Squad 2 Third Seat Yoshima Okanade was sitting on a ledge, looking around for Hollows to fight. Okanade wore a standard shihakusho and hung his sword at his left side. It was a kodachi with a silver tsuba shaped like an angular whirlpool pattern and its tsuka was aqua blue. He glanced at his tracker and noticed a large group of souls approaching, but not Hollows.
"Those are Shinigami! What the heck?" Suddenly he was surrounded by men in black bodysuits with bandannas and face coverings. "Onmitsukido!" he exclaimed.
"Third seat Okanade, Captain Soifon has requested that you return to Soul Society. We have come to escort you."
Okanade looked surprised. "Oh, okay, thanks guys." A Senkaimon opened in front of them, and they disappeared through it. " So why did she want me to come back?" he asked them. "Was it because of my good looks?" he asked, smirking. Strangely, nobody answered him. The group emerged into a wide, panoramic courtyard at the edge of the Seireitei. Nobody was around, and Okanade was getting suspicious. Then everything went very wrong for him. The team of his own squad members all drew Zanpakuto and pointed them at him.
"Yoshima Okanade, you are under arrest for the murder of captain-commander Shunsui Kyoraku!" one of them said.
"What! That's ridiculous! I didn't-" Okanade's remonstration was suddenly cut off.
"Bakudo no Rokujusan! Sajosabaku (Way of Binding #63: Locking Bondage Stripes)!" Okanade was instantly trussed up in yellow ropes of reiatsu and whisked off into a prison cell in Squad 2's barracks. Nobody even saw a thing.
Swords clashed in the training area of Squad 6's barracks. All over, guardsmen were training. At least, most of them were. Leaning against a tree with his eyes half open was a young man with long spiky brown hair wearing a sleeveless kosode and a black tekkou on his right arm. Sheathed at his side was a katana with a rhombic tsuba and a blue tsuka. He was about to drift off to sleep when somebody dropped out of the tree in front of him. The newcomer was a tall man in a standard shihakusho with spiky red hair tied back in a ponytail and tribal tattoos on his eyebrows: Renji Abarai, lieutenant of Squad 6.
"Hey Shihoin, get off your sorry butt and train instead of daydreaming, let's go!" Without opening his eyes, Kujo Shihoin, Third Seat of Squad 6 and the young head of the Shihoin clan, drew his sword and attacked Abarai, who deflected the blow with his own. They fought back and forth for several minutes, neither having the upper hand. "I forgot how cocky you are, Shihoin! I guess I have to step up my game in order to give you a real challenge!" yelled Renji. He swung his sword over his head. "Roar, Zabimaru (Snake Tail)!" A String of heavy, sharp blades shot out of Renji's sword towards Kujo, who lunged past it, running the length of his Zanpakuto along the blades. He held up one hand.
"Hado no Sanjusan! Sokatsui(Blue Fire, Crash Down)!" A burst of blue energy shot from his hand at Renji, who turned Zabimaru to the left to cut the blast out of the air. Kujo appeared behind him and spun, kicking Renji in the back and knocking him away.
Kujo landed and raised his sword to his face. "Engulf him, Sunaarashi (Roiling Sandstorm)!" Sunaarashi's blade glowed orange and exploded towards Renji in a wave of orange sand which crashed hard into Zabimaru's blade as he attempted to push it back. Kujo twisted the hilt in his hand and the sand spun around Renji in a tornado. Renji slashed with Zabimaru and cut the tornado away from him. It reformed into the blade on Kujo's sword and he sealed it. Renji looked at Kujo with faint amusement and raised his sword point down with the hilt in front of his face, glowing with reiatsu. "Ban-"
"Renji." Someone was standing behind them. It was a man with shoulder length black hair who wore a finely crafted haori with the kanji for six on the back. He wore also an intricate hairpiece with four silver prongs which swept up over his head to the exact top. A sword with a tsuba shaped like a window frame and a white tsuka was sheathed at his side. "Do not aspire to use Bankai on your own subordinate out of spite," he said tersely.
"Yes, Captain Kuchiki," Renji said, looking grim. "The two of you must come with me. We have been ordered to guard the chamber of Central 46 during the trial of Yoshima Okanade.
Walking towards the chamber doors with his captain, Kujo saw a familiar face. Sitting on the steps of Squad 9's barracks was a young woman with long black hair and vivid green eyes. She wore a black shihakusho and carried a black-hilted katana with a gold rectangular guard carved to resemble two Greek Sigmas. She stood up and walked over, falling into step with the group. She smiled at Kujo.
"Where are you hotshots off to?" she asked.
"We, Kazetora, are going to guard the 46 chamber."
"Oh really? Well it so happens that I was assigned to this mission as well."
"Who knew," Kujo agreed. The woman, Kazetora Kasumioji, was Kujo's best friend from the academy and they were often assigned to missions together. As they approached the chamber doors, they saw a group of Onmitsukido leading Okanade to the trial.
Captain Kuchiki said, "There he is. We are to flank the door in order to-". Then the convoy exploded with a huge boom. The one person to jump free was Okanade, who had somehow escaped his bonds and reacquired his Zanpakuto. He used shunpo to land in the middle of a courtyard several meters away. Kujo and Kazetora sprinted after him. Suddenly a rain of golden blasts struck the ground in front of them, splitting the two of them up.
