Disclaimer: No, I don't own Bleach, cause if I did it wouldn't be so fun for me to write about it.

Heart of Wind

Chapter 7: Grey Heart

Ryushin's focus didn't waver. "Dance upon the cradle of the moon…" His only choice was clear now. Either he remembered the name of his Soul Slayer by the end of the incantation….or most likely lose his soul when his Faux Body tries to contain the building spiritual energy. ("Do or die. I will remember your name…I will!")

Kemura sighed. "You're forgetting something. Gensuraku." The masked Death God snapped the fan up and a huge tornado exploded to life around Ryushin. "We're not going to sit here and let you do that."

"Sing of the fall of Heaven…" The voice from within the tornado was unfazed.

"Stubborn old fool." Kemura drew his Soul Slayer from its sheath. "Prepare yourself, Ex-Captain."

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Long ago, I once watched Kisuke summon his Soul Slayer's form…he said her name was Benihime. 'If this is the case', I thought, 'then just think of how cool my Soul Slayer will be when I find out its name.'

And so I trained hard every day to learn how to use Shikai, the first release. I trained for months and months, promising myself that I'd master it. After all, without Shikai there would be no way for me to reach a position of real power amongst the Gotei 13. And so I worked my ass off trying to make my Soul Slayer tell me its name. But no matter how hard I tried I could never convince it to tell me about its true power…

I started to wonder whether my Soul Slayer was just a 'shallow forging'. Whether or not it even had the capacity to have a name. I was possessed by a horrible hatred of the blade, where there had been hope and almost love before. It was a horrible time to be alive.

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"Sing of the rise of Hell…" The tornado shuddered and twisted before it died down, revealing Ryushin's body that was surrounded in a glowing barrier of silver light.

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Then I realized it. A Soul Slayer is a Death God's soul in a focused form, which meant that for me to use my sword properly I'd have to learn about my soul.

Shortly after, I met you…my angel and my devil. My twisted feelings toward you changed you, turning you from what may have been only a mediocre Soul Slayer into a weapon of untold power and strength. You became the first Soul Slayer in all of Soul Society that possessed both the power to heal and the power to destroy.

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"…and cast off your coil!" Ryushin slammed the sword blade-first into the rooftop. "Saezuru, Haiiru Tenshi!" There was an explosion of silver sparks that came from the blade as the wooden handle disappeared, replaced by a hilt that resembled the spread wings of a bird.

Kemura gritted his teeth. ("Damn it…he did it.") "Shogeki, Aoihekireki!" His sword crackled with lightning as it changed shape. "Gensuraku, kill him!"

Ryushin slowly lifted one silver eye to look upon the two opponents he would be facing. "Kemura…don't underestimate what I still have." Then he stood, pulling his sword out of the rooftop. "Or have you forgotten so quickly…that the wings of the grey angel are both black and white?" Then he grabbed both wings of the hilt and pulled. There was a burst of light and darkness that stole sight of him, and when it cleared he was holding a pair of daggers with handle-guards that resembled wings. One had a pure white blade, and the other had a pure black blade. "Odori, Haiiru Tenshi!"

Kemura went charging in right at Ryushin, his Soul Slayer's blade literally glowing with lightning. ("I'll kill you before you get the chance…")

Ryushin turned slowly, almost too slow to be a human movement, and yet by the time his movement was done he was standing over Takai's body, on the other side of the rooftop. "Don't be quite so hasty, Kemura. After all, let me heal the boy first." Turning the blade of the white dagger to face downwards, he stabbed it right into Takai's back. "Kisoku, Shirahane." The hilt shimmered and flashed red, before it returned to white. He pulled it out of Takai's back and slowly stood up, his silver eyes glittering in the sunlight. "Damn…that took more spirit force that I thought. What did you do to him, Kemura-chin?"

"Again with the Kemura-chin…die!" Kemura leapt right at Ryushin, sword held above him, ready to call down the lightning. "I'll destroy you…you old…"

"Is that so?" Ryushin pointed the blade of the black dagger right at Kemura. "I think you're forgetting something very important about my Soul Slayer."

Kemura grimaced as he realized his mistake. ("Damn you…")

"You're the one who put yourself in the air, stupid boy." Ryushin threw the dagger with all of his might. "Sakebi, Kurohane!"

Gensuraku snapped his fan down and the black dagger was sent flying through the air by a powerful gust of wind.

"I'm smarter than I was before, Ex-Captain. You've grown too soft." Kemura slammed his sword into the ground at Ryushin's feet and then the entire rooftop was filled with crackling lightning. "It's over…"

"…for you." There was a loud clang noise and Kemura was suddenly pushed back on his heels by a powerful spirit force. "I told you before…" The smoke caused by the lightning slowly cleared to reveal Takai holding equal footing to Kemura, their blades pressed against each other. "You pissed me off, and that means I'll kill you."

