Bleach: Dark Intentions Arc: Into Motion

Status Report
Sitting at the tree's base, on top of a small and seemingly broken fence, was a boy who looked to be in his teens. His skin was very pale, his eyes a light blue, and he had long silver hair tied in a ponytail.

"Ahatake-san." Dyan said, bowing only slightly. "We've returned."

Ahatake's eyes were already on them. He'd felt their spiritual pressure when they crossed into his barrier.

"Dyan...and Senkai." He said quietly, his cold blue eyes moving over them. "It's good to see that you've returned in one piece."

His rather malevolent stare caused Senkai to direct her eyes downward, avoiding his gaze directly. She never liked it when someone stared at her in such a manner, but this man's eyes always made it seem like they were boring right through her. She fidgeted a little, and for a moment she feared that she had anything to be guilty of. For this reason, she opted to stay silent until Ahatake spoke to her again.

Ahatake's expression actually softened slightly, surprised. "Senkai, look up. It is your report I wish to hear the most." Unlike his eyes, his voice wasn't cold at all. It was filled with a strange warmth, but that warmth never, in all the centuries he'd been alive, reached his eyes. "How did your battle go with my other self? You've returned as unharmed as I could have wished. Were you succesful?"

"...." His encouraging words brought Senkai's hesitant eyes back towards him again. "Yes, sir..." She answered quietly. "Everything went as planned. The target didn't suspect a thing." At the very least, he hadn't seemed to suspect anything. Hopefully, that would be one of the differences between the Sonoma and Kan'na counterpart in the long run.

"I see. And his abilities?"

"He wasn't a Shinigami. Rather, he possessed abilities that were a result of Fullbringing. I didn't allow myself to stay in order to see all of what he could do, but he had some form of element manipulation that he utilized against me, particularly in the case of fire and electricity. He had considerably strong spiritual pressure, and is definitely a far cry to the Shinigami Captains of this dimension, sir."

"Fullbring..." He murmured. "The ability unique to humans. To be able to manipulate souls..." A smile crossed his face. "If that is his power, that makes want we are doing all the more worthwhile. You've done great work Senkai."

This time, Senkai gave a bow of her own. "Thank you, Ahatake." She replied gratefully, feeling slight pride within hearing his words.

Ahatake gave her a fleeting smile, and turned to Dyan. "What about your report?"

Dyan reached into her shirt and threw something that glistened towards Ahatake, who caught it, his eyes wide but his expression blank.

"Ah. So you did it." He said, looking at her, his hand glowing now. "Excellent work."

"Thank you sir." Dyan said, smiling. "Although...he did find me."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." She scratched the back of her head. "I introduced myself as Run, winded him, and fled."

"Alright." Ahatake said, pocketing what Dyan threw him. "Senkai, Dyan, you all are free to rest now. The next part of the plan won't be put into motion for another month. What I intend to do now will take a bit of time."

"Alright." Dyan said, and she began to walk off. The inside of the building was so large, she didn't have to leave to go somewhere.

With another bow, Senkai decided to follow Dyan. She really had nothing else to do, and she needed someone to talk to for the time being. The place itself was large enough to be a satisfying place to explore, and her curiosity urged her to see everything that she would be able to see.

Ahatake turned his head to a shadowed corner, a slight smile on his face. "You were listening in, Megami?"

She stepped out of the shadows.

She had a rather apathetic gaze towards him as she approached him, arms folded across her chest. Despite the smile directed towards him, she didn't return the sentiment. "I didn't really have a taste for what I was listening to..." She answered dryly. "Especially after the mistakes that they made."

Ahatake sighed. "You're colder than I am, you know that?" He asked, catching one of the orbs of light and handing it to her. "I don't think they made any mistakes. They did as I'd asked, so I'm not going to complain. You seem to find fault with many things however." He sighed again, deeper this time. "If it was up to you, you'd let all the humans in the world die out, would you not?"

