There was a draft blowing through the open window. It was a chilly wind against her bare skin and she tugged at the covers to try and wrap it around herself. A particularly strong gust blew and the thin material was swept off her, sliding off the edge of the bed. Groaning slightly, she rolled over, eyes opening slowly as she groped around to try and find it. Then she sat up suddenly, rubbing her eyes furiously to clear her vision, looking around to find herself not in the infirmary…but her old house.

What the…?

Rei slid off her bed, feeling the polished wood floor panels beneath her feet, dust as if no one had been here for a while. She clutched at her underclothing as she moved over to the chair near her bed to find her Academy uniform folded there. She pulled it on slowly, still trying to comprehend what was going on. The last thing she could remember was falling asleep in the Academy infirmary and then she'd woken up here, a place she hadn't seen for years.

Tying her sash around her waist, she looked around, taking in the place that had once been her room. The room was dark, the pale light of the moon just shining in through the lone window. Apart from the bed and the chair, the room was bare. As she breathed out, a mist emerged from her lips.

Tentative steps carried her to the door, pushing it and letting it swing open to reveal the corridor beyond. It too was deserted and dark. Despite her uncertainty as to what was happening, she felt herself moving forward, walking along and passing door after door, looking for some sign of life. Nothing… Not even a whisper. Her footsteps echoed loudly as her bare feet padded along.

"Hello…? Anyone here…?"

She tried to sound confident but her voice shook slightly, only coming out as a whisper. Her voice carried throughout the place but not being met by response. The silence unnerved Rei. She could feel something was very wrong here but couldn't place it. All she knew was that the hairs on the back of her neck were standing up and her heartbeat was pounding in her ears.

In her peripheral vision, she suddenly caught slight of a flash of light. She whipped around in time to catch a glimpse of…'something' disappear around the corner behind her. As it went, she thought she heard…laughter. It wasn't friendly laughter but a harsh, cold sound that made her shiver. Regardless, she broke into a jog, hurrying to where she'd see the something only for it to whip around another corner, disappearing from sight.

Rei sprinted after it, rounding the corner but then coming to a halt, eyes widening in shock. "No…" She was breathless as she ran to the fallen bodies of Misato and Soujirou. Kaien's body was a few metres away. She pressed her fingers to Misato's neck, then the other two, her breathing becoming fast and shallow. They were dead. They had no pulse and weren't breathing. Their white uniforms were soaked through with blood where a sword had cut them down. Their asauchi lay just out of reach of grasping hands.

No… This isn't happening. What is this…? Though she wasn't 'that' close to either Soujirou or Misato, the shock of finding them dead was making her hands shake, not just that they'd been killed but she had no idea how or when this had happened. And then there was Kaien too… Was it that thing she'd seen that had done this? Her hand closed on one of the asauchi, gripping it tight as she rose. Holding it ready, she sprinted after the thing, seeking it out again.

Her breath slowed as she tried to focus herself, still fighting to suppress the images of the dead bodies of her classmates from her friend. She held her blade ready, wandering the empty corridors and trying to catch another glimpse of that being that kept appearing and disappearing. There again…! She spun on the spot, raising her blade but it passed her by again. She ran after it, rounding a corner, then another, kicking open a door and hurrying through. It was darker still inside, fewer windows creating deeper shadows in the narrower passageway.

At the end of the corridor, the figure stood, regarding her for a moment before moving off again. It was heading towards the main hall of the house. She sped up, breaking into a run but catching her foot on something, tripping and crashing down. She found something lying just before her eyes and she blinked, forcing her night vision to allow her to make out the object in front of her. Slowly, a face became visible and she had to choke back a cry of surprise. Yugito…No…

The strong girl who she had always thought was indestructible, lay face down, head turned towards where Rei lay. The fierce expression that she wore while fighting was fixed on her face, streaked with blood. A blade had been driven through her gut, the blunt blade rammed forcefully through the flesh to emerge from her back. And if Yugito was here then the one she had just stumbled over must be…

Please no…She didn't want to look but knew she had to. She knew what…'who' would be lying there even as she wished with every fibre of her being that she were wrong. She was not. Rei had to fight down tears as Kaoru's innocent features became illuminated by the moonlight. Her eyes were wide and staring, fear and surprise etched on her face as her final expression she'd died with. It was too cruel, that the girl who'd avoided fighting and hated having to do anything that might cause harm to be killed in such a manner.

