Rukia walked far enough from the first division barracks. Mid way through the captains' meeting, a feeling irked her. She had a feeling that a certain girl had found her way into it. Rukia hoped she was wrong, but there was no mistaking it. Halting her footsteps, she waited in a path way that she knew her daughter would have to pass through to leave the barracks fully. If it really was her, she'd see her soon enough.

And just like she expected, Rukia could hear even paced footsteps approaching the path way, and a shadow being cast the closer the person got. Sure enough, the moment those footsteps turned in the path, Rukia's gaze met with the concerned face of Ichika.

Ichika flashed a look of knowing she was in trouble, but then tried her best to cover it up the next moment. She smiled uncertainly. "Mom. Hey!"

Rukia folded her arms and showed her a stern look. There was no point in acting. "Give it up, Ichika. There's nothing you can say that would excuse you for being here."

Ichika decided to push it a little bit. Not like she had anything else to lose. "I was looking for you…"

"Here I am. What was so important that you couldn't wait till I got home?" Rukia still wasn't buying her response. Ichika could clearly see that and nearly pouted.

There was no point… She needed to get answers anyway. Though, Ichika was hoping to prolong it before asking her mother about the captains' meeting. Preferably in a way that wouldn't give away that she snuck her way in the captains' meeting. "How did you know I was listening to the meeting?"

Rukia had a look of obviousness. "You're my daughter. I've been attuned to your reiatsu since you were a baby. Mind you, it barely had a spec of presence then. You could never fully hide yourself from me, Ichika." Ichika almost laughed. But her mother was still not very happy with her in the moment. "How much did you hear?"

"I dropped in around the time Uncle started talking about crossings to our world… and then from there on I stayed till the end of the meeting…" Rukia sighed. She didn't want Ichika to know then. It was too soon to explain everything to her more clearly. Rukia wasn't sure she wanted to. Up to her, she probably would have not told her. "I know you don't want to explain the war part yet, so I'll wait till you have a clear way you want to. But, for now…" There was one part of the meeting that irked her. A revelation. And it made sense when she really thought about it. "You and Ichigo?"

Of course she wanted more light shed on that. Rukia smiled a bit. Clearly her daughter was worried about it. "It's true in another world, Ichika."

"But… have you ever thought about it in this one? Before you were with dad? Or… now even?" Ichika couldn't say that she'd be surprised one bit if her mother said yes. Once before, when she was younger, she found and saw pictures of uncle Ichigo, her mom and other friends stashed away. Her and Ichigo always stood out, always stood together. Always… in some of the pictures, kept their eyes on each other. Annoyed at one another and it made her laugh, or happy and it made her smile with wonder. Her dad caught her with one of the albums one time. At that time, Ichika had never met Ichigo and didn't know what he looked like, so ultimately she didn't know it was him in the photos with her mother. Ichika remembers asking her dad who Ichigo was. He simply replied that he was a good friend of her mom and took the album away from her. He didn't want Rukia to find her with it when she got home, she remembered.

"Why ?"

The question came to her memory.

"I'll tell ya when your older okay?"

And the response that followed, along with a soft smile her father showed her. He never told her, but years later till currently, she knew then. Her mother was in love with uncle Ichigo. What parent would feel the need to bring up something like that to their child and ruin the picture of mommy and daddy happily ever after? Makes sense her mom never felt it was worth mentioning. Especially since it seemed during that time and even now she's leaving it behind.

"Ichika… I love your father. Very much. In this moment, right now, I wouldn't change anything to be different." Rukia spoke those words with full honestly. She wouldn't want to change anything. Everything was already set in stone. Set in place. There was no point. Where they all were in that point in time, was where they were meant to be and stay from their own decisions made. Ichika took everything she said with an open mind. She nodded. Rukia started walking down the path and Ichika followed closed behind.

