Bleach: Ketsurui: The Shadow of a Memory

Battle Plan
Ahatake was sitting on the roof of the Kurosaki house, thinking hard about the events of last week. They had failed to capture they're target, and what was worse, they had reason to know that those two weren't working alone. It was not a joyous time for the Yūrei Ōkoku.

On the ground below, there was quite a rare event going on.

Reflecting off of old times, Taiki was in a sparring match with his two daughters, Kyuui and Aoi. Normally, he would've chosen the one that was less busy to teach. However, in this case, both wanted to. After he readily had ablidged, he had taken them outside in order to commence the training. After all, he wasn't one to allow their fighting skills to get rusty. Megami was courteous enough to stand by and watch the two girls improve.

Aoi's fingertips were glowing. "Bakudō #4, Hainawa!" She cried, the glowing tendril flying at her father.

Immediately, Taiki executed a backflip to hoist himself into the air. Not only did he avoid the tendril from grabbing him, he also stabbed his own blade into it, its reiatsu disrupting the flow of the attack and dispelling it. However, no sooner that he did, Kyuui came from above him, swinging her blade down on his up-side down form. Promptly, he allowed one foot to kick her away as he finished with the backflip, landing on his own two feet. Kyuui recovered quickly, charging at him again, but only to recieve a vertical sword attack for her trouble. She was forced to block with one hand on the blade, Taiki's strength proving to be a burden to her as she fell on one knee.

Taiki smiled.

Aoi used her sister's attack on her father to get behind him, and she extended a hand close to his back. "Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini!! Look upon yourself with horror and then claw out your own throat! Bakudō #9, Geki!"

However, in reality, she had never gotten to half of that sentence. With an upward swing of his leg, he struck Aoi in the chin to send her away from him forcefully while keeping Kyuui in her sword lock. "Talkin' that long's gonna get you killed..." He chided, pressing his sword down even further until Kyuui was forced to jump away, her left palm bleeding. "Even if it is a Kidō spell..."

Aoi groaned. "I'll get you for that Tou-san!" She said, firing a quickly charged Cero.

Immediately, as Taiki turned around to face her, hand outstretched to block and dispell it, Kyuui saw it immediately as a good opportunity to attack. When the Cero blast connected, Kyuui got to her feet and raced towards his back, sword clutched tightly in both hands. Then, she allowed herself to swing at him, despite her blade being on the wrong side. Accordingly, Taiki raised his sword hand to block the oncoming attack... but when the blades collided, his own sword began to vibrate violently, the heat of the rubbing against his skin causing the hilt to almost cut into his palms. He staggered back, certainly surprised.

Aoi gripped her own blade firmly in her hand, and moved in for the kill with Shunpo, raising her blade and slamming it down at her father's exposed back.

He could've dodged easily.

However, he allowed the blade to cut his back, wincing as he felt steel slice into his flesh. However, it only managed to make a wound just barely considered not to be lethal. He chuckled a little. "Congratulations. You managed to coordinate with each other in order to land a good blow on me." He said, allowing himself to sheathe his sword. "This session is over!"

Aoi licked the blood off her blade before sheathing it, an act that would normally disgust others if her family was not already used to it. "I kinda think that was pure luck Tou-san."

"Nonsense...." Taiki turned his head towards her just as he was finished. "Would you really doubt your own father?"

"Yes." Aoi said simply.

"Good!" Taiki squinted his eyes and smiled. "It helps to keep you on your guard." Turning slightly, he allowed himself to walk off, giving a farewell wave behind him as he stepped inside of the house. "You're dismissed, do whatever you wanna do!"

"I never did understand Tou-san at all." Aoi murmured.

"Well...." Kyuui commented hesitatingly, sheathing her own blade and looking towards the spot where Taiki had left. "He ''did' say we did good..." The truth was, she never could understand her father's mind, either. Despite his cheerful mood, he had always seemed to hide behind something.... but rarely anyone knew what.

