Miyako narrowed her eyes and gripped her soul slayer tightly. She had been hoping and praying that the familiar reiatsu wasn't Maki's. She hadn't felt it in over two hundred years, and now that it had returned, there was no mistaking it. She and Maki and grown up in Soul Society together and had even advanced into the 11th squad together. They always played and sparred and practiced kido together, and he confessed to her his hopes of one day fulfilling the promotion to lieutenant. He had great respect and pride for their Captain, and even almost loved him as a father. When Kenpachi Zaraki suddenly came into Seireitei and challenged the 11th squad Captain to the death, it was as if Maki's future had vanished in mere seconds. He hated Zaraki for defeating the Captain, and he hated Seireitei even more for not raising a finger in protest when Zaraki took over the 11th squad. Even though a brutal replacement such as this was not unheard of, Maki never accepted Zaraki as his new Captain. Miyako had accepted her Captain's fate, however, since he chose willingly to fight against Zaraki. It was simply their way. He was defeated and Zaraki took over; that was that. Maki never forgave her for accepting Zaraki into their squad, and from then on shunned her as his sister.

It was no wonder that Ikkaku or Yumichika wasn't alarmed by Maki's spirit force as Miyako had been. They did not join 11th squad until Zaraki had taken over, and as a result had never met Maki. The only reason Renji had felt it was because he was in Seireitei longer than Ikkaku and Yumichika, and had probably unknowingly encountered Maki before. Miyako was keen to his spirit force in particular since he was her brother. Now that they stood in front of each other, she was angry and hurt at the same time that he would even raise his sword against her. She ascertained his strength, however, and noticed that his spirit force nearly doubled. He had been concealing it well.

He's grown much stronger, she thought. No matter. So have I.

"So, Miyako, it looks as if you've been promoted since I left," he said in a mocking tone. "Still with the 11th squad? Still following that abomination of a Captain?"

"Not that you'd give a shit, but yes," she snapped back. "How dare you come back to Soul Society and show your face to me!"

Maki grinned. "Are you going to punish me, sister?"

Miyako readied her stance and glared at him. "Why are you working with the Bount, Maki?"

"Isn't it obvious? We're finally going to give Soul Society the justice it has been lacking for hundreds of years."

"Justice? You aren't speaking of justice, Maki. You're speaking of revenge."

"What's the difference? Seireitei will finally get what it deserves."

Miyako gritted her teeth. "Even if it means destroying innocent lives?!"

"A small price to pay, I think."

"How could you have stooped so low?"

Maki readied his soul slayer. "No. I have risen higher than I ever thought I could have. Master Kariya has shown me my true potential, and I will not disappoint him!"

Miyako grew angrier at his every word. "So, even though you mock me for following Captains around like a dog, you have found your own to follow around as well?"

Maki curled his lip. "Which student is better, I wonder?"

Miyako lunged at him and struck first. He blocked her blade with his and swiped back. She dodged out of the way and they continued to fight with each other at enormous speed, rebounding off of the trees, the rocks, flipping in the air and forcing the green leaves to shake and fall from all the force. Their spirit powers grew and pulsed as they fought together, neither of them refusing to back down. Neither of them were willing to spare the other, either. Miyako was so angry at him for betraying her, and he was hell-bent on revenge, forgetting about his family.

However, Miyako was still drained from the earlier events. She was breathing harder and was getting more and more tired with each swing of her sword. Maki noticed this, and started to attack harder. He swung at her and she blocked it, but slid back from the force and was struggling to stand up straight.

Fucking Renji, she cursed. If he hadn't brought me to Captain Kuchiki's office, I wouldn't be this tired.

Maki leapt at her and swung again.

Miyako rolled out of the way and tried a kido.

"Destructive Art number thirty-three, blue fire, crash down!" she screamed.

The attack knocked down two trees and Miyako shielded her face from the dust and splintered wood.

"Honestly, Miyako," Maki's voice tore through the falling dust, "a kido attack? You'll have to do better than that."

"Destructive Art number thirty-one, shot of red fire!"

The fireball shot through the rising dust and Maki dodged it, jumping into the air, out into the clear sky.

