Her heart was beating fast as she made her way to the 1st Division headquarters, taking great strides to increase her pace without running. The 8th Division lieutenant followed in Mikihara's wake, not saying anything but keeping a wary eye on her. In her opinion, Lisa Yadomaru was the one Mikihara liked the most, both because they got on well and also knew when to keep quiet when she was in one of her…moods. Times such as now... At this moment, she felt like she needed to lash out at someone and anyone would do. What was the Captain Commander thinking? How could he order something like this? Her pace increased…
The imposing building of the 1st Division headquarters loomed before her but she didn't stop or hesitate as she started up the stairs, keeping her eyes locked on her destination and ignoring the two guards who moved to stop her. As the first raised a hand to stop her, she caught the outstretched limb and twisted, throwing him aside effortlessly. The woman reached for her zanpakutou but Mikihara caught her wrist, spinning her around and stamping down on the back of her legs at the knee. As the guard dropped, the lieutenant put a foot on her back and shoved her away, tumbling down the stairs. Yadomaru stepped over the guards and followed as Mikihara shoved open the doors and started down the long corridor to where the captains' meeting room was placed.
There were no guards ahead, not that a gathering of captains would need protection by their junior officers but it didn't matter. As Mikihara approached the doors, they burst open and three figures emerged from within; Captain Shihouin and her 2nd and 3rd officers in command. Her lieutenant looked mostly untouched but seemed to have a limp and her right hand was heavily bandaged. The captain herself didn't look good either…but from her expression more than anything Mikihara could tell something was wrong. The younger woman stopped in front of the captain, making herself obvious even as the 2nd Division commander averted her gaze.
"Captain Shihouin! What's happening? Is it true? The orders just went out for Captain Matsumura to be arrested and executed on sight?"
When the captain continued to look away and walk on, Mikihara grabbed the front of her haori to stop her. The 3rd Seated officer Urahara looked mildly surprised, and Soifon made to intervene but Shihouin held up a hand to stop her. A killing strike didn't follow nor was there any distaste in the woman's eyes as she finally looked Mikihara in the face. The lieutenant took a step away, releasing her as she caught the red-rimmed eyes and the blank stare that met her. Considering her normally carefree nature…the shock at the contrast was enough to cause Mikihara's momentary retreat as the captain replied.
"It's… It's true, Rei. This morning, Captain Yamamoto issued the order for Shiro-sensei's capture and execution upon apprehension. He's been deemed…too dangerous to be allowed to live. I'm under orders to take the 1st Division special forces and hunt him down."
"You can't! He's your sensei! You know him, captain!" Mikihara's voice trembled, her usual calm and resolve wavering.
"I know… I have my orders…but if I can bring Shiro-sensei in alive, I will. If he can state his case before Captain Yamamoto and the other captains, I'm sure he'll be able to clear his name somehow. Trust me." Captain Shihouin offered a ghost of one of her characteristic grins. It was…reassuring, Mikihara decided. "I'll do whatever it takes to help him."
"Thank you, captain…" They parted and hurried off in opposite directions, the 2nd Division team heading outside while Mikihara ran on to the captains' meeting room, the sound of Yadomaru's footsteps close behind again. They burst inside to find a small group gathered already. Around the edges, Captains Unohana, Kuchiki, Kyoraku and Ukitake looked on as the white-haired 12th Division captain was shouting at the top of her voice at the old Commander-Captain. Yamamoto looked unmoved by her words, muttering something only the younger captain could hear, which made her voice rise in volume and pitch before she spun on her heel and started marching away, haori billowing.
Hikifune caught sight of Mikihara standing shocked in the doorway and grabbed her by the arm, spinning her around and marching her from the room without saying a word. Her pale cheeks were flushed and she was breathing heavily like she'd just run several laps around Soul Society. "Let's go, Rei-chan. There's nothing to gain talking here. Bastards…"
"Captain…?"
"Central 46. The orders came from Central 46 and the old man won't do anything about it. I swear…he's lost his fucking balls, bowing down to them. Fucking senile old…"
"Kirio-chan…you shouldn't speak about the Old Man Yama like that, you know. The Gotei 13 always ends up following the orders of Central 46". The casual voice of Kyoraku spoke up from behind them but Hikifune refused to look back at him as he went on. "But the Central 46 want blood and even if he does petition them, they won't do anything about it."
