The War of Four: The Hunter and the Hunted

The Sting Operation! Time lapse from the Apocalypse
"Nnnnngh...mmmm...wh-what?" Hyōryū moaned aloud as she wearily opened her eyes as light began flooding the room from the window across her bed. It had been nearly three weeks since the earth shattering and quite surprising moment that caused her body and mind to go into shock as the recorded "Plinian Eruption" shocked the spiritual and living worlds to its very core. Y ūrei Ok ōku's war with the fanatical Red Sun Cult, the Ahijados, had all but a big sham to create the necessary blood needed for the Eruption that occured. However, as a chance of fate, one lone Lieutenant of the Soul Reapers gathered there had managed to dissuade the Hankami from their plans and officially gave them the chance to set things right. After the confirmed defeat of the accounted Hankami responsible for the Eruption, the world receded to its former state. But its scars were not forgotten upon the populace as a whole...

Regardless, Hyōryū had done the best of the V-14's femme half of the group in taking it in stride. After drinking herself to sleep for a week, she eventually adapted and had only lingering moments when she'd remember her body plastered to a organic nightmarish building that had been the result of the Eruption's temporary affects. Still, after it all went down, she and Anton had a serious victory "celebration" back at her apartment.

Speaking of which... Hyōryū looked around to spot her Russian nationality boyfriend, expecting him to be lying next to her under the covers or somewhere nearby.

He had disappeared from the bed.

But the sound of running water could be heard within her bathroom. Sometime or other, he had gotten out of bed in order to get himself prepared for the day. It was natural for him, being an early bird and always sleeping for the minimum limit, even after last night's activities. He just didn't know the meaning of the word "exhaustion".

"Antooooon!" Hyōryū moaned out to him, rolling off the bed with a thump, growling slightly before getting up and walking bare skinned, disregarding the fact her bed hair laid flowed with slight frizzed hairs here and there. Also the fact she was in the nude did not bother her in the least, as she-or rather they-have gotten accustomed to their fully exposed anatomies.

Opening the cracked door to the shower, she walked in with a frizzed blank look as she walked right into the shower, grabbing a hold of him with her arms from behind, a pouty look accompanied her face as she rested her cheek against his back, "You didn't bother to say good morning, meanie..."

"Oh, damn it, I knew she would do that."

Anton's eyes widened when he felt the woman suddenly take ahold on him, involuntarily leaning forward a little. However, his expression immediately turned to a frown and a slightly exasperated look. "I was going to do that when you woke up, you know..." He drawled, cocking a slight eyebrow. "...and when I got properly dressed." He rolled his eyes. "Don't act so melodramatic, it's so unlike you."

"Not...when I get woken up...in the morning," Hyōryū countered, groaning afterwards before leaning up and planting a kiss on the back of his neck, whispering to him, "you hurry up. I want to have some time with you before Shad ō wakes up and decides to interrupt. Again!"

SLAP!

Hyōryū lightly slapped Anton's hind quarters as she left the shower, grabbing one of the towels hanging on the rack, wrapping her body over her shoulders so her own body wouldn't be too obscured. As she shasayed her hips and legs out of the room, she turned her head briefly, her wet locks waving almost majestically across the bright lit air, biting her lip as she winked at him before disappearing out of the bathroom to get dressed herself.

"Pffft...."

Anton shook his head sagely at her antics. It was always direct and blunt when it came to the likes of her. By now, he had gotten used to how she acted when it came to him and her. It was a good thing he was raised to be a light-hearted and easy-going man, otherwise he would've never coped with it. He also had to roll his eyes again at the mention of "spending some time with him". If he knew she was going to tell him that, why did he even bother to get in the shower?

But as he continued to focus on the shower, his ears picked up a light knocking from the door leading into the woman's room. Was that Shadō? Or had Angelika and Oliver come early?

A faint clicking sound could be heard even over the drops of water in Anton's shower, as Hyōryū, clad in only a t-shirt and shorts, with her hair laid over her shoulders faintly wet as she moved towards the knocking on the door, aiming it at the object of annoyance.

"Oliver, you even think of interrupting his shower, I'll shoot your balls off where you stand. Capiche?" Hyōryū said briskly and to the point as she defended her boyfriend like a panther her young. Surprising side of herself in her own mind that she had become incredibly more protective of those she cared about since...the Eruption. Now, with life being as brief as Hyōryū as ever seeing it, her ideas and instincts changed ever so slightly in her character. Her antics, however, have not, unforunately for the rest of V-14.

"Do you seriously think Oliver would bother to knock?"

Interestingly enough, it wasn't the American-accented blonde that spoke, but rather the lax, German accent that only belonged to Angelika. "As soon as you are dressed, meet us downstairs. We have some things to discuss." With that being said, footsteps could be heard going back downstairs, effectively ending any counter Hyōryū would've had to her.

"He has, believe it or not," Hyōryū unapologetically retracted her gun and "holstered" it onto a open part of her shorts, knocking on the door connecting the bathroom, "hurry up, lover boy! You heard the boss."

"Yes, dear..."

With that sarcastic statement, Anton pushed the door open and stepped out. He was clad in his own common attire; a blue T-shirt with brown pants and black tennishoes. He had his hands shoved within his pockets, his head tilted slightly to the side. "Did she say what she wanted?" He questioned, cocking a slight eyebrow and frowning.

Wrapping a arm around his waist, she playfully nuzzled his arm as she walked with him down the hall and the stairs, halfheartedly shrugging, "Don't know...she said we have stuff to talk about. I think it might have something to do with what happened several weeks ago. We all kinda...didn't really resolve to change anything after it was over, so maybe she's got a game plan."

"Right..."

Anton spoke nothing further of it, allowing himself to walk with Hyōryū with his arm wrapped around her shoulders. He was pretty sure Oliver was going to tease him for what had developed between him and the woman. But, at this particular moment in time, he could not bring himself to care. The blonde would just have to cope with whatever attitude he had towards it.

As for Angelika, though...

When they had reached the downstairs level, Anton could immediately see the cross-legged-sitting figure of Angelika in one of the chairs. Oliver was messing around with a PSP he had brought with him, eyes concentrated on whatever game he was playing.

Hyōryū spotted Oliver, briefly twitching at the sight of him before saying, "Playstations are shit," before turning her smirk towards Angelika, "what's up boss?"

"I know." Oliver grumbled, his teeth gritted slightly as he turned the PSP this way and that. "I asked for an XBox, but the sons of bitches gave me this instead and said I couldn't get a refund... or return it for that matter! The only thing that kept me from smashing their faces in was the fact that they gave me this better-than-average racing game."

Anton put his free hand into his pocket, looking with a slightly interested eye towards Oliver. "What's it called?"

"Need for Spe--"

That was when Oliver looked up to look at Anton - and stopped at the sight of him and Hyōryū holding each other. His look changed from concentrating to completely shocked, his mouth formed into a small "o" shape.

A slightly amused smile crossed Angelika's face as she held up a cup of tea. "Looks like you lose the bet, Holmes." She said, not hiding her smugness. "Blink a few times, pinch yourself, and make sure to leave the money at my desk in an hour."

"Wait a minute, you?!" Oliver's shock was becoming more and more apparent. He pointed a finger at Hyōryū and then at Anton, continuing to speak. "With Laz-E-Boy over here?! You've got to be kidding!!"

Hyōryū smirked, leaning more into Anton's shoulder with her face as she replied, "This lazy boy over here is more a man than you ever can or will be, Olly."

"What's all the commotion about?" Shadō Kariudo asked as his form appeared out of the shadows near Oliver, his hair already hung against his cloaked and armored form, as he crossed his arms over his large chest, his tall intimidating form radiated uncertainty and...lathargy.

By now, Oliver was used to him popping up out of nowhere as he did. However, he continued to direct his speech towards the two, albeit having to ignore Anton's amused smirk. "I was expecting something with Sadass, of all people!" He scowled, throwing himself back into his seat and lowering his PSP. "Damn it... there goes a good part of my paycheck."

"Ah! There you are, Shadō...." Angelika's own smile faded away as she looked at the dark man. "Something wrong?" She could easily sense the uncertainty he was emanating from his person.

"Its nothing to worry about," Shadō deflected with a soft smile on his pale features, "just...still trying to get my meditations and sleep since that day happened. I'm still adjusting to it, but I'm more interested on what you wanted to discuss with us?"

Hyōryū twitched, ignoring the compulsion to shoot Oliver's balls with the gun halfway tucked into her shorts, but realized she still was in a comfortable position with Anton. Instead, she directed her terse tone to Angelika, "So...what's this job you want us to do? I mean...that's why you didn't knock and barge into my house again, right?"

"There's no job today..." Angelika closed her visible eye and lifted her head to lie back on her own seat. "I simply wanted to address a few things. One of them would be an update concerning our ranks. After doing some calls, I've managed to find people interested in joining our little organization. In a few days, we'll be acquainted with them. I've already formed their own four-man team as tradition to the V-14's workings, and they're in progress of finding their own HQ to set up in."

She opened her eyes, passing a slight glare towards the ones she knew had a habit of causing trouble. "So, once we meet them, don't cause any unnecessary trouble. That means you too, Holmes and Fusoku."

"Yes, ma'am..." Oliver drawled sarcastically, rolling his eyes and returning his eyes to his PSP game.

"No promises, boss," Hyōryū said with a pouty expression, "if they deserve it, I will certainly kick their balls."

"A new team? You found members in just three weeks?" Shadō inquired with a raise of his brow, as if he knew something about Angelika's procuring of another team to expand V-14's roster.

"I have my resources." Angelika answered simply, taking a sip of her tea. "Now, for the second concern..." She paused for a moment, her eyebrows furrowing. "This has yet to be confirmed, but there seems to be increased activity within the Rukongai made by Soul Society. I can only assume the potential attraction was courtesy of what happened with our last contract prior to the Eruption. If anything, I'd be surprised that they would be so quick as to act."

"That Captain Takuji is sure a piss-ant," Hyōryū said nonchalantly, waving her free arm for emphasis, "we mess up one job of his in one day when he had all week to take them out. Should've had a better info network if all he needed was the details of the stupid craps that made a f***tastic gun!"

Shadō sweatdropped, "We've been over this and yet you're still mourning over a gun? What exactly would you shoot with something of that scale?"

"Anything!" She shouted with glee, causing him to drop his head with dread, "why do you ask?"

Oliver allowed a small sneer to cross his face. "The more I hear her talk, the more sorry I feel for you, Ruso. Enjoy being an indiscriminate target whenever it's that time of the month. Can't say you didn't earn it!" His grin grew even wider when Anton shot him a dirty look and a scowl.

"I've already notified our new team of this." Angelika continued on. "That way, we can all be on the alert and effectively notify each other whenever something new comes up. However, there's no need to be alarmed. We just maintain a low profile and stay sharp."

C-CLICK, WHIRRRRRR!

Hyōryū swiftly pulled her gun out of her pants, cocking back the safety to its lowest setting and aimed it at Oliver's hind quarters, the priming of the weapon powering up could be heard in the room, "Keep talking, bub, and you'll have to buy a vowel at the end of this piece, saavy?"

Shadō sighed, before asking Angelika, "Should we take on individual jobs until the 10th Division's troops clear out, or should we still continue buisness, but with less...explosions?"

The moment that Hyōryū whipped out her pistol, Oliver had done the same.

Now, both of their barrels were pointed at each other, with Oliver still sporting the haughty smirk. "You wanna know what they say for people who automatically pull out their pistols as a retort to an insult?" He drawled, raising his one free hand up in a gesture of peace. "It means that they're admitting defeat and have to resort to violence. But let's not get carried away here. After all, if those samurai shitheads happen to come by and one of us has a limb blown off courtesy of friendly fire... then there's a higher chance of all of us being screwed."

"Business is still necessary..." Angelika closed her eye again, taking another sip of tea. "But we'll take up less missions that involve destruction. Of course, we really didn't have to blow up that cannon in the first place, and that option would've stayed had it not been for the intervention of that Arrancar." She was purposely turning a blind eye towards the two who had guns pointed at one another. As far as she was concerned, it was just another day.

"I can say the same for people who don't know how to shut up," Hyōryū said before retracing her own weapon with a grim nod of understanding, "but yeah, I'll holster it. For now..."

"Its unfortunate that we didn't get him identified with who he was working for," Shadō stroked his chin, while propping his elbow up as he spoke aloud in thought, "I'm concerned...that he was not working for the Ahijados but was leaning towards their way in the war. Or if it wasn't really for the Ahijados, then who would he bring it to? This all could be a elaborate front for everyone to believe the cultists were making it for the Ahijados rather than fantatics being used by a benefactor. I should investigate into this..."

"Whatever you feel is necessary...." Angelika said calmly. "But considering he was interested in the weapon instead of us... I don't think it would be too important to delve on it."

"Hopefully, we won't have to deal with him again... at the very least, as an enemy." Anton piped in, scratching his nose with his free hand.

"I don't think I would want him as an ally," Shadō said with a slight shudder, as his eyes closed, "feeling that spirit energy I absorbed...it was filled with the most detached apathy and malice I ever felt from a spiritual being. We should keep on our toes when dealing with an Arrancar like that again, to have singlehandedly fought all of us...I'd hate to see him fully release his power like Kenja Kodai had."

Suddenly, interrupting their musings was the immediate ringtone of Angelika's phone. Enrico was read as the caller of the phone, oddly, considering buisness hadn't been so hot lately with the 10th Division cracking down on all sides of the Rukon Districts.

Coolly, Angelika pulled the phone from her coat pocket, flipped it on, and pressed the talk button, placing it to her ear. "Enrico? Let me guess. The 10th Division's being a bit harsh on you, as well?" She questioned immediately, getting right to the point of things.

"Angelika! Oh thank spirit king you picked up! You have to get out of there, right NOW! I don't know how, but I just got word of 10th Division troops setting up a perimeter around your safehouse right now, and they're not doing a regular sweep. They're ready to take you out cause they're packing heat as well as their shiny blades!"

Shadō suddenly looked a little alert as he just now began picking up the presences around them, sniffing the air for their "scent". "We've got trouble," Shadō said as he directed his gaze to all of the team members, as he grabbed his hat off the coat rack as well as melding into the shadows, readying his gear out of sight.

That was enough to render Angelika on the alert.

She quickly downed her cup of tea before setting it on the table, quickly setting up and speaking to Enrico in a business-like and sharp tone. "How many of them are there, exactly? Can you estimate?" She asked, her eyes narrowing as she walked over to one of the nearby cabinets. It wasn't surprising to know that 10th Division members would find them with the crackdown. However, it was surprising that they had done it so quickly. Surely, they wouldn't have simply located the right house on their own in so little time...

Did Yashin inform them somehow?

"I don't know, but from the sound of all the Hell Butterfly messages, I'd reckon nearly half of the 10th Division. But there's something off about the distances they keep spouting...," Enrico spoke over the comm, as he himself began examining the notes he deciphered from the communique from the 10th Division.

Hyōryū growled, suddenly realizing what was up and began hurrying back to her room, slamming the door as she began outfitting herself with all the necessary weaponry she could. She smiled almost predatorially at the thought of using that against the 10th Division....

"Oh, fuck..."

Oliver, prompted by Angelika's call, took to sneaking a look out the window... and was nearly floored by what he saw. His eyes widened, and he immediately took a step back from the venation blinds. He turned towards the group in entirety, complete shock and surprise on his face. "Their captain must've been on his fucking period or something. I'm seeing a whole damn battalion right outside!!" He exclaimed.

Anton immediately ran over to his side, placing his hand on the wall beside the window and closing his eyes. "What the hell did we do to piss them off to the extent that they'd have half their army centered at one location...?" He whispered audibly, confusion clear in his tone. "More importantly, wouldn't this be a waste of resources... just for the sake of five individuals?"

"It may be the threat we unintentionally caused when Anton-san used that technique to obliterate that neighbourhood and absorb the Kido they tried to ensare us with," Shadō said as he appeared from the shadows, fully equipped and his Zanpakuto visibly sheathed across his backside, hidden behind his bodily covering cloak.

"You'd think they'd forget about that once that f'ing Eruption plastered our bodies to our f'ing beds!" Hyōryū said as she walked out, carrying the case holding that weapon that left a psychological imprint on their minds whenever she used it, causing Shadō to sweatdrop at seeing it.

"Huh..."

Oliver frowned, tilting his head to the side and placing his hands into his pockets. "You know..." He muttered, lowering his head for a moment in thought. "Normally by now, they'd be yelling at us some big announcement that they have us surrounded and that we should surrender while we're still breathing." He raised his head once he finished his sentence, revealing a cocked eyebrow and a skeptical frown. "Wonder why they're not doing that?"

"So they're probably after me in particular..." Anton grumbled, letting out a heavy sigh and bumping his head lightly against the wall. "Chto za huy, I feel so wanted..."

"They're after all of us, Pinko!" Oliver said in annoyance, shifting his head to his partner in order to glare at him. "Don't try and flatter yourself here!"

"You got anything else for me, Enrico?" Angelika questioned, finally holding up what she was looking for. It was her HCA-50 pistol, kept safe and sound. "If you do, keep talking to me. I need to know everything possible."

"Waitaminute, señora," Enrico said as he heard some whispered chatters and suddenly the chatters almost all but stopped, as Enrico took a audible gulp, almost whispering, "Angelika...if you're going to leave...now's as good as time as any-"

"V-14!" A voice shouted, augmented by a Hell butterfly fluttering next to his head, his white Haori flowering over his overcoat with no arms sleeved in them. His arms crossed, his eyes narrowed and his mouth moved in a calm, yet threatening gesture, "we know you are in there! This is Captain Shindo Takuji of the 10th Division of the Gotei 13! Surrender yourselves peacefully, or we will come in with force. Resist, and we will kill you! You have 20 seconds to comply!"

The War Begins: The Line Between Good and Evil
Hyōryū's eyes widened with excitement, as she looked out the window Oliver was moments ago, and saw why the company of men were distanced so much. The Captain himself was standing out before the house, with Zanpakuto drawn, staring right at the house, "Oh shiiiit! The Captain himself is out there shouting at us to come with our hands up! Hehehe!" She rushed over like a girl on Christmas Morning, sliding to her knees as she began unbuckling the locks on her case before revealing a very large, artillery-grade Kido rifle with one name that earned its name from all foes and comrades alike. The Executor.

She unloaded it and began arming it with the essential attachments as well as the VERY large ammo magazine into it, causing Shadō to nervously raise a hand in protest.

"Please don't tell me you're going to shoot that thing, are you?" Shadō began to say, before earning a gleaming star-filled eye stare at him while priming the weapon, "you are aren't you?"

"Desyatʹ sekund do oruzhiya zagruntovatʹ," the weapon announced much to a girl squeal from Hyōryū, saying to Anton with a almost girly tone, "I translated my baby to speak Russian, that way, I can remember you every time I start and fire this loveable thing."

"For that particular weapon?" Anton turned his head to meet her eyes in surprise, before half-lidding them and putting on an amused, yet mirthful grin. "Dear, you flatter me far too much."

"EUGH, gag!" Oliver opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue in an expression of disgust and disdain, even as his hands reached and whipped out his trademark dual pistols from their holsters. "I thought love and romance was supposed to be kept out of warfare. Don't you know how fuckin' creepy that is? That's the first signs of a stalker, sister."

"We'll be taking the front door, Enrico..." Angelika said smoothly, already getting into position and taking cover behind the walls. "I'll call you back after we're done in the next several minutes." She raised her free hand in order to motion to the others. "We fire when he counts down to three. Make sure you're in your positions."

"Oruzhie Gruntovka," the Executor chimed in, causing Hyōryū to smile back gleefully, before playfully turning the priming weapon's barrel at Oliver, saying, "You obviously never been in bed with me to know a good piece when you see it." She began taking position at the end of the living room, activating her scope, "You obviously haven't seen Anton's sword either. This thing, isn't nearly as good as he his in bed."

Shadō groaned as he placed his hand over his face even as he stepped into the shadows, "Please...giving it a voice is going to make me want to run for cover even more..."

Tamenkyome! "Ten seconds, V-14!" Shindō spoke as his eyes flashed into its ocular Kidō state, allowing him to see the individual spiritual auras of each of the V-14 members. From what he sees, he already knew from intel. The one he saw activate that Kidō initiated that took apart an entire neighbourhood as well as a good portion of the plantlife there within the outskirts of the Northeastern Rukon District was the most bright one within his eyes. Another one that was "bright" in its own regards was the man holding the Zanpakuto and a menacing aura within himself. The other three were the respective members with respectable Spiritual auras of their own, but nothing to be concerned of.

However he delayed his count as he saw a resonance coming from what appeared to be a particular weapon being bore upon them. He could only wonder what scale of destruction it had, and began resuming count, "7 seconds!"

"Vybor tselevoyu dlya vypolneniya," the Executor spoke once more as she aimed her target, asking briefly to Angelika, "shoot to kill or to piss their pants? Or both?"

A smile came across Angelika's face, her eyes narrowing. "The Captain needs to know the consequences for crossing the V-14. Both will do." She spoke calmly, her tone expressing nothing more than tranquil malice. She shut the phone off, slipping it back into her coat pocket.

"Perfect," the tomboy weaponsmaster all but smiled as she took aim for the bulk of the force facing the house.

Shindō roared out again over his Hell butterfly augmented voice amplifier, "3 seconds!-"

KRACK-BOOM!

The safehouse on which they were in, crackled in air pressure from the sheer power behind the shot, only moving Hyōryū surprisingly as a orange bordered white center bolt flew from the end of the Executor, leaving out the hole of the worn, ramshackle excuse of a window towards its target, unintentionally taking the wall of the house with it.

As the bolt screamed with indescriable speed, Shindō's eyes could only widen as he saw a huge amount of condensed spiritual energy, ready to be released upon impact. Swiftly, he began to shout out, "Incoming!-"

BOOOOOOOOM!

As soon as the bolt hit squarely in front of a building the men were gathered in the alleys and in front of it, the concussive force was enough to shatter it to pieces, before a bright orange glow enveloped the whole area, roaring around as it exploded with enough force to take out half of the battalion that stood in front of them, horrifying Shindō as he saw his men die within a instant just yonder.

This...was the second time, Shindō gave pause as he examined the mushroom cloud in exhaust of the faded orange energy that left view of all those within bird's eye distance.

"Tselevaya vypolneny," the Executor announced, much to a hair windblown gleefully smiling Hyōryū, sighing in a sense somewhere close to ecstacy, "that was...awesome! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

That was when all Hell cut loose.

Anton vs Shindō: Vengeance Match
'BANG! BANG BANG!'

BLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAM!

Angelika and Oliver opened fire immediately, shooting with terrifying accuracy and precision. Every shot connected with at least one part of their targets' bodies. As they fired, they moved outward into the street through the hole that Hyōryū made. They would probably be the only three who needed to utilize cover and not jump into the fray directly.

"You all just signed your death warrants!!!" Oliver jeered, as he continued to unleash suppressing fire on their position. "NO one crosses the V-14 and lives!!!"

"Damn right!!!" Anton gloated.

WOOSH!

While Angelika and Oliver were attacking from a distance, Anton used the moment in order to jump into the fray directly, his Kiriken swords summoned in each hand. Unlike them, he could handle himself in the middle of a warzone and could get up close and personal with his enemies. It was only natural for him to fight head-on while his comrades flanked his outside.

"Give them my love, baby!" Hyōryū said as she moved to the other side of the house, now aiming at the other frantic and confused half of the batallion of Soul Reapers, squeezing the grenade launcher attachment. With several squeezes, a rain of enflamed metalic shrapnel ripped apart the buildings while igniting them, as well as slaughtering a good portion of the troops there who didn't take proper action.

Shindō on the other hand began clenching his jaw, and balling his fists while clenching his sword handle. "You...dare...," his voice grew loud, as he unintentionally let his Hell butterfly in range of his voice, his eyes suddenly picked up the moving form of Anton, watching him land and begin personally attacking his men, "to kill...my men?!"

VRRRRRRRRCRRRRACK!

Shindō's body radiated with a blue, electric aura as wrath and fury broke the dirt earth and air, his sword became awakened without voice command, as a sheen veil of blue electricity coated it, "You've signed your death warrant, V-14!!!"

WOOSH, CRACK-CLANG!

Shindō then moved towards Anton first, already determining him as the first threat. His lightning coated sword clashed against his Kiriken blades crackling and blazing violently, his Tamenkyome eyes glared with killing intent as his spiritual pressure coated his body, "You're first...Anton Semenov!"

It was enough to send a chill down Anton's spine.

He wasn't afraid. But Shindō's rage and hatred seemed to wash over him like bad blood. A bead of sweat fell down his face, and his grin slowly grew at the other man's challenge. It wasn't out of anger, or insanity... but rather, it was simple anticipation. He knew he was going to be in for one hell of a fight, and that the Captain would hold nothing back. There was no reason to, after all. "Am I?" He shot back, fighting against his opponent's strength. "Then I'm going to enjoy every bit of this... not as much as I enjoy company with my girlfriend, mind you... but very close to it."

With that, he executed a swift parry and threw himself at Shindō, the blades swinging in a flurry of fast, fluid, and ferocious attacks. On top of that, he mixed in kicks along with his swings in order to keep the other man on his toes.

"Oh, great!!" Oliver snapped, pausing briefly and taking cover to reload behind a building. "Pinko's decided to take the Captain by himself. What a fuckin' show-off!!"