"No use trying to figure him out." Ahatake said, jumping down from the roof. He had watched the sparring match and heard the girls talking. "Only his mother understands him, and sometimes, I doubt even she fully knows what he's about."

It wasn't a surprise that Kyuui jumped at the sudden sound of her grandfather's voice. "Ojii-san...!" She managed to say, immediately taking a step back from him. "H...how come?" She felt, however, it was a rather stupid question to ask: if Taiki's own father didn't know how his own son thought, how would he ever answer that?

"I don't know." Ahatake sighed. "He's just...different."

Of course.

Taiki had always been different... Kyuui had remembered saying how he hated to be different... how everyone continued to comment on him being the "black sheep". Why was that? She had never saw the difference between Taiki and the rest of the family... he had a wife, and two children who loved him very much... why was this rift between them still here?

Ahatake placed a hand to his head. "Yareyare... Anyway, I'm going to have to talk to Shunsui-san and Ukitake-san. See what the current plans are." He turned on the spot, vanishing with a burst of flames.

Aoi frowned. "Maybe we should get Tou-san a therapist."

"....like who?" To be honest, Kyuui was ready to argue that Taiki didn't need such a thing. After all, he wasn't insane, depressed, or whatever. He kept up a rather teasing and optimistic personality, maybe just to keep the rest of the family moralized.

"Hey, I came up with the therapist idea, you come up with what therapist we send him to."

"....that's enough. Tou-san doesn't need a therapist." Kyuui felt a bit snappish at her attitude, folding her arms across her chest. "Even if, for whatever reason, we get him one, what do you think he's going to talk about? Ojii-san. Then he'll be brought in, and considering the way they've been acting.... it's not going to be nice."

"Ok ok ok!" Aoi said, eager to distract Kyuui from this conversation, tackling her to the ground and placing her lips to Kyuui's.

"...!!!!"

On the inside of the house, Ahatake, Shunsui, Taiki, Ukitake, and Rukia were sitting in the family room, discussing what to do about the Hiraishin problem. Ukitake currently had the floor.

"Here's the situation...." Ukitake was explaining in a clear voice, so that everyone would understand. "Yuurei forces have both Senko and Yokoshima penned in the city. But that won't last forever... sooner or later, they're going to break the lines and escape from the city. In the primary case, we have to rely on both their reports and our clues in order to find them again."

"As long as we have the crystallized spiritual energy, finding them should be rather simple." Ahatake said, holding up the crystal in question.

"But the question is, when we find them, how are we going to stop them?" Ukitake folded his arms within his sleeves. "From what we now know, Yokoshima, as powerful as she is, doesn't seem to possess any special abilities other than her Shikai and Bankai. Senko, on the other hand, seems to have a bit more than that, considering the mind-reading ability that she possesses. Then.... there's this "Gomei" person. Her Kido barrier was enough to stop Ahatake's energy attack without a scatch on it. They're going to prove to be more difficult in order to figure out."

Ahatake frowned deeply. He did not need reminding that his attack has failed to hit it's mark. "Beating them will definitely be a problem..." He muttered. "She mentioned other "lives". I am sure that the closer we get to beating them, the more of these "lives" she will bring out."

That's when Shunsui spoke up. "We can only assume that Gomei's one of those lives, but that's only on presumption. We need to pull more out of hiding, at least one more, if we want to prove that there are more out there. Even then, there's the problem of figuring out how many will we have to face down...."

"I'm inclined to believe that Gomei is one of the "lives"." Rukia said, speaking for the first time. "Senko only mentioned the "lives" after bringing out Gomei."

"Belief alone isn't going to make it true..." Shunsui reminded her, looking towards her with half-lidded eyes. "I'm inclined to think the same thing, but I don't like walking right into a trap that's going to be a pain in the ass to get out of."

"True." Rukia placed a finger to her chin in thought.

"There was also that last thing they said. 'Don't look for us, we'll find you next time'." Ahatake recited. "It's as if they want to fight us."

"Why not?" Taiki had chosen this time to speak up, shrugging his shoulders. "Besides the King, we're probably the greatest threat to 'em. Of course they'd be focused on taking us out first, then concentrate on the weaker defenses second."

