Izanami no Jidō: Chichi no Tsumi

Blood Is In The Family
In the primitive town hidden within the outskirts of the Appalachian Mountains, one could safely say that there wasn't much to be interested in or to come by. It was a remote and small place not touched by the hustle and bustle of the more modernized and technologically updated areas within the United States. People knew each other, and despite their conditions, lived together peacefully and without much conflict. The very fact that they were isolated from society brought them closer to one another as a "family", if one could describe it.

Within the home of one particular individual, it was quiet. The average quality of the home as well as the lack of lighting gave it a rather old and abandoned appearance. However, the amount of furniture and other items of living kept that impression from being true. There were notable pieces. A guitar in the corner.... a piano at the back wall.... a sheathed katana on top of it.... a smoking ashtray right beside an occupied bed, and a man dressed in feudal attire with a lighter in both of his hands and a cigarette in his mouth. All of this made up his home.

Puffing on his cigarette, the man reached into his gi and pulled out a blade handle, idly tossing it in the air and catching it repeatedly. "It's been quite a while, old man." He spoke to himself softly. "How long has it been? How many years have passed ever since you sent me off on my own? Feels like a millennium for me. Yet, all you left me to remember you by was this useless piece of a sword. It's a wonder I haven't thrown the damn thing away yet...."

He stopped tossing the handle in the air, grabbing it and lowering to his side.

"I can only wonder.... just how well you're fairing at this moment...."

He placed the lighter beside the ashtray, his newly free hand plucking the cigarette from his mouth and crushing it in with the other ashes. He reached beyond the tray, grasping a framed photo and holding it to eye-level. In the picture was him placing a hand on the shoulder of a smiling, young boy. They were standing in a forested area, both of them looking quite cheery. The sight brought a weak smile to his face, and he chuckled softly.

"I bet he's wondering the same thing about me, too...."

He set the photo down where it was, sliding fully onto his bed. He put his hands behind his head and lay on his back, closing his eyes in order to get a quick nap in.

Dreams of Shadows
Black. Everything was black from his perspective. He tried to open his eyes, but to no avail. He tried to speak, but he couldn't.

''"Where am I?!" ''his mind screamed to himself.

All he knew is that he wasn't alone in this seemingly empty void. He could hear muffled voices speaking, all were deep male sounds, but they were inaudible.

''"Who are you?! Where is she?!" ''he continued, hoping that they would reply.

Nothing.

If words couldn't get through to them, then perhaps action would. He tried to pick up his arms, starting with his right.

"Oh god he's still sentient!" one of the deep voices said, clearly in shock. He could hear quiet thrashing noizes, as if a monster had broken into the void and was killing all in it's wake. "Ah, good." a weaker, almost official sounding voice replied. "Now we can see if our progress has truly paid off. Give him the te..."

The voice trailed away as a high pitched sound erupted inside of his mind, and then it slid into his arms, forcing him to lower them down and grab the flat surface he lay on. It was enough pain to make him scream, but he couldn't. All he could do was suffer through the achingly painful noise.

''"I have no mouth, and I must scream." ''

Then it stopped. The official voice could be heard again, this time it was speaking to him directly. "Akisame." it said. "Wake up son, it's time to wake up."

His vision thankfully started to come back to him. A bright light broke through the darkness and he could see the figure that was goading him into rejoining the world of the living. "Wake up." it continued. This time it placed it's hands around his face and shook it slightly. "Wake up!" it continued as it became more and more feminine. "Wake up!"

Then he could see clearly, but the area was all too familiar from what he expected. A white room with a large brown dresser on it's left wall next to a glass door leading into a living room-like area. To his right he could see a long sliding glass door showing what appeared to be another building across from the room.

"Hey!"

The feminine voice returned, startling him at first, until he looked straight towards the direction that the commanding tone originated from.

What he saw was no official business man, but it was rather a more beautiful sight. A young woman with blue, messy shoulder length hair sat on top of his torso area, her knees on each side of him. She was wearing a white night gown, as if she had just awakened from a long night's sleep.

"Are you just going to lay there all day?" she continued, a slight chuckle in her tone.

Then he realized that he was in no torture chamber, but it was actually his bedroom, which itself was in his apartment. And he easily recognized the now smiling woman as his wife; Soifon.

He gave a slight exhale before speaking. "What time is it?" he murmured.

"It's 10 A.M. You need to start going to sleep earlier." she replied, her voice more stern. "If you wouldn't stay up all night going over completed cases like you do, then I wouldn't have to waste time waking you up myself."

He chuckled, pretending to ignore her criticism. "Shouldn't you be at work?"

She crossed her arms. "No. It's Thursday remember? I don't work on Thursdays. Again, if you wouldn't stay up all night reviewing month old cases, then maybe you would be in a good state of mind."

He held both of his arms up to see if they were in any way affected by the apparent dream. He was somewhat relieved to see that his cybernetic arms were still intact. He could detect no errors within his viral network, and he wasn't due for a system update for another 4 months. All was good for now.

He felt his wife's hands softly grab his right hand, a concerned look on her face. "Seriously Aki, is everything alright?"

He inhaled a deep breath and then let it go. "Yeah. Yeah i'm fine. Quit worrying so much." he said in a light voice, letting his right hand gently brush across her left cheek.

She slowly layed herself down on his head, her knees still in the same place. "I can't help but worry about you." she said in a soft tone, positioning herself to where her face looked directly into his eyes. "You're my husband after all."

He kissed her on the fore-head and brushed his hand through her hair. "Like I said; don't worry so much." He repeated to her.

She sighed, and then picked herself up from the bed. "C'mon, we need to get going." she said in her normal, commanding voice. "Mrs. Otomo's dinner party is this evening, remember?" she said while getting off of the bed and heading for the one of the closets behind her. "I think the last thing for us to do is miss out on something my boss personally invited us to, don't you think?"

He moaned and reached for the clock on the coffee table to his right. "That's like....seven hours from now. Why are you wanting to go so early?" he said in a humorously whiny voice.

"We aren't leaving early." she replied. "You're going to help me pick out something descent to wear tonight. I don't want to show up in my pharmacist outfit do I?" she said as she began to go through her closet, looking for something casual to wear to the store.

