The Wolf, The Mongoose, The Thorn, The Song, The Willow, The Winds

Whistling Through the Willow's Leaves
It was mid-day in the Seireitei. Not much activity was going on right now. A gentle song could be heard in the calm of the day. It was the wondrous music that was skillfully played by the graceful Sayuri Kuchiki. She was sitting upon the large stone near the 7th Company's Barracks. Beside her were her two friends, Nodoka Kumori and John Kakusei. Nodoka was asleep, but it was easy to tell that he was listening to the melodies that Sayuri played, for his breathing resonated with the notes in her music. John was staring at the cloudless sky, but he was humming along to the music Sayuri was playing. He then looked up at her and said, "It amazes me that such a fiery spirit like you can play such soothing music."

Sayuri gave John a glare that said, "Don't mess with me," but she didn't miss a beat in her music. She finished masterfully and said, "It's amazing how Nodoka has been a target all this time."

Nodoka opened his eyes and shrugged. "That Shirokaze kid was annoying though."

John grinned and slapped Nodoka on the back. "Come on, man. You HAD to enjoy the fight."

"I did not."

"Stick in the mud."

"You're one to talk, John. You haven't fought against anyone. Akireiki must be crying."

John leaned back and said, "Probably. I just never feel like fighting, ya know?"

Sayuri slid down the rock to join them on the ground. I hear ya, bro."

Nodoka closed his eyes and went back to his nap. He then shot up and said, "Someone's coming here."

In the distance, the former Captain of Squad Five,Kaworu Yamamoto-Genryusai, now known as Ray Martinez in the human world, was running back to the one place that he left behind, but behind him was a girl wearing a special custom Executive Militia shihakushō carrying her Zanpakuto on her back.

"Stop Kaworu, or I'll kill you!!!" she yelled shooting blasts of Kidō towards him.

"Aki, I won't stop I can't go back!" Kaworu yelled as he Shunpō'd forward and instantly passed through the two people without notice, Aki did the same and kept chasing him.

"What the HELL was that?" exclaimed John.

"Kids playing tag," replied Nodoka.

"Really?"

"No, you dunce," retorted Nodoka. "I don't give a rat's behind about those guys. Let me sleep."

Sayuri stood up with a big grin on her face. "Enough resting Half-Pint. Let's go have us a chase!" She then used a Shunpō to give chase after these new people.

"Wait up Sayuri!" called John. He looked back at Nodoka and asked, "Coming?"

Nodoka sighed heavily and said, "I might as well. Knowing Sayuri, she'll most likely get in a fight where Iruyas will have to bail her out."

John nodded, "That's what I'm worried about."

Nodoka looked at the sky and said, "The clouds...."

"What's up Nodoka?"

"Nothing," spoke Nodoka. He then used a Shunpō to go after Sayuri.

John stood there completely still. Nodoka spoke...and not for releasing his Zanpakutō." John looked at the skies and thought, What is going to happen? Nodoka never actually speaks if there isn't something to worry about. He then took his leave.

Ray kept moving and moving trying to get away from her but then found himself trapped near 1st division and knew he had to do something fast.

"It's over Kaworu, you have no where to run." Aki said as she started to draw her sword to attack Kaworu.

"Put thy enemies into a trance, Kusafue!" called Sayuri. She blocked Aki from drawing her sword by putting her staff blade on Aki's sword. She smirked and said, "It's dangerous to draw your sword. You should be more careful."

Aki turned her head and growled."Stay out of this, this has absolutly nothing to do with you!" She yelled.

Ray saw his chance and shunpo'd farther away from them.

"Change the Seasons, Akireiki," said John. He was standing near the path of Ray's escape while his blade transformed into a skeletal maple leaf. His shihakushō transformed into a trenchcoat and slacks combo. He also wore a shirt with a weasel holding a small blade. The winds seemed to respond to John's reitatsu by giving him increased speed as he gave chase to Ray.