Shindō simply smiled back with predatorial enjoyment. His body matched Anton's move for move, his slightly shorter stature was given no sight of a disadvantage as twirled his lightning infused Zanpakuto to crackle and clash with that of Oliver's pair of Kido-summoned swords. He even switched hands to block and kick back at Oliver, flipping his cloaked form around without dropping his Haori, showing the depth of skill he retained.

As Shindō used Flash Step away, he reappeared behind Anton, stabbing into the ground, "I got you!" The sounds of thousands of birds chirping along with crackling volts of lightning suddenly ran along the ground before rising indefinitely high into the air, as several miniature pyres of electricity soared into the air while flowing across the air and taking out several walls of proximate buildings.

"Wanna bet?!"

In response, Anton briefly dispelled the Kiriken swords in order to boost himself several feet off the ground with a Flash Step. He turned his attention below him to see the arcs of electricity come his way, extending his hands out.

"Danku!"

The electricity streams hit and were halted by the Kidō shield that had been timely summoned by the Russian, keeping him safe from harm.

Shindō's eyes narrowed at the transparent, two story tall shield that repelled his lightning attacks with ease. As he pulled his Zanpakuto out of the blackened earth, he focused on the timing and what was left of the high level Kido barrier. He began twirling his Zanpakuto in front of him, letting it hover as he prepared his counterattack, asking aloud, "That is a Kido spell reserved for only the most elite and skilled Soul Reapers of the Gotei 13. For you to effortlessly cast it while retaining its full power, means you have skills within the arts of a Soul Reaper. Who trained you?!"

As he finished spinning his Zanpakuto, he held it inverted with the blade pointing down, uttering aloud, "Hado # 58, Tenran!" Discharging a widening tornado towards the fading transparent shield, before inhaling air before exhaling out, "Hado # 8, Shōbō Sasu!" Within moments, a giant tornado of flames discharged, causing a blazing inferno to crack through the fading shield and explode into the sky with a crack of the air pressure.

"Wouldn't you like to know..." Anton taunted, slapping his palms together and taking in a deep breath. His head tilted back, and his cheeks puffing up as the blazing inferno came closer and closer to him. It took only seconds for them to reach him. But at that moment...

"Nenshō!"

When he exhaled, he unleashed a massive wall of flames from his mouth and hit the opposing attack head on in order to blow it back. The point-blank intensity forced the focus of the struggle away from him and to the middle. During this, the heat from the flames singed the entire area, to the point where the V-14 members on the ground would feel it.

Angelika used this moment to whip out her phone again, quickly dialing up Enrico once she was sure the coast was clear. "I'm here again, Enrico. We just dealt with the major threat, and now one of my men's engaging the Captain directly. For the moment, our situation's stable."

Shindō's eyes narrowed as he heard the words and saw a impressive gust of flames towards his own pillar of fire. The waves of heat did nothing to perturb the ruthless young Captain, as he took time to pinpoint his target's spirit energy through the wafting inferno that blazed relentlessly in front and around them. With a sudden raise of his Zanpakuto, his Zanpakuto crackled before discharging a solid lightning that appeared as elongated sword. It would be mere instants when it would reach through the geyser of flames the two combatants created and would attempt to squewer him through his sternum and out his back.

"Rakurai Yari!" (落雷槍 Rakurai yari ; Lit Translation, "Lightning Spear.")

"Señora, I'm glad you managed to turn the tables on them! However, I did miscount...that was only a fourth of the 10th Division's goons. The rest of them are pulling back and regrouping...there's something fast heading your way, Angelika. Please be careful," Enrico implored.

SWISH, SWISH, SWISH!

A shadow on the battlefield began moving towards the gun toting V-14 members, heading primarily towards Angelika, avoiding almost all visible contact before appearing mere meters away from the Head of V-14. Her dark violet hair swirled around her majestically as she finally stopped before her, thrusting out two palm with connected wrists towards her midsection.

Even though Angelika would be able to be out of reach the air pressure from the power of the strike sent a punch of condensed air the size of a basketball towards Angelika. The result would cause some of the ground and landscape to crack, and would most undoubtedly hurtle the leader through the alleyway she currently resided.

"Forgive me, but you are a danger that must be purged," she said softly, standing upright with her black Shikhakusho fluttering around her shapely, accentuated body as her hair flowed like water within the air and around her face, her pale eyes penetrating towards the leader of the criminal organizations with near as much vigor and determination as her Captain, but with no bloodlust attached. But more of Honor and Duty that powered her resolve.

Oliver's eyes widened completely. "BOSS!! LOOK OUT--!!"

And she was quick to act.

BOOSH!

With an outstretch of her free hand, Angelika blocked off the pressurized air attack and prevented it from hitting her body. She had to dig in her feet, which slightly slid backwards. All-in-all, however, she had remained unscatched from the attack. She narrowed her lone eye, scowling at the sight of the pale-eyed woman. She pointed her HCA-Kidō pistol at the head of the woman, keeping a calm, but resentful tone in her voice as she spoke.

"Seems like the Captain's pet has decided she wants my head... I'll call back later."

With that, she switched off the phone and placed it back into her coat pocket, all the meanwhile keeping her narrowed eye glaring coldly at the woman. "Cute..." She said dryly. "The puppy thinks she can bite off more than her mouth lets her."

"Are all of you 10th Division shits this stupid?!" Oliver jeered, promptly pointing his own pistols at her. "Coming at all of us at once and think you can take us on?! You must have some sort of suicidal god complex, little girl."

"Woah!"

Immediately, Anton stopped the flow of flames and jerked to the side just in time to avoid the bolt of lightning headed his way. However, he didn't stop his movements there, falling down to earth in order to land on one of the buildings nearby.... the one that hadn't been destroyed in Hyōryū's earlier attack.

Shindō smirked, amused that Anton thought he could avoid the blade he created that easily. WIth a mere twitch his hand, he turned the elongated blade with a lightning speed, as he caught sight of him and swung the elongated blade towards him, cutting through the building that he landed on with ease as it bore to slice him into pieces.

"You're mistaken if numbers win battles," Sakura said as her pale eyes looked unphased by the show of weapons, "or if you're the only ones with shiny toys."

Bip-Bip-Bip, BLEEEEEEEEP!

Sakura managed to subtely toss a pair of bead sized spheres onto the ground, suddenly blinking red before discharging a array of blinding light into the air, making it night impossible for accurate fire. In that moment, Sakura bent down deftly into a crouch while reaching her hands up in the air to clap onto the weapon, sending a jolt of spirit energy enough to disarm the weapon. Following that, she clasped her hands together while uttering lowly, heading towards Oliver's direction within a few zig-zag motions, not even using Flash Step as she approached him, "Bakudo # 30, Shitotsu Sansen!"

BRAK-BRAK-BRAK!

Three yellow beaks of energy discharged towards the american nationality gunman, aiming to incapacitate him and jam him against a nearby landscape or rubble more aptly.

Oliver hadn't seen it.

Angelika had - and that allowed herself to react before he did.

FLASH!

She managed to shield her eyes just as Oliver let out a pained yell, his sight rendered useless by the flashing light. So when the three beaks of energy shot towards him.

WHAM!

He was slammed against the nearest building, helplessly bound to it courtesy of the energy beams. "Damn it...!!" He hissed, gritting his teeth and trying to physically force himself out of the trap, but to no avail. "It's always the stun and gun technique with these bastards!!"

It seemed that guns would not do... and this had been one of her favorites.

Disdainfully, Angelika tossed the useless weapon aside and turned to face the Lieutenant. She closed her lone eye, folding her arms across her chest. It certainly had been a while since she had fought, and she never actually intended to do so. But her strongest fighters were busy... at the very least, Anton was. What was Hyōryū and Shadō doing on their end, anyway?

On Anton's end, his eyes widened when he saw the elongated blade maintain its form. With a flip and a Flash Step, he managed to land himself back on the ground and avoid the blade once more, summoning his Kiriken blades back to his hands once more. This time, he threw himself at Shindō, using another Flash Step to quicken the distance and lessen the time his opponent had to react to the attack. "Tearing apart the very place you're hoping to protect, Captain?" He taunted. "I don't even know what to say..."

Hyōryū on the otherhand, had been running and gunning the remaining 10th Division officers trying to box them in, her large rifle cradled in her arms looked ridiculous for someone of her stature. A wide sadistic gleam endowed her face as she leaped from building corner to building corner, taking aim as a number of Soul Reapers took a few potshots before she aimed her miniature Kido rail gun, obliterating the foundation of building corners as she did so, "HAHAHAHAHA! That's it! Keep running! It makes the hunt all the more enjoyable!"

"You've done that yourself, Semenov!" Shindō spoke back quickly, shortening the blade back to its original size as he rounded his body to intercept his opponent's blades again, but not before uttering lowly, "those who live outside the law of the Soul Society are deemed the worst of criminals, who only think of their own selfish desires and care nothing for the damage done to those around them! Your powers belong to that of those who serve loyally to the Gotei 13, and I know you have Soul Reaper powers! Show me your powers," his blade suddenly crackled as electricity was absorbed from the very air and energy from the rubble before discharging in a vibrant blast of lightning, "if you want to live, traitor!!!"

Sakura unsheathed her Zanpakuto as she rushed towards Angelika, aiming to cut her quickly as she initiated her Flash Step, rapidly closing the distance within a second, whispering, "Your days of terrorism is over, Angelika Hartman!"

The blade connected.

SPLURCH!

However, it wouldn't be with the designated target.

With a swift, cold movement, Angelika reached out and caught the cutting edge of the blade. The force cut her hand, spilling blood out onto the blade. She, however, did not seem to care, keeping the amused smirk on her face. "Attacking an unarmed opponent with the intent on cutting them down? I just don't know what to say, puppy..." She mocked. "I always assumed the Soul Society was full of heroes... not cut-throats like you."

Then, she tightened her grip on her opponent's blade, pulled it aside, and threw a punch to the other woman's face.

"Grr...!!!"

Anton was forced back, the electricity pushing against him violently. However, he kept his swords in a defensive position to keep him from getting overwhelemed. With a burst of his spiritual energy, he forcefully dispelled the attack and readied his swords once more. "Don't go making empty threats, Captain, I think we're both above that..." He said bluntly, maintaining a level gaze. "And from the way you make it sound, you seem to believe that I was once a part of the Gotei 13 myself. Then again, I'm not surprised... the Soul Society of Japan was never new at living under rocks when the situation didn't call for it."

Sakura deftly grabbed Angelika's fist, springing a shocking bolt of spirit energy to disable the nerves within her arm, child's play to her before she wrenched her sword back into her grasp, "I'm not going to kill you, Angelika Hartman! If you died, then there would be no one we could set an example of for producing nothing but havoc and death. You," she brought her sword back to swing back at her chest, "are nothing but a lowly, dirt-rat of a cr-GAK!"

Sakura's sword was suddenly interrupted by a blade...coming right out of her shadow with a metalic clang before a hand reached out of the ground before swiftly to her throat, as the full intimidating form of Shadō himself, his eyes glaring hotly and his aura itself made him more like a demon than Shadō himself. He voiced a threat that confirmed the prior into Sakura's mind, "You dare challenge powers you cannot comprehend? You lowly Soul Reaper...you have no idea what you're getting into!" With a mighty throw, Shadō threw the Lieutenant into a wall of a building across the street, causing a large billow of smoke and rocks to uproar from the force he used to execute the maneuver.

"Forgive my tardiness, Herr Angelika," Shadō spoke regretfully, as he held his bloodied blade in his hand as he turned towards her momentarily, "the enemies seemed to be plotting something, so I...asked them what was going on."

Shindō growled, his body began to glow silver as his Spiritual Pressure crackled in the air once more, raising a open palm towards Anton, "Disappear and cease your insults, terrorist! Raikōhō!"

CRACK-BOOM!

As the yellow orb of energy gathered briefly before the Captain's palm, a crackle of electric energy blasted before encompassing the area Anton stood, before creating a thunderous blast of yellow energy, exploding and creating a large pillar of energy into the air, reducing the remaining structures around him into dust and rubble.

"I owe you greatly for your intervention, Herr Kariudo..."

Angelika exhaled a breath she didn't know she was holding, clutching her disabled arm that hung lifelessly at her side. But it wasn't out of fear of death - that boat had already sailed. "That woman's able to disable the movements of one's motor functions as well as technology through physical contact..." She reported. "That is, if you were planning to take her on... other than that... did they tell you anything? I couldn't get much from Enrico..."

"Hey, Shades!!" Oliver called out. "You mind getting me off of this wall while you explain?!"

"He said the 10th Division troops are pulling back...but something seems off," Shadō spoke as he raised his sword towards where Sakura was, "these men looked like they were serious about taking us down, but why did they bother taking the time to alert us? They had enough combined firepower to reduce our safehouse and then some without us being prepared to counterattack. So...the only question is," Shadō raised his blade above his head before slashing it to the side, "is who are they waiting for?"

Shadō looked over to Oliver after saying this to Angelika, before briefly using his Flash Step to reach him, sighing, "You know I'm not into this kind of kinky stuff, Oliver-san," before he grasped each of the beaks, draining the energy into himself before flexing it appreciatively, "thanks for the snack."

"Kiss my ass." Oliver grumbled, dropping onto his feet and massaging his wrists.

As he checked himself out, Angelika looked over in the direction that Shindō had thrown Sakura and subsequently followed up with the sword slash. "Considering the sudden appearance of the Inner Circle..." She said calmly, thinking of what had happened. "I'd say it would have something to do with the scum that they sent us a while back. How else would anyone have figured out where we were? I wouldn't put it past us that he managed to inform them somehow."

Through the blast that Shindō had unleashed, a mildly scathed Anton could be seen emerging from the ruins. He had utilized a defensive spell in order to keep himself from getting incinerated from the blast, moments before it could hit him. Even as he walked towards Shindō, he continued to prod at him. "It's been so many years, and yet you all live like you're still in the feudal era. You might as well be criminals like us, and the only difference is that your crimes hold dominance over all of us. You've done nasty deeds just like we have, and for what? For upholding your so-called justice? I don't think you have the right to be calling me out as a terrorist, Captain..."

Shindō gritted his teeth, feeling more and more pissed off as he heard this ridiculous rhetoric from this man who had Soul Reaper powers. He should've known he was from another spiritual society, but right now, he could care less which one he's from. He's here and part of a Seireitei top priority issue and he's here to stop him. Even if he has to destroy the entire District he evacuated only hours before this showdown.

"Your cheap talk is boring me, Anton," Shindō spoke with a growling as lightning began dancing from the air, his sword raised high as clouds began to form in the sky, "your taunts are finally paying off, you lowly scum. You pissed me off into going serious with you. If you ever, for a instant, think you're on the same level as me...you're dead wrong!!!"

CRACK BOOM, CRACK BOOM!

High in the sky, lightning began to thunder and crackle within the heavens above, as Shindō's power over the lightning within the atmosphere reached an all-time high, his red-black eyes stared menacingly at Anton, "Begone, menace!"

A sudden series of lightning bolts came down relentlessly, smashing into the ground with incredible force as well with instaneous speed as it struck over half a hundred attacks that aimed to pulverize him, "Sandā Gakudan!" (サンダー楽団 Sandaa gakudan ; Lit Translation, "Thunder Orchestra.")

That was when Anton's calm demeanor broke, raw shock crossing his face for the first time in the battle.

WOOSH!

Immediately, he kicked into a Flash Step, barely avoiding bolt after bolt as they crashed down behind him. Even as he was hovering off the area, he could feel the very earth shake under the power. As he avoided the bursts, sweat was dropping down his face at a vicious rate. "Damn it..." He thought to himself. "At this rate, I really am going to get killed!!" Truly, he was dealing with a frightening and formidable opponent if he could unleash such ferocious attacks from the sky. He didn't think he could counter-attack without being blocked off by the lightening.

And at this rate... everyone would get killed....

His mind drifted to Hyōryū, his teeth gritting slightly in frustration. She was a formidable fighter. But Shindō was in a league of his own. He could handle avoiding the attacks like this. But if she happened to get caught in the attack, she would certainly die! He couldn't bear to live with himself if that happened...

But that was the least of his worries.

As he allowed himself to drift into his thoughts, he had unconsciously slowed himself down for just a second.... a fatal second.

Time stopped.

He realized his mistake too late, pupils dilating as he heard what was to be the last lightning strike. All he could do was tilt his head up to see it coming towards him.

BOOM!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

His blood-chilling, gut-wrenching scream could be heard when the lightning bolt hit him full-force.

Hyōryū suddenly heard and felt the series of thunder strikes above, forcing her to take cover in one of the half-ruined structures, looking at the epicenter of where a collosal battle was taking place. She suddenly realized with horror that the Captain was showing off his true power, controlling the lightning within the very atmosphere. All the previous attacks he had been dishing out were mere stalling tactics while his Spiritual Power reached into the heavens and began forming the thunderheads above. But her heart stopped when she head a familiar voice give a gut-wrenching scream in the air, and she actually saw the silhouette of the electrocuting her lover.

"ANTOOOOOOON!!!!" Hyōryū screamed out to him, running off into a dashing sprint, carrying the Executor while priming it for firing. She didn't care if it would kill her, she would blast that devil of a man to Hell if she had anything to say about it.

Shadō heard his partners' scream and had seen the following magnanomious display of power the Captain showed. His eyes narrowed and he smelled the air, gripping his Zanpakuto with trepidation, "Herr Angelika, I'm afraid I'll have to leave your side for the moment," his body began to meld with the shadows she created, continuing to say, "there's something coming that's evil and we must escape this annoyance before it reaches us."

A ready nod was Angelika's response. She watched as Shadō faded into the shadows, leaning against the leveled wall and cursing slightly under her breath. "Scheiss..." She hissed, clutching her disabled arm and sinking down to a sitting position. "This is going to take at least a few hours to recover from."

"What'd she do to you?" Oliver questioned, walking over to kneel down beside her.

"She disabled the nerves in my arm. She didn't damage them, but simply flipped them to an "off" mode. So my injuries are minimal at best..." Angelika explained coolly, closing her eye for a moment. "But, for Anton..."

Oliver turned his own head in order to look at the scene. However, even as he saw Anton being electrocuted and Hyōryū running out in order to stop the process, a smug grin crossed his face. "He may be a bastard..." He commented. "But he's a tough bastard. One measly lightning bolt's not going to stop him..."

"Tozanshō!"

On cue, Anton managed to summon the next Kidō spell after struggling through the agony of being electrocuted. Relief washed over him when the pyramid-shaped barrier was summoned around him, cutting off the current. The jolts that were still coursing through his body caused him to jerk erratically. But he managed to hold his ground, slamming his palms together and calling out the next words.

"Rikujōkōrō! Bankin!"

The next two spells were executed swiftly and without haste, as he sensed Hyōryū priming her weapon. They were meant to restrain him quickly so that his teammate could deliver the finishing blow. He would've gladly done so himself, but now that the woman had threw herself into the crossfire, he might as well give her the opportunity to.

Shindō's eyes widened as he heard and saw the spells being formulated and thrown hastily towards him. The 360 angle shots of six rods moved to slam into his body, giving way to be ensared by an even more powerful Kido. To use them all so flawlessly without incantation...Shindō either considered him a fool or a genius. For the moment, he considered him both.

His body shimmered at lightning speed, leaving his Haori behind to be ensared by the six golden rods, leaving it inert and useless against him. As the black wrapping with a several weights came towards him, his eyes narrowed, slicing upwards through the wrappings with his lightning coated blade, as a thunderous joining of both a lightning strike from the sky and from his sword broke the binds in two, turning the rest of it into ash. Shindō turned his wrathful gaze to aim his Zanpakuto at him, but a thunderous, close sound caused him to give pause and turn in alarm.

KRACK-BOOM!

A familiar, haunting yellow projectile shot from a gleaming Hyōryū as her body was rocked back from the force used to fire the weapon. It screamed in the air as it bore towards Shindō's form, aiming to wipe him off from the face of the Soul Society.

Shindō closed his eyes momentarily, knowing normal Kidō would not be enough to stop it, and he didn't have time to simple dodge it unscathed. With a silent breath, his eyes opened as his eyes swirled and changed in shape, his secondary Ocular Kidō's form came into form as a wrathful violet aura bathed his body as the bolt struck his area.

The following explosion was so close, it muted sound and blazed significantly upwards, decimating any form of structures nearby, knocking back Hyōryū from the distance she fired it, sending her sprawing head over heels before she smashed the butt of her rifle into the ground, using it as an anchor to steady herself over the blazing heat and wind caused by the shot. This made Hyōryū tense and grit her teeth as she tried to peer into the glowing fire that was made, as something violet was hidden behind it.

That's when the winds let up and Hyōryū fell on her midriff, her eyes wide open in shock and her body filled with dread at the feeling of the Spiritual Pressure coming from Shindō that seemed to warp the very air she breathed. "No way...just no...f'ing...way," Hyōryū said aloud in a hoarse, shaking voice as what was revealed behind the mushroom cloud was a skeletal avatar which permeated a violet energy that crackled and smoked the area around it. With only the torso and up visible, Shindō's black cloaked form flourished dramatically as his glowing black-red eyes shined maliciously at Hyōryū, as the skeletal Kidō construct clenched its fists as "skin" slowly began to work its way up its right hand and over its left, nearly half of the arm was gone and part of the "ribs" had been shattered by the attack, but Shindō himself looked unharmed relatively from the attack. The name of this this Kidō...is Bunkō-shin!

"So," Shindō spoke with a dark, hungry tone as he clenched his Zanpakuto, forming a violet glowing blade within the avatar's right hand, "you're the one who killed half of my men with a single shot, did you? I'm going to enjoy using this Kidō, considering its been awhile since the Pride of the Takuji Clan's power can truly destroy something worthy!"

"You didn't forget about me so easily, did you?"

With a Flash Step, Anton was in front of Hyōryū in a crouched position, breathing heavily as he spoke the words. "Our fight still isn't over, Captain..." He whispered, slowly raising himself up and clenching his fists. "You can bring out all the Kidō in the world... but I'll be damned if you decide to run from me now..." Despite the apprehension he was feeling as well, he continued to stand and glare down his opponent in complete defiance.

Hyōryū stared at the back of Anton, gulping down some air and trying to hold back tears, "A-Anton?"

Shindō stared dispassionately at Anton, almost as if he lost enthusiasm in fighting him, saying aloud, "You're barely able to stand, aren't you? Its to be expected...using all those Kido without incantations will take a toll on anyone who's less than masterful. That, and your already considerable wounds. Fighting you in this state would almost be pointless," he raised his katana slightly, the avatar raised its blade above his head, "but killing you will be most satisfying-"

BLINK

Shindō suddenly had his eyes open wide and suddenly began talking into his comm, "-What the hell did you just say?! You found him?!....Yes...yes I understand. I'll be there at once," within a release of his Zanpakuto, he turned around in the air, walking as he began to sheathe his weapon, the violet aura disappeared as well as the powerful Ocular Kido eyes, "I'll have the Punishment Force deal with you. It was a mistake sending in a military force against a band of powerful criminals. But mark my words, I will not be deterred the next time," Shindō looked back at Anton with a cool, unwavering gait, "and I will kill you."

WOOOSH!

And Shindō vanished, along with any remnant forces the 10th Division had within that area.

He left a silence behind him, aside from Anton's heavy breathing.

Inwardly, Anton knew that he would've been most likely done for, had the Captain continued with his attack. Sweat was falling down his face at a numerous, rapid rate. While one arm was folded across his chest, another clutched his upper face as his head hung down. He was surprised that he had not gone into a coma... that usually happened when he used too much big spells at one time.

As he struggled to regain his breath, Angelika and Oliver quickly approached them. Slowly, he turned towards them, letting out a yelp as he nearly fell over.

"Woah, there, pal, don't pass out on us yet!" Oliver warned him, already at his side. "Though, now you can probably be the first man ever to say "Hey! I got hit by a lightning bolt and lived to tell about it!" A cheeky grin crossed his face when the Russian scowled and opened his mouth as if to say something. But because of the weakness in his body, nothing would come out immediately.

And the effort ended up causing his body to revolt against him. He abruptly collapsed on his stomach, letting out a grunt as he hit the ground. "I...I knew I shouldn't have started pulling out the big spells early on..." He muttered, managing a weak grin. "Sorry, comrades... I was acting careless...."

Hyōryū growled at Oliver, but fell on her belly right across from Anton from all the adrenaline running out of her, flailing her arms around almost childishly as she said, "Hey! I did some work too! If it wasn't for those spells distracting him, I wouldn't have been able to take a shot without him dodging...not like it mattered! Since when do Captains have skeleton Kidos that repel that monstrous destruction my baby dished out?! Urgh!" She then stared into Anton's eyes, a small smile lit up her face as she looked at him with a knowing look, merely touching her forehead against his, whispering gently, "Thank you, Anton."

Looming Threat...Predator from the Void!
Oliver rolled his eyes, but said nothing more than that.

"You can have your touching reunion later. Right now, we need to get moving. I don't know about the status of the Lieutenant, and I'm for certain that Captain Takuji didn't say those words in an attempt to intimidate us." Angelika said bluntly, a cool gaze looking down on both of them as she held her arm. "Can you stand and move?"

