Beyond the Silence

"You're mistaken..."

"The force that struck down that mountain did not come from your blade."

"It came..."

"...from mine."

"Prepare yourself... Aizen."

''Explosions rocked the ground of where a false stand-in for stood. It was there that the final battle that would decide the end of the Winter War took place. Soul Society's trump card,, and the infamous traitor,. Both stood on a precipice far beyond the limits of and. One drew his strength from a forced evolution granted to him by the — a technological marvel that was the result of centuries of planning. The other obtained his power from a heightened forged relationship between master and sword. In the process, both were on a level that simply could not be understood except by those that had also reached this stage. And in doing so, a titanic battle commenced between these two godly powerhouses. But it took little for the difference between these two to be recognized...''

"This is... impossible."

Aizen, clad in his monstrous transformation, stood in awe of the immense force overtaking Ichigo's body as he initiated what he designated as the Final Getsuga Tenshō.

"Even now... I cannot... Feel his reiatsu."

"Could he... be standing... in a dimension beyond... even me?!"

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!! A MERE HUMAN...?! SURPASSING ME...?!"

''But in the same instant such great power manifested, so too was the conclusion of the battle drawn. Silence seized hold of the battleground as darkness ascended high into the space as Ichigo spoke simply. "Mugetsu." And as its name suggested, the sky itself was inked in a deep black as horizon and were blurred into nothingness. The darkness split Aizen straight through, echoing out the monster's protests in his final moments...''

-- 18 Months Later --

The racketing of a wooden door sliding revealed the presence of a tall woman with long raven hair and a soft complexion; her name is Saori Sumeragi, one of five masters of the Kawahiru Dojang, and at her arm, she carried multiple paper bags containing various materials and whatnot. As she stepped inside the dōjō-esque room, sliding off her sandals in the process, she had stepped into another room where a man with silver hair draped over his shoulders was lazily resting on his side, munching on a cracker with a cup of sake at his side. Turning his head over to acknowledge Saori's presence, he merely nodded with a cracker still in his mouth. "You're back quick, I thought you were heading to district sixty-eight today for some kachizō beets." he answered, sipping from his sake cup.

Saori offered a brief smile as she took her seat at one of the cushions near the center table. "It would seem that I was a bit short. The price of beets has gone up recently, it would seem as though they are in high demand lately in the Seireitei." she responded, placing the bags down to slowly begin removing materials from them.

"Eh? Those bunch of revenue tax robbers..." the silver-haired man grunted as he picked himself up to peer over at her. "As if they don't already get all the good stuff. Bastards. How much did they push them up to?" he asked while taking his cup in hand and taking yet another sip from it.

Turning her head back toward him, albeit while her attention was still on emptying her shopping bags, her expression changed a bit as if she knew what reaction to expect from him. "About 10 kan a pound." she would answer.

Sake spewed from his mouth as some of the alcohol leaked from his nose in the process, to comedic effect, as his face cringed in deep annoyance. "Oi! 10 kan a pound?! Do these bastards think I'm living like Mochi-san?!"

His response definitely earned a laugh from Saori, who merely covered the edge of her lips with the back of her palm. "Come now, Seireitou-san. You don't even like beets, so why are you complaining?" she responded, trying to quell his sudden outburst. "Besides, I can make due with what I bought today to make some stew tonight."

"No way around it then. Make sure to prepare some IOU's in that bastard Raian's name next time you head to the market. I'm sure he has money to spare." Seireitou responded, leaning his cheek against his fist while sipping from his sake cup with a tint of vexation ever present on his face.

In the wake of his statement, however, a carrot was thrown right at his head as he growled briefly at his attacker. Saori merely chuckled. "Don't you recall the last time you tried that? I believe they had to completely remodel the seventy-first district and relocate all of its citizens."

"Tch..." he merely turned away like a child reprimanded by his parent, returning to his sake cup to sip upon it. "Speaking of that bastard, last I recall, he and the others among the Royal Guard were talking about Sōsuke Aizen or whatever... Someone strong enough that it made even the old man's bodyguards wet themselves... He sounds like an interesting person, this Aizen."

Her eyes widened briefly as he looked at him in a curious expression. "Oh, I almost forgot. I heard a bit of news I thought you would like to know regarding that."

"Huh?" he muttered, almost appearing to have some semblance of curiosity in what she had to say.

"It would seem that Sōsuke Aizen was defeated." Saori explained with a serious demeanor.

Once more did sake spew from Seireitou's mouth in surprise. "Eh?! And you thought to tell me now?!" he spoke in a roar as he immediately regained composure and looked off to the side.

"I had actually heard about it among the Rukongai souls in the sixty-eighth district. It was about two years ago." she continued, as Seireitou narrowed his eyes.

"...And news of that shit just got to us now?" Standing up abruptly, he growled at the top of his lungs. "I'm going to murder that cigarette-obsessed bastard! All these years living in the lap of luxury, and he doesn't so much as send a postcard?!" Seireitou huffed.

Saori, a woman of elegant nature, merely watched his outburst with a calm expression. "It wasn't Raian-san. Nor the Royal Guard. In fact, their presence was essentially unneeded from the sound of it."

Seireitou turned to face the woman with a peculiar look on his face. "One of those tax robbers managed to bring down Aizen?

She shook her head. "It's unknown who did the deed, or if it was a team effort, but it is strongest suggested that there is a warrior among their ranks serving as a trump card for them."

The silver-haired man turned away from Saori and took a couple steps toward the window.

"...Let's go pay them a visit then. I want to meet this so-called trump card of theirs." he decided upon, as Saori slowly nodded in agreement.

"Very well."

END