Miyako was anticipating this; she wasn't very skilled at kido attacks, but she had decided to use them as a distraction. It had made him dodge out into the open, and suddenly she was behind him. He had realized it too late.

With a hard swipe, Miyako cut his back and kicked him in the face as he tried to turn around. Maki was sent sailing down, back into the clearing, and she met him at the ground, giving him a knee to the gut. She was about to send her soul slayer through his body when he countered, knocking her blade away, and swiped at her arm. They both jumped back and Maki coughed and winced. Miyako felt hot blood drip down her left arm, but ignored it. The cut wasn't very deep.

"What's wrong, little brother?" Miyako asked. "Am I playing too rough?"

Maki straightened and glared at her. He held his soul slayer in front of him with both hands.

"I'm only getting started."

Miyako readied her stance again.

"Fine, then. Show me what you've done with your pathetic existance over these past two hundred years."

Maki grinned at her and his soul slayer began to glow.

"Shine brightly, Nijigasumi." (1)

Miyako narrowed her eyes. He was using the first stage of his soul slayer. His sword flashed with a bright light and Maki suddenly looked hazy and blurry. His silhouette became iridescent and Miyako's stomach dropped as he became practically invisible.

Before she could recollect herself to react, Maki had attacked. Her left shoulder was suddenly slashed apart and her right leg was cut from behind. Miyako dropped to one knee and felt a hard punch knock her head backwards. However, she recovered from the blow and flipped backwards. Searching out his reiatsu, she managed to raise her soul slayer in time to a third attack, this time from the front.

I can't see him, but I can at least feel him, she gritted her teeth. I won't be beaten by this coward if he insists on hiding himself from view like this.

She countered, but managed to swipe at only air. She was hit again from behind, her shinigami robe torn in the back, and she swirled around to block again.

Don't panic, she told herself. Settle down and feel out his spirit power.

She blocked from the right, then blocked from the left. Her arm was slashed at again; she rolled forward and flipped, blocking in midair, then blocked again near her feet.

"Do you like my soul slayer's powers?" Maki's voice rung out. "It can manipulate the light, allowing me to become invisible."

Miyako let out a deep breath. "In that case," she replied, "I wonder what happens if you use light against light?"

There was a pause.

She held her soul slayer up to her face and chanted, "Burn brightly, Taiyoukousen!" (2)

Instead of glowing like Maki's did, the blade of her soul slayer quickly flashed, as if it had been polished to perfection, then was gone. At first, it had appeared that nothing happened at all.

"What…?" Maki choked out.

Suddenly, an immense, burning light flashed from her soul slayer and engulfed the area. It was so bright and so hot, Maki's iridescent figure shone through as he shielded his eyes. He was standing right in front of her.

Miyako shot her blade out and cut him across the torso, then again alongside his left arm. The light of her soul slayer followed her blade and swept across the forest as she cut him again and again. He stumbled back and blinked.

"How…how can you see me?!?" he demanded.

"You can't have a rainbow without the sun, little brother," Miyako replied. "Taiyoukosen's light counteracts your ability to manipulate it. While you can manipulate light all you want, if you try to manipulate mine, it will show your reflection instead."

Maki let out a deep, angry growl and his spirit power pulsed, sending a wave of wind and energy through the trees. Miyako responded with a smiliar pulse. They attacked each other again and again, flashes of blinding light erupting with each strike, trees were cut down and crashing to the ground, leaves, dust, and splinters flew everywhere, and the ground was completely torn up after their fight.

Maki and Miyako jumped back, breathing hard. Maki had stopped using Nijigasumi and was once again visible. Miyako lowered her soul slayer, gripping it with both hands in front of her. Maki was standing sideways, looking over at her. Both of them were bleeding – Maki from the arms, back, and front torso, Miyako from the leg, shoulder, both arms, and back. She licked the blood from her lips from an earlier punch, and he wiped blood from his brow.

"How do you plan to avenge our dead Captain?" Miyako yelled at him. "It is pointless, Maki! He's dead! He's not coming back!"

"Say what you want," Maki replied tonelessly, "but everything was taken from me. Seireitei has spit upon us and has committed treacherous crimes to the Bount as well. It is only fair that I return the favor."