Ichigo had kept close to Urahara when they left the captains' meeting. He had to talk to him about his son more. Find out why he didn't tell him about Kazui reflecting Yhwach. Kisuke wasn't oblivious and could tell that Ichigo had something to say to him, so he stopped walking and faced him with a cool grin. Ichigo however, couldn't mimic the same. "Yes, Kurosaki?"

"Why didn't you tell me and Orihime about what Kazui did?" Straight to the point like a sharp knife cutting butter.

Kisuke really didn't want to tell him. He could try lying, but from the looks and feel of it, Ichigo would sniff it out. He didn't want him frightening the boy if he did tell him though… Hell, that was the whole reason he didn't tell any of them. He didn't want to frighten them. "Listen. I honestly forget to tell you and Orihime. I figured Kazui would tell you actually." Kazui didn't tell them because he and Yoruichi made sure that it sunk in his head not to tell them. Hopefully Ichigo wouldn't go interrogating Kazui and get that bit of information out of him… or else he's a dead man. "I think, this is best to leave behind. Your son saved us all and isn't that all that matters?"

Ichigo seemed slightly skeptical. His brows creased and his eyes held a glare from the moonlight. But in the end of it all, Ichigo decide to trust Kisuke's words and accept what he knew then. "I guess it doesn't matter much now. Don't hide something big like that from us ever again." Ichigo started to walk away.

Kisuke could only hope that it didn't matter anymore. He hoped everything with Kazui was truly fine. Kisuke spoke lowly to himself with the tip down of his hat. "Sorry, Kurosaki."

The next morning, Kazui had kept his word to Mitsuko and met her at the park to help her practice. Her hair was tied up in a high pony tail and was dressed in regular clothing: shorts and a plain yellow color t-shirt. She was rolling the ball under her right foot when he found her. Hearing him announce his presence, she faced him with a beamed smile as silent greeting.

"Sup, Kurosaki!" She said to him, halting her ball movement.

Kazui, dressed in similar clothing to her, but instead an orange shirt, smiled. "All warmed up, I see."

She thumbed up. "Yup! So, what do I do first?"

First, he needed to see just how strong she could kick. He extended his left arm out and had his palm flat, faced down. "First, I want you to kick my hand. As hard as you can." She looked at him unsure. Eyes almost going wide. By the look on her face, he could sense she was worried about hurting him. She honestly had nothing to worry about. "Don't worry. My hand is made of steel." He winked at her after saying that. With his other hand, he tapped the bottom of his held-out palm as signal. "Come on. Hard as you can."

She was still unsure, but decided to trust his word and reassuring smile. "Okay. Tell me if I hurt you, though!" He nodded. Moving her right foot back, getting a good wind back before attempting, she let it loose once she felt ready. Her foot started off with quickness, looked to have power, but then…

The actual feel of it felt like nothing but a teddy bear kick. Amused, Kazui held back every muscle in his body that urged for him to laugh. He coughed instead to substitute it.

Mitsuko let her foot fall back. "Did I hurt you?"

Kazui shook his head…

"A little bit of a sting," He lied, rubbing the palm of his hand to better back up what he said. "What. A. Kick, Mitsuko."

Her eyes glared a bit. "You're not saying something…"

A tiny laughed escaped out of him. "No, not at all. Let's move on to actually using the ball."

She lightly punched his shoulder. "Liar."

It really amazed him sometimes. She could always tell when he kept words from her. Letting the feeling go, he focused back on the main matter at hand. Kazui kicked the ball, so that it would roll in front the goal. He walked a bit inside the net, like a goal keeper. "Try to get it past me."

Mitsuko smirked once she heard the challenge. "You bet!"

Time past. Kick after kick, Kazui didn't need to block any of them at all. Mainly because none of them made the ball reach inside the goal. The ball would always roll short of the post. Kazui was having a hard time keeping his face straight and not laughing. "You want to try moving closer to me, Mitsuko?" He kicked the ball back to her.

She pouted a bit. "What are you trying to say, huh!"

