Bleach: Ketsurui: Tragedy of Dawn

My Target
Black.

That's how anyone would've described it at the moment. Complete and utter darkness. But that would not last for long, as the man opened his eyes. The light that came to it was not much better than with his eyes closed. He tried to move but found his arms were tied.

"Where am I?" His thoughts seemed to echo in the dark room. "How did I get here?" All he could remember was getting struck in the neck and falling unconscious. There was a creak, and the door opened. A young girl with wavy drown hair and soulless red eyes entered the room, accompanied by a much older woman.

"W-who are you??" The man asked, a slight panic in his voice. "Why did you bring me here?!?"

The young girl smiled, and despite her face, the smile was not kind. "Do not worry." She said, in a mock soothing voice as she drew her blade. "Your body will be used for something far greater than you can possibly imagine."

"Wha-? Wait!" Those were his last words as the girl swung the sword down on him, and his blood splattered over her face.

"Aku." The girl spoke sharply to the woman. "Take him to be converted."

Despite the violence that had just taken place, the woman known as Aku had a rather nonchalant smile on her face. Her hands, though clutched and lowered in front of her in what seemed like a lady-like fashion, held a sheathed sword, with a bit of blood dripping at the tip. "Thank you very much, Senmei-chan." She stated politely, walking over to stand behind the corpse. Lowering her sword for a moment, she worked at untying the ropes that had bound their victim. "You see, work like this tends to get rather messy, and I'd rather not dirty my hands."

The one called Senmei chuckled. "Of course." She nodded and started to walk towards the door. "That Shinigami is near." She said, frowning. "I do not wish to engage in battle with her at this moment, so fortifying the barrier around this building is our next task. Let's go."

"Right behind you!"

After untying the ropes, Aku maneuvered herself to the front of the man. Bending over, she lifted the man up over her shoulders and hurried up to catch up with her comrade.

Outside, a female Shinigami was standing atop a telephone pole. It night and the full moon loomed over head. It was Rukia Kuchiki, fifth seat of the 13th Division, and a member of the noble Kuchiki Clan.

"I can feel them. My targets are here." She thought. "But their spiritual pressure is..muddled. I can't get a clear read. It seems I'll have to search for them." She vanished with Shunpo.

A new enemy
It was morning, and Ahatake was sitting on the porch. He sighed. His ex-wife and her families last visit was thick in his mind. It was...the only way to describe it for lack of a better word was fiasco. He chuckled. At least they were finally gone.

"Ah... that was some visit, hm?"

His own wife's voice rang in his ears. Her petite figure stepped from behind him, lowering herself to both her knees in a sitting position. She reached up and wrapped her arms around Ahatake in a gentle embrace, hugging him from behind. "Though, I have to say it went better than I expected..." She said softly. "I thought that she wouldn't be so happy to see me as your wife."

Ahatake chuckled again. "Knowing her, it didn't faze her one bit." Ahatake replied, moving a ltitle and placing an arm around his wife. "I just wish they'd teach that little brat some manners, but considering it's Tereya's kid, not much can be expected in that department."

At this, Megami put on a rather poutish look, but adjusted herself in order to allow his embrace. "You know, you weren't much better either, wanting to kill her..." She chided.

"Forgive me for not being as emotionally forgiving as you." Ahatake replied, still chuckling. "In my opinion the brat would have desrved to at least have been strung from a flag pole and left to hang there for a few days. Soap in her mouth wouldn't have done a thing."

"Oh, don't say such things!" Megami scolded playfully, reaching a hand up in order to gently slap him. "But, aren't you happy they're gone now? We have each other to ourselves. Not a thing to disrupt us..." She reached over to lightly grip his cheek, slowly turning his head in order to face her. Then, she placed a passionate kiss to his lips in order to emphasize the effect of their new solitude.

Before Ahatake could make any response at all, Aoi and Kyuui burst open the door, and it collided with Ahatake, sending him flying from the porch straight into the wooden fence.

