Chapter 5: Incognizance

The sun was setting quickly. The sky was blazing orange as the darkness flowed into the emptiness left behind. An uneasiness had settled upon the Court. No one knew when the next attack would come, or who would be targeted. With the authorized use of zanpaku-to shikai and bankai had many worried about the severity of the issue.

Captain Ogawa Takumi sat in his office. He, too, was worried. He knew that the Commander would never issue such a reckless order if he wasn't truly concerned about the strength of the enemies. Captain Dosu was on the loose, Captain Tadokoro was now deceased...and all within a little over one day.

Looking over the reports, Captain Ogawa pondered. He was not only the captain of the 12th squad, but he was also the leader of the Covert Ops regime. He was an expert at finding people…why couldn't he find this intruder or Captain Dosu? He'd sent his recon teams out into the Court to see if they could sense an intruder or find them attacking their next mark.

Why was Captain Tadokoro Rin targeted first… Ogawa couldn't shake the thought that there had to be a reason behind it. No one just waltzes into the Court of Pure Souls, where the most powerful shinigami ever are, and starts swinging swords. He must have a plan of action…

A knock on the door brought Ogawa's mind back into his office.

"Enter." The door opened and a lovely young female shinigami walked into his office. "Lieutenant Susumu, what do you have to report?"

"Captain Ogawa, sir, I just got done interviewing the lieutenant of the fourth squad, Miranashi Jinosuke." Susumu stepped into the office and stood at attention in front of her captain's desk.

Motioning for her to relax and sit, Ogawa asked "What were your findings?"

Susumu was still rigid. "The way he described the fallen shinigami who were attacked at the Southern Gate…some of them weren't cut. After actually examining all of the casualties, anyone who was cut was still alive. The dead had no cuts or even bruises; they were just completely sapped of all their reiatsu…and died."

"Their reiatsu…sapped?" Ogawa's eyes lit up. He found his answer.

"Sir? What are you thinking?" Susumu hadn't seen her captain's eyes light up like that for a while. He stood from his desk and walked over to a bookshelf. Picking up a small book, he opened it at a bookmark.

"It's an older method, but according to the data you just reported it might just work. This might be the only way to catch the intruder."

"Sir? What might work?"

Ogawa smiled. "Reiraku."

OOOOOOOOOOO

Outside Captain Maruyame's office over a dozen shinigami rested in beds. They had all been injured in the past two days, either by Dosu or the intruder. Some had bandages wrapped around their torsos, some around the head. Other still had casts and splints on their severed or broken limbs. But they all were alive.

Captain Maruyame stepped out of her office to tend to the patients. She had been working so hard lately she hadn't had a chance to clean herself up. Nonetheless she was still quite beautiful, her long hair tied into a tight bun. She checked the patients systematically, making sure their bleeding had stopped and injuries were healing correctly. One of them seemed to be feeling particularly well.

"Captain Maruyame, ma'am!" Yukihime Sutomaru sat upright in his bed. His big eyes open wide, he saluted Maruyame. "There's no need to check on me! My wounds have healed well thanks to your superior healing ability. I'm ready to go back onto the field and serve again!"

She smiled. "Yukihime Sutomaru, just like your father. But, no. You're still under my care and I haven't deemed you ready to go back into the field. The intruder severed a few main arteries in your torso and you need to rest."

The brightness in Sutomaru's face began to fade. "The intruder…who killed my captain."

Maruyame looked concerned. "Be thankful that you weren't killed, Lieutenant Yukihime. Your captain would want that."

Sutomaru immediately perked back up and slammed his fists together. "I will avenge my captain's death! He was not only my captain but a dear friend and mentor!"

A sudden shout shot through the room. "Sutomaru!" Captain Yukihime Saku stood in the doorway of the clinic.

"Father!"

"Captain Yukihime. Welcome." Maruyame motioned for him to come over.

In a flash Yukihime was next to his injured son. "My son! Don't say such depressing things about your late captain! He was a dear friend of mine as well! If any man could have mentored my son even half as well as myself, it would have been Captain Tadokoro Rin!" Yukihime grabbed his son and hugged him. Sutomaru winced in pain as he hugged back.

"Father! I'm glad you could come to see me so soon."

Yukihime slapped his son. "Don't speak, my dear son! Conserve your energy and concentrate on healing!" He turned to Maruyame. "Thank you very much for working on my dearest son. We in the 5th squad thank you and are currently working on finding the culprits who put these shinigami into your clinic."

