Rei's rebellious actions of earlier that day did not go unpunished. It hadn't been long after she'd regained consciousness in her cell that the slave master with his attendants had wrenched open the door and marched in. As they hauled her upright, securing her arms above her head and her ankles to the floor in the centre of the small room, she had time to look at them one by one, making out their faces in the dim firelight. The slave master, heavy-set and overweight Shoka Kazama limped in, bearing a thick leather whip, the stink of dried blood still strong.
At the door was another large-bodied man looking at her through blood-shot eyes, as he smoked some kind of narcotic. That was Kyo Kazama, the slave master's younger brother. Sweaty hands groped at her thighs, making her look down to find the leering, gaunt face of Chiyo Daigo, the main henchman who was supposedly still shackling her ankles to the ground. He moved away to stand in the corner where the fourth figure of this party stood, a tall figure dressed in a black shihakushou, a long katana sheathed at his side. She didn't know his name but had heard him referred to as a shinigami.
He regarded her without emotion or expression, studying her curiously. As Shoka stood before her while unrolling his long whip, her moment for observing the men's faces was cut short with a loud crack and a searing pain across her midriff. After that, she drew in on herself and attempted to ignore the next few hours as he took out his frustration on her, beating her mercilessly until blood ran down her back from countless deep cuts. Then the group got bored and left. She blacked out shortly afterwards.
--
Her mind often receded into her memories at times like these, clawing at the past to try and escape the pain of the present. The young woman in her mind's eye began to shrink, becoming smaller until only a little girl stood before her. That had been her when she was still with her family, before all of this…and before her mother had died. It had all started from there, the beginning of her hell.
Standing at the doorway of their home, her mother looked down at her, that loving smile on her beautiful face. Long dark hair fluttered around her in the morning breeze, contrasting against the white haori she wore over a black shihakusho. Despite the long blade that was sheathed at her side, Rei had only ever felt comfort and safety when she had held her. Catching sight of her daughter, the captain had hurried over to her, hugging her tight and reassuring she'd be back soon.
Another figure had appeared at the door, a tall man also wearing a captain's haori and carrying a long and heavy-looking blade across his back. As he turned to regard Rei, she found herself looking into a blank gaze, a black strip of cloth concealing his eyes. She withdrew, hiding behind her mother's legs but the woman gave her that comforting smile, pointing him out as her senpai and close friend. He certainly didn't look it…but she trusted her mother.
Then the two left, haori whipping out of site as they stepped outside, the twin symbols of the Ninth and Tenth Divisions emblazoned on their backs. The door slid shut, leaving Rei alone again. Picking up her shinai from the wall hanging, she'd walked off down the corridors to find her father to wait until her mother came home again.
The scene shifted, moving several years into the future. The small girl grew into a skinny teenager. She was hurrying through the corridors of her home to bring dinner to her mother who was carrying her new baby brother. Rei had burst into the living room to find another man clad in the haori of a captain and bearing a drawn blade aimed towards her mother. The woman had ordered her to get away and she'd obeyed, hesitating only for a moment to see her mother drawing her own blade from its sheath.
The sounds of fighting had reverberated throughout the house, finding bodies all over the place, slashed or stabbed and left to bleed to death. Rei had burst out into the courtyard, looking for someone to help when the first flames began to spread across the roof. A crash from behind had revealed the other man charging out and seizing her in a grip on the back of her neck and holding his bloodied blade to her as her mother arrived.
He'd ordered her to throw aside her weapon or he'd slit Rei's throat. Tears running down her cheeks, she'd shouted at her mother not to but without a pause, the woman held her hands up, letting it slip from her grasp to bury point down. Rei stared wide eyed as the wind rushed past, her short hair rippling as the man moved, crossing the distance between him and her mother in the blink of an eye and burying his blade in her chest.
She fell to the stone floor, dark hair cascading around her face and hiding an agonised expression from view behind it. Rei had run to her, dropping down to her side and tugging at her kimono, screaming and pleading with her to answer, her hands coming away red with blood. The man loomed over her, a mad gleam in his eyes and his bloodied blade gripped in his hand. Through her tears, Rei had seized her mother's dropped blade, attempting to swing it at him but he batted it aside, raising his own to finish her off as well as she shielded her mother's body.
