Los Niños de Izanami: Despertar del Infierno

Empowered Prisoners, Warden's 'Sins'
It had been a good few weeks since the attack of Yurei had been commenced, already buildings and battlegrounds once again were rebuilt, retrofitted, and once again flowing with people. While the citizens may have been overall saved due to the quick timing of both the Yurei's Police Force and the two residing 'off-duty' Soul Society Soul Reapers, everyone could feel that sense of shell shock...the fact their entire city not too long ago was part of a bloody, all out war.

One thing that had been whispered out of people's lips was why didn't the military respond quicker, or why didn't the Soul Reapers of their own city react with haste needed for this kind of crisis? The casualties were high for the Police Force, many were left wounded and out of those would not be able to return to service because them. The dead were burried and nearly a day or two of the aftermath, were given a ceremony in their honor for fighting honorably and valiantly in the face of the cult army that attacked them.

During the ceremony, the two Soul Reapers from the Soul Society attended, even Sakura who was begrudgingly dragged along, were given medals of honor, due to their presence and their participation in the battle, would not be forgotten. It also opened up a more military coordination between the Soul Society and Yurei, now revealed with the Higher Ups by Kukkyōna Hayate, that the Espada Afilado were indeed the ones behind the attack.

Despite this, Daisuke and Sakura had began to grow more fond of each other, despite their personality clashes and their own oddities, they began to spend more time talking and planning for the future events that would come of the mobilization of both the Soul Society's military and Yurei's.

It was at near sunset when Daisuke and Sakura were sparring out in the middle of a field far outside the city limits of Yurei, the sound of swords clashing and exhales of breaths could be heard for a good distance. Daisuke had just broke away a sword lock, the sparks that danced from their blades disappeared as he backward pedals a good 4 meters away. When his sandals touch the ground, his black overcoat fluttered around him as he leaped forward again, both hands on his weapon as he threw out a series of slashes of all angles, trying to be as ferocious and unpredictable as possible, not giving her an inch

His smile of glee and excitement clear on his face, enjoying every second of the rejuvinated Sakura he's come to admire and respect.

Sakura was not above enjoying herself.

Her eyes were closed, and a smile of her own was decked on her face. Her body moved naturally through the offensive barrage Daisuke threw at her, defending and counter-attacking the strikes he was making against her. Her bare feet stepped against the grounds lightly, moving at a pace that made it seem like the fight was simply a natural thing to do. She twisted, turned, and danced in order to block his strikes with her own. Despite being a Lieutenant, he seemed to hold great potential within himself as a successor to Kukkyōna.

Her own feelings towards Daisuke had seemed to change after their first meeting. Although it was clear she held opposing views, she did not mind his company. It was really a break from her usual life, what she had been back then. Even as they were clashing swords now, it was more of a friendly and competitive nature more than anything else. It was an effective escape from the commotion going on around the society.... at least, for the moment.

Daisuke chuckled, saying as she weaved to the side, noticing her attunement to the battle is so great, she had her eyes close for a brief few moments, a smile enamored onto her face, expressing her enjoyment of their friendly clash of blades. Then Daisuke grinned mischieviously, as he took advantage of her closed eyes, adding a bit more power to one of his clashing parries, one that would send her onto her butt if she wasn't prepared, using his innate strength to intentionally knock her off guard.

"Keep your eyes open, Sakura! I'm standing right here!" He yelled with a enthusiastic, teasing tone, his eyes blinked and his smile gleamed onto his face.

It was fortunate that Sakura was prepared.

But she didn't block. Instead, as he swung what would've been an off-balancing blow, she maneuvered herself and leaped over the swing, her body spinning in a full pivot. She landed expertly on her feet, taking a few steps back. "Really?" She asked in a slightly sarcastic manner. "I never noticed...." She still had her eyes closed, twirling her blade around in one of her hands in an idle manner.

Daisuke sweat dropped, before turning around, yelling at her with a rejuvinated cheer, swinging his sword again with fierce energy and relentless swings, "Show off! C'mon and take me seriously, dang it!"

"Oh, gettin' mad? I'm scared now~!"

Following this particular taunt, she raised her blade up and started to back off again, placing both hands on her blade and twirled her sword accordingly. This time, she had responded with equal power in her strikes, wrists twisting accordingly. Her blade intercepted his blade's path, sparks flying with each and every blow. She continued her tactic of staying on the defensive, though at a more aggressive and stronger angle. Even through this, her eyes maintained their current position as closed, if only to irk him more.