That your kicks are weak as hell… He snickered at his inner thought. "That maybe you should start off small…"

"No! I can do it. Watch out, Kurosaki," She got ready to kick the ball, "this one's heading straight in the net for sure!" Her foot collided with the ball. It actually looked to have a good bit of force behind it.

But.

The aim was terribly off and the ball strongly hit the top of the right post and bounced back. Kazui watched the fly ball with amazement. To think, if she had aimed her kick better, it would have been a threat for the net. Just as Mitsuko was about to turn around to see where the ball landed, she whipped her head back forward at the whistling sound and feel of something blowing past her at fast speed. It was the soccer ball…

It was shot straight in the net. In the net. As in the ball was literally stuck in the net fabric halfway. Kazui had made a quick reaction to fall back on the ground to avoid getting hit with it. He looked away from the ball and looked to Mitsuko with shocked eyes. She was looking at him shocked as well and amazed. It wasn't her. He knew that already. No. This had to be no other than…

"Kurosaki!" Mitsuko ran to him. She helped him to stand and he let her. "Are you okay?"

Kazui's brows furrowed. Annoyed and maybe slightly upset. The one to blame for the kick of the ball approached them.

Ichika. She seemed very mocking and teasing when she spoke, "Oh, Kurosaki, are you okay? I would've thought you could block that. Have more than just your eyes gotten soft since the last time we've played?"

Kazui calmed himself with an exhale and responded simply, "Have you gotten more childish since the last time we've played?"

Ichika lightly fumed, feeling the heat he shot at her.

Mitsuko was very lost to their exchange. Her eyes were focused on Ichika. "Um. Who are you?"

"Abarai Ichika!" She proudly pointed at the ball, "And I'm the one that kicked the ball."

Kazui could just hear her inner thoughts: "Ha, ha, haaaa! Praise me, simpleton!"

Mitsuko's eyes widened. A wide smile spread on her face. "What!? You kicked the ball? You did that?" Ichika was nodding. "Can you give me some pointers?" Mitsuko was over the moon with excitement.

Kazui didn't like where the situation was seeming to head, and so he deflected it by grabbing Mitsuko's hand. He pulled her away as he nervous chuckled. Going unnoticed by him, but not Ichika, Mitsuko immediately got silent at the hand to hand contact, blushing heavily. A little bit far away from Ichika, Kazui let go of her hand and brought his eyes to her. He raised a confused brow. "Are you okay? Your face is really red all of sudden."

Her hands shot up to her face. "Oh, is it really?!"

"Yeah…"

She did her signature hand gesture, poking the side of her forehead with her index finger. "Think it's just from working my body up in this heat, you know?"

Kazui had come to noticed she did that whenever she started a sentence with "think." He accepted her answer. "Okay. Listen. That girl, she's kind of crazy, so stay over here and I'll go see what she wants."

"Wait. You know her?"

"Yeah. She's an… old friend. Sort of."

"Oh." Her eyes casted down slightly at the thought of his words. A moment passed and she suddenly found new energy, "Okay! I know. I'll go get us something to drink. And maybe something," Her eyes looked past him to Ichika, who seemed to be wondering about something as well as she looked back at them, "for her too?"

He waved that suggestion down. "Don't waste your money on that fire-spark."

"Fire-spark…" Mitsuko repeated lowly with a hint of disappointment in her voice for some reason.

"Hm?" He moved his head a little closer to her eye level, to see if he could read where her thoughts were at.

"Ah!" She hop stepped away, and continued to hop step… "Drinks. I'll be right back!" She jogged away.

Kazui found her actions to be weird, but he didn't think too much of it. She was probably still shocked over the kicked ball. Walking back by Ichika, Kazui try to ignore the funny look on her face. Whatever she was about to say, he knew it was going to annoy him.

"So," She started, "finally trying to catch a girl, huh? Does she know you're extremely slow in the romance department?"