"As if it would matter. You'd look good no matter what." he said, hopelessly trying to charm her like he used to do before they started dating.

She looked back at him with an annoyed expression. "We also have to find you something to wear."

He moaned again. "Can I not just wear my coat? Seriously that thing should be descent, I mean it only cost like what, 500 dollars?" He then braced himself for any scolding that his wife might give him. "Besides, you said yourself that it made me look epic." he whimpishly added. She stopped sorting throught the clothes to look at him with the same annoyed face, her hands on her hips. "Nice try, but even if you do wear the coat, you still have to wear something nice under it."

"Stubborn as a mule" 

Seeing no point in furthering the argument, Akisame picked himself off of the bed and walked over to the closet to the right of the one his wife was going through. He grabbed the first shirt he saw, a black shirt with a white Mushroomhead logo on it's front, and put it on. It blent rather nicely with the black and green sleeping pants he was already wearing. "Maybe I'll wear this just to hear what she says"

She noticed the shirt he was now wearing and scoffed. "You still like that band? They're nearly 600 years old." He shrugged it off, somewhat surprised that she wasn't demanding that he take it off. "Hey, it's good music." he said. She turned and walked towards him, a gentle smile on her face, putting her arms around his back as he gently slid his arms around her waist.

"Do you remember that time when we snuck into one of their concerts?" she said in a low whisper."We were just regular Soul Reapers going to a Mushroomhead show."

He chuckled slightly, slowly swaying himself with her in a dancing manner. "I remember when they were singing Save Us, me and you danced through the whole thing."

She looked up at him in a slow manner, inching her face towards his. "I remember what you told me when the song ended." He began to inch himself towards her, hoping to meet her lips. "I love-"

His words were slowly cut off when she pressed her mouth against his own. He gently put his left hand across the right side of her head as she put both hands on his chest, before quickly pushing herself away from him.

"Come on. Let's hurry before we get carried away." she said with an arrogant smile. She had her clothes in hand; a blue t-shirt, a brown hoodie, and a pair of black sweat pants. She began to walk towards the glass door leading to the living room. "I'm getting in the shower, please be ready by the time i'm out." She opened the door and started to walk down the hallway to it's right. "And please don't get any ideas while i'm in there."

He laughed and held both hands up in a surrendering pose. "You have my word." he said as she disappeared from view. He was alone in his room, thinking of what all would happen today. Public parties like this one usually ended in some form of dismay. Add to that Mrs. Otomo has openly told him that her opinion of him was less than favorable. Maybe she invited both of them to the little shindig so that she might try to embarass him in some way.

Shrugging off the thought, he walked over to the same coffee table that held his alarm clock, pulling out the highest drawer in it's base. Inside of it were some papers, mostly reciepts that he never used, along with a black switch-blade with a sliver handle. But the most notable item within the small space was a silver necklace with an obsidian wolf pendant at it's center. The wolf itself possessed two diamonds in it's eyes that were so bright, Akisame had to glance away from them for a brief second before bringing them back into his gaze. It was the same amulet his old mentor had given him so many years ago.

''"It's been awhile, eh gramps?" ''he thought, looking into the now bleak diamond eyes. ''"I'm doing good so far, but I still think about what you asked of me that day. You begged me to find your kid, you know the one you never talked about?" ''he paused, thinking of the right words to say to his deceased teacher. ''"To think that you would have the audacity to ask me for anything after what you did. Betraying us just to further your own selfish goals. You nearly killed me, worse you nearly killed my wife, for what? Some bullshit religion that you constantly tried to shove down our throats?" ''Letting his anger slowly get the better of him, he began to squeeze the amulet tightly, hoping it would shatter so that maybe the last memoir of his treacherous mentor would disappear forever.

"Hey Aki! Get one of the towels out of the dryer. I forgot to unload it last night!" his wife yelled from the shower near the end of the hallway outside of his room. Remembering that he had given Soifon the amulet, he stopped himself from destroying it, setting it back inside of the drawer. "Yeah I'll get it." he replied. Heading for the door, he took one last glance at the amulet within the open drawer with a disappointed expression, and then left the room.

Points of Antipathy
"So, did our guy talk?"

"Of course he did. No one shuts up after I'm done with them...."

Within the halls of one of the military buildings in Empresa, The Sexta Espada Loly was speaking to her subordinate Menoly concerning a recent interrogation of an Ahijados cult member. It wasn't surprising - being the heads of interrogation and torture, they both tended to enjoy their jobs and freely talk about them, even if it was at the chagrin of others.

Loly was leaning up against the wall, arms folded across her chest and her head lowered so that her bangs overshadowed her eyes. A small smirk decked her face. "Already told the higher-ups about the entire thing, so don't bother to ask any questions...." She said bluntly, effectively silencing Menoly before she could open her mouth.

"Oh...." The other Arrancar muttered, putting her hands into her pockets. "Well, at least everything's well in hand. I guess the Primera's intrusion into Ahijados affairs really serves all in the long run. I almost feel sorry for her though, having to entertain them like a clown...."

Loly snickered. "Really suits the lazy-ass well. I could care less about her position. Matter of fact, I wouldn't mind if all of these sides ended up killing each other in the end. Government in Hueco Mundo? Useless...." She raised her head up to look at her Fraccion. "Speaking of spies.... I heard that the religious defector from the Soul Society's back on the grid."

"Braeburn McTavish?" Melony questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"The very one. Haven't heard much about what's going on, but word has it that he's gone straight back to the ones who decided to throw him out. Shinigami never learn...." Loly rolled her eyes.

"What about his father?"

"Him? That ancient relic's still stuck in his own home, living the boring and normal life. From where he's at, I don't think any of us have to worry about little old Haralson...."

Her words were cut off when a chilling sensation crept up her spine. Slowly but surely, the feeling that they weren't alone within the poorly lit hallway made it's way into her mind. She turned slowly to see if the somewhat frightening presence was close to them or not.

Sure enough, a dark figure stood in the furthest end of the hall that her vision would allow her to see. It was somewhat taller than she was, it's head was round as if though it was wearing a helmet, a garb like piece of clothing floated around it's waste and it was slowly walking towards them.

