Title: Kyrie Eleison

Chapter: Crunch Time

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

Listening to: O'Child (By Nevertheless)

Time to get a bit more serious, right? I've been putting it off for a while! Since I've been behind, I'm skipping the extra scenes I was going to put (basically, cutting out most of the filler parts). I'm putting a recap too since this story has been…neglected, as of late…

Recap:

Shortly after the Ryoka incident in Soul Society, it came time to deal with the Daemon prisoners, a race that was long thought to be wiped clean out of the history books. A burglary took place and the blurry security surveillance all pointed to the two captive Daemons. In haste, Miyamoto Yumiko and Hitsugaya Toshiro spoke in their defense. In doing so, Yumi was sent to the sixth division temporarily for close observation, outside of Hitsugaya's watch. The Soutaicho then called the tenth division captain in, once more asking what his relationship with her was. In exchange for keeping contact with Yumi, Hitsugaya was offered all the information on her that no one else had access to. He quickly declined, choosing to silently protect her of his own choosing, not of his order.

At the same time, mysterious disappearances were reported in the human world. Urahara Kisuke was found by Kurosaki Ichigo, wounded and nearly unconscious. Hitsugaya was asked to search it and to bring the Daemon prisoners with him to aid in the investigation. As a safeguard, both Adachi Reisha and Sayomi Archer were outfitted with "Death Collars", a mechanism that would activate should they go against orders or did anything out of line. In order to investigate the situation further, both Yumi and Hitsugaya are disguised as siblings attending Karakura High.

Reisha was given a 'tip' as to where Aeon, the Daemon organization, would strike: the Culture Festival.

Day 9: 5 more days before Festival

"You're doing it wrong!"

"I know what I'm doing!"

"You're going to break it. The class has no money to get another one either."

"Oh, shut up, Toshiro!" Yumi growled and resisted the urge to throw the black paint at his face. Maybe then his hair wouldn't stand out as much.

Both of them were charged with creating the stage sets and props since they've been skipping a lot of practices. The reason? Hollows were one and Soul Society was another. Not to mention they were still planning Aeon's attack.

"Hey, Toshiro?" she couldn't help but smile, still a little happy that she could call him by his name now. He grunted his acknowledgment. "Do you really think Aeon is going to attack at the festival?"

"Well, it's a good tactic. We've been over this before. Our defense will be spread around the perimeter and—"

"So all those people might get hurt." Yumi interrupted. She sighed and continued painting her failed attempt at a daisy. Actually, it looked more like a strange discolored blob on a stick. "How cruel."

"I think what's cruel is how you're mutilating that flower…if it could be called one." He noted and she groaned.

"Well I'd like to see you try Mr—" she looked at his side and her jaw almost dropped. He managed to paint a whole bush of red roses and even got the shading done. Yumi pouted and crossed her arms. "I didn't know you could paint."

"When you spend the centuries with a calligraphy brush in hand while doing paperwork, you tend to get bored." He replied simply but he couldn't hold back the smug smirk on his face. Then he looked at her side. "You're trying too hard. Ease up."

"Oh shut up," as soon as she said that, both of their cell phones rang, signaling a hollow. "Not now!"

"Should I get it?"

"No. I obviously can't paint, so you stay while I go!"

"…Can you even handle it without tripping over yourself?" he asked skeptically.

Yumi's brow twitched. "You have no faith in me, do you?"

The sound of footsteps near the door became apparent as well as loud banging. "Hitsugaya-sans? I hope you're doing your work!" It was miss class president, Tomoe.

"I'll cover for you this once, so don't get yourself killed." He said, cleaning his brush.

"I'll be back in a flash!" she mock saluted and ran out through the other door. At the same time, Tomoe came in and raised a brow in suspicion upon seeing only one sibling.

"Where is Yukina-chan?"

"Bathroom." He replied simply, focusing only on the gray bricks he was now painting.

"I hope you can both finish this in time and remember your lines." She said sternly and walked out, the sound of her heels echoing throughout the auditorium. Hitsugaya was mildly surprised. Out of all the girls, she was the one out to get him the most. The girl was stressed. Far too stressed out to only be over the festival. Hitsugaya also noted the familiar tired and worn look, as if fighting a mental debate with herself.

He clicked his tongue and continued with his work. There was nothing else for her to worry about. He was probably thinking into it too much.

Yumi rolled her shoulder blades as the shrill death cry of the hollow pierced her ears.

"Ah, don't be so loud!" she complained and cleaned the blood off her blade. She cringed even at the feeling of the thick liquid through the cleaning cloth. It was a strange contradiction. She was someone who hated and feared blood and yet she was a Shinigami. Her job was to be surrounded death, to bring death, and to be death.

Well, at least to the souls she saved and the creatures she hunted. Shinigami: a Death God.