"Father! The intruder who attacked Captain R—" Sutomaru was cut off by a backhand.

"Peace, my son! Captains are discussing!"

"Captain Yukihime!" shouted Maruyame, half serious, half laughing. "Your son is injured. Please stop hitting him."

OOOOOOOOOOO

Shosuke sat in his office. Koji and Miko sat across from him, Miko almost in tears and Koji staring a hole through the wall. Not one of them had spoken for nearly an hour. They all knew why they were there, but the recent events shook them all to the point of exhaustion.

They had gathered there to discuss Dosu's plans. After Ayame's funeral, Koji looked after Miko while Shosuke attended the captain's meeting. Now they were back in Shosuke's office. The silence was broken by an attendant stepping into the open door. He knelt down to deliver his message.

"Excuse me, Captain Shosuke?"

Shosuke looked up at the attendant, "Yes?"

"Commander Kurosaki has sent a message for you. He wishes to meet with you in the morning at 8 AM sharp. He expects a full report of your findings by then."

"Tell the Commander I'll be there." Great, just what I need, more paperwork.

With that the attendant left and the same silence from before once again descended upon the room. They all knew why they were there, but none of them wanted to talk about it. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since Ayame was murdered.

Koji broke the silence. "Captain…"

Shosuke cut him off. "Miko. Tell me everything you know."

Miko, wiping preemptively at her red eyes, raised her head. "Captain Dosu wants to completely overthrow the Gotei 13."

"How does he plan to do that? And what does that have to do with Ayame?"

Miko lowered her head a little. "He plans to take the same actions Captain Daikon took."

Koji joined in. "Captain Daikon Kuroihana? He was the one who tried to start a mutiny against the aristocracy."

"Yes," said Shosuke, "he also tried to poison the Commander. He believed that Soul Society was being run by pompous noblemen who had no concern for the common person. The four noble families, Hiroshi, Hisao, Yukihime, and Kurosaki, were his only targets."

"And that's exactly what the captain plans to do. His aim is higher than Daikon's, though. He wants to become a supreme ruler over all of Soul Society. He didn't want to rule alone though…and that's why…" Miko began to tear up. "That's why he went after Ayame. He wanted her so badly…" whimpers and tears began to flow out of Miko.

Koji placed his hand on her back. She sobbed for a bit, then somewhat regained her composure.

Shosuke needed to know more. "Did he tell you who he would strike first? And could Captain Tadokoro's death be tied in?"

Miko tried her hardest to pull herself together. "He spoke of going after the Yukihime family first. He never spoke ill of Captain Tadokoro, I don't think he would have attacked him."

"Wait…" Koji added, "Yukihime Sutomaru is Tadokoro's lieutenant, right? Could Dosu had attacked him, and ended up fighting Tadokoro afterwards?

"I thought the same thing," said Shosuke, "But no. Yukihime Sutomaru is still alive, and Tadokoro is not. Dosu would have killed Sutomaru. Sutomaru also reported that the assailant was in fact not Dosu. Perhaps they're linked somehow?" He turned his gaze to Miko. "Did Dosu ever say anything about having an accomplice?"

Miko looked up. "He hinted at having an accomplice, but never fully said it."

Shosuke was now concerned. "Hinted? What do you mean?"

"Well…he would just say things…he seemed to have a lot of information about the noble families. He even once said his 'sources' found out some of that information."

Shosuke pondered on this. "No. The one who attacked Captain Tadokoro was not affiliated with Dosu. The intruder's reiatsu doesn't match any of those within the noble bloodlines. In fact, it doesn't match any records. We'll have to consider the intruder a separate threat."

"So what are we to do now?" asked Koji.

"Miko said that Dosu's first target will be the Yukihime family. We'll send notice to them telling them our information. Dosu has not been seen nor sensed for a whole day, so we need to be prepared incase he plans on attacking at night. Miko, you can stay here if you'd like."

"Thank you, Captain Shosuke." Miko wiped her eyes again. They were getting red and puffy.

"What should I do, Captain?" Koji asked. "I don't want to just leave Miko here by herself."

"Take her back to your place, and keep a close eye on her. Contact me if you need to. Right now, I have a report to write." Shosuke reached into his shirt, pulling something out of the inner pocket. He placed some money onto the desk. "You two go buy yourself something to eat. Neither of you have eaten all day."

