Chapter III: PLOT TWIST
"Attention all Shinigami, attention all Shinigami, ryoka have infiltrated Seireitei. I repeat, ryoka have infiltrated Seireitei. All Shinigami are to intercept the ryoka and capture them to bring them before the Captain Commander."
As the words of the hell butterfly rang out this message repeatedly to every Shinigami in Soul Society, Kina sat up in the meadow and picked up her zanpakuto.
"What are you going to do, Kina?" a voice chimed from her inner world.
"Don't know. I'll probably just sit by the sidelines and watch until people start dying," Kina shrugged nonchalantly and picked up her sword and headed back to Seireitei.
"As you wish, Kina," came the reply.
Kina tucked her sword in her obi and walked off to Seireitei. She passed Ichimaru Gin, who was now Captain of Third Division now.
"Captain Aizen wants ta talk to ya," he said with his usual smile.
"I see." Kina said coldly as she headed off to Fifth Division.
By the time she reached there, Aizen was nowhere to be found.
"I see you've arrived, Kina," a voice said from behind her. She turned around to face the Captain of Fifth Division. "I would like to know why you've refused my request to become my lieutenant."
"Didn't you say that you would wait as long as I need until I'm ready to tell you?"
"I did. However, I've grown tired of waiting."
"There was no reason for my refusal."
"Could you still have feelings for the former Captain of the Twelfth Division?"
At this, Kina froze. Could she have the feelings for Kisuke? She shook her head. He betrayed her. He left her. He didn't trust her. Kina frowned at this and her reiatsu started to rise.
"Of course not, Captain Aizen. It has been a century. It would be ridiculous if I were to love a man who betrayed Soul Society," she ground out. She turned on her heel and stalked off without another word. The nerve of that man. And to think he's my friend. Screw sitting on the sidelines. I'm going to look for this Kurosaki Ichigo guy and beat his ass.
She headed off to the closest reiatsu only to find, to her chagrin, a dark haired boy wearing Quincy clothes. She walked towards and grabbed his cape.
"Where is Kurosaki Ichigo?" she demanded.
"I'm not telling," he replied haughtily.
"Would it help if I forced it out of you?" she growled, unsheathing her zanpakuto. She tossed him away from her and pointed her sword at him.
"Get up, little boy."
He wiped his chin and stood before her. As he prepared to fire an arrow, Kina straightened up from her fighting stance and sheathed her zanpakuto.
"You're a Quincy," she stated.
"So what if I am? And why'd you sheath your sword?" he asked skeptically.
"I've fought so many Quincy, I've gotten bored of them. Defeating you should be a piece of cake."
"I'm gonna make you eat those words." he sneered at her and fired an arrow. Kina caught the arrow in her hands and shattered it with sheer force. Ishida gulped and stood up straight. There was absolutely no way that he could beat her. He turned around and started running towards Ichigo. Kina smirked and flash stepped over to Ishida so that she was standing in front of him.
"What's wrong? Didn't you say you were going to make me eat my words?" Kina smirked and drew her zanpakuto. She point the tip towards Uryuu and leaned forward.
"I'll ask you one more time. Where is Kurosaki Ichigo?"
By the time Kina had reached the entrance of the Shrine of Penitence, Byakuya was already facing Ichigo. She was surprised to see that Ichigo was fighting on par with the Captain of the Sixth Division. After settling down on a rooftop, she sees a blur of orange fly past her. Squinting her eyes, she stood up, hand on the hilt of her sword in case she were to make use of it. Could it be… No… That's impossible. Even if she was trying to convince herself that it wasn't her old purple haired friend, she couldn't ignore that nagging feeling inside her chest. If Yoruichi was here...could that mean that he was here too? Her reiatsu rose considerably at the thought of him. At the sudden emergence of another reiatsu, Byakuya and Yoruichi turned towards her.
"Third Seat Kina, what are you doing?" Byakuya asked, bored. Yoruichi widened her eyes at the mention of her name and turned towards her.
"K-Kina?" Yoruichi stuttered. Kina ignored Yoruichi and flash stepped in front of Byakuya.
"Forgive me. I was merely looking for a fight," Kina drawled. Her eyes darted to Yoruichi for a moment before darting back towards Byakuya.
"I wanted to fight the orange haired ryoka. But seeing as he is unconscious, it seems that I can't anymore." As Kina turned to leave, Yoruichi called her name, "W-Wait! Kina!"
"Go away, Shihoin," Kina said, only turning head slightly. "I don't want to hear your excuses."