Ryushin breathed a sigh of relief. "Damn, took you long enough."

"Shut up. You know, today has been full of surprises, but this is one of the most interesting. Who would have thought that you were an Ex-Captain, Enjeru. And here I thought you were just a snobby jackass on purpose." Takai readjusted his stance slightly while he spoke, not seeming quite so overwhelmed by the spirit force of his opponent.

"Hey, we all have our secrets, right?" Ryushin held up both of his daggers and placed them against each other. In a flash of light they returned to the winged sword form. "Okay…you deal with the mask…"

"Shut up." Takai's eyes locked right onto Kemura's. "Hey…so you're a Vice Captain?"

"What of it?" Kemura pressed in a little bit harder, slightly amused at how hard this weakling was working to protect himself.

"Just wondering how I strong I'll be considered once I lop off your head." Takai turned quickly, his sword breaking contact with Kemura's and the end of the weapon rocketing in towards the Vice Captain's face.

Kemura turned and blocked the attack roughly. "You can't catch me such a weakling attack. Now feel the lightning, fool."

Takai smiled slightly. "Oh? You don't even realize it?"

"What are you…" Kemura's eyes widened as he felt blood drip down his chest through his robes. ("That cannot be…he never struck me…")

"Jigen Kizu…." Takai turned again and brought the weapon shooting in a different direction towards Kemura's face, only to suddenly slam into a heavy metal sheet that came in between his weapon and its target. "Oh, you."

Gensuraku slapped Takai's sword out of the way and then struck him with the heavy fan's flat, sending him rolling across the rooftop crazily.

("Such potential…but so unfocused.") Ryushin rubbed the back of his head. "Well, sorry about the interruption. Shall we continue?" Then he charged forward, his Soul Slayer crashing into Kemura's. "After all, I thought you had a score to settle with me."

"You bastard…" Kemura snarled angrily. "This time I'll make sure you won't ever come back…"

"We'll see, my dear Ex-Vice Captain….we'll see." Ryushin smiled calmly and then they both were moving, preparing to clash again.

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Takai gasped in surprise and leapt to his feet, glaring at Gensuraku. "What the hell? Are you trying to kill me?"

The masked Death God snapped his fan up and a giant tornado started to build at his feet, and then it dissipated. "Burn and cry…"

"What are you talking about?" Takai slowly held up his Soul Slayer to point right at Gensuraku's face. "I'll chop your face off in one hit with my new attack." Then he disappeared as a giant tornado made of fire came to life around him.

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Ryushin froze as he felt the sheer force of Gensuraku's attack. ("Damn it…they're that powerful?")

Kemura sighed. "I suppose Gensuraku is right. We cannot play around any more, there are things to do and all that. Good-bye, Ex-Captain." Then his blade was moving, quickly disarming Ryushin. "And with that, your life ends." The blade came shooting in to pierce right into Ryushin's eye…but it started to slow, and then stopped completely.

Ryushin blinked in surprise and glanced behind him to see that the tornado had stopped moving too. Everything around them was frozen in place. "It took you long enough, Urahara!"

"Don't talk like that, do you know how hard it is to establish this kind of space-time distortion?" The cane-holding ex-Death God seemed to almost appear out of nowhere. "After all, if we aren't careful we'll destroy the whole of existence."

"You're a horrible liar…you just wanted to build up the dramatic suspense." Ryushin smiled to himself. "When time returns to normal, you want me to make this big cool recovery and defeat my ex-Vice Captain, right?"

Urahara coyly turned away to look at the frozen fire tornado. "Perhaps. Now then, is Ito-san alright?"

"What in the hell is going on? Somebody let me down!" Takai screamed from inside the tornado, his confusion almost palpable. Then again, it was understandable for his frustration to be so huge, because while he was free in this moment in time, he still wasn't allowed to move from the spot he had been standing in at all.

Ryushin sighed. "Stop screwing with us and let's get this underway. Take the loud-mouth and the other Death God to the training chamber, their training is up to you."

Urahara smiled very slightly from behind his open hand-fan. "As you wish. And I assume you wish to go to the chamber you prepared?"

"Right. I have one week of time to unlock this seal as much as I can, so therefore I cannot waste time. Hurry up and let's get started." Ryushin knew that this was a risk, since the seal might backlash and destroy his soul, but it was that or die by Kemura's hand, and honestly he'd rather die by his own hand than lose to the hand of his spoiled Ex-Vice Captain.

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"Good morning Takai Ito…I suggest you wake up."

Takai's eyes slowly opened…and then went bug-eyed as he realized there was a sword headed right for his face. "AHHHHHH!" His instincts took over and he rolled out of the way, drawing his Soul Slayer as soon as his roll ended. "What in the hell are you doing?"