"True, but I find it unusual, since the only villain I've ever met who's gone looking for a fight is well...you." Ahatake replied.

"Gee, thanks, Tou-san." Taiki rolled his eyes, folding his arms across his chest as he sat. "Thanks for telling Kuchiki-chibi of my rap sheet. Too bad it's cleared..."

Rukia ignored Taiki's comment as Ahatake spoke. "Moving on, assuming she DOES bring in more fighter's, that isn't going to make this a walk in the park. Are we even going to be able to take them on without additional help?"

Ukitake raised both eyebrows. "What do you mean by additional help?" He asked calmly, referring to the identity of such.

"Additional fighters." Ahatake replied. "Shunsui and Taiki would have killed Aku if she hadn't retreated. but then the girl mentioned the "other lives". We don't know what powers they've got, and I'm actually thinking we may need help."

"Oh, c'mon, are you serious, Tou-san?" That made Taiki stood up, motioning towards the group entirely. "I mean, most of us here probably haven't even fought them on a full level. There's Shunsui....Ukitake.... me.... and maybe even you! I donno about Chibi-san, but I don't think she's went all this way without attempting to learn Bankai.... right?"

"I do know Bankai." Rukia said, confirming what Taiki said. "But I am still in the 10 year training period. My Bankai is not ready for battle just yet."

"Well, still! Aside from Rukia, I'm pretty sure that it's time to start showing them what we can really do and stop holding back." Taiki insisted.

"Have you learned Bankai Taiki?" Ahatake inquired.

That made Taiki pause a minute. He turned his head and half-lidded his eyes to stare at his father. Ukitake and Shunsui, slightly curious, focused their own eyes on him. However, the white-haired man treated the question as an unnecessary one, countering back: "....what a stupid question. Do I really need to answer that?" Normally, it would've been obvious what his answer would be, but his unknown nature kept it in solitude. He waited for his answer.

"Considering none of us know, yes you need to answer that."

"Real bullshit, Tou-san. If you didn't figure it out during the fight we had back there, then you never will." Taiki stated, squinting his eyes and smiling. "Or maybe you'll find out later on..."

"How would I notice it?" Ahatake asked. "I never pay attention to you if I can help it."

"And that's why you don't figure the things out about me that you need to..." Taiki stated casually, shrugging. "But, back to the point. We don't need additional help in defeating these guys. We've got enough as it is."

Ahatake sighed. "The thought of using Bankai isn't too pleasant for me. My sword doesn't exactly have the best personality, and if I'm forced to use Bankai, I'm gonna be in for a hell of a rant from her when it's over."

"Just deal with it. We have bigger problems."

"You wouldn't be saying that if you used this Zanpakutō." Ahatake replied, his hand on it's hilt. "But, if I was able to drown out your mother for over 100 years, drowning out Ryuūseiga for a few hours shouldn't be a problem."

"Tch... fine by us..." Taiki muttered, stepping back.

Ahatake slammed his fist down onto his son's head, frowning. "Wish your mother had taken you when she left."

This caused Ukitake and Shunsui to laugh a little at the boy as he held his head. "GAH.... I'M CALLING CHILD ABUSE!!!" He shouted, though it was clear that he was an adult.

"Moving on. Are we actually going to take Senmei up on the "don't come looking for me, I'll find you" crap she said before her departure?"

This caused Shunsui to sigh, raising a hand to place on his forehead. He was starting to lament the loss of his hat... the gesture was similar to that of his friend/opponent's when Shunsui assumed him to be the Segunda Etapa. "We have no choice. We're going to have to wait for them to come to us, if we want a chance to draw them out..."

"True. Makes things simple." Ahatake nodded. "Just wish they'd get here."

"Well, that's easy to do..." Taiki muttered, folding his arms across his chest and tilting his head to the side.

Aoi ran into the room, looking worried. "I don't mean to interrupt, but we've got visitors from hell."

