Author's Note: Okay, I don't think this chapter is as good as the others, but that's not my fault. Blame Rangiku for going on tangents which are probably unneccessary but will save time in later chapters as I won't have to explain again.
Disclaimer: Still don't own Bleach
I could barely conceal my shock as he said who attacked him. I was right. It had been Patience and Kindness who attacked him after all. I was spared the trouble of having to explain because Wrath hollered my name from downstairs. I sighed and apologised to Shiro, promising to explain everything when I got back and I slowly made my way downstairs. Sure enough, all the sins had assembled, as I had thought they would. We had a human in our midst and it wouldn't be very sensible to continue without discussing with everyone else.
"What did you want, Wrath?" I turned to the raven haired, heavily scarred sin.
"All of us need to talk about that man who is upstairs." Pride surprised me by answering my question. I took my place at the table, in between Greed and Gluttony.
"We need to keep him here. He knows about the Virtues. They aren't going to any lengths to keep their identities secret and they're getting sloppy. He was a priority target as he had too much kindness and patience" I quickly explained to the expectant sins.
Sloth picked up his drink and drained his glass quickly. "Well, that settles it. If he lives here, we'll have to tell him who we are" Kyoraku Shinsui, probably the wisest of all the sins when sober, chipped in for once. The dark haired man had a flair for style and was always up with the latest fashions. He may be Sloth, but sometimes he certainly didn't act like his sin. Everyone agreed with what he said and I was about to leave when I was called back by Wrath. I turned and stared at the man.
"What, Kenpachi? I assume that there is something else you need to tell me which will prevent me from explaining who we are to Shiro and tending to his wounds?" I was rather impatient now.
"You have a priority mission" His low, gravely and eager voice reached my ears and I could tell that he was rather jealous that I got a mission for once instead of him. Kenpachi Zaraki was a man who lived to fight and embodied his sin extremely well. I sighed and went over to where Greed was working at the computer. He pulled up the mission information and I rolled my eyes.
"This won't take too long, will it Kisuke?" I addressed Greed by his first name and he looked at me in surprise.
"Probably not" he replied. Kisuke Urahara certainly was a mystery. The blonde haired sin hardly ever let anyone know anything about him and always kept an air of mystery about him. He was a kind and helpful man when he wanted to be and he always knew what sort of remarks to make to really annoy me as he demonstrated earlier in front of Shiro. Not many people had seen Kisuke's eyes because of the green and white striped hat he wore covering them, and the only time I'd ever seen them, it hadn't boded well for Envy.
The original Envy was helpful and I always felt like I could trust him. Unfortunately, a priority mission went rather badly and he died... Kaien Shiba was probably the most down to Earth Envy we could have asked for. The current one, however, made me feel uneasy. I felt like I couldn't trust him. Gin Ichimaru had a flare for the unusual and had this air of superiority, although Pride was supposed to be like that. I snapped out of my daydream and walked out of the pub to carry out my mission.
A few hours later, I was walking back to the pub and I heard footsteps behind me. Six sets of footsteps and a familiar feeling of dread washed over me and I sped up. The footsteps did the same. Steeling myself, I turned around, coming to a halt and knowing that luck wasn't on my side. Charity, Diligence, Kindness, Patience, Humility and Abstinence stood before me, smiling sweetly, hiding the killer intent I could feel in their auras. This was the end for me. I knew it. Six Virtues versus one Sin. When it was one on one in battle, it was fairly evenly matched. Two on one was extremely hard, but wasn't impossible to survive. Three on one and you stood no chance whatsoever (unless you were Wrath and he would be able to take on all the Virtues at once with a fairly good chance of winning), and here I was, faced with all six of the Virtues.
"There's no point in me even trying to fight you, is there?" I asked them and they all agreed. But I stood my ground and all of them came flying at me. I braced myself and it was all I could do to block their attacks. Pain flared through my body as their attacks sliced and bruised me. All I heard was a battle cry and the next thing I knew, all the Virtues were being occupied by Kenpachi who was swinging a sword wildly and it was all the Virtues could do to avoid it. I smiled and slowly made my way back to the bar.
There was nobody there when I walked in, which I was more than happy about. I slowly made my way up to the room Shiro was in and he cried out in shock when he saw my clothes ripped and covered in blood.
"What happened, Rangiku?" He asked with concern as he watched me grab the bandages and start treating my own wounds.
"I was attacked" I sighed. I guess now was the time when I would have to start explaining everything to him, and though it was sooner than I wished, I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to explain.
"By who?" He asked uncertainly.
"The Virtues, naturally" I replied with surprising ease.
"What do you mean?" Shiro was obviously confused, and I couldn't blame him for that. I would be confused too.
"I'm a Sin. Sins and Virtues are always trying to kill each other, except for Humility and Pride because they're siblings" I started my explanation simply. He nodded, although he still looked confused. I sighed. "I'll start off by explaining who the Virtues are, okay?" He nodded again and I took a deep breath, gathering my thoughts.