Daisuke could feel the power behind her counters and parries, now equal to his own ferocity, only forcing her to move backwards and around, moving fluidly with a grace only one who's been fighting their entire life. It made Daisuke wonder just exactly who she has fought, and why she fights, that small conversation they had in the hospital room gave more insight to the reality of how lost her motivations and goals have been ever since she left the Red Sun cult.

He got into deep thought within another violent strike, but backpedaled away, keeping out of range of her potentially painful blows as he inhaled and exhaled, closing his eyes before moving to sheathe his sword, "I think we should call it a draw, Sakura...I need a break." He spoke with a hidden tone, his smile still present but a little more thoughtful and softer than earlier.

Immediately upon the end of Daisuke sentence, Sakura flipped her sword around in a flourishing display before sheathing it back within its holster, placing one hand on her hip and the other to hang at her side. "Already?" She questioned, cocking an eyebrow slightly. "A real shame....I thought you would've lasted longer." This was said in a more casual air, a simple motion of teasing him. She walked over to him, lowering her other arm down to her side. "'Specially with a dad like yours...."

"Hey, I got a LONG ways to go before I reach his level. I don't even think I can ever be as gifted as he is in Zanjutsu skill alone. He's said to be a genius rivaling to that of legends of Shunsui Kyoraku or even Byakuya Kuchiki. Something like that doesn't just get inherited through blood," he said with a resigned sigh, after briefly smiling at how much he praised and thought highly of his father, regardless of his lack of fatherly emotion that some fathers would give freely.

He turned his head away, his hair and coat bristled in the wind as he looked across the field, flowing in sublte rippling patterns in a serene tranquil setting. He smiled softly, before he asked her, "You remember that time...back when you were in the hospital and I came to visit?"

She moved to stand beside him, folding her arms across her chest. "What about it?" She asked simply, her orange bangs billowing ever so slightly with the wind itself

Daisuke looked down at her face, watching her orange bangs blow across her pale brow, smiling before asking softly, "Have you considered what you want to fight for, what you want to live for now?"

"....that's not something to be decided within just a few weeks." A slight frown came across Sakura's face, and she turned her head away for a moment. "You've lived your life with friends and a family, so it's easy for you to fight for them. But I've got nothing compared to that, nothing to even think about. Compared to you...." She idly kicked her foot against the grass. "I'm practically worthless."

Daisuke turned around to cross his arms, raising his brow in a curious if not teasing-like manner, "Really? You think I found my purpose because I have a family or friends? I have a friend, part of the Deep Cover Ops himself, was nothing but a street rat when he started out his life. Before he joined the Soul Society, he was the biggest confident, if not most boastful, daredevil braggart of that side of the Rukon District. He even was apprenticed, and unofficially adopted by the Blacksmith and Swordsman who lived in that neighbourhood before he went to the Academy to become a Soul Reaper. What I'm trying to get around to is...you don't need to be rich or famous, have a big family or have great importance...I determined, on...that day...that I'd strive to be as caring, compassionate, and courageous as he ever was," he said with a distant look on his face before turning away, clearing his throat from the uncomfortable feeling he just created in his stomach. A few images of his life flashed before his eyes, making him regress his smile and replace it with a solemn look.

"What?" Sakura turned back towards him with a raised eyebrow. "Did he die or something?"

"Yes," he said softly, the wind died down, almost as if the air itself detected the lack of warmth coming from Daisuke now, as he continued with his gaze looking down, "he...he was my Lieutenant, back when I was a Seated Officer in the Division. He thought highly of me, acted like a carefree soul, with nothing holding him down, always willing to lend a ear to his fellow comrades. I thought of him almost like a brother we were that close...its just...the Mourning War happened," he said again, gritting his teeth slightly at the mention of it, the horrible grizzly images churned in his mind.

"Mourning War....?" A curious Sakura allowed herself to turn completely towards him, eyes looking at him intently.

Daisuke nodded, beginning in a whisper before raising it to a low morbid tone, "It was a war unlike I had ever seen. I had...had tasted true war for the first time I guess in this way. It started with a Hollow, a powerful one, we never confirmed its nature of origin, but we did find out that it sent out an array of parasitic spores, when inhaled by those weak of heart or bitter resentment, were instantly devoured from the inside out, but that wasn't the worst part. The spores were connected in a 'hive-mind' with the Central Nerve Center, and each time it spread its disease, it would expand its reach and also use what husks it deemed valuable as its personal soldiers or slaves, mutating its features to become almost rotten flesh hunks of what they once were. We had to cut them all down when we finally located the Central Nerve Center of the Hollow plague.