Hyōryū grinned toothily, as she began pushing herselt to her hands and knees, before struggling slightly to stand on her feet while lifting Anton to his own with her as support, "I may be tired, but it'd take a hell alot more than stupid Soul Reaper goons to slow me down!"

"Angelika, its Shadō! CZKRKan yRKZ read CRZK?!" Came over the private communique within her ear piece, used only during joint military operations V-14 uses.

"At the worst possible moment..." Angelika grumbled, immediately reaching up with her good arm in order to click the earpiece microphone on. "Read you loud and clear, Shadō. What's your status?"

"CRSKZZZZ! I...CRZKZZZan into YasZRSKKKVT! I'm holding him BRZKZSJS...get everyone to the secondZRSS!! Its our only YARRRGHSZKLZZZ!!!" Within the distance, a loud explosion was heard, followed by a foreboding cold almost void sensation that crawled over everyone within the wind. It was not something you'd feel from an ordinary opponent or adversary. It was the feeling almost akin to that of a black hole...ready to swallow you whole, while not even touching the atmosphere its feeling was having an affect on everything within its slowly growing vincinity.

The feedback was loud enough so that everyone present could hear it. Oliver and Anton both cocked slight eyebrows, showing little emotion despite the obviously tense situation there partner was in. "Um..." The blonde stated flatly - the subtle way to ask what exactly was going on.

"The 10th Division isn't the only one who's aiming to clean house..." Angelika said darkly, clicking off her earpiece. "It seems that Yashin's decided to make our deaths a top priority, as well. Shadō ran into him, and now they're engaged in their own little scuffle."

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!!" Oliver snapped, throwing his hands up in the air. "First Shindō, and now that demonic fuck?! What's with the sudden interest in us, all of a sudden?!"

"The Inner Circle as well as the Soul Society..." Anton muttered grimly, leaning against Hyōryū as she supported him. "Somehow, I know this is going to end in a bloody and messy fashion. All we can hope is not to get caught up in the canter, if we're not already..."

"Shit..." Oliver, gritting his teeth, whipped out his two pieces and held them in a holstered position at his sides. "I was in a real good mood 'till everyone decided they wanted to ride our dicks!! Where're we supposed to go from here, boss?! Sword punks, dogs, whatever, I'm cuttin' down anything that's getting in our way!!"

"Shit, I knew it was trouble getting involved with that demon possessing fucker!" Hyōryū said as she pulled out one of her Jackals, arming it to the lowest setting for maximum speed of attack.

Another series of explosions rocked the earth and ruined battlefield, as the battle Shadō and Yashin came closer to the others.

"We need to move to the second warehouse before we get caught in the middle of their fight." Angelika said briskly. "Come on!" With that, she held her arm again and led the way, with Oliver following close behind. Of course, they weren't as fast due to the fact that they had two exhausted foot mobiles with them as well as a disabled one, but they couldn't let it slow them down.

Hyōryū moved along with everyone as best as she could. Despite being tired from firing her Executor on foot for so long she, like Oliver, were the least injured of the group. While Angelika only had a disabled arm, the two parallel similar gun-fighters were probably the best line of defense against any threat Yashin throws at them...or any more oncoming threats to not expect.

"Dammit," Hyōryū growled, looking to Angelika with a knowing false hope, "can't we get the jeep? I mean...on foot we have less than a 50/50 chance of making it there without a fight..."

"At this point in time, it would simply waste more time..." Angelika said simply. "We'll just have to work with what we can..." Her tone was slightly resentful at her own words, but firm. She knew they didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

The explosions seem to be drawing closer, and less frequent, as if the fight was drawing to a close. Hyōryū clenched her jaw and her eyes shut, whispering to herself lowly, "Dammit...Shadō you better not die on me! Not by a longshot, I won't let you be Hankami chow even if I have to pull you back from the abyss!"

"He's a tough bastard, he'll make it!" Oliver re-assured, still keeping his eye trained on any potential hostiles. However, he was inwardly doubtful. None of them knew how tough Yashin was or what he was truly capable of. For all they knew, he probably had the power to wipe them out with a wave of his hand. That possibility made him all the more apprehensive, even as he kept a stable stance. If they fought him in their condition, they would certainly get killed.

He just had to hope.

"Hankami...?" Anton asked weakly, lowering his head as he tried to move as quickly as he could in order to keep himself from slowing Hyōryū down. "By the gods of the Red Sun, I hope that's just an assumption of what he is...because if it's not, then we might as well be dead already..."

"Shadō has never been...forthcoming about his dark side, even when he gave his introduction to us when he first joined up with V-14, remember? His...demonic nature has always unsettled me, but he's always been so polite and quiet," Hyōryū bowed her own head, gritting her teeth, "I never talked to him much, thinking he always needed time to meditate and keep to himself. But...what if he needed someone more by his side? Dammit!" Hyōryū hissed, now thin trickles of tears began falling down her cheeks as her eyes watered.

"Don't die on me, Shadō," she finally whispered out, before a deafening sound that knocked her onto her hindquarters, unintentionally taking Anton with her.

KABOOOM!

This explosion detonated right in front of the group, as a house's front foundations collapsed and a battle-worn, tattered figure emerged from the dust, holding his Zanpakuto's released form in one hand while heaving heavily, with blood running down his brow and his hat missing as sweat matted his forehead. Shadō was here, and he looked like he was losing.

"Forgive me...my comrades...I've stalled him the best I could...but in the end," he didn't take his eyes off the dust cloud as a dark blue haired man with dark clothing and a unmistakeable red eye emered from the dust cloud, his form taking a menacing aura, "he directed the battle purposely to your direction...!"

Of course, the explosion knocked more than just Hyōryū and Anton off-balance.

Oliver and Angelika immediately fell onto their backs, letting out respective grunts as the shockwave hit them. The German was quick to get up from the ground, her immobile arm doing little to hinder her movements. Oliver, however, opted to stay prostrate and instead lifted his two guns to point at the oncoming figure. Upon hearing those words, it was made very clear to them that their only exit was blocked off.

"Son of a bitch..." Oliver seethed. "Of all the worst times...!!"

"There's no prey here, Yashin..." Angelika said calmly, giving a dispassionate stare into the eyes of her newly found enemy. "Get out of here before you get lost." She seemed to be the only one maintaining a calm and serene attitude in the face of death, despite the situation that they were in.

"Presumptious as always, Angelika Hartman," Yashin spoke in a knowing way, that in any casual case, would almost be like he had known her at one point in time, but his red eye cast a hidden menace while bore a casual false smile, "but you're in no position to tell me what prey is mine or not. The fact that the 10th Division Captain hunted you down and fought you, shows you are more certainly prey, though of what kind are you? Well, apparently your the type that doesn't know when to accept generous offers...or when to stop being thorns in our proverbial sides," his tone took a almost droll tone, as if he had to educate the leader of V-14 why he was doing what he was doing.

Shadō gripped his long, claymore sized Zanpakuto with both hands, growling at him gutturally, "Stay away from them! This fight is between us! Keep them out of it!"

Hyōryū began drawing her Jackal, aiming it at Yashin but was uncertain if she should fire now or when he made a move. Forcing him to act could be the whole team's downfall, and all she could do is watch as her withdrawn comrade showed more compassion for the team now than he ever did before. She felt her stomach tear into knots seeing him like this...she didn't know what was wrong with her!

"A generous offer?" Angelika repeated. "You attempted to use us to clean up your mess. I do not take kindly to being used by anyone, even if it is from the likes of a high-ranked individual such as yourself. We are not the Inner Circle's nannies."

"You got that right..." Oliver growled, pulling himself up into a crouched position while still having his guns pointed towards his target. However, he was in the same boat as Hyōryū, not willing to risk completely provoking Yashin into attacking them. "Someone who can do a job themselves shouldn't have to come crawling to us for help, prissy boy!"

"Hyōryū..."

Anton was the only one who could see the turmoil and confliction appear on his carrier's face. Based from her reaction to Shadō, it was obviously because of him in some way. But what could he do?

Yashin gave way to a throaty chuckle, before he smiled with a hint of his pearly, disconcerting white teeth towards them while his eyes narrowed on them, "You wretched fools. You're the infamous criminal organization, V-14. Ruthless and merciless to a fault, you do dirty deeds as a way to pay rent. I find it odd that you would think I was using you to clean up a mess of mine when I simply gave you a task. Assassinate a high priority target causing havoc to me and then get paid. Its that simple," Yashin then turned to Shadō barely heeding his words before continuing, "but of course those who cling to human nature, no matter if its in life or death, always have to complicate things. For that reason, you must cease to exist."

Shadō growled, lunging at him swinging his blade at Yashin's neck, "Damn you, DEMON!"

"Interesting," Yashin spoke even as the blade moved, somehow missing him entirely as if Shadō was hitting something else entirely, "considering you made a deal with one, that you would judge me as one of their ilk."

Yashin's palm then clasped onto his chest, releasing a rune made of foreign energy before he stepped around him, snapping his fingers, "I'm done playing with you, Shadō Kariudo."

BZZZZZRRRRRRKKK!!!

"GRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Shadō began to feel his own insides rebel against him, his skin burning from what he felt was his own spirit energy overloading and boiling to the surface of his body...and electrocuting him. The scene became a blood red crimson pillar of lightning, with Shadō's erratic spasms forming within before he fell to the ground still, and the thunderous display of effortless power ceased.

Hyōryū then reacted, her eyes widened with a furious, vengeful gaze, "DAMN YOU!!!!!"

BRACK BRACK BRACK BRACK!!!

Hyōryū opened fire with a number of yellow bolts, making it supposedly difficult for her target to miss. She didn't care if she was playing into his hands. Having that...monster rip her partner apart flipped a switch she didn't know she had. She wanted pay back, and Yashin became the target between her crosshairs.

BLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAM!!!

Oliver didn't hesitate to fire, as well, unleashing several of his own blue bolts at the target with the high accuracy he was known for. His teeth were gritted, and his eyes were narrowed into slits. Under normal conditions, the target surely would have been shredded completely by their combined efforts. However, Oliver knew that this was no normal circumstance. In front of them was someone who could kill with a natural and almost effortless flair.

But it didn't stop him from shooting.

Yashin's body seemed to be hit over and over, with satisfying dry cracking sounds before his body became blown to pieces after attempting to dodge the initial barrage. With a wet crunch on the ground, it seemed all was over, making Hyōryū visibly relax, before she heard a faint rasping cough from Shadō.

"Don't...trust...your senses...!"

Hyōryū's eyes widened as she felt a completely overwhelming sensation as what she saw wasn't there anymore. The shots that were spot on, perfectly targeted and in sync with her gun-toting partner. When did he...?!

"The moment I entered your realm of sensory," Yashin spoke lowly as he raised a hand towards their backsides as he was a safe distance away from any proximate attack, "is the moment I controlled your senses, like a artist controls a piece of art."

As energy began to darken and crackle within the palm of his hand, a soft clapping sound could be heard of sandles, as a violet haired Soul Reaper leaped high into the air. Her body flourished across her defined, lithe form as she retracted her right hand, blue energy fizzed and crackled as she aimed a right handed palm heel attack towards him, yelling out, "HAAA!"

SMASH!

Though Yashin deftly leaped out of the way, a large indentation was left into the ground where Sakura Keikai, Lieutenant of the 10th Division struck, as she raised her eyes towards him, settling into a fighting stance, "You're not taking their lives, foul creature!"

"Hooo? What have we here?" Yashin said with a amused smile, his cloak blew dramatically across his body as he eyed her up and down, "Lieutenant of the 10th Division...how interesting."

It was safe to say that nearly all heads turned to see the intervention of the first Lieutenant.

"All right, sword girl..." Oliver drawled, having one pistol pointed towards his previous target and the other pointed straight at Sakura's head. His scowl was now accompanied by a raised eyebrow, and he switched his gaze from Yashin to the Lieutenant in order to keep his eyes on both of them. "What the hell're you trying to play at here?"

Though Angelika remained silent, her lone eye widened in clear disbelief and surprise. It was shocking enough to see her alive after Shadō's earlier assault on her. But it was even more shocking to see her openly aiding the criminal organization she had been ordered to capture. Perhaps she was trying to do so on her own? Or was she somehow interested in their escape...?

"Nnngh...." Anton allowed himself to finally stand to his feet, not interested in being akin to a log in such a tense situation. He was surprised as well by the sudden appearance by the Lieutenant, but chose not to question it. If they had help, then they might as well accept it... even if it was from their enemy.

"My intention was never to kill you, V-14," Sakura spoke honestly, the area around her brows and eyes pulsated thickly with veins as she fed spiritual energy into her eyes in preparation for her technique, "I am going to bring you in, but if I let something so...evil destroy you, then you must be more important than my Captain originally believed. So," Sakura skidded back with both arms in a fighting stance, the appearance more that of a graceful art than that of a sheer physical combatant would be, "I will protect you!"

Yashin narrowed both of his eyes, his smile widened as he spoke again, "So...that's how it is. Well then," he raised a gloved hand, with a "come on" gesture to it, as he goaded her, "at least make my trip out here in person more enjoyable than taking down a few souls like these."

Hyōryū flipped over, not even bothering to raise her gun towards him again. With that weird...illusion trick he pulled on all of them, anything they could be seeing would be a total lie or a close resembled fabrication of what's really happening. It also could impede any action on their part, possibly conjuring a fake person to "save" them...Hyōryū began banging her head against the dirt road, her mind hurting from trying to figure it out.

This made Anton sweatdrop, looking down on her with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. "Um... please don't start losing your head now, Hyōryū. We still need you." It was true, considering that he had exhausted himself completely still and she and Oliver were the only ones that could fight properly.

Her statement made Angelika narrow her eyebrows, and her mind drifted into thought. It occurred to her that her perception might be warped, and Yashin could be simply playing with their senses. What she saw in front of her could easily be an apparition conjured up out of some sadistic pleasure of mind-screwing them. If that was the case, then there was virtually nowhere for them to run, unless they found someway to defeat him and his illusions.

A hand went to her eyepatch, her lone eye wavering for a moment as she touched it.

"I...I can't use that. Not with my colleagues in the area..."

Hyōryū smiled weakly at Anton, "Sorry...that mindf**er is getting to me without even trying...I'm sorry I'm no help right now..."

Sakura lunged forward, floating through the air like water as she swung her hands and arms like an extension of her will, with no malicious intent other than defeating him. Yashin began his duel with the young Lieutenant, starting by simply side-stepping and moving his head to and fro, avoiding the attacks with ease. Then, as the Lieutenant picked up speed, he began using his right hand to block her strikes, then as she moved faster, Yashin actually had to use both of them.

She disappeared within a flash, reappearing while throwing a kick coated in blue static energy, aiming to take him off at the head, for which he moved to the side to avoid. It appeared the two combatants so far didn't show tiring, and Yashin appeared to be enjoying himself, "So this is the Hakuda prodigy that's being polished by our dear Captain Takuji? Your ocular prowess is allowing you to see through illusions as well as give you a nigh panoramic view around your body for long distances allows you to fight at a unparalleled plane compared to most martial artists and physical fighters..."

"Don't talk like you know me," she spoke in a high-raised, yet stoic tone as she spun around and jabbed at high speeds, all of which were being easily stopped by Yashin, "because I don't know you!"

During this exchange, Angelika quickly moved over to Shadō, kneeling over his form. She reached out in order to check for a pulse. From the looks of things, he was clearly in bad condition. She only hoped that it wasn't too bad. She didn't think Anton had enough energy to heal him thanks to the fight with the Captain...

But fortunately for them, they weren't the only ones within the area.

A lone figure sat on the rubble, a folded umbrella on his shoulders. Crimson eyes stared down both the Lieutenant and the Dragon as they fought it out against one another, looking on with serenity and almost cold indifference. His spiritual pressure was hidden so that he wouldn't be detected by them. So if he wanted to, he could easily attack either one of them without having to worry about potential counter-attack.

He raised a finger to his ear-piece, clicking it on. "Sakamoto? I'm in position. Just give the word..."

Shadō was breathing, but he was unconscious, his eyes winced and grimaced as he felt pain while not even able to register it properly within his mind.

As Sakura gathered great chaotic energies around her hands, she then honed and purified it, yelling out as her Spiritual Pressure filled the air, "This finishes it," Sakura yelled out as she leaped towards Yashin's form, surging the two lion headed, electric spirit energies at him, "Tsuinshokku-Jū Ken!"

Yashin's red eye suddenly, subtly changed shape as the kanji symbol that originally read for "Human" switched to "Demon" within an instant. Holding out his hand, a black sphere formed within a moment before he applied it to the combined attacks of Tsuinshokku-Jū Ken, ultimately...backfiring them.

(Eng Lit Translation, "Reverse Singularity,")"Novis Singularitas," Yashin uttered in response to her own technique while it was absorbed and thrown back at her within a blink of an eye.

"AAAAAIEEEEEE!" She felt her whole body shocked from her own technique, something that shouldn't have been possible as she felt all forms of movement and spirit control lost as her body wracked within the many "volts" coursing through her form. Yashin didn't even bother finishing her as she fell limply to the ground, barely uttering a confused, "h-how...did you know about...my technique...?"

"Silly Soul Reaper," he chuckled as he glanced down at her, his red eye glowed maliciously while his smile taunted her, "I've already seen that technique...as well as your ocular Kido before."

"N-no...," she uttered before she couldn't speak anymore, letting her head fall onto the ground.

Yashin turned around, sniffing the air, oddly he arched a brow before his hand emanated a dark black-violet mist around his right hand, manifesting a black handled silver bladed trident. Letting it rest on the ground, he turned his gaze slightly upwards, not bothering to raise his head, which gaze a menacing diagonal look from his eyes to the onlooker, "I'd rather not have my entertainment be interrupted. Why don't you show yourself before I decide to drag you from there..."

And he did.

With quite a spectacular entrance.

Anton's eyes widened when he saw the figure suddenly appear behind Yashin, the umbrella raised over his head with one hand. There was no sound of the WOOSH that the Flash Step made. Yet he still managed to move with such terrifying speed. It was a remarkable feat, being able to disappear and re-appear so quickly without the use of a locomotive technique.

But that wasn't all.

When he swung the umbrella down to Yashin's head...

BOOSH!

The resulting collision caused a geyser of dirt to erupt violently around the two, a shockwave generated from that one blow. Anton, Oliver, and Angelika found themselves having to hold their ground against the pressure, for fear that they would have been knocked aside otherwise. The winds still continued to blow against them, and Oliver in particular had to shield his face with his arm in order to keep the air from blinding him.

"Jesus Christ, who is that?!" He shouted, taken completely aback by the new arrival.

Angelika, however, noticed and recognized him immediately, a small smile crossing her face. "So...I suppose that she sent help, after all..." She thought to herself, inwardly relieved by the sudden change of events.

"What the fuuuuuu-?!" Hyōryū exclaimed comically, flailing her arms before clinging to Anton for dear life, "who the hell is that?!?!?!"

Yashin was not a fool for goading a potential threat. After it had lunged, he merely tapped the pommel of his trident onto the ground, emanating a inverted triangle formation on the blade before wide-spreading it over his form with rapid speed, meeting the collision with incredible timing. Yashin inwardly was thankful for not taking him lightly, for any less might've actually broken through.

A smile graced his face with predatorial anticipation as his red eye gleamed menacingly at the oncomer, "Who are you, strong warrior?" The inverted, violet-lined triangle shield cracked against the umbrella, showing just how much pressure the warrior put into his attack.

"Interesting...if that's what he can do with just an umbrella...I wonder what he can do with a real weapon?" Yashin pondered with intrigue.

The crimson-eyed stranger met Yashin's gaze. There was no defiance, yet there was no submission seen within his stare. For a moment, he pitted his strength against the demon's own, his parasol fighting against the trident for dominance. Yet there was no expression on his face that conveyed that he was putting effort into it, despite the tension of his body.

There was only cold serenity.

He simply allowed him to say five words.

"Shinji Konno. A friend of your enemy, and one of many..."

VOOM!

The umbrella opened up briefly, and the air current generated was enough to blow Yashin back a considerable distance. The stranger, in turn, straightened up and closed it back before lowering it to his side. He kept his pose ready in a manner that showed that he was willing to continue battle. But from the way he stood, it was also clear that he was trying to force Yashin into a retreat.

"Tsk, tsk, rather touchy are we?" Yashin asked aloud, as the soles of his feet skid across the ground straight into the side of a building, cracking it due to the force. He walked forward as if he had merely been pushed by a breeze, contrary upon what everyone saw.

"Let's play, shall we?" He raised his trident towards him, a violet-black aura took upon the weapon, the Spiritual Pressure from his Gate of the Demon could be felt, shaking and quaking the earth around him, crackling energies as a smile danced on his nonchalant face, with the predatorial desire within his red-lettered eye while his blue one dialated.

Three arcane circles appeared on each edge of his trident, forming a upright triangle formation as he spoke rapidly, "Triplicem vis, Obscura tonitribus hastae!" (Eng Lit Translation, "Triple Force, Dark Thunder Spears.")

CRRRAAAACK-BOOOM!

As the arcane symbols spun and crackled violently, three violet-black lightning bolts threw themselves with immense force at Shinji, enough so if struck directly it would slice through him while pummeling him into the ground that would shake the ground and air around.

The crimson-eyed opponent reacted accordingly.

Once again, he opened up his umbrella and used it as a shield against the oncoming projectiles. With a violent clap of thunder, the lightning bolts struck the folds full-force. However, it did nothing to harm the young man behind the makeshift shield, and the umbrella only recieved minor scratches to it. Pulling the arm that held his weapon back, Shinji thrust it forward, but kept the umbrella open.

The result was another burst of wind. However, this blast was concentrated and unleashed like a pressurized torrent. Aside from potentially crushing Yashin's body if he didn't move, it would also destroy the entire lower level of the building behind him and force it to collapse.

Anton, now on the sidelines, could only watch with surprise. From the way the man fought, he was definitely no Shinigami. He sensed no energy from the umbrella, so it couldn't possibly be a Zanpakutō. However, he was showing himself capable of holding his own against Yashin when even Shadō had gotten beaten, even though it was just early on in the fight. It was so amazing. Just who was he?

Within the slow folds of time, Yashin's mind began to work and percieve all he knew about this newcomer. The way he used his umbrella was both an extension of his monstrous strength as well as his manipulation of the obvious element of wind. By opening the clasp of his umbrella he was able to both absorb the force and fury of Obscura tonitribus hastae, while also summoning a condensed or concentrated force of wind back at his targets. He didn't feel Spiritual Pressure from the umbrella, so it might be just a tool to manipulate elemental energy of sorts, so Yashin decided to play the guessing game as he used his wide array of knowledge on all things involving unique spiritual power.

Yashin smiled as he held out his left hand, whispering aloud, "Novis Singularitas," the violet cracking black orb of arcane power absorbed the entire pressurized gust of wind. Within a moment, Yashin opened his plam wider, turning the black orb into a violet sphere, releasing a micro burst of equal force towards at the bandaged man.

"Are you one of the few who follow the old arcane element magics, like the Shiba Clan?" Yashin probed with a curious tone, his smile retained its usual flair as he held his trident diagonally in front of his form, turning into a sideways stance as he grabbed the other end of trident, readying for a counterattack.

If he hadn't been addressed, Shinji would've attacked immediately.

Once again, Shinji opened up his umbrella and dug his feet in, pointing it at the blast. It slammed into his barrier, forcing him skidding back a few inches. However, it did not move him much from his spot, and it didn't shake the stubborn, stone-wall foundation he had built around himself. He lowered his umbrella, closing it again in order to look at Yashin.

"...I do hope you're joking." He said bluntly, his eyes narrowing. "Magic and tricks mean nothing to a soul of the Rukongai."

"And they certainly means nothing to the likes of the V-14..."

Another voice, familiar to only Angelika, cut through the brief silence that had ensued between the two.

To the side of Yashin, the feminine figure of a woman stepped into view, a spear in her hands. Though it seemed like she was nothing more than a Rukongai soul at first glance, the professional stance she was taking with the spear said otherwise. That, as well as her casual demeanor towards Yashin, made it all too clear that she was not what she seemed to be on the outside.

"But someone like you just wouldn't understand that..." She continued calmly, keeping the spear tip pointed at Yashin's direction. "Would you?"

Hyōryū's eyes were dialated as she watched the sheer...madness unfolding before her. This was the team Angelika talked about? They were...incredibly strong! The guy with the umbrella, Shinji Konno, was holding his own against Yashin, with just an umbrella!!! And the other woman...sounded like Angelika, but who was she?! Again, Hyōryū found herself banging her head against the ground, "I'm sorry, Anton! I don't think my mind can keep up with the craziness here!"

Above the confrontation, thunder crackled and rumbled above, a byproduct of Captain Takuji's earlier doing. The flashes of lightning illuminated and cast dangerous shadows upon the standing combatants, Yashin in particular cast a interested gaze back at the woman while turning to meet her halfway, keeping his posture perpindicular to either of their horizontal stances, so he could engage both of them at once if he had to.

"Souls of Rukonagi?" Yashin asked aloud, as if tasting the words for the first time in his expansive vocabulary. He stared her in the eyes, realizing veterancy and experience was with her, probably as long as Angelika Hartman. Then, he saw the familiarity, and began to chuckle, "I see. Won't tell me will you? I guess despite my knowledge of V-14, there are still some secrets to be ferreted out...like why Angelika Hartman's mentor has come to her aid and has formed another team of V-14. Truly remarkable. However,"

Yashin narrowed his crimson eye, glowing menacingly as his body became coated in a demonic feeling aura, shaking the air and space around him, warping emotions and sensations as he lifted his free hand towards her, "if you think you can crush a Dragon with mere words, you are blinded by your own mediocre power. Come then, Hartman's mentor, Shinji Konno. Your memories and strength will soon be forgotten...and become MINE!"