"Shiro-kun is going…to die, Shunsui!" The 12th Captain whipped around, fists shaking as she rounded on him. "I don't care about any of that shit! I don't care what the old man has to say, what Central 46 thinks… Shiro-kun's just some disposable asset who has now caused them a bit of trouble and they just want to make go away."
Kyoraku had nothing to say in response, remaining silent as Hikifune glared at him before spinning on her heel again, quickening her pace to try and leave her escort behind, Mikihara hurrying in her wake. When they had gained the distance just out of earshot of the two 8th Division commanders, bursting outside into the sunlight and the 1st Division courtyard, Mikihara leaned in closer to her, her voice low. "Captain…what are we going to do now?"
"We're going to help Shiro-kun, of course, Rei-chan. Somehow, we're going to help him and beat down anyone who stands in our way. Somewhere out there, Shiro-kun is in trouble and needs us. I just know it…"
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Later that night…
"We need to move again soon…"
Matsumura stared into the small campfire Maeda had started in the clearing, the three shinigami seated on logs around it. The rolled up paper, still wet with his former commander's blood, was gripped in his right fist, the contents already read and memorised. It detailed everything that had happened back at the Seireitei since he had departed on his mission. While he had been chasing after enhanced Hollows around Soul Society, more of them wielding shinigami kidou had attacked the 12th Division and stolen some top secret project…and he was believed to have been behind it. And now this…
Hajime Hatake had been his captain for half a century before leaving for the Central 46. In that time, they'd dispatched countless Hollows and other enemies of the Gotei 13, both human and not. He'd learnt how to take command of other troops as the 10th Division lieutenant and developed his unarmed fighting style under his former commander's eye. And now he was gone and another link to his earlier years was severed.
Matsumura had lost many comrades over the years. His former lieutenant and Mikihara's predecessor had been the most recent, a young promising officer who had looked capable of becoming a captain some day in his future. Many years before that, his entire senior command had been annihilated in an attempt to stand their ground against a mass Hollow incursion around the Seireitei. They had been able to hold the enemy off long enough for the citizens to get to safety and Hikifune's troops to back him up, but by then everyone around him had died.
He looked into the zanpakutou held in his gauntleted hands, seeing his own reflection cast back at him…and all around him, the faces of those who had died as a result of his actions…or failure to act, row upon row of black clad shinigami…and a family staring back at him with sad eyes. His former captain stood more prominently among the silent ranks. Matsumura cursed to himself under his breath. If he'd chased down these Hollows and slaughtered them sooner, maybe Hatake wouldn't have been killed.
No one spoke for a long time, with only the crackling of the fire to be heard in the dark forest they'd escaped into. Nakamura looked like he was trying to fall asleep but his hands rested on his zanpakutou, gripping the hilt tight. Maeda was absentmindedly sharpening the rough edge of his own weapon, occasionally giving it a flick or experimental swipe to recheck its balance. Neither of them wanted to speak to the captain for the time being. He was in one of his…moods.
Without warning, there was a loud crack, like a large branch being snapped in half. The three shinigami were on their feet in a second, drawing their zanpakutou. A figure was moving towards them through the trees but they had failed to notice 'his' reiatsu until he was on the edge of the clearing. It was a tall, broad shouldered man, hooded and cloaked. There was a blade sheathed at his side. As he approached the firelight, he drew back his hood to reveal white hair and a smirk set into a very familiar face…one that they had thought they'd left behind in the burning academy.
"Is that…?" Nakamura started to lower his zanpakutou but Matsumura raised a fist to stop him, his face contorting with cold fury, his reiatsu starting to roll off him in waves, ice forming on the trees nearby. Though the resemblance to normal eyes would have fooled anyone…he could see its true form. Shiroiken was in his hand before he realised he'd reached for it, the pale blade pulsing with energy as he raised it. "You bastard… Bastard! You'd dare to wear that face after what you've done?"
"Tsk, tsk… Is that any way to speak to your master…Shiro-kun?" As the fake-Hatake spoke, it was in a perfect imitation of the former captain's voice…except with a sneering tone that had never issued from the deceased man's lips. He walked deeper into the clearing, approaching the three, taking in their hostile stances, weapons raised and ready. "Oh well…I suppose that isn't going to work then. That accursed sight of yours… No wonder he wants it to go… Very well…"
The fake-Hatake made as if to reach for the zanpakutou at his side. The three shinigami raised their weapons but then suddenly the copying Hollow was no longer where they had seen it, but bursting forward in a blur of movement. Nakamura and Maeda interposed themselves automatically between the Hollow and their captain. A fist lashed out, crashing into Nakamura's raised guard and just saving him from a caved in chest but folding the metal of the blade and sending him flying away. Maeda slashed down at the Hollow but it idly threw out a hand, parrying the blow and tossing him aside with the force of the block.