"What?!?" Ahatake asked, jumping up.

"It's not what you're thinking." Aoi replied. "Come outside and see."

Both Shunsui and Ukitake now held slightly surprised looks on their faces. "Uh..." Ukitake started, slightly hesitant. "Should we come, too?" This might've been something that only one, or at least the family would need to attend to.

"It's probably something you guys should see too." Aoi said, running back out.

"Well, I guess we should go see what's out there. Can't be any worse than Jurassic Park." Ahatake said, pretty sure Rukia, Ukitake and Shunsui would not get what he said anyway.

The three Shinigami, having no concern with it, decided to follow him either way, with Taiki in tow.

Ahatake opened the door to the house to see thousand of creatures in the sky, flying straight towards the Kurosaki Mansion. "What the...?!" Ahatake gasped as he took in this sight.

It was no surprise that both of the senior Captains were also stunned upon seeing the creatures. However, they were unable to express their thoughts vocally, only looking on with surprise and slight alarm. Taiki simply stared with a quirked on look, mouth slanting. "Now how d'you suppose that happens?" He questioned nonchalantly.

"Not a clue..." Ahatake muttered. "But I can tell you one thing. Those aren't Hollows."

As Shunsui stood, he looked on at the creatures carefully. "I don't think they're just going to pass by us." He stated, gripping the hilt of his tanto sword. Despite the others' lack of action, it was apparent that the creatures wanted nothing more than to attack. It was only natural for one to defend themselves in such a sitation. Ukitake followed suit, ready to draw at a moment at a moment's notice.

Ahatake sighed. "I'm pretty sure they're responsible for these..." He said, not drawing his sword, but donning his mask instead. "Everyone get ready. Not sure exactly how tough these things are." As the creatures neared them, gigantic blasts of spiritual energy began to rain down on them, coming from the creatures mouths. Ahatake raised his hand, launching a huge Cero at the creatures, wiping out a good fourth of their number.

"Bakuyakunami!"

Immediately, Ukitake extended both of his hands outwards, releasing a burst of his own spiritual energy at the blasts. As the reishi was disrupted in the air above them, and the bursts came within range, they were immediately enveloped in firey explosions, each one having been near a "bomb" as they sped towards him. This protected them from the attacks.

"Masugyō." Upon uttering the spell, Shunsui looked at a group that was flying towards him as well. However, his was a more offensive one. All that were in his gaze immediately turned to stone and fell from the sky.

"Sōren Sōkatsui!" Rukia called out the spell's name, and release a large blast of blue energy that tore through the creatures, casuing entrails to fall as many were disintegrated. The remaining enemies turned and sped towards Taiki, the only one who had not made a move.

His hand was already extended.

"Idomu Īwatasu." Upon aiming at the enemies, he unleashed a blast of reiatsu, what had been released in the previous attacks as well at his own, to annihilate the remaining enemies and incinerate them within the purple fire. A fox-like grin was on his face. "That was far too easy for my comfort..." He commented. "Who do they think they are?"

Ahatake placed a hand to his face, and his mask shattered. "I think it's a sign. Sending in these yōkai is just their way of saying "We're on our way". They're mocking us."

"....Yōkai?" That was a word that hadn't been used in a long time. Shunsui, the man who had spoken, raised an eyebrow. "I don't think I've ever heard that term before." He said, voicing his thoughts. "What exactly are they?"

"Yōkai are creatures who reside in hell." Ahatake explained. "From my knowledge, they were formerly Hollows, but were experimented on until they changed drastically and became their own species. I recently discovered that my mother was half-demon, which makes myself and my children and grandchildren part demon as well."

"Ah...." Shunsui nodded, closing his eyes. "Do you know anything about their exact abilities?"

"Demon's vary in appearance and abilities. The more humanoid a demon is, the higher up in the rankings they are, and the more powerful abilities they have." Ahatake clicked his finger's and a burst of flame appeared. "For example, my family is the descendant of a high leveled flame yōkai, and as such we can generally access many flame-like abilities, though Taiki, Midoriko, Aoi and Kyuui have yet to show such ability, they do possesses it. The demons we just destroyed were low leveled, and possessed generic demonic abilities. Some high level demons can even have Zanpakutō, but in place of a Bankai, they have a Demonic Release, which is similar to a Ressurección."