Rei's body shook violently with barely suppressed grief. Then she couldn't take it any more. She screamed, letting it all out in a single cry that sounded throughout the house, echoing throughout the empty corridors. She lashed out, punching the wall hard in her frustration again then again. Her knuckles were bloody and raw but did nothing to distract her from her own emotional turmoil.

Then she took some deep breaths, fighting to regain her control. She gripped her blade tight to try and stop her hands shaking. She had to lean heavily on it to stand, staggering onwards. After she sorted this out, she'd come back and somehow arrange a proper…something for them. They couldn't be left there like that. But first…they had to be avenged.

Rei broke out into the main entrance area now, leading onto the central hall. The massive double doors stood slightly apart and inside she could see flickers of light. She hurried over to them, free hand ready to push it open before hesitating. Whatever was inside could have been the thing that killed all her friends and classmates, students who were better than her at kidou or kenjutsu or just fighting in general… There was no way she could defeat whoever or whatever was inside.

But that didn't matter… They had to be avenged. Closing her eyes, she could still see their faces staring at her. She couldn't block them out while their killer was unpunished. Her foot kicked both the doors wide open and charged inside, asauchi drawn back and ready to cut down the figure that awaited her. Pale light bathed the vast room before her as her eyes took in the person before her, her breath stopping in her chest as she tried to speak.

"What is this…?"

The entire back wall had been replaced by a towering mirror. She could see the hall and the door she'd just entered through reflected back towards her. And she was there too…yet her reflection that stood where she was standing was not identical. Instead of seeing a figure clad in the uniform of an Academy student, carrying Misato's blunt asauchi in her hand, the girl before her was wearing the ragged black shihakushou she'd worn as a slave. A blood-stained katana was held loosely in her hand and as she looked up through a messy fringe, there was a cruel grin on her face and a gleam in her narrowed eyes. Blood streaked her face from where enemies' blood had sprayed from them as she cut them down.

"What's wrong, Rei? You seem to be speechless for some reason..." The fake-Rei rested her blade across her should, still wearing that same expression that was almost opposite to the confused, grief-stricken look she wore. Even her voice was the same as that which emerged from her own lips. "Is this not a true reflection of yourself? Are you not a killer and leave death and destruction in your wake wherever you go?"

"No! I'm not!" Her voice came out desperate, defiant. "That's not me. I never wanted to do any of what I did. I didn't want to fight or kill anyone. I didn't ever want to hurt them..."

"Don't lie! You can't lie to me, Rei. I know you better than you know yourself. Maybe you keep trying to pretend that you hate what you do but deep down, you that you're good at it and that brings you satisfaction. When you fight, did you know you wear an expression just like this?" The fake-Rei's grin widened still further, running a thumb along her blade, causing the blood to run again. "Deep down, you love to kill. And when you run out of enemies, your blade will cut down anyone who comes within reach."

"You don't mean…"

"Yes. It wasn't me who cut down those students back in the corridors you passed by but you. Their blood is on your hands. They got in your way and so you took your blade and cut them down."

Rei felt her hands growing wet. Looking down, raising them to her eyes, she found them both stained red with blood. It was still warm. Her white uniform was suddenly streaked with fresh blood stains too.

"No…you're lying! You bitch! Shut your mouth, you fucking bitch! That's a lie!" Rei's fists tightened and she marched right up to the mirror, raising her blade towards the fake-Rei. Her voice was weak, lacking in conviction. She couldn't remember doing it but she couldn't confirm that she hadn't either. Her memory was a haze; a confused mass of mixed up thoughts and flashes. "Take it back! Now!"