Raising an eyebrow, she stopped in her tracks. Her hands unfolded themselves, reaching out to take the orb that she was given. "Humans are nothing but a virus, a plague upon the earth that they live on." She answered, looking at it for a moment. "If it were up to me... you'd be right. But as it is, I could care less how they drive themselves into suicide."

Ahatake sighed. "We're not that different, Humans and Shinigami. You know that. And, in case you've forgotten, both of these worlds, Soul Society and World of the Living require balance. There are barely any humans left, so many have become Hollows and the Soul Society refuses to lift a finger to do anything. Only a select few Shinigami like myself, Dyan, and Grimmjow even bother. Without us, the balance would be tipped entirely and everything would be destroyed." He took a breath, focusing on her intently. "I'm sure even you wouldn't want that."

She didn't look at him for a moment, studying the orb in her hands a bit more. Then, she directed her gaze towards him. The faintest of smiles traced her lips, yet it might as well have been impossible to see. "That's why I'm not stopping you from doing what you're doing." She answered readily. "To me, heroics are just too pointless and wasteful, especially in an environment where the Hollow dominate the dimension. But that doesn't mean I'm going to start interfering with your ideas any time soon." She extended her hands outward, showing him the orb. "What exactly is this?"

"A light created with Kidō." Ahatake said, gesturing to several all around. "With no electric companies around anymore, we need light, and that was the only solution I had. This entire place crafted with Kidō." He seemed to be proud of his creation. "It's the only reason none of us are fighting off Hollows every minute of the day. There's a barrier around this place, as I'm sure you know. Nothing can find us here."

Letting go of the orb, Megami allowed it to float back into its original spot. She walked over calmly, moving herself to sit beside the man. "Nothing except the ones that have our knowledge...." She finished, leaning her head on the shoulder opposite of the direction in which she was facing Ahatake. "And speaking of which.... those two, the Shinigami and Hollow.... after this is over and done with, what makes you so sure they won't simply stab us in the back? Most Hollow have a tendency to value their own independance, after all...."

"I don't know if they will or won't." Ahatake replied, shrugging. "Dyan, the Shinigami girl, seems to want to protect this world as much as I do. She's trustworthy. Senkai, the Hollow girl. I don't think she'd attack me. She seems to be slightly scared of me actually."

"Looks are and can always be deceiving..." Megami said, a slight warning in her voice. "Keep that in mind when dealing with the things that you aren't sure about. After all, it'd be terrible if you died because of such a foolish mistake...." To emphasize this, she leaned over to give Ahatake a kiss on the cheek.

Ahatake chuckled. "I can assure you, I won't die." He placed a hand on his Zanpakutō. "This will ensure that."

"It better..."

In a different room in the building, Dyan was trying to float in the water-like substance they were in, since she figured if fish could do it, she could too.

"....you know, you're just making yourself look stupid trying it."

It was the teasing voice of Senkai, who was leaning against the nearest wall with her arms folded across her chest. She had a toothy grin on her face as she watched Dyan attempt to swim with the fish-like creatures around them. It was only a friendly jest, of course, no hostility meant by her words. Still, it just looked so silly!

Dyan chuckled as she ceased her lame attempt to float. "So, have you idea why Ahatake needed what I gave him? The crystalized reishi. Did he tell you anything?"

Senkai shook her head, ignoring that her hair was floating in her face a little. "Not even a clue." She answered. "But whatever it is, I'm sure he has good intentions about using it."

"Yeah." Dyan said, inspecting one of the orbs of light curiously. She tossed it up. "So, I guess we have a month to kill before the operation begins. If it wasn't for the benfits the success of the operation would have, I don't think I'd really want to go through with it. What about you?"

"To be honest...." A wistful expression came across Senkai's countenance. "Even knowing what we have to gain, I.... I just don't think I'd be able to go through with it. I know we're focusing this on good intentions, but the cost is just too....unethical. Don't you think so?"

"You really are different from other Hollows Senkai." Dyan said, frowning. "He will die for our cause, there's nothing wrong with that."

"And that makes it right?" Senkai couldn't help the sharp tone that escaped her mouth. However, she recognized how she had spoken immediately, calming her tone down. "Good cause or not, we're depriving someone of their life for our own selfish benefit. It's just not worth the sacrifice...."

