Secrets Revealed

This article, , is the third chapter of the Navigating the Waters arc, which is part of Bleach: Cataclysm. It is the direct follow-up to One on One Meeting: Hikaru's Resolve Revealed and focuses on Hikaru blowing the whistle in regards to the Imawashī. Kentaro and Hikaru serve as the primary POV characters with most of the Six Directions leadership serving as supporting characters.

"Are we all here?"

Kentaro cast a quick glance over the assembled crowd. The original Commanders of the Six Directions where in attendance, as were the new additions in Riki, Toshiro and Amagai. Anko Amatsuki and Ayumi where also present. Perhaps the most shocking was that Hikaru was also in attendance. Of course him arranging this meeting was what was truly shocking. Kentaro saw his allies eyeing the former Imawashi operative with suspicion and hatred both. All except Akiye. It seems Riki had suceeded in showing her that the two had something in common after all.

"Would you all open the folders I gave you?" Hikaru asked.

Kentaro, as well as everyone else in the room, did as they where asked. Kentaro discovered eight pieces of paper with a mugshot and a detailed write-up awaiting him. A murmur went through the room and Kentaro looked up to see who was speaking and why.

It was Amagai -- newly risen to the position of Commander and former Captain in both the Gotei 13 and Gotei Remnant -- who looked up first.

"Most of you are unaware of my background." Amagai claimed. "I served in the Patrol Corps of the Onmitsukidō. I know all but one of these people. They all served in the Onmitsukidō at one time or another."

"Correct." Hikaru admitted. "The Imawashī where split into three core groups. The group you've had the most contact with was my own team: the Six Directions elimination unit. The unit I'm about to show you is a nine-man cell known as the Gotei Remnant Relief Squad. The first mugshot I provided for your viewing pleasure is of one Rōjin. Real name unknown."

"Since he's first I take it blonde here is the leader?" Riki asked.

"Are you being serious?" Anko asked. "He doesn't... look like much."

"Neither does Kentaro." Sanada interjected.

"Hey! I'm standing right here!"

Anko's assessment seemed to receive a number of agreements. Kensei, Toshiro, Hawke and David seemed to agree. Rojin was a fair-featured and youthful man with spiked blond-hair and a lean physique. He didn't look like a cold-blooded killer by any means: in fact he looked like a kind-hearted young man. Certainly not what one would expect from the Onmitsukidō.

"That doesn't change what he's capable of. Haven't you heard not to judge a book by its cover? I gave the same speech to the Imawashi regarding all of you after all." Hikaru interjected, bringing things back on topic. Kensei merely grunted at him. "Rojin is a phenomenal leader and assassin. Calm, collected, charismatic. He was one of the last to be trained by the late Anika Shihōin. He knows what he's doing."

"So do we." Akiye added.

"I was trained by the man who surpassed her." Kentaro said. "Rōjin wasn't the only one who inherited Anika's Art of Assassination."

"Who are the others?" Ayumi asked.

Hikaru directed everyone's attention to a dark-skinned woman with green eyes and white-coloured hair. She was attractive, lean, with a generous bust. Her figure was that of an hourglass and a whistle of approval came from Riki and Hisagi.

"What?" Riki asked. He realized a number of the group where looking at him. Amazing how Hisagi was ignored. Kentaro and Hisagi shared a look and the two merely chuckled. Anko, though, was shaking her head; seemingly in disapproval. That did not escape Kentaro's notice.

"Now why would she be doing that?" Kentaro thought. He edged closer to Akiye.

"Did you...?" He whispered to her.

"Yup! Are they...?"

"Together? No way!" Sanada, having edged closer himself, added.

"Are you three quite finished?" Hikaru asked.

Three sets of far-from-innocent faces nodded yes. Riki's enhanced hearing meant he heard every word and he looked far from happy.

"Good, I'll continue then." Hikaru stated, shaking his head. "This devilish beauty is called Chiharu. She put together the dossiers the Imawashi have on all of you and they're quite detailed. She's their analyst but, like Rojin, a skilled assassin in her own right. She's known him the longest: they go way back. She's the brains behind all their operations. All their strategies come through her. Dastan and she do not get along."

"That's because my grandfather doesn't like following any plan that isn't his own." Kentaro added. "If she's as cunning as you say then that's why The Trickster is annoyed: he feels threatened. Enough. Whose next?"

"Brother and sister duo: Maiko and Akihiko. They're sadistic. Completely and utterly mad, the pair of them. They're the ones who kidnapped and drugged Akane. When they die I want to be the one who kills them."

"No promises." Kensei interjected.

"Agreed." Hawke added.