"I heard a name." the being said, moving ever so closer to the Sexta Espada. "A name I haven't heard in centuries." With that sentance, he held his right arm straight out as if he were about to grab something. Within a second of the motion, a bluish light flashed before them and when it cleared, a menacing sword resembling a key lay in his hand, it's eyes looking straight into theirs.

"Why don't you repeat what you just said...slowly."

"....De Soto."

Upon taking in the form of her Espada compatriot, Loly narrowed her eyes, tilted her head to the side, and smirked. She saw iut of the corner of her eye that Menoly's reaction was more out of alarm, her eyes widening and a scowl crossing her face. The Fraccion placed a hand on the hilt of her rapier, but did not draw it.... yet. After all, the subordinate understood the leader's mindset, and she didn't need to be verbally told when to attack.

"Of course. The moment I get to the conclusion of a discussion, there's always one of you shadowy types listening in...." Loly continued, unphased by the weapon that he had materialized. "What, is he your boyfriend or something?"

"WHOOSH!"

Using Sonido, the Diez Espada vanished from view, only to quickly reappear mere inches from Loly's face. The move was so fast, her subordinate didn't even react in time to grab her weapon. "I'll ask again wench" he said in a light and raspy voice. His now visible black mask radiating the feeling of emptiness, as if though there was nothing inside of it.

But there was something within that glass dome; a menacing arrancar who's very existance seemed to distort the fabric of peace. She remembered that he was the one arrancar within Hueco Mundo that was never to hear the name McTavish."I heard the words McTavish and Haralson within the same sitting." This time, he pointed the tip of his blade to her neck. She could practically feel the weapon piercing her throat, even though it was not touching her at all.

"Where is he?!"

A sneer crossed Loly's face, and she returned what she assumed was a glare right back at the Diez Espada. The sneer, however, turned right back into a mocking grin, allowing herself to lean back against the wall with her arms folded across her chest. "Oh, that's right.... I remember now, thanks to that little energy signature. You're just like Senny, aren't you? The experiment test-tube Arrancar created by a Shinigami scientist. The only difference is that you were "cast away in a manger" and left to get eaten by the wolves."

She tilted her head back, daring him to make that move to slice off her head. "Does it depress you, little Soto-chan.... to know how alone and useless you really are?"

Seemingly fazed by the remark, the Arrancar swiftly snagged Loly's neck with his left hand and, while she was still against the wall, began to drag her down the hallway. Menoly, still somewhat in shock, reached to draw her sword, only to have a powerful kick from De Soto slam into her torso, forcing her through the wall that was behind her.

Still dragging Loly's head down the hallway, the demented Espada began to sing in a light tone. "The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout." ending the first part of the song by slamming Loly's head into the wall, leaving a rather large crack within it. He didn't stop however, and continued his twisted singing.

"Down came the rain and..." interrupting the next part by slamming her head into the wall yet again not just a few feet away from the previous impact. "WASHED THE SPIDER OUT!" finishing with a maniacal laugh. With that, he began to slam her head into the same spot repeatadly. After a total of three hits, he ceased his torturing and leaned towards her head. "Where. Is. He?"

Had she been a Shinigami, Loly was certain that her head would have been split open.

But as it was, the Hierro that made up her skin was enough to protect from too much abrasion, although every slam had made her vision spin violently. Once he was done, she now found herself with the side of her face against the wall, his hand gripping the back of her head. Her palms were pressed against the wall in an admittedly vain attempt to keep him from breaking her through the wall. When he spoke, her pink eyes were gazing into his masked and oh-so-terrifying ones. This sent a chill of excitement down her spine.... for she knew she was hitting his buttons at least a little. Her smile widened, slightly showing the canines of her teeth.

If she wasn't too busy mocking him, she would have laughed at the innuendo expressed in their position.

She decided to take one more jab before spilling the beans; she had been planning to do so, anyway....

"Killing him isn't going to change anything...." She said with cold elation. "It's not going to change that he'll pay attention to his real son instead of a fake like you. You were never Daddy's little boy.... and you never will be."

"Kill him? KILL HIM?!" he began to cackle loud enough to where the entire hallway echoed with it's disturbing noise. "Oh no no no no no no no. Killing him would be a mistake. Killing him would render my existance useless. If you're so well informed about the old man's intentions, you'd know that to him, I was but a means to an end. A tool to be used to whip his pissant son into shape so that he may actually stand a chance against the world." With that, he slowly etched his hand around to where it was holding her by her neck, and then picked her up nearly 4 feet from the ground.

"I feel nothing for the old sack of bones. I was designed so that Haralson might be stronger for the future. Whatever else he had in store for me no longer matters." he began to slowly squeeze her neck. "As for little Harry...." he said, bringing her face close enough to his to where their foreheads touched.

"When the world has turned to ashes, he has my permission to die."

"If that's what you tell yourself to sleep at night....nnn....!!!" Loly was tempted to raise her feet and give De Soto a violent kick to the chest just to show him the difference between their positions, but shook the thought aside. She grabbed his wrist with both hands in order to lessen the pressure on her neck so that she could speak more clearly, letting him lower her down to his face. "If that's what you're wanting to go by.... then I'll tell you exactly what you want. That's the point, after all..."

She closed her mouth to keep her teeth from showing in her smile that was still there. Her eyes rolled back in a thoughtful position. "He's in an isolated village within the Appalachian Mountains in the giant piece of dirt that the humans call the United States." Because they were staring into each other's faces, he would not notice the hand that had been taken off of his wrist and to the back of his head. "Maybe you'll finally get your chance of being free once you get there...."

Then, she grabbed the back of his head and pushed him forwards, capturing his lips within hers. It wasn't a kiss of love or emotion, but a mocking gift of farewell to express her assurance that he would not set foot within Hueco Mundo again. She kept this pose for a moment, just enough for it to strike a nerve, before pulling away. With a squeeze of his wrist and a display of her own strength, she was able to pull away from him.

"Good luck!"

Then, with a Sonido, she vanished into thin air and left him to his devices.

