Chapter 9: Cryptic Clues: A Rising Murderous Intent

There was blood everywhere: on the walls, the floor, even the ceiling. Tairos and Jaice were coated with blood, gaping wounds on their chests and necks. Their zanpakutos laid shattered by their sides, and the ripped shreds of their clothes mingled with the forming pools of blood. The black robed man turned and faced Baiten, twisting his long zanpakuto to shake off the blood. He stared at Baiten, the murder's eyes blazing gold in the darkness, his features obscured by shadow; he readied himself in fighting stance and lunged, plunging his blade into Baiten's chest.

It was at that moment Baiten cried out, waking a sleeping Tairos and a half-dozing Jaice. "Damn, it's bad enough that he talks in his sleep, but screaming?" Jaice asked.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Tairos questioned as Baiten sat up wiping sweat from his brow.

"Yes, don't worry about it. Let's go back to bed," Baiten replied, closing his eyes. It seemed so real, but it was a dream, Baiten thought. The murderer wouldn't come here...would he?

Dawn came as usual, and the events the morning passed normally, with Baiten and Jaice eating a meal prepared by Tairos. It was eerily silent, as if they each feared to speak. Finally, as if a messenger come to break the silence, or a harbinger, a Hell Butterfly came fluttering through a window. Baiten extended the pointer finger on his right hand and the insect landed, resting for several seconds before fluttering away. Baiten's face twisted, contorting into a mask of fear and pain.

"What was the message?" Tairos asked, looking at Baiten's shocked face. There was a long pause, and Baiten continued to fail to reply.

"Damn it, Baiten! What was the message?" Jaice growled, rushing over to face his friend eye to eye.

"The next house over...all six of the Shinigami inside were killed," Baiten said, shuddering as he spoke.

"The murder...was so nearby. We could be next!"

"Snap out of it, Baiten!" Jaice roared. "We have just as much chance of dying now as we ever did! If the murderer comes, we'll easily crush him!"

"It gets worse," Baiten continued. "There was a clue found; it was the emblem of a seated officer of the 11th Squad."

"11th Squad?" Tairos and Jaice said simultaneously. "The most violent squad in Seireitei?"

"Yes, and against an enemy like that we'll be in trouble." Baiten continued. "He has already killed several officer level Shinigami, including ones ranked as high as fourth seat in one squad. Whoever the murderer is, he is deadly."

At this comment, Jaice began to laugh. "I like the sound of this, a strong opponent would be nice."

"Haven't you noticed, Jaice, that no one survives his attacks?" Tairos said. "Whoever he is, he is one ruthless bastard."

"Put the pieces together, guys," Jaice said. "If he's in the 11th Squad, it's easier to discover his identity."

"Yeah, what are we going to do? Walk up to every member of the 11th Squad and ask 'oh excuse me, do you happen to be the guy who has been murdering everyone in Seireitei the past few weeks?'"

"No, Jaice has a point," Baiten interjected, rising to his feet. "Judging by the string of murders, the killer has made a few vital errors. Come on, let's go to the 11th Squad headquarters, I have an idea of who this murderer is."

"We'd better wait to be sure of who the murderer is," Tairos said, grabbing Baiten's arm to stop him from leaving the house. "If we violate the current law, we will all look like likely suspects, especially since the most recent murder had such a close proximity."

"But I'm already pretty sure," Baiten answered.

"Then spell it out for us, so we know this isn't just some random guess," Jaice said. "If we screw up, it'll cost us all."

"Well, different ranks of Shinigami from different squads have been murdered, everything from basic to a fourth seat as I said earlier." Baiten began. "Therefore, whoever it is doesn't seem to have any specific targets, moreso he is just killing whoever he sees fit." Baiten paused to see that his friends were following and continued. "From that information we can assume that the murderer's motive could be one of the following: one, he is insane the merely killing anyone and everyone for his own sick reasons; two, he has been hired by someone to carry out these killings; three, he is killing them in order to somehow rise to power."

"Option three seems most likely," Tairos said. "By eliminating ranked officers, whoever he is has more openings to become more influential. The murders of lower ranking members are probably to throw everyone off that trail of thought."

