The Water Extinguishes Her Fire: Kiri and Kuro

Ahatake was laying back on the sand, listening to the sound of the waves. The city was finally repaired and he could rest. He smiled. And the best thing was, the sadness and frustration he had felt on Tereya's departure had faded. He was free.

It was a rather stereotypical setting for the beach. The skies were colored orange due to the aura of the sun that was just setting, and there were no clouds in the sky - the primary side effect of sunset domination. To the city, the atmosphere seemed to give it a more industrialized appearance, even more so now that it was fully repaired and activity was commensing as normal. Several people had even prepared for the occassion on the beach, wearing and bringing in their swimming suits, sandals, and whatever else that consisted of "beach material". Though the gathering was large, it was quite peaceful (aside from the kids' rambunctious playing in the shore waters).

Ahatake sighed. There were too many people showing up here for his taste, and they were ruining his mood. He'd just wait it out.

"Excuse me... sir?"

However, a female voice wouldn't allow him to get the silence he wanted. It cut through his thoughts, but as gently as a duck would wade through the waters he was listening. "Sorry for bothering you, but is this spot taken?" She was referring to the spot beside the Kurosaki. She wasn't in his view completely, though.

Ahatake looked up, annoyed, but his eyes widened and his annoyance faded when he saw the woman's face. She was very pretty, with ocean blue eyes and bright red hair that was braided off to the side.

"N-no it's not." He stammered over the beginning of the sentence.

"Thank you, sir..." Her tone was rather polite, and her blue eyes were glistening with nothing but a pure intention. Her own swimming suit consisted of a two-piece, both of the articles of clothing entirely white. Obviously, she wasn't shy; her figure was slender and gracefully curved. Her red hair, along with her soft-faced expression just served to magnify her beauty. She set the towel on her shoulder down beside Ahatake, before resting herself down on it.

Ahatake resumed his silence as he stared at the woman. She was very pretty, and she seemed nice. Then again, so had Tereya. He couldn't help but wonder why the girl had chosen to sit next to him.

The woman had remained silent, eyes closed, and hands behind her head. Her legs were crossed, and she seemed rather relaxed, bathing in the setting sunshine. Her red hair was scattered around her as she lay prone, content to her own thoughts.

Ahatake decided to speak. "Excuse me, but who exactly are you?"

"Hm?" The red-headed woman raised an eye to look over at him. "It's kind of impolite to ask for people's names before you give your own, isn't it?" She asked, though in a friendly manner.

"I-I'm sorry." Ahatake stammered again. "My name is Ahatake Noriko Kurosaki."

Her expression seemed to brighten at the mention of the word "Kurosaki". "What a coincidence! Last names sound similar..." She grinned, opening both eyes to look over at him. "My name's Kirisaki Megami. Pleasure to meet you, Ahatake-san." It was quite humorous to her that the poor guy seemed to be stuttering over his words.

"That is a coincidence." Ahatake said, smiling. Then he sighed. He really didn't know what to say in situations like this.

"Don't look so worked up..." Megami said soothedly, turning her head back towards the sky and closing her eyes. "Now that the city's repaired, we can all go back to our normal lives. No more oppression... no more army... no more corrupt King. Just us souls.... right?" Her last word had a hopeful tone to it, as to encourage Ahatake to believe the same.

Ahatake laughed. "You're right. No more of those laws that tick the living hell out of me." He said, grinning. "Though the king wasn't a bad opponent now I think about it." He added as an afterthought.

That made Megami do a double-take. "W...wait, you fought him?" She asked, finding a newfound interest in his story. She prooped herself up on her elbows, looking over the man with curiosity. "And you beat him?"

"The Current King and I fought him and we both beat him." Ahatake replied, grinning.

"I..." This time, Megami propped herself on her hands, grin eager as her ears picked up the news. "I had no idea I was talking to one of the heroes of Yuurei!" She exclaimed. "You must be really strong... was it hard fighting him?" She pulled her legs up to her chest, resting her arms on her knees in order to assure him that she was listening fully.