Then another figure entered the fray, a flash and roar of fury as the man her mother had called her senpai suddenly materialised, smashing into the other man and sending him flying. The look on her senpai's face was furious and grief-stricken as he drew the heavy blade from across his back. A single stroke and the other man fell cleaved in half.
The senpai had rushed over to the pair of them, gently moving Rei aside as he tended to her mother. He'd cradled her in his arms, pulling off his haori and tying it around her to try and staunch the wound but it was already too late. Gripping the front of his shihakusho, she'd pulled her senpai close to whisper something in his ear and then called Rei over to her. Even through the blood streaked across her face, she managed that smile. She held Rei's violently trembling hands in hers, telling her it would be alright. Then her eyes had closed and she was gone. For some reason, it'd started to rain, masking Rei's scream to the heavens as she clung to her mother's body until she eventually passed out.
The next sight wasn't that long after the previous one. Her father was drinking again. Watching him fearfully from around a corner, she watched as he finished one bottle and grabbed drunkenly around for another while staring endlessly at the portrait of his wife, her mother, hanging on the wall. Those days Rei had to hide from him. The sight of her built his inactive stupor into a towering rage, accusing her of being the reason her mother died. He'd never been the most loving of fathers but his disapproval had blown into anger and violence. The empty bottle thrown by her father crashed next to her head, sending her running away with a yelp of fear.
A few months passed, then a few years. Her father's drinking got worse, his rages got more violent. The drinking was soon accompanied by gambling...without success. Debts mounted up and rapidly their home was taken away to pay them off...and then the day came when men turned up to take away the last thing he had to offer to pay off his debts; his daughter. Young, beautiful and entirely untouched...the young noble man who came to claim his winnings had agreed to the deal without much debate. She'd pleaded with her father to reconsider but he'd turned his back on her. She'd run but they caught her, knocking her unconscious and carrying her off to the same cell where she now slept.
And then they'd made her kill. The short line of females had been dragged in, chained together and brought before Kyo Kazama. Watching one of the other slave girls being dragged off had prompted Rei to reach for the offered katana instead. Young female gladiators seemed to draw bigger crowds. Facing one of the slaves, her hands had quivered, holding the blade before her. Then the screams of the girl who'd been taken away had sounded from the other room and Rei had attacked, not at the just as frightened girl before her but slashing at the guards around her. One attempted to grab her from behind but she reversed the blade, stabbing back desperately and ramming it through his chest. He'd fallen to the ground dead. She'd killed her first man but didn't even have time to care.
Another had come at her but a panicked slash opened a line across his arm. There was movement behind her and she whipped around but found her blade stopped dead by a black-clad figure, wearing a shihakushou and blade locked with hers. She'd made to slash again but suddenly the katana was no longer in her hands...and then his fist swept out, striking her in the face and she'd blacked out. She'd been signed up as a gladiator and since then her life had continued to be washed in blood up until this day. As she continued to sink deeper into the darkness, varying expressions on the different faces in her memory flashed through her mind. Prominent amongst them was the hatred on her father's face as he cursed her for being born, her mother's loving smile even as her eyes closed...and the freezing, blank stare of the man her mother had called senpai as he looked down at Rei, carrying her mother's body in her arms, the captain called Shiro Matsumura.
--
"Hey Shiro-kun. How come you're still here?"
Shiro half-turned in his seat at his desk as a weight suddenly descended on his shoulders, a cascade of long white hair falling across his peripheral vision as he found 12th Division Captain Kirio Hikifune resting against him. He gave a long sigh, closing the documents and reports he'd been working on, sliding them away into the corner. "Is it that time already?"
"You know it is. Come on." She leaned back a bit, massaging his shoulders as he continued to stare at the desk before him. Continuing to put off getting out of his seat but turning to look at her soft brown eyes on him, he sighed again and stood, pulling on his captain's haori and sliding his large zanpakutou across his back. It was not that the place he was going was physically dangerous...but these days he always carried it with him. He learnt from the past. These days all shinigami carried their zanpakutou everywhere they went.
It was raining heavily as they made their way through the Seireitei to the Field of Eternal Rest, the burial ground where prominent members of Soul Society were laid to rest. It was mainly nobles but senior officers were also laid to rest in the vast open field. The two made their way between a number of lavish tombstones until they came to a simple black marble headstone with a single name etched on the surface in golden writing; Asuka Mikihara.