He stood in the hallway straight up, his sword on the ground. ''"How amusing." ''he thought to himself, thinking about her predictable manner of escape and the unexpected parting gift that she had left for him. ''"She doesn't realize that in a few seconds, I could have tore her body inside out...within her mind." ''

He was actually disappointed that his higher ranked counterpart had left in such an immediate manner. He would've loved to have savored the sweet exchange of lips between themselves, if he wasn't wearing a helmet of course. He could almost taste the blood pouring from her mouth into his...

...But dwelling on the matter would get him nowhere. Now he knew that he was a wanted man within this bleak and dreadful city, and he had a Soul Reaper to track. With his very own Sonido, he vanished from the building's interior. He reappeared outside on top of the giant wall that isolated the city from the vast desert that was Hueco Mundo, facing it with an ever burning desire to begin his journey. He turned his head slightly behind him to look at the city one last time.

"When the world has turned to ashes...I'll slaughter you all."

With that, he lazily fell off of the wall, down towards the silver sands. Even with the mask on, he could feel the wind rapidly assaulting his downward facing eyes. Quickly performing a frontal flip, he smoothly landed on the ground with his legs crouched in a position one would use to spring back up into the air. He then slowly stood himself up, looking to his left and right to see if any stragglers had followed him. Somewhat to his disappointment, there were none.

At least for now.

He placed his left index finger on where his left ear would be inside of his helmet, a blue circle quickly expanding and surrounding the point of contact. "Boss?" he said in a casual tone. "Boss do you read me?" Anyone else looking at him would think that he was talking to himself. Not that it would be much of a revelation, as he usually did it all the time while inside of Empresa, even without touching his helmet.

''"Ah De Soto." ''a voice within his mind said to him. "What does my greatest prodigy have to tell me this time?"

"I've got his location." he replied. "He's in the Appalachian Mountains, somewhere in the United States." he leaned himself up against the great wall that sheltered the city, thinking that he would have a few spare moments to relay some information to his contact. "And before you ask, yes I know where that is."

There was a brief moment of silence over his "earpiece". For a second, De Soto thought that the line had been somehow disrupted, but he was quickly relieved to hear the voice again.

''"Where did you get this information?" ''the voice asked, it's tone more stern.

He hesitated to answer, fearful of his contact's response. "One of the other Espada gave it to me." he paused, thinking about whether or not he should throw out how he got the information. "After a bit of persuasion of course. I don't think they wanted me to know about where he was for fear of me going rogue." With that, he began to walk towards the massive desert, looking for a good distance to place a Garganta without being detected.

"Excellent. It only took you...say 500 years? For all we know, McTavish could be dead by now."

De Soto scoffed at the comment. "C'mon. I thought that you of all people would know that if he were dead, then I would be too." He looked towards the ground, thinking about the fact that he had just stated. "No he's still here, I can feel it."

''"Did they mention anything about his son?" ''the voice continued.

"Just that he was back on the grid. Going back to the ones that had kicked him out. I didn't really focus on him." he said in a low voice. Braeburn was nothing but a name to him. All he cared about was his father, the one he was designed to fight.

The voice paused again, thinking about what De Soto had just said. ''"It appears he's trying to get back into the Gotei 13." ''De Soto stopped nearly a mile or so from the city. "Why now?" he asked.

After another bit of silence, the voice replied; ''"...I think I know why, but it's nothing to concern yourself over. Find McTavish, get the fragment from him in any way possible. You can torture him, burn down his home, kill his son, it matters not. Just get that fragment and bring it to me. If you die trying...I'll send someone less expendable to find it." ''it concluded.

"Don't fail me De Soto."

With that, the blue circle around his helmet disappeared, and the only sound that could be heard was the lonely winds that swept across the world he stood alone in. He sighed, and prepared to open his Garganta, not caring whether or not he was detected. At least if someone did come, he wouldn't be so alone...

Fortunately or unfortunately, someone answered his prayers.

A brilliant green light illuminated the area around him, and an offensive energy signature could be detected. If he turned around, he would have seen a Cero racing towards him with immense speed and power. Because energies within the Espada ranks were so unique, it would be easy to tell who it was that unleashed it on him.

The Tres Espada, Senkaku Ningensei, had made his move.

Without time to react, De Soto quickly turned and shielded himself from the attack using the flat end of Vacio Fabricante, gritting his teeth as he tried to keep from being overwhelmed. The sheer power of the Cero was enough to force the Diez Espada back a pretty descent ways, before he managed to decipate the blast by releasing a good amount of his own spiritual pressure. Sword in hand, he extended his left index finger towards his now visible opponent and began to charge a blue sphere near it's tip.

"Of all the people they could've sent after me, they sent the only one that I actually liked." he said, tilting his head somewhat to the left.

"Eh Senkaku?" he said as he fired his Cero towards his former comrade.

If the Cero had not obscured De Soto's view, he would have seen the narrowed, cold, and firm eyes of Senkaku staring right back at him. He quickly drew his own sword, grasping the hilt with two hands and raising it over his head. As he swung down, the metal was set ablaze with a green and black flame one could only recognize as his own signature attack - the Espada Cero. Once the blade met energy, the Tres Espada gritted his teeth under the immense power of De Soto's attack.

It was only thanks to his own immense energy control that he was able to cope under the power.

With a swing, he managed to dissipate it and scatter it into particles.

When the remnants of the clashes energy fully vanished, he could see his opponent stepping near a newly formed Garganta. His Diez ranked counterpart was about to enter inside the dimensional tear, but not before he turned to face Senkaku. He spoke with a strange sense of sadness in his voice.

"Forgive me, old friend."

At this, Senkaku's eyes widened in surprise. However, it lasted only for a moment. Knowing that further attack would be futile at this point, he relented. He dissipated his Espada Cero and sheathed his sword. He did not answer De Soto, continuing to remain silent with a serene look on his face. Then, with a closing of his eyes and a turning of his heel, he turned and walked away.

No words needed to be said, for he had read the emotions in De Soto's eyes.

He understood.

A large sense of relief overcame the masked Arrancar's body. Had the follower been anyone besides Senkaku, they would probably be lying at his feet, haunted by the many visions produced by his sword's special ability; Arrebatar Vacio. But when it came to Senkaku, even the Cero Oscuras that he used on him (which in itself was a distraction so that he would not have to face him) was pushing it just a little too far.