With a slamming motion of his trident's pommel, a snaking motion of black-violet hue flames flew towards the feet of both the spear armed woman and Shinji, simultaneously. (Eng Lit Translation, "Dark Dragon Crawl,") "Obscura Draco Reptant!" With a swift blink of an eye initiation, two violet edged black dragon heads formed, discharging insanely hot flames in their direction, aiming to incinerate them both with the explosive pyrotechnic force.

Anton raised his head up just as the dragon heads were unleashed upon their respective opponents, who readied themselves in unison. The heat from the flames caused him to sweat once again, and he had to shield his face in order to keep it from being singed. "You know what?! I think I can sympathize with you on this one..." He managed to speak to her over the roar of the flames. "All I hope is that they survive to give us a remedy to it!!"

Shinji, on his end, closed his umbrella, raised it over his head, and swung it in order to beat back the flames. The wind collided with the fire, averting it to scatter in nearly all directions, like a shotgun's pellets spreading out. Fortunately, the wounded V-14 members were kept safe from the fire as it spread outwards. The heat from the flames lit up the area and caused Shinji to sweat as much as Anton was, but other than that, he remained stable.

On the woman's end, she simply settled into a stance, the spear pointed directly into the flames. Then she allowed herself to speak.

"Tamashī no Sonshitsu..."

VOOSH!

From a visual distance, the flames seemed to consume her whole. However, in reality, they had been separated into two walls which soared past her. She shivered, feeling the heat singe her skin as well as the pink kimono she was wearing. But she kept a smile on her face, one that didn't hold any malice... but rather, it held confidence and faith in what she was doing.

This would be with a reason.

As the spear tip cut through the flames, Yashin would feel a searing pain tear through his entire body. No wound would appear on the outside. But on the inside, he would feel as though the very spear the woman held was tearing through his body as slowly and painfully as it was tearing through the fire.

"What is this...sensation?" Yashin twitched and clenched at his chest, feeling the pain cut into his nerves without any physical contact. He reached into the depths of his mind to analyze and answer the situation that just occured. He then smiled, snaking his tongue out and licked the edges of his mouth as he asked in a predatorially delighted tone, "what sword style did you just use, woman?"

He reached out with his trident towards her, while snapping a finger with his left, errecting a tall wall of transparent violet-black energy, named Obscura Vacansque Muro. (Eng Lit Translation, "Dark Void Wall.")

"I want to play with you now, swordwoman," he said as he stepped closer with one footstep after the other, as his aura came back with full pressure, his trident lit up with blazing black-violet energy as his crimson eye bore upon her, "I want you to do that delicious trick on me again. Show me your secrets!"

"My, my..." The woman's eyes squinted out of slight disbelief, her smile fading to a frown. "You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Nevertheless, she readied herself into a stable stance, her eyes narrowed in concentration. "If you wish, I shall cut you up into as many pieces as you like..."

She tightened her grip as the man came closer to her, her body filled with apprehension but her stance firm.

"I will not give myself... or my comrades... to the likes of you, demon!"

It seemed that for the time being, the heat was taken off of Shinji, and he didn't waste his time in order to utilize it to full effect. With another swing, he blew the flames from his path and calmly walked towards the wounded V-14 group, his crimson gaze locking on to all of them. As he approached, he clicked his personal earpiece again with his free hand while balancing the umbrella on his shoulder with the other. "Saruwatari, G-T-L has engaged the target and has cleared the pathway for you. I have at least two wounded, over."

"Roger wilco, good buddy!" A young, mirthful male voice spoke on the other end. "Rika and I'll be there as soon as we can, over!"

"Affirmative. Konno out."

With that, he clicked off the earpiece, and was now standing in the midst of the V-14 group. He was sure all of their eyes were on him now, but he kept his gaze locked onto Angelika. "It seems that you have earned yourself a great deal of trouble, my lady..." He commented, looking around to the others. "I suppose that the constant fighting you had to endure finally broke your defenses...."

"Tch!" Oliver scoffed, lifting himself up to his feet and dusting himself off. "For the rest of these guys, maybe. I'm still locked and loaded!"

"Idiot! I'm fully loaded and have the bigger guns, bastard!" Hyōryū growled, taking her bruised face off the ground and glared at Oliver.

"Demon? Such a generic, limited point of view could only label those they can't understand with horrifying command over the darkest of power," Yashin spoke with a humored, unimpressed tone as he walked towards her with not the bit least fear towards the masterful swordswoman, "that's what seperates you humans from true gods. Those who understand and don't. I have near total understanding of this world and the one prior to this one. You,"

He leaped forward with incredible speed, it was only a mere heartbeat before he appeared before her slashing a diagonal arc with his trident, sending a cutting stream of black-violet spiritual energy towards her, that would reduce the landscape for several dozen meters into a precise, incinerated cut, "will just be my foothold into claiming one more piece of understanding the universe, Dark Angel!"

"Yeah, well, you're also clinging to your boyfriend there." Oliver taunted, fixing a glare right back at Hyōryū. "Oh, and might I mention the fact that your mind is so full of fuck right now, as you've clearly been telling all of us for the last few minutes? You're better off just giving me that gun and letting me shoot it for a while!"

This immediately caused Shinji to turn his eyes away from them and back to Angelika, clearly not interested in such petty arguments. His eyes, however, caught the attention of something that remained out of place even in the war-torn setting - the prostrate form of Sakura. "A Lieutenant without her Captain...?" He muttered to himself, walking over to her and kneeling beside her. "10th Division... I suppose that she fulfilled her purpose if her Captain callously left her here in the hands of her enemies."

Slowly, he extended his arms out and scooped her up bridal style, walking towards Angelika once more. Once he stopped in front of her, he bent down to place her beside the form of Shadō. "V-14 knows no mortal enemies..." He spoke quietly, closing his eyes. "Shall I have her healed, as well?"

This got Angelika thinking about it, her eyes furrowed slightly. Despite the obvious disdain she had for Soul Society, it provided no excuse for her to break her rule of "no mortal enemies". And she had gone out of her way to protect them when they were in trouble... so in return, this could be sufficient payment until they crossed paths once again.

"If she is injured..." Angelika finally allowed herself to say. "Then have her healed. She can go back to the Seireitei where she belongs... if Shindō bothered to pay attention to her presence at all..."

On the woman's end, a slight gasp came from her when Yashin reappeared in front of her.

However, she was ready.

BING!

With a swing of the spear's staff, she connected with his blade. The energy unleashed by him rippled all around her, the winds blowing against her viciously. But she held her ground, keeping her weapon locked with his in a struggle. "You want to lecture me about power, my friend?" She spoke, frowning in slight disdain. "Then allow me to tell you this. Your power, no matter how much you attempt to exert it on me, will never have any effect. As far as I'm concerned, you are the one who doesn't understand!"

Then, she pushed even harder as the energy continued to flow violently from his sword. This time, Yashin would experience the sensation of his body slowly being crushed inward. The more the woman exerted her physical strength, the more horrendous the pain would be.

C-CLICK!

"Just think about touching him, and I'll shoot your balls off, saavy?" Hyōryū aimed her Jackal at Oliver's parts, her eyes narrowed and threatening, the thought of anyone handling the Executor other than her own two hands made her quite protective and enraged.

"So...I see you have either a blade that sends a invisible cutting force that directs it past the opponent's attack and into their very nerve receptors," Yashin spoke without pause, his blade keeping her back while his brows twitched and his lips quivered with a near to unknown thrilling sensation, "or your directing sheer empath energy into me that affects my nervous system through my spiritual energy itself. Either case being," he raised his left hand up, a arcane rune emerged from beneath her feet, "Obscura Vacansque Prisma!"

A pillar of dark spiritual energy discharged around her, solidifying within seconds as it hardened into a crystalline prism made of binding energy, threatening to immobilize her thoroughly.

"With this I can properly examine her body, energy and mind. All the secrets of this universe will be mine, after all. One more soul will help me reach that, as well as quell this annoyance, V-14!..."

"Oh..." Oliver grinned widely, even as she had her gun aimed towards his parts. "So now it's a him? Anton, I think she's cheatin' on you with her own guns!!" At that, he exploded into laughter, holding his gut and promptly falling over due to the heartiness of his chortles. This caused Anton to sweatdrop, shaking his head sagely.

"Only you would have a gun pointed towards your jewels and laugh like a lunatic, Holmes... only you..."

"He can solidify his energy?!"

The woman's eyes widened in surprise as the energy solidified around her, and she only had a moment to pull her spear away and thrust the tip into the ground before it enveloped her completely within its hold. Her expression was frozen, and so was the rest of her body. The binding spell had trapped her completely within its hold, and she was rendered completely vulnerable to him.

Or, so it seemed.

It would be the moment where the pain and agony would be at its limit.

A burning sensation would sweep through Yashin's body, and the very fabric of his being would feel like it would be torn apart. Through the frozen energy, the woman held a glare towards the man, narrowed eyes staring directly into his face. "You can make all the guesses you want... but it still doesn't mean that you're correct..." She said coolly. "You'll only destroy yourself trying..."

Hyōryū cocked her gun, not backing down even as he laughed, looking over to Anton with puppy eyes, "Can I kill his children? Its only fair considering he threatened to take our baby, and I don't want him touching him without my hands holding him. Can I please?"

Anton sighed heavily, shaking his head sagely once more and folding his arms across his chest. "No, you can't kill his children. They might take a turn away from their father and actually grow up to be productive members of society." He answered dryly. Thankfully, his voice was low enough not to be heard by the laughing Oliver.

Yashin eyes twitched and widened, as his left palm grasped his face, the prism shattered and dissipated into nothingness. At first, it sounded like Yashin was actually suffering, as long breathed grunts and hisses emanated his mouth. However, it turned to be all a facade as those hisses turned into a low throated filled chuckle, raising back up to his full height with his trident held aloft, no longer looking as if he'd attack immediately.

Yashin glowed all over a bright crimson, as his eye studied her ferviously before he closed his eyes chuckling to himself, "That ability...of yours is truly frightening. Turning any aggressive force of an enemy back onto them with a simple cut of your blade in the form a form of pain overload. You don't even need to be mobile in order to send that kind of attack at me. However," his body sent a wave of crimson smoke from his pores before his longcoat flourished with his tie and hair in a dramatic fashion, as stopped quivering and showed no more signs of being affected by the pain waves, "if I nullify all foreign matter within my body's senses, then no pain will touch me. You however," his eye switched from "Demon" to "Nightmare" the kanji numerical letter for One, appeared, as he whispered almost vehemently evil, "I can make your senses so distraught you will feel like you're in a universal nightmare for eternity within only a matter of seconds!"

Everything outside the woman's field of vision, taste, touch, smell, and hearing suddenly disappeared within a void, as Yashin's blazing red eye suddenly consumed the entire background of her senses. She would feel the most horrifying sensations wrack her body as her worst fears and failures would be dragged up, distorted, and twisted to make this psychological nightmare further break her. Its a technique that Yashin would turn the psyche of his opponent against him, much in the same manner of a body's immune system's white blood cells attacking the red blood cells, her own subconscious will begin destroying and eating away at her mind. Yashin called it, Visio Nocturna de Vacansque, the Nightmare of the Void.

"How does it feel knowing that everything you held secret being probed and twisted against you...Asuka Sakamato?" His voice rang within her nightmare realm, to her would feel like echoing within a few weeks while it only took a few second sfor him to say it.

Within the distance however, someone had managed to past through the barrier of Non-Sensory and began moving at a high speed. His armor clinked, his muscles pulsed, and his soles crackled at the movement he created to gain speed upon the battle within the Soul Society. Though his true purpose...was currently unknown, the sword sheathed to his backside showed he meant to fight. And fight he will...!

In the illusion that was created, the said Asuka had been hit full-force.

Her eyes dilated completely, and she found herself falling down on her knees. Sweat was falling down her face at a rapid rate, and she found her body shaking uncontrollably. She gritted her teeth and shut her eyes, tears flowing out of them involuntarily at the immense agony she was feeling. She gripped her spear tightly in her shaking hands, the illusion clearly having its effect on her. Her breaths became ragged, and she found it harder and harder to maintain her calm composure. She knew that if she had anything else in her arsenal, this certainly would've broken her.

But now, she had him.

Slowly, she stood up, her bangs overshadowing her eyes that continued to cry. Her arms slowly pulled the spear back behind her, both hands gripping the staff like a bat. Her heart was racing madly within her chest, and her nerves had been rattled to the point of her wondering whether or not she could actually follow through with the movement. He had literally invaded her with his powers... but that, as far as her sword style was concerned, put him at a fatal disadvantage. Maybe with this strike, she would allow him to understand her powers firsthand.

She took in a deep, shaky breath...

...and then she swung her spear.

WOOSH!

"If you're eager for knowledge... then I shall tell you. My sword style was specifically meant to combat opponents like you. Every time you use an offensive ability like you just did.... every time you release your energy in order to kill me... you exert your "influence" as well as a part of yourself on me. The more powerful your influence grows, the more vulnerable you allow yourself to become to my sword. My technique allows me to cut that part of you that you extend over me. That's what this ability is... and now that you've forcefully exerted yourself over my mind..."

Her eyes slowly opened up.

"I can kill you..."

SPLURCH!

This time, instead of just a sensation, a wound actually appeared on Yashin. A gash severed halfway through his waist, and could've easily cut him into two pieces.

"Gak-!" Yashin's mouth splurted blood from his throat, as a look of surprise took hold of facial features, sweating and twitching. Then, he laughed as if he had nothing holding him back, "thank you for that information. But there's one problem with your sword style against me..."

His form suddenly bled and exploded in front of her in a horrific manner, before swallowing her in a ocean of blood as his voice penetrated into her mind and soul, "This is your subconscious' actions, not mine. All I did was send some distortions within your mind through my influence to make your mind attack yourself. Making all forms of counterattack...irrelevent, when you're mind is tricking you one way to another."

Yashin watched humored from the side as he circled around the delusioned Asuka, seeing that for once the blade did not cut his body nor caused him pain. He dared not underestimate her, so he kept all outside foreign senses to a minimum while he observed her with fascination. "To think Angelika Hartman would have such a fierce, rare woman as a mentor. I'll enjoy swaying you to my rule when your mind has crushed your spirit and body entirely."

"!!!"

That almost caused Asuka's heart to stop beating.

It was confirmed now. She was effectively trapped into a corner, and now the tables had turned. If she knew that he would've unleashed such a tactical maneuver, then she would have finished the fight earlier. A weak smile crossed her face, even as she kept her form faced towards him. She would have to find another way to break the illusion placed on her mind before he could unleash his full power on her.

So far, she saw nothing but a monster. Her blows should've incapacitated him or even killed him already at that point. But somehow, he was still standing. This was certainly no normal opponent she had faced before. It was certainly a scary thought, being faced with an entity that didn't match up to your expectations or knowledge. Maybe he was right in what he had said earlier...

And on top of that, his eyes constantly on her form was somewhat unnerving. It was like a vulture circling her prey... a street rat circling a potential rape victim... and it was a perfect simile for the situation at hand.

"I take back what I said before about you..." She muttered hoarsely. "You're not a demon. You're a monster..."

Yashin chuckled as he raised his trident to tip her chin up towards him, despite her conscious mind having no ability to discern his current location or form, he enjoyed tormenting his prey in this manner. He rubbed a cold, black leather glover over her face as he whispered, "Monsters are merely spouted in fairy tales to conjur nightmares. I am a living nightmare, so monsters, are merely my foot steps echoing in your mind. Now then," he then raised his palm towards her head, a crimson crackle began to give light, "let's see how much you like your nerve endings exceeding their limits and paralyzing you, from the inside out."

Then, as the thunder crackled and boomed above in the sky, a figure leaped towards Yashin while dive bombing. A yellow thunderous wave of energy came down, collecting the lightning bolt that happen to cross paths with him as he roared aloud, slicing downwards where Yashin's form was, forming a pillar of thunderous yellow energy.

Yashin had barely moved out of the way, as his red eye changed subtly to the Gate of the "Human" as his body moved with incredible speed and agility out of the path of intimidating attack. As his red eye glowed menacingly towards his direction, a amused smile danced on his face as more thunder and lightning illuminated his body, casting menacing shadows.

"Kenja Kodai," he spoke with a delighted, low tone, waving his free hand with emphasis, "so nice for you to make an appearance."

Kenja's form was encased in crackling spiritual energy, his spiritual pressure rippled through the air as his face crossed between rage and bloodlust, the lightning cast equally fiercesome illuminations and shadows as his two eyes glowed yellow with a intimidating fashion, "Yashin!!!"

"Wow... so many people arriving on scene all for one measly group of mercenaries? I do believe you've hit some sort of record, boss lady."

Had the new voice not interrupted them, the V-14 members would've shown their full reaction towards the arrival of their old target.

Instead, all eyes shifted towards the form of the new figure and his companion, who was slinking behind the male as he walked. In contrast to that, the male had a mirthful smile on his face, his hands folded behind his back. He was approaching the scene as if there wasn't a raging fire all around them, as if he wasn't approaching a battlefield with the battle in progress. It was quite an amazing sight to see, considering the youthful appearance he had.

"And here comes the next contestants, ladies and gentlemen!" Oliver howled, mimicking a ring wrestling announcer who was...well... announcing the names and titles of the combatants involved. "In that corner, weighing in about a pathetic 90 pounds-- oh, fuck it!" He abruptly stopped himself, folding his arms across his chest and rolling his eyes. "Now, I'm not going to be surprised if everyone and their grandmother started coming to this very location..."

"Yusuke, I need you to heal these individuals." Shinji lifted a finger to point at the bodies of Shadō, Sakura, Anton, and even Angelika as he spoke. "Make sure they're stable and check for any possible anomalies within their systems."

"Yes, sir, ma'am, sir!" With a quick mock salute, Yusuke quickly kneeled over the forms of Shadō and Sakura with his palms raised over each of them. He closed his eyes, bowing his head and focusing his energy. His hands gave off a blue glow, which spread to their unconscious forms.

"Well..." Anton took in a heavy breath, dusting himself off. "We might as well get acquainted while the heat's off us for the time being." He turned towards Hyōryū, smiling a little while offering her his hand so that he could pull her up onto her feet. "Shall we?"

Hyōryū smiled, warily looking towards their ex-target and Yashin's direction before taking his hand, letting herself be pulled up and halfway into his embrace, "Yes...I'd like that," she said with a soft smile, something that was uncharacteristic of her, yet refreshing.

Yashin stood up, looking directly at Kenja before taking a look at new arrivals, "Problematic...drawing a crowd will only cause trouble. I don't know if I can keep this quiet any longer," he spoke nonchalantly, sighing in a resigned form before looking at the enraged Kenja, saying, "it would've been fun...to play with you again, seeing how much stronger you've become. But, I'm afraid we've run out of time."

Swish, swish, swish, swish, clap!

Yashin made several hand signs, having kept his trident in hand while doing so before slamming the pommel into the ground, as a blue tear of flames opened up and showed a rolling flaming pit below him. It was a portal of transportation, guided through Hell!

"Let's catch up some time, hmmm?" Yashin said before he fell threw the hole he created, not before Kenja roared out, lunging after him and slamming a pillar of yellow energy where he once stood.

"COME BACK, COWARD!!!" Kenja roared, out into the air, his sword held aloft as another striking thunderclap lit up the air before a sheet of rain began to pelt the ground, wettening and clicking upon Kenja's Fullbring and body, as well as the rest of the accounted for individuals.

Meet the team! Reunions and New Faces
"And finally he retreats..." Oliver muttered, allowing himself to stand up and dust himself off. He shut his eyes and raised his arm up instinctively when the rain fell upon him. The cold feeling sent a shiver down his spine, and he shook his head a little in order to get rid of the feeling. "Only took about a dozen reinforcements to make him do so!" A scowl crossed his face, and he walked just as Hyōryū and Anton were passing by him in order to approach the newcomers.

On Asuka's end, she had fallen to her knees, one of her hands clutching at her face. She was breathing hard, her body still shivering from the effects of the psychological torture he had inflicted on her. It was a wonder how she had come out with her rationality and sanity still intact... maybe if she were a lesser being, she would've been worse off... but, at the very last, Yashin had been driven off, even if it wasn't by her hand personally.

Now, she had to worry about recovering.

As she stayed to recompose herself, Shinji looked over at the approaching trio and calmly stepped out of the way to make room for them, so that they could see the sitting form of Angelika as well as the prostrate forms of Sakura and Shadō. The medic, in turn, looked up from his work in order to eye the two of them out of curiosity. It lasted only for a brief moment, however, before the cheery smile came back to his face again.

"Sorry it took so long to get here..." He said. "I hope it wasn't too bad for you all."

Angelika cleared her throat before speaking up. "This was certainly most unexpected..." She began, her voice firm. "I wasn't expecting you for a week or so. Why the early appearance?"

"We managed to sight out the destruction from our location..." Shinji explained. "Rika pinpointed it and deduced that it was where Beta Team's safehouse was at. All we had to do was ready ourselves and come here."

Hyōryū arched a brow and looked to Shinji, holding onto Anton's waist as she found him almost...intriguing. His appearance was even more standoffish than Shadō's, being bandaged and having a pair of red crimson eyes, while speaking in a matter-of-fact tone. She decided to play nice, as she waved over to Shinji, "I'm just glad you came when you did. You're a helluva fighter, Shinji with that umbrella! How did you get so strong? My name's Hyōryū Fūsoku, by the way...."

"Hyōryū Fusoku, hm?"

Shinji's eyes drifted towards her with an almost mechanical movement. "I was informed that Alpha and Beta Team were home to some of the most skilled gunmen in existence. Yet I see that you've somehow managed to bite off more than you could chew. Apparently, you're nothing more than a hyped-up disappointment."

C-CLICK, WHIRRRRRR!

"Don't make me use my baby on you just cause of an petty insult, Shinji!" Hyōryū glared darkly as she swung with ease the large Executor towards Shinji's chest, the cold metal rested against his chest as the rain pelted its metalic surface.

Had it been anyone else, Shinji would've flinched.

However, he didn't even bat an eyelash towards the gun that would've split him apart at point-blank range. Even as the cold metal graced his skin, he continued to stare into Hyōryū's eyes with a cold serenity. It was clear that the threat of death did not phase him any, if that was what his ally was trying to use on him. All of that could be conveyed within those next few seconds.

Until...

"Hey, hey, hey, wait a minute!" Anton immediately raised his free hand up in a signal to stop both of them, a sheepish smile crossing his face. "Let's not start pointing guns at each other right after we've dealt with such a tough enemy! I mean, these are the new guys, after all!"

"Quite..." Angelika spoke calmly. "Besides, there are obviously the unregistered elements to take care of." She nodded towards Sakura and Kenja in order to make that particular point clear.

"Tch!" Hyōryū hissed, raising the behemoth rifle away from Shinji to rest on her shoulder, squeezing Anton's waist semi-appreciatively, "it'd be a waste to shoot such a small target anyways..."

Kenja looked to Angelika, heaving his large sword onto his shoulder with a metalic clank as the rain pelted his face and armor. He walked over with a grim, neutral disposition on his face as he walked to the leader of Angelika. He simply said in a knowing tone, "You were hit hard...both by the Inner Circle and the Soul Society, huh, Angelika?"

A slow smile crossed Angelika's face, her lone eye drifting towards the man as he came closer. "I knew there was a benefit for sparing you..." She said coolly, turning away from him and keeping her eyes locked on the two bodies in front of her. "Though I can only assume your reason for coming wasn't pulling us out of harm's way..."

"Yeah, what exactly are you here for, Cleaver?" Oliver questioned, folding his arms across his chest and cocking an eyebrow. "Just suddenly decided that it was a good time to make a big and heroic entrance?"

Kenja arched her brow, retorting back, "I see you're still the sharp one of the bunch. Not like those bark with toothless mouths around you," Kenja sneered slightly at Oliver before continuing, "the Inner Circle has been making some interesting...movements within the past few days. I thought with E-Day affecting nearly every living thing in both planes of existence, the Inner Circle would give some pause. But," he turned to the wreckage around him, as well as gazing upon the two bodies in front of him that were being healed, "there are two major players that are taking major steps in acquiring their objectives and goals. Yashin being one of them and the other goes by the alias, the Mist Eye. Both, are what the Inner Circle call Dragons, the lieutenants of the Four Horsemen of which I have yet to identify personally."

"All right, that settles for these two..."

Yusuke stopped the flow of healing energy, moving over so that he was positioned on Angelika's injured side. "Next, your arm, boss lady..." He said, raising his hands out towards her and placing his palms on her. Once again, his hands began to glow with the light blue energy as he worked.

"So there is a worse person behind the mind of an already manipulative bastard..." Anton summarized, giving a heavy sigh and slapping a palm to his face. "Just super, just when we thought our day couldn't get any worse..."

"Add the fact that there are other people beside him who like to turn plots into a game of chess, and we've got the cherry on the very top this shit-sundae..." Oliver added with a calm, mild irritation, reaching out to scratch his nose. "Suddenly, I'm starting to hate this so-called Inner Circle even more than I thought I would..."