"You seem to know a lot about them...." Ukitake commented, a bit wary of the knowledge that Ahatake had just given to them.

"I've recently been to hell." Ahatake said. "I took that chance to look up as much on demons as a I possibly could."

"Oh, really? How's it been down there--"

Had not Ukitake sensed presences coming again, he would've decided to join in just to ease the situation. However, as it was, he abruptly turned around, but not drawing his sword just yet. He knew they were coming.... but he didn't feel a need to tell the rest of the group. They probably had good senses, after all...

There was a loud, echoing clapping noise, and they all looked up to see, the first time for Kyuui, Aoi and Megami, Senmei and Aku floating above them, a smug grin on the young girl's face. "I must congratulate you on your splendid defeat of my yōkai."

Everyone looked up.

For the ones that had never seen them before, there were varying expressions of surprise. Kyuui's own expression was one of surprise as she stared upon the three hovering above them, their spiritual pressure proving to be quite opposing. "They're the criminals...?" She muttered, mostly to herself. "Their spiritual energy is so... overwhelming..." Megami simply looked on, wary and worried in a calm manner.

Puppet on a string
Ahatake frowned. "I knew those yōkai were a sign. Seems like you're finally back."

Senmei looked down on them all, ceasing her clapping. "Consider those yōkai your warm-up. For the task ahead."

Of course, Taiki had to have the mouth on him. "You gonna fight us again?" He said mockingly. "I don't think even you're capable of taking all of us on."

Senmei chuckled, and began to descend. "Would you like me to prove you wrong little boy?"

Taiki kept that smile on his face, despite Kyuui's slightly shocked stare in his direction. "Only if you would allow me to." He answered, putting his hand on his hilt in order to emphasize. Indeed, he was ready to take on Senmei again... and had a bit of an idea on how to fight her, thanks to a bit of observation from the last fight. However, he wasn't sure about the rest of the family members. Aku was looking at him with really no expression, whatever interest that she had displayed lost.

"I'm going to assume you'd like me to let you handle this one, Taiki?" Ahatake asked, suppressing a grin just barely.

"It'd be appreciated, Tou-san."

With that, Taiki immediately unsheathed his blade, and Aku, clearly amused, decided to step aside this time and let the white-haired man fight her partner. "Zainin!" Immediately, his blade shifted to the two that was his Shikai, and he held them defensively for a moment, before he re-appeared in front of her, swinging a blade in a diagonal strike upon her head.

She merely jumped back however, smiling as the sword hit the ground instead of her. "Let's see how long you can fight before you make me have to draw my sword." She said. "It'll be like a game."

Taiki grinned back. "I'm willing to play, then...." He replied, deciding to charge her once again. However, this time, he vanished once he was close to her, re-appearing behind her. "Soudou!" He shouted, in an effort to hide the true nature of the technique. He swung again, this time at her back.

Once again, she dodged, vanishing with Shunpo and reappearing behind Taiki, aiming a hard kick at his neck, much like the one that had knocked out Rukia.

"Kūkūhei."

However, Taiki, instead of simply dodging, summoned up a barrier in order to block the kick, the fortification nearly shattering the bones inside. However, he quickly took it down, unleashing a backhand swing at Senmei in order to catch her off-guard. His eyes were analyzing her carefully.

The barrier however, did not do the job it had been expected to, Senmei's leg remaining unharmed, and she ducked his swing, jumping back in a dancing fashion. She smiled.

She was good.

As she danced back, Taiki continued to charge forward, blades at the ready once more. However, this time, as he swung down, he stabbed the blade into the ground. "Machibuse." Underneath her, the ground promptly exploded, hot magma rising up to the surface in a geyser-like fashion.