He gave a low sigh, lowering his head. He remembered how Senkaku found him lying in the desert several centuries ago all alone, crazed, wounded, and crying. The Tres Espada, out of all of the Arrancars and Hollows within this hopeless plane of existance, was the only one who had shown him any form of compassion. Taking him and transforming him from a murderous psychopath into a quiet and collected warrior.

He immediatley stopped recalling the memories. At this point, the last thing that he wanted to do was face his pursuer after what had just happened. As far as he was concerned, he was not worthy of staying within the same realm as his old friend. He had betrayed him, all of them, for his own selfish goals. The soul intention of inflicting pain on his childhood nemisis.

He inhaled, then exhaled, and walked through the Garganta.

Rumors of the End
The moon-lit night sky had enveloped the massive city that was Yurei Okuko. By this time, it was comparable to a ghost town. Though people weren't forced to stay inside by the evening, the old law that told them otherwise still lingered within the majority of the population's mindset. There were still a handful of stragglers that wondered the sidewalks of course, but they never lingered outside for too long.

The sole exception at this time, was the ever unique couple known as Akisame and Soifon, the former prefering to wonder at night more so than the latter. They walked along the sidewalk togather, one wearing a black trench coat with silver symbols on it's shoulders that was buttoned so that his fancy shirt couldn't be seen, and the other one wearing a short black dress that extended just short of her knees, carrying similar silver symbols found on her husband's trench coat, only in her case they went along her right hip on up to her chest.

Of course, like everyone else at night, they had somewhere that they had to get to. In their case, a dinner class hosted by Soifon's somewhat hedonistic manager, who was more upper class than she initially appears to be.

"I'm telling you this isn't going to end well." Akisame said, his voice lazy and nervous at the same time. Mrs. Otomo has made it clear that she did not favor Akisame over her own son, to both himself and Soifon, much to the latter's annoyance. She would take no interest in someone who stayed in the Human World most all of the time partying and drinking. But she was good friends with her manager regardless, and she did not plan to make a bad impression of herself and her husband.

"Just act like you're sophisticated in some form or fashion. If you will be polite and ignore everyone who doesn't talk to you, we'll be just fine." she said without looking at him. He sighed. "You do realize that the woman hates my guts, right? I'm still counting how many times she's tried to redirect you towards her freakish son."

She quickly stepped in front of him with a turn of her right high heel shoe. Even though she was retired from the Stealth Force, she was still just as quick, if not more than she was in her earlier years. "Listen to me." she said with a dead serious expression. He knew that the last thing he needed to do at this point was piss her off.

"You will go in there, you will present yourself like you are someone, you will be polite and respectful to everyone that you meet regardless of what they say to you. We just ate something so you don't have to eat any of the crap that she serves here. You cannot screw this up for me Akisame, i've spent too long preparing for it. I know that you don't want to be here, but you just need to suck it up for an hour or so, and then we'll be gone from this place." she took him by his collar and pulled his face towards hers. "And when we get home, we'll do whatever you want." she said with a smile.

"Oh ho, you better be careful with proposals like that Ms. Feng." he said with a cheery low voice. "You may not get what-"

His sentance was cut off when a white light shined in his left eye. When he turned to face it, he realized that they were actually in front of the building that held the party the whole time. Opening both of the glass doors that granted entrance to visitors was Soifon's manager; Mrs. Otomo.

The woman, upon taking in the scene and position that the couple was in, cocked a slight eyebrow and frowned in slight disapproval. "Oh....am I....interrupting something....?" She said in a manner that would've implied that she was also somewhat amused with what she saw in front of her.

Akisame simply activated his sun glasses and regained his posture, his face blank. "Actually we were talking about..."

Soifon jumped in before her husband could say anything rash. "He was just...looking at my amulet Mrs. Otomo." She held the obsidian wolf amulet that was around her neck out to where her manager could see it clearly. "He thought he saw a crack in it and was just checking it out for me."

"Right...." After giving the amulet only a quick glance, Otomo looked towards the two and gave them a respectful nod. "Well, I am glad you and... your husband... could make it here. Please, do enjoy your time here." With that and a polite bow, she moved aside so that they could step in.

Soifon faked a smile and bowed herself, holding Akisame's arm so that he would bow with her. She forgot that his arm was artificial and more force had to be applied to move it. He simply nodded and they both slowly walked inside the glistening white room.

"Bitch" he happily muttered under his breath out of Mrs. Otomo's field of hearing, only to recieve a rather sharp bump into his ribs from his wife's elbow. "Save it for later." she sternly told him.

The room itself was rather boring, much to Soifon's disappointment. The floor and walls were all white, with only a few japanese words on each of the four walls. There were a good number of guests there, mostly upper class wannabes that one could find at buisness meetings.

"How much you wanna bet that all of the people here are in more debt than they can fathom?" he whispered in Soifon's left ear. She scoffed, trying to ignore her husbands annoying cracks.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and Preacher will be here." he said with a low chuckle.

She immediatley stopped dead in their tracks enough to where her heels slightly squeeked on the floor. Some of the guests turned their attention to the pair.

She pulled Akisame down to where their faces were even, her face red with anger. "I thought I told you to never mention his name to me for as long as we both live."

"Quite a scene those two like to make, no....?" One guest whispered to his apparent female date. She discreetly nodded in response.

"I don't see why Ms. Otomo bothered to invite them if they're just going to become a main circus attraction...."

Akisame giggled slightly. "Why?" His wife's already blood red face became even more crimson. "He is the biggest freaking pervert in history. Shunsei has nothing on him." He continued to laugh at the situation. "C'mon all he did was pinch your ass. Which I dared him to do."

Her eyes flared for a brief moment before squinting in a hateful glare. "Ooh if we weren't in public right now I'd beat the living piss out of you."

The people nearest to them started to chuckle and giggle, clearly finding the dialogue between the two amusing. A few even started to laugh, having to shield their mouths with their hands from laughing too hard. Even Otomo seemed to smirk and chuckle a little as she took her own seat. They had not even picked a seat out for themselves and already their presence could be felt....