Miyako glared at him angrily. "So you would kill your own sister as well?"

Maki didn't reply.

"How on earth can you and the Bount bring down Seireitei? Your campaign is a worthless one," Miyako spat.

"You obviously don't know anything," Maki retorted. "The Captains of Seireitei are so dense; they won't ever see what's coming."

"What…?" Miyako narrowed her eyes.

"I'm tired of this," Maki suddenly turned towards her. "It is time to say goodbye, sister."

Miyako readied her soul slayer, but instead, Maki shouted out a kido attack.

"Binding Art number four: crawling rope!"

Before she could evade, Miyako was suddenly constricted tightly by an invisible force. It bound her arms and legs, and she was bound where she stood. She gasped for air and suddenly felt a rush of piercing, slicing pain through her left shoulder. She yelled in pain and grunted as she was slammed into a tree behind her. Maki had shoved his soul slayer through her upper left side, slicing through her collarbone and exiting through her shoulder blade. His shove was so forceful that she was now pinned to the tree behind her. She dropped her soul slayer and gripped his blade instinctively, trying to pull it out, even though it was cutting her palms.

Maki was in front of her, pushing the blade even further. Miyako cried out in pain.

"You're so naïve," he sneered. "Did you come out here trying to protect your squad? Trying to protect Seireitei? Did you come out here, hoping to get your little brother back?"

Miyako glared at him and clenched her teeth. "Damn…you…" she choked out.

"This is the end, sister," Maki said coldly. "It's a shame you didn't join me, long ago. Things would have been different."

"HOWL, ZABIMARU!!!!"

Maki sucked in a breath in surprise and flipped backwards, dodging Renji's soul slayer. A whip-like extension with sharp blades poking out flew through the clearing and nearly struck Maki. He had left his soul slayer stuck in the tree, Miyako dangling from it. Blood was now dripping down her left foot and the tree's bark had been completely stained. She gripped its hilt, trying to pull it out, but it was no use. She hardly had the strength left to move.

Maki stared at Renji and dodged again as Renji tried another attack. He backed off, slowly, as another Death God appeared into view.

"Ah! You again! Maki Ichinose, right?" The orange-haired Death God called out.

Maki didn't reply.

"I know you think you're helping the Bount and all," Ichigo scowled at him, "but impaling a woman on a tree doesn't sit right with me."

Miyako's head was hung, but she forced herself to look over at Renji and Ichigo. It was the first time she had ever seen the substitute Death God, and she tried to adjust her weakened vision.

Ichigo Kurosaki? Is that him? I've never seen a soul slayer like that. There's no guard. There's not even a grip. It's huge!

Miyako softly closed her eyes and lowered her head. She quietly choked up some blood and it dripped down a corner of her mouth. She moaned in pain from taking sharp breaths and moved her feet against the bark behind her, trying to search for any sort of foothold to hold herself up on, at least to ease the pain, but the wood was wet and slippery with blood. The blade was jabbed through her at a horizontal angle, so she hung firm. If it was at a vertical angle, it would've sliced right up her shoulder and she would've fallen.

When she lifted her head to look at Renji, he locked eyes with her. He looked incredibly pissed off. He took two steps towards the tree, but Ichigo held him back.

"Wait a sec, Renji."

"Ichigo Kurosaki," Maki said flatly. "You just keep meddling, don't you?"

"As long as you guys continue to plague Seireitei and hurt people, you bet your ass," Ichigo retorted.

Maki narrowed his eyes and walked slowly towards the tree.

"I'm no fool," he said softly. "Three against one doesn't seem like very fair odds to me."

"Fair?" Ichigo scoffed. "Where I come from, a guy beating on a girl doesn't seem very fair, either."

"Master Kariya will crush you," Maki pointed at Ichigo. With that, he swiftly jumped up onto the tree, straddled Miyako, and gripped his soul slayer. In that split second, she glared at him with hatred, and he smiled at her nastily.

"Later, sister."

He yanked it out of the tree and flipped backwards. A spurt of blood followed and Miyako let out a loud yell. She fell down, limp, but Renji caught her before she hit the ground.