The fake-Rei closed her eyes for a moment, head lowered as if thinking it over for a moment. Then her shoulder began to shake with laughter. Rei stepped closer to shut her up when the other girl's eyes suddenly snapped open, flames burning within them. She hesitated for a moment but in that split-second, the fake-Rei's fist exploded out of the mirror and struck her hard across the face, throwing her backwards so she crashed down hard on the ground.

She started to rise but a solid kick to the back of the head slammed her back down to the floor. What…? She looked up to see her reflection in the mirror to see herself lying on the ground and the fake-Rei standing over her, one foot on her back. But she was no longer alone.

Her former slave masters, her father, the other noble students at the academy who still treated her as worthless as the dirt on the bottom of their sandals...they all stood around her. Then it began, the beating as they punched and kicked her…and the taunting, accusations of her as a murderer, a killer, who enjoyed what she did and took satisfaction in cutting down anyone and everyone who she came across.

No… That's not me. It's not true. They're wrong.

Rei curled up into a ball, feeling blows land on her again and again. Her sword was in her hand. Through the mass of striking limbs, she saw the light gleam off the blade of the asauchi. The edge of the blade flared with light, burning with razor sharpness. Looking up, she could see the fake-Rei, watching her, grinning down at her. The asauchi was so light in her hands, the distance between them so short. Rei's blade cut through the air.

The fake-Rei was still grinning as her blade went through her chest, burying to the tsuka. All at once, the mass of people around her vanished. Her breathing was fast, her heart pounding. She looked down at the blade in her hands but something was wrong. It was…the other way around. Rei opened her mouth to speak but suddenly found she couldn't breathe, coughing up blood instead as her hands rose weakly for the sword driven through her own chest.

With a single motion, the fake-Rei withdrew the blade and Rei crashed to the floor, clutching a hand weakly to the deep wound now bleeding heavily. The fake-Rei squatted beside her, resting on the bloodied sword. "Face the truth, Rei. You're a killer, a murderer and you're going to Hell. You're going to burn, Rei, and there's nothing you can do about it."

As if on cue, flames suddenly erupted on all sides, engulfing the house and setting everything ablaze all around her. Rei tried to move but she couldn't, her muscles suddenly refusing to react. A curtain of flames seemed to fall between her and the fake-Rei. Through the dancing fire, she caught sight of the other girl, wreathed in fire. Maybe it was just her hazy, disrupted thought patterns or her suddenly blurred vision but great wings of flames seemed to rise from the fake-Rei's back before she was lost from sight.

And then the flames reached her and she felt pain beyond anything she'd ever felt before. The heat scorched her skin and her lungs were filled with smoke. She thought she was going to die. No… I am going to die…I'm sorry, everyone…

"I'm sorry!"

Her eyes snapped open as she sat up. Sat up…? Rei blinked slowly, looking around. She was…back in the dormitories. There was the sound of early morning birds chirping outside…and light snoring from the other two girls sleeping in the room. Rei looked at herself up and down. She was alive and intact. The only injuries on her body were the ones that she'd gained from her night time patrol and were almost completely healed over from her time in the infirmary. Was it a…dream then? She'd never know a dream to be so vivid…or painful.

"You damn well better be, Rei-chan…"

Rei looked around to see Yugito roll over in bed, slipping over the edge and then crashing onto the floor, accompanied by a number of very unladylike curses and swearing. Running a hand through her long, tangled hair, she looked up at Rei through sleepy eyes. "What the hell's up with you then? Bad dream?"

"You're alive…" Rei's voice was hesitant as she struggled to believe it. It was a challenge to not make it into a question.