Meanwhile Aki looked at the girl with anger before she shunpo'd out of her grip and stared at her, Aki decided to show her who she ws dealing with."Roar to divide, '''Ryuu Kyoushusha". '''Suddenly the energy warped all over her sword as she drew it and she held two dual-swords in her hands.

Interference: Sayuri VS Aki
"This is official buisness, interfering is considered an execution." She said.

Sayuri smirked, "Geez, lighten up. I saw you chasing that guy so I thought I might as well join in. Sides, I'm bored."

Aki shunpo'd and swung at Sayuri.

Sayuri blocked the attack with the blade of her staff's blade, and deflected the attack to the side. She then jumped back and said, "That was dangerous."

"That's not even half my strength." Aki said as she put her sword in an X-formation and a few fireballs appeared from the middle before she slashed and made them go forward."Honoo Tama.

Sayuri slashed her staff in her perspective of northwest, and a gust of wind came in front of her. The fireballs were redirected to the skies, but they were now larger than before.

Aki smiled as she shunpo'd to the sky and absorbed the fireballs back into hher sword as she concentrated all that energy into one giant fire ball and launched it towards Sayuri.

Sayuri's eyes widened as the fires approached her. She held her ground as the fireballs approached, but a figure in front of her swatted the fireballs as if they were nothing. Sayuri's expression of determination changed to one of delight. "Mizu!" she exclaimed.

The Mongoose Sharpens His Fangs
Mizu looked over at Aki and inspected her. He then teleported over to Aki, kneeling on the ground and holding her left hand. "And who might you be my voluptuous beauty?"

Aki then had a vein in her forehead as she kicked Mizu far into the side of the building."I don't have time for this, thanks to you my target is getting away." She says as she shunpo'd and started to go after Kaworu but was stopped by a ivasion of personal space.

"Now now," said Mizu soothingly, "That was rude." He was had his arm around Aki's waist. He was without any sign of injury. "I was just trying to be a gentleman."

"You're anything but that," mused Sayuri.

"Anyway," Mizu's tone changed to a suspicion. "What are you doing making such a racket? I can't get any sleep with everyone trying to kill each other."

Aki started to get irritating as he grabbed his hand and twisted it behind his back. "It's none of you're buisness." She says growling.

Mizu's expression didn't change. He sighed and said, "Really. You think I would be so defenseless?" He then jumped and spun to where his arm was in a normal position again. He released his hand from her grip and said, "Now tell me, what are you doing?"

Aki was suprised being that he was the first person to break out of her grip,"I'm hunting someone down, now you can either let me pass by or I cut you down with my sword." Aki said gripping her blade waiting for the responce of Mizu.

Mizu smirked and said, "Who are you hunting and why are you hunting him? If he is an enemy of ours, I have a man after him right now and he'll help to capture him."

Aki took a good look and sighed,"He is a rouge Soul-Reaper and must be brought in for questioning." Aki said putting her sword away and looking at the two of them.

Mizu nodded and said, "Gotcha." He then got out a communicater and put it near his hear. "Yo, John. Yeah the guy yur tailing. Yep, catch him. OK, I'll send help. See ya later." Mizu put the communicater away and said, "OK, let's go already." He then teleported away with Sayuri following suit.

Aki went and followed them knowing that with their help, she'll finally be able to capture Ray.

The Autumn Breeze
John continued to follow Ray as he headed toward the western gate. He then sent an shock wave of air to attack Ray.

Ray sensed the change and dropped to the floor then looked around and knew someone was following him "Who are you?!" Ray shouted.

John covered his ears and said, "Quieter than you apparently."

Ray threw his sword and closed his eyes to focus energy into his ears, then he heard the wind and shunpo'd to put his blade on the throat of the guy following him,"I really don't appreciate people following." Ray said dangerously.

John tilted his head up, letting the blade slip by. He then kicked Ray in the stomach, sending him flying away. He then grabbed the hilt of Akireiki with both hands and sent a huge gust of wind in Ray's direction.

Ray saw the wind coming and focused his energy into his sword then slashed and send a wave of energy towards the wind and both canceled each other but Ray crashed into a building and had some blood coming out of the corner of his mouth.