A gasp came from Megami as she saw the two burst in, and she blinked in surprise for a moment. Kyuui's smile showed her obliviousness at first as she stepped through the door with her sister. "Hey-- OH MY GOD!!!" However, upon seeing Ahatake's crumpled up form, she performed a Flash Step in order to reach him, hands cupped to her mouth in worry. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry Ojii-san, I didn't know you were there, are you ok, did I hurt anything--" The questions seemed neverending.

Ahatake rubbed his head. "Damn..." He groaned, while Aoi appeared next to him, chuckling only slightly.

"Sorry Ojii-chan." Aoi said, not frantic like Kyuui.

Ahatake got up, and placed his hand comfortingly on Kyuui's shoulder. "It's alright you two, don't worry about it. Trust me, I have been through worse than colliding with a door."

That immediately stopped Kyuui's babbling, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Megami allowed herself to sit up, walking over towards the group and looking over the two twins. "What're you doing out here all of a sudden?" She asked quietly, hoping to keep Kyuui herself calm.

"We were going to pay Injiki a visit." Aoi replied. "Since Kibō-kun isn't a baby, perhaps we can play with him now."

"Ah..." With a slight nod of acknowledgment, Megami turned her look towards her husband, wondering if it was best to let them go off on their own. "You can go alone?"

"Yeah, we'll be fine." Aoi said, her long gray hair fluttering in the breeze. "This place hasn't had any trouble in what, over a century?"

"I'm just being cautious..." Megami insisted gently, raising a hand to put her fingers on her bottom lip in a gesture of uncertainty and pondering. "Just because there hasn't been any problem's yet doesn't mean that there won't be again. So I hope you two can take care of yourselves."

Aoi stood up on her tip-toes to kiss her step-grandmother on the cheek. "We'll be fine, Megami baa-chan." She said, smiling.

"If you insist..." Megami relented, smiling at the gift of assurance that she had been given. With the convincing successful, Kyuui turned to her sister, eager for a chance to "speak" with the young boy. "C'mon. Can't wait to see what Kibou learned while we were away!" She egged, grasping her sister's hand.

Aoi pulled on her sister's hand. "Yeah!" She took off at a run, with Kyuui right beside her.

Megami watched them, until they finally ran out of sight. "Have they always been so hyperactive?" She asked, though it was meant to be in a humored manner. In fact, such youth made her slightly envious, and even feel older then what she was.

Ahatake chuckled. "Yes they have actually." He said, wrapping his arms around Megami. "But it's something you get used to." He pressed his lips to Megami's, continuing where they had left off before Aoi's interruption.

Aoi was pratically bounding down the street. "Do you think Injiki is still gonna have the "he's sleeping" excuse?"

Thankfully, Kyuui had a firm grip on her, Aoi's motions almost causing herself to fall on her back due to her hold. "Are you really sure you want to address Injiki-san so informally?" She asked, giving her sister a chiding look. "And I'm sure he's not that mean."

"Injiki hasn't earned any formality from me." Aoi replied, grinning. "Besides, if Ahatake ojii-chan doesn't feel the need to address him with an honorific, I don't see why I should! You'd do better to emulate him to ya know."

"Ojii's a friend..." Kyuui insisted quietly. "And he's older than us. At least be kind enough to give him some respect..."

"Never gonna happen Onee-chan." Aoi trilled. "Just like I'm never gonna like that little brat that came over."

"...."

"I don't get what you like about her, but I agree with Ahatake ojii-chan that she needs to be put down."

"Would you stop that!!" Kyuui snapped, frustrated with her words. Immediately, she stopped in her tracks, forcing Aoi to stop with her. "I can't believe you'd say that like she's some sort of animal. I know you don't like her, but "putting her down"? That's going too far!" She couldn't help the rather hostile tone that came within her voice. She valued life, and the belief that everything deserved such was getting to her as much as Aoi's cruel words were.

"I'm just agreeing with what Ojii-chan said to me." Aoi replied. "If you have a problem, take it up with him." She kept walking. It was quite obvious however, agreeing with Ahatake or not, Aoi did not care for Mitsune at all.