Koji picked up the money. "Thank you, Captain Shosuke." Koji saluted and motioned for Miko to join him. She did her best to keep her composure, but started to lose it again as they walked out of Shosuke's office.

Shosuke pulled paper out of his desk and prepared his pen. I really hate paperwork.

OOOOOOOOOOO

"Reiraku, sir?" asked Susumu. She had never heard the word before.

"It's an older method of finding or identifying shinigami and hollows' reiatsu by pure condensed presence. By condensing the reiatsu in the air around you into visible threads, you simply find the one that matches your target and follow it to them. They used it long before the recorded reiatsu scans we use now to track our men and enemies." Ogawa flipped through the pages of the book he was holding. "The method is rarely used anymore, but it's been documented hundreds of times and will be just as reliable now as it was in the Hybrid War."

"But, sir, I don't understand how this will help us find the intruder. He masks his reiatsu so well that none of the scanners have been able to find a single trace."

"It's because they've been looking for the wrong reiatsu. They've been looking for an unidentified intruder who has masked his reiatsu." Ogawa closed the book. "If what you said about the deceased shinigami from the attack earlier is true, that they were all completely drained of their reiatsu, then simple logic says that the reiatsu of the deceased had to have gone somewhere."

Susumu began to understand. "And that somewhere is inside the intruder?"

"Precisely. We've been looking for him, but if we can isolate a single thread of reiatsu that belonged to someone with a strong scent—"

"Like Captain Tadokoro!" Susumu stood up. "Captain, you're saying we're going to put out a search for Captain Tadokoro's reiatsu?"

"Yes, lieutenant. That's precisely my plan."

OOOOOOOOOOO

"Captain Hisao!" Jira stood in the doorway of the 6th squad lobby. Captain Hisao Takemine was leaning over a counter, speaking to a secretary.

"So, I'm thinking you, me, some sake and candle lights…what do you think?" Hisao smiled at the young female. Man, this secretary can write my schedule any day of the week…

"Oh…Captain Hisao…I…don't know what to say…" The girl blushed. She was quite beautiful, and she knew it, but she never expected the captain himself to take notice.

"Captain Hisao, sir!" Jira walked over towards the counter.

"What is it, Jira?" Hisao turned and looked hard at his lieutenant. "I'm kinda busy, as you can see. What could possibly be so important?" He looked back at the secretary, letting his eyes drop towards her cleavage. She blushed again and smiled.

"Sir! This is no time to be flirting. We have important matters to discuss." Jira was getting impatient. They still had to go over many reports given by various captains and prepare for the next day's search assignments.

Hisao turned his head back towards Jira. "Lieutenant…you sure know how to kill a mood, you know that?" He got up off the counter top and shot a glance at the secretary again. He gave her the I'll see you later look. With that he motioned for Jira to follow him into his office. "Jira, you better have something damn good to discuss for it to take me away from a potential date."

Jira sighed. They entered into Hisao's office and Hisao calmly sat down into his desk. Jira remained standing. "Sir, we need to go over some new reports filed by some of the captains. We're behind on all of the events and findings because you—"

"Because I what, Jira? Because I don't seem to care?" Hisao's voice was smooth and calm, but Jira knew his captain was getting agitated.

Jira swallowed hard. "Because you haven't been taking this seriously, that's correct."

"That's correct, sir. You forget yourself, Lieutenant Tado." There was a tone of annoyance in his voice now.

Jira was now nervous. His captain was staring right at him. How could he have forgotten to address his superior as "sir?" "I apologize, sir. I'll be sure to take more care with my words."

"Jira…you know you're problem? You're too tense. Do you really think I don't understand the severity of the current situation?" Hisao's voice began to flow with a mixture of anger and sarcasm. "Please, Jira, tell me what I could be doing better. Obviously you're much wiser than I."

Jira was sweating now. He had pissed his captain off. He tried to get a grip on himself in order to find the right words. "Sir…I am just concerned for the well-being of our men and the men of the other squads…as well as everyone in the Court itself."

"Jira, go play lieutenant somewhere else. I know what I'm doing. It's insulting that you, a mere lieutenant, would try to advise a captain. Not just a captain, but an older, wiser, stronger captain who is getting very annoyed." Hisao placed his hands on the table and lifted himself up. His gaze now was directly into Jira's eyes. "If you ever address me again like you have right now, you'll be sweeping the entire 6th squad district for the rest of your career. Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-yes, sir."