Senmei was wide-eyed the the technique vanishing again in a blast of Shunpo, but the magma managed to melt part of her arm. While it wasn't missing, bone was visible. "Shit!" She thought, gripping her arm. "What a nasty technique." She vanished once again, reappearing behind Taiki. "What if... you didn't move? Number One: Nadegiri." She swung her sword down in one swift, precise cut.

It seemed hopeless.

CLANG!

But it wasn't.

Defying the command of fate itself, Taiki's blade had intercepted the attack. His grin grew wider. "Thanks for allowing me to test you out..." He stated calmly. "Now I know who you really are..." With a simple stroke, he forced Senko back, sparks flying between their blades. He had doubts before... but Shunsui's explanation of her death, the oddity in her spiritual pressure, and the fact that his attack countered her illusion quite easily made it all too clear.

Pure shock washed over Senmei's face. "How?!?" She hissed, skidding along the ground and standing up. She shifted through his mind. "How did you find out bōya?"

"Really want me to explain...?" Taiki stated casually, raising a blade to point off to the side a little. "In the battles you were in with us, I couldn't help but notice an oddity in your spiritual energy. Every time you unleashed an attack, it was like your signature was changing, even when those attacks were finished. Just now, when we clashed swords, I also felt a bit of someone else's spiritual energy within you. Then... it became all too clear. No matter what I read from you, all I sensed was a Shikai active. Kyoraku-taichou was right. The real Senko died in that Hollow attack."

His eyes met hers.

"What I'm speaking to is nothing more than a puppet on the string. Right.... Hiraishin?"

Shot down
This caused both Shunsui and Ukitake's eyes to widen in surprise at the boy's intellect.

Senmei's face, which had nothing but shock written over it only moments before, had quickly regained her normal smirk. "So you figured it out." She said, swinging her blade over her shoulder. "I can see why Aku has taken an interest in you. Yes, I am Hiraishin, and this body itself is the equivalent of a puppet that I send to do my bidding."

Rukia and Ahatake both had similar expressions of shock on their face. "Despite the boy's attitude, it seems he can be dependable." Rukia thought.

"I'm surprised, Hiraishin-san..." Taiki commented. "Defiling your own sister's corpse to do your dirty work? You have quite a villainous mind...not that I blame ya..." He lowered his blade. "In fact, I'm a bit honored to be talking to you, even if it's not face-to-face. But, rest assured, you'll have that luxury when we find you."

"I had my reasons for turning this corpse into one of my "lives"." Senmei replied. "And you will never find me." She placed her hand onto the ground, and a pentagram formed. From it, a body began to rise.

Shunsui, Megami, and Ukitake seemed to look on with wariness at the sight of the summoning, and Kyuui began to look a bit nervous. Taiki, however, raised a blade to his defense in order to prepare himself. If anything, he'd have to be the "point man" in this. He had already climbed so far ahead, he might as well take a few more bounds. Aku's smile faded as she looked on, having a good feeling in what was coming out.

The body that emerged was that of a handsome young man with dark black hair, and kenseikan on the left side of his head. He was dressed in Shinigami roobes and was wearing a large red scarf. This was another body that would be well known to Rukia, Ukitake and Shunsui.

Rukia herself was wide-eyed. "T-that's-!"

"Koga Kuchiki...." Ukitake finished, staring in awe at the man. It was another body... but... how could one have gotten his hands on such an individual? It was obvious that this Hiraishin had did his research on the Gotei 13's history. Shunsui himself remained silent, staring solemnly. Even Taiki frowned a little upon seeing the body.

Senmei smirked. "If you want your friends to help you, now is the time."

"Whether I want them or not to help me doesn't matter..." Taiki reminded her, keeping a steady gaze on Koga. "We're all after you..."

"If this is going to be a full out battle, I'd rather move this away from the house." Ahatake said. "I did enough rebuilding 100 years ago, I'm not in the mood for more."

"Yes... I'm sure you at least have the courtesy to do that?" Taiki added.

"No problem." Senmei said. "It doesn't matter to me where we spill your blood."