The Dilemma

It was nighttime in humble Karakura Town, the moon immersed the town in beautiful night rays of a dim yellow that seemed to shine more than the sun. Clouds were scarce and the bustling city life of Karakura was full of life this night. Sora, dressed in blue jean shorts, a black shirt, and a black jacket simply whistled as he moved down the sidewalk toward his apartment home, where hopefully, if Satomi was on a date again, would be quiet. He had just returned from doing battle with a Hollow attack by the mountain area of Karakura but his mind was still coiled around the events two weeks ago, when he had fought the Menos Grande at Karakura Bay. He was badly injured but healed extremely quickly for a human, but still, Menos Grande never showed up here unless intentionally summoned. "..Just what brought that thing here...?" he thought to himself.

His trot came to a sudden halt as a car zoomed passed him, the screeching of the tires howled as the car came to a stop at a redlight, no doubt the driver was drunk. Sora felt the uneasiness he always felt when alone; the ominous oppressive nature that your being watched. He cocked his head back and turned swiftly to see nothing. Edgy, Sora continued into the forest that was neccessary to pass in order to get home. All through the forest he kept his left eye wandering behind him to see if anything unanticipated would occur. Thankfully, nothing happened ....yet.

Sora turned the knob to his home and gingerly stepped in. He noticed Satomi on the couch, deep in sleep. Sora always was aware whenever his sister was out with her friends. She loved to dance and probably returned home in a drunken stupor. Luckily, this time no man had accompanied her. Sighing in relief, he went to the kitchen and prepared himself a sandwhich, but still, the feeling of anxiety followed him, even while he was in his home.

In a nearby clearing sat a group of trees that protected anything inside or behind from view in the darkness. As a cold wind blew through and rustled the leaves, in the miniscule holes produces by the dancing foliage, streaks of blonde hair could be seen trailing towards a piercing glare. "So, that's the one huh? Seems a little scrawny, but a source is a source. Its faint, but I believe its still there."

A flash of pearly white teeth shined in the dark as a gold energy began slowly emerging through the trees. "Let's test this shall we? A little dosage such of this should be enough to tell me if my suspicions are correct."

Meanwhile, back within the apartment home native to two teenagers, Sora had grumpily knocked Satomi from her position on the couch, traced his fingers to the remote and turned on anything loud on television. Satomi awoke in a daze, her vision blurred and ears rang. "Stop the late night outs" Sora warned, trying to hold back a laugh. His sister sternly landed on her backside onto the carpeted floor below, but immediately, whipped forward in agony. "My head..." she moaned, her palm raising to her skull.

Sora put his sandwich down and addressed his sister with a glare of seriousness. Sora loved his sister, but consistently put on a facade to prevent her from going into a rant about compassion, and sibling love, and that crap. Therefore, he always tried to be tough and cold, in contrast to her eccentric demeanor. Whenever his sister returned home like this, he would simply leave her be, but, the ominous feeling that shrouded him led him to wake her up. He couldn't describe it with words, but Satomi registered the feeling of unease that seemed adhere to them.

Satomi gulped heavily, and stood. "You think its a Hollow?" she inquired, her head still banging from her late night. Sora nodded and the two, headed outside in wariness and suscpicion.

"Oh? There's two of them? That's definitely a surprise. Though the woman might be cute, her energy seems to be fluctuating at the moment for some reason." Rozeluxe Meitzen scratched his chin as his hair continued to billow in the flow of the leaves from the wind. "Hm. I wonder, why are these two giving off such levels of energy? They don't seem to be anything special. I guess I will test them just a bit more to know for sure." Falling back into the shadows once more, Rozeluxe exuded his spiritual pressure towards the two individuals, baiting them to come closer to his location.

Immediately, Sora and Satomi registered the signature: vast, atleast vice-captian level in full, shinigami. They detected no traces of malice within the source, but could easily trace down the region of origin. Sora whipped his head forth and leaped from the staircase down to the sidewalk. The brunt of the moonlight shone a dim yellow among the brightly lit night sky, each star swelling like a thousand suns. "Satomi. I'll take point. Cover me." He said seriously, clearly, having formulated a plan of attack. Or maybe, experience allowed him to gain a grasp on the maturity of the situation.