Ahatake's face was turning bright red. "Well it wasn't easy. Juushin and I had to double team him when we fought. The king was able to control space-time and even the likes of Juushin's speed couldn't beat him. No matter what attacks we used, he was able to brush them all off. It took a level 99 Bakudo from Juushin plus a Kido-Cero combination from myself to actually kill the man."

Megami nodded, a rather thoughtful look coming over her. She turned away from the Kurosaki for a moment, looking upwards towards the sky. "I don't think I could do that myself. Ever since I joined the resistance, I've been training hard in order to be a more helpful asset, but... it's never gonna compare to what you did." A weak smile came across her face. "Guess I have to keep workin', huh?"

Ahatake grinned. "Of course. I'm pretty sure you'll get stronger if you train. Of course there are always those who are born with power, and no matter how hard you try you'll never catch up to them." He frowned for a moment.

"It can't be that bad..."

"It is when it concerns the person I'm talking about." Ahatake sighed, looking up at the sky. It was almost dark. "That man could destroy the Seireitei five times over."

"...." The bitter tone in his voice couldn't help but make Megami give a rather sympathetic look. She was about to say something further when she realised, with a look of surprise, that the sky was now turning slowly from red to purple. She sighed heavily. "I pick the wrong time to visit the beach sometimes..." She looked over at Ahatake, silently hoping he wouldn't leave just yet.

Ahatake looked at her. "No, you picked the right time to visit." He said, smiling again. "You being here lightens my mood."

A faint blush fell across her cheeks. "R...really?" She asked hesitantly. "All right... I'll stay for a while longer..." She allowed herself to lie back down, but this time on her stomach. Sure, the sun was going down, but that didn't mean it was completely out just yet. Besides, lying on her back got a bit uncomfortable after a while...

Ahatake looked back up at the sky. This woman was far different than Tereya, and that was good. He looked back at her. "Um...Megami?" Ahatake started, his face red again. "W-would you be free for a date tomorrow?" He asked, stammering once again.

"Huh?" At first, Megami regarded him with bemusement, but it was brief. She allowed herself a smile to cross her lips. "....you find me that interesting?" She asked rhetorically, placing a chin in her hands. "Well, I suppose I'm free tomorrow, depending on the time. You know..." She looked innocently up at him. "You're kinda cute when you blush like that."

Ahatake grinned as elation flowed through him. "Yes I find you that interesting." He said, pointing his head at the sky. He fired a Bala blast and shortly after, fired another, they collided and exploded like a firework.

Despite her amazement, her eyes were like one of a fox's, and the satfisfied smile was clear on Megami's face. "Well, thanks... that makes me feel special." She said, in a minor manner of teasing. It was a shame that the explosion was brief; the skydancing colors had been dazzling to watch.

Ahatake smiled. "As much as I hate to, I have to go. Family at home and I don't trust my son alone in the house at night."

Megami grinned a little wider, allowing herself to get up from the towel she was lying on. "What? He a troublemaker?" She said jokingly, kneeling over to pick up the towel and fix it on her shoulder.

Ahatake laughed dryly. "I wish it was that simple."

"Well, you seem like a reliable father, so I think you can take care of him." Megami said encouragingly, turning on her heel and starting to walk off. She was, however, courteous enough to give him a good-bye wave. "Hope to see you again tomorrow, whenever I can!" She called over her shoulder.

"Of course." Ahatake replied, waving as he burst into flame, vanishing on the spot.

Immediately, she spun around, doing a double take of surprise by the vanishing at that the Kurosaki performed. She blinked a few times, as if trying to blink him back where he was sitting. But nothing happened; he had actually vanished into thin air... and fire. "Neat trick..." She commented, before turning to walk off once more.

Ahatake reappeared in his house in a similar burst of flames, and changed into proper clothing. He walked down the stairs, feeling happier than he had in awhile.

