Deception

"...it would appear our intelligence have finally located Harumi Muruiyama." An aged voice sounded in a dark room, and it seemed most agigated. "She was wise. To make herself undetectable, her powers have been lost, and transferred to a human."

"So I've been informed before, sir." The voice of what appeared to be a young man replied, and his figure stepped from the shadows. He had squinted eyes, combed hair, and wore the attire of a Shinigami, with a long white kosode over it. "What shall you have me do?"

"You will retrieve her." The voice replied, matter-of-factly. "She has merely added to her charges, and she will be dealt with accordingly."

"Of course, Head Captain." The man replied, turning on his heel as he left the building.

Hell Hath No Fury
"Gaikou, back me up!" Ahatake called out to the blonde woman as he jumped backwards, using his giant Zanpakutō to block the strike from an oncoming Hollow, which sent him flying backwards, crashing into a few buildings.

"''Shit! What the hell is this Hollow...better yet, where is Harumi with her nagging attitude at a time like this!?" ''He groaned as he climbed up through the rubble.

Gaikou cried out, "On it, just give me a second!" She was...waiting at the pizza outlet. "How long will this take, seriously...wastin' my time like this, I have an idiot to save..."

"Ma'am, I don't remember you ordering anything here..."

"...Dammit." Gaikou dashed over to Ahatake, rapidly and wildly firing reishi bolts towards the Hollow. "Gaikou Ryuusei to the rescue!"

The Hollow ducked out of the way, slamming it's powerful leg into Gaikou's gut and sending her tumbling backwards. It turned, however just in time to react to Ahatake's oncoming blade, sidestepping out of the way as Ahatake tumbled right into Gaikou.

"...you guys are terrible at this." Kayla, who was a little late on the scene, watched them with a bemused look on her face.

Gaikou spat, "What take you so long?! Here we are, busting our asses to take this guy down- nobody wasted time helping Ahatake, and you decided to show up at the last minute!?"

"Bringer Light is a bit slower than whatever the heck it is you two are doing." Kayla replied, jumping downwards with a trail of green light following her body. She placed her hands on the concrete sidewalk, and began to focus on the soul within the object. "Here's why my powers are better than yours." With one swift moment, the sidewalk began to rise in a large pillar, latching onto the Hollow easily and tightening like a vice.

"Ahatake, cut it in half!" Kayla ordered, and Ahatake removed himself from where he had landed — Gaikou's breasts — and leapt towards the Hollow, slicing into it's mask and causing it to disintegrate.

Gaikou snarled at this; "Damn pervert...always landing there..." She was tempted to smack him for it, but she withheld herself for the sake of not devolving into a stereotype.

As the Hollow faded, Ahatake landed on the ground, sheathing the overly large blade he called his Zanpakutō. "You think Harumi would have gained her powers back by now. I'm sick of playing Death."

Gaikou snarked, "You know; if you could play Death as in the actual Grim Reaper, you'd have a lot more fun. Like touch of death and all that jazz. But seriously, if you don't want the powers, ask that Entenryuu guy or something. He seems like he knows a lot."

"I don't mind having the powers." Ahatake explained as he lifted his body up and stepped into it, stretching. "What I do mind is having to use them responsibly. I'm not a hero, I'm not in a story someone is writing with their best friend, I shouldn't have to go around doing this crap." He groaned. "I'm gonna go swing by the arcade, I'll see you later."

As Ahatake walked off, Kayla sighed. "He seems so upset. Maybe he preferred being a Fullbringer."

"Ohai, you two!" The cheerful voice of a young girl called out to them. It was Kōyuri, who walked up to Kayla and Gaikou with the oddest of smiles on her face.

Gaikou looked at her, bemused. Naturally, her eyes wandered down to Kōyuri's...assets. "Ohai there, boobs."

"Gaikou-san, hi!" Kōyuri smiled at the girl. They seemed to be hitting it off, which was a good thing. Kayla, on the other hand, was giving Kōyuri the eye like she was the plague. "Kayla-san!" Kōyuri gasped. "What's that on your face?"

"Hm?" Kayla flinched for a second. "Where?"

"Hold on, let me get my mirror!" Kōyuri fished into her pockets for the mirror she always carried.

Ahatake yawned, pushing the door to the arcade open as he left. He had just spent what he was sure had been half the day playing one of the more popular arcade games in Japan - a fighting game where anime cliches beat the shit out of each other with a complex mindraping plot. He was pretty sure Gaikou would love it.

"Oh my head..." He groaned as he made the way back to his house, unlocking it and heading to the kitchen. Much to his surprise, he didn't see Kayla's shoes on his way through the door. "Where is sh-?" His question, however, was cut short by a note he saw on the fridge. He picked it off the fridge and read it.