From behind, Satomi gave him the thumbs up, "no one is around. Your good to go." as she announced, Sora relieved himself of his human form: a burst of green energy encircled him in a orb of his own Fullbring, suddenly, an intense wave of energy subsided around him. Sora had in hand a huge cleaver-sword, proving his strength he heaved the sword to his shoulder with a single hand. "I'll say this once, come out!" The Fullbring native energy emanated off the blade at his side, while his sister, watched on cooly and sighed. "How fancy. I've never seen someone else use Fullbring before." Satomi still had not used her powers, trying to ease back to reality from her drunken stupor. Meanwhile, Sora was in thought, awaiting the opponent to unravel from the shadow.

"It's powerful. I already lost the advantage of surprise. Whoever this is was watching me, so I should be alert; they know about us, maybe our powers too. Good thing Satomi has not used her powers yet, we should be able to jump the opponent once they reveal themself."

Muffling his own energy, Raze was then enveloped by a misty black haze that oozed out of the forest in the form of a dark fog. "Meikyo" As the fog covered the local area, Raze appeared behind Satomi with own blade reflecting the light as he placed it to the nape of the woman's neck. "Oi Kid! Put away the blade if you don't want her to get hurt." As he spoke, his figure was obscured by the heavy fog revealing ony his glowing eyes and a few streaks of hair.

Sora's face flushed out and his eyes widened in horror and amazement. He jolted around and spun his head back to see Satomi, her body rigid, she was helpless in the situation. She did not say a word. His mouth parted for a moment, but then shut quiet like a lock. "He's fast and not above attacking a woman. Bastard" he muttered, under his breath, an undercurrent of terror in his voice. His face became unusually pale and no matter whatever he could muster, his power could not save Satomi given the situation, especially while she is drunk. He knew very well that he could not gamble on his sisters life, but this man was unknown so what could happen would be disastrous.

Instead of bargaining, he tried to identify the opponent, "Not above attacking woman eh, shinigami? Why're you watching us?" While he spoke, he tossed the blade effortlessly to the left, discarding the weapon into the dirt.

"Attacking? No no. Don't get me wrong. I simply had to see if her talents were on par with the one's I sensed on you. However, her reactions are incredibly dulled right now and she reeks of alcohol. Anyone could've caught her off-guard." Rozeluxe smiled playfully as he lowered his blade to his side. "Now then, tell me kid. You're a user of fullbring? Have you tried fighting hollows with it yet?"

''"Tried fighting Hollow yet? Good, so he does not know my sister or me. In fact, he barely knows anything about us...but then, why is he even here. Dammit, this is so confusing, and still, his power is alot larger than mine." ''Sora's eyes whipped to the sword to his right in reproach and then back to his sister, who, with her eyes pleaded for an answer. "I always fight with my powers to stop lunatics like you" he spat bitterly, trying to pose a threat. Too bad it failed. He stumbled as he stepped closer and stared at the Shinigami.

"You raise a sword to my sister and then question me? What're you planning?" Meanwhile, Satomi reeked of fear, anxiety, and confusion. Sweat ran down her forehead and her amber eyes traced toward the man beside her. "So...y-your not going to kill me?" she asked.

"Kill you? Now now miss. I wouldn't do that. Your..er friend? Well, he had a weapon and I didn't want him getting too eager for battle before he knew what was going on." Raze smiled sheepishly at the young woman before returning his attention toward the male youth while wearing a devilish grin. "Lunatics? Me? Now that isn't very nice. I thought we could be friends here..." Bursting forward, Raze then placed a hand on the young man's shoulder as his hair trailed behind him. "....It would be best if you simply answer my questions without must of a struggle." The last of his words were filled with a sense of seriousness as he neared the boy's sword and tossed it back to him. "Your names?"

He caught the sword quickly, still uneasy about this encounter. His blank facade of bravado was easily shattered by the large deficit of power between the two, but one thing bordered this gap, hopefully, Satomi would gather herself to assit Sora. But, to his surprise she nodded and opened her mouth. "His name is Sora Inoue, and I am Satomi Inoue. What's your name?" She explained, her voice trailing into her typical flirty manner as she neared the end of her setence. ''Dear God. Someone help this woman,'' Sora thought, fuming with her ruining his plan. He simply played along, trusting his sister, all the while, pretending to believe this guy posed no threat. Just then, while Satomi spoke to Rozeluxe, Sora realized that the enemy had touched his shoulder. His eyes widened brightly and his mouth gaped rudely, he was astonished and barely felt it. If this guy was an attacker, he could have killed them in seconds. Sora's gut began to churn.