Taking note of the attention that he had unintentionally gathered, he quickly tried to soothe his wife's anger. "Okay calm down calm down. I think they want us to sit." He leaned himself upwards, staring at the onlookers with a sort of "Screw you" glare. "Yeah, I noticed." she said, her eyes still boiled with anger and humiliation. Slowly holding her hand, he gave her a dead serious glare, showing that he was sorry and that they should forget about the whole thing, to which she agreed. They both took their seats near the center of the rather large table.

"I say, Ms. Otomo...." One of the guest's at Otomo's table said, still smiling at the earlier antics. "You've brought quite the first event to this place. You may have brightened up everyone's mood a bit! Well....at the expense of theirs...." He looked over the woman's shoulder at the boiling-down couple.

"They need it...." Otomo sighed heavily. "All of us do, what with the recent events that happened....."

"Oh, please...." A female guest scoffed, looking at Otomo incredulously. "You're not bringing up that building supposedly painted by Red Sun cultists, are you? Or the scuffle between potential cult members and the police?"

"That's the events...."

"Don't start! The mood is rather festive, and I for one certainly don't want it being downgraded because of bad news being brought up again."

Akisame immediatley diverted his attention away from Soifon towards Mrs. Otomo. The words "Red Sun" had just brought a whole wealth of memories back to him. He recalled his former mentor telling him about their glory and how they were to bring "The beginning of the end to the beginning." He nudged Soifon's shoulder with his right arm. "I have to use the bathroom." he said to her in a low voice.

Her eyes glared at him in an annoyed fashion. "You picked a damn good time..." she stopped when she read her husband's face. He was serious, this was no potty break at the last minute to piss her off further, something was wrong. She sighed and nodded for him to go. He kissed her on her cheek and left the table, attracting some attention from the guests. As he was walking away from the table, he reached up to a hidden earpiece in his left ear. "Preacher? Do you read me?"

"Oh yes I hear you." a British accented voice said. "And before you ask, yes I heard every word of the conversation. Both with your wife and with the old bat hosting the gathering of misfits."

"Good to know you're always listening Preacher." Akisame responded, entering the bathroom. "Listen, i'm going to get close to the gossip spreaders. I'm going to record their conversations and I want you to dig up as much information on whatever they say as possible. Alright?" The voice sighed. "I suppose so. I don't have anything else to do on account of-"

"I'm going in." Akisame cut him off as he activated his cloaking device. With an orange glow, the figure disappeared out of view. He walked slowly back to the dinner table next to where Mrs. Otomo was. "Alright Preacher." he whispered. "Go."

"Look, all I'm saying is the facts." Otomo said, slightly indignant. "It is not my fault the rest of you are so feeble-hearted to them." Of course, she, along with the other gossipers she was speaking with, did not notice a thing.

"I heard that there was enough of them to be considered a small army." The male guest added. "And it's not uncommon to hear that there might be more attempting to invade this city. The law enforcement, thanks to this little scuffle, also seem to be more strict in terms of inner security. I do believe they're getting paranoid for no reason at all...."

The female guest sighed, resentful at having to change the topic of discussion to this. "The police have a reason for everything, even if we do not know it." She said. "I'm sure they also have a perfectly good reason for the guard at Road 701, what with the graffiti and all!"

"I don't see how someone could perform such a feat overnight...." Otomo said, her tone rather questioning and curious. "The building was covered head to toe in it! I feel sorry for the residents that used to live in that apartment...."

"Preacher, are you getting this?" Akisame whispered into the earpiece. He was so interested in the conversation he almost talked loud enough to be heard, though none of the guests noticed. He slowly etched away from the table, eye-balling his wife who was talking with another female guest.

"Yes though i'm not getting any specific information. As always, the police that monitor this pit have covered alot of their tracks." he paused, thinking about what he should suggest to his friend. "It might be best to investigate the building yourself."

The suggestion at first excited Akisame. He would get to sneak into a police investigation sight at night and gather the information for himself, evading guards and whatnot. "Yeah, I can do that." he happily replied as he re-entered the bathroom, which was still unoccupied.

"Tonight would be the best time. From what readings i'm getting, their are just a handful of security guards in the area. Nothing you can't handle." As he de-cloaked, a hint of disappointment crossed Akisame's mind. On one hand, he could get to the building and gather what information he could tonight and not have to wait until tomorrow. But on the other, he would have to abandon his wife to do so. He had promised her that he would stay with her through the whole thing. "That's a no go Preacher. I promised Sophie that I would stay with her tonight. We'll have to try tomorrow evening."

Preacher sighed. "You know the concept of marriage has always..." his connection was split. Akisame would have no more of the discussion. With an extended sigh, he left the bathroom and returned to the seat next to his wife.

Reunion
"Ugh...."

Slowly, Haralson woke himself up and climbed back out of his bed, stretching a little once he was onto his feet. "Might as well get a walk in, seeing as I'm not doing much else...." He muttered, leaning over to blow out the candles that made up his light source. He turned and walked through his home, blowing out other candles that had lit up other parts of his home. Soon, the entire house was completely darkened.

He pushed open the door and stepped out to greet the night sky.

"Hello, brother." a voice said without warning.

That single voice was enough to make his blood chill within his veins.

His pupils shrank, and he instantly stopped where he was, all senses on high alert. His grip on the door handle almost tightened to the point of where he would've crushed it. He only managed to whisper his words to the voice that had called him out. "Y.....you....?!"

"Me?" the voice said, mimicing Haralson's accent. "I take it that your memory hasn't been too scarred over the years." Slowly, a dark figure emerged from the shadows that were directly in front of the man's house, revealing to be none other than De Soto himself. "You do recognize me, right?" he said in an amused voice. "Actually, don't answer that. I'll show you myself."

In the center of his mask, a tiny blue circle emerged and slowly spread around the rest of the helmet, like fire would to a piece of paper. From the openings emerged the face of a young man in what appeared to be his early twenties. His hair was solid white and spread around his head like wildfire. When all of the mask had completley vanished, the Arrancar calmly opened his cyan eyes, a menacing grin cracking his face.