"Well that was smart." Ray said getting out of there and jumping on top of the building.

John smirked and said, "Whew, that was pretty good. You're at least vice-captain class." Akireiki then changed to where all its blades seemed to make it look like a skeletal one-edged claymore. John then held the blade to where it divided his face and swung it to his right. "Akireiki, Zankutai."

Ray saw that his Zanpakuto had changed and got ready to attack, Ray decided to not underestimate him and went into his Shikai as well,"Roar and Split Yukkan Raion." Black energy appeared under Ray's feet then went into his sword before it warped and split the sword into two seprate black swords.

John knelt down, then launched himself to attack Ray. He then swung his blade saying, "Kaze Daikama!"

Ray saw the attack coming and went on defense by stabbing one of his two swords into the building. Spikes apeared in front of Ray and took the blast."Kasui Tategan."

John stopped in mid charge just before he hit the spikes. He smirked and flashed away. He was behind Ray, charging another Kaze Daikama.

Ray smiled as he let first blade go and swung his second blade with both his hands as the energy build up."Kuroi Kuchikukan"

The clash of the two blasts was incredibly powerful, but only John was blown away. He stopped in mid air and wiped off some blood on his forehead. "That was unexpected."

Ray smiled as he saw the left sleeve of his shirt was ripped but there was no blood,"You said that I was a vice-captain class but here's a frendly warning." Ray said as he looked at John and then suddenly the area became heavier with powerful spirit energy eminating from Ray." I'm more powerful than that." said Ray.

He shunpo'd out of sight and grabbed his other sword and went for the attack.

John barely saw Ray at the last second and deflected his blade with his own. "This isn't good."

Ray kept on slicing at an incredible speed, but only managed to get a few scratches in.

John jumped back and said, "You're a quick one, huh?" He looked at Akireiki and said, "Guess I have to up the ante." He then held his blade sideways and said, "Akireiki, Akumukokkaku." Akireiki's blades began to switch around to where some of the blades looked like a skull right near the hilt while 2 blades with one edge were sticking out of the skull like they were a skeleton of a double-edged sword.

Ray smiled as focused the energy around him and his blade and summoned five energy lions at his side,"Take this!!" He swung and the lions went in for an attack.

John positioned Akireiki to be above his head, and slashed the direction in which the blasts were coming from. A strange gate seemed to open in front of John, which sucked the blasts into it. The gate then closed and John put Akireiki on his shoulder.

Ray looked at the portal and realized this was gonna be a problem, so he shunpo'd around the entire area making replicas of himself then they all focused a black orb into their hands and smiled.

"Ryuusei Keshigomu" They released the black energy into powerful blasts.

John looked in all dierections, and saw that there was no way he could dodge. He then said, "Akireiki, Sei!" His sword then switched back to its normal fan form. He then swung Akireiki to deflect the blasts with air, but that had no effect. He was then hit with all four blasts, which sent him crashing to the ground.

Ray smiled and went for the kill but then sensed spirit energy's coming towards him so he wen towards John then put his sword away."Listen, i don't wanna fight you I'm just running away from her." Ray said then shunpo'd and wasn't felt anywhere.

John tried to stand up, but he had to lean on Akireiki to stay up. He coughed, spitting up some blood. He then said, "Hey, I'm not finished with you..." He then fainted standing up. Akireiki stayed the same though.

Capturing Ray
Aki then felt the sudden change in spirit energy and started going faster than the others.

"So, what's the story behind this Ray guy?" asked Mizu.

"I'm under strict orders not to say anything." She said but then decided that they could really help her,"He learned some very secret informaiton and if it got out then the Soul-Society will be doomed." She said jumping from building to building.

Mizu narrowed his eyes, "I'm a lieutenant, you can tell me."

"I'm sorry but this information goes way beyond you're level of security." Aki said as she kept her eyes focused on where she was going." It's direct orders from the Soul-King himself."

Mizu looked up and mused for a moment. He then said, "Oh yeah, him. I remember when he was a teen. He was a stiff-necked guy."

