Sakae's Descent

This article, , is a side-story entry set during Renascence Beginning and serves as the sequel to First Steps Into the Unknown and Exposition Into the Unknown. It features Hotaru Hiroshi and Sakae Kisaragi.

Rain.

The days weather perfectly mirrored how Sakae felt. Cold, wet, and thoroughly miserable. Yet there she sat, on top of a mountainous area in Northern Rukongai that afforded her a good view of the Seireitei in the distance, without so much as an umbrella or a coat. The encircling wall was still present -- an indication that peace and stability had yet to return to the Soul Society.

"Peace and stability," she though sullenly.

She almost spat.

There was little chance of that at present. The unrest in Rukongai was growing with every passing day. Rumour was spreading; about the Gotei 13, about the Noble Families, about the Soul King, and even about the nature of the current world. Resident Souls where picking sides -- not openly, but the signs where everywhere. The Gotei 13 and Kidō Corps referred to them as "cultists" -- not an entirely inaccurate label, but not exactly correct either. The only thing truly stopping them living up to their name at present was a charismatic leader who could direct their focus.

Sakae just wasn't sure where her coin would fall yet. Was she truly considering rebellion?

So she sat in the rain alone and weighed her options. But then again her mind was already half made-up. She had abandoned her post to come here and think, and that had been quite a few hours ago. She half wondered how long it would take before someone noticed and said something.

Not that she hadn't taken precautions against being followed.

"It's a pathetic sight, isn't it?"

It was a testament to her calmness that she didn't jump in surprise. The figure who had spoke to her was male, broad-shouldered, with a hood drawn up over his head to hide his features. As he approached her Sakae relaxed -- she felt no ill intent from the stranger. In his left hand he held a simple brown cloak which he offered to her.

"Thanks."

"You're a hard woman to track down." He said.

"Evidently not hard enough. I thought I'd hidden my reiatsu."

She caught a brief smile peeking out from beneath the hood.

"You did. Let's just say that I've got other ways of tracking someone down." He didn't wait for an invitation and sat himself on the wet ground beside her. "You know what the Nobles did, don't you? The aptly called 'Original Sin'?"

Sakae was silent. The man got to his feet and looked down at her; not in a threatening or superior way, she noted, but with understanding. She still couldn't feel any negative intention from him.

"You've been making waves lately, Sakae Kisaragi, and the higher-ups are getting nervous."

"It's Saya!" And that sparked the first time she was anything but calm. "And am I to expect a visit from the Onmitsukidō then to shut me up?" She answered more sharply than she intended.

"I don't care what you call yourself." The man answered as diplomatically as was possible with such a statement. "You can continue serving a cause you don't believe in... or stand at my side and aid mine."

It was then that Sakae got to her own feet and looked this man hard in the eye. The hood did much to hinder her efforts in that regard.

"Who are you?"

The man squared his shoulders and threw his hood back. He was young by Sakae's reckoning with long black-coloured hair tied up in a rough ponytail, and what could at best be described as stubble on his chin and cheeks. His eyes however where hard -- this young man had seen more death and destruction than most people twice his age, and he stood with the confidence of a veteran.

"The Lord of Chaos... but you can call me Hotaru Hiroshi."

"... So, Hotaru, what is your cause?"

"Revolution."

He stepped away from her and that was when she spied four other figures in the darkness...

End.