This immediately washed away the fear, replacing it with anger. Haralson narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth in a scowl as he glared into the cyan. "De Soto." He said lowly, with bitterness. "I should've known that sleeping dogs like you would get right back up sooner or later...." He clenched his fist, his hand trembling a little. "I thought Dad sealed you away for good. How in the hell'd you escape?"

He exhaled through his nose, retaining his insane expression. "The hell does it matter? We're here now aren't we?" He held his right arm out towards Haralson, his palm open. "You know the drill." he said in a disturbingly light voice as his sword appeared in his hand via blue light. "In the words of the old man..." he sneered as he positioned himself to spring forward. "LET THE GAMES BEGIN!" He lunged towards his childhood enemy, his sword prepared to lop his head off from the left side.

Haralson acted quickly.

Throwing one hand behind him as De Soto prepared to attack him, he telepathically called his own sword out of its sheath and to his hand. Then, as he jerked to the side, he used a Shunpo to escape his home and out into the outside. He readied himself in a defensive position, eyes narrowed in concentration and his blade ready to kill. "At the very least....." He said loathingly. "I can be glad that your skill hasn't rusted over the years...."

Stopping just short of the front door to Haralson's house, De Soto quickly turned himself around and threw his sword straight at his opponent like a boomerang.

"An opening!"

Haralson immediately rushed forward, taking advantage of the temporary loss of De Soto's weapon. With one swing of his sword, he collided his blade with his opponent's unique sword and knocked it aside. Then, he used a Flash Step to reduce the chances of him escaping in order to obtain it quickly. Once he was in range, he let loose a flurry of fast and quick strikes. His blade seemed to cut and disrupt the very air as it moved towards the flesh.

De Soto laughed as the barrage of attacks struck at his suit. Despite his Hierro, some of Haralson's attacks were actually piercing his flesh and drawing blood, though he did not care. He relished in reliving the fights that he had once taken part in when they were mere children. After nearly 500 years, he was finally getting to battle the one being that he was meant to fight, and he planned on enjoying it.

He smiled and managed to extend his right hand out past Haralson's strikes. Had the Soul Reaper turned around, he would have seen Vacio Fabricante coming right back at him in the same spinning manner that he had previously deflected.

Fortunately, he didn't need to.

His eyes widened, a tick forming in the back of his mind. Quickly, he performed a jump and a backflip over the weapon as it came spinning back to its owner, giving distance back to De Soto once more. Once again, he readied himself in a defensive stance, eyes narrowed in concentration and anger. He detested the fact that he couldn't have the chance to leave his nightmares behind, that his assumption that his father had truly handled things was wrong. He hated the fact that his childhood horror had once again come to the surface for his life, and he hated the fact that he didn't know why. But for the moment, he would concentrate all of that hatred onto his foe and push all of his murderous intent forth into this battle.

He was not going to die here.

Not when he was still deciding the priorities for his own life.

Then, without warning, the Diez Espada vanished from the ground using Sonido. He reappeared above Haralson and pointed his left index finger down towards him. Out of it's tip emerged a blue energy sphere and it quickly grew to be the same size as his hand. "You haven't changed a bit Harry!" he yelled as he unleashed his rather large Cero towards his foe.

"Neither have you." Haralson remarked coldly, extending his free hand out just before the Cero collided with it. He gritted his teeth, his vision shaking as the blue and bright energy illuminated his face. He squinted his eyes, feeling the skin of his palm becoming burned against the pressure and power of the attack. After a few moments of what seemed like an eternity, he moved his arm and thrust the energy attack away from him, directing it towards another location in the midnight sky.

''"Perfect." ''the young Arrancar thought to himself. He slowly floated down towards the ground a few feet away from Haralson. As he landed, the redirected Cero detonated in the sky, brightening the area with a blinding blue light. De Soto's grin turned into a plain smile. "Tell me something Harry." he said in a surprisingly calm voice. "How much did you love the old man?"

Haralson's eyes widened for a moment at the surprise question. Although he kept his guard up, his sword positioned defensively, he leered at De Soto. "And what makes you think I've got an obligation to answer to you?" He countered vehemently, refusing to allow the Arrancar to play mind games with him.

De Soto tilted his head to the right, a slight smirk came across his face. "Come on Harry." he said. "We're brothers, why would you want to keep secrets from your own brother?" He closed his eyes, retaining his smile. "See I know he loved you in some capacity, despite what you might think, but did you ever return any amount of affection towards him?" His smile went back to a sinister grin. "What was the last thing you said to him before he died?"

All of the angered serenity within Haralson's face was wiped clean, replaced by nothing but pure shock.

"He....he's dead?!" He managed to say, his voice etched with disbelief. Despite his "brother"'s villanous and psychopathic nature, he couldn't just immediately deny it as some form of lie. De Soto, despite being brutal and cruel, had never lied to him at all. He lowered his sword to his side, continuing to keep that expression of shock on his face. After a few seconds, it faded to a somewhat pleading look. "No....he was old, but....it wasn't his time, how did he--?!"

De Soto's expression lowered somewhat, his form of a sympathetic gesture. He also dropped his fighting pose, letting his sword lazily stand on the ground. Though he would never admit it, the Diez Espada held his creator in some form of high regard. Talking about him often saddened him, though not visibly. Even though he wanted nothing more than to hurt Haralson, he couldn't lie to him, not about "their" father.

"Have you ever heard of Ultharon the Mighty?"

"....no." Haralson admitted, peering at De Soto with intensity and question. "Who was he?"

De Soto's face was now blank. Despite all of their power and their newfound status, most all of the Hollows and Arrancars in existance felt obligated to treat the name with respect, including himself. Even in death, the "True King of Hueco Mundo's" influence and name were rightly feared. "He was the most powerful Hollow to have been born." the Arrancar began. "He invaded Soul Society nearly 600 years ago and killed damn near everyone. The old man got the bright idea to make a deal with him. Something about his bullshit religion I don't know. All I do know..." he paused, trying his best to be respectful. "All I know is that Ultharon didn't like the terms, so...you know."