Angelika remained silent, her eyes closed and her head lowered slightly.

Hyōryū looked over at Angelika's arm that was being healed, saying in a bitter knowing tone, "That, and the Soul Society has had enough of our dealings to the point where they're condoning full-scale military operations within their own city. One more reason why I hate this f'ing place, damn them all..."

Kenja sheathed his sword with a fluid motion as the rain continued to pour down on them, he crossed his arms while looking around them, "I hate to make things turn sour, but when Yashin entered this area he put up a sensory shield that blanketed the 12th Division's information network as well as any other countermeasures they have up. It will be going down within a few minutes, and I'd hate to see you guys take on any more fights with how relentless the Gotei 13 are...I'll help you get to whatever HQ you have and share intel that I've gathered on the Inner Circle, for one condition."

Everything always had a condition to them.

"And that would be?" Angelika questioned, not bothering to look up as Yusuke continued to heal her arm. Her ear perked up when she heard Asuka slowly pick herself off of the ground and walk towards them, the pattern of her footsteps mildly unsteady.

"Food & Board, that's all I ask," Kenja asked with a blank look on his face, as the question came out more comical than expected.

Hyōryū mildly remembered that the place he was eating when they took the contract on his life. It was the equivalent of a soup kitchen, in one of the more dirt poor regions of Rukonagi. Then again, all sectors of Rukonagi was near to dead poor. It was only people like V-14 that thrived off the underworld and scum that collects within the misfortunate and broken.

The question was enough to make Anton and Oliver nearly face-fault on the ground.

"W-wait a minute!!" Oliver stammered, managing to recover quickly from nearly falling over in order to stare in disbelief and shock at the man. "With the records we've read about you and all the shit you've been doing, you should be getting paid big time by someone!! I mean..." He threw his hands up in the air. "You're going up against the Inner Circle, of all organizations, man!! You can't seriously be telling me that you're doing that much without getting paid at all!!"

Anton managed an amused smile. "Good deeds may go unpunished, but they can also go unrewarded, it seems..." He said lightly. "But I was under the assumption that his demand was going to be something a lot more taxing-- huh?" His weary expression gained a bit of surprise when he saw Yusuke re-appear beside him, flexing his gloved fingers.

"Oi, Boobies..." He drawled casually, his tone directed towards Hyōryū. "You mind dropping him so I can finish up my business here? You can have him back after I'm done."

"...please don't let go of me, Hyōryū. I beg of you..."

The demand made Angelika opened her lone eye to a half-lidded position, and she turned towards him with a quirk of her eyebrow. She thought about it for a moment more. Because of their wealthy status, the V-14 didn't really have a problem with housing multiple personnel within a home. Considering that they were going to a warehouse, it was a worry that she could throw to the back of her mind without hesitation.

"Well--"

"Of course!"

Angelika was promptly interrupted by Asuka as she finally made it to their location. One of the elder woman's arms wrapped around Kenja's neck and playfully pulled him closer to her. The woman herself had her eyes squinted shut and a cheery smile on her face. "Not one of us would deny someone who's gone out of their way to help us out. Illegal mercenaries we may be, but heartless monsters we are not."

Sakura's eyes opened faintly, the dampness and cold moist texture of her clothing, that hugged and revealed curves to her body that would be eye candy for anyone to look upon her ragged beaten appearance. She felt the affects of her Tsuinshokku-Jū Ken were lost and she had felt someone else's spirit energy faintly, residually within hers. She blinked and looked over at the one responsible, easily deducing which one was the medic. However...as a result, she also felt every muscle and tendon in her body creak and groan in resistance of movement. She hissed faintly as she tried to stand upright, barely managing to sit up before clenching onto her torso and arms, "Ooooohhhh..."

Hyōryū narrowed her eyes to a dangerous squint, as a target reticle formed in her mind over multiple locations on his form. She felt her trigger finger twitch at the name call, feeling the need to unload her Jackals on her newfound, irritating comrade. But, she held Anton close, saying a deadpan, "No. Thank. You. Saavy?"

Kenja twitched at being glomped so suddenly, his eyes briefly buggered out owlishly before locking onto the garishly colorful wearing woman who acted so playfully with him. Though, in that brief contact, something sparked across her clothed form and into his skin, causing him to shudder. With a slight knowing look, he cleared his throat as he tried to peel her arm off his shoulders, "Yes well...thank you...I guess...as for the reason I'm doing this," he bowed his head, a slight shadow cast over his eyes as he spoke darkly, with a slight mournful undertone within his speech, "its much more personal than actual profitable venture I'm doing this for."

Yusuke shrugged. "Okey dokey lokey, Boobies. Have it your way--"

However, his speech was interrupted and all eyes immediately turned towards Sakura as she woke up, with varying degrees of surprise and wariness evident. Angelika shifted her position so that she would be kneeling on one knee, her lone eye observing Sakura as she woke up.

"Did you have a good nap, little puppy...?" The woman said, not hiding the mockery within her calm and composed tone or the amusement she held towards the aches that the Lieutenant was feeling right now.

Sakura turned to see her benefactor's leader, briefly wincing and grimacing at her position. Then she slowly turned around and got onto her hands and knees, bowing her head before Angelika, "I humbly thank you for healing me and caring for me. If you'd allow me, I will return to my Captain and never speak of what has happened to him."

Hyōryū arched her brow at Sakura, ignoring the rude comment from the medic compatriot, leaning into Anton as she spoke, "Just like that? We forget the fact you and your Captain led a military raid on our safehouse just because you got your ass owned by a common enemy? I say we dump her ass at the 10th Division's barracks with a nasty note of how much we love 10th Division hospitality."

"No shit..." Oliver growled, quick-drawing a pistol up to point at the back of Sakura's head once again. "We let you go, and you're just going to chase us again in order to capture us. We kill you, and we'll have one less person off our backs. I think your odds are looking pretty shitty, don't you agree? You should've just went back with your Captain, sweet-heart." After the way she had immobilized him on the wall, he was more than ready to deliver swift retribution to her for it.

"Kenja was certainly an exception..." Anton said, a scowl coming to his face as he fixed a glare at Sakura as well. "But what's the point of letting an enemy free if she's just going to come back to bite us later on? We'd be better off killing you and be done with you. Your heroism, brave as it is, just doesn't have a place in the likes of those who strive to survi--"

WHAM!

Hhe was immediately interrupted by the sound of Angelika's hand delivering a swift karate chop to the back of Sakura's neck, knocking her unconscious. "You're right..." She said coolly, standing back up and dusting herself off. "Things won't change no matter what we do. We're still going to be hunted. So, at the very best, we should take advantage of a good situation while we still have it." She turned her attention to Shinji. "Shinji. Carry this girl. From this point forth, she's going to be our little prisoner..."

"Yes, ma'am." With a quick bow, Shinji quickly moved to pick up Sakura once again and slung her over his shoulders like a sack of flour.

Kenja looked slightly disinterested at the situation, caring less what would happen to a dog of the Seireitei's military, considering so many were at odds with him. But as he heard Angelika's word "prisoner" he gritted his teeth before taking a swift step forward and placed a vice grip on Shinji's shoulder, one of the few people present that could stop him physically.

"Angelika, I've decided to add another term for my stay at your little headquarters," he cocked his head to the side, giving her a impassive stoic stare at her, saying lowly, "make sure not to abuse her body and keep her fed within a acceptable parameter. That's all, I don't care what other restraints or state the prison you use."

Hyōryū growled, pointing a finger at him demandingly, "Oi, Bastard! Since when do you make demands to us-?!"

"Of course."

Though slightly disdainful, Angelika readily agreed and cut off Hyōryū before she could exclaim her defiance. As much as she resented the girl personally, it wasn't enough to consider outright torture. She would keep the woman restrained to the point of being unable to fight or escape, but other than that, she would bring no harm. After all, if she was to be returned in severely injured condition, it would enrage Takuji even further than he probably was. And it already was apparent that brute force would not be enough to stop him.

Shinji let out an annoyed growl, clearly not liking the fact that Kenja had been courageous enough to place his hands on him. With a rough tug, he pulled himself away from him and shifted the umbrella underneath one of his arms. In order to assure Kenja and Angelika, he scooped her up bridal style and nodded to all of them - a clear sign that he was ready.

"Oliver." Angelika ordered immediately, pointing over towards the blonde as he re-sheathed his gun. "You take care of Shadō."

"Mhm..." The blonde grunted, the annoyance fading away immediately as he moved towards the body in order to sling the unconscious man over his shoulders.

Kenja briefly glared at Shinji as he released his hand, flexing it as though he felt something else when he touched the shoulder and clothing of Shinji. He then nodded his head thankfully to Angelika before taking quick flat look at Hyōryū, causing her to grind her teeth.

"Anton," Hyōryū whispered as they began trotting to Team Gamma's headquarters, "after we get rested...do me a favor and actually kick someone's ass this time."

"...eeyup..." Anton grumbled, too annoyed to make much of a response back to her. He didn't like the fact that they would now have to spend his moments with someone he would personally see dead. But he would respect Angelika's decision of allowing her to live as a prisoner.

"To the newcomers..." Angelika spoke, hands in her pockets as she walked. "I do apologize for the rough start for your newfound career. But I hope you'll find that in time, things will grow to be better. Once we're at the warehouse, we can become fully acquainted with one another and settle in."

"I want a donut." Yusuke deadpanned.

"I second that! And some roast beef stew! And some ramen...ah heck, anything you have in the fridge I'll devour!" Kenja began comically drooling as his stomach began to growl above the pattering of the rain that soaked all those who were present. He laughed sheepishly, "Sorry...being a powerful Fullbringer means I have to keep in shape as well as eat a lot."

Hyōryū eyed him up and down, gulping slightly, "Just...how good in shape are you?"

"Huh?" Kenja cocked his head to the side with query.

"Nothing, forget it!" She began blushing hotly before letting her bangs cover her eyes as she kept walking with Anton, purposely dragging his worn form away from Kenja as far ahead as she could.

Unfortunately, her boyfriend saw the blush on her face.

And from that point on, he silently vowed to find the way to kill Kenja one-hundred different ways.

Getting Settled In
"My, my, Angel-chan... you've certainly gotten a bit softer over the years, haven't you? Had it been any other situation, I would've been right in saying you took no prisoners."

Asuka was sitting cross-legged in a soft seat, sipping a cup of warm, green tea as she spoke. She, as well as the majority of the V-14, had situated themselves in the main room of the warehouse sub-rooms. Despite its nature, Gamma Team seemed to have made a home out of it. Everything looked just like something from a natural home, with furniture, television, and even decoration wallpapers covering the entirety of the walls. Everyone could easily get situated.

Among the people missing were Oliver, Yusuke, Shinji, Shadō, Anton, and Sakura. The latter of the three had been absent for various and obvious reasons. Anton and Shadō would need their rest in the medical wing, while Sakura had to be checked to make sure that she was properly contained. She would not be kept in a prison, but she would be inhibited, and it took the medic-nin's skills to see to that much.

"...please don't call me that..." Angelika closed her eyes, one of them twitching out of annoyance at her master's nickname. She herself was sitting in a chair opposite from Asuka. "You may have mentored me, but it doesn't mean you're free to do as you please. You're still my subordinate, after all..."

"Oh! That's right, I apologize." Despite her tone and expression, it was clear that Asuka was anything but apologetic. "It's become a habit of mine, I forgot how sensitive you get when you're being called that in front of your workers..."

"My my, ladies," Kenja said with a low whistle as his loud footsteps, now absent of the usual clanking of his Fullbring form, as he was now garbed in a hooded full-body black cloak, with black gloves and boots to boot, his personalized belt the only thing he kept from his original appearance, "you sure know how to set-up shop. Its a shame that you lost your other one."

"I had nothing to do with the set-up of these quarters..." Angelika answered readily, closing her eyes and resting her elbows on the arms of her chair. Her hands were folded in front of her face. "All the credit goes to Gamma Team."

While they spoke, there was another figure who had remained silent the whole trip. She sat farthest away from the group in total, her hands folded in her lap and her hair hiding the right side of her face. Clearly, she was trying to avoid talking to anyone and simply hope that she wouldn't be noticed.

"I see," Kenja grinned, with apparent praise in his eyes as he spoke to Asuka, "I heard you're the mentor of V-14's illustrious leader. The fact you were able to goad Yashin to take you seriously is...considerable. Usually he either toys with people or ignores them, usually a bit of both. Glad I got there in time to make him think twice," he said with a thankful, yet grim tone, crossing his arms as he looked over to the corner. He vaguely noticed the girl that was trying to keep to herself and isolate her location from everybody.

"Who's the wall flower over there?" Kenja asked rather bluntly, but made so in a purely inquisitive manner showing that he meant no offense to the girl shying away from them.

"Oh, her?"

Asuka put on a slight smile when she saw the girl immediately turn away, a slight blush on her face. "Oh, you're referring to Rika-chan?" She asked, her smile growing wider when she looked at Kenja. "Do not try to mind it much. She's not very vocal when it comes to... well... being vocal. But it's not because of something bad. She's just shy."

Kenja put on a wide grin as he looked at Rika, seeing her blush just made her seem more adorable. He could see from her attire and the way she looked she has a very beautiful, if not stunning looks. The dress complimented her in every way, and her long violet hair...Kenja looked back to Asuka, asking in a hushed tone, "Is she single? Or does she go for humans?"

If anything, Asuka's smile turned a bit mischievous, and she couldn't help but giggle in amusement. "Yes. She is single, if you really want to know..." She whispered back. "Though... you look quite older than her, Kenja-san... I didn't know you were one that went for the young ones, dirty old man..." She followed up this teasing statement with a closing of one of her eyes.

"Hey now," Kenja raised hands almost defensively, "I'm not that old, y'know. And here I thought all you people are like incredible long-lived. Wouldn't that make her like, older than what she really is?" Kenja tried to reason it out, as if there was some loophole for anyone to go after someone young-looking.

"Oh, you don't have to be so defensive about it..." Asuka answered readily, chuckling. "I really don't mind. It's not like I'm an overprotective mother looking after her daughter. If you wish, you're free to do whatever as you like... of course, if you can get past her shyness."

"Hehe, that's the trick, now isn't it?" Kenja said, looking over at Rika before winking at her.

"But...," Kenja looked back to Asuke and Angelika respectively, taking a seat across from both of them, leaning a muscular black wrapped arm, "I did come here for a reason. I came here to talk about Yashin and the Inner Circle, seeing as despite your knowledge of them, they seem to know more about you than you realize."

"I figured as much..." Angelika muttered grimly, a disdainful scowl crossing over her face. "Names, background, history we've had and relations we have with other organizations. Thanks to that demonic pest, our bodies are exposed for the prodding and the dissecting. It's a sickening side effect of the popularity we've gained in the criminal syndicate..."

Kenja leaned back on his chair, thrumming his fingers along the table as he heard her out, "Yashin is one of the most devious, if not most intelligent of the Inner Circle. Although I've never met the organization's leaders, the Four Horsemen, thankfully, if they want something done right they usually go to Yashin. So far he's eluded the entire Soul Society's military and intelligence operations for centuries, and his existence from what I've been able to dig up goes even farther back," Kenja pulled out a number of file folders with dates and places marked. Most of them being in the World of the Living.

"He's been interested in gaining knowledge of the universe as a whole. His methods for extending his network of agents, assassins, and enforcers is disturbingly effective and his means of executing or using other criminal organizations as he sees fit. No doubt, he paid you a visit indirectly when he called on your audience. Its best to presume the worst. He knows nearly every part of your past, your weaknesses, your relationships...the more he interacts with you, the more he finds out about your very being. He's a dangerous, sickening bastard who corrupts all that he touches. If anyone within the Inner Circle represents evil, its that man."

"Yes, that much we already understand..." Angelika allowed her gaze to drift forth to him when she spoke. "I had been watching the fight between him and my master and I saw the effects of the technique she used. That should've been enough to drive him away... but instead, it seemed to spur him on. Pain meant nothing to him."

Asuka sighed heavily, frowning. "I'm sorry... that was possibly my fault. I had a chance to deliver real wounds instead of just stimulation before he could use his illusionary powers on me, but I guess I was holding back too much. Nevertheless, you're right, Kenja. An immensely powerful being with a refusal to die, an insatiable hunger for knowledge, and the ability to shroud one's mind with the wave of his hand. Sounds to me like he was spawned straight from the depths of Hell..."

"Um... if I could interject...?"

The quiet voice of Rika finally spoke up, surprising Asuka and gaining her attention immediately.

Hearing the melodious, if not subtle voice tickling his ears Kenja turned around with a smile, he waved his hand in emphasis to the shy girl, "By all means. Speak freely, Rika."

"Well... for Yashin..." Rika suddenly found her head tilted downwards while she looked at all of them. "Prior to the fight he had with Asuka-dono, he seemed to have held no knowledge of her. It was the same for Shinji. But as the fight with Asuka progressed, he seemed to act as if he knew everything about her, particularly when he had used his illusions on her. I could see it within the shift in his movements and actions..."

"Its how he extends his control over others," Kenja said with grimace, but still held a admiring spark in his eyes towards the girl, as he emphasized to Rika as well as the two feminine leaders of V-14, "I felt it at first when I first met him. Its like his own emotions and desires flow into your being, slowly drowning and drugging you to the point where all that matters is his ideals and his will. Its not even something he as to do on purpose...because by being near him, he also takes on your very essence, the thoughts within your mind and the feelings within your soul. He can even trace the scars of your psyche back to its origins without trying. Its not really mind reading...its more like he's reading the book of your life by just extending his power over you. There is only one sure fire way of rejecting his will and brainwashed garbage he throws at you..."

"Yes...?" Asuka pressured, furrowing her eyebrows. "If you're going to tell us, don't bother to pause!"

Kenja wiggled his brows at her, saying, "You're cute when you're angry, but to the point, that's the only way to keep his influence from corrupting you. Rage, near utter blind anger, it totally keeps people from being warped by his presence."

This was something that kicked all minds into gear.

It was something so simple that it was overlooked by the deeper and more complex thoughts. Just allow yourself to get furious and fight? It sounded so easy in concept. But who knew what Yashin was past the illusions? It was true that at least Asuka had seen a part of it... but that was just it - only a part. If they wanted to make sure that nothing would go wrong, they would have to try and gain knowledge about their opponent.

"Shinji would be a perfect candidate..." Asuka said coolly, raising the side of her bent index finger to the underside of her lips in a thoughtful gesture. "But of course, that would be only in the brawn department. Not only is he immensely powerful, but he's also extremely intelligent."

"He's not the only person capable of making a chess game out of a battle zone..." Angelika said coldly, closing her lone eye. "Destroying his world piece by piece will do as much as personally seeing to his demise. If your man is capable of doing his job, then I can focus on opening up the innards of the very organization he works for."

That made Asuka's eyes widen, and she looked to Angelika with clear surprise at the brutal way her student was speaking. On top of that, Rika had regressed back into herself, wincing a little when Angelika made her speech. But both of them remained silent.

"But that's just part of it," Kenja spoke out, after a thoughtful nod, "Despite my raw anger and prowess in combat, he's been keeping me running after him for years without any real success in actually cornering him. As you saw, he's a cautious creature, and he wouldn't be left open to defeat, let alone interrogation so easily. In fact, did you know what happens to the average Inner Circle agent when captured? They have miniature explosives within their dental cavities with enough power to detonate an entire room. The Inner Circle is paranoid about revealing evidence of their existence, and the higher up you get in the ranks, is no exception."

"There is no need to fear..." Asuka said lightly. "Interrogation isn't the only method we have in obtaining information from the depths of the Inner Circle. Technology, documents, anything that's buried six feet under... rest assured, the V-14 is not limited to combat roles alone. If capturing someone isn't an option, then there are always other ways."

Kenja flashed a grin at Asuka before winking at Rika, "Glad I've chosen such competant people to be allied with."

Beep, beep, bip, boo, beep bop!

A partciularly interesting ring tone broke the silence as Angelika's phone began ringing. The ringtone was labeled "Unknown caller".

"...I hate these calls..." Angelika grumbled, reaching into her coat pocket in order to pull it and open it up. She pressed the talk button and held it up to her ears. "Yes?"

"WHERE ARE YOU?!?!?!?!" Came a voice from the unsuspecting Angelika's phone reciever, as the feminine voice sounded exasperated and frustrated. If not a little worried...

The response was almost comical.

As soon as the woman's voice blew through Angelika's reciever, the German woman immediately pulled her head away from it in an almost-violent manner, her eyes shut and her teeth gritted slightly. Asuka couldn't help but laugh a little at her former student's reaction, as even she could hear the voice from where she was. Certainly, the woman had screamed loudly...

Only taking a second to recompose herself, Angelika brought the phone back to her ear. "Frau Komori, what have I told you about screaming into my receiver like a jackal?" She said firmly, a mild tone of annoyance in her voice. "I already lost an eye and I don't feel like losing my eardrums to friendly fire."

Kenja could only smirk in amusement, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched the exchange of mannerisms and antics, "I wish I had this much fun all the time...though I could do without the friendly fire."

"I have been walking for hours, HOURS, looking for your hideout cause your LAST one was blown apart. From the looks of it, it was done in by your own weapon fire. What did you keep in there, a cannon?!" After a few moments of silence, she quickly responded, "don't answer that! I need to know a place to regroup with you. Currently with the 10th Division's recent raid, we're not in the best position to set up shop."

"It's to the right of the old safehouse. It's half a mile, so I do hope you're walking there right now while you're talking to me." Angelika said calmly, closing her eye and leaning back in her chair.

"Where the Hell is that-...oh," there was a brief silence on the end, before she said in a deadpan voice comically, "I'm right in front of it." After she said that, there was a number of stifled laughters coming from someone next to her. There was a brief crashing sound, promptly with her smashing his face into the dirt ground before answering the phone again, "I'll be coming up. Komori out."

"I wish..." Angelika sniffed, promptly pressing the "End Call" button and slipping her phone back into her coat. She gave a heavy sigh, turning towards her companions in the room. "I'm terribly sorry that I didn't bother to tell you earlier. But there's another team that'll we'll be seeing. They were candidates for Gamma Team, but had to dissolve under circumstance."

"Wow, Nazi, why don't you just bring up a whole damn army next time?"

Oliver's voice finally came in, as his figure shuffled inside of the room. "Shades and Ruso're doin' fine..." He reported coolly, walking over and leaning against the wall with his back to it and his arms folded across his chest. "They're gonna need a moment to recover, but they'll be alive and kickin' before Boobzilla can say "Word to yo motha".

Silence. Varying expressions of amusement, confusion, and annoyance crossed the faces of the majority, but Oliver only allowed himself to shrug. "What? It was the first thing I could come up with..."

Kenja chuckled, crossing his arms over his shoulder, "I'm surprised Yashin didn't kill them outright. I think he was overconfident that he could kill you all incapacitated with one blow. Which reminds me," Kenja turned to Oliver, a knowing grimace crossed his face as he asked lowly, "how's the lieutenant girl doing?"

This caused Oliver to cock an eyebrow. "Why do you care?" He answered back, putting on a taunting smirk. "Gee, Cleaver, you seem to be interested an awful lot in her safety all of a sudden. This some sort of May-December romance type of deal?"

"Drop the act, Jesse," Kenja said unimpressed as he crossed his arms over his chest, swiveling his chair towards him, "I'd rather not be caught up with a bunch of rapists and murderers, considering that's how Captain Takuji will feel if she's below acceptable health parameters. That's all I'm saying..."

"Tch..." Rolling his eyes, Oliver gave an exasperated sigh and pushed himself off of the wall. "Yes, for your information, she's fine. Any damage done was the result of Yashin using her own ability against her. Thanks to the medic, however, that's all done and done with. We put the collar around her neck, and now she's all good to go--"

"Collar?" Asuka inquired, both of her eyebrows raised slightly.

"They're popular around Yūrei, used exclusively by the police force We just managed to nab a few of 'em for ourselves, just for situations like this..." An amused grin came across Oliver's face, his palms rubbing together. "She attempts to use any of her powers, and she receives a little shock. The voltage's power depends on how much power she attempts to use. She'll be fine... unless she attempts to whip out a big ability on us. Then, she'll be at least a little bit fried."

"Yeah well," Kenja deadpanned as he raised a hand in emphasis, "but didn't you just say to me earlier that she's a Hakuda practitioner? Doesn't it mean she can use only her body as a means of a weapon?"

"Who's body is a weapon?!" Rang out a provocative, yet distinctive voice as a red haired woman stalked herself into the room, led behind with her lieutenant and right hand man, who had a slight bruise on his face from earlier, "and that better not be a insult to me or my crew...is it?!"

"What the--!!"

Oliver's exclamation was interrupted by Angelika's voice. "Glad you and your friends could make it up here, Frau Komori." She greeted, putting on a small smile as she raised herself up. "Apologies for the miscommunications of our location... if I knew that we would be attacked by both the 10th Division as well as a Dragon from the Inner Circle, I would've never put you through the trouble."

"Always nice seeing a new friendly face around." Asuka added, her smile growing wide at the sight of them - particularly at the bruise mark one of them had on their face. However, she knew it to be rude to ask about what had happened, and she had a pretty good idea already in her head.

