Personas Of The Twisted Mentalities

Last Apology
Shade sat in his favorite chair, playing Monopoly with his family, when an odd thought struck him. "Loran, do you happen to have Van's number? I forgot, I need to apologize to his group."

Loran looked at Shade, feigning concern. "Are you ok? This is like the fourth time this week you thought about someone other than yourself. But yeah, I'll call him, and have him bring his family down, just so you can see his face at your return." she laughed as she called Van. "Hey, when you get time, I really could use some help. Maybe you could get everyone together, cause this is a big project. No rush though."

Van laughed as he finished talking to Loran. "Hmm everyone? I don't know if she would want dead Kanata there. Hm. Probably not. They didn't finish on the best of terms. Oh well. haha." Van walked to the back of his houe where he was hosting a gathering. "Sorry folks. Something came up. Time for you all to leave except for Atsuya and Jitsuzai."

Anna was smiling as she was also bored of entertaining the people who lived in the neighboorhood. "Good job Van." She whispered as she stood close to him. "What came up?"

Van looked around as he waited for everyone else to leave. "Remember Loran? She wants us to come and visit and help with some project thing. So I said we would."

Atsuya sighed as he walked toward Van."Work? Really? This is my break from teaching and I have to do work? Whatever..." He failed to notice that the others were already leaving and rushed after them.

Shade grinned when he heard that his friends we going to show up. "Ok. You two know the plan right? Prevent them from finding out I'm back."

Just as Shade stopped speaking, felt a group of Reishi levels heading towards the house. "Shoot, gotta hide." he said, running down the hall, into his son's room. That closet has hidden me quite well before. He ducked inside, limiting the amount of power he gave off.

Van looked at everyone "Now be on your BEST behavior." He put emphasis on best as he looked at Anna and Jitsuzai.

"What!? No fair! What about Azami and Haruki?" Jitsuzai protested as he started to get angry

"Thank you for proving my point. As they are remaining relatively calm and YOU are the one acting like their age." Van laughed sarcastically as he began knocking on the door.

Jitsuzai froze as he realized what he was doing "B-but...hmph. Like I care." Azami and Haruki began trying to hide the fact that they were laughing at Jitsuzai "S-shut it you two!"

Hayashi opened the door. "Hey. Come on in. Mom's making lunch, so make yourselves at home."

Even in the closet, Shade heard his son, and wondered the last time he knew a demon who remembered his manners. He arrived at the answer, never.

Haruki and Azami stormed in landing on the couch, both cheering in unison "Finally!"

Van smiled as he looked at Hayashi "Nice to see you again. How are things around here? You remember Atsuya, Jitsuzai and Anna right?"

Anna smiled as she leaned over waving from behind Van "Hiya!"

"Yeah, I remember everyone. Didn't I school Jitsuzai at Halo a while back?"

Loran walked in, glad to see everyone. Her eyes wandered over the group, but she saw two new faces. "Ok, who're the smart alecks who gave birth to the new ones?"

Jitsuzai sighed that Hayashi remembered "I'm having an 'Atsuya' day today..." this statement caused everyone in Van's group to laugh even Atsuya himself

Van smiled at Anna as she walked forward "Guilty as charged. Sorry Loran...the boy is Haruki and the girl is Azami..they can be a mess at times but they are pretty well behaved for the most part."

"Well, just as long as they don't burn the house down, I'm sure it'll be fine." Loran smiled. "And as for the little thing I need help with. Hayashi's closet keeps creaking. I was wondering if you'd help. I just don't have time to look at a closet these days."

Hayashi walked over to the twins. "Hi. I'm Hayashi. Twins huh? That's kinda cool."

Van plopped down on the couch as he moaned "Send Atsuya to do it. I don't want to look at a stupid closet."

"Why you....' Atsuya sighed as he asked Loran for directions

Azami and Haruki looked at Hayashi before speaking "Its annoying when we speak in tandem...like so."

Loran pointed down the hall. "You'll know it when you see it."

Hayashi smiled. "I bet that gets annoying. But at least you two will have each other forever."

Azami sighed as she layed down "Not that I want to be tied to the hip forever."

"Yea...having each other is nice but sometimes its nice to be your own person instead of being lumped together for evertything as twins." Haruki sighed

"I'll know? That's awfully vague. That's like saying I will know what blade of grass is bent just by stepping outside." Atsuya continued to whine before hearing Anna behind him.