Matsumura snarled as he raised his zanpakutou, bringing it around in a furious arc, cleaving down for the Hollow's head as it drew its own blade, another perfect imitation of the zanpakutou he had seen so many times in his former captain's hands. The blades met with a clash and spray of sparks but even as this happened, he sensed something was wrong. His enemy's free hand was drawing back and he had only seconds to act.
He released his zanpakutou, moving both hands down in a cross block as the fake Hatake's left hand stabbed forward for his chest. His forearms just arrested the strike fired with the force of a spirit cannon but even as this happened, he felt a searing pain in his chest as the creature's fingertips punched through cloth and skin. A loud crack sounded and the pain intensified as his ribs broke inwards. He was no stranger to injuries but he couldn't suppress the cry of agony that burst from his lips as he fought against the Hollow's strength and forced it free. Dark blood soaked the earth at their feet as Matsumura sank to a knee, clutching a hand to the hole in his chest, the other supporting him as he tried to remain upright.
"Now…" His world was spinning as he tried to maintain his grip on consciousness. The Hollow wearing Hatake's face was walking away, sheathing his blade as he went. Matsumura reached out to try and grab at the creature's feet but falling forward in a heap, blood pooling out around him. As his vision began to fade, the Hollow's voice was full in his head, speaking directly into his mind. "Don't worry…you managed to block the killing blow…but now you won't be running far when the Gotei 13 catch up with you… Maybe they'll assume Hatake got you before you got him. Maybe one of your officers turned on you. It doesn't look like they'll be saying otherwise any time soon. And I doubt…the one who's nearest will care to listen to you anyway. So now…it's farewell, Shiro Matsumura."
Then the Hollow disappeared, leaving him lying alone in the clearing. He tried to move but the slightest shift in his position set his nerves on fire. He was fading fast. He needed to stabilise himself somehow… Well…that or he died. That wasn't good. No…he wasn't ready to die really. He still had to find these Hollows and kill them to complete his mission. He still had to avenge his sensei and former commander. He still had to clear his name. He still had to speak to Kirio-chan and force himself to just spell it out that he loved her. That'd make her laugh… She'd find something like that funny.
The darkness was closing in all around him. It was growing cold…but a different cold from that which he was used to. Ugh…he needed to think of something. He was bleeding heavily and there was a giant hole in his chest. His hand reached out, closing around something…the cold hilt of Shiroiken. It seemed to glow as he held it to his chest. Thinking was becoming harder now. It was almost pitch black in his world. Shiroiken flared and everything went cold. Then nothing. His lips moved in a final breath. "Shit…"
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"Did you feel that?" Soifon and Urahara nodded in response to their commander's question as Captain Shihouin leaned forward on the branch she was perched on, peering out into the dense foliage before them. The forty members of her Punishment force were gathered in a spread out formation in the lower branches, waiting for her signal to move out. They were following the gathered eyewitness accounts of the people who had seen three shinigami fleeing from the burning academy. Several reports had agreed of the direction, the appearance of special forces operatives making their memory sharper than it had ever been before. On the edges of the wood, a flare of reiatsu had surged up further north. And then it had died. Shihouin was almost certain that it felt like Shiro-sensei…and when it had disappeared…
"Move out!"
They started off, the captain leading the way at full speed through the tops of the trees, homing in on the point where they'd sensed the reiatsu surge. Shihouin's feet barely touched the surface she pushed off as she ran, utilising her ultimate flash step technique, the others steadily falling behind. It didn't matter. She just had to reach Shiro-sensei and talk some sense into him. Or help him… The feeling of his reiatsu just dying off suddenly like that after rising so rapidly had left a cold shiver down her spine as if his icy spirit had been right there with her. Her heart was racing, beating harder than it should as the anxiety of what awaited her continued to rise.