He wasn't amused. Arms folded. "Extremely slow in the romance department? What are you talking about? Mitsuko and I aren't like that. She's just a school friend."

Ichika laughed a bit at that. She felt bad for the girl, knowing that this Mitsuko did not share the same feelings. It was obvious as day. For some reason, Ichika did not feel all that bad for her though. "Hm. If you say so. Sorry about that ball, by the way. I didn't think I used that much force when I kicked it."

"Yeah. As if you were really pissed off or something…" Ichika eyes widened a bit. A slight tent of red covered her cheeks. This as well went over Kazui's head. "Don't worry about it. What are you here for, Ichika?"

Why was she there? The first answer that came to her mind, was that she was scared inside. She doesn't show that ever. But, finding out about the war oncoming and her mother having yet to fill her completely in, it made her have a terrible feeling inside. Ichika had realized that her eyes were down casted then. She was looking at the ground. What made her look up, was the touch of Kazui's hand on her shoulder. Those soft eyes…. She hated that they brought so much comfort to her. She was strong. Prideful. But he… never liked to sport any of that unless it was forced out of him. If they have to go to war. If they have to help. If they have to fight. Would she backed down while he would stand up fearless? "Um. There's something big… that's going to happen, Kazui."

"Ah. Seems like it's got you scared." He openly told her. But not in a teasing way, he was being sincere.

She nodded. "The great war that happened long ago. What if it happens again?"

"Hmm. We'd have no choice but to fight. Protect the people we love."

"You won't be scared? Worried about everything you could lose. Worried, scared that you wouldn't be strong enough to win?"

"It's not about knowing you'll win. In a way, winning is losing." Kazui told her.

She wasn't following him. "What do you mean?"

"We fight to protect the people we love, right?" She got that part, nodding. "On the other side of the blade, the people we direct it to are fighting for a similar purpose as well."

She didn't agree and shook her head wildly. "No. It's not similar!"

"Maybe not. But, I'm sure they have people that care about them and they fight to not die, so that those people would not get hurt by losing them. We protect loved ones by taking loved ones."

"But they're bad people. They want nothing more than power and don't care who they kill to get it. It's not the same."

"Think of it this way. Humans kill animals to eat. A predatory animal would do the same to humans. The survival instinct is still the same. The only difference is, humans feel the emotion to regret and feel sympathy while animals do not. They just know what they want."

That at least made since to her. "Bad guys only know what they want."

Winning is losing… because one side must lose. Each side believes in their own cause. Regardless if that side is with emotion or predator instinct.

Ichika took a deep breath and exhaled it. "I wish it didn't have to be this way. I wish everyone could just get along and have the same look at life."

"Wouldn't that be the perfect world?"

"Yeah."

"Back on the original issue though… Fight with the purpose to protect. Not to win. Keep that in your mind and heart."

She smiled. "Thanks."

"Oh. And Ichika. You are strong enough. Don't doubt that in you. If we had to fight side by side in any war, I'd trust you with my life."

Something in her heart tugged heavily with happiness. It brought warmness to her. "And I'd trust you with mine."

They were both strong enough.

Kazui's eyes went curios then. "I have to ask though, is there another war coming or something?"

"Ah… I don't know if I should be the one to fill you in or tell you… I'm not even supposed to know."

He became serious then. Another war? Most likely his father knows about it. Maybe that's what was going on with him and his mom that one night. They were talking about it. If so, why didn't they tell him? The answer came to him immediately. They didn't want to worry him over it. "So then… yes."

Ichika nodded. "Yes."

"I got the drinks guys!" Mitsuko shouted from some ways away. The moment she reached them, a big smile came over her as she panted. She held a drink out to Ichika. She had got her one even though Kazui told her not too. Letting the serious information fall behind him for the moment, he smiled slightly at the sight of friendliness she showed. Ichika glanced at him a moment, and could catch is silent words.

We'll talk some more about this later. Everything will be okay.