The first thing he came across was Taiki himself. He was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the floor, eyes closed, and a rather peaceful expression on his face. At first, he seemed to be simply using the art of Jinzen, communicating with his inner spirit. However, it was obvious by the way he turned his head to see Ahatake walk in that he wasn't; Jinzen users would've had a much more deeper hypnotic state inflicted on them. "Oh, Dad, it's just you..." He muttered, turning his head back to its former position and closing his eyes.

"Just me?" Ahatake repeated. "Who were you expecting kid?"

Taiki allowed himself to shrug non-chalantly. "Maybe a friend of mine..." He was lying, but his calm tone was just too convincing for him to seem that he was lying. His pose was far too relaxed, as well. "Maybe not." He added, as an afterthought.

"I didn't even know you had friends." Ahatake laughed, washing his hands in the sink.

"Yes, well, we're not all anti-social morons who have nothing to do better than train their butts off." Taiki replied mockingly. However, he didn't even bother to smile at it, rather focusing on whatever he was attempting to do at the moment.

"Are you the only one here kid?" Ahatake asked.

"I haven't bothered to check. Though, I myself plan on leaving soon, after I'm done with this."

"Alright." Ahatake repied, heading over to the living room. No point in checking if Midoriko was here. He already knew she wasn't.

Taiki sighed, opening his eyes again and pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. Slowly, he stood up, brushing himself down for dust that might have accumulated on his person. Then, he turned around. "I'm outta here. I'll probably be back later on this night, or the morning..." He called back non-chalantly, ignoring the possibility that what he just said might infer to a motive.

"Alright." Ahatake said airily. "Try not to kill anyone."

"Are you still thinking of Kaa-san again?" Taiki commented calmly, stopping at the door. "If you are, you shouldn't be so easy as to dismiss her as a traitor. After all, you did see your own strength over her own..." Without another word, he turned around and walked off into the night, shutting the door behind him.

Taiki was wrong however. Tereya was the furthest thing from Ahatake's mind. His mind was on Megami. He looked up as he heard the door open again, and he saw the figures of Aoi and Kyuui walk in.

Aoi was talking loudly. "SO nice not to have cops following us now when it starts to get dark!"

Kyuui was smiling sheepishly, squinted eyes in a slight U-shape. "Co'mon, sis..." She complained. "Not so loud... we're in the-- Ojii!" She cut herself off immediately at the sight of her grandfather sitting on the living room sofa.

"Oh, Aoi, Kyuui." Ahatake looked up grinning. "How are you two enjoying the lack of curfew."

"It's great!" Kyuui put on a big smile, clapping her hands together. "We're free to go anywhere we want to, just as long as we stay inside the city. There were some advisors there to watch us, just in case we got into too much trouble, but they weren't as strict as the Yuurei cops."

"So many places to go!" Aoi said enthusiastically. "We just came back to get a snack and we're back out."

"But..." Kyuui raised an eyebrow lightly, folding her arms across her chest. "What will you be doing? I' figure you'd be out doing something along with Ob--" Immediately, she cut herself off, eyes widening as the memory once again came to her: Tereya was gone. She looked a bit defeated after that, her words having been destroyed by the mere memory. "Well..." She started up again. "I thought you'd be doing something..."

Ahatake grinned. "Well, I wasn't going to mention if yet, but I do have plans tomorrow."

"Really?" It seemed to brighten up Kyuui immediately. She walked briskly past Ahatake and towards the refrigerator. "Can you tell us what they are?" Promptly, she opened the door, eyes searching around for what would be a refreshment for the two sisters. "Hey, Aoi! What're you wanting?" She said towards her sister, not bothering to turn around. It would've been too much trouble to.

"Throw me an apple." Aoi replied.

"Aw, you suck..." Kyuui complained, but complied and tossed Aoi an apple. She got herself, however, a bottle of water; if they were going to be out for a long time, she was going to need it. She turned her head back towards her grandfather, tilting her head curiosly at his silence. "Aw, c'mon, Ojii, don't be like that...we won't tell!"