"Tch, far from it." She mused and sheathed her sword. "Hm, I should get back before Toshiro decides to throw the paint at me instead!"

"That should be the least of your worries."

"Gah!" Yumi jumped and nearly tripped while turning around. "Daichi!"

"Ah, now that sounds familiar…" the dark-haired male chuckled. "How are you doing, kid?"

"W-Why are you here!" she asked and put a shaking hand on the hilt of her sword.

"Calm down. I'm not here to kidnap you…yet." His silver eyes glinted dangerously and Yumi tensed. A wide grin broke out on his face and he held out his hands in a gesture of peace. "Truce?"

She hesitated before nodding and eased the tension in her hand. "Alright… So, why the visit?"

"Let's not talk here. How about a change in location?" he gave a thoughtful look before disappearing. Yumi only had a moment to take a breath before she felt herself get hugged from behind. "Sorry, but this might feel a bit strange." All of a sudden, the world felt like it was spinning, yet at the same time only moving in one direction. What felt like a few minutes was only a few seconds. When everything settled down, Yumi saw herself on the hill her captain brought her to a few days ago.

"This is…"

"Nice place your captain found," Daichi leaned back against the metal rail and motioned her over. "You coming?"

"Reniteo… Right?" Yumi asked and cautiously made her way to the rail. "A Daemon Art that made up the basics of Shunpo, the flash-step."

"You've done your homework. I wonder how?"

She said nothing as she studied him from the edges of her peripheral vision. This Kitazawa Daichi was a real mystery… They didn't exactly meet on good terms… Then again, the same was with Reisha and she went out of her way to teach her a thing or two about that voice in the back of her head (Although admitting that still makes her feel a little insane). There was also the relationship between him and Archer. What must have happened between those two to cause so much tension?

"Y'know…if you wanna know something you're going to have to open that mouth of yours." He laughed at her surprised expression as she sputtered excuses.

"I wasn't—erm… You didn't-! GAH!"

"Here, why don't you ask me a few things? I'm feeling rather nice today anyway," he spoke cockily and Yumi refused the urge to smack the look off his face for information. "Feel free to ask anything! About Aeon, about our plans, anything."

"How did you and Archer meet?"

Needless to say, both of them were surprised at her question. It escaped her throat faster than she thought was possible. She should have asked something with more substance. Maybe "Who are you working for?" or "How many Daemons are in Aeon?" He stared at her in surprise, an emotion she wasn't familiar with on his usually smug features. Daichi finally exhaled and looked down at his shoes.

"…It was about a thousand years ago I think. Give or take a century or two. We were some kids that were lucky enough to have each others backs in Soul Society. We even found a girl and took care of her. Like a family" He paused briefly.

More questions came to mind, like 'You were in Soul Society?' and 'Why are you still here after a thousand years? You should have been reborn into the human world by now.' but she kept her mouth shut this time and waited for him to continue.

"We grew up together and eventually helped each other survive. At this time, a huge war broke out between Soul Society and the hollows, although the history books say Soul Society won." His brows furrowed in anger and disgust. "Tch… Damned fools… It wasn't a war. It was a massacre. Soul Society was on the losing end until they began to get desperate."

Yumi hesitated but then spoke in a low whisper. "…is this where they took souls and…fused them with cursed animals?"

"…yeah." He sighed and then took his hands out of his pockets to stare at them. Every now and then her would open and close his fists. "Daemons. We're cursed souls. When we die, where do we go? Heaven? Hell? The human world? Or do we just disappear into spirit particles like everything else? So many years have passed and I still think about it..."

"Daichi…" Yumi whispered, sadness stabbing at her. So he was like Archer… So why would they harbor so much hate for each other still if they grew up together? "Do you hate Archer?"

Daichi met eyes with her for the first time since her question began, silver and amethyst. She saw sadness, anger, fear, and most of all regret. All those emotions swirled in his eyes and she suddenly felt the urge to cry.

"No… I never will." He finally answered and allowed a small smile. It was sad yet genuine. Then, it was gone as soon as it appeared. He shook his head, as if denying himself the emotions he just felt and looked at her seriously. "Question time is over now. But I do have to ask you something…" He paused once more. "How much do you trust her? Adachi I mean."

"…To be honest I don't want to." Yumi frowned. "But I do. She's already helped me out with some of my problems. If I don't give a little, then I'll surely get kicked in the ass by karma."

"Do you trust her enough to risk your precious captain getting injured? Or killed?" Yumi froze and looked at Daichi's eyes in fear.

"W-What?"

"You have a traitor or two in your ranks… Apparently, Aeon found out about your little plan to keep us from completing our objective." Daichi met her stare with a straight face. "I highly doubt Arch would be the one to do it. That leaves Adachi…or maybe you're in on it and you don't even know it?" he grinned and Yumi growled at his accusation.