Traditionally, Oliver raised an eyebrow as he inspected the leader of the tribe. Long red hair, a tan complexion, and a stance that clearly said that she was the head-honcho of her little group. He also could guess what happened to the unfortunate victim with the punch mark. "Wow. Is female leadership so dominant in the V-14?" He thought to himself, eyes rolling upwarsd at his own thoughts.

Mōka smiled, almost intrigued at the idea of the criminal regime she joined already being hunted by such big players. She crossed her arms over her generously sized chest, cocking her head to the side, "Wow, Angie, you really scored high on the top of someone's shit lists, now didn't you? Pissing off both the law and the underworld's most enigamtic and elusive criminal organizations known? You must really wanna die young, don't you?" She asked, all in good natured humor, as she had met Angelika a decade back before most of the current craziness began.

Shito looked over at Asuka, briefly glaring at her before turning his gaze away in slight grimacing shame, "You must be the leader of the Beta Team I heard we were outed from," he then courteously bowed his head down to waist level before bringing himself back up, maintaining a serious disposition at the moment, "pleasure to meet you, I'm Shito, Intelligence specialist."

"It's the side effect of being a simple courier making her way through the universe..." The one-eyed woman surmised, sighing heavily as she promptly sat back down in her chair. "Hopefully, if everything works out right, we'll be back within the clearing before any of us knows it..."

"Yeah..." Oliver snorted, placing his hands into his pockets and tilting his head to the side. "And hopefully, I'll be able to put a bullet through that fucker's skull before it's over and done with."

"You don't have to be so strict, you know..." Asuka said lightly, trying to encourage Shito from his formal demeanor. "It's really no big deal! We're friends, aren't we?" She folded her hands within her lap, shifting one leg over the other.

Mōka chuckled, resting her hands on her hips while tossing her head side to side, her long red hair swaying almost majestically around her ams and shoulders, "Yeah, well when that happens, I guess V-14 will be on top and the Inner Circle will just be a cornerstone of our illustrious honest empire, won't it?"

"Oh! Of course, haha!" Shito said as he scratched the back of his neck, realizing that the atmosphere is a lot more casual than he realized, "I was thinking I had to make a good impression. Y'know, since its technically unofficial until Angelika-sama gives us the go ahead and designate us."

"Relax kid," Kenja said crossing his own legs over each other as he leaned back into his own chair, making Shito slightly wary of his presence, "pull up a chair and grab something from the fridge. I'm pretty sure we got some good stuff for you to wallow yourself in, right scarface?"

"Wh-Who are you?" Shito asked with a nervous sweatdrop as he never heard of this man's being involved with Beta or Angelika Hartman's squads, let alone he felt his energy as human and not a soul.

"Empire...?" Despite the naturally calm tone Angelika had, it sounded as if she wanted to choke on the word rather than actually say it. "Please... empires are nothing but micromanagement disasters waiting to happen. I've been running my business small, and I intend to keep it small." She emphasized this with her nose slightly in the air in a haughty, but humorous expression.

"I disagree with that..." Oliver thought, sneaking a look at Mōka and at what she was subconsciously showing off.

"This, " Asuka explained, motioning towards Kenja. "Is a groupie of ours. His name is Kenja, and he's a terrible fanboy. We keep telling him to go away, but he always comes back!"

"Oh you know me," Kenja teased back, wiggling his brows back at Asuka, "I can't keep my eyes off you lovely ladies, but I still have to fight off your men's competive natures, its still worth the prizes in the end."

"Poor poor, Angie," Mōka she emphasized with a wave of her hands as she walked around the table, her eyes closed as she spoke, "you need to think bigger! I mean...if you could have a number of teams like us coordinate with you, it would eliminate all the management issues you'd need and we could have nearly a dozen four-man cells spread throughout the Soul Society, maybe even further! Imagine it!-"

THWAK!

"-with enough intelligent leaders, we could literally run the largest, most effective criminal organization in the history of all Soul Societies!" Mōka elaborated, unintentionally backhanding Oliver's face, disrupting intended stares at her slender, sensual figure.

"Yo-You're," Shito gasped, a slight bead of sweat trailed down his brow across his right temple as he took into full account of the man before him, "Kenja Kodai, the most wanted man within the Underworld! You've preformed the most gruesome and effective covert strikes against Inner Circle operations than anyone's else has been able to live and tell about! You're head's one of the biggest bounties the Circle has ever put out on a single man in the past five decades!"

"Aaaand?" Kenja deadpanned, slightly disturbed he had such a infamous reputation already.

"C-C-Can," he reached inside his coat, in a almost threatening posture...before comically revealing a notepad with a pen, a wide gleaming face with close-knit eyes that expressed fanboy glee, "can I get your autograph?! I'm a big fan!"

"...well, I do believe I've found the fan boy of our little group..."

Asuka's smile was small, but clearly expressing amusement as she watched. She raised a hand to hide her mouth, though the corners could still be seen. In truth, she wasn't willing to make that much of an attempt to hide her being entertained. After all, it was a casual meeting, and it was natural that the mood would be light and cheery after what had happened.

Kenja twitched slightly, looking over at Asuka in a slightly distressed manner as the revelation of being one of the biggest targets of the spiritual underworld, and yet he had a big fan because of it.

"Ummm, sure, kid," Kenja said as he took the notebook and began writing out his name in the best handwriting he had. In fact, if none noticed, his handwriting was quite elegant and practiced, someone of high esteem and prestige like a doctor or a CEO would have attained this type of handwriting. As he finished out his signature with a few rapid presses and brushes of his pen, he gave it back to a gleefully smiling Shito, "there you go. Have a ball."

"This is awesome!" Shito looked like he would've died that second and been happy as he pressed the notebook to his chest, nearly floating off his feet with joy.

"OW!"

Oliver hissed, jerking away and grabbing his cheek with one hand. One of his eyes were twitching, and he found himself glaring into the back of the woman. In any under circumstance, he would've gladly dismissed it as an accident. But, of course, this was a woman that was talking about, and in the case of women and men being around one another, it was natural that deception and trickery came into play. He certainly wasn't going to fall for that!

"You know..." He stated with a twitching smile, effectively cutting off Angelika (and earning a slightly annoyed stare from her). "I've killed people for less, chickadee..."

"Oh?" Mōka looked over in a perfectly executed feign of ignorance, blinking slightly in mock confusion as she tapped her lips with her forefinger, asking, "did you say something, Ollie boy?"

That was enough for the blonde man to get right in her face, a vein popping in his cheek and a deadfish glare in his eyes to match his twitching smile. "Yeah, and I'm about to do something, too!" He threatened, balling one of his hands into fists. He was going to tear her a new asshole, that's what he was going to do! He was going to eat her, and then poop out her remains so that they fall into a volcano! He was going to--

"Ey, boss lady!"

Yusuke's head popped out of the corner of the doorway, his voice interrupting Oliver's threat and making him look away from Mōka in surprise. The young boy, however, continued to speak on as if he hadn't done anything. "I managed to hook the Lieutenant up with the collar and heal her wounds up. She's all good to go!"

"Excellent..." Angelika said dryly, pushing herself up from the chair again. "I'll be going to check up on her."

"You guys go on ahead," Mōka said with a humored smile, leaning back against the table nonchalantly while looking at her nails, "I'm guessing Ollie has something to do that involves my attention."

Kenja rose from his seat to go with Angelika, briefly clasping a hand on Oliver's shoulder, "Watch yourself, Jesse. From what I've seen so far, the female leaders are the ones with the bigger balls and bigger guns. Just warning ya," he then released him as he walked on, not paying a heed to what would happen behind him as he walked towards the medic, awaiting Angelika's arrival.

Shito stood more attentive at the new information as well as Oliver's anger-filled antics, placing the notebook back into his coat sleeves. Despite his knowing that his boss could handle himself, he'd hope to intercede before anything unnecessary happened.

"Oh, I'm gonna get more than your attention by the time I'm--"

Angelika was promptly beside Kenja as Oliver continued to threaten Mōka, making a silent motion for the medic to lead them. With that, the three promptly exited the room and began to walk down the hallway, towards the isolated medical room where Sakura would be held at.

"So, I am to assume that she's fully stable and healed?" Angelika stated. "Her powers restricted and she is isolated from the rest of my patients?" She wasn't going to take any chances if it meant giving her enemy a chance to hurt her healing allies.

"Mhm!" Yusuke nodded readily. "She won't be hurting a fly anytime soon. The only thing we really have to worry about is her attempting to fight us off with her hands. But since she's been reduced to the regular Soul with her collar, and considering that we've got a numerous advantage, I doubt she'll be doing anything with that anytime soon."

"With a superior like that Captain Takuji, I wouldn't be surprised if she had a few more tricks up her sleeves," Kenja surmised aloud, following the trio to the isolated hospital room with long, purposeful steps. Despite his feelings against the Gotei 13, he'd hate to see a defenseless woman, soul reaper or no, be harmed by her captors. Another reason why he'd rather see her with his own eyes in the event they are trying to decieve him.

It wasn't long before they finally reached the door. Whipping out a card, Angelika inserted into the slitted key slot before turning the handle and stepping inside.

The innards were nothing more than something typical of the standard hospital, with a white room, white bed, and hospital equipment. On the bed, of course, lay the Lieutenant's unconscious form. True to Yusuke's word, she did not seem to be harmed in anyway, other than the collar that could be seen around her neck.

Kenja nodded approvingly to Yusuke, approaching her bed cautiously splaying his hand across her bedding, a subtle static feeling emitted from his palm before he released it. He looked over to Angelika, beckoning her with a hand, saying, "I've seen this type of trauma before. Its a Hakuda employed technique in which the user "shuts off" the spiritron flow in one's limbs, effectively incapacitating it as well as the ability to sift spiritual energy through the body. It seems the effects are starting to wear off on her...probably because of her Clan's naturally immunity to the techniques they perfect."

However, Mōka made no notion in taking Oliver seriously as she reclined and stretched against the table her chair was leaning against, "So Ollie, what exactly is your weapon of choice? It doesn't seem you're fit enough to take on enemies with your bare fists with all the barking you're doing, so are you a hacker or a gunman?"

"...oh. You don't think I can take you with my bare hands?"

An amused grin cross Oliver's face, and he lifted his hands up in a shrug as he approached. "Well, let me tell you something, rookie. V-14 members have a versatile skillset. They're not limited to one thing at a time. There is no weapon "of choice". So I'd think a bit more before assuming that I'm not good with my hands."

WHUMPF!

Within an instant, his foot moved to kick the table that Mōka had been lying on into the air. Within seconds, he moved his leg in order to execute a frontal side kick in order to send that particular table flying into the wall.

Shito deftly vaulted over the knocked over table, skidding across the ground as he prepared to intervene. His eyes widened, however, to see his superior react in kind to Oliver's executed attack.

SNATCH, CLAMP!

"That's fine and dandy, Ollie boy," Mōka said with a smirk, with a underlying dark glare and tone, as her hand effectively swung around and grabbed shin, stopping his kick with a vice grip like none other, "but everyone relies on a personal favored speciality of theirs. Like a right hand is favored over another, everyone is better at something over another. You, however," Mōka glared with a violent sensation of bloodlust leaking out as she growled, "are barking up the wrong tree, Ollie."

With a sharp yanking motion, Mōka threw his leg towards his unbalanced side, intending on sending him sprawling across to his left, across the ground with graceful, effortless force.

"Good..."

Angelika leaned over, her lone eye peering at Sakura's form. With a reach of her hand, she tapped the girl's head a few times in a manner similar to knocking a door. "Now that she's fine, and will be fine, I think it's a good time to explain to her what's going on..." She stated coolly, retracting her hand. She only put enough force to poke the nerves and stir the patient from her unconscious state. After all, she wasn't in the mood to hear Kenja complain about poor treatment out of a few "love taps".

On Oliver's end, the bloodlust sent a chill down his spine, and his grin gew a bit wider as a result.

With a raise of his other leg, he managed to balance himself when Mōka executed that throw, his body spinning around in the air. In this manner, he managed to counter the force of the throw and lessen it, allowing him to land on his feet without going too far away from her. He straightened up, his head tilted to the side. "Am I?" He taunted. "I think I'll be the judge of that, sweet-heart."

Dilemmas and Hierarchy, POV's of the Criminal Minds
Sakura twitched slightly, scrunching her nose and eyes in a effort to awaken by the proddings. Her eyes slowly opened, her gray eyes widened with every blink as she realized where she was...and whom they were.

"EEP!" She felt startled and quickly hid her face within the blanket given to her, curling up into a fetal position. "Go away please...five more minutes..."

Kenja couldn't help but surpress a smirk at her waking antics, finding them somewhat cute if not childish. "I don't think she knows exactly what's going on, Angelika."

Mōka smiled widely, swiveling her chair towards Oliver as she crossed her arms over her chest, raising one leg sensually slow over the other as she regarded him with a cock of her own head, "I've heard of you, Ollie Homey, back when you were contracted on some notorious jobs in V-14. You were contracted to assault the Soul Society back then if I remember correctly, and your fancy footwork shows excellent reaction timing. A fully capable marksman has to have those kind've reflexes...you impress me," Mōka raised a hand to Shito's tense form, allowing him to relax, "but I wanted to be sure. I know you're pretty much a hothead, and at times when not on buisness, a loose canon. I wanted you to know what position you're in now that I'm running my own show. Saavy, Ollie boy?"

"The position I'm in?"

Oliver promptly raised his hands in a shrug once again. "I could care less of the position I'm in or who you think you are..." He answered readily, the smirk not leaving his face. "You may have your own team, but that really don't mean shit. Don't like it? Too bad, so sad." For emphasis, he bent his arm at a right angle with the back of his forearm facing Mōka, his other hand grabbing the muscle. This was the traditional sign for "F*** you" as well as the obvious sign of how much he thought of her.

Asuka sweat-dropped at the display. "Angel-chan sure picked her soldiers well, doesn't she...?"

And speaking of Angelika, she seemed to have hit a road block with the expectations she had of Sakura's reactions.

Hostility was an obvious one.

Fear was another.

But never before did she expect Sakura to look at her enemies and react with such naivety. It was almost enough to make her lose her calm facade, and she discreetly sweat-dropped as she watched the girl bury herself within the covers. Intimidation would be... far too awkward in this situation...

Luckily, Yusuke provided an equally unorthodox alternative.

Abruptly, he lunged forward, leapt onto an unoccupied part of the bed, reached out with his hands, and began... to tickle her. His fingers scrambled over her form as he attacked, his grin comically stern. "You get out of that bed right now, young lady!" He declared, trying his best to mimic a stern parent. "Or you're not gonna get any dinner!"

And there went the potential tension in the mood....

"Well, you sure know how to talk, Ollie boy," she chuckled, making it a point to sound as if what she heard was more cute than actually insulting, "but can you walk how you talk? All I'm seeing is a hot shot who's been in the game too long to know when someone is above his own league and when he doesn't have the balls to back up his talk."

"Mōka-san," Shito tried to intervene, with a few sweatdrops running down his scalp at the inevitable confronation that might make the earlier one seem like a workout.

Kenja raised a brow at Yusuke, almost non-believing that it'd work. Then, what he heard next disapproved of his earlier thoughts.

"Hehehehe, aaaahhhh, stop it! I'm getting up, I'm up! HAHAHA!" Sakura squealed with laughter as she rolled off the bed with a defined thunk. And a loud "owww" was heard from Sakura before she peeked out of the covers at all the V-14 members present and Kenja, her hair frilled slightly while still maintaining a silky constitution, her eyes were wide and pale as she blinked.

"So...you're still here...," she said almost dejectedly, as if she was trying a trick to make them disappear. She took off the blanket before wrapping it around her medical clothing, realizing her uniform wasn't present on her silky, lithe and bountifully endowed body. She sat up on her shins in typical noble fashion, her sheet wrapped around her gave a impression of nobility as well as someone who's used to sitting in such a position, "I guess I should thank you for treating my wounds...but I guess I should still regard you as enemies, as you seem to have no intention of releasing me."

"Same to you, Coffee..." Oliver promptly lowered his arms, folding them across his chest. "Kenja said I'd be seeing the bigger guns out of you, but all I hear is an empty chamber going "click, click, click". I thought I was barking up the wrong tree. Aren't you gonna show me who's boss around here? Isn't the leader supposed to be taking the initiative?" Her words were simply fueling him even more to continue to push for a skirmish. He liked being challenged, and he wouldn't pass this particular chance up...

"Enemies?"

Angelika's eye narrowed slightly, one corner of her lip curling upwards. "If we were enemies, Frau Keikai, then I would have never bothered to leave you alive." She said bluntly. "As much as I dislike the presence of a member of the Gotei 13, I see you as nothing more than an annoyance. The V-14 has no enemies, only opponents. Do well to remember that, and you just might learn something from us."

"I like this one, boss lady! Can we keep her?" Yusuke whined, sitting on the bed cross-legged with a comically pleading expression.

Once again, Angelika discreetly sweat-dropped.

Shito narrowed his eyes to a almost menacing, threatening glare, "I'd shut up right about now, Mr. Holmes. Do you realize what position you're putting yourself in by go-"

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK...CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK

Shito's eyes widened with fear as he looked around, hearing the painfully audible cracks of Mōka's knuckles moving against the palms of her hands, as she stood up from the stool, "-goading her...?!"

"Do you want half of your bones broken, or a third? Cause I think if I broke all the bones in your body, Angie will be pissed at me," Mōka said with a gleeful, sadistic smile as she took slow measured walks towards Oliver, as her body radiated a thick bloodlust, making Shito shiver as she came towards their direction.

Sakura blinked at Angelika questionably, as if trying to understand what she meant, "Would you like me to be useful until you know what you want to do with me? I can cook, clean, provide assistance short of violent nature, considering I'm currently restrained," she reached up thoughtfully to her collar.

Kenja looked thoughtfully to Angelika before stroking his chin, not knowing what Angelika's real intentions with her, considering anything short of ransom would be probably a bad idea.

She turned her head to Yusuke, smiling brightly at him before saying in a sweet tone, "Thank you, for healing me back to full health."

In response, Yusuke squinted his eyes shut and gave a cheery smile of his own. "No problem!" He answered readily, the pouting faded away. "But, if anything, you should thank Boss Lady and Kenja, too. She's the one who suggested it, and Kenja sounded so concerned about you that he wanted to make sure you weren't being abused like the Inner Circle would do to their prisoners."

"...you seem quite complacent, despite it being clear that you're our prisoner for the time being..."

Angelika's voice expressed mild yet obvious suspicion as she eyed the other female. Kenja's statement hadn't helped relieve that. Such a calm composure, while possibly being that of simple resolution, could also be signs that she had already formulated a plan for escaping. She knew that a close watch was needed for such.

In spite of the killing intent making Oliver shiver, he grinned, flexing his fingers before tilting his head back to its normal position. "Break as many as you want, toots. I'll be sure to be a gentleman and return the favor..." He taunted, pushing aside Shito's threat towards him. The reason for the chill being sent down his spine was out of excitement more than anything else. He had succeeded in provoking her, and now she decided to show him who was really in charge. In turn, he would show her why he had been hand-picked to be in the prestiged group that was V-14.

Off to the side, Rika promptly covered her eyes in a scared, yet comical manner, letting out a quiet whimper as she did so.

Mōka stalked towards him before placing her arms across her chest, standing in a neutral casual demeanor, "I wanna see what you can do before I give it a go. C'mon Ollie! Let's see if you can get your balls out of your purse for this."

Sakura turned to Angelika, before turning to Kenja bowing her head saying, "Thank you for insisting on my well being, Kodai-sama."

"Ummm, your welcome?" Kenja scratched the back of his head, wondering why she insisted on being so formal to him, let alone anyone within a merciless, mercenary band.

Sakura then turned her gaze back as she resumed her seated position, "Hartman-san, if I begged you to release me, that would be doing all of us a disservice, and if I threaten you in the state I currently am, it would be idiotical and futile. If I comply to any burdens you wish me to serve you and provide some use to you short of interrogation, that would be doing a service to all of us. I may see you as less than enemies, but I still don't consider you my friends."

"Aww..." Yusuke promptly deflated a little, head hanging own and depression lines hanging over him. "Nuts..."

"Glad you see it our way, Herr Keikai." Angelika closed her eyes, her calm demeanor showing itself immediately. "Though... I am unsure of how long you will stay here..." She closed her eyes, walking a few steps away from the bed in thought. "You see, I had assumed that your Captain had managed to pull you out of the battle when he and his men did. He is fully aware of how dangerous we can be, and yet he carelessly left you, a wounded soldier, in the hands of the enemy. You may chalk it up to faith in your skills and the assurance that you would get out on your own, but even for a woman like me... that is somewhat cold-hearted."

"You do know..." Asuka still had her small, cheeky smile as she observed the two soon-to-be combatants. "This usually is the first signs of falling in love with one another, right? And considering how he was checking you out earlier... you're already seeming to be the perfect couple. I can't wait to see your kids!"

"My orders from my Captain are...confidential, if it means anything to you," Sakura closed her eyes, totally unmoved by what she said, before reopening them and locking her eyes with her, "my mission, truth be told, has nothing to do with V-14. The reason my Captain hasn't pursued me or had me return with him, was for that reason. You can believe me or not, but that is the truth."

Kenja rolled his neck, groaning slightly at this ordeal. He looked over at Angelika expectantly, waiting to see what the mercenary leader had to say or would decide based on Sakura's actions.

"Thanks, but I'm not into balls-less men," Mōka said with a smirk, before turning her hips back and forth, almost in a taunting sensual manner before the man across from her, "besides...I'm already taken."

Oliver scoffed. "Who would want to get it on with you?" He taunted, the knuckles of his fist pressed against the palm of his other hand in an idle fashion. "Some guy who likes to get stepped on and prefers his nuts crushed inward? I feel real sorry for 'im, if that's the case, and if not... I still feel sorry for 'im anyway."

Angelika thought about it for a moment. Her mind flashed back to the battle that the girl had with Yashin and her subsequent defeat. The Lieutenant probably knew that she was no match for him on her own, but still continued to attack nonetheles despite the fact that she would die. It was obvious that the Soul Society was not only targeting them, but the very innards of the Soul Society as well. She must've realized that Yashin was a higher-up in their ranks, and taking him down was essential to finding out more about them.

So in that train of thought, the V-14 and the Gotei 13 had the same goal.

An amused smile came across her lips, and a dark chuckle escaped her throat. "Is that so, dear...?" She turned around to face Sakura, walking towards her until she was back at her original spot on the bed. "Well, you should know that the word "confidential" only those that think they can keep a secret hidden forever. But it has no meaning to the ones capable of breaking through the barrier. I don't need obvious methods such as interrogation to weed information out of a target, and you'll find that out soon enough. So don't get too comfortable with my being unaware of your schemes for the time being."

Shito facepalmed, sighing heavily as he said, "He had to insult her..."

Mōka smirked as she simply counted off, "You really shouldn't have said that. Incoming in three, two, one..."

"Yo!"

BLAM!

A unseen fist covered in dark blue-violet-black energy slammed into Oliver's back with enough force to send him sprawling back across the hall into the room, an excess of the energy would wrap around Oliver's body as the force smashed into him The presence previously undetectd until now, before a wild-looking tattooed girl appeared with a wrathful aura of energy unlike any other, "watch your tone, punk-ass, or I'll do some real damage!"

"AH!!"

A short, cat-like yell came from Oliver's lips when the fist struck his back, and he found himself sprawled onto his stomach when he landed. "Nnngh..." He groaned, only managing to turn his head when the energy enveloped his body. "Ok... what the fuck and who the fuck are you?"

The wild-looking appearance of the new woman caused Rika to instantly shrink back a little and Asuka to cock an eyebrow, the smile fading away immediately.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at Angelika's amused grin before turning her face away, retaining her composed dignified appearance as she closed her eyes once more, "We will see. Only know for now, I don't consider you the danger that my Captain purposely and publically made you out to be. Its only by cooperation, that the real threat is rooted out and eliminated as soon as possible. Agreed?" She finished with a cocked brow and lone eye locking onto hers, letting her see her point of view as Angelika's endgame.

Karitori raised a glowing, pulsating hand towards him which in turn raised him upwards held captive by the ribbons of dark energy wrapped around his body in a electric-vice grip around his form, "I'm the bitch who's gonna tear your ass open for calling me a faggot douchebag!"

Mōka sighed, "She's," she emphasized wit ha wave of her hands, "my loving, sweet girlfriend and one of my teammates. Karitori, meet Ollie boy. Ollie boy," she smirked as she crossed her arms over her chest, "meet my wo-man."

Shito walked forward in front of Karitori as she held Oliver, saying, "Let him go, Karitori. Slowly, and nicely. We're all friends here, right?"

"T...this is--?!"

Despite the pain in Oliver's expression, his eyes widened in surprise. "Okay... maybe I'll take back what I said about you being a doormat..." He managed to get out, his breathing strained by the ropes around his body. "If you would be so kind enough to stop fucking choking me!!"

"Yes, dear, it would be bad if it got out that a V-14 member was killed for such a trivial reason..." Asuka added calmly, sipping the last of her tea before setting it down onto the table.

"Agreed..." Angelika answered smoothly. "I'm glad that you, at least, aren't completely swayed by the propaganda your Captain's polluting the Soul Society with." She allowed herself to turn away. "I'll be taking my leave now. Yusuke, make sure you keep a watch on her and make sure she doesn't nose into anything that isn't hers."

"Okey dokey lokey!" Yusuke chirped, giving a wave as his superior stepped away.