The two captains stood there looking down at it, reflecting in silence, neither wanting to speak. Kirio leaned against him, resting her head against his chest, each offering a small measure of comfort to each other as they thought back over their former comrade. Asuka Mikihara, the former 9th Division captain, former war veteran and expert user of kidou. More than that...she'd been a mother, a dear friend and comrade. She'd always balanced out the stern impassiveness of Ginrei Kuchiki and been the only one to play along with Shunsui when all the other females smacked him flying. Her loss had affected them all deeply...though Shiro the most. He had been to blame for her death, after all.
It had been four years now. A tsujigiri had been on the loose, a man who killed for the simple want to try out a new sword or technique. At first, only random shinigami had been murdered, their bodies found sliced through by a blade sharp enough to cleave through flesh with a seamless cut. A seated officer, then Yamamoto's lieutenant had been discovered at the Seireitei North gate. The killer had been getting more ambitious and daring and the Captain-Commander had ordered Shiro to track the murderer down immediately. The natural assumption was the next target was a captain and it was imperative this was stopped before it reached that point. The Gotei 13 had gradually begun to close up, securing itself and preparing for an assassin. But none of them had foreseen 'former' captains being targeted as well. It had been mostly coincidence that he had been heading to visit the Mikihara estate to check in on his comrade.
He'd arrived to find the gates kicked in, the door guards eviscerated by a flawless blade. Charging inside, Shiro had made his way into the courtyard just in time to see a figure driving his blade into an unarmed Asuka Mikihara. A white haori whipped around the other man's form, the symbol of the 3rd Division emblazoned upon it. An icy thrill gripped his heart as he saw her fall. Surging forward, Shiro reached them in a flash, his fist lashing out and crashing into the tsujigiri, crushing through his ribs and hurling him flying. A small girl stood there in shock as he appeared by her side. Looking down at the bleeding woman at their feet, he could see she was fading fast and a cold fury came over him, his hand resting on her wound as he knelt by her side. It was lethal... She wouldn't survive.
The recently appointed captain of the 3rd Division, Tatsuya Akari, staggered to his feet, grinning evilly as he looked at Shiro, running a tongue along the bloodied zanpakutou. He gestured for him to attack, raising his weapon. "Come on, Matsumura... Let me test my blade against you. It seems Captain Mikihara wasn't quite as much of a challenge as I'd hoped..."
Shiro's hands tightened into fists as he rose. He didn't speak as he turned to face the traitor captain, walking towards him with haste. Akari grinned wider, drawing back his blade and preparing to swing as soon as Shiro came within range. And then suddenly Shiro was behind him. "Your sword is fast...but you are...nothing in comparison to me."
"Wha...?" Akari attempted to speak but then his blade came apart...then his body, falling to two even halves, blood pooling out around the body parts. Turning on the spot, Shiro released his grip on his zanpakutou then marched over to where Asuka was, moving the girl aside, pulling his haori off and easing her gently up to tie it around her wound. The former captain's lips moved and he leaned in closer as she reached forward, pulling him close. "Shiro...kun? Nice timing..." She'd tried to give him her typical smile but her body shook with bloody coughs and he held her closer. "Shiro-kun...I need you to look after Rei, my daughter. When I'm gone...I need someone to take care of her and...you're the one I trust the most. I know you're not...exactly the most qualified for looking after a young girl but please? Promise me?"
"I promise." He'd held her hand as he'd said those words, looked her in the eyes as he made the promise...and then the day had come when she'd disappeared from her father's house, along with her father when he'd come to stop by to see how she was. Since then, he'd been searching for Rei Mikihara, as the last oath he'd made towards his former friend as she died before him. Standing now at her grave on the anniversary of her death reminded him of the full significance of his duty towards her.
"Captain? And Captain Hikifune." The two turned to find a shihakushou-clad female, carrying a parasol to keep the rain off her face. The lieutenant's badge for the 10th Division hung from her sash, next to her zanpakutou; Shiro's lieutenant, Mitsuki Fushima. Walking over to them, she halted before her captain, pulling a scroll from inside her uniform and pushing it into his hands. "Captain...I think we might have a lead on where the...person you were looking for might be found these days. Some kind of gladiator arena... Apparently makes teenagers fight to the death. Crowds love it and all...sick bastards."