"Idiot! How could I know? I don't even know…how we got the info in the first place…" Her eyes widened. The only ones that knew about the new information were Archer and Reisha. So how…?

"I don't care if your little guardian bites the bullet, but when your safety is at risk, I can't stand by." His fists closed tightly.

Yumi's eyes softened for a moment. She was puzzled. "Daichi…who's side are you on?"

He laughed bitterly and smirked. "There's more to Aeon than just bringing a few traitors back. They're looking for something and won't stop 'til they find it. If you don't want your precious captain to get killed faster, I advise you watch your teacher carefully. Feel free to tell Taicho-san about your encounter with me, too. I don't care. All the more for him to lose sleep over." The Daemon then began slowly walking off, waving at her without looking back. Yumi frowned but then held her head down.

"What is that guy thinking?" she went into thought until she noticed the sun quickly falling below the horizon. "Crap! I left Toshiro at school! Shit! He'll be so pissed!"

"Pissed is an understatement…" Hitsugaya stated in growing anger. Yumi grimaced, sitting nervously on the couch of her apartment as he stood in front of her with his arms across his chest. "I told you to hurry back and what do you do? I see you walking aimlessly around distracted! What if a hollow attacked you? Or worse, Aeon?"

"Don't worry, they won't." she answered with a sigh. Her mind couldn't focus on her little lecture right now.

'You're not going to tell him, are you?' It was that incessant voice again. At this point, Yumi was getting used to its presence. It wasn't overly annoying anyway. There were a few inputs here and there, but sometimes they could be mistaken for conversations with herself.

'He's worrying about enough right now. It's my turn to keep him safe now.' She thought. 'He needs to relax more. My choices are limited anyway. Reisha or Archer. Easy enough, right?'

'Careful, dummy. You're forgetting something.' It spoke and Yumi could imagine matching dark amber eyes narrowing in frustration. 'He may be the one leading you on. I mean really, Reisha's been teaching you how to control yourself. Would she if she was gonna capture you? Look, all I'm saying is don't make an answer based on how you want it to turn out.'

Yumi made no reply and finally tuned in on her shout session with her captain.

"Do you understand?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, yeah…"

"So, you'll willingly do the paperwork for Matsumoto and I for a year?"

"Yeah—What?" Yumi's eyes widened as she stared at him, taken aback by his smug smirk. She narrowed her eyes into a glare. "You're evil."

"Get some sleep, Miyamoto. You're getting bags under your eyes." He dropped the banter that would have started as Yumi blinked.

"Are you sick? You're being surprisingly lenient today, Toshiro."

"I'm plotting your impending punishment, so be prepared." He answered and threw a towel over his shoulder. "By the way, I'm staying here tonight since Matsumoto is…cooking with Inoue-san."

"So, Taicho is scared of Orihime, huh?" She grinned and resisted laughing at the shudder he tried to suppress. "Maybe I should try cooking this time… Both Daichi and Reisha can't cook anyway."

He raised a brow. "So what have you been eating all this time?" Hitsugaya flared for a moment at her in suspicion. "I swear if I see more ramen than necessary in the trash bins I'm confiscating it."

"Well, I'm pretty sure you can cook since you're so good at everything else…" she grumbled, not noticing his grimace. "So, gonna take a shower or not?" The captain merely sighed and disappeared into the bathroom. Once she heard the water going, she went to the kitchen fridge to see what to make. "Hmmm…he'll kill me if I make ramen… Maybe I should make Oden? It's getting cold anyway…" On cue, Archer entered the apartment from his wandering Karakura. Yumi only guessed that Reisha was still at Urahara's. "Archer! Run to the store and get these ingredients!" While speaking, she wrote all the things she'd need to make dinner.

He pouted childishly. "Aw, but c'mon! I just got back!"

Her amethyst eyes narrowed dangerously. "Go. Now. You owe me for feeding you all this whole time, freeloaders!"

"You sound like Urahara…" he muttered and grudgingly took the list before disappearing with Reniteo. Yumi got a few things ready: pots, pans, left over vegetables, fish cake, and daikon radish.

How did Yumi know how to cook? Well for one, Ruriko. Despite her calm composure, Yumi found that if you put a cookbook in front of her she'll go crazy… For two, she had to put up with criticism from both Daemon 'captives' if they could be called that… Seriously, they're getting pampered here.

She began boiling water when Hitsugaya came out of the shower. Curious, he went into the kitchen to see her cutting ingredients already.

"So you can cook." He said with a hint of surprise. "I thought anything outside the realm of ramen was out of your league…"

She punched him playfully. "I had to learn or Reisha would kill me." He gave her a long look before she laughed. "Kidding! …kinda… Anyway, can you help me? Archer's coming back soon with the other ingredients but we have some here. Boil these for me?" She handed him four eggs and vinegar. "Soft boiled and only a bit of vinegar for six minutes."

