Title: Kyrie Eleison

Chapter: Killing the Mood

Disclaimer: I do not own bleach nor do I claim to. Actually, I said long ago that bleach governs over me, lol

Listening to: Kimi ga Tame (By Suara)

Quote of the Chapter:

Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired. (Ahhh, how true...)

I never thought I'd be saying this...but I miss the action parts and I so badly wanna write a fight scene...But in a couple more chapters I will. Maybe 2 or three...hehehe. Wait no, maybe i'll write a little action next chappy...

"The cultural festival!" exclaimed Yumi as Archer nodded. They all decided to meet up at Urahara Shoten for this brief meeting.

"It's the easiest way for them to get to us without soul society relaxed. Yumi frowned in confusion at the reason.

"But if Soul Society was at ease, wouldn't it be easier for Aeon?"

Hitsugaya, understanding the situation, put a thoughtful expression on. "Soul Society would have to spread out their guards throughout the festival… Security would be thin around the perimeter. And if they're experts at hiding their reiatsu like Adachi says, then we're in trouble."

"Exactly as the chibi says," Reisha smirked and ignored the death glare from the shinigami. "Daemons from Aeon are all experts at hiding their reiatsu to near nonexistant levels. They also have the appearance of normal humans and can easily adapt to wherever they're assigned. Only other Daemons can have an easy time finding another. Shinigami have to go by sight. Too bad for you Yuki-ouji."

Even with her predicament of her 'death collar' as she so proudly stated, she wasn't afraid to find degrading nicknames for the tenth division captain. Some of them even Yumi wouldn't try. It hurt her a little that he would only get furious at her whenever she would call him names while he let Reisha off the hook with a glare. A familiar pang hit her chest hard as she unconsciously put her hand there. Willing the strange feeling away, she consentrated on the problem at hand.

"So what do you propose we do then?" Yumi asked.

"We'll go in groups, each paired with us. Reisha will be with Yumi and I'll go with the squirt!" Archer grinned at his own nickname for the frosty captain. However, everyone must have felt the temperature of the room grow considerably colder…

"No," Hitsugaya crossed his arms and shook his head. "I'll go with Adachi. Sayomi will go with Miyamoto."

Yumi looked at him in shock. "Hitsugaya-kun?"

"That's the end of that. The festival is in two weeks time. Now, if you'll excuse me. Adachi, I have to talk to you." He gestured for the female Daemon to follow. She simply shrugged and did so. Once both of them left, Yumi couldn't help but let her shoulders slump.

Archer raised a brow. "What killed you?"

"Nothing…" she answered half-heartedly.

"Kid, I'll eat six bullets from my gun if that's true." He said and put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Wanna talk?"

Yumi stared at the black collar around his neck unintentionally and sighed. "Don't tell my taicho or Reisha about this, okay?" he simply nodded and she took a breath in. "Hitsugaya never gets mad at Reisha when she calls him names… My nicknames for him aren't even that bad and he yells at me! Not only that, but he…"

"'He'?"

"…he wanted to pair up with Reisha…" Yumi frowned, cursing her own childishness. But what was wrong with going with Archer? She didn't mind going with Reisha at all! Maybe her captain just didn't like the male Daemon? He was likeable enough, wasn't he?

The golden-eyed gunslinger went silent for a moment before standing up and walking towards the door. "I'll go talk with Reisha about it and you'll talk about it with your captain, alright?"

"Wh—wait-…HUH!" Yumi was about to stop but but he simply smiled and went out. Within seconds, a small body was thrown out of the room and landed ungracefully on his backside.

"SAYOMI!"

"Go talk with the princess, will ya?" Archer grinned and shut the door, locking it in the process. There was an awkward silence between the two of them.

"Erm…"

"…"

"Well, uhm…."

"…."

"…."

"…."

"Will you say something!" Yumi shouted and he scowled.

"'Say something'! I was going through some important matters when that guy just throws me out saying we needed to talk!" he growled. "So what in the name of kami must we talk about!"

"Oh, so talking with Reisha is more important than going through some things with your own subordinate!"

"What is there to talk about, Miyamoto? We have our orders so follow them!"