Several hundred more metres and Shihouin burst out into a clearing, dropping down to the leaf-strewn floor and drawing her zanpakutou, feeling slightly more reassured with the blade resting in her grip. The soil at her feet was damp and a campfire was just smouldering in the middle of the clearing. She knelt, running her fingers along the surface of the ground, her hand coming up stained darker with blood. It was still warm…and she had a growing suspicion who it belonged to. With this much blood loss, Shiro-sensei must be… Then where was he…?
"Where are you, sensei…?"
"Where indeed?" The 2nd Division captain whipped around, dark blade raised above her head to see a figure detach himself from the shadows, materialising before her as if growing from the tree itself. He was a tall man, clad in the dark uniform of the Special Forces…with the Shihouin crest sewn into the chest. Even as the man reached to remove the mask that obscured his lower features, the captain was already prepared to see the face of her father, his expression calculating as he regarded her. "Surprisingly enough…Matsumura is not where we thought he'd be. Especially considering he should be dead already."
"Hmm…if he's not yet dead, he should come out. I've wanted to see just how this boy figures against myself for a long time now yet the laws have forbidden me to try using my full power…and now I can." He smirked to himself, a dark look that made the captain's skin shiver even worse than before. It was an expression she'd seen very rarely but always followed by great violence and death. She had heard him speak about fighting her sensei before, but had always raged that being forbidden by the Gotei 13 to use lethal force negated the core of his fighting style…and now that chance was here. She had seen both achieve great feats through their own techniques but one against the other…
The younger Shihouin frowned slightly at this, lowering her zanpakutou to her side. "Otousama… I don't believe it's necessary that we kill Sh…Matsumura-sensei if we find him alive. We can still yet investigate the case with far greater clarity before enacting that kind of punishment. If he is found guilty then I doubt Yamamoto would complain if you were the one to pass the judgement on behalf of the Gotei 13…"
The elder regarded her, listening to her words before falling silent as if considering them. His shoulders shook then he threw back his head and laughed. "You think…I care about whether he's innocent or not, Yoruichi? You really think any of that matters to me when the Gotei 13 and Central 46 have finally signed Matsumura's death warrant? He's only a disposable tool, like we all are or have once been. He'll be replaced by them eventually. But for me…this is far more personal. As one hakuda master to another…it would be his honour to face me in battle rather than be executed by some faceless shinigami."
"But…he's my sensei, Otousama. If he's alive, I can't just let you kill him out of hand like that, especially before his name has been cleared." She took a step closer to him, her voice taking on a pleading tone she'd almost never used once she'd become an adult and the leader of the clan. She'd never seen her father this way, this crazed as to disregard the authority of the Central 46 and the honour of being a shinigami of the Gotei 13. "Please…"
"I don't think so this time… You don't know the lengths I have gone to prepare for this challenge and I shall not be denied. Don't worry…once I've killed him, we'll all move on and we can forget about all this unpleasanty. I've…seen it." An evil grin spread across his face and from where the younger Shihouin stood, his eyes seemed to flash with a pale yellow light. She took a step back, raising her zanpakutou unconsciously into a guard position. The strange feeling that had been pressing down on her the entire time she'd been in her father's company intensified. His grin widened further. In the back of her mind, she willed her team to arrive, eyes darting from side to side quickly. If they were here…the odds might be levelled out.
"Dear Yoruichi…why did you flinch? Do you not like the enhancements I gained in my search for more power?" His eyes were indeed glowing now, the white darkening to inky black even as the golden pupils became a much deeper yellow. "And…I wouldn't wait long for your team. They should already be dead if the 4th Division are as good as I left them… Ah…here they are."
A rustling…and then they appeared, the 4th Division of the Special Forces, the 'Chosen', so named by the other divisions, who avoided their company at all costs. Though seemingly indistinguishable from the regular Special Forces operatives, the 2nd Captain knew that behind their masks and internally, each one had been subtly enhanced through any means encountered in their various tours of duty, taking on characteristics otherwise deemed…unlawful. They had been a side project of her father's in his time as the Special Forces commander, and when the job had passed to her she'd always shied away from deploying them. Just their very gaze was alien; blank white eyes, the veins rising up in the skin around them.
"Dead…? Why?"