"Why don't you just help silly Atsuya? Complaining isn't always needed you know?" Anna had a sinister tone to her voice as she whispered in Atsuya's ear causing him to march foward.

When Shade sensed Atsuya was in the room, he jumped out, wearing a fairly good mimicry of his demon form, except for the hair. "Boo."

"Arghh!!" Atsuya threw a fist as he fell back bfore running out of the room. "DEMON!!!!!! There's a stinkin demom in there!!" This cause Van to jump up forming a spear in his hand

"What did you say Atsuya?" Van's face became serious as he remembered the last time he encountered a demon.

Shade removed his mask, laughing. "I didn't think that'd work so well. Atsuya, didn't my form look like you've seen it before?"

Atsuya looked embarassed as everyone began laughing prompting him to go stand outside. "I need a break from this chaos."

Haruki looked confused "Why didn't Sensei just use his zanpakuto if he thought he was fighting a demon?"

Van and Anna were distracted however. Van walked over to his old friend in shock "I-i-is it r-r-really you? I mean Ice Man?! Are you back in the Flesh?"

Anna started nudging Jitsuzai as she looked on confused "Who is that? Someone you all know?"

"No clue at all...I'm just as lost as you." Jitsuzai shrugged as he sat down with the twins

"Yep. It's me, although I'm no longer the Ice Man. This was something I threw together to scare you guys." Shade smiled. "Take your pick, hit me now, get it out of your system, or wait for me to explain everything first."

Loran looked at Anna and Jitsuzai. "That would be Shade, the Ice Man as Van and Atsuya called him. Don't worry, he's not gonna hurt you."

Van smirked. "Hit you? Nah...I was the least angry at you. What's done is done. There's no need to say anything. Sometime you just have to do what you think is best for you. Simple as that." He then pointed over to where everyone else were "That's my wife Anna, her brother Jitsuzai, and our kids Azami and Haruki."

"Hi everyone. I hope Van didn't drive you nuts with stories of how I got the crap kicked out of me by his brother." Shade noticed Atsuya. "If you want a free shot, take it now. You'll never see a better moment."

"Free shot? Heh. I'm on it!" Atsuya charged foward with his fist pulled back ready to hit Shade when he was tripped by Van.

"Ha...silly Atsuya. So close but no cigar. hahaha." Van smirked as he looked at Loran "So you lied to get us over here for Shade? Good one!"

"Thanks. I wanted to get his friends to show up, so he could apologize. Plus he wanted to try and rid himself of his guilt." Loran said, looking around. "Plus, now everyone knows each other now. That's a good thing."

Van looked confused "Guilt? Heh...I don't see why. Things happen. He was looking out for the best interest of everyone even if he went about it in the wrong way."

"Thanks Van. And you're right, everything I did was for you guys. Now, when the Hell did you get so philisophical?" Shade asked, his trademark grin slowly appearing.

Anna knew the answer and jumped on Van's back pulling up his ears "Since he became my little doggy! He became so wise after that..not like before when he was brash and uptight. Now he's sooooo cute!!"

"Holy shit! Its Inuyasha's grandson. Wait, why is he like that?" Shade couldn't stop laughing at his old friend.

Loran was almost tempted to grab a frying pan when she remembered the food on the stove. "Be right back." thankfully she remembered to turn down the heat.

"Uh....Its a long story. It involves me falling into this void Jitsuzai opened up....long story short I look like this." Van laughed as he pulled Anna off of him.

Loran called for everyone. "Hope you don't mind really well done steak sandwhiches."

Shade simply looked at Loran. "When have you ever made bad food? My recollection tells me never. So you don't have to worry."

Hayashi frowned. "Dad has a point. You could probably make fruitcake taste good. You know that."

Haruki jumped up at the word steak ignoring the rest completely as he rushed over forgetting his manners causing Azami to chop him in the head. "Pathetic. Offer food and you're all over it. Typical male."

Jitsuzai ruffled her hair as he walked past "No need to be so stiff. You're starting to sound like your Aunt Medaka." The statement sent a cold chill down Van, Atsuya, and Haruki's back as they remembered Medaka's strict lessons.

Van smirked as he turned away "A-anyway...what have you two been up to? Wait. How did you get back?"

