Blackened Shadows

Act 1
As Asumu left the palace, the thoughts that went through his mind took his focus off of just about everything else that he could have been doing. After so many years of wanting to forget what that...object had caused him and his family, he was being tasked with finding it once again.

He was never one to defy orders, but if there was one time where he could and get away with it, it'd be this one.

As he continued, he noticed that the other Quincy, from Soldat to Stern Ritter, were all moving on with their duties. None of them seemed concerned or aware of his newest objective, which was a good thing as far as he were concerned. This was a sensative subject enough as it was.

But then he stopped as he came a few meters away from his barracks. His eyes briefly glanced around before he sighed in annoyance. "Isabella, I know you're out there."

As soon as he said that, a quick bluring motion appeared before him, and then instantly manifested in the form of a youthful Arrancar, who was bowing before him in respect. "I've remained here, as ordered, Asumu-sama..." she said quietly.

"Good." he replied to her in a firm tone. "What are the others doing? Have you seen them?"

"They too are in the barracks, per your orders." she replied respectfully. "They have taken appropriate measures to ready themselves for another assignment, should one await...."

"Another assignment?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. "Isabella, you weren't spying on my meeting with his Majesty, were you?"

"No, of course not." her emerald eyes opened slightly upon hearing this. "Even if I wanted to, there wouldn't be anyway for me to pass through the palace unless his Majesty willed it to be so."

"...right." Asumu replied, scratching the back of his head. "I apologize...my recent orders have clouded my train of thought."

"I understand, Asumu-sama." she said calmly, not bothering to ask what his assignment was, knowing that it wasn't her place to do so.

"Now, come with me." he said, preparing to enter his barracks with the young Arrancar right behind him. "I've gotten our newest objective from the King. It's more urgent than anything we've had in the past."

Upon entering the barracks, he found at least twelve of his troopers carrying on their normal duties. Some were brandishing Seele Schneiders and using them on test dummies resembling Shinigami. Others were polishing their crosses or Spiritual sidearms. And others simply talked amongst themselves. But when they felt the presence of their commanding officer in their area, they immediately discarded all that they were doing and came straight forward at attention.

"I understand that you're all anxious to find more action, after the disappointing battle with the Shinigami." he began, speaking plainly, but with hints of authority in his tone. "Well, as much as I hate to rain even more on your bad days, i'm afraid that it's going to be that way for the next few days. His Majesty has sent me on an important objective, the likes of which i'm afraid I can't afford to bring you all on."

As the troopers continued to stand at attention, the flinches that appeared in some of their expressions could spell leagues of their annoyance.

"Therefore, I'm leaving you all under Haschwalt's command until further notice." Asumu finished. "Dismissed."

With that, the majority of them still remained in place, and one of them held his hand out as a questionary gesture. "Sir, what is this objective of yours?"

Asumu closed his eyes. "Family buisness."

Act 2
A man full of cropped black hair strode across the districts of. Clad in the elite uniform of the, it was clear that this man wasn't an ordinary one. And by all means, he wasn't. The man known as Kishiro Arashi, or Hotaru, was the one striding these streets. He was on his break today, so he decided to head to a local inn, and well, get to know the locals!

Little that he knew, he heard that a beautiful musician was playing around these parts. Now; he had a lot of information on his hands, but he had never heard of this musician before. Therefore; to satisfy his curiosity - and get a chance to flirt - Kishiro decided to head to the area where the musician was, which was apparently in District 24, known as the "Celebration District" by many.

"Hm...where is this woman...Kagura...Momochi, wasn't it?" Kishiro questioned, as he began to look through inns as a starting point. Though, considering his drinking habits, it wouldn't take too long for him to be drunk and at the woman's door.

A little ways in front of Kishiro's current position would be two small children, likely in their 7-8 ranges of age, hurridly moving into a slightly larger building in the District. "C'mon Cho!" one of them, a small girl said, holding the hand of the other boy and directing them both inside of the building. "That music you wanted to hear is right in this place!"

"Music?" Kishiro wondered, and followed the kids silently, making sure he wasn't noticed. As he followed them, he noticed that the houses were getting somewhat smaller, and there was a large stage with a woman sitting on it. "Is this the place?" Kishiro wondered to himself, simply standing in the background and not being noticed.