Yumi stood up abruptly and glared daggers at her captain. "Fine. I'll follow your orders. But I'm not doing it because you're giving them…" and she left the room in a huff. Hitsugaya let out a grunt as he fell back to lay down. He sighed tiredly and put an arm over his eyes.

"Hitsugaya Toshiro, what are you doing?"

Archer shut the door quietly as he entered the room. Reisha didn't look at him. She simply stared at the ceiling from her position on the floor. He sat down beside her and heaved a deep sigh.

"Go away, stray. You're killing the mood with your gloomyness." She said once she finally looked at him. Archer sent her a pained smile.

"I could say the same to you." Archer retorted. Reisha grunted a reply. There was silence for a bit but it was welcome. But someone had to break it.

"What do you think he's up to?" it was the gunner.

The scythe master shrugged and continued glaring holes into the ceiling. "Dunno. It sounds fishy to me. He even helped us in Soul Society a bit." She remembered the small orb she received back then and unconsciously let her eyes flicker to her pack resting on the wall. Archer took a glimpse at the fellow Daemon and nearly let out a yelp when he saw the expression on her face. It wasn't a smirk or a smug grin. There was a soft smile on her lips, as if she was remembering a happy dream. "The guy always was an idiot. Before at least."

There was a welcome silence as the two remembered the happy times in the past, although there was precious little of that.

Archer coughed. "What do you make of last night?" Reisha sat up from her laying position and had a grim expression. No more was the once in a lifetime expression on her face.

"Who knows? Maybe he's helping, maybe he's not." She stretched a little and then smirked smugly. "And maybe we'll get lucky enough to experience both."

Last night was the reason for their meeting after school. Apparently, a certain Daemon had gifted them with a nightly visit (Not that the frosty captain would know.)

The moon was gone, hidden behind the thick clouds of the night. As the two Daemons slept, a presence became known from the moon peeked slightly through the breaks of the clouds. Reisha and Archer stirred by the familiar presence and took great care not to wake the brunette Shinigami that shared their apartment room. Carefully, the two snuck out and rushed to the road outside. A figure was leaning on a tree with their arms crossed. It looked like a normal human, save for the shocking silver eyes and midnight blue hair.

"Dai…" Archer breathed as the figure chuckled.

"Yep. It's me Arch." He stepped out of the shadows and into the street now illuminated by the crescent moon. He began to make a move into his pocket when the other two reached for their weapons. Daichi had to laugh a bit and pulled out what was in his pocket. "Try not to get hurt by my flimsy piece of paper."

The two paused and then returned their weapons to their proper places. Daicho grinned and gave the paper to Archer.

"What in the devil is this?"

"It's a map of the vicinity," he explained easily. "Karakura High is holding a festival 'here'," he pointed to a large park nearby a shrine. "Normally these festivals would be held closer to the school, but it's a big thing this year. It's the last festival before the fall. I hear the taiyake is great there!"

"So…you're giving us a map…to go to a festival…" Reisha spoke skeptically, confused at the other Daemon's point.

The silver-eyed boy nodded cheerfully. "Yup! How else am I supposed to tell you that Aeon's gonna start attacking?"

"What!" Archer exclaimed as Daichi made a sign for silence.

"Yeah. It's exactly as you say. So be on the lookout. Watch out for the kid too. She'll need all the protection you can give." He turned to make his leave when Archer grabbed his wrist.

"Wait," he began and tightened his grip slightly. "Daichi… Whose side are you even on?"

The Daemon was silent for a moment before answering. "If you must know, then stay alive until the day we see battle once again, Arch." He turned to regard the Reisha, who had not spoken a word since she laid eyes on him.

"Hey Rai." She nearly jumped at the name and frowned deeply. Daichi sent her a soft smile, albeit it held much more than that. He walked towards her. At first, Archer thought he was going to talk with her personally, but his 'brother' simply passed her while whispering something softly to her. Her eyes widened considerably before narrowing down towards the ground. At this, Daichi smirked and disappeared in a flash.

"What did he say?" Archer asked after a brief silence. Reisha said nothing as she made her way back into the apartment complex.

"Nothing." She spoke softly, like a whisper. "Nothing at all."