"Exactly," Baiten replied, giving Tairos a thumbs up. "Therefore, we have to note a member of the 11th Squad who has been promoted since the beginning of the murders. Judging by the 11th Squad members killed, he is probably a sixth seat by now."

"You made one critical error, Baiten," Jaice said. "The 11th Squad insignia could easily have been a plant in order to throw people off the real trail."

"You do have a point," Baiten said. "I guess we need a better lead before we can be sure what squad the murderer is a member of. As I said, he has killed members of each squad fairly evenly; thus, there have probably been a lot of promotions lately meaning that there will be many suspects."

"Yeah, but that will make it easier to narrow down who it is," Tairos said. "We just have to find out who among each squad has been promoted a great deal in the past few weeks. Knowing that will at least narrow the range of suspects."

"We can also assume that he was a seated officer even before the murders began," Jaice continued. "No basic Shinigami is going to be that deadly."

"You can never be too sure," Tairos replied. "They may be hiding their power, that would make the murders even harder to trace."

"Damn, this whole thing is too confusing!" Jaice yelled, kicking at the air. "We have barely any leads! We might as well just hope he comes to us and that we can kill him before he kills us!"

"Getting angry won't help," Baiten said. "I think we'd better just wait it out and see if any more leads appear. We could look for clues, though that may lead to suspicion and one of us was already accused of committing these murders."

"No, searching for clues would be too risky," Tairos said. "There are Cells within each squad already assigned to investigation, and we'd just get in their way or arouse suspicion. You know what they say, the murderer always returns to the scene of the crime."

"So what are we supposed to do? Wait in every house he's been to?" Jaice asked, annoyance obvious in his voice.

"No, I see where Tairos is going," Baiten replied, smiling. "Statistically the way the murders have been occurring, we are the next best target. Recently, several murders have taken place near our home. All we have to do is have one of us keep watch; we can switch off every three hours. I'll take the first shift, Tairos the second, and Jaice the third."

"Fine with me," Jaice said. "Let's hope that bastard shows his face. I haven't had a good fight in awhile!"

"Yeah, I can agree with that," Tairos said, yawning. "Anyway guys, I have to get to work, I'll see you tonight." With that, he walked out the door.

"I have some reading to catch up on," Jaice said, pulling a book off a nearby shelf and reclining in a newly purchased chair from Tairos's place of employment.

"I might as well do the same," Baiten agreed, sitting in the second of the three wicker chairs. "It's odd; we haven't had a mission in awhile, yet with so much downtime I haven't done anything productive."

"Value peace while you can, it never lasts."

Several hours later...

"G'night Baiten," Jaice said as he walked back into the bedroom behind Tairos.

"Good luck with the watch," Tairos stated, giving Baiten a thumbs up.

"Thanks, guys," Baiten answered, "I'll wake you when it's your turn." They closed the bedroom door and Baiten returned to reading his book. He almost wished he'd never started it; the book was rather boring and repetitive, with characters of no real substance in situations that didn't seem to matter. Baiten sighed, knowing that he always finished what he started as he flipped to page 203 out of 466. It would be a long night but, he hoped, at least he'd finish this blasted book. And who knows, maybe it would get better! As Baiten flipped another page the dullness set in and slowing his head drooped onto his chest, and he slipped into a deep sleep.

The bamboo screen door slid slowly aside as a figure entered the house. He looked at the sleeping Baiten and smiled, knowing that his Shikai had once again come through for him. This murder would be even easier than the last, the previous victims had actually been able to resist most of his sword's effects and gave him a decent fight. Sadly for them, it wasn't good enough. Oh well, no time to dwell on the past, he thought. I have work to do. With that, he raised his katana and stabbed forwards, time seeming to slow down as the blade was about to pierce Baiten's chest. He smiled as the blade connected, but, as he pulled the weapon back, was surprised to see no blood on his victim's chest. He looked at his sword, only to see the the upper third of it had been melted away...but by what?

"That's acid, if you'd like to know," Jaice declared, showing a dripping Sangren from the darkness.

