Chapter 1 (Kumiko)

"Please, I won't—"

The blade had already cut away the life from her. I guided her body to the ground, one of many that were littered around me. Death weighed my shoulders down like weights had been tied to my wrists.

I slowly rose, wiping away the blood on my blade and sheathing the sword. They would all be gone soon, their bodies dissipating to join the Reishi in the air.

This was the last of them—the last of the ones who knew any shroud of what happened to Kisuke and the other captains and lieutenants. The last of them that knew about my marriage to Kisuke and Shizuko's relation to him.

It had been over a year since the incident that had caused the Soul Society to lose half of its leaders. They had all been promptly replaced, most being succeeded by their lieutenants or third-seats. Other changes had been made to the Squads, as well as new laws passed by Central Forty-Six to avoid such a tragedy again.

The changes were easier to make given that Central Forty-Six had me cleaning up and tying up the loose ends of the entire mess. They did little to amend the loss and instead wiped the problem from the board altogether. Save for the Captains and Lieutenants that were present that night a year ago, and a handful of the new leadership, no one knew of the Hollowfied Shinigami. Everyone knew of Kisuke Urahara's exile, though few knew why. All that was clear was that he was to be killed on sight, as well as Yoruichi Shihoin and Tessai Tsukabishi.

Not even I knew the whole story. I hated that. What I hated more was that I was silencing all the leads I had to finding out what happened that night. Whatever information I could get from them I managed to but it wasn't all that much. If I had it my way, I would keep them all alive and find out what happened that night my husband had supposedly violated half of the Court Guard Squads…but I couldn't.

I had to keep her safe.

And that meant stripping myself of everything that was Kisuke. Our home. Any evidence that we had shared a life or had been married was now decimated. As far as everyone but my family were concerned, my daughter had been born to a husband who had died the night of our wedding.

It was all frightfully clever. There were no witnesses, no testimony to who I was and the portion of my life I had shared with Kisuke. Maki and Rika had run away after the new captain had taken over, and half of the men in Squad Eleven were either killed, bribed into silence, or had been replaced. Soi-Fon was dutifully obeying orders to keep silent, and the noble families all kept our affairs to themselves.

Sometimes I found myself struggling to recall when my marriage had been a reality. At those times, I felt like a ghost. Invisible and haunted.

"You're back."

The gruff voice of my new captain, Kenpachi from Zaraki. He was a hulking beast of a man and far more threatening than Kiganjo had been. Zaraki inspired the men and we had quickly rose from being the Squad of misfits to the a Squad of elite killers, like Squad Two. The rumors about our new lieutenant, third and fifth-seat only added fuel to the fire.

Apparently, there were whispers about me as well—the girl who had survived Kusajishi, killed the last third-seat, and who supposedly had a higher kill count than anyone in the Seireitei before Kenpachi Zaraki came around. The last one was clearly a story told to the new recruits to scare the shit out of them, though it had concerned me that someone might have caught wind of my employment to Central Forty-Six.

The new captain was good at killing, though I couldn't say he was a much better captain than Kiganjo. At least Kiganjo completed some of his paperwork, and Maki had done all of his. Nowadays, I was stuck with doing everyone's paperwork.

Kenpachi was leaning against what used to be my office door. Now it was his little beast's jungle gym—whereas I worked in an office with the new Third Seat, Ikkaku.

"Sir," I bowed my head as I walked past him.

"I smell blood on your sword." His words made my skin crawl, reminding me of the awful sins I had committed to try protect the only good thing left in this world. "I don't recall sending you out on any assignments."

"That's because you didn't."

He stared at me long enough to make me eventually squirm. And then that maniacal chuckle rumbled from his chest, "I like you. Scarred, dark, dangerous. Just like my men Ikkaku and Yumichika—but there's something more. Or should I say…less."

His words made me flinch and he only chuckled louder.

"Yes, that's exactly it. Emptiness. You've been carved, inside and out—a true seasoned fighter. You're by far the most interesting rich, pompous fuck I've come across."

"Sir," I bowed to him and left, walking away as fast as I could. My hands were trembling and I fell to my knees as soon as I reached my office.

Carved inside and out. How true, I thought as I shut my eyes and touched my face. Empty...no, hollow. Empty implied nothing and I was still something. But I was nothing compared to who I had been before.

"Kisuke," I whispered, touching the finger that used to hold his ring. Why would he do this to me? Why?

It was all I could ask myself as I fought back the tears of my freshly wounded heart. I still felt so much grief that I felt like I was about to explode any second—all I wanted was him beside me and I knew that would never happen.

Because even by some miracle he wasn't the most hunted man in the Soul Society, I would kill him myself for leaving me alone.


The days away from Shizuko dragged on. I returned to my room after I finished last week's paperwork, trying to figure out how I could finish this week's before I went back home. I still had Ikkaku and Yumichika's reports to file, as well as my own squad transfers to do—if I didn't then I may have to take them with me.

I sat down on my bed and stared at the room around me. This room…I used to share it with him. Everything in my life had been touched by him—it carried his mark and I didn't know how to scrub that mark away. I didn't know how to live without him. It was hard to believe that there had been a time before Kisuke Urahara…it was hard to accept ever going back to a time without Kisuke.

There was a knock on my door, and a guard from Central-Forty Six entered soon after.

"I've finished their last assignment," I told him. I didn't bother standing up and bowing—he would be gone in a matter of moments. The paper in his left hand told me that there was still more for me to do.

"They would like you to talk to Agano Chojiro," He handed me the orders.

I paused, "Agano Chojiro is the new lieutenant of Squad Twelve?"

"Do you have a problem fulfilling this—"

"No," The orders crumpled in my tight grip. I was so tired of killing fellow Shinigami, but I was mostly frightened of how I so easily accepted their fates. What had I become in this past year?

"Captain Kurotsuchi is delving closely into Kisuke Urahara's research. He needs to be deterred."

Death. It clung to me like a stench that would never wash off. I had become Death and I answered to the Fates of the Soul Society.

"I understand."


Next: Kumiko comes home; We get caught up with what's happening with Kisuke