A grateful smile came over Ichika as she focused back to Mitsuko. She took the drink. "Thanks. Still want me to teach you some pointers?"

Mitsuko's eyes gleamed and sparkled like stars. It made Ichika and Kazui laugh.

They will enjoy this moment. The calm before the storm.

The fun playing soccer with Ichika and Mitsuko had kept the pending information of a war out of Kazui's head. Towards the end of the session, Ichika had Mitsuko kicking almost like a pro. Kazui did give himself some credit, though. He played the beat-up-doll with all the kicks he had to block. Mitsuko had gone home first, but before, she said her immense happy thanks to Ichika and showed a blushed face to Kazui as she thanked him for finding time to help her too. Yet again, it had gone over his head. He remembered Ichika had told him to try opening his eyes sometimes after Mitsuko was fully gone. She told him, maybe then he wouldn't get smacked in the face without realizing it so many times. Kazui had took in her words with an unsure understanding. He told her okay. It was the only response he could think of for it. After the word was said, there was a long string of silence between them. They were both thinking the same thing in that moment.

That it came back to them. No longer hidden from their mind with the distraction of laughs and each other's presence of having fun. The war had come back to them. And it was going to stay from there on. Before they split ways, Kazui, knowing what was ahead for Ichika and her intentions, he told her, "Good luck."

Kazui took in the moment of seeing her softly smile back at him. His eyes were opened for sure then. "Good luck to you too."

Getting home, Kazui had walked inside. Immediately, he found that his father was in the front room talking with his mom once again. The atmosphere was similar to when he found him and Aunt Ru together. But this time, he knew what was going on. Kazui was not going to head straight to his room and pretend like it's a private moment that does not include him. Because it does include him. They should have included him from the very beginning, instead of him having to find out from his friend, Ichika. He thought his father trusted and believed in him more than that. Apparently not. He understands his mother would be worried and hide it from him for a long while before she was ready to tell him. He would expect that from her. But his father? His father told him that he would always be upfront with him. No sugar coating. So what was the deal then?

Ichigo finally noticed his son was home. Orihime turned and straight away tried to put on a covering smile, but Kazui knew better. He walked close to them and kept his face serious. He couldn't help it, he was being honest with how he felt. Orihime didn't need to hear the words to know that her son knew the truth. She could read it all over his face. Her smile faded.

"I'll let you two talk," She said then. Ichigo eyes went to her, silently asking if she really thought it was a good idea. She responded with a simple reassuring look and nod. As she was about to pass Kazui, she gently touched his shoulder and proceeded to the kitchen to cook dinner.

Just the two of them left alone to talk, Ichigo started off first. "Hey son. What's wrong?"

Kazui almost scoffed. How could he still try to act like he doesn't know? "Ichika came to visit me while I was out playing soccer."

Ichigo half smiled. "That must have been great for you. She come down just to see you?"

Kazui's next words came out sharp and fully clear. His father had no choice but to stop putting on a fake mask. "She came to me because she was scared… about the war."

Ichigo couldn't hide the slight surprise that came over him. How did Ichika find out? He would've figured that Rukia wouldn't tell her right away. Apparently, he figured wrong. Rukia seemed to have more trust in how her daughter would take it. Unlike him, who didn't want Kazui trying to involve himself. Because he knows that his son is just like him. Ichigo's hand shot straight to his head, feeling the uncomfortable situation. "Rukia told her…?"

Kazui shook his head. "I don't know."

Ah. Then if not… how? Ichigo let his hand fall. He had to cut all the bull crap and be fully honest with Kazui. He had no other choice but to then. "I was going to tell you, okay? When I found the right moment and time. Right… words."

There was no excuse for something like that. "Would the right moment and time have been just before you left to fight this war? Would the right words have been, 'don't worry, son. I'll handle this'? I don't want to hear those excuses."