Three days had passed and Kina was starting to grow even more uneasy. The Tenth Division Captain, Hitsugaya Toshiro, had asked her to accompany him to Central 46. By the time they had gotten there, the guards that usually protected the entrance of Central 46 were nowhere to be found, making it unbelievably easy to get into. When they approached the desks, all 46 members were dead in their seats. Just when they were about to go in deeper, Lieutenant Kira appeared at the doorway and Captain Hitsugaya gave chase. She smirked to herself and walked in a few more feet before she was greeted by an alive and breathing Captain Aizen.
"Captain Aizen, it's good to see you're alive and well."
Just as Aizen was about to reply, Hitsugaya, Hinamori, Unohana, and Isane all arrived.
"So you were alive all along, Captain Aizen," Unohana said, her eyebrows drawing together in a worried expression. However, before they could speak anymore, Kina charged at Aizen, her zanpakuto drawn.
"Electrocute all! Denki no Sogi!"
Her zanpakuto transformed into a souba and sparks of electricity of were flying around the tips. A beam of electricity came from the sword and made it's way towards Aizen. The beam pierced Aizen through the chest. Just when Kina thought it was all over, Aizen broke into a million pieces. Before Kina could react to the reiatsu behind her, a sword protruded from the middle of her stomach.
"Sorry, Kina. It was nice knowing you," Aizen smirked as he retracted his blade and Kina fell to the ground. Dead.
Kina's surroundings suddenly changed. She no longer saw the familiar surroundings of Central 46. Looking around, she found herself standing on the rocky mesa of Sokyoku Hill. She saw the tall poles of the Sokyoku loom over her, and on the opposite end she saw the great white forest. She was surprised to find that her wound had stopped bleeding- no, it was gone altogether. Must've been Aizen's doing, Kina thought to herself. Suddenly, a huge blast of heat radiated from the Sokyoku. The whole hill was bathed in its light and heat. The Hogyoku was going to be in their possession. The Kurosaki boy leapt forward. What was he doing? Kina stared, dumbfounded as Ichigo blocked the Kikoo with his zanpakuto.
"Did he really just-" Kina couldn't even finish her sentence. Almost immediately after the first attempt, the hill was once again bathed in the piercing light and heat. Aizen was growing impatient. The light stopped. The Sokyoku was destroyed by Ukitake and Kyoraku, the Shihoin Shield in their possession. Kina heard Aizen mumble profanities under his breath. Aizen turned to Kina.
"I think its about time we get what we came here for, don't you think, Kina?" Aizen stated flatly. Kina heard footsteps approaching them.
"Kina? I heard from Isane that you were dead! You were impaled by Aizen!" came a voice behind her. She turned around to see Abarai Renji looking at her from his place on the ground, bewildered.
"Is that so? I was wondering what Captain Aizen was making Isane and Captain Unohana see."
"What do you mean?" Renji asked, completely misunderstanding.
"It's nothing you need to know," said
Kina, effectively drawing the conversation to an end. She turned towards Aizen. "Have you gotten the Hogyoku yet?"
"Not yet...Gin has her."
Aizen took Rukia from Gin and retrieved the Hogyoku from Rukia's soul.
"Unfortunately, I have no use for her anymore. Kina, kill her," Aizen held Rukia up by her reiatsu repressing collar.
"Electrocute all, Denki no Sogi." Another ray of lightning came out from her souba, but instead of hitting Rukia, it had hit Byakuya who now had a hole in the side of his abdomen.
"My bad," Kina stated uncaringly. She had never liked Rukia. Always stuttering and getting herself into trouble. She should have known better than to give her powers to a mere human. It was her fault for getting herself in this damned mess anyways. Then again, it was because of Rukia that they were finally able to execute their plans.
"Let's go, Gin, Tousen, Kina," ordered Aizen, brushing past them. Kina's zanpakuto turned back into its sealed state and Kina sheathed it, ignoring the surprised looks on the Gotei 13's faces. No one would have ever guessed that Kina, the silent Third Seat who always loved doing her duty, would join the traitors. The Shinigami of Soul Society started to make their way to the defectors. Just as they reached attacking range, a rip in the dimensional fabric appeared-and with it, came a horde of Menos Grandes. Four boxes of yellow light came from from the Menos and encased the four Shinigami deserters. Looking at Ichigo- who was lying on the ground having been cut up by Aizen- she uttered one last thing before being brought into the clutches of the Menos, "Tell Urahara I said 'hi.'"