"Tch!" She released the vibrant, dark energies off of his body letting fall limp onto the floor as it dissipated into the air as light blue particles, "you're a sadass without your mouth and guns, Oliver."

Mōka walked over and wrapped her lithe, well defined arms around her shorter romantic companion before giving her a hug from the side, saying, "Thanks for dropping him. I was literally this close in punch a hole through him..."

"It would've been a waste of time, if you ask me," She said dismissively in a throaty tone before hugging back, releasing her once she calmed down, "and you must be Asuka. Heard a little about you, like how you and Angie are real badasses with swords. I'd like to see you guys in action sometime."

"Thank you," Shito said with a breathy sigh of relief, not really wanting to try and restrain his potentially uncontrollable teammate...try being the word anyways. He turned to Oliver, bending down on one knee while extending a hand to help him up, saying apologetically with a sweatdrop down his brow, "sorry about that. I tried to warn you to stop..."

However, there was really no need to.

Oliver promptly stood back up on his two feet, rubbing his hands together while taking in deep breaths. His eyes were narrowed and his teeth were gritted in a clearly angry scowl. The one thing he hated more than anything was an overly arrogant opponent. Both of the women had been bragging as if they had actually accomplished something. The accomplice had crept within the shadows and struck him when her partner was finished bragging. It wasn't the move of hardened criminals, but two cowardly snakes.

Now he had even more of a reason to lower what little respect he had of them.

"I think we know who's got the lower self-esteem, asshole..." He growled, passing a glare to Shinto.

"Oh, I'm pretty good with bladed weaponry, I admit..." Asuka said softly, passing a glance of sympathy to the angry Oliver. "But Angel-chan's not someone who can wield a sword. I've taught her the proper mentality for doing so, but that's about it."

Sakura smiled bowing her head to Angelika as a more cheerful tone came into her speech, "Take care!" She turned with a giddy smile and bright look in her eyes as she looked to Yusuke, "So, tell me a little about yourself...how did you learn the healing arts?..."

Kenja nodded with satisfaction, left the room ahead of Angelika asking, "Can you direct me to my temporary quarters? I'd like to know where they are so I don't get lost," he finished with a nervous sweatdrop expression on his face, a teasing undertone carried throughout his speech.

Karitori smirked, crossing her arms, "Figures. With the way she carries that golden-tinted gun of hers, I figured her to stay with long-ranged combat. Still...if you're half as good as Mo-chan says you are, then I won't be disappointed," she smiled with anticipating look, with a hint of a challenge in her eyes.

Mōka looked over at Oliver before winking at him, mouthing a "next time," at him before she began walking in a sensual, confident fashion past her two subordinates, "I'm going to crash and set up. Call me if anything pressing needs my attention will you?"

Shito sighed as he saw the obvious reaction Oliver had, before crossing his arms, looking at him before hatching an idea to appeal to him. After all, he felt bad his superior targeted him for her personal amusement, "If you want to relieve some steam, I got some good spill from Tendan if you want to associate. I've yet to meet any of you, and I think since you're one of the only real men on this station who doesn't want to crack my neck...so how about it?" He flashed a honest grin, hoping that he was truly not trying to get on this man's bad side.

Karitori chuckled before she walked the opposite way of her lover, passing by Oliver briefly, flashing a feral grin at him as she passed by, "I'll go scout out the perimeter. I'd like to make myself familiar with the place if you don't mind, boss?" She directed her words at Asuka without directly turning to her as she stalked down the opposite end of the corridor, her boots tapped against the floor methodically as she disappeared as soon as she came.

Oliver's teeth pressed together in his closed mouth when she flashed the grin at him, his blood boiling once more. The temptation to whip out his gun and shoot her in the back of the head seemed too strong for him to control, and one of his hands trembled briefly and slightly at the thought. However, he knew that shooting her right now would only suit to make him look bad, something done out of emotions. He knew better than that, despite his desire to spite both her and her lover.

Drawing in a breath, he looked over to Shito once more. Because Shito hadn't cursed him out for his anger-venting statement, he couldn't find himself to be too angry at the other man. It wouldn't kill him to acknowledge the Omega Team member... no matter how much of a doormat he seemed to be.

"Maybe some other time..." He muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away. "For now, I've gotta see if my partners are wide and awake yet..."

"With the way you move ahead of me..." Angelika said bluntly, looking his way as she walked up to him. "You seem to act like know your way around yourself." She emphasized this with a deadpan look, unamused by the initiative he was trying to take.

"About me?"

Yusuke thought about it, disregarding the sudden mood change that Sakura had fallen into. He folded his arms across his chest, looking down with an expression that matched his intentions. "Well... to tell the truth, I was in the Gotei 13 and served as a Seated Officer for the 4th Division." He explained. "I got frustrated and left because no one seemed to pay attention to the Seated Officers. Everyone prefers the Lieutenant and the Captain. It's pretty much all they talked about, and it wasn't fun hearing the same thing over and over again...."

"Oh," Shito nodded, his voice had a tinge of disappointment before he asked in a query statement with a neutral dispositioned look, "may I accompany you to see them?"

Kenja raised his hands in defense, "Hey, don't blame me cause I feel the foundation's energy. I'm a Fullbringer, remember? Today's standards of fully trained Fullbringers can sense the distortions and energies within inanimate objects. Its how I found out I was being watched by you guys, because I made several rounds in a particular neighbourhood to get used to how it all felt. But...it doesn't change how despite that, I sometimes get lost and I forget where I was going," he admitted with a waterfall of tears, with lines of depression hanging over him.

"Oh?" Sakura blinked her eyes widely, acting in almost childlike innocence as she scooted closer to Yusuke, "you left because you felt unappreciated? I know the 4th Division has always had it hard with discriminations by other Divisions, but after the turn of the last century, most 4th Division members were known to be both capable combatants and quite skilled in medicine and healing Kido. Did Captain Ikidori not treat you well or something?"

Yusuke let out a sigh, his expression becoming slightly downtrodden. "Yeah... most, but not all. I couldn't adapt to the way the division was run after she stepped in, and as a result, I ended up falling behind. Everyone else adjusted easily to the new style, but I... I just wanted the old Captain back. I couldn't change with the times like they did..."

"...right..." After regarding him for a moment more, Angelika promptly stepped past him. "Just make sure to follow me and keep those urges of yours in check. I already have one moronic piece of muscle to deal with, and I don't need another." Her tone was not insulting, but still carried the casual demeanor she always used. Well, as casual as she could get, considering her business-like attitude towards things.

"Sure." Oliver answered, waving a hand behind him in order to emphasize as he continued to walk away. "Maybe getting a taste of Alpha Team will jar a few of those nerves of yours a little..."

Sakura smiled sweetly, placing a hand on Yusuke's and saying to him encouragingly, "I understand. You don't need to feel bad about it. If you never have left, I might have stayed badly wounded and maybe even paralyzed for weeks. I'm just sorry we never have met in better circumstances, that way we could've gotten to know each other better without suspicion getting in the way."

Kenja sweatdropped, saying a blank, "Yes maam," before walking in tune with her steps, thinking thoughtfully. Before long, he grinned cheekily, leaning forward to whisper, "I did get the drop on you though, and you had me outnumbered and outgunned. Not exactly one of your oustandingly brilliant career moments, huh Angelika?"

Shito smiled nervously as he followed in step with Oliver, scratching the back of his head, "I'm sure I won't mind. If what you've seen of my companions doesn't tell you anything, I'm used to a rough atmosphere...unfortunately..."

It seemed like talking to Shito actually did help calm Oliver down... at least for the moment. His body became more relaxed as he walked, and he was slowly returning to the casual demeanor he had walked in the room with in the first place. "Well, think of it this way..." He said, looking over his shoulder for a brief moment. "At least, the chances of you getting socked in the face are lesser than what you would've had with your group." He could safely say that, considering Shito seemed to be nothing like him or Hyōryū.

"Trust me..." Angelika said simply. "If not for the circumstances, you wouldn't be alive right now." She shifted her hands into her coat pockets, her eye drifting to the door that would lead to Kenja's quarters as it came closer and closer to her. "So I would think twice before attempting to brag about your survival."

"Well..."

Yusuke's voice was slightly hesitant at first, but became stronger as he spoke. He allowed his eyes to meet Sakura's. "I don't suspect you." He admitted. "I mean, you seem too nice and kind to be like Captain Takuji, who just posts stuff about us to an exaggerated level. You sound truthful about what you can be and simply silent on what you can't." He beamed. "You may not trust me, but I feel like I can trust you...."

Shito chuckled sheepishly, as he walked with Oliver in step, "Well, to tell you the truth I kinda earned that one for laughing at Komori-san. She has a terrible sense of direction, so I coudn't help but laugh when she was right in front of the head quarters, hahahaha-ooh ow!" He began laughing before he felt the pain leap back up on his jaw, rubbing it tenderly with a pouted expression.

Kenja sighed, raising his head back up while shifting his hands into his pockets of his black motif get-up, "Shoot me down off my horse, why don't you?" He looked towards the direction Angelika was, piecing together the destination was his room they were approaching. He hoped it wasn't too mundane, but he didn't want to be pampered either. He already had a little bit of both lives from both back home and here in Rukonagi....

Sakura's cheeks took on a rosy tint, as her smile brightened even moreso. "But Yusuke," Sakura said softly, leaning up and wrapping her arms around Yusuke's arms and back, whispering in his ears, "I trust you. You're the only one I trust, and I thank you for trusting me."

When Sakura's arms wrapped around him, Yusuke's eyes widened in surprise. He had never expected her to say that much. After all, he was under orders to watch her and make sure she didn't do anything that would compromise V-14. He had been telling the truth, but didn't expect her to return his trust. It was quite a comforting feeling, to have her embracing him physically and within her mind. It made his smile widen a bit more.

"You do?" He asked eagerly, lapsing into silence for a brief moment. "Well, if you really say so, then I guess it's okay..."

"It's what I do..."

With those slightly amused words, Angelika stopped at the doorway and pulled an about-face in order to face him. "This will be your room. Everything's already set up for you. If you have any questions, feel free to ask one of the males about it."

"That's not a bad thing." Oliver said bluntly, taking a few steps more before stopping at the door where the patients were residing. "Your laughter just tells your leader that she fucked up in some way. She may clock you, but in the end, you're always getting the last laugh. Try to keep that in mind, and maybe you can breathe a little bit easier..."

Then, he raised his leg up.

"WOO-TAAAH!"

BAM!

With a karate yell, he kicked in the doorway, the door slamming into the wall with a resounding BANG!

PHEEEEW, BANG!

Within the instant of the door striking the wall inside the room, a startled Hyōryu Fūsoku threw a wad of bandages towards Oliver's face, yelling out, "Hurt people are in here, dumbass!!!"

Shito sweatdropped after feeling his body jump inside out at seeing the manical display of blatant disruptive behavior, thinking inside, "These are....normal behaviors for Alpha Team?! They're crazy! Crazier than we are!"

Shadō was sitting in a upright position, with slight bandages wrapped around his chest, his long hair falling smoothly onto his shoulders and over his ears, a peaceful stoic expression donned on his face before the whole incident happened before his eyes. Yet, this time he wasn't surprised as he sighed, "Welcome, Oliver. We were wondering how long it would take for you to get here and visit us..."

Kenja smiled, letting himself into the room and noticed its spartan furnishings. A cabinet with a face mirror resting ontop of its counter faced the foot of his bed with a single sheet, resembling more of a cot with metal framing than anything. To the right of the bed was a closet, allowing enough storage for a number of necessary clothes and other additonal equipment Kenja would acquire. He turned around and sat on his bed, hopping up and down slightly on his bum, noting the creaking sound it made, but sat with a appeased, content look, "This will do fine. Thank you, Angelika."

Sakura released her hold on Yusuke, still smiling as she held onto his hands, whispering one more thing, "Just to seal the deal," with a wink she leaned up and placed a soft, brushing kiss onto his forehead before releasing her lips off his delecate skin, returning back to her seated position, saying with a bright, rosy smile, "now we're best friends, kay?"

This earned a mirthful chuckle from Yusuke. "Yeah... just try not to soften me up too much, I'm still a guy, after all..." He said, sticking out his tongue in a childish, humored manner. "The last thing I want is for Asuka to start teasing me about whether or not I'm gay."

WOOSH!

Promptly, Oliver dodged, a dead-fish look in his eyes as he idly picked his nose with his pinky finger. "I was just out meeting the new team and getting acquainted, and already I've found myself hating two of 'em..." He said dryly, walking into the room and allowing Shito to step through. He used his free hand to gesture towards them. "Shito, meet Hyōryu, a.k.a. Frat Boy Number 2, and Shadō, our resident emo."

Hyōryu growled, grasping Anton's hand again while kneeling next to his bed, trying to ignore him.

Shadō humored himself by retorting back to Oliver, raising a finger to point at him, "So, wouldn't that make you, the resident asshole, with a gun to compensate for a lack of man parts?"

Shito snickered at Shadō's comment when he came in and bowed his head to the three of them, "Hello there. I'm Shito, the resident cool headed comic relief of Omega Team. Pleasure to meet all of you. Well, I think its a pleasure meeting some of you anyways, hahaha-ow!" He touched his jaw again in reflex, remembering the pain of being punched not too long ago.

"Well, she'll have to deal with it then," Sakura stuck out her own tongue playfully back, before she giggled, "after all, I don't care what people think when I'm acting myself around my friends."

"If I needed a gun to compensate for the size of my dick, I would just carry around Hyōryu's all day." Oliver said bluntly, furrowing his eyebrows. Just how many times was the existence of his man-parts going to be questioned? The joke was getting quite old. At times like these, he wished that he had hooked up with a girl just so he could shut them up about it. "But you do happen to be right about the "asshole" part." He walked over beside Hyōryū, taking a seat and looking over at Anton's unconscious form. "How's Pinko--"

That was when Anton's eyes shot open.

"...I just had the wierdest dream about a white unicorn pony sniping people while yelling something about dispensers. Am I starting to lose it?"

"Yourself...?" Yusuke looked curiously at Sakura, thinking about her statement for a moment. So the noble and elegant attitude was nothing more than a front in order to appease or decieve people? "So you're not a noble with a stick shoved up her butt? That's good, I feared that actually might be you!"

Sakura's eyes blinked several times before she giggles, putting a hand over her mouth as if raising a fan over her face, "Oh no! My Clan may have high standards and importance withing the Soul Society, but its not a Noble Clan...not yet anyways," she smiled shyly, weaving her hands through her hair as she whispered, "did you know that my Captain's Clan, the Takuji Clan, wants me to have an arranged marriage?"

Hyōryū softly kissed Anton's hand, rubbing it with both of hers as she spoke softly, "No...it means you're on the road to recovery. Going insane is typical for those in V-14, right Oliver?" She smirked, winking at Oliver as if she was explaining his antics as insanity.

Shadō nodded to Shito, saying, "I'm glad that I got to meet the cool head of your team first. I'd almost assume you all had psychopaths with large guns, like some of my teammates," he brooded as he sideglanced at Oliver and Hyōryū.

Shito rubbed on his jaw while smiling, "I'm glad to know someone approves of me before making accusations. My team can be a little crazy, but they're good at what they do and they care for each other...when they're not fighting each other that is."

Oliver simply stuck out his tongue at Hyōryū in a slightly immature manner. "Don't talk to me as if you're any better." He retorted, looking after for a brief moment before turning his gaze back to Anton. "How you feelin', big guy? Any signs of mental retardation we have to worry about?"

"Other than the weird dream I had..." Anton rolled his eyes, slowly bringing himself up to a sitting position. His free hand clutched his head. "I feel like I have a mild hangover. Maybe that's what I can say when the reporters ask me what does it feel like to be struck by lightning..."

One of Yusuke's mouth corners curled downward. "Oh, right. Arranged marriage..." He said, slightly disdainful. He promptly threw himself back, his head falling on the pillow. His arms were folded across his chest, and one of his legs was shifted over the other. "All to keep clan business stable and strict as they can. How could I not have heard of it?" He cocked a slight eyebrow, his eyes drifting over towards her. "Who's the guy you're stuck with?"

Hyōryū laughed lightly, "That's certainly one way to put it after you been through such a shocking experience! Hahaha!"

Shito's eyes widened looking at Anton strangely, asking, "Hold on...you were struck my lightning. As in, a Zanpakuto powered lightning bolt...how did you survive that???"

"By being crazy, that's how," Shadō said with a bemused tone, shaking his head.

Sakura's eyes widened, her cheeks flushed and she looked down while hiding her face with her hands, "I-I don't know that...they never thought me priviledged enough to know which suitor I was going to be betrothed to. After all...there are many elites within the Takuji Clan, all of which would be fully capable for a arranged marriage. Though, its all up to the Head of the Takuji Clan to decide," she sighed heavily.

"So, in other words, they just pick two random people and attempt to put them together." Yusuke summarized, the frown prominent on his face. "That's just like putting dynamite and fire together and praying that an explosion doesn't happen!"

"...no." Oliver deadpanned, shooting Hyōryū an exasperated glare. "Never again." This caused Anton to snicker slightly, clearly getting a kick out of the blonde man's reaction to the pun.

Sakura shook her head, saying, "Its not like that. This is all more of a formality really, its to be expected if Clans are going to unite under a single banner. I don't if you'd understand what's it like to be a daughter within a Clan that has high expectations of you, and if you slip up once they look at you with shame," she hung her head, turning away from Yusuke, "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have brought that up."

Hyōryū stuck out her tongue at Oliver, "Such a spoilsport, no cake for you!"

"There's cake?" Shadō raised a brow in curiosity, before a knowing smirk came onto his tomboy partner's face before he glared back at her, "you always like about that, Hyōryū-san."

Shito laughed lightly, "Yes, well it seems that you're both recovering well. I hope we all work together soon. I'd just like to see what you're all capable of," he turned around and began to casually walk out of the hospital room, closing it softly behind him, not before waving his hand to Oliver, "remember, Oliver. Spill from Tendan, don't forget it!"

Oliver turned his head to look over his shoulder, raising one hand in order to give a wave back. "Yeah, yeah, don't sweat me about it. I won't!"

"Spill...?" Anton questioned, cocking an eyebrow at his blonde friend and earning his gaze back to him.

"Yeah, I donno what the fuck it is. But apparently, it gives me an excuse to beat the shit out of something and let out some steam those two bitches managed to put into me."

"See, that's the problem!"

Yusuke threw his hands up into the air to emphasize his exclamation. If there was any insult that had actually been in Sakura's statement, he hadn't noticed it. "Slip up once and "Bam!" Everything's over and done with! Someone shouldn't have to live under such a strict and demanding rule. It's stressful, demanding, and boooo~ring! It's much more fun to see you when you're not acting like a noble, if you ask me."

"I appreciate your words more than you know, Yusuke, but I wasn't given a choice," Sakura looked sadly, smiling at Yusuke as she spoke, "because becoming a Lieutenant of the 10th Division was even arranged as a way for me to gain close relations with the Takuji Clan, as a way for them to analyze me and pick the perfect suitor for me. I know it seems so dull, but it gives me a sense of purpose and acknowledgement. In a way, I'm given a important task only my family has sought to have me carry out. I'm proud of taking this burden, even if its troubling," a single tear traced down her cheek as she kept smiling, even while she sniffled, "because I love my Clan!"

Hyōryū smirked, teasingly poking Oliver's shoulder, "What's the matter, Oliver. Too many women for you to handle? And here I thought you're supposed to be the macho, tough guy of our team. Did they hurt your feelings or something, hehehe!"

That caused Oliver to turn away in a scoff. But he didn't reply.

"Well..."

Because of the tear, Yusuke's expression clearly told Sakura he wasn't that convinced. But his tone was reluctantly agreeing. "If you insist that this is the best route for you, then I won't go against you. Still..." He allowed himself to sit up, folding his arms across his chest. "I'm not too keen on the idea that they just put you up with someone else only because of your position as a Lieutenant. It's... just not right, you know?"

"It wasn't that...I could've chosen to deny that position. Any Lieutenant has reasonable free lease on who they want or don't want to have as their Captain, but I chose him because....well...that's kind of personal and has no real reason why they chose my being the successor of our Clan and the knot that will tie both of our Clans together," she looked up at Yusuke, cocking her head to the side as she crossed her own arms in a copy-cat manuever as she made a fake pout face, "I could say that about you being with V-14. You're way too nice and kind to be involved with such violent people. With the exception of Angelika and you, most of the others have a underlying calousness in taking people's lives in nothing short than making a living. You don't seem violent at all, so why do you work with them?"

"Ohhhh," Hyōryū grinned widely, elbowing Anton in amusement as she gafawed, causing him to wince a little. "the great amazing Oliver got his ass handed to the noob Team! How rich is that! Nyahahahahahahaha!"

"If you can really call getting blindsided that..." The sneer on Oliver's face expressed his opinion of it in full. "Punks really value their magic powers over everything else. One bitch tried to act like she was hot shit while all she was really doing was waiting for her partner to come pull her out. Real good way to say that she can't fight on her own. They're nothin' but a bunch of snakes in the grass."

Anton shrugged. "But was it really worth it to go messing with someone with potentially suped-up powers?" He asked lightly.

"Course it is!" Oliver was quick to round back on Anton. "What they just proved was that they're useless without their little superpowers. They just like to run their mouths and hear themselves speak. At least I got the guts and balls to back up my words. V-14 may not have enemies, but they're really fuckin' close to that line..."

"Why do I work with them..."

Yusuke closed his eyes and tilted his head back. "Well... I guess you could say it's because they don't care for who I am." He finally said, after a moment of silence. "I can act high and mighty, immature and childish, whatever. They accept me for who I am and what I do. While we do have our share of blood and violence, we're really a nice group once you get to know us. Sure, we have our ups and downs, but that's really just about it. It's actually pretty fun!"

Sakura smiled, nodding in understanding, "I'm glad they appreciate you, Yusuke. They need someone like you, who has a big heart and mind. Never lose that side of yourself, no matter what," she placed her hands on his chest, "because someone who cares for the wounded and the betrodden is a special gift no one can take from you. That's a part of who you are, and I'm glad you're free spirited. Sometimes that's what makes people such good healers is their release of passion and the ability to speak their mind. You should be really proud of yourself."

Hyōryū shrugged, "Maybe, but I wouldn't really call you yelling to the world how great you are and how bad they are really much of a blindside hit. I bet whoever knocked your nuts was just hearing you from the other side of the base and decided to kick your ass. I know I would, ha!"

Unknown to the rest of the group, a pair of bare feet began walking towards their direction. The peculiar thing was that the bare feet weren't actually touching the ground, but just inches above it. This man had happened to hear the interesting conversation that enlightened him to stop by for a visit. After all, being a new member of V-14 means getting to know new people right? And what better way then to visit the sole opposition of Alpha Team.

The gray haired man turned around to the busted door, his scythe sticking out behind him, causing the blade to scrape aloud in a almost quickening rate, as a feral smile but a hearty tone broke out as he reached a hand to smooth out his mane hair, "Hello there. I was hearing a lot of commotion and thought it was a party, so I decided to drop by. Unfortunately, there's no one playing any games at the moment so let's play a guessing game. Who's the big shot who thinks we're amateurs at combat, because I'm more than willing to humble myself before his prestige and title as the strongest of Alpha Team. Well?" Yajū raised his head to see which one of them would bark first, with Hyōryū glaring at him and Shadō simply blinking, taking in his rather tall stature and rippled muscles.

"Excuse me, princess, but I wasn't--"

Oliver's protest was immediately interrupted by the voice of the newcomer, and he casually spun his chair around in order to face him. One of his eyebrows were cocked, and he regarded the man with a casual interest. It was clear that maybe he had been overhearing the conversation (at least a little bit of it), or maybe one of his friends fed him the information. He could already smell the scents of a fight approaching.

So he did what he normally did - he barked first.

"That'd be me, sailor..." He said coolly, pushing up his chair and standing up. "Got a problem?"

Yusuke blinked when the girl put her hands on his chest. "Well, I get that, but..." His blinks became owlish. "You sure it's necessary to do that while you say it?"

"Oh quite the opposite really," Yajū smiled widely, picking up his large scythe and resting it on his shoulder, the edge of it barely missed the ceiling of the hospital room as he bared down on the man, "I just find that to be less of an insult and more of a challenge. You truly want to test the strength of an Omega, chump? If you do, then I'll prove it to you that at least I am more skilled than the likes of you, hot stuff!"

Hyōryū smoothly reached to her hip, unclipping the snap to her gun in the event that this guy cuts loose within the hospital room, standing near Anton and holding his hand tightly as her eyes narrowed dangerously. Even she knew when to shut up and not goad someone looking for a fight, but Oliver...she wasn't sure he could pass up the opportunity.

"Oh," Sakura blinked and suddenly looked at her hand, but did not remove it, looking up back at Yusuke while blinking confused, "does it bother you that I'm touching you?"

"Well...no, but..." Yusuke scratched the back of his head, looking from her hand to her face and continuously switching his gaze from one to the other. "The motion just seems out-of-place. I mean, wouldn't you be placing a hand to your own heart while saying that? Or at least give me a poke to mine or something? I mean..." He squinted his eyes, turning his head a little while still keeping his gaze on her. "I mean, if I did that to you, wouldn't it be at least a bit--"

That was when he stopped, a thoughtful look crossing his face.

