False Utopia: Lurking Shadows

Regrouping
Plunk.

Plunk.

That was the only sound that could be heard in this dark cave. The sound of dripping water. However, images began to fade in, flickering images of individuals. When they spoke, they're voices crackled with static.

"So he's here?" A male voice. This image was of a young man with spiky hair. "The silver hair?"

A female voice, Lynterria, giggled. "Ask him yourself. His image shall arrive in a just a moment.

"Oh...."

Immediately, after that was said, the said man's image re-appeared before them, right beside the one who had first encountered him (at least in this state). He had his hands folded behind his back, a rather casual lean in his standing position. That image's eyes looked around at each of the members. "...did I miss anything?" He continued, a non-chalant tone to his voice.

"Of course not." Lynterria said cheerfully at Taiki's arrival. "The other two haven't arrived yet. Oh, speak of the devil."

A slighly bulky image flickered into view before them. Even those the facial features of all these images could not be seen, their eyes were perfectly visible. However, this man's was not. It was obvious, at least to the three present, he was wearing his hood. Another image, a young girl, flickered to his side almost immediately.

"Yo, Sesshōmaru." The spiky-haired image off the to left called cheerfully.

"Jōchō." Sesshōmaru's voice spoke the spiky-haired man's name, and his voice was quite cheerful. His eyes scanned the room. "I see we're one short."

"Yeah, my brother couldn't make it this time." Jōchō said. He sounded resigned to this.

"It's that again is it?" "Yes. It'll be suppressed again soon. He's never one to lose himself permanently."

"True." Sesshōmaru cleared his throat. "As you all know by now, we have guest in our midst. It would be best to introduce yourselves you two." He pointed at Jōchō and the girl standing at his side.

The spiky haired image chuckled. "Alright. Newcomer, I'm Jōchō, Jōchō Itonami."

To the side of Sesshōmaru, the girl spoke. "I'm Shinsetsu."

"Quite a unique group...." Taiki remarked, eyeing the appearance of the young girl particularly. It was odd; to think that such a young person would be involved with a group such as this... what had happened? "I would've never known there'd be children amongst the masses."

"Watch it bub." Lynterria said, pretending to sound offended. "Kids or not, I could probably take you on."

"I bet you could!" Taiki said laughingly, in order not to offend the girl.

"Alright, you'll have plenty of time to befriend Taiki later. Taiki, I'm sure you have been wondering why my group is here, haven't you?"

"Mhm...." At the statement, Taiki's eyes shifted towards the rest of them, more particularly the one that had just addressed him.

Sesshōmaru cleared his throat. ''"Our goal is to destroy the entire Soul Society as it is, and reshape it into our vision of Utopia." Wind blew inside the cave as he said these words, creating a whistling sound.''

Utopia.

It was a word that he himself had constantly juggled around in his head. The very word once again shot through his mind like a bullet that had embedded itself comfortably within his skull. He allowed silence to reign for a moment, before bringing himself to speak once more. "...that is quite a fearsome and seemingly impossible goal. And yet... it is quite the chivalrous one." It was his own personal desire to bring forth this utopia, to bring out the truth that the Soul Society was hypocritically known for. He had seen enough ignorance...

...therefore, were his and Sesshōomaru's goals the same? Hand-in-hand?

"It's a goal that we have a very real possibility of completing." Sesshōmaru said confidently. "Everything we need is right here in this dimension. Or should I say, everyone we need is right here in this dimension."

"Every...one?"

"After conducting several experiments with the spell we've been using, we've found out it's not strong enough. To use it, we need a different type of power." Though his face was not visible, it was clear he was grinning. "It's a power you live with every single day."

Taiki quirked an eyebrow. "I happen to live with many powers. Which one are you referring to?" He asked, a bit playfully.

"Miharu Kurosaki."

Abruptly, Taiki's eyes widened. "H....her? You... you can't be serious..."