"Thank you, Mitsuki. I'll look into it myself. Don't bother calling any troops together. This is off the record and I need to deal with this alone." He shook his head as she offered him the parasol but she insisted, pressing it into his hands before retreating a few paces back. "If they're not coming, I am. I'm not letting you do something like this without at least me backing you up." He opened his mouth to tell her she wasn't going anywhere but she hurried off like she always did when he intended to argue with her. The two captains watched her disappear around the corner. At his side, pressed close to stay under the small shelter provided by the parasol, Kirio shook her head. "She's just like Asuka when she was younger..."
"Yeah..."
"You're going to check that place out tonight?"
Shiro shook his head, sighing heavily and glancing up at the pouring skies. "No... Yama-jii has me assigned to an interrogation session with some Quincy rebels who have turned up. I'll go in tomorrow to check it out."
"Alright, Shiro-kun. Good luck and take care." Leaning up, she kissed him on the cheek before hurrying off back towards her own division compound, her voice calling back through the rain as she disappeared. "I expect to see you bringing Asuka's daughter back by tomorrow night."
--
Her vision swam as she crawled her way back to reality. Her slave's rag hung loosely off her body, flapping open where the thin fabric had given way. A groan emerged from her parched lips. She felt warmth across her back, wincing visibly as the open wounds stung. Rei's eyes flickered open to find herself looking at another teenage girl, one arm clutching a bowl of warm water, the other wiping her body down with a towel. It was a reassuring face she knew, another slave girl called Kaoru Ishino.
"Are you alright, Rei-san? It doesn't hurt too much, does it?" Rei shook her head, letting the soft-spoken girl continue to clean her wounds before ripping up strips of cloth to bind them. Of the other slaves who were kept in her area, Kaoru was the only one that had ever given a damn about her, using the little knowledge she had in medicine to treat her countless injuries, both from combat and from punishment. In the darkness of the holding cells, Kaoru was the only other one she could cling to, holding together the thin threads of her sanity when they were being tested to their limits by so many trials.
"It...hurts..." Rei winced again, closing her eyes and letting the other girl do her 'job'. Outside, she could hear the chirping of the evening birds returning to their nests to settle down for the night, cool wind blowing gently in through the narrow barred windows at the top of her cell. So she'd been unconscious for the whole day. They must've gone lightly on her today then. After the first hundred lashes, she'd faded out enough to stop feeling them. The damp cloth ran over a particularly deeper cut and she let out a faint cry, which she just managed to clamp down on.
"Sorry, Rei-san." The sound of Kaoru's voice moved in front of her and she opened her eyes to find the other slave girl there. She seemed to be avoiding her eyes as she wiped more dried blood off her shoulders. On the pretence of leaning forward to reach another spot, her lips barely moving as she whispered in Rei's ear. "The plan is set for tomorrow tonight. Reiko has made all the preparations to get us all out of here. Someone will come to get you when it's time and then we'll make our way to the south side entrance to escape. Understand?"
Rei's eyes widened. Tomorrow night…? I can…leave this place? The past memories of life before being thrown into this hellhole seemed so distant and her waking dreams of finally escaping kept being crushed by her own cynicism, the negative part of her mind that had gradually grown the longer she'd spent in this place making any such plan seem futile. But now the day had come, she felt new life in her limbs as a surge of adrenaline spread throughout her body. "Tomorrow night…?"
"Yes. But keep it down. We don't want any of the guards overhearing." Kaoru put a finger to her lips, offering her faint smile. Despite herself, Rei felt the corners of her lips flicker. Smiling…? That was something she had not done for a long time now. She nodded once to the other slave girl as the latter started collecting her things together, heading for the door. A guard opened it and she stepped through, pausing on the threshold to look back at Rei, winking at her behind the guard's back.
Rei averted her eyes, her long dark hair concealing her face from the armed man to hide her smile. That caught her by surprise. Well…not long now… On the next night she'd breathe the clear air of freedom and not have to live under the foot of some slave master. She could sleep without fear of being beaten or treated like an animal. Not long to wait now. With that thought in mind, she closed her eyes again, letting herself drift off, for once finding peace as she slept. She needed to be ready for tomorrow. She had a feeling that it would be no simple feat to escape from this place…