Kujo yelled, "You get after whoever did that! I'll take him!" Kazetora acknowledged and jumped high into the air, chasing after a figure in white holding a green bow. They disappeared off somewhere, and Kujo approached Okanade.
"I didn't do anything, Shihoin! You have to believe-" Clang! The fight began. Weaving around, the two of them clashed in a frenzy of whipping blades moving faster than the eye could see. We're both expert swordsmen, thought Kujo. This won't do any good. Kujo knocked Okanade back and yelled,
"Hado no rokujusan! Raikoho(Way of Destruction #63: Thunder Roar Sear)!" A blast of gold lightning erupted from Kujo's palm towards Okanade, who raised his sword and yelled in return,
"Bakudo no hachijuichi! Danku(Way of Binding #81: Splitting Void)!" A powerful barrier manifested, and Raikoho was torn to shreds against it. Okanade then opened his mouth once more. "Spread your sharp claws in retaliation, Kamaitachi (Sickle Weasel)!" A tornado whirled up the sword's length, and it transformed into a long white rod with five spikes extending at acute angles from the edge down towards the guard. Okanade whirled the weapon around, air pressure accumulating at the tips of all five spikes. "Dantsume Hikisaku (Rending Splitting Claw)!" A burst of high pressure air shot towards Kujo, and he yelled in pain as it smote him across the shoulder. He heard his collarbone crack, and felt a cold sensation he recognized as shock.
Angered, Kujo switched his Zanpakuto to the other hand and said, "Engulf him, Sunaarashi!" The burst of sand flew harder in his anger, and blasted Okanade several yards backwards.
Okanade stood up shakily, and he said in a desperate tone, "Why don't you understand? I did not kill Kyoraku. I supported him as captain commander with all my heart! It is insulting to be accused of such a thing, and I'm fighting you to give myself time to prove it to you." Kujo's eyes widened as he heard the honesty and hurt in his opponent's voice.
"You'll need time to escape, so you can explain to everyone. I'll help you get to the bottom of this, but you'll have to defeat me to buy some time." Okanade nodded. "I understand." Then he raised Kamaitachi and reiatsu glowed out of his body. "Bankai!" he exclaimed. A massive tornado erupted around him, and it dispersed to reveal an intricate white bow with a curved handle and wide hooks on the ends of the bow. "Kazero Kamaitachi (Locking Wind Sickle Weasel)!" His arm came up and he released a flurry of wind blasts which slammed Kujo against the wall and knocked him out cold. "Goodbye, Kujo, and thank you," said Okanade. Then he ran for his life.
Somewhere in the distance, a woman named Simura Kiraiyane sat on a hill overlooking Seireitei. She was tall and slender with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail, and wore a standard shihakusho and a long daito strapped to her back. She felt the change in Okanade's reiatsu, and stood up, starting towards the place where he was. "Where do you think you're going, Third Seat Kiraiyane?" said a voice behind her. There stood a tall, lanky man with chin length blonde hair cut at an angle along the bangs. He had brown eyes and a somewhat smug expression on his face. The man wore a shihakusho with a white tie tucked under the collar, and a long-sleeved haori coat with the kanji for five on the back. "Captain Hirako!" Simura exclaimed. "I said, where are you going?" Shinji Hirako repeated, obviously annoyed at her lack of answer. "I am going to help Okanade. He's my friend, and I can't leave him!" she told him. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that." he replied. "Yoshima Okanade is a murderer who should be punished for his crimes."
"Say that again!" Kiraiyane yelled, and she charged at her captain.
On Sokyoku Hill, Kazetora Kasumioji was not having a good day. Being shot at was not something she liked. Her opponent was doing nothing but that, appearing everywhere around her, firing those stupid little arrows at her from all angles. "Just quit it already! Come out and fight me face to face!" she screamed at nothing. Then the figure materialized right in front of her, lowering its hood. The unseen attacker turned out to be a young woman of almost equal height and age as Kazetora herself, with long brown hair and mischievous sky blue eyes. She wore a white tunic with a lime green cross shape on the chest. Kazetora took no time deciding what this girl was. "You're a Quincy."
"And you're a Shinigami. So typical that we should meet in battle." The girl regarded Kazetora with an amused expression. "I'm Hisori Zaruseki, Quincy extraordinaire!"
"Kazetora Kasumioji, Squad 9 Third Seat, and I'm bored of talking with you already. Cleave open the face of the heavens, Sosaiko (Twister Maiden)!" She drew her sword, which whirled with green energy and became a wooden sword hilt with a curved white blade on the end. Kazetora swung the sword and a tornado roared around her, whipping tendrils of wind racing towards her opponent in a frenzy. "Nice try!" chuckled the Quincy, and she held out her hand. "Let's go, Akitani Otoshi (Autumn Valley Cliff)! Her green bow sprung into existence. "Licht Regen (Light Rain)!" A flurry of gold blasts sliced through the wind attack. "You'll have to do better than that to beat me!" she yelled triumphantly.