"Sora and Satomi? Hm. Nice names for such young people." The blonde haired shinigami chuckled as he rubbed his chin. "Though....I truly AM flattered by your advances young lady, I'm in a happy relationship with a woman who might pluck your eyes out for looking at me like that." He playfully stuck out his tongue and winked at Satomi before continuing. "In any case, my name is Rozeluxe Meitzen, but you both can just call me Raze. Its far less of a hassle that way."

A pang of delight swam over the blonde child after surveying the area; no threat detected except for the blunder before him - he was clearly no enemy, if he was he would have used the moment of surprise to his advantage and deftly ended the Inoue siblings. "Goddamn it! I should have done a sweep of the area beforehand" he chided sullenly, his face, inadvertently forming into a frown''. ''A split second later he noticed, once again, reprimanding his actions for being so openly vague and consistently stupid in the front of possible danger. He shook his head, regained his footing, and looked up to see the well-decorated elder. "Well that's one hell of an entrance don't 'cha think, Raze?" he asked snidely, clearly mocking the elder despite his slight amount of respect for the blonde teenage looking shinigami.

He did manage to one-up him twice now, so respect went where it was due.

He never got over the uneasiness Raze emitted but seemed to find solace now that he was aware he meant no harm. Meanwhile, Satomi's form was taken by a green light around her feet, she blurred, then quickly finding solace next to her brother. Through a strained voice, she continued her flirty banter with Rozeluxe despite his warnings. Her voice waned because of the alcohol residue in her system. Sora hadn't waited for a response before, angrily sighing, shoving his sister, and proceeding with another question.

"So, Raze, clearly you're interested in our powers, you wouldn't have followed us otherwise, especially since you barely know us. My sister is stronger than me, but she's drunk at the moment so I'll give you a decent floor show," he paused and glared upward. "Usually I combat Hollow and anything threatening my school or any of the local deceased spirits, but for you, I'll make an exception." His fear or astonishment or worry - whatever emotion he was feeling that made him wary of Raze - had wizened when the smirk came onto his face.

"Oh ho ho ho. Really then? Hm. I probably shouldn't, but eh...who cares. I do want to see what you're made of." Raze had a confused yet antagonistic smile placed upon his face, his interest in his young opponents growing with each passing moment. "I know. Come at me with all you got, if you make me get serious, then you win. Sound fair? But remember this will be a real fight so I won't be holding back and neither should you." Tapping his left hand on his sword's hilt, Raze smiled as he cocked his head back. "Now....come at me."

"You don't have to tell me twice" he said equably, before becoming shrouded in a sudden, transparent burst of energy. For a moment, his face became pallid and wavering until, Sora appeared; looking colly and draped in a billowing blue and white haori and adorned in a fashionable black suit. Even the sword that he had thrown to the right had vanished, and in his left hand was the culprit for this change: a Shinigami Badge. He grimaced deviously. Puffs of cigar smoke drifted lazily in the air, floating without care....or mercy. His blonde hair became a shadow of the vibrant burnt-orange it once was, and Sora slowly hid his Badge and ran his palm through it. "I'm getting old" he murmered jokingly, before drawing his blade and boring his eyes into Raze.

"Let's....go!" He cheered, torquing his body and slashing downward toward Raze's collar bone. Meanwhile, Satomi lept back giving the duo wide berth to battle. She spared Sora only a caring nod, and to Raze, she blew a kiss.

Immediately pulling back, Raze smiled a large cloud of billowing smoke began to eminate from his body. The blonde haired that once flowed so peacefully, became a haze of tendrils, seemingly grasping for life as the black smoke covered all that was the intruding shinigami. "Meikyo" The only word heard from the cloud echoed through the area in distinctly dark tone. As the cloud of darkness grew larger, it began encompassing a larger radius with each passing second, could Sora dodge the living despair or would he fall straight into it?

"Their trying to grab me, slash at me. I won't be able to see Raze because of the darkness, but I should be able to sense him." Sora's thoughts raced as he darted further into the darkness, not wasting a minute for a second thought to pass him. However, he did put an end to his previous attack and was now flying to buy himself some time. He tottered uneasily as he felt the palpable smoke enroach over him. He closed his eyes and began attempting to detect where Raze was. It is alot harder for a human to do so however and would take him awhile.