"Yeah…I'm still alive though Kuchiki-sensei's lesson yesterday took me close to getting my asauchi and stabbing myself in the throat with it." Yugito looked at her strangely. "Are you alright, Rei-chan? You look really pale. Maybe you should go see Unohana-sensei or someth…"

She stopped speaking as Rei suddenly leapt forward, an arm around her and hugging her close. Kaoru, who'd somehow woken up and stood alongside them, was caught by her too. "You're both still alive…"

"Well…yeah, Rei-chan. You expected otherwise?" Yugito scratched her head in thought, letting Rei have her moment before stepping back. "Nevermind… Anyways, we're not going to be able to go back to sleep now so we might's well get ready." Stretching widely, she shrugged off the top half of her jinbei and then kicking away the bottom half of her sleeping ware. As she padded around naked, trying to find her uniform, Rei noticed the web of scars that marked her body. They were all old and healed over, marring the otherwise smooth skin. It had seemed Yugito's life before they came here had been just as bad if not worse than her own. Was she the same...? Did she get nightmares like mine...?

Kaoru too. Though her injuries were much more subtle, the harm done to her by her former owners was no less intense or unforgettable. Her scars were just not there on the surface for everyone to see. Perhaps the smaller girl had been shy and quiet before but her ordeal had shattered whatever confidence she might have once possessed. While Yugito managed her past pains by being louder and more forceful than those around her, Kaoru had drawn inwards on herself, clinging to the shadows of those stronger than her. And then there was Rei herself... How did she manage it all? How did she move on from her past life? By continuing to kill...? Have I even moved on?

Rei sighed heavily, stripping down and then wrapping fresh rolls of material around her body, pulling on the plain blue-striped white uniform on and securing it all with the sash. She ran her hands through her long dark hair, slowly braiding it into a long ponytail before reaching down for her blade, resting against her bed. Her hand stopped an inch away from it, hesitating before her hand could close around it. Could she really pick up this blade again without eventually bringing her dream into reality? If she never took up her sword, surely it could never happen. She drew back, leaving the weapon where it was. If that's what it took to stop herself then that's what she'd give up; her swordsmanship.

She waited for the other two to get ready, then forcing a smile on her face. "Shall we go then, Kaoru? Yugito?"

--

"Captain! It's good to see you back. You're back now, right?"

Shiro grinned, shaking his head. Mitsuki sighed heavily, giving a despair-like sound and glancing over her shoulder to the 10th Division compound behind her and the people inside. It was night time and it was quiet. Aside from the sentries, the others would all be asleep in the barracks, leaving the two to talk in peace without being interrupted. Not that he had to visit his Division in secret but the fewer people that knew Shiro Matsumura was hanging around the Seireitei, the better. The Matsumura-ke had eyes everywhere, after all.

"So how are you holding up, Mitsuki-chan? The division isn't causing you too much trouble, are they? Or anyone else for that matter?"

"Oh they're being alright. I've just been kept very busy, that's all." A bit more than busy, from the looks of it, he mused. There were bags under her eyes and her long black hair was messy and unkempt. She looked like she hadn't been able to grab a moment of sleep in weeks. Perhaps she hadn't. Knowing her, when she got into one of her moods of having to get things done, she could go on and on until her tasks were done and having to fulfill both the captain and lieutenant's roles on her own meant her job was doubled. Still, if anyone could manage, it was her.

She waved away Shiro's concerned look. "I'm serious, Captain. I'm perfectly fine. It's not so much the work that's keeping me up all the time but annoyance at that Captain Kyouraku's advances all the time. He either needs some self restraint or a lieutenant to keep him in line then."

"I'll have a word with him, Mitsuki-chan. I would hate to see you losing sleep because Shunsui can't keep his hands to himself." He grinned. Seemed Shunsui was up to his normal thing. Some things just never changed, even after a number of centuries...

"You don't need to concern yourself with such matters, Captain...but thank you." Mitsuki looked relieved before crossing her arms and returning to her serious business expression. "So what did you need me for? I'm assuming there was something specific and...delicate that needs doing for us to meet in person like this."

"There is. We just have to wait a moment for someone to arrive...and he seems to be here finally." Shiro inclined his head to the dark alleyway behind him, Mitsuki looking around too, following his gaze. A figure detached from the shadows, moving forward with powerful strides. Even so, the set of the man's shoulders and the slight limp in his step betrayed his advanced age, even though the hood drawn over his face concealed his greying hair. Glaring eyes viewed Shiro as the man came to a halt just outside of the light. Mitsuki's hand reached unconsciously for her zanpakutou, feeling the hostile nature in the newcomer's aura.