"Why don't we do a maid café?" piped up one girl as she excitedly jumped up from her seat. Some of the girls started gossiping in agreement. Some didn't.

"How would we get supplies for the food and uniforms? Besides, the class across is doing a date café. Doing one would be pointless."

"How about a wrestling tournament!" one of the guys offered. Most of the males made sounds of approval but backed down once they were met with the furious gazes of the female populice of the class.

Yumiko sighed deeply and distractedly stared out the window. Ever since her little spat with her captain added to the anxiety of the cultural festival, she just wasn't up for faking her cheeriness. Besides, it wasn't like she had a reputation to keep up. She was still 'the new kid' to these humans. It wasn't like she was one of them.

'boink'

"Eh?" Yumi blinked out of her thoughts and saw Seito staring at her curiously. Someone had thrown a small ping pong ball at her head to knock her out of her daze. "Hitsugaya-san. It's you're turn to give an idea!"

"Ah, really? Sorry," she mumbled and quickly tried to think up something. From the corner of her eye, she saw a book by Shakespeare on Seito's desk. Yumi began to panic. "Err…book…?"

"'Book'?" most of the class stared at her blankly as she hid her reddening face in her arms.

"How about a class play?"

Everyone turned to the owner of the voice, who ended up being one of the girls Yumi noticed when first coming to Karakura High. If memory served, she was the one blabbering on about 'pushing her off a pedastal'. For one, that would hurt, wouldn't it? These humans were so strange…

"That sounds like fun!"

"Really? Can there be fighting!"

"Ooh, I want to do costume designing!"

"Count me in! I'll find a play we can do!"

The girl that answered turned her dark eyes at Yumi with a wide smile on her lips. However, it held as much warmth as her captain had in his zanpakto. The girls hand went to flip her curled black locks in a way that must have been practiced for hours in front of a mirror.

Now, Yumi was an easy person to get along with. She had an open attitude and didn't mind being a little on the honest side. She had no idea that commenting the fact that this raven-haired beauty's 'panties' (If that small piece of floss was even considered…) were quite indecent. Out of concern, she had even asked if it was even comfortable, much to the enjoyment of the listeners on that day. Ever since then, this girl had gone to great lengths to make Yumi squirm in her seat. This time would be no different.

"Yukina-chan," she seemed to pur. "Since you were so kind as to give the basic idea of doing a play, you can handle the planning of the whole event right?"

In response, Yumi grinned brightly and nodded.

"Hells no."

The classroom fell quiet as an ominous cloud fell over the crowd. Even the teacher, who was just innocently reading a text book (Which curiously had the most recent volume of Shonen jump inside), peered over the edge curiously.

No one dared to defy the daughter of the vice-principal before. Morioka Tomoe had her father on a string and could give many 'valid' reasons as to why a student should be expelled.

"Excuse me, Yuki—"

"Oh, excuse me for being so blunt. I apologise," Yumi frowned in a mock concerned manner. "What I meant to say was: 'I'm sorry but I'm just not up to it if it's just me doing the planning.'"

"Well that could be arranged." The teacher snapped her manga—erm, book, shut and smiled. "Both Hitsugaya Yukina and Morioka Tomoe can work on the managing of the event. Now, everyone will pitch in is that clear?"

"Yes, sensei!"

The two girls smiled at each other. Tomoe made the first move by extending her well-manicured hand.

"Pleasure to be working with you."

Yumi grasped it, ignoring the hard squeeze, and spoke behind gritted teeth.

"Oh no, the pleasure is all mine."

"Y'know, glaring holes at the paper won't get anything done, Miyamoto." A voice spoke as they read the morning newspaper once more. "If anything, your face will stay that way."

"Oh, I'm sure you would know, right?" she retorted playfully, earning an annoyed stare in her direction.

He huffed and wisely ignored her bribe for another banter.

"Sayami wants to go over the plans for the festival. I already went over it with Adachi." Hitsugaya snapped the paper shut. He took a quick glance at the large amounts of paperwork spread across the table in the apartment room she stayed in. "You do know we're not supposed to get involved with human activity, right?"

Yumi huffed ingidnantly. "Well, it's not like I wanted to do this! But you know sensei! She's could probably be a hollow in disguise for all we know! She fits the description enough…"

"For one, she does not have a white mask nor the craving for human souls. Added to that, her spiritual energy is literally non-existant."