"She what?" From the looks of the note, Kōyuri had invited everyone to her house for a little party since the tournament had been such an ordeal, and Kayla and everyone else had accepted. Naturally, Ahatake was invited as well. "Son of a...dammit Kayla!" However, he decided that he may as well go, he had nothing to do, and it was better than sitting around an empty house.

Since Kōyuri only lived a few houses over, getting there took him no longer than five minutes, and he knocked on her door.

Kōyuri opened the door with a cheerful smile. "Ohaio, come in~" Her tone was too peppy and light-hearted; an eerie sign, really. As soon as Ahatake walked in, he was absolutely shocked- before him was the trio of Kayla, Gaikou, and Harumi, dressed in domiatrix outfits with collars, wandering around the house, cooking, cleaning, and serving tea. "Don't worry- I've prepared a special dinner, just for you~"

Ahatake walked into the house, looking severely disturbed. "Kōyuri..." He gestured to the girls, trying not to look at the provocative outfits they were wearing and obviously failing. He actually wished he had a camera, but the disturbed feeling he was getting was overriding the arousal. "What did you do?" Speaking slowly, he took a seat at the table she had laid out. It certainly was festive, if nothing else. Only his friends happened to be walking like zombies.

Kōyuri clasped her hands; telling him, "Calm down, it's only dinner...." ...said the spider to the fly. "No, Ahatake Kurosaki, I expect you to dine."

Ahatake shrugged. "Fine, why not? You invited me here, and it would be a waste not to eat pre-cooked food." He was listening more to his stomach than his head, as he was already catching a whiff of Kayla's cooking, and his stomach was immediately shouting orders of "Sit down you fucking ninny, there's food!" while his brain was saying "Get the hell out of here, all of it is probably spiked!" Of course, as a man, he listened to his stomach, and made a gesture that indicated Kōyuri should also sit.

Kōyuri plonked herself down next to Ahatake, shuffling up close as if getting straight in his face and pressing her forehead to his. "I cooked it mostly myself." She picked up a fork, stabbing into a morsel while holding it to his mouth. "Come on, here comes the airplane~"

Ahatake sighed, and decided to comply, opening his mouth so that Kōyuri could feed him.

Kouyuri smiled happily; essentially cramming it into his mouth. "Tasty, isn't it~? My hair's in it, Ahatake Kurosaki. And now, it's inside of you."

Ahatake reacted instantly, slamming his leg up into the bottom of the table, breaking it in half and yet somehow still sending the pieces high into the air. "I think we have a problem starting there. I was willing to gloss over the brainwashing until I had a full stomach to argue with you over it, but that just proves you're a crazy bitch." As if the brainwashing/dominatrix thing didn't already give him the tipoff. "Release them now, Kōyuri."

Clash of Friends
Kōyuri's eyes sharpened as her face appeared horribly twisted; a big, toothy smile, and everything. "I can't let you do that, Ahatake-kuuuuuuun." Though she sounded playful, it was clear that she was the goddamn devil itself. She stood up and held out her hand, withdrawing her mirror which transformed into a katana. "I'm afraid, that your precious skin, will have to meet Valen-tan..."

Ahatake growled. "So that's your Fullbring." He eyed the sword warily. "I've never actually seen that in action before." Ahatake reached into his pocket, pulling out a small candy. Harumi had given him a Soul Pill a few days ago, but he wasn't fond of leaving another Soul in his own body, and usually just had her use the glove to knock him out of it. But, seeing as she was currently Kōyuri's little slave, he had no choice. He swallowed the pill, and felt himself forced from his body, wearing the Shinigami garb he always wore in soul form. "You!" He barked at his body. "Stay out of the way while I kick this girl's head in."

"Aye sir!" His body did an over the top salute and immediately moved to a different room. Something about that voice ticked him off. "Damn Gikon..."

Kōryuri forced down her smile. "...So, YOU'RE a Shinigami too, huh!? Well, colour me surprised." She swung her blade around her wrist, pointing it at Ahatake. "Why don't you make the first move, honey-bun~"

"Don't call me that." Ahatake twitched. "We're not fighting inside your house." He walked over to her door, opening it and walking outside. "I'd rather not break everything and have to pay later, we'll fight out here."

Kōyuri responded with a dissonant, beaming grin. "Okaysies~" She cheerfully skipped outside like nothing had happened; before immediately going in for the kill by leaping towards Ahatake, swinging her katana violently at his head. "....I will flay the skin from your flesh and the flesh from your bones and scrape your bones dry. And still you will not have suffered enough. You will be mine!"

"Like hell!" Ahatake quickly unsheathed his sword and rose it to the deflect the oncoming blade with a mighty CLANG!, his force resonating with Kōyuri's. As her blade was bounced back, he quickly spun on the spot, swinging his leg up into her side. Insane woman or not, he wasn't going to cut her down.