Urahara calmly lifted the cane-sword that was his main weapon of choice. "I'm simply fulfilling a favor I owe a friend. I believe you have met him. Ryushin Enjeru."

"He wanted you to kill me?" Takai growled and slid into a fighting stance that his body seemed to understand perfectly well. "That's fine with me!"

"You misunderstand…" Urahara glanced around at the desolate and rocky wasteland that surrounded them. "Anyway…prepare yourself." Then he launched forward, his thin-bladed sword meeting Takai's and then pushing through it, the force sending Takai sailing through the air. "Pitiful…you can't even stand against my Soul Slayer while its sealed. Believe it or not, that attack had almost no spiritual force behind it. Oh well, let's begin. Hopefully by the end of the week you'll be much more up to par with the power that you could have."

The sound of a heavy boot crashing into the nearby rocks didn't surprise Urahara at all. "Oh? So we're having a little royal rumble?" Asura cracked his knuckles. "I really do look forward to this then…because I can just imagine how strong you must be. It's leaking out of you like a god-damn tidal wave."

Readjusting his hat slightly, Urahara smiled, yet somehow remained dead serious in his expression. "I see…you're that perceptive when it comes to spiritual energy…maybe you'll have the potential to survive this training as well."

"Training?" Asura snickered. "Yo, sandal hat loser, I don't think you get it…this ain't no training session for me…it's called a real fight." Then he charged in towards Urahara's back.

"I like your attitude, but at the same time I know that such a manner of thinking is useless in a true battle." Urahara was suddenly standing next to Asura, his cane-sword stuck into the ground where he had been standing before.

Asura could barely comprehend that…up until he was punched so hard that his brain shut off.

Urahara looked down at his fist, and then up at the path of destruction Asura's body had brought to the surrounding rock landscape. ("I'm glad Yoruichi taught me hand to hand combat techniques. Training that boy would be difficult because he doesn't seem to use a weapon at all. He just seems to rely on his monstrous endurance to win.") Then he was standing next to his sword again, the thin weapon already in place to block Takai's incoming attack. "As for you…I have great hopes for you…so don't disappoint me…" From under his hat, his eyes met Takai's and for a few seconds he was living in the past, with a young girl who had meant quite a bit to him… "…Takai Ito. Okiro, Benihime."

Takai barely had time to comprehend those words before he was swallowed up within an invisible wall of spiritual force that nearly knocked him unconscious right there…and then he was launched backwards as his body instinctively blocked a blow that probably would have killed him otherwise, but the sheer force of the blocked strike sent him flying away.

Urahara had expected as much. ("His body knows how to be top-class, but his mind can't accept that such a power truly exists. I have to break the barrier between memory and experience, that's the best way to make this work.") Then he glanced behind him. "So, tell me...what will you do?"

Homorue smiled slightly. "It's my job to make sure that all the problems in this area are removed…I refuse to allow Takai to take that responsibility from me without a fight." He held up his Soul Slayer. "Come."

Urahara felt slightly more hopeful about this group. ("They each have their own reasons to fight…and that will make them stronger. Within each of them rests a power that will make them stronger.") He realized that Takai and Asura were back, and that the three of them were now trying to surround him. "Three on one? I'd say that those odds are unfair…but since you don't have anyone else to help you'll have to make do with these few numbers…sorry, but the advantage is mine."

"Shut up and fight…" Takai barely cared about whether or not Asura and Homorue were here or not. "…because you've caught my interest. I want to know more about this power I have, and I want to know about its full strength. I want to remember this Soul Slayer's name…I want to return my power to what it once was.…"

"Don't get ahead of yourself…" Urahara had decided on his first target. "First, you'll have to defeat me."

"Defeat you?" Takai smiled slightly. "Last time, wasn't it just knocking off your stupid-looking hat?"

"I'm surprised you have such clear memories from her in your mind…yes, her challenge was to remove my hat." He tilted his hat up slightly. "If everything is according to the plan, you should be able to do that. If you can't, then I'll save you of the pain of dying in that burning tornado by killing you here. The same goes for the two of you behind me."

They all mentally agreed. They would become stronger, or die trying.

"Very well…let's begin!" Urahara launched himself towards Takai at an amazing speed.

To be continued…

To Darksoulkai: You gotta leave it at a cliffhanger sometimes.

To Nanashi Minamino: Sir, you and I are not in competition…I haven't acknowledged you as a rival yet. Therefore, if I ever did want to write a Devil May Cry fic (though I have no intention of doing so) then I will do so.

To Time Mage: The release command of Ryushin's Soul Slayer is the longest I know of, but there's a reason for that. His Soul Slayer is one of the few in existence that has multiple special abilities, because it has three different forms.

To Seeker of the Soul: He did with the remembering of the name.