"Oh, I wasn't talking about that," she grinned and filed away another piece of paperwork. "I was talking about her sadistic behavior towards students and suspicious activities that include spying on the cosplaying anime club whilst drooling, as if she hadn't eaten anything in days."

"Point taken and ignored."

"Darn…"

"Miyamoto…"

"Yes?"

"…Have fun doing all that," he said before leaving the room, also escaping from the hard textbook that hit the door on his way out.

"That…!That bastard!" And those were the least colorful of the words that came after.

"I hope you're not talking about me." Yet another voice cut in, their voice sarcastic and almost…playful?

In response, Yumi rolled her eyes. "Oh, of course not Reisha. Who could possibly call you a bastard?"

"Watch it, kid." She hissed and smacked her lightly upside the head. "Even though I got this damn collar on, it just means I can't do things while I'm being watched. And it looks like your 'guardian angel' isn't around at the moment."

"'Guardian angel'! Phft!" the Shinigami girl chuckled and put her pen down. "All he cares about his getting this mission done as quickly as possible so he can get back to finding Aizen."

"Ah, for that 'Momo' girl, eh?"

The brunette's eyes widened and she quickly grabbed the elder daemons shirt. "You know Hinamori?"

"Met her. Spoke with her. 'Freaking saved the idiots life." She listed a bit while counting on the tips of her fingers. "You forgot about the Ryoka break in already? I knew your brain was horribly messed up but seriously?"

"Shut it…" she barked back and let the grip on Reisha's shirt ease. "But I guess I should…thank you…"

"Eh? For what?"

"Helping Hinamori. She's really important to Hitsugaya-kun." Yumi grinned and sat down on the couch. "So… Th—"

"Ah whatever," Reisha cut her off rudely and smirked at her reddening face. "It's not like I intended it to happen anyways. Plus, you won't wanna be thanking me in a couple of minutes…" She trailed off, drinking in Yumi's confused expression.

"Why?"

"You remember when you were training with the Prissy Stray back in Uruhara's shop? …Oh don't give me that look. Sure I wasn't there but I sure as hell know the signs your predicament."

"Predicament?"

She sighed impatiently and went over to the brunette, poking her in the forehead in the process. "You hear an annoying voice there, don't you?" Yumi's eyes widened. No one knew of the strange voice she heard when she was in a bind. The last time she remembered hearing it was before she arrived at the office of fourty-six. It had 'helped' her in terms of speed, but between the intervals of allowing it to help she had no memory. Even when training with Archer, she couldn't remember anything of her battle with the claimed 'Black Cat' of Aeon. And even after that, he looked like he got the crap beaten out of him! "A voice that taunts you. It tells you that you need its help and are as defenseless as a newborn baby without it."

"I…"

"Jeez, I know you're a bit slow but learn to say more than one word. It's a little pathetic." Reisha teased and then gestured for her to follow. "I'm going to teach you how to tap into that power without losing yourself…again."

"Again?" Yumi frowned but followed the daemon. She hesitated before getting through the door though. "Reisha… The truth. Why are you helping me?"

She smirked, but Yumi could almost sense something else in those eyes that matched her own. The mysterious amethyst eyes that were so unnatural stared back at her like a mirror.

"Maybe so next time I won't have to worry about having to kill you so quickly," Reisha proceeded down, most likely towards Urahara's shop. "This way, when I do decide to continue the hunt, I'll get at least a bit more fun out of it."

Thought I forgot about that? Think again. Hehe

Question time!

1. Daichi helps Reisha and Archer once again by telling them Aeon's plans. To what purpose or gain could he have?

2. Why do you think Reisha wants to help Yumi control her 'inner voice'? And how does she even know about that?

3. Yumi is distressed about her captain picking Reisha to partner up with him. What can Archer do to cheer his 'princess' up? (I might actually pick an idea and credit the person…cuz I'm out of ideas…-sweatdrop-)

4. Why the heck is Toshiro putting up with Reisha's insults!

Please answer by my favorite word: REVIEW

It makes me write the next chappy FASTER and LONGER!