"Magic. Lots of it. I'll explain later." Shade said, running to get food.

Van laughed as he looked confused at Anna before she kissed him on the cheek "Don't worry about it Van. He's your friend right? That's all that matters...who cares how he gets back. He's just here now. Let's make the best of it ok?"

Van smiled as he took Anna's hand walking after Shade stepping on Atsuya who was still laying on the ground.

"When did Van get so smart? Atsuya was the only one who saw through my lies about RK. Remember?" Shade asked, recalling the day he met them.

"Atsuya saw through a lie?" Anna laughed as she looked over at him standing up dusting himself off.

"Feh. It was all about deception and lies back then. We just escaped from Soul Society and he was one of the first people we met. Didn't take much to pull all of us in...even Kanata." Atsuya smirked before catching a glance from Van.

"Anyway...." Anna continued "So how did you and Loran meet?"

"First off, yes. Atsuya was the smart one. Everyone else bought my story about how my sis became a blood sucker, Second, we met just after my mortal time ended. When I woke up in the SS, she was the first one who I met. Ever since, we've been together, despite my idiotic tendency to make horrid puns, and sacrifice my friends for power." Shade said, beginning to mellow out.

Hayashi looked at his dad. "So, you two ever gonna get married? Or is that just me thinking something's wrong here?"

This time, Loran spoke. "Don't worry. We're gonna wed, when your dad decides to wear a tux."

Anna smiled as she looked at Atsuya who was beaming proudly "Why do I fail to see how smart he actually is? Hehehe." She then looked back at Loran and Shade "So it was like a love at first type of thing? That's sweet. Like some kind of romantic movie."

Azami looked at Hayashi in confusion "You actually want them to get married? I hate weddings...they are such a drag. Its always filled with rushing around with people screaming for no reason at all."

Shade grumbled. "Why the fuck do I need a tux anyway? I don't see the need for me to buy another black shirt."

Van nodded in agreement. "Thank you! I had to plead for months just to wear a hat so I wouldn't scare anyone."

"But I love my cute little doggy's ears. They make you unique and different and diverse."Anna was once again on Van's back pulling on his ears.

Jitsuzai began to laugh as he walked over to their side of the room. "So sis...you DO realize that you just used synonyms just now making an unneeded list just now right?"

Shade smiled. "The day I wear a tux, that'll be the day Bael gets out of Hell. Not gonna happen. I hope."

Hayashi remembered what his dad said a while ago. "I thought you once told me, always do what a woman you love tells you to do."

Shade facepalmed. "Different subject. Besides, when did I say I never bought one? I'm just never gonna wear it"

Van laughed as he put a hand on shade's shoulder "Hey look at it this way...you can just do it and get it over with. Look at me...I got tied dow...er....happily married." Van smirked as he looked over at Anna as she had turned a small amount hearing Van talk.

"Fine. But so help me God, I'm not doing it twice. One time burying my freedom is enough." Shade said, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Loran smile.

"There you go Shade!" Atsuya laughed as he looked at his old friend "You're never gonna guess this bu just looking at us but Me and Van have become incredibly stronger since last seeing you. I even managed to acheive Bankai." He stood there proudly as Jitsuzai walked up tapping him on the shoulder. "Not now Jitsuzai, I'm glowbasking."

Jitsuzai laughed as he shrugged. "I just wanted to tell you that a majority of us have already done that."

"Oh? Well, even though I've been a dead man for a few years, I've picked up a few new moves myself. And Atsuya, you do have a right to be happy, but I took only a few months to get Bankai. First time i used my Bankai, I died again. Then I became the Shade you guys had the displeasure to meet."

Atsuya peeked over with a slight interest "New moves? Like what?"

"Bah! No need to worry about that just yet. And displeasure? Nah. You took us in when we escaped Soul Society while we were on the run. Although you took us to hell. It only made us stronger." Van laughed as he gave Shade a friendly shove.

Shade pulled out his Helix Dagger, Dargon. "This, Atsuya, is the form of my new power. Let's put it this way, if Bael decided to return, I'd screw him over singlehandedly." Shade laughed, returning the dagger to his pocket.

"Hey Dad. How long ago was it when you asked Mom to marry you?" Hayashi suddenly asked.

"Ten years, nine months, two weeks, five days." Shade recited the numbers from memory. "What? Guys have to remember that kinda thing, right?"