"HEY!" Ichigo yelled after Maki, but he was already out of sight. "HEY! I'm not done with you yet!"

"Ichigo!" Renji yelled. "Let him go. We've got to get back to Seireitei. No doubt the Bount will be making their move soon."

Ichigo nodded. "I'm going to stay out here." He cocked his head towards the woods. "Ran'Tao is back there with Ishida, waiting. Hopefully she'll be able to give us more information on what Kariya could be planning."

"Put me down, Renji," Miyako said softly. "I can stand."

"You sure?"

Miyako nodded.

He slowly lowered her and she put most of her weight on her left leg, which hadn't been cut up. Her right arm, although cut, didn't sustain much damage, and Renji pulled it around his neck. Her left arm hung limp and her hand was shaking as blood dripped from it. Ichigo bent down, picked up her soul slayer, and sheathed it for her.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," she murmured his name.

Ichigo nodded. "You're that guy's sister."

Miyako glanced at Renji, then back at Ichigo. "How…how did you…?"

"When Rukia heard your last name, she told Ichigo," Renji explained. "Seems that Ichigo's met Maki before, in the human world. They knew that there was a traitor Death God with the Bount, and when we reported the presence of his spirit force to Captain Kuchiki, especially since you were the one that felt it, he could confirm that it was Maki."

"How could he have known that Maki is my brother?"

"The Captain maintains the records of Seireitei's history."

"But…but Captain Kuchiki said that our report was inconsequential!"

Renji rolled his eyes. "That's what he always says, but you felt his spirit force out here earlier, didn't you?"

Miyako nodded.

"That's why Ichigo and I came out here. Captain Kuchiki was fighting with Kariya, probably 'cuz he's pissed about what happened to Rukia."

"Kariya? You mean the leader of the Bount?"

Renji nodded.

"They're somewhere in Kusajishi, planning an attack on Seireitei," Ichigo said. "We're trying to figure out what their next move is."

"That's right!" a tiny, high-pitched voice squeaked. "We can't let those awful Bount destroy Soul Society!"

Suddenly, an oddly-dressed stuffed chicken popped out from behind Ichigo's shoulder.

Miyako hopped backwards, nearly falling over. Renji had to steady her, and she stared at the modified soul in awe.

"What…what is that thing?"

"Thing?!?" the chicken cried out. "Well, honestly! I'm a Bount sensor!"

"Lilin's been helping me track the Bount," Ichigo explained. "She's not in her real form simply because it's easier to carry her around this way."

There was a long silence as Miyako stared at Ichigo, then the chicken, then back at Ichigo again. Both he and Renji looked at her, concerned. Suddenly, Miyako erupted into hysterical laughter.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, the famous substitute Death God, carries around a live chicken!!!" she yelped. "Now I've seen everything!" she immediately stopped laughing, however, and started to cough up blood. She bent over and clutched her chest.

"Don't overdo it," Renji told her.

"It's not like I carry stuffed chickens around with me all the time, okay?" Ichigo snapped defensively. "It's just for this particular instance."

Lilin looked offended.

"Ichigo, get goin' and talk to Ran'Tao," Renji told him. "I'll take Miyako back to Seireitei."

Ichigo nodded. "Get those wounds healed," he looked at Miyako. "Seireitei will need you once the Bount attack." With that, he turned back towards the woods.

"Hey, Ichigo!" Miyako called after him.

"Yeah?"

Ignoring her pain, she forced a grin at him. "I hope we get to fight sometime."

Ichigo looked surprised, then irritated. "What the hell? I don't get a thank-you? You were just dangling from a tree. We just did you a favor, and you want to fight me?"

"I didn't ask for any favors," Miyako replied. "Besides, it was a matter I had to deal with on my own."

Ichigo was about to argue back when Renji shook his head.

"She's from 11th squad, Ichigo," he interrupted. "Consider it a compliment."

Ichigo crossed his arms and trotted back towards the woods. "Seriously, I don't understand you guys at all."

(1) Nijigasumi - "Rainbow Haze"
(2) Taiyoukousen - "Rays of the Sun"