"Relax, we target not her life." Sesshōmaru said reassuringly. "We merely intend to make use of her Zanpakutō."

"It's not that...." Taiki turned his head away, eyes narrowing slightly. "To be looking for that kind of power... it has yet to develop to its full potential. To grab ahold of it while it isn't ready is quite a a risk..." He raised a finger to scratch his nose. "Oh, and before you say it... that's what she said." He couldn't help but chuckle a little at the innuendo joke.

Sesshōmaru and Jōchō chuckled, but Shinsetsu didn't. "I don't get it." She said.

"I'll explain it to you later Shinsetsu." Sesshōmaru said, looking at her, then looking at Taiki again. "Taiki, as you said, it is indeed a risk. But her power is merely meant to balance with the spell we're using. They will balance each other out, so there should be no problems with this Operation. My only question now is...are you with us?"

"I can answer that if you can answer me this..." Taiki's gaze became more serious. "How far will this take us? How far will we have to go before we can complete this goal?"

"Depending on what you mean. The preparations for this operation are already complete. The spell circle and incantation have been formed and created. All we need now is Miharu's..."cooperation."

In other words, there wouldn't be far to go. Sure, their goals were one and the same... but the ways of achieving such were completely different. In order to ensure that his own plan was safely executed, he would have to wait a little bit longer... "All righty, then... I suppose I don't have any problems. I will join you."

"Excellent." Sesshōmaru said, clearly delighted by Taiki's agreeable attitude. "For as long as you are in this group, Lynterria is your partner."

"Eh...." Once again, the silver-haired man quirked an eyebrow in Lynterria's direction. "I don't got any problems with that. She seems quite...bearable."

"You'll be singin' a different tune soon." Jōchō said.

Lynterria blew a raspberry. "Shut up, Jōchō."

"I think that's enough." Sesshōmaru said, a little sternly. "Meeting dismissed. Lynterria, meet up with Taiki later. I feel a presence approaching him."

"K."

"Oh, boy... who in the hell is it now...?" Taiki muttered, his arms folded across his chest. "Hope it's not one of the family..."

All the images faded away including Taiki, who stood up in time to see that Adela was walking up to him.

"Oh, hey, Adela!" Immediately, Taiki smiled, moving forth in order to embrace her. Though his lunge was quick, the arms that wrapped around his wife were gentle and comforting. "I thought you were getting too busy for me. How's everything going?" He asked gently.

Adela was surpised at the embrace she had gotten from her husband, but did not complain. She hadn't seen him in awhile, it was quote possible he had missed her. She chuckled. "Everything's a headache. My new job keeps me moving all over the place. Thank whatever God is out there that I'm a Hollow, or I would probably have died from overwork."

"Awww.... then I'm gonna give you a good ol' massage once we get home..." Taiki said gently, releasing her slowly. "Would ya like that?"

"That sound's good." She said grinning. They started to walk. "So how are the kids?"

Taiki moved to grasp one of Adela's hands tightly. His other hand fixed itself within his pocket. "Oh, they're fine as ever!" He declared, clearly mirthful talking about them. "They're certainly developing, aren't they? Gone're the little naive girls we used to know... now they're slowly beginning to progress into a more mature mind. I'm quite proud of that..."

"Aoi, a mature mind? I find that hard to believe." Adela chuckled. "How's your little sister? I haven't seen her for awhile."

"To be honest? She's been hanging out at the Injiki's house. Where else?" Taiki shrugged. "Though, now that Kibou's old enough to leave the house, they're probably going other places."

"Not Midoriko, though it's nice to hear that. I meant Mihara."

"Ah, her! Last time I checked, she was at the home with her friend Ezra. Quite a hard-eyed fellow, I might add... he didn't seem to appreciate my presence too much." Of course, it was expected. He wasn't exactly the most open and honest people out of the Kurosaki family. Even now, the kindness he was showing his wife was nothing more than deception.