Shiro waved a hand to stop her. "It's alright, Mitsuki-chan. He's here to...help. Right, Hitoshi-san?"

"Not to help 'you', Shiro. I'm here because Mitsuba-sama wished strongly that the information you wanted be passed along. If it were up to me, I would leave you to your fate but your father's dying wish was that I do whatever his youngest daughter asked of me."

Hitoshi continued to look darkly at him but he ignored it. It was something he was used to after so many years. Though many of Matsumura-ke hated him for the actions he took during the course of the civil war, Hitoshi was one of those who had disliked him even before then for his wayward behaviour. What happened afterwards had only intensified their differences. But Shiro ignored it because as much as the old man caused him problems, he looked after his youngest sibling, Mitsuba.

Of his four siblings, she alone had remained close to him, untainted by the heavy sense of clan honour and pride that made the family members arrogant and stubborn. But her purity was instead tainted by disease, her happy nature masking for her body's weakness. And because of that, she needed to be looked after constantly. While he visited his little sister often, his duties as a captain of the Gotei 13 meant he had to rely on Hitoshi to handle her needs for the majority of the time.

"Yes, yes... But Mitsuba-chan is helping me. Either way, I don't care. Do you have the information or not?"

The older man looked like he had a retort ready but then stopped, slapping a roll of parchment into Shiro's hand and turning to go without a word. Shiro waved a hand after him as the man disappeared into the darkness. "Say hi to my sister and tell her thanks."

Then he was gone, leaving Mitsuki and Shiro along again. His lieutenant was staring after Hitoshi, fists clenched and looking like the slightest spark would send her bounding off after him. Shiro rested a hand on her shoulder to stop her and she looked around at him, eyes still burning with anger. He laughed slightly at her furious reaction as she spat, trying to keep her voice down but it still remaining laden with venom. "I can't believe he dared talk to you like that, Captain... Just give me the word and I'll sort him out."

"Whoa there, wildcat. It doesn't matter so just leave it. Here's what I asked you to meet me about." He held up the parchment, unrolling it to reveal long list of names written in an elegant, curly hand. Mitsuki leaned in closer to take a look in the dim light. Shiro passed it to her. "I asked my little sister to go find and list all the retainer clans with enough territory to hold training grounds for a private army. I haven't been able to keep up to date with all of them but Mitsuba often has all the accounting work forced on her by our siblings so she knows...nearly everything when it comes to those matters."

"And what do you want me to do with these, Captain?" She sounded curious as she studied the list, checking off each, one by one.

"Raid, investigate...that sort of thing. I don't need you to get too involved but just use the Division's manpower to narrow down my search. The clans are lower-ranked so they shouldn't be able to put up too much resistance against the Gotei 13. If you act fast enough, you can carry out the majority of the searches before the Matsumura-ke can step in and force you out. Think you can do that?"

"Of course, Captain."

She saluted but he shook his head. "This isn't an official order, Mitsuki, but a favour. I wouldn't ask if I didn't have to but without substantial evidence, I can't bring this to Yamamoto-sensei and I can't cover that much ground on my own and time is limited. I'm currently not your captain so I can't order you to do anything but I'm asking you to do this because Soul Society might be in great danger and so I…we have to do this."

Mitsuki held up a hand to forestall him speaking further. "You don't have to explain yourself to me, Captain. Even if the Gotei 13 strip you of your rank, you're still my captain and I trust you more than anyone. If this is what you want then I'll do it. I doubt any one of the division would have any hesitations either...not that I can say this is on your orders...but I'll think of something." A mischievous expression reached her features at these words.

Shiro felt a similar look reach his face, not even trying to imagine what scheme she had brewing but anything that got his lieutenant excited like that would be quite interesting. "I don't doubt that. I can hardly wait to see what you've got planned, Mitsuki-chan."