"Okay…" Ichigo exhaled. His son was taking this to heart more than he thought he would. "I'm sorry, okay? I just didn't want you to… Yeah, I didn't want you to worry. This war is big, Kazui."

"I want to help."

Ichigo shook his head. His eyes glaring in disapproval. "And that is exactly the main reason why I did not tell you. No."

For the first time, Ichigo had saw his son's eyes go livid. "Why not! You expect me to sit back home and go to school and play soccer and pretend like everything is fine? When it's not! You could be dying. Aunt Ru could be dying! Mom! Everyone else fighting… If you were me, I know you would feel the exact same way about this that I do."

Ichigo knew he was right. It would be impossible to act like everything was fine, knowing there was a war going on. If Ichigo was his son years ago, he knew he would go help, not matter who tried to tell him no or stop him. Hell. He went against every soul reaper and captain that tried to stop him from saving Rukia… Odds against him, but he didn't care. Looking his son in his eyes, Ichigo can see the same heated determination. Did he really want to be one of those people that tried to stop him from saving Rukia? One of those people to his own son? He loved his son. He doesn't want to lose him. But with a war like this, he might lose him anyway.

Ichigo growled out a sigh. He would have to thank Ichika for telling him. If she hadn't, Ichigo didn't think that they would be having this conversation. Not for a long time and maybe ever… It would have been wrong of him and he realized that then. He should trust his son. Kazui was strong. Probably even stronger than he was when Ichigo was his age.

Unexpected to Kazui, his father suddenly pulled him into a one-armed hug. The hold was firm and filled with silent words. All words Kazui didn't need to hear to understand.

"Alright. You can fight. Um." Ichigo pulled away from him. "There is a lot more I have to explain to you."

Kazui didn't know what else needed to be explain. But then, of course, who they're fighting and where. Was the war coming to them or did they have to go somewhere else? Didn't matter to him. All that mattered was that his father wasn't going to stop him from helping. He's going to fight alongside his loved ones. Not play pretend.

The daylight had completely gone away. It was night time, but the moon did not shine through clearly. Thunderous clouds covered the sky. Above an empty street of Karakura town, a portal opened, and out came Kenji landing on his feet. It was finally time for him to get his answer. He hoped the trip wouldn't be for nothing. That goes for all the previous trips as well. Kenji glanced at the wrist band screen. The timer was ticking away, reminding him to hurry up and get a move on to Ichigo's house.

Sharp and quick, Kenji bent back to avoid the blade of a katana that slashed down quick for him. It cut his cheek a bit. A thin, short line of blood formed. It dripped and he touched it. Seeing that whoever tried slice him, really meant business. If he hadn't dodged, his cheek would be gashed.

The attacker spoke, getting his attention. "You have quick reflexes."

Yoruichi came to Kenji's mind. His eyes unable to hold back confusion. "I had a great Sensei."

Toshiro kept his expression neutral at hearing that. "The next attack, won't be that easy to dodge. So I suggest," He flashed stepped, swiping his sword upward. The attack happened so fast, that Kenji had no choice but to pull his sword out and clash it against his to block it. "You use your sword."

Kenji didn't understand. Why was Toshiro attacking him? He didn't do anything to deserve the hostility. Not to mention hostility from a captain. Was the soul society really that off put by his presence? He knew that they would catch on to the strange occurrence of his crossings, but he never thought the head captain would send someone to attack him. "Hey. I'm not the enemy here."

"That's what they all said." They both broke away from the sword clash. Serious with the eyes of deadly intent, Toshiro kept his fighting stance on aggress. The next attack he did, Kenji met it with his sword–each slash, each kick of the foot, but one particular elbow jab got to him in the chest, pushing him back some ways on his feet. Toshiro didn't give him any time to recover before going in again, each move more precise than the last, and the next swing of the blade that much closer to cutting him deep.