Atsuya still looked stunned wanting to know what power that dagger held. He turned looking at Jitsuzai who nodded as they went to talk.

Anna walked slowly over to Van expecting the same response "So Vanny...how long was it since you asked me? Hm?"

"Uh...well...you see....the thing with that is. HEY ICE MAN! Help me out here!" Van shouted over as Anna pushed him against a wall.

"Do I look like God? Wait, let's see, how old are the kids? I can tell you exactly based on your answer." Shade grinned. Loran sat there, watching the mess, and Hayashi was laughing. "Hey Dad, why does he call you Ice Man all the time?"

"Long story. Van, when you have a moment, explain it to him please."

Van looked at Shade in horror "Age of the kids? Um..well.....not sure. But! The resoning behind Ice Man..." Van freed himself from Anna's grasp "..Well his abilities when we first et were based around ice of sorts and his personality was kind of cold."

"That makes a lot of sense. Why didn't you explain it Dad?" Hayashi asked. Shade, however was too busy pouring a cup of coffee to notice. That left Loran to explain. "Your dad, he isn't proud of those days, given that's how he became the God-freak thing."

Van laughed "There's no reason not to be proud. He gave all of us one heck of a run. Even though there were some unneeded deaths. He became powerful..there's no reason to doubt that. Be proud even if it was all in a negative light."

"Yeah, well, hard to be proud of what I did. I killed so many innocent people. The only good thing, out of all of that, is my son, If there is anything good in what I did, Hayashi is the only one. But, as always, I screwed even that up. I used my demonic side to fuel his soul." Shade lamented, knowing Van would smack him at some point. And that was exactly what he wanted.

To Van's shock Anna smacked Shade across the face "Why are you in this self loathing pity party? You are so depressed even though your friends are here saying that they don't care about any of that. We just met but even so. There's not reason for you to be this way. They..no WE all want you to be happy. So just snap out of it or I'll be sure to snap another part of you that'll make Loran VERY unhappy."

Shade laughed. "Well now, I was hoping Van would smack me, because he's just to calm about this, but that worked too." Hayashi and Loran both looked on, dumbfounded.

Van smiled "Yea...she has a habit of doing that. Sorry. I already told you I made my peace with it all. I have no reason to be angry. You're here now trying to make up for what you did. That's all I can ask for."

"Fine. I give up anyway. Anyone know where Atsuya went?" Shade said, adding large amounts of sugar to his coffee.

Van looked around "Oh yea! That's right he went off with Jitsuzai to discuss something I'm sure they'll be back soon."

"Alright. Where's your brother at? I'm sure he'd love to know I've returned." Just thinking about the ensuing battle made Shade giddy.

"He's off trainig recruits in Soul Society. He rarely has time off as they are always getting new ones coming in. I feel kind of bad for him cause he can't be lazy as Medaka...speaking of which I don't think you met Anna's sister. That's one scary chick. But as I was saying..Medaka is his lieutenant." Van laughed before continuing "He's even become more of a cynical jerk than when you last saw him, if you can believe that."

"He got worse?" Loran asked, "He made Shade look polite, and that's usually saying something."

Shade frowned, "That freaking bites. I wanted to end our little game. He and I are still tied, no wins, no loses, two draws. When he ever gets a day off, you need to bring him here."

"When? Haha don't make me laugh. With Medaka there if he even gets chance to eat I'll be suprised. The only reason he was able to get out last time was due to our entire class breaking free from Soul Society and their harsh methods. But I'm sure you two will finish it all one day. I can't wait to sit and watch that either." Van sat down as he motioned for Anna to come join him.

"Ok. I'll wait." Shade said, trying to relax. Loran walked outside to grab Shade's copy of the Heroine Diaries, before the rain came. "Alright Van, explain the dog ears, cause that's driving me insaine." Shade demanded, knowing of no spiritual race with dog ears.

Anna piped up as she heard mention of Van's ears."Oh Oh Oh! Let me! Well he was off fighting this guy named Inshu Senshi on the outskirts of town when Jitsuzai showed up and opened a portal dropping him into the Valley of screams where he was reformed into a blank. Oh! Akira was also dropped in but I don't think you know him. Anyway. After that happened his energy from his zanpakuto merged with memories reforming him into what you see now."