Dyan sighed. "Stop being so concerned. It's all for the greater good. Just keep yourself focused on that. Remember, this will help so many more people than it will harm."

"That's easy for you to say...." Senkai half-lidded her eyes and turned her head away from Dyan for a moment. "But it's not like I can discard the way I was brought up away like trash. It's just not in my nature to treat a life as if it was expendable."

"Again, so different." Dyan said, frowning. "But then again, that's just another reason to like you."

Senkai smiled weakly. "Not everyone can go along with the stereotypes, eh?"

Dyan grinned.

Ahatake appeared in the middle of the living room, looking slightly tired as he sunk into the chair. Evening was about to hit, and it was about an hour to five. Poor Daiyaku was going to have to endure a discussion in an hour. But until then, talking with Megami was something he needed to do. He didn't bother to call for her, since he was sure she could feel his spiritual pressure as soon as he'd entered.

"Ah!"

Megami was watching TV when he had suddenly appeared in the room, alerted by his tired appearance. "Dear God, you look like you ran a marathon over the world!" She exclaimed, standing up and walking towards him. "Are you all right? Should I get you anything?"

"No, don't worry about it. But you're almost accurate about the 'round the world marathon." Ahatake said, chuckling tiredly. "I've been around the entire Yūrei Ōkoku and have not yet to find a clue." He sighed. "I was attacked again though."

"Oh, for the love of--" Megami immediately started checking for any wounds that could've been possibly dealt to him. "This is what happens when you decide to go out on your own and have a practical bounty on your head!" She scolded.

"It wasn't that bad." Ahatake replied. "She wasn't trying to kill me. And the fight was enjoyable." Ahatake thought for a moment. "She said she needed to gauge my abilities. So, I fought, and I can assume she gathered what she needed, as she fled."

"....you just.... let her go?" Megami stared at him incredulously, jaw agape slightly for a second. "Ahatake, this was the very person possibly involved in hunting you! How could you just let them off the hook like that? I mean, didn't you at least try to stop from leaving?"

"I didn't bother." Ahatake said, shrugging. "She was headed towards another strong spiritual pressure, and I didn't want to fight a two-on-one battle at the time."

"B-but...." Megami was now finding it hard to speak. What was her husband thinking at times? Did he wish to die? "You could've headed her off before she got there, took her down before her partner could've ever known what hit--" However, she immediately stopped herself, letting out a sigh. "Oh, listen to me pointing fingers when I shouldn't be and worrying about the "what ifs...." She placed her hands on her hips and fixed a rather furrowing stare at Ahatake. "Sometimes, I really...REALLY think you have some sort of death wish!"

Ahatake smile up at her wearily. "Megami, I assure you, I won't die. My Riyūhōchō will ensure that."

"It better." Megami gave him a slightly stern glare before moving over to kiss him on the cheek.

"I'm relatively sure that something will be happening soon." Ahatake said, and though his face redenned slightly, his expression was still serious. "I'll just have to make sure I can handle it." He sighed. "I may need to have another talk with Kisuke."

Megami moved away from him, sitting down in a chair nearest to him. "There's probably going to be another method other than confronting us head-on..." She reminded him. "We also need to think of a plan."

"Is it possible to make a plan when we don't know what we're dealing with?" Ahatake asked. "The girl, she told me where she's from, but it's not something I know of. Kan'na dimension she said."

"Then that...." Megami directed her index finger in his direction to express a "on-the-point" motion. "....is where we have to start. After I'm done discussing things with Daiyaku and Miharu, I'm going to the local library and see if they have anything in the archives. Hopefully, it's a subject that's been touched upon at least once."

Ahatake repressed an urge to chuckle. "Those poor kids." He said, placing a hand to his forehead and looking at his watch. "And look at that, it's nearly time. Should I hang around or get the hell out of the room?"

"Unless you have anything to add...." Megami folded her arms across her chest and nodded slowly. "....you're free to leave."