective against either of us."

"Yes. That means that this battle will be determined by our skill with the blade and our fighting prowess." Togosari Seigyo smiled. "I find nothing wrong with that."

Lisa looked back at Rari. "I stopped by Kaoren and Nyoriyo on the way here." She said. "I touched Nyoriyo with my blade, so he should be able to breathe by now. Go to him and make sure he's okay."

Rari was struggling to make words. He wanted to say that he was going to stay and help, he didn't want to disobey. She seemed so mature. Despite the fact that she was nearly seven years younger than he was when they both died, she had grown into a much more eloquent, mature, and beautiful woman than he could have ever imagined. Then he knew that she would be okay. He trusted her to survive. "Liomara would be proud of you." He smiled. "You've grown so strong in just a couple of months."

She smiled back at him. "It's only because of you, Rari." She told him. "I love you. Now go."

He and Yosuhiro promptly turned around and left Lisa to fight her zanpakuto. They flew back toward the entrance, and roughly halfway there, Kaoren and Nyoriyo were waiting for them.

"Will Lisa be alright?" Yosuhiro asked.

"Yeah." Rari said. "I trust her."

Kaoren looked at the two of them. "She seems as if she's not the same woman she was before Liomara attacked." Then, Nyoriyo sat up with a pained face. "Are you ok?" His brother asked him.

"Yeah." He replied. "I can breathe fine now, but my body is just stiff."

"So, are we going to go help her?" Kaoren asked.

"She told us to wait back here." Yosuhiro said.

"We would only be in her way at this point. She is immune to his attacks, but we aren't." Rari explained. "It's because her opponent is her own zanpakuto."

"Speaking of that," Yosuhiro brought up. "You never told us what's going on here. Why is her zanpakuto attacking her? Aren't the zanpakuto supposed to be on our side?"

Rari looked serious. "I don't know for sure. Three days ago, Lisa told me that she felt a pulse. She said that she couldn't tell whether or not the pulse came from her zanpakuto, or her soul. That's all I know. I'm guessing it was then that a piece of her zanpakuto was taken. I don't know if it was forcefully removed, or if it left on its own. It's still a mystery. I don't think she knows either."

"So how do we help her?"

"A surprise attack should do." A voice said. Waichei dropped from above them to the ground. "I overheard most of the conversation. Lisa's immune to the attacks, and we aren't. But that doesn't mean she'll have an easy time. I think we do still need to help her."

"I like that idea." Rari immediately agreed.

Nyoriyo nodded. Both Kaoren and Yosuhiro looked at them in confusion, as if questioning why they so easily trusted the man. Waichei, too, looked at Rari and said, "you trust me so easily. I thank you for that."

"You saved Sairyo's life." Rari told him. "That's all I need to know you're a comrade. Those burn scars are proof."

Kaoren sighed. "I agree that we need to help Lisa. I'm willing to get past my distrust of Waichei."

Yosuhiro folded his arms. "I don't agree with it, but I'll go along with you guys."

"I never distrusted Waichei to begin with." Nyoriyo said, smiling.

"That's because you're too trusting, Nyoriyo." Kaoren scolded.

Waichei laughed it off. "If we're all ready, let's come up with a plan."

Kashito eyed Dominick with a serious look. "You can't afford to die yet?" He muttered. "You plan on finding the man behind this, don't you?"

"I must." Dominick declared. "The evil version of Hikari Seigyo has escaped, hasn't he?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I was forced to let him go in order to save you and Kujako."

"I have to find his creator. His name is Jiino Hiyuka."

"That doesn't ring a bell." Kashito said. "But he was probably the man I left to find prior to you getting here and fighting Hikari Seigyo."

"Where was he?" Dominick asked.

"I sensed him deep in the Southern forest. It was a power I had never felt before, so I tracked it there, but it was gone when I got there. He is very elusive. I never even sensed him leave."

"Really?" Dominick asked. "That's a lot, coming from you. He must be something else. Regardless, I've got to find him."

"And what do you plan to do when you find him?" Kashito asked. "Do you plan to take your revenge?"

Dominick froze. "Revenge?" He questioned. That was more directed toward himself than at Kashito. "Maybe."

"You should be careful with the motive of revenge." Kashito warned him. "All of your friends are still alive. Most of the zanpakuto have been defeated. The revenge you speak of is revenge to satisfy anger. Not all revenge is bad. There is revenge for the purpose of avenging, and there is revenge from rage. You seem to have both motives within you right now."

Dominick looked down, as if looking within himself. "Revenge...I think revenge is a valid motive." He said as if trying to protest, but his voice sounded unsure.

"I just want you to think about it." Kashito told him. "Look within yourself, and you will become a better fighter, and a better person."

"Look...within myself?"

"You are still very young, and lack a lot of experience that most other people have in Otherworld. You act on emotion a lot of the time, and that could end up being your downfall one day. Anger, especially, can lead you to do something you wouldn't normally do."

Dominick thought of the Black Sclera, and then he thought of Katsu, from nearly a year ago. He shook his head slowly.

"Ask yourself as well...of the people you are trying to avenge right now...Jason, Liomara, and you told me about Gogito...have any of them asked you to avenge them?"

Dominick was silent.

Kashito sighed slowly. "Don't think about it too much right now, or it could disrupt you while you are fighting. Just be careful, okay?" The mentor gave a soft smile.

The student shook himself out of his thoughts. "I need to get going." He said, back to his lively self, at least on the surface. He began to run out the door. On his way out, he called back to Kashito, "by the way, I never knew you had healing powers!"

The Naga grinned and called back, "who do you think taught Shirako?"

Dominick smiled, then his feet left the ground and he took off flying.

Kashito looked back at Kujako. And it was Shinrou who taught me, and the one who taught him was...Akamusa. His face slightly contorted, as if he was in pain, but it was more of a deep thought. Shinrou...if I had been there when you died, would you have asked me to avenge you?

He laughed to himself. "I just got done lecturing my student about something I'm struggling with myself. What kind of mentor am I? Then his face went serious. The more he thought about it, the more his rage began to boil, and the more he had to work to contain it. "Shinrou, I really hope you would want me to avenge you. If you don't, then I'm sorry." He muttered to himself. "Because right now, there is nothing more that I want than to take my revenge on Akamusa for what he did to you."