"You're far too predictable, my daughter… I knew you were too stubborn to just do what your father asked of you and so I prepared for this outcome. And now you are outnumbered…stand aside and let me do what I wish…"
The elder clicked his fingers and four of the Chosen dropped down on either side of her. "Now, Yoruichi… Hand over your zanpakutou and wait for my return. I'll find Matsumura and end this. Then you can bring his head back to the Gotei 13 and bring honour to both the clan and us. I…"
He stopped speaking, gazing at her curiously. Her head had dropped, staring at the wood floor, fists clenched, her own body shaking now, not with laughter but fury. She raised her zanpakutou before her, pressing it against her brow. Her voice was a snarl of barely contained rage as she spat the words at her father's feet. "You murdered my comrades…and you're trying to kill my sensei for no reason other than to prove you're a greater murderer… You use the Special Forces for your own gains and spit on the honour of the Gotei 13… You're not my father. I can't let this madness remain… Rend…Yabyoukitsune!"
Her last words were meant for her zanpakutou. Reiatsu surged and stabbed outwards, knocking aside the nearest Chosen as her zanpakutou changed form, the katana flowing like liquid, separating as it spread to either hand, encasing them in slender streamlined gauntlets. Another flash and a trio of foot long claws burst from either one, extending out parallel to one another. Fists clenched, she raised a hand at the elder Shihouin. "You must be stopped…and if it falls to me to do it, I shall. While Shiro-sensei's guilt has yet to be proven, I cannot forgive someone who consorts with Hollows…especially not you."
"Hmph…very well then. Take her." At his command, the Chosen sprang into action, a storm of black launching themselves forward, bladed weapons flashing in the moonlight as they surged towards her. She remained motionless for a second, her golden eyes gazing from blank white to blank white stares before raising her claws…and jumping.
To a normal person or even a shinigami below senior ranks, the fight would've been impossible, black streaks and blurs as the enemy came hard and fast at her. A snarl burst from her lips as the 2nd Captain lashed out with her foot, kicking aside a raised katana before slashing up and ripping the man's face into multiple sections. Pushing off from the falling body, she flipped over in mid air to catch another blade with crossed claws. Parting her hands removed the owner's head from their body as she leapt away to a higher tree branch.
More came on, attacking several at a time, working seamlessly in tandem, slicing and stabbing wherever an opening in her defence became apparent . Cuts appeared on her forearms, her haori becoming ragged as blades punched through it without touching flesh. Another grazed her cheek as she spun around, lashing out in a roundhouse kick that threw a group aside. She stabbed forward to impale another as he attempted to charge, swinging the claw and body together to crash into another man behind her, sending both tumbling away to the forest floor below.
They kept closing in. She needed to use the other technique, the one Shiro-sensei had assisted her in developing as his sensei had helped him develop his own fighting style. It was still far from perfected but would be appropriate in this situation. Her reiatsu surged still higher, as she gathered her spiritual pressure into her limbs, blades closing in on her on all sides. "Shunkou…"
The air roared as her own fighting instincts took over. Her body seemed to move of its own accord as her claws swept out, stopping all attacks dead that came within her range before reversing the strike and tearing the operative apart. Blood sprayed all around but failed to fall on her as she kept on going, evading everything that tried to invade her sphere of control. One last parting movement and a rain of dismembered body parts and blood plummeted for the earth. Then it was over…
Slumping down to one knee, she swayed on her branch as she attempted to catch her breath. Attempting the Shunkou technique required a lot of energy and it had taken its toll. Her breathing was laboured and sweat poured down her face. Blood soaked her claws as she held them levelled at her sides. The elder Shihouin stood before her again, mock clapping her, the slapping of his gloved hands beating in time with her heart.
"My Yoruichi…you are amazing. I did not believe you were capable of pulling off such a move but you continue to impress me. You truly are a Shihouin." He paused, musing to himself. "It's almost a shame this has to happen. I'm sure we could've gotten on fine if you weren't so damn stubborn. But I shall deal with you myself then…before my meeting with Matsumura. But don't worry…I'll make this quick and painless. You won't feel a thing. I shall show you my fist of destruction as a parting gift from father to daughter."
The captain of the 2nd Division struggled to her feet, attempting to stand straight as the man walked towards her. Her claws shook before her as she tried to raise her guard, but without realising it, they were pushed back to her sides as she found her father standing right before her. He drew back a hand, drawn into a fist. She wanted to try and evade, to do something, but she was frozen on the spot. His fist flew towards her, connecting with her chest just over her heart. Old trees creaked as they bent away from them, a storm whipping all around. Her whole body felt like it was seizing up. Her heart seemed to stop. And then she felt nothing…