Ichigo gazed at the gathered faces on the screens.
The council heads were waiting for his explanations.
All of them were older than himself, but none exceeded his mates age.
He often thought it was strange, that he'd never met a Vampire that was older, wiser and even stronger than Shiro, but one.
He went by the name Genryūsai and was a stolid old man and member in the Chinese council.
He was half a century older then Shiro, but he was a turned one, who had gotten changed in the fall of his life, so he looked just befitting to his actual age.

Anyway, the council heads were enough to face at the moment, were they a lot stronger than Ichigo and should he displease them, he'd have not such a nice time dealing with them.
But then again, there were the V.A.S.T. leaders who'd help him out.
Thinking of them, Ichigos gaze fell upon his long term friend and he balked.
The mans surroundings were off.

"What happened to you? Why are you bandaged up like that?"
Ichigo asked and received the answer, not from the interviewed, but from the blonde who just yesterday was his guest.
"He's just been a bit inattentive on his last mission. It's just scratches, really."
The orangette retorted.
"Scratches? His bandages are soaked with blood. What kind of scratch bleeds this much?"
"Well..."
A sigh was the first audible from the person in question, before he chose to speak for himself.
"Give it up Kisuke. There's no way fooling him. I had an encounter with an unusual opponent. Though I haven't seen him nor could feel his presence. He knocked me down with one strike and carved something onto my chest."
Ishida began removing the bandages until bloody and encrusted scratches were visible.

Rukia let out a sound of shock at the view, while Ichigo growled under his breath and Shiro averted his gaze.
"What is this?"
The female asked the injured man.
"I can't read it, but it definitely is a very old language. I hoped that Shiro, as the oldest present, would be able to decipher it."
The pale turned to Ishida.
"Sorry but I can't read it either."
"It's ancient Egypt. It's hard to read with all the dried blood but I think it reads meghk' ."
The Council head of Africa rose to speak.
"What does it mean?"
Rukia asked her and Yoruichi translated the word.
"It means Sin."

Suddenly a bang was heard.
Ichigos fists connected with the table top and left a few cracks in it.
"Why haven't you told me?"
The gathered audiences weren't too sure whom he addressed with his question, so they kept silent.
"I asked a question, Kisuke! You too Ishida!"
The raven haired answered calmly to the outburst.
"I thought it wasn't important enough to report you. Besides I don't recollect you being a superior of mine for that matter."
Ichigo grew more agitated by the second, with a growl in his voice he told Ishida.
"I am who made you people what you are today. I build this company from scratch and you dare undergo me and keep information from me?"
Kisuke tried to calm him.
"We wanted to wait and see if that was just a coincidence, there was no proof that it was connected to the other matter."
Unluckily a rather slow redhead then had to speak up.
"So why the hell did you order our forces to investigate? You shouldn't even be able to order other countries squads around."
Ichigo finally lost it and yelled in a wild rampage.
"I have the right to command whomever. If I feel like it I could even order you to kill off your respective councils. You know why? Because I managed what that idiot Aizen failed to do. I have every pitiful bloodsucker and human by their balls and at my mercy!"
Protest grew on the councils sides, while Ichigos hostility grew to be almost touchable like a thick cloud of fog.
Rukia was petrified, only a small whimper came over her lips, which cause Shiro to step in.
"Ichigo, pull your horns. You're ruining everything and Rukia is still with us."

In a second everything was over.
Ichigo bend forward, burying his face in the palm of his hand.
A minute later he rose from his seat.
"Please take over. Excuse me."
After he left, Renji rose his voice again.
"What was that about?"
"It's the stress getting the better of him. Please forgive him, the recent incidents Kisuke reported about worry him very much."
Shiro explained.
"So will you tell us now why he called us in the first place?"
"Yes. He wanted to ask us of the council to observe every move of S.I.N.'s known to us. The V.A.S.T. people have to check on them first and make sure if more disappeared, then we already knew of. Then he wants to know when the disappearances began and if they still continue. If they stopped he wants to know when. My mate wants to find the reason behind everything and maybe even the person responsible for it."
"We understand. We'll do as he asked and overlook his threat towards us this time, since we share the agitation for this case."
The Chinese Council head said, speaking for all the council heads.
"I think our side agrees as well and we'll send the reports as fast as possible."
Ishida agreed for the V.A.S.T. side, finalizing the deal.

One after another, the screens went black, until just Kisuke remained.
"Care for Ichigo, Shiro. He's getting worse again."
The pale nodded, then he was alone with Rukia, who sat there in a dazed, even shocked state.
"Missy, are you alright so far?"
"He's terrifying. He'll erase everything opposing him in his path."
She mumbled, completely out of it.
"He was just a bit angry because he was left out."
Shiro tried to play it down, but Rukia looked up to him with wide eyes.
"You are blind."
"What?"
"He's crazy."

Chapter 10
End