It was raining...like the entire earth was mourning the devestation the war had brough to everyone in the land, the inevitable bloodbath that was going to happen that day. We moved, most of the men under my command with others spread out among different seated Officers comprising from our Division, with our Lieutenant covering the backs of various units that fought against the onslaught of the Central Nerve Center's defenses and numerous husk-guards. After containing the threat to a degree, victory was near, I charged in with the Lieutenant towards the Central Nerve Center, then...he...I was...caught off guard," he hesitated, shame radiating his voice and quivering eyes, as he recalled the event clearly, "it sent out numerous tendrils from its core, knocking away what men I had near me, before aiming to squewer me alive right then and there. But...he saved me. Slicing most of them in his path, before moving his body to intercept the last one, spearing through his gut out his back, making a hole so wide I was surprised he still strength to do what he did next. He used a high level Kido...without incantation to destroy the tendril, then collapsed in a heap, urging me to finish it. It was then...I learned to use my Zanpakuto's greatest Shikai ability, setting the Nerve Center ablaze to the point I blasted a huge crater with such potency, it shook the earth for miles around. I emerged from it, barely conscious as I crawled towards him...he was still alive. He gave me this,"

he said, pointing to the head band, now etched with the phrase 'Remember the Mourning' in Kanji letters, "his headband he never took off for anything, saying he wished for me to inherit his will and drive to become a Lieutenant greater than he ever was, and to look out for 'our' men. He then died, in my arms, with me holding his headband. I couldn't stop my damn crying it was so bad," he chuckled, his eyes slightly watery, a tear fell from his left eye before falling down on the ground below, earning a sniff and a wipe of his eyes with his sleeve.

The morbidity of his statement sunk in within Sakura's mind. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and her eyes were shaped in a seemingly sympathetic expression. She placed a hand onto his shoulder, giving him a light pat. "At least he died for a noble cause...." She said in compliment. "He died so you, along with the rest of your allies, could live. I think he'd be proud of you as of this moment, too...."

"Thanks, Sakura-Chan," He said sincerely, turning over to her, smiling softly with his eyes slightly water-filled before he blinked, "I think he would've liked you too, y'know? Despite how we met, we make a pretty good team, huh?" He raised a hand, slowly up to her brow, brushing away her bangs, looking into her eyes deeply. He leaned in, pressing his lips to her forehead, kissing it lightly before pulling it back, smiling at her. Sighing he began to say, "Sakura-Chan...I want to ask you-"

"Ahem!" Suddenly a clearing of the throat rang out, and suddenly alerted Daisuke's attention, suddenly seeing a pair two figures standing 10 meters away, the one who cleared his throat was garbed in red and black with reddish brown hair and blue eyes, his fist balled up into a fake coughing stance, one to get their attention. The other stood calmly, his hands at his sides and perfectly standing straight and appearing stoic as he gazed at them. They were both armed with swords, and their Spiritual Pressure felt...extremely off, like mixing vile digusting trash with anger and burning hate. He didn't like their Pressure moreso than Sakura's.

Whatever Sakura was about to make fun of him with was immediately cut off by the clearing of the throat.

"Why don't you mind your own fuckin' business!!" Was her immediate reaction. She abruptly spun around, eyes narrowed at them with an expression of annoyance. Once her eyes fell upon the two figures, she curled her fingers somewhat out of instinct, a scowl forming on her face. She could also sense the energies within them.... however, unlike Daisuke, who was unfamiliar with such, she could easily identify them as familiar. That was something she did not allow to cross into the surface, maintaining her irritated countenance while staring down at them.

The red-black garbed man waved his hands up in the air, a look of hurt crossed his features, as he responded smoothly, "Easy there, we did not come to offend. We actually came here to just chat for a bit. In a bit more private location," he indicated with a nod towards Daisuke, who's confused features turned stern and a sublte growl came from the back of his throat.

"Like hell...who are you people?! I can definitely tell you're not Hollows, but you feel as if you're something akin to Soul Reapers! What Division are you from?!"

"Easy there hot shot! Daisuke right?" he said, again feigning a hurt look, but surprised Daisuke with widened eyes showing shock clearly on his face, before the man continued, "I'm just here to ask a few questions to here miss...Sakura over here and we'll be on our way as quickly as we came. How does that sound to everybody, no?" he asked with a easy-going smile on his face, his partner remained silent and kept watching the two, observing every gesture and taking it into his mind for later reference.

"Yeeeeeah, my dad always told me not to talk to strangers." Sakura drawled, placing one hand on her hip and letting her other arm hang at her side. "Especially ones that happen to know our names before we ever told them...."