"H...how are you awake? No matter, Sleep, Maitre Sommeil!" As the murder finished speaking, an eerie purple aura surrounded his zanpakuto which moved in a stream towards Jaice, encircling his head. Jaice's head moved back and forth, his eyelids began to flap, but he did not even seem to become drowsy as he forced open his eyes and grinned wickedly.

"You should have done more research about your targets, I don't sleep!" Jaice roared, swinging his sword at the murderer's chest. The villain narrowly dodged, acid slightly searing his kimono.

"Damn! How can you resist my Maitre Sommeil? It redirects reiatsu flow and concentrates all of it in my enemy's head, allowing me to force them into a state of drowsiness, and eventually sleep!"

"Shut up, I don't care!" Jaice slashed off the murderer's left arm as he spoke, and acid splayed across the intruder's chest. He recoiled in pain, as Jaice kicked him out the open door and into the street. "And by the way, I've got a shit load of reiatsu. Your sword probably isn't good enough to redirect all of it. Or perhaps it's just you that sucks!"

There was little moonlight, but it was enough for Jaice to see the murderer's body. He was half a head taller than Jaice and had a sunken face with piercing purple eyes and blond hair. He cringed and tried to back away as Jaice approached.

"P...please! Don't kill me! I have influence, I can help lead you to power! We can work together and dominate Soul Society!" The murder begged.

"I'd never work with someone as pitiful as you, and besides, domination isn't my thing," Jaice replied coldly. "I can't even take your word for it. I'm not even a seated officer and I'm kicking your ass. Or perhaps I'm a hell of a lot better than anyone gives me credit for."

The bastard, the murder thought, how had he gotten so lucky? Someone at his level shouldn't have that much reiatsu, or even so would be more inclined to kidou based combat. If it had been that, I could surely have beaten him. Kidou...that's it!

"Any last words?" Jaice said as he raised his zanpakuto.

"Way of Bind..." The murder started, but never finished, as his sentence was cut off by a machete cleaving his skull in two.

The next morning:

"Thanks, Gandaime-san," Shindou stated as the 7th Squad investigators dragged the corpse of the murder away. "We are forever in your debt for killing and stopping this monster."

"You're welcome, it was an enjoyable fight at least," Jaice answered. Shindou extended his hand to shake, but Jaice batted it away. "I helped your investigation, that doesn't make us friends."

"My apologies, Gandaime-san," Shindou replied bowing. "I hope that someday we will see eye to eye."

Or perhaps your eyes will see no more, Jaice thought, his hatred of Shindou still boiling. I will defeat you. Last time, we were on uneven ground. But now...I have Sangren!

Jaice re-entered the house and high-fived both Tairos and Baiten. "Well, there's another mission completed."

"Yeah, and we weren't even assigned to it," Baiten said.

"We were really lucky that Jaice is such a freak," Tairos added.

"Freak? I have skills, you jealous idiot!" Jaice shot back.

"Jealous? I'd never want to be someone with such an ugly face!"

"Oh so that's your game!"

In the midst of their tussle, Baiten walked over to the window where a Hell Butterfly entered. The insect landed on Baiten's finger and his eyes widened in happiness as he heard the message it carried.

"Guys, stop fighting! We've been asked to enter the Shinigami Tournament which starts in one week!" Baiten cheered. Both Tairos and Jaice turned their heads towards him and smiled.

"Apparently, someone thinks we're pretty good," Tairos said.

"Yeah, only a few Shinigami from each squad are allowed to compete," Baiten declared proudly.

"Finally, a chance to kick some ass," Jaice said.

"It isn't just about fighting," Tairos replied. "The top fighters are almost always promoted within their squads, and that means more interesting missions."

Baiten nodded. "We'd better start training, the tournament is going to be tough!"

And, if I'm lucky, that will be my chance to defeat Shindou, Jaice thought.

HES: Sorry this update took so long, I have been very busy lately. The pace of updates should start picking up soon, so stay tuned! The first arc, the Murder Mystery, has just ended, and a new one, The Tournament of Shinigami is about to begin! Please review, I value your input!