"....our family is always destined to challenge the Soul Society, whether we wish to or not." Haralson said bitterly, furrowing his eyes and closing them for a moment. "If I were a bit younger, I might have condemned him for his actions. But I understand now... even the most vile actions must be made by one side if they are to achieve their goals, even peace. That's what keeps the existence of government running.... all the dirty little actions."

De Soto sighed, failing to see the logic behind Haralson's statement. "Did I mention that he nearly killed all of his comrades while doing so?" He scoffed, thinking that he may hurt Haralson with his next statement. "Hell he treated his new apprentice like the son that he never had, you know, you. And he betrayed him, nearly killed him and his girlfriend too. All for what? Some religion that probably isn't even real? All he wanted was destruction and malice, no matter how he was to obtain it." he concluded, holding his sword up on his right shoulder.

That was when Haralson's eyes narrowed back to that hawk-eyed glare. "Is that all you have to say to me?" He said vehemently, tightening his grip on his sword. "Do you really expect me to say "No, my dad didn't do that"? He may not have given me the love that the everyday father would give his son. He may have given it to someone else. But if it wasn't for him, I would have never found the stepping stones that allowed me to evolve from an innocent and naive fool to who I am now. He allowed me to see, he gave me my resolve and the strength to keep moving forward. For that, there's not a single thing I could do to repay the debts I owe to him."

Once again, he raised his sword to a defensive position, gripping the hilt with two hands.

"Call it an obsession, if you will. But I loved him, no matter how much pain he inflicted onto me. He only did that to harden me, to prepare me for the harsh obstacles of life that were ahead of me. He helped me prepare for this very moment, even if I didn't expect it myself. So if you're planning to say anything else to make me think negatively about him.... it's worthless to me. You're better off talking with your blade."

The demented Espada emited a hideous cackle that echoed throughout the mountainous valley. "Do you really think that he prepared you to defeat me?! Of all people?!" he shook his head, smiling as always. "No Harry, he didn't train you to defeat me, he trained you to defeat someone else, something far more powerful than both he and myself." His sword then vanished into the same blue light that it emerged with. "Besides, even though you are the only person capable of killing me, don't think that i'm going to give you the luxury. At least not yet."

Suddenly, a small black cloud slowly enveloped the Arrancar's head. His hair compressed downward and he closed his eyes as his black mask concealed his face once again. "No. You're not going to defeat me here, but you will, soon."

"Running like a coward?" Haralson mocked, albeit sheathing his sword upon the declaration.

A depressed sigh emerged from his mouth. "Just delaying the inevitable Harry. Just delaying the inevitable." With that, he turned and walked down the dirt road that trailed off into the forrest. He waved his left hand up in a comical "Bye bye" motion. "See you tomorrow...brother." With a quick Sonido, he vanished into thin air.

"Hmph...."

Haralson stood there for a moment, watching him disappear and allowing his mind to drift into thought about what was said. "So Dad had an apprentice..... what was the point of having one if he was just going to betray him in the end....?" He mused, frowning and furrowing his eyebrows. "I'd ask you myself, Dad.... but you went and got yourself killed. Probably did it just to spite my efforts...." Sighing heavily, he placed a palm to his face and began walking back to his house.

"Might as well take a sleep. I've done my exercise for today...."

Revelations of Despair
Akisame's white room was slightly illuminated by the many city lights that shined outside of the buildings across from his apartment building. He couldn't help but lie awake in his bed, thinking about the missed opprotunity that he'd had to investigate this "Road 701" incident. He hadn't spoken another word at the dinner party after cutting Preacher off of the line. He exchanged glances with Mrs. Otomo of course, but he didn't do anything rash or embarrasing.

He turned his head to his right, looking at the alarm clock sitting on the coffee table. It was 1:23 A.M. He then turned to the left, looking at the sleeping face of his wife. He gently run his hand through her messy hair, thinking about how he'd humiliated her in front of all of those bigots. After the party was over, they went straight back to the apartment. They put on their old clothes and they both went to sleep. He had told her that he loved her before laying down, but she didn't reply.

''"To hell with it." ''

He quickly left the bed and pulled a large case out from under it. Inside of the case lay his military cargo pants, his sealed Zanpaktou, and his Scarab Kido pistol, the one that his old mentor had made for him. He quickly equipped all of the gear, minus his Zanpaktou, within a few minutes and put on his trench coat. He put his finger onto his earpiece. "Preacher? Are you still there?"

"Well it is about bloody time!" Preacher responded. "You do realize that you left me on hold for nearly 4 hours right?"

"SHH!" Akisame said. He didn't want Soifon to try to stop him. "Sophie's asleep, I really don't want to wake her up right now. Do you still have the building layout prepared?"

"Yes it is still here, and I'll have you know that a few more officers have arrived on the scene. Getting in and out will be tough." Preacher replied in a drowsy voice. "Are you going or not?"

He looked back at his wife, who was still sleeping like an angel, and sighed. "Yeah, I'm heading out. I'll let you know when I get there." He said as he cut the line again. He walked over to Soifon and extended her blanket to where it would cover her more, and then kissed her on her cheek. "I love you Sophie." he whispered in her ear, gently patting her on the head. Then without a sound, he left the room and eventually the building.

Soifon cracked her eyes open and turned towards the door, aware that her husband had left. "I love you too Aki...please be safe."

The One Who Knows All
The layout of the building was a simple apartment complex. The building was brown in color, and the red graffiti was still painted all over its surface. At the front entrance were two guards standing at the door, while another pair hung out in the alleyways. Aside from that, there were barricades on the front door itself - a clear sign for anyone and everyone to stay out. Akisame was a few meters away from the barricade, acting as if though he was a simple night time wanderer. "Preacher do you see this?" he said in a dissapointed fashion. "So much for expectations."

"Indeed. I suppose the majority of the guards have left the area, there are only a couple in the whole interior." Preacher said, somewhat surprised that the building was almost entirley empty. "Something doesn't seem right Akisame, take precaution."

"Copy, I'm going in." Akisame replied as he walked towards the two guards. "Sir this is a restricted area. Civilians are advised to..." Akisame gave him no time to finish. With amazing speed, he grabbed the guard's arm and swiftly pulled it upwards, preparing to elbow him in his ribcage.