"If we encounter any of these people we end them, there and then." David followed. And he looked pissed as all hell. "We won't settle for anything else. Not in this." The last was directed solely to Kentaro, Riki and Hikaru.

"Very well. Can we return our attention to the dossiers please?"

Maiko and Akihiko. The two certainly bore a striking resemblance to one another. Maiko sported shoulder-length blond hair and blue eyes which Akihiko echoed. They even had a similar physique. Maiko was slightly shorter, thinner, whilst Akihiko looked a little more ragged. He had bags under his eyes which his sister lacked. Maiko merely looked poised. Like a snake ready to uncoil. Akihiko looked like he'd seen enough crazy to last him a life-time. The man was unhinged.

"I've seen that look before." Sanada said, suddenly angry. "They're Reikon Kyuuban."

"You're positive?" Hikaru asked.

"... I'd never forget that look. They hunger... they've become slaves to it. Like I said I'd never forget that look."

"... I see. Then that changes how we approach them." Hikaru whispered. "The next three on the list however can be better covered by Kentaro, I think."

Every eye in the room turned to Kentaro.

"Yeah. The three with the dark skin. They're called Toru, Ichiro and Gina. They where all members of Katashi's old drug operation in Kohai Tochi back when I rescued Akiye from Shinzō. I had a few run-ins with them."

"Anything we should know?" Toshiro asked.

"Toru: he's Katashi's old man. Imagine a stronger, tougher, uglier version of Katashi and that's Toru to a tee. I could have beaten Katashi then but not Toru. He was on a completely different level. Add Shunkō to the mix and you begin to see why I steered clear of him. Exercise extreme caution. If I had to plant a level to him I'd say he was in Shinzō's general league before I clipped his wings."

"Kentaro has the right of it." Hikaru added. "Toru's definitely the most dangerous of the bunch but Ichiro and Gina where trained personally by Toru to be living weapons. Don't underestimate them."

Their appearance certainly lent credit to that statement. Ichiro was tall and lined with hard muscle. He wasn't as physically intimidating as Toru or Katashi by any means. But his light-blond hair, which framed a face cast in a serious expression captured by Hikaru's mugshot, turned Kentaro's blood to ice. Gina possessed the same serious look. She was much like Chiharu: an hourglass figure, but the icy look in those amber-eyes revealed an entirely different monster.

"The last mugshot you all have is of one Hitoshi." Hikaru stated. "All I know about him is that he's Rōjin's disciple. He hasn't been around long so I can't tell you much. He's the strong silent type."

"... I know who he is." Anko interjected.

"Yeah, me too." Riki admitted. He had crumpled up the paper containing Hitoshi's mugshot in his right hand.

"You care to explain yourselves?" Hikaru asked. Kentaro stood with his arms crossed and an expectant look plastered across his face. His eyes met Riki's across the room.

The tension that appeared in the room then could have been cut by a knife! Ayumi was looking back and forth between Kentaro and Riki as if she expected them to have at one another any moment. Kensei and Hisagi had readied themselves to intervene if necessary. Akiye merely stood with her arms crossed. Sanada shook his head towards Kensei and Hisagi and the two relaxed. Hawke and David where whispering between themselves. Toshiro and Amagai where the only two who remained impassive and at ease.

"He killed both Harumi and Jinta." Riki declared.

Anko's silent nod followed Riki's declaration.

"... Riki revealed this to me after recruiting me. It was the reason he went to the Soul Society the day of the Collapse: he was going to see Tadashi. Tadashi said only someone who had prior dealings with Hitoshi would be able to track him and suggested Shin. I had prior dealings with Hitoshi. Only two people knew where I was: Kenji and Shin. So there you have it: that's why I'm here."

"You didn't share this with me. Why?" Kentaro asked.

Riki looked directly at Kentaro. There where no words spoken. There was no need for them. Understanding passed between the two in seconds and a smile broke across Kentaro's face.

"You're worried about me. I get that. So tell me when you have something concrete. I can wait until then."

"Sure. I promise."

That was the understanding that passed between both friends. With careful study the two could easily read what the other was thinking. Their's was a friendship built from a young age and nurtured with trust. In many ways they where akin to Kenji and Van and the way they used to operate without speaking a word to each other.

"Moving on." Kentaro finally said. "We have our target-"

"Not quite." Akiye interjected. "Hikaru said they where a nine-man cell. We have only eight mugshots. Whose the ninth?"

"Someone you're all familiar with. I thought a mugshot was unnecessary, so I'll give you only his name."

"Hurry it up." Toshiro added.

"Sanji. Sanji of the 5th Division."

Silence fell on the room...

End.