Kenji wouldn't be able to keep up defensively for long. He didn't want to fight him. He knew him. Well, the Toshiro in his world. They fought alongside each other, not the other way around. Toshiro even trained him for a short while. It was the strictest training of his life, but it taught him how to control his reiatsu a certain way that only Toshiro could teach him.

He was fighting against that same friend. Sensei. Practically family even. Kenji felt pain in his heart. He knew it was not the same person he knew to be all of those things to him, but it was still the same man.

He didn't want to fight him!

The storm above seemed to be getting worse. Lightning flared and the sound of thunder crackled loudly. The clash of their blades became slick with the coating of rain that began to poor. This was bad. Rain. Toshiro knew it and Kenji as well. That was going put Toshiro in high favor. It was already starting to feel cold. Kenji honestly hated the cold. Enough training sessions with a man like him, anyone would hate it.

Toshiro flashed stepped away, giving a good space between them. Rain splashed and pattered around them. Toshiro had a look in his eyes that Kenji knew all too well. He was going to do it. Perfect. Kenji's had just about enough of playing around with him. He had no intentions to fight him seriously. That was not why he came and it damn sure was not something he was going to be forced into. He's going to end the nonsense. Since he won't listen, he'd just have to show him.

The clouds were already a greyish dark, but once Toshiro began to focus and harness his power to release his shikai's special ability, the clouds turned black. All to feed into the beast of a dragon, the one and only last of its kind, "Sit upon the frozen heavens…" His sword extended in length, taking release form, gaining a crescent shaped blade attached to its hilt by a long metal chain. Immense spiritual power overflowed from the tip of the blade, creating the form of the ice dragon that Kenji knew so well. With the amount of water that the storm already provided, the ice dragon was going to hit real hard. Kenji prepared himself. Toshiro slashed down and yelled, "Hyorinmaru!"

Kenji closed his eyes as he took in a calming breath. Remember.

"You can use your Quincy ability to control your reiatsu, to manifest it into any form you want, just as I do with Hyorinmaru in release form."

Kenji remembered that he was young and full of excitement.

"I want it to look like your ice dragon!"

The memory of the amused look on Toshiro's face was still fresh in Kenji's mind.

"Like Hyorinmaru? Okay. Here's what you do…"

Feel every bit of the reiatsu, power and focus on it.

"You have to be precise with this technique, Kenji. Lose control and focus, and it will not end well for you or the people around if they're of the living world."

Just the right amount. I don't want to seriously hurt him. I just want to get my point across. That I'm—

The dragon raged towards him, freezing almost everything it came close to and dropping the temperature low. Kenji's reiatsu flared around him, white and wild like fire. It began to take the form of a dragon, white and red, identical to Toshiro's, but except for the color. Kenji opened his eyes, sharp and focused. He used his sword to control the aggress of his dragon, slashing down towards Toshiro's.

Both dragons collided with great force into one another. The ice of Hyorinmaru tried to overtake on Kenji's dragon, but it wasn't solid and so it fell through like fog. Kenji's dragon overpowered Hyorinmaru and dispersed it into nothing but frosty air and went straight for Toshiro.

Shocked. Toshiro didn't move out the way. But before the dragon came an inch close to touching him, Kenji stopped it, making his reiatsu lose its form and go back to him. Kenji's reiatsu's flame died. It took a lot of him to form it and disperse it suddenly before it took its full course. He breathed heavy. "Geez."

Rain stopping, the clouds above started to part and make way for the night sky to show through. The moonlight shined down over them. Kenji approached Toshiro, who was still shell-shocked. That was surprising to Kenji. Not every day Toshiro wore a look like that. Sheathing his sword, Kenji showed a friendly half smile, though it was full of worn out energy. "I'm not your enemy."

Toshiro dropped the look on his face once he accepted what had just happened. Though, he still wanted an explanation for it. Toshiro showed a mirrored expression. "Thank the heavens you're not, right?"

Kenji laughed a bit. Nodding once he pieced together what that battle must have really been about. Right.

Thank the heavens.