"You know nothing, it's not the current Soul-King that gave this." She said.

Mizu looked at Aki and said, "The existance of the universe isn't as vast as you'd like to think. It's only been around for about 6000-7000 years. This old Soul King was the leader of a caravan that Hikaru traveled with when he was a kid. The Royal Family wasn't established until after the Great Soul War."

"Good continue to believe the lies that you were told, it's better that it's not known." Aki said sighing as she kept going.

Mizu smirked, "They aren't lies. If the Earth was millions of years old, it would have eroded away some 50+ times from the water, and the moon would've had 137 feet of dust on it in the late 1970s instead of less than an inch?" He then caught up and passed Aki, "Plus, the crest that the Royal family uses now was on a tunic that Hikaru got from the caravan when he was 25."

"Like i said, continue to believe what you want all that matters to me is capturing him." Aki said as shr gripped her fists and went ahead of the both of them.

Sayuri sighed, "Very antisocial, isn't she?"

Mizu smiled evilly, "I'll sic Nodoka on her."

"Like he'd do anything." Sayuri looked down and saw John dragging Akireiki behind him, heading west from their viewpoint. "AKI! WAIT!"

Aki stopped and was standing on the side of the wall."What is it?! We're going to lose him if we don't keep going." Aki said but then looked down and saw John.

Sayuri was the first to catch John when he began to fall. He still held Akireiki, and told it to seal again. Sayuri leaned him up against the wall. She smiled and said, "You idiot, you were too reckless."

John laughed a little, "He was...stronger than I thought."

Aki looked at him and started healing him with her Kido,"Where did he go?" Aki asked.

John pointed to his right. "That way. He was headed toward the West Rukon District." He cringed as his wounds continued to be healed. "I already told the Captain about where that guy is headed."

Sayuri smiled and said, "Hikaru can stop that guy easy!"

"I wouldn't underestimate him if I were you." Aki said finishing her healing." I'm going to make sure that he is captured alive." Aki said shunpoing towards Ray.

Mizu sighed, "She's really impatient, huh?"

Sayuri nodded. "At least she healed John."

John looked at his limbs and tried to move them. He felt little twinges of pain from each quick motion, but he was battle ready. He stood up and said, "I'm going after her."

Mizu clapped John's shoulder. "Leave it to Hikaru now. You've done your part."

John looked at the direction that Aki was heading, but he didn't go after her. He drew his sword and said, "Change the Seasons, Akireiki." His sword transformed into a skeletal maple leaf again. He then said, "Let me go now."

Mizu shrugged and said, "Your choice. I'll tell the other 12 to not interfere. This is 7th Company's problem now." Mizu and Sayuri teleported away. John then chased after Aki.

Aki kept moving farther and farther into the Seiretei then she could feel John's spirit energy following her, "Why are you following me?" Aki asked looking back at John.

John smiled and said, "Letting a lady go off into the unknown isn't the chivalrous thing to do."

"Really, and I thought chivalry was dead all these centuries." Aki said smiling as she kept going forward.

The Willow Sways, the Lion Bites
Nodoka sighed and said, "When is he gonna get here?"

Hikaru pulled out a pocket watch and said, "A few more minutes."

Nodoka narrowed his eyes. "It's so weird that you have something like that."

Ray kept jumping and jumping from building to building as he kept turning to feel two others on his tail but suddenly he felt two more in front of him and stopped,"I know you're there, get out here!" Ray yelled.

"Stop yelling," sighed Hikaru. He was standing right behind Ray, but he had his back to him. "We're right here."

"Listen, I don't want to fight you but if you don't leave now I will regret it." Ray said camly as he had his back to Hikaru.

"I don't want to fight either," replied Hikaru. "Besides," He turned his head toward Ray. "I don't fight children."

"Hahahahahaha." Ray laughed and turned his head the same way." You are in no postion to talk about age, I'm way older than you are Child." Ray smirked as he got ready to fight.

Hikaru sighed, "Nodoka, can you take care of this guy?"

Nodoka nodded. He then drew his sword and appeared in front of Ray.