Then, his bangs overshadowed his eyes, his eyes sparking comically through the shadow. He raised his hands up in a playful, yet threatening manner while giggling in a humorous, yet maniacal manner.

Anton, however, was observing the whole situation with a sweat-drop, as he knew what was going to happen. And sure enough, Hyōryū had guessed properly.

"Bring it, bitch..." Oliver's grin grew wider, and he tilted his neck to the side in order elicit an audible snap of the neck. "A perfect opportunity to send you crying back to your two whores."

A guttural chuckle broke from Yajū's throat, his grin spread to show his pearly white teeth and his eyes bared into Oliver's, "Exceeeellent," he then turned around to Anton, almost as if he had a whiff of knowledge to ask him correctly, "is there a place where we can hash this out, Mister Semenov?"

Hyōryū let a sigh of relief as she removed her hand away from the gun, realizing that he knew better than to start a fight within the nursing room. She became glad even some of the muscle hulks of Omega had common sense past their ego stricken selves.

Sakura cocked her head to the side, truly naively confused, "Be what? What would I be?"

"This."

With that, Yusuke promptly tackled the unsuspecting girl to the bed and proceeded to tickle her everywhere. In some cases, it would've been mild invasion of personal space. However, Yusuke didn't seem to care much about that as he assaulted her once more.

"...don't ask me." Anton deadpanned. "I just woke up here. I'm not gonna know the exact layout of this place. You'd be better off lookin' for yourself."

Yajū grinned, shrugging as he turned around and began walking out of the room, "Fine with me. I've scouted out most of this base already, I just thought to ask if you guys knew of a allowed area. I know just the place. C'mon, killer," he jeered Oliver on with a backwards glance as his right eye locked onto his face, "let's go have some fun, gehehehe!"

Hyōryū smiled, looking back at Anton in a almost thankful gesture to this newcomer. Inadvertently, he just came and got rid of a big pain in the ass for all three of them, and she would make sure to treat him to some sort of sake or liquor she had in her secret stash.

Shadō waved to Oliver as he would be leaving, "Good luck. Try not to hurt yourself too much."

Sakura couldn't contain herself as she let loose a series of giggles after squealing with laughter as she was assaulted by a series of tickles. She began to really like the playfullness in this boy, and he wasn't half bad looking in Sakura's mind. Which all the reason made her bolder as she tried to tickle him back with her own deft, skilled hands as she found the pressure points and ticklish spots on his own body, as she has spent many a time tickling her own sibblings before duty demanded her maturity. She couldn't remember the last time she had enjoyed herself more thoroughly. She almost felt like she was home...

"Nooo~!!!"

Her experienced movements made him fall back immediately, any defense or attempt to fight back made useless. It was his turn to start laughing and squirming, her knowledge of the human anatomy making it impossible to run away. However, he still was having fun nonetheless. It was more enjoyable if everyone joined in, after all.

Sakura giggled in a childish tormentor voice, "Neverrrrrr~!" She continued to tickling him all over, intentionally hitting a few pleasure spots she knew of, mixing in the giggles with potentially good feeling massage spots, slowly but surely turning her barrage of tickling into a slow-descending expert massage, as she unintentionally admired his body to the extent of wanting to untie all the knots within his muscles and tendons.

Settling the score, Intimate ventures and bleeding rivalries
Oliver didn't hesitate to follow, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking out of the room with him.

Yajū began walking, using his inhuman senses to guide him like a compass, even though it looked so decieving as if he already knew where he wanted to go. His height, while rather being intimidating in of itself, his scythe's handle length is shown to be at least one and a half heads higher when held vertically, with the arced jagged blade being nearly as long as nearly a whole man's average height. His rippled muscles and various scars sported along his body showed that he had fought many battles, losing some while winning others, all told a tale of various conflicts he sought out or had encountered him. All in all, if Yajū lacked any actual power, his body told he had physical power at least to back it up.

As nearly five minutes of walking went by, the hostility and tension was so high that any sudden movement made by Yajū or the other man would almost trigger a instaneous sign of aggression and ignite a battle. However, Yajū made a immediate left, sending them down a dark corridor that led down stairs which slowly wound down almost like a castle's basement stairway. Once nearly fifty meters underground, Yajū entered a large expansive arena of sorts, with a dome like appearance. The entire area had sound-dampening plates on floors, walls, and even the ceiling, giving it a blue-tinted metalic appearance, built with high density to take outstanding punishment from any number of situations.

It was here, where Yajū stopped at the edge of the observer's deck, where the large ring-balcony was far above a 20 meter drop-off towards the metalic flooring below where he contenders would duke it out.

"Gota hand it to Beta to make a substantial headquarters. They practically built something for everyone, even for war-dogs like us," Yajū said in his continuous guttural tone, turning his back around to fully face Oliver, "so...how do you want to settle this like the men we are? A contest of endurance, fighting with our fists and flesh? Or, shall we compare skills and cut loose, with your choice of arsenal against mine? Shall we blind fold each other and see if we can fight without sight? C'mon, make your call, I'll be happy to oblige you with anything within reason, chump."

"Get rid of that scythe. We're fightin' barebones."

To emphasize, Oliver rolled up his sleeves and cracked the knuckles on each of his hands. His eyes were narrowed, and he had a toothy grin on his face as he stood where he was. "It's about time I saw someone allow themselves to fall back on the more primal skills of the trade." He sneered, cracking his neck once more for good measure.

Slowly, but surely, Yusuke's laughs fell silent, a surprised "ooo" coming from his lips when she switched methods. He found a smirk crawling onto his face, resisting the urge to chuckle. Somehow, he got the feeling that he had manipulated her into doing this. It was cute and funny at the same time. But, unlike anyone else, he could easily roll with the situation.

Immediately, he allowed himself to roll so that he was lying on his stomach in order to make it easier for her. "Maybe Boss Lady would decide that you'd be a pretty good massage therapist..." He said lightly and jokingly. "Ever think of that?"

Her childish hums declared no illicit intent in her kneadings and proddings, smoothly and effectively her hands across his body, admiring how silky he felt even through his clothes and his body possessed hardly any knots that she would have expected from other people she massaged. She giggled at the mention of being a massage therapist, purring as she said, "I might've thought about it. Would you want me to massage you muscle worn, battle weary mercenaries as a way of earning my keep?"

Yajū chuckled gutturally, slamming the pommel of his scythe into a vertical position that slightly ajarred the floor. The show of strength itself showed he had no intention of being afraid of a tomcat who knew some moves as he stood upright, not even bothering getting into a fighting stance of sorts. He raised both his hands in a "c'mon at me" stance, emphasizing on him striking first, "C'mon now, let's see if you got the balls the back up your game speech!"

"...sounding just like your leader all ready..."

With the annoyed statement, Oliver threw himself at his opponent with a fist cocked back and swung in a direct punch towards his face. It was a starting punch, nothing too flashy. After all, the first blow would actually mean something - an exploitation of defense and a glimpse of how the combatants fought. But he made sure to hold nothing back - it was pointless to, in his opinion.

A satisfied coo came from Yusuke's lips, and he relaxed under her hold. "Well, would you want to?" He questioned back. "I'm a positive recipient, but I'm not sure about the rough-rider people of V-14."

"What are you talking about...?" Yajū asked with an amused grin, his low grating tone becoming common with him even as Oliver rushed to throw a punch at him. As his punch moved to intercept his face, he had a crazy idea come into mind that he knew would shake his compatriot up good. Moving his head back like he was attempting to backpedal and dodge the punch, he reared his head before pointedly...headbutting into his fist with his forehead, using enough finesse to lighten the punch against his skin while using sheer force to butt away the fist, "the fact of the matter is...I'm only third strongest of Omega Team! My leader makes me look like a child when it comes to battle, and its something she showed me first hand, so don't get any ideas on judging people just because they might be bitchy or pushy, got that?!"

Sakura giggled, grating up and down his spine with her finger tips as she began to play her fingers delicately along his backside, "I dunno...I'm pretty sure they'd appreciate a good downtime massage to relieve some of the stress from their rigorous work. I'm pretty sure I can handle myself if they decide to try to get rough with me, hehe!"

"As I noticed..." Yusuke shivered slightly at her tough, but kept his small smile. "And speaking of other V-14 members... maybe you could get along with Rika, as well. She's actually the only V-14 member who doesn't fight at all. Asuka chose her for her intelligence and tact more than anything else. Other than me, she's probably the only one out of all of us who's mostly nice and not mean."

All Oliver had to do was switch fists.

When his first one was forced back...

...his other fist came forward.

A swift uppercut forced Yajū's head upwards, the force disorienting. Then, Oliver followed up with a heel kick to the diaphragm, booting him away with immense force. If it was one thing he learned, it was not to speak in the midst of combat. Everything could be said before our after. But pre-liner boasts would only finish the fight faster for the one not speaking. He would say what he had to after one or the other was beaten down.

But for now, it was all action.

Yajū admired Oliver's one-minded set for battle, not even phased at all by his jeering and the unorthodox use of his head against his fist. Yajū decided to return in kind as he moved his feet in kind, his large muscular body surprisingly graceful in movements as the fist moved upwards while grazing the skin with the intensity of the force used by Oliver. As the foot moved to kick his chest, he grappled it by putting it in front of the designated target, absorbing the force in the palm of his hand, allowing him to pivot his enemy as he saw fit.

"Heeraaaah!" With a yell, he rotated Oliver's body clockwise before preforming a spinning roundhouse kick to his back, intending on sending him over the edge of the railing and off the drop-off into the fighting pit below.

A grunt escaped the blonde man's lips when the kick connected, and he found himself falling off of the ring-balcony and into the 20-meter drop. The wind blew all around him as he descended, his eyes shut briefly out of instinct. It was rather useless to keep any sort of fighting stance prolonged while in the air, even if he was falling to the ground. He would just have to wait until he descended to the bottom.

He shifted his gaze to the shrinking ring-balcony, waiting for his opponent to come down to him.

Sakura smiled, switching to rotating her palms on his shoulder blades, sending soothing sensations down Yusuke's back as she answered him, "She sounds like we would get along nicely. How did she end up in V-14 if she's so quiet and withdrawn?"

Yajū didn't hesitate to follow his prey.

Yajū leapt onto the metal railing with both feet, crouching on it while peering down at Oliver's falling form, like a hawk peering at its target. Then, with a feral grin and a leap, a cackling Yajū sped down towards Oliver's descending body, his own vertically inclined as he caught up with Oliver within seconds. With a laugh, Yajū twisted himself in the air as he grew close to the ground and landed deftly on all fours onto the metalic dampening floorplates, only a mere few meters from Oliver's falling form.

"Sorry...did I hurt you, princess? Hahahaha!" Yajū jeered as he cracked his knuckles, before rushing towards him and swinging with fast, furious punches towards him, not leaving any moment to recover, regardless of his condition when he landed. The force would be recognizeable to that of someone who trains excessively with his body, the honed strikes leaving nothing to spare and would leave any normal soldier breathless from each impact.

As Oliver allowed himself to perform a flip and land on the ground, he found himself having to defend right away as Yajū rushed him. The assault was quick and feral, but clearly experienced. The blonde man found himself having to retreat for a moment as his opponent attacked with ferocity. However, he knew just what to do. Instead of outright blocking, he instead employed elbow blocking and parrying in order to use his momentum against him. All the meanwhile, he was unleashing his own swift punches towards the temporary open spots that he would leave open while he attacked. Truly, it was a game of hand-to-hand.

"Well...the truth is..." Yusuke shrugged lightly, careful not to disrupt her patterns. "I really am not sure, considering how shy she is. You'd have to ask her that yourself."

Yajū howled with feral laughter and joy as he felt the punches make contact as well as being delivered by his opponent. Despite Oliver's appearance, he was quick and swift in his actions, not waiting for any chances or just staring, but taking initiative. Truly, Yajū began reveling hand-to-hand combat once again as he felt himself spew blood and spit from his mouth, before he returned in earnest, side-stepping and throwing a few swift, incredibly powered kicks before vaulting over him and swung around to elbow thrust into his head or back. It seemed he changed tactics from plain brawling to swift dancing type of fighting style, matching Oliver's swift and precise art of combat with his own.

Sakura then rolled her hands down his back, kneading his waistline with smooth circles before humming in thought, "Well...I guess I should do that. If, you'd allow her to visit me, that is."

"Hm? Oh, right, I'm supposed to be watching over you. Sorry, I forgot that for a moment..."

Chuckling a little, Yusuke allowed himself to pull up, sliding off the bed and away from her fingers as he got off. "C'mon. By now, she probably went up to her own room in order to get away from all the noise." He said lightly, making his way around the bed. "I know just where that is..."

The punches were easily avoidable...

But the vault caught Oliver off-guard.

The bone of his elbow struck the back of his head, and his vision shook viciously upon contact. He instinctively staggered forward, but managed to twist around and regain himself quickly. A coy smirk of his own was made out of his lips, and he blinked a few times to make the mild disorientation stop. It made it all the more clear that he was enjoying this fight as much as his opponent was.

Yajū grinned as he rushed him once more, switching tactics again as he leaped forward to Oliver's left before propping his hands to twist him with incredible momentum, swinging his long legs out with precise kicks towards his sternum, chin, and shoulders. Adrenaline flowed through his body as the thrill of the fight bore into his mind and into his body. He became glad that despite the hot shot talk from Oliver was enjoying it too, instead of being a piss-ant, he was enjoying the fight. He became to start liking this man...

Sakura smiled sweetly, following him off the bed, walking calmly behind him with her hands held behind her. She became slightly excited to meet another sweet person in V-14. She thought at first all of them were just brutish, gruff, and loud mercenaries who had hardly any care of what their actions brought them or others. But now, seeing people like Yusuke and now this Rika being able to be themselves while having warmth within their hearts, gave her hope that these mercenaries weren't completely wrong. It made her wonder that up until now, that had V-14 actually done anything wrong to the Soul Society by preforming necessary evils to keep the Underworld from leaking into the light of day and reaping profits for their services. For now, all she could do was wonder.

It didn't take long for them to reach the room where Rika was.

Yusuke, naturally, was the first one to come to the door. He raised his fist, knocking on the door for a total of seven times. Then, he moved that hand behind his back and patiently waited. It only took several seconds for a quiet, hesitant voice to be heard from behind the door.

"Y-yusuke? Is that you?"

"Eeyup! Hope you don't mind me bringing company. And no, it's not any of the hot-heads."

After a short moment of silence, the door finally opened to reveal the girl's form. Instead of the dress she had been wearing moments before, she was now wearing a tank top with blue-jean shorts - an obviously more casual change from the getup she had previously. It showed off a rather slim and feminine figure; not an eye-full, but somewhat of an eye-grabber for other people to see. Her purple eyes looked over to her two occupants.

They widened, and she took a step back in alarm when she realized that their prisoner was standing in front of them. "Ah--!!"

"Hey, easy!" Yusuke quickly cut her off before she could panic. "She's actually real nice once you get to know her. If she was a meanie, I wouldn't have bothered to let her see you. I promise she won't bite..." A sweatdrop came down the back of his head. "...much."

Rika regarded Sakura for a few moments more, before finally relenting and allowing the two to step into her room. The hesitation she felt was still there, however mild it may have been.

Sakura smiled at the young girl, regarding her feminity and appearance. She was quite beautiful, even though she wasn't wearing anything outlandisly stylish her looks came through the undertone of her natural beauty. Sakura had a slight bit of awe for her to possess such rare elegance.

Sakura came in with Yusuke before turning to Rika, bowing her head respectfully and smiling, "Hello there, Rika. My name is Sakura. Its a pleasure to meet you."

As Rika gently pushed the door shut, she turned towards the one who addressed her. Her arms were folded behind her back, and locks of her hair fell to cover one side of her face. She regressed from alarm to shyness, trying to hide as best as she could while still in plain sight. " It's...very nice to meet you... " She mumbled.

"Hey, its okay," Sakura said, tentatively reaching out with her hands and rubbing in a soothing manner over the top of her head and shoulders, "you don't need to say anything if you don't want to. Take it at your own pace, I'm not here to pry after all."

Upon the initial touch, Rika instinctively flinched. Yusuke may have been adjusting to it, but to her, such contact was considered invasive of her personal space. She squirmed a little, turning away even more from Sakura. "W-well... all right..." She said softly, her voice a little louder than before. "But... could you please stop touching me? It's... kind of uncomfortable..."

"Oh!" Sakura said, retracting her hands carefully so as not to frighten the girl, while she bowed her head apologetically, "I didn't mean to offend or make you uncomfortable. Please forgive me!" She flailed her arms briefly in a comical manner while squinting her eyes in a semi-panicked mode.

The sudden move from heartwarming to startled also surprised Rika as well.

She jumped back a little, letting out a startled yelp at Sakura's antics. "Y-yes, I-I forgive you!!" She blurted out, unable to stop and process what she was actually speaking. It was the first thing that came out in order to make the other girl stop and calm down.

On the sidelines and sitting on her bed, Yusuke was grinning from ear to ear. "See? You both are getting along already!" He exclaimed.

Sakura suddenly reverted from her antics, blinking slightly before smiling at Yusuke and back to Rika, "I guess we are, hahaha! By the way," Sakura grinned playfully as she wiggled her fingers in front of herself, "if you ever need a pleasurable way to relax, I can always assist. Yusuke can vouch for me, that I'm a good massager."

A slow grin crossed Yusuke's face, and he nodded in approval as he worked out his shoulders a little. "Eeyup! I don't think I could feel my shoulders after you were done." He joked, looking over to Rika. "Maybe you could give her a try, Rika!" His grin grew even wider when he saw her blush even more, and she instinctively covered her face with her hands.

"Y-yusuke!!" She squeaked. "W-when you say it like that..!!"

Sakura cooed softly as she rubbed her hands together and maintained her distance, "I promise I'll be gentle, Rika...trust me, you'll love how you'll feel once I'm through with you."

Elsewhere...

Beep, bip, beep, bop, beep, bip, beep, bop!

A ringtone indicating another call by Enrico to Angelika rang in the air, disrupting whatever peace and quiet Angelika had in her vicinity.

And Angelika, polite and mild-mannered as she was, was never a happy camper when her peace was disrupted.

She let out an annoyed growl, reaching into her coat pocket in order to grab the cell phone. She would seriously have to find another ring-tone that was less annoying than her current one. At this point in time, a gun to the head of the ones that created this tone seemed more appealing to her than any other option.

"Heilige Scheiße..." She swore, flipping the phone open and pressing the talk button before placing it to her ear. "Yes, Enricho?"

"Angelika! Glad to hear that you are safe and sound!...Ah...," there was slight trepidation, as the long-standing partnership, despite it always being long-ranged, Enrico began to develop a sense of knowing tell-tale signs of Angelika's moods. This wasn't an exception, "did I interrupt something, señora?"

"No. I just hate my ring-tone." Angelika said bluntly. "I don't know why I haven't bothered to change the lousy thing. But I'm going to stop before I start ranting about such a trivial thing..." She shifted one leg over the other, her tone taking on a firm and business-like manner. "What do you have for me, Enricho?"

"Yes, yes I do. I have a particular client who needs your services...though its not directly involving your buisness within the Seireitei or Rukonagi however. Its in Tendan, as in the dark neighbour city-society to Yūrei Ōkouku. They need a particular rival of theirs dispatched, but its free to negotiation in how you do this. He's willing to meet up with you in a cantina in the Southwest Rukon District within two hours, señora," he said, having slight trepidation when speaking of the notorious dark society that is only a few kilometers away from Yūrei's borders.

Angelika nodded, closing her lone eye. "Did you get the names of the target and the informant that's going to meet up with me?" She questioned.

"His name is Rai Xanxus, a new hotshot with promise in moving to the top in Tendan as one of the most lucurative and successful buisnessmen as well as one of the most bold underworld investors. I didn't get the name of the target but I wouldn't be surprised if it was another corporation or its affiliations. Underworld gang wars and corporation takeovers are nearly one in the same in Tendan, so this guy is probably staking out to get a step up in the society and bolster his own corp," Enrico informed Angelika with assurance and confidence, briefly taking a smoke with every sentence here and there.

"Understood..." Angelika answered smoothly. "I'll have the team up and ready for travel. We'll be there within the half-hour."

"Thank you, Angelika. I'll let him know you'll be arriving to meet him at the designated meeting spot. Talk you later, señora," and with that Enrico cut his connection from the phone with a distinct "c-click".

"Who exactly will you be bringing along?" Asuka inquired, a hand placed to her mouth in thought as she watched Angelika click the phone shut and slide it back into her coat. "Considering that both the Inner Circle and Soul Society are hot on our heels, I don't think we'll be able to slip everyone through the radar."

"Since the majority of my troops are busy, I'll have to borrow one yours for this particular mission..." The German said coolly, folding her hands in her lap. "I'll need Rika. From what you've told me already, her intellect as well as her other skills will serve necessary in the event that we encounter unexpected resistance... whether it be something other than physical combat. But for direct resistance... I'll have to ask Frau Komori for her two particular teammates..."

Slowly, she stood up, straightening herself. "I'll go find her and tell her what's going on." She said, turning and walking away. "In the meantime, could you go and inform Rika?"

"Of course, Angel-chan." Asuka answered, a smile on her face as she allowed herself to stand up as well.

Speaking of Rika...

She currently was under the willing touches of Sakura's expertise within producing pleasure through her tactile movements. At first, it almost seemed impossible to get even within arm's reach without startling the poor girl, but now, Sakura had managed to sway her to at least give it a try. Currently, Sakura was leaning her hands into the girl's lithe shoulders, rubbing her thumbs methodically over her muscle as her fingers squeezed and relaxed her shoulders indefinitely. Humming a thoughtful tune, Sakura could only ask, "I see you're liking this, yes, Rika-chan?"

"Mmmm..."

The only response was a soft coo of agreement from Rika. She was laying on her stomach on her bed exactly as Yusuke had done, the side of her head resting on her arms. The blush was still on her face as Sakura worked her magic, and her heart was still beating in a quick manner. However, her body had fallen into complete submission, and she was clearly enjoying what she was recieving.

Yusuke was now sitting on the floor, playing with what apparently was a laptop. He glanced over, an amused smile on his face as he watched. "Wow..." He commented. "Keep it up, and I think you're gonna turn her into mush!"

"Hehe!~" Sakura giggled at the comment, as she spreaded her hands down her spine and kneaded opposite sides with the balls of her hands, lightly scratching with her fingers as she did so, "I'm glad she likes it. She's unbelievably tense. Probably from working so hard and not getting enough free time. Poor thing..."

That made Yusuke snicker a little. "Just like our little nerd..."

" S...stop talking... about me like I'm not here... " Rika whined. But her protesting tone was nullified due to the effectiveness of her worker, a shiver running down her spine at the touch. He might have been right about one thing though; if she kept it up, Rika feared she wouldn't ever been able to get up from the bed!

"Oh, my apologies, Rika-chan," Sakura said in a coy, innocent voice despite wearing a michivious grin as she winked to Yusuke as she employed another few strokes of her hands along her back alongside her waist and back up, "did you say something?"

"Mmmm..." Sakura's moves promptly shut the shy girl up, earning another light moan from her. It made her face redden a bit more, considering that the woman's hands were dangerously close to her posterior. If she had the strength to move, she would have immediately jolted away like a startled cat. But she knew she was helpless, even in the case that Sakura dared to go that far.

Then...

"If I didn't know any better..." Asuka's amused voice said. "It would seem as if you're doing something dirty to Rika-chan, darling."

"Oh!" Sakura looked up promptly to Asuka's direction, before putting on a nervous smile, knowing she was in a precarious position being out of her room, "umm...hello there. I don't believe we met...I'm Sakura. Nice to meet you," she did however did not stop massaging Rika, mostly because her hands now had a mind of their own.

Asuka allowed herself to take a look over the situation, remaining silent as she did so. On the floor, a grinning Yusuke was sitting in front of what was Rika's laptop. On the bed lay Rika, promptly getting a massage courtesy of the prisoner. She almost laughed. It seemed that Sakura was getting acquainted with everyone rather quickly. Rika, in particular, seemed to be enjoying her company the most.

"I'm Asuka." She introduced herself, giving a nod. "And, despite the help you've been giving already, I'm afraid I need to borrow Rika-chan for a while. She's been called to a mission."

That caused Rika's head to jolt up, despite her plushed face. She couldn't move, considering Sakura was sitting on her legs. However, it was a clear sign that she was ready to get up... if her "therapist" got the message.

"Oh! But of course," Sakura took the hint as she unstraddled herself from her occupant's legs, "is it dangerous? Will she be in any harm's way? Where is she going?" She rambled on in a very obvious worried tone, while she twiddled her hands around in a habitual show of nervousness in front of strangers.

As Rika slowly maneuvered herself off of the bed and into a standing position, she folded her arms behind her back, falling back into her shy and regressive state once more. The intoxicated blush had faded from her face, and she felt mildly relieved that she wasn't being touched anymore. Most of her, however, was disappointed for having been interrupted.

"I won't lie to you..." Asuka's voice and face took on a slightly serious expression. "It will be dangerous. But that's why Angel-chan's speaking to Mōka-san in order for backup. Rika will be in safe hands, Sakura-san."

Sakura smiled, sighing with some relief as she rested onto a Indian style seating, resting her hands on her lap, "Thank you. She's so sweet and nice, I'd hate to hear anything bad happens to her while she's away..."