Kōyuri was blown away by Ahatake's strike; tumbling along the ground, she stabbed Valentine into the ground, halting her movement and standing up, wiping blood that spewed from her mouth. "...urk..Dammit...damn son of a...." She staggered around, as if in a daze. "Destroy. Destroy. Destroy. Slowly, completely, gently beyond comparison, cruelly to the point of numbness, I'll violate your life. That's right. The instant I rip off your limbs, tear open your ribs and pull out your intestines, biting into your neck as you scream in agony, chewing through your eyes as I ignore your pleas for mercy and spreading your brains on the ground like butter...! Then, I'll consume what's left...!!! Ahahaha...AhahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahaHAHAHAAA..!!"

"Why the hell are you doing this, Kōyuri!?" Ahatake shouted down at her as she stumbled to her feet. "We used to be close, we still are, why are you kidnapping my friends and going this far? I'm not worth this insane level of obsession, and it's certainly not good for you!"

Kōyuri snapped, "Shut up! You don't understand how long it's been...I've been trying to win your heart, but EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I can't say a word! This is the only option...no, this is the LAST option!" She launched herself at Ahatake with a burst of speed, aiming her katana right for his heart...

Ahatake took a stance, waiting for her to get as close as possible. "Now....DODGE!" He jumped right to the left, and felt the air rush as Kōyuri flew right past him, and Ahatake summoned a mass of flames, creating what looked like a spear, and sending it straight towards her, aiming to slash her tendons.

Kōyuri, as by sheer reflexes, managed to spin around and catch the flames upon Valentine; the fire coursing down the blade, she performed a single spin afterwards, returning the attack back to sender. Catching herself on the ground, Kōyuri snarled violently, her face looking deranged as she lurched towards Ahatake, aiming her katana at his throat like a madwoman.

Ahatake cut throug the flames, not even feeling them as he and Kōyuri clashed their steel, sparks flying. "You're insane, you know that? I can't even tell if you're the same girl who moved here when we were three!"

Kōyuri snarled at him, "I've changed. People change. I changed...because of you. Why...why couldn't you look at me with the eyes of a lover, not a friend!? I don't understand...I'll never understand, DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMIT!" The madwoman screeched hysterically, sobbing admist the cold clash of blades sharper than her will.

Ahatake flinched, and this almost cost him a head as the blade grazed his cheek, leaving a sharp cut. He reacted immediately, jumping back in the air to gain space from this insane woman, wiping the blood from his cheek as he did so. "You're insane. And, for the record, have terrible taste in men, I am not someone you should be obsessing over!"

Kōyuri darted forward, swinging wildly. It was literally impossible to cause a woman like that to diverge from her obsession. She ignored him, swinging her blade around to aim it straight at his neck.

Ahatake began to move back, swiftly moving left and right as Kōyuri's blade jabbed forward at him wildly. "You're utterly insane! I am not worth trying to fight me over!"

Kōyuri merely brushed off his pleas; trying to finish him off with a spinning strike that had a great amount of distance; the "killer" intent was so explicit in her crazed eyes.

"Damn woman!" Ahatake growled, swinging his blade like a baseball bat to swat Kōyuri's own blade out of the way, and grabbing her wrist, using his superior strength as a Shinigami to his advantage the entire time, and throwing her towards her own apartment. "She's absolutely nuts." He groaned, jumping towards the balcony of her apartment, close to where she had landed.

Kōyuri screamed at him while she managed to catch herself, ''Anyone who gets between me and you can just die. That's right...if you won't accept me, then I'll end the lives of your friends!!"''

Ahatake's eyes seem to twitch at this, and he instinctively reached for her throat, only to stop himself short. "Kōyuri, do you even hear yourself?" He growled, repressing the urge to toss her off the building. "You are threatening to kill three people you barely know, three of your classmates, purely because you're getting rejected." His hand flew past her face, punching the wall behind her in his frustration. "Is your brain even still in there!? Are you even still in there!?"

Kōyuri growled at him, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" She immediately dropped her blade, collapsing to her knees. Her face looked twisted with a half-psychotic, half-saddened expression, and all she could do was blabber while screaming out those words.

Ahatake was taken aback by this. Her moods were swinging from "insane" to "innocent, hurting girl", and he really didn't know how to handle it. He bent down, trying to comfort her by wrapping his arms around the girl in a hug. "Kōyuri...you need to let go. Stop obsessing over me. Try and move on with your life."

Kōyuri froze up at this notion; not understanding his words in the slightest. Her expression contorted into one of absolute despair. Before Ahatake could react properly, she mouthed the word, "Never..."; summoning Valentine to her hand once more and stabbing Ahatake in the chest.

END