Breathing deeply, he lept into the air, the pitch-black mist covering him without mercy he thrusted his blade forward to pierce where he thought his opponent was located. He tried to show no fear. He tried to show no faults. He tried so hard to not show weakness. He was the protector of Karakura, and as such, could not be weak. His heart nearly jumped into his throat as he continued onward, leaning slightly inward and felt his blalde pierce absolutely...nothing.

"In a real battle that would have been your first death. Charging in blindly, you make yourself susceptible to many attacks. Charging in blindly when you have yet to know the capablities of your opponent and you are as good as dead anyway." Rozeluxe spoke as he placed a hand on Sora's shoulder. "Meikyo is a technique that allows me to slip into my target's blind spot. If this was a fight to the death, where do you think you would be right now?"

Falling back into the darkness, Raze continued to taunt his young challenger. "Don't think like an animal using your senses to find me, think rationally. How would a dweller of the dark be drawn out of his hole? What would the gods use to end the reign of shadows upon the world? Don't make me drag your sister into pitts of hell. How could you save her if you can't even figure out something as simple this first puzzle?"

Instantly, Raze's words writhed around him like a snake, filling him with nostalgia, and anger; nostalgia for the memories of his past, flooding over him like a dream, and anger for being spoken down to. No matter how much Raze was right. He gulped some air and nodded uncomfortably. Without saying a word, he breathed another huff on his cigar. He brought his blade upward, held horizontally near his collar bone with both his hands grasply on the hilt. His energy burst to life as he gave everything he had into a blow, and then some: Byakurai.

More spefically a wide ranging Byakurai that spread around Sora until everything within the shroud of night was struck. Even some of the lightning slashing outward into the heavens, forcing Satomi to back away some more. She looked worried. Orihime's friend, Rukia, taught them kidou. They were barely able to grasp the concepts let alone the advanced spells. They were restricted to no less than a handful of spells, but given time, Sora could make anything alluring. She stood back, simling faintly at her brothers accomplishment.

"That should drive him out of the dark, once that happens I should be able to engage him without taking too much damage."

"Oh ho ho! That was creative! Using Kido to drive off the darkness? Who knew....oh wait...I did. Hahaha" Laughing at his own terrible joke, Rozeluxe dodged several of the wayward bolts as the spell tore through the surrounding area quickly. "Looks like you don't have full control over everything yet. Hm, that could possibly be dangerous." As he landed in a nearby tree, Raze smirked as he looked down toward Sora who began to resemble more of a fighter.

"Hey! Your sword, what is it's name? Have you begun to communicate with it yet? Maybe you should give it go against me, that might help you out a bit." Raze held his trademark grin on his face as he proceeded to lean against the tree. Rolling up one sleeve, he showed off a large bracelet that is made up of purple colored beads around his arm. "I suppose I'll let you guys have some fun in my stead." Plucking one of the beads from his arm, he dropped it onto the ground "Tsundora come on out."

The bead fell toward the ground before stopping and floating right above the soil below. Suddenly it dropped into the ground completely causing a blue rippling light to appear and spread outward from where the bead vanished before a massive chilling wind blew through the area as a blue haired maided rose from the Soil. "How may I serve you master?" The maiden had a calm yet eerie tone to her voice as she spoke through the wind.

"I used the Byakurai like that on purpose. Nice, right? And no, I cannot talk with a sword, baka. Swords don't talk." Sora grimaced cheekily. Nevertheless, his tone was genuine: He knew nothing of his Zanpakuto. His eyes widened as the full figure rose from the earth, a women! He quickly examined the woman as best he could; narrow yellow-orange eyes; average sized limbs; she was taller than he; she bore no blade; and was wearing a thick cloak overherself. "Shit, if I can't see a weapon then she must hiding it pretty well. Either that or--

His words were cut off by the piercing wind that followed Tsundora's appearance, his arms and legs stinging and feeling a dozen times heavier. The young Inoue was pushed back slightly by the wind, just barely bracing himself so that he didn't fall to the ground. He made out muffled noises from Raze but paid them no mind, instead, he began to think of his next assault.

Once the wind died down he grit his teeth and lurched his sword forward, cheering Byakurai once more. Aimed directly, was a thin linear beam of lightning concentrated to finesse point to pierce the jugular of Tsundora. "Stay focused" He reassured himself.