Hisao leaned back into his chair. "Get out of my office, my allergy to insolence is acting up again. Come back when you have something I might actually care to hear."

Jira saluted his captain and left.

Hisao relaxed into his chair. He loved being in charge. It made him feel powerful.

The sun was completely gone under the horizon. It was growing dimmer and dimmer as the light of dusk was slowly fading. The lights in the office began to dim as well. Hisao took notice and sat up. A large shadow began to consume the light in the room.

He pressed the intercom button. "Shiko?"

"Yes, captain?"

"Hold all visitors and messages. My seven o'clock is here."

OOOOOOOOOOO

Ogawa and Susumu stood on top of the 12th squad building. Ogawa was preparing himself.

"Susumu, do you have the recorded scan of Captain Tadokoro's reiatsu?"

"Yes, Captain." She pulled a small vile out of her sleeve. "You need this in order to match the scents, right?"

"Exactly. Now, step back. I have to concentrate." Ogawa closed his eyes. He remembered what the book said. In order to fully see and grasp the reiraku threads, he had to envision them first. He let his mind relax and began to sense all the surrounding reiatsu. Some down on the streets, too weak. Some inside the building, too weak. He began to feel the pressure around him change. He opened his eyes. "Perfect."

Surrounding Ogawa and Susumu now were hundreds of red threads. Susumu, too, could see them.

"Amazing! Captain, how did you do this?" Susumu reached out and touched one of the threads. It felt like an overwhelming pressure of reiatsu was leaking from it.

"Now, hand me Captain Tadokoro's recorded scan." Susumu handed the small vile to her captain. He pressed the small button on top, and instantly red smoke began to emit from the top. The red smoke seeped away in a clump and moved towards one of the red threads around them. When it attached itself to a thread about six feet away, Ogawa knew his planned had succeeded. He moved over and grabbed the thread. "It's weak, but this is Captain Tadokoro's reiatsu. Let's follow it."

In a flash the two moved from one rooftop to the next. They had the scent, and now they were moving for the hunt.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Ankashi stood on the roof of the old 3rd squad warehouse. He really did miss the old days. He had to move earlier because someone spotted him, but luckily they were too slow and he lost them in no time. He hoped they didn't get a good look at his face, because they could have recognized him. He needed to remain unknown for the time being.

Ankashi looked down as his sword began to glow.

"What is it, Sanzoku? Do you sense something?"

"Someone's coming. Someone strong."

"Well, they ain't after me. My reiatsu's been sealed completely."

"Don't be too sure that you're still untraceable…"

Ankashi didn't worry too much. He had perfected masking his reiatsu long before he came here. Otherwise he wouldn't have lasted two minutes inside of the Court of Pure Souls. He laid down against the wall that surrounded the roof. He figured now would be a good time to try to sleep for the night.

As he shut his eyes and slowly entered sleep, he thought through his plan once again. His objective was quite a big one. Perhaps too big. Maybe destroying the entire Gotei 13 is a little much. I'm sure not everyone was involved in my family's betrayal.

Rin's words came back to him again as he drifted to sleep. It was the same words his family said to him in all of his dreams…"Stop lying to yourself."

He mumbled in his sleep, "Heh…the only ones lying were those who I thought were my friends and comrades."

His eyes opened and he was in a small room. There was a small table in the middle of the room, slightly decorated with flowers and such. Slowly, plates of food began to appear on top of the table as if some ghostly dinner was being served. First a few bowls of rice, then a main platter looking to be chicken or something like it. Voices came next.

"Congratulations, Ankashi. You too, Kanoshi."

"We're all so proud of you, you're finally going to be in the Gotei 13!"

Ankashi recognized the voices…they were his family. Slowly, people began to appear in the room. One by one they almost seemed to fade into existence as they're conversation continued. His mother, his sister, some friends of the family.

"Ankashi! You look so tired." His mother looked at him and smiled. She was such a beautiful woman, and Ankashi's heart ached because he knew he missed her. "After such a long day, what with the training they put you through at the academy. Sit, sit!"

Ankashi noticed that more people had appeared in the room, filling the spots around the table, all but one. It was his seat. He moved forward to take a seat, but someone quickly moved in front of him and took it before he could. Annoyed, he reached out and placed his hand on the person's shoulder. To his surprise, his hand passed right through.