The two children sat together in the group of people, numbering in at least two dozen, as they all had their attention turned to the woman on the stage. She was a gorgeous appearing girl, with long black hair and skin as fair as the day time. Sitting on her knees, her eyes closed and her mouth non expressive, she held an older fashioned, chinese designed guitar in her hands, lightly strumming her fingernails against it's three chords with such care and refinement, the music it generated seemed to echo all around the interior of the inn, as if it were everywhere, rather than just from one source.

Then, with a slight exhale, the girl began to sing a song that is often considered to be a cherished lullaby to many who had children. She sang with such a professional, controlled tone of voice, it would be next to impossible for one not to be lost in the wonderful sound that her voice and music projected.

"Tch. I have to be careful not to listen too carefully. This could be some sort of spiritual manipulation." Kishiro cautioned himself, as he immediately used his masterful Hohō and soundlessly landed inside the building behind the woman. It appeared her performance was going to come to an end rather soon, and thus Kishiro calmly took one of the few seats within the residence, waiting for Kagura to come inside.

A few minutes afterwords, she finished her song, and all in the building lightly clapped and applauded her performance. In response, without hardly a change in her expression, she stood up, bowed, and turned to leave the stage.

For now, she had done her performance for the afternoon, but she had told all present (besides the children, of course) that she would be back in the evening to re-perform once again. Playing music was a nice hobby of hers that she cherished greatly, and sharing it with others was a nice addition. But as she entered the house behind the inn, she could feel Kishiro sitting in front of her.

Her magenta eyes opened slightly in confirmation of his presence. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" she asked him honestly.

"You actually don't. But the question here is..." Kishiro zoomed past Kagura's figure, leaving a small gust of wind to follow, "Why don't I know you?" His dark eyes looked callously at the woman, and his zanpakutō briefly shook, indicating that Muhiraiden was scared at what was going to happen.

"Likely because neither of us have ever met each other up until now." she replied calmly and almost blankly, walking around him and placing her instrument on the top of the bed that was next to Kishiro. As she turned to face him, she crossed her arms casually as she continued to speak to him. "That does sound about right, doesn't it, Shinigami-san?"

"Clever remarks don't work well with me, Musician." Kishiro said to her, before continuing, "I am a member of the Onmitsukidō. Each one of us has data on every single individual residing within the Rukongai. Why are you not on my list?" Kishiro wondered, before he looked at the woman closely. "Buuut. You are a pretty woman. I could easily make an exception for you, if you so wish."

To this, Kagura at first raised an eyebrow to the man's latter statement, but then, she discarded in, and lightly smiled. "Perhaps your Stealth Force operatives aren't as subtle as they believe. I'm just a musician trying to bring a little light into this run down place, is that truly worth the attention of one such as yourself?"

"Musician? Oh I don't think so. You're something else, aren't you?" Kishiro asked, looking at the woman's eyes carefully. "Oh...Kagura...Momochi?" Kishiro wondered, "So you've taken up this job. Or...you're disguising yourself." Kishiro began to walk out of the residence, "Well, I can't arrest you because you're not doing anything wrong. But, be careful. Kishiro Arashi is on your case from now on."

After proclaiming those words, Kishiro took a single leap away from the area using Hohō, appearing a few hundred meters away from it. "So...will things become less boring?"

Kagura simply blinked a couple of times. This was certainly a random encounter for her. One minute, he was inside of her home, giving her some form of threat, empty or no left up in the air for her to decide later, and the next, he was gone.

"Strange people live in this realm, that's for sure~." she said to herself lightly, turning and looking at a mirror on the wall and beginning to adjust her hair.

However, a larger, cloaked figure stood in her opened door way. His face was completely concealed, and he spoke in a matured, deeper voice. "Kagura Momochi?" he said, which caused her to look over at him in annoyance.

"Another visitor? I'm not performing until later this evening, so you'll have to wait..." she began, before the man cut her off.

"I do not seek to hear one of your songs, Momochi-san." the man spoke, holding his hand out to her as a sign of cooperation. "But rather, I seek another favor that I hear you specialize in."

As her eyes slightly widened, he finished his statement. "A favor that concerns the fabric of Soul Society itself."

END