"Why do I have to help?" even while saying it, he took another pot to boil since she already put cabbage in the other pot.

"Because I'm feeding you." Yumi laughed and heard Archer coming back in. She hadn't expected anything else out of this night. For a moment, the fear of Aeon's attack and the possibility of hurting him were forgotten—disappearing like the steam from the broth.

Day 12: 2 Days until the festival

Things at the shrine were coming the together. Stalls were being set up and colors were blossoming around the town. The reds, yellows and oranges of the leaves stood out even more against the bright blue sky. Even better, the weather was supposed to last far after the culture festival.

"Wow…the breeze feels so nice…" Yumi stretched across the cool grass underneath a tree. "Ne, Eiko-chan? Is it like this every year?"

The redhead nodded and grinned. She was also stretched out, although she had set out a picnic blanket that Yumi refused to lay on. "Mm-hm! You should come here more often! Isn't it like this in Inaba too?"

Ruriko sipped her tea (For some odd reason she was always found with some) and let out a breath. "Most likely she was focused on trying not to trip over a fence."

"Ha-ha! Seriously Yuki-nee! How could you trip over a fence like that? It was like you were a zombie!" her sister Fumiko giggled. Yumi laughed nervously. Truth be told, she had been thinking about what would happen in two days time. If Daichi was right, then Reisha was in on it? She hadn't acted outside her usual sarcasm and downright bitchyness. Wait…that was actually on the rise…

"Yuki-chama? You spaced out again, you alien!" Eiko laughed and Yumi scratched the back of her head.

"Eh? Oh… Sorry about that!"

Fumiko smiled smugly. "Thinking about that hot stud?" Yumi's face flushed red and the girl grinned even wider. "I'm right, aren't I?"

"FU-CHAN!"

Meanwhile, Hitsugaya was fixing a stall was some classmates came over, chuckling the whole way.

"Hey, Hitsugaya!" one of them began. He grunted an acknowledgement. "You know what kind of guys your sister digs, right?"

The captain raised his brow after turning towards the group of boys. "Why should I know?

"Oh c'mon! Lend a fellow classmate a hand!" one of them pleaded and Hitsugaya's hand twitched. He stopped whatever he was doing and began walking away.

"I don't owe you anything. Figure it out yourself." His tone was harsh and icy, causing them to flinch. Well, except for one of them. His green eyes flashed in interest and he chuckled.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna talk with him a bit more."

"Don't get frozen, Shinji! I swear I felt a chill when he glared at us!"

The spiked blonde smirked and ran after the white haired boy. He found him leaning against the Takoyaki stand with his arms crossed as he stared at the ground.

"Someone's a protective brother." Hitsugaya's head shot up in surprise and he turned to the newcomer. "'Names Shinji. So, Hitsugaya… What's you're deal?"

The captain's eyes narrowed in suspicion. 'Strange…I didn't sense him… Even humans have traces of reiryukuu…' he thought. "Nothing."

"Oh really? Well at least tell me this…" the boy grinned and leaned against the stand next to him. He shoved his hands into his pocket and looked up to the sky. "Tell me why Shinigami are so interested in Daemons?"

Hitsugaya tensed and backed away from the boy. "What?"

Shinji chuckled. "You don't think we know? Oh, don't tell me she hasn't told you? Your little 'pet'." The captain said nothing and Shinji rolled his eyes. "Here's a hint. You have two jokers in a deck. One tells lies while the other keeps secrets. Can you weed them out, oh chivalrous knight?"

The captain felt like he heard something similar to those words. Back in Soul Society when Yumi was inebriated…

"Don't get too attached. There are rules on how to play this game… Illusions cast by a joker will not break, even to the sword of a knight."

"What are you talking about? Decks and jokers… What the hell?"

"Here are your options," Shinji ignored him. "Hinamori Momo and Miyamoto Yumiko. You have two days to choose."

"Choose one for what?"

The blonde turned his back to the captain. His peridot eyes met emerald ones in an expression of bewilderment, as if he couldn't believe that he didn't know. "Who's the liar and who's keeping secrets?"

Sorry for the long wait. I have no excuse. It was once again writers block. Originally I was gonna put more days inbetween but it's getting boring (From my POV anyway). So i'm making a skip. Next chapter will be the Culture Festival that we've all been waiting for. What will happen?

Shinji and 'Yumi' have both mentioned cards at least once in the story. What could this mean?

Daichi is finally opening up, but at what cost? What could this scheming Daemon have up his sleeve now?

What could possibly go wrong? Will Aeon succeed? What are they even after?

Answer in a REVIEW please!