"Mom, you didn't have to fix such a wonderful dinner!" Ankashi recognized this voice…it was his own. He looked down and saw himself sitting at the table. He was so young…

"Yeah Mrs. Kyuzo, this really wasn't necessary." Slowly another face came into the picture on the other side of the table. It was Kanoshi.

Ankashi couldn't take this anymore. This scene played in his mind nearly every night now, and it was always the same. "Why…why do I keep remembering this day? Why won't the thoughts go AWAY!" With that Ankashi let out of scream of anger and pain. Suddenly a huge light flashed through the room, and instantly the scenery changed drastically.

Now the room was nearly empty, and cold. Slowly, the scent of blood began to fill the room, and Ankashi heard a soft crying. Looking around the room to see where it was coming from, a young man slowly entered into the scene. He was leaning over something, crying, with a sword in his hand. His tears streamed down and became clouded with the blood that covered his hands. Slowly a body appeared underneath him, and more and more bodies began to appear, strewn about the room and covered in blood.

"Why…why is everyone dead…why did everyone die?" The young man cried. He laid himself down onto the dead body before him. "Kanoshi…why? Why are you dead?" He wrapped his arms around the body of another young man.

Ankashi once again recognized the man. It was himself, older than in the first room. This was a scene from four years ago. Ankashi looked at himself, and realized he didn't remember this event. Slowly, Ankashi stepped towards his younger self.

A dark voice spoke. "Stay away…." The younger Ankashi looked up. His eyes had turned dark black. Slowly a collection of white particles began to form on the left side of his face, and it quickly grew until it began to resemble something horrifying: A hollow mask.

"Stay…AWAY!" The man stood up. He began to shake violently, and raised his sword. Placing a hand over the mask that was covering his face, he let out a blood-curdling, inhuman scream.

"Ankashi! Wake up!"

Ankashi's eyes snapped open as he quickly jumped up and drew his sword, raising it to block another sword that was now just inches from his face.

Captain Ogawa stared hard at his target.

"Kyuzo Ankashi? The former 3rd squad lieutenant? You're the intruder?"

Ankashi's mind wasn't fully functioning yet, he broke their hold and jumped back. He raised his sword to eye level and pointed it at his assailant, who was standing half-way in the shadows. "Who're you?"

"You don't recognize me?" Ogawa stepped towards Ankashi as the soft light of the moon shone upon his face. "Captain of the 12th squad and leader of the Covert Ops regime, Ogawa Takumi."

"C-captain Ogawa!" Ankashi remembered this man now. He didn't plan on dealing with this man until much later. He didn't know if he was truly ready at this point.

"Good, now that you recognize me, I can arrest you. Kyuzo Ankashi, you are charged with treason against the Court and the Gotei 13, and the murder of Tadokoro Rin as well as countless other men. You can either turn yourself in or I will take you in by force."

Ankashi knew he had no choice. "Screw you!"

"I figured you'd say that." Ogawa raised his sword. "Hush, Gobutsoh.." A small hum emitted from the sword, filling Ankashi's ears. When the humming went away, Ogawa slowly began to walk forward. He swung his sword at Ankashi, who raised his in defense, but when the two blades clashed, no sound could be heard. Ogawa vanished in a flash. Ankashi quickly surveyed his surroundings, trying to follow where Ogawa went with his eyes. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain on his side, and he instantly turned around to find Ogawa with a small amount of blood on the edge of his blade. Ankashi looked down and saw a gash on his lower waist.

How did he sneak up on me so easily? He didn't even make a sound…not a single… Ankashi's eyes lit up. Now he remembered what Gobutsoh's ability was.

"To remove sound completely from one's movements. Gobutsoh, the Forced Silence." Ogawa stepped back and placed his sword over his shoulder. "Glad to see you seem to remember my zanpaku-to's ability, Ankashi."

Ankashi knew he was in for a long fight.

OOOOOOOOOOO

The large shadow that had been forming in Hisao's office now began to take shape. It slowly crept over the walls and ceiling, finally raising up into a figure behind Hisao's chair. A long, curved shadow formed around his neck, and hardened into the black, curved blade of a scythe. The blade was at most an inch from Hisao's neck.

"Dosu."

"Hisao." Dosu completely formed out of the shadows.

Hisao remained eerily calm, and even smiled. "You're late, partner."