What Lies Beyond Thy Mask: Adela Adelina vs Taiki Kurosaki

Epilogue
Red and Pink clashed and resulted in an explosion.

"Can't you do better than that?" The Arrancar asked, his black hair flowing back from the explosion.

"Of course Amparo-sama." The girl replied firing her Bala, only to have it cut in half by her master's sword.

Her fist glew red and she punched the ground, forcing Amparo off his feet, and leaving a small indent in the sand.

"Is that enough, Amparo-sama?"

"Of course. We will rest for now."

Wakey wakey time for cakey
"Yeesh... I donno why Dad likes this place.... there ain't even any water!"

Taiki Kurosaki, 16-year-old teenager, and prodigy of the Kurosaki family, sighed exasperatedly as he walked through the dunes of Hueco Mundo. His soft footsteps sounded in the sand, crunching the grains with every lift and lowering of his feet. His short black hair fluttered in the temperature-lacking atmosphere, and he frowned as the air bit into his skin. All around him, the cries of Hollows sounded in his ears, although a large distance away from him.

After hearing his father Ahatake converse about it to his mother, his curiosity had inadvertently gotten the best of him. When he had permission, he took a break out of the house, thankfully without his sister to bug him. Using a Garguanta, the technique that his father had so easily taught him, he was able to enter Hueco Mundo without a second thought, determined to find the interest in the desolate Hollow world.

So far, he had no luck.

"How disappointing..." He complained, folding his arms across his chest. "To think that I'd find something valuable in this huge desert... Tou-san's clearly deluding himself...."

And at that moment, sand erupted from in front of him, as a giant centipede hollow appeared.

The boy sighed, looking at the large demonic figure in the way that a tired mother would give her crying child. "C'mon... can't you let me off the hook for once? I'm just a passerby..."

It hissed and spit a massive amount of sand at him.

"Guess not..."

With a slow unsheathing of his blade, he got out of the way just in time, the tidal wave of sand slamming headfirst with itself. It only took a second for him to re-appear behind the beast's head, landing elegantly on his two feet. He only needed to sheathe his sword, before the Hollow mask cracked in two, and the monster fell to the ground with a loud cry of pain.

"Glad Tou-san wasn't here to see that..." The boy muttered, hurriedly walking off. "He'd be mad at me for sure..."

"Amparo-sama...who is that?" Adela asked, watching the new arrival.

"I don't know. I've never seen him."

"I could go visit the ruins of Las Noches.... brush up on my history a bit while I'm here..." Taiki considered, turning on his heel. "Shouldn't take too long, since I've probably passed the place..." He seemed to be unaware of the two Arrancar looking in his direction, or possibly uncaring.

"Should we follow?"

"Of course." he man replied and they began to pursue.

"Eh.... I donno.... maybe I should ask directions...."

So caught up in his thinking, he didn't notice the two presences following him, his back turned carelessly.

They caught up in no time and were in front of him. Adela remained silent.

"Hey kid, you lost?"

Immediately, Taiki's head raised up to look at the figure in front of him, a wide smile crossing his features. "Ah, yes sir!" He exclaimed. "I'm looking for the old ruins of Las Noches, one of the places of the first Shinigami-Arrancar war. Could you show me where it is?"

"I could. But what is your name?"

"Taiki Kurosaki. Why do you ask?"

"Kurosaki? Do you have any relationship with an Ahatake Kurosaki?"

The boy was silent for a moment, considering the question. It was very clear that this person had met Ahatake before, and possibly not on very good terms if he was correct. But, as much as the option was available, he didn't want to lie. It was against his style to do so.

"Yeah. I'm his son." He said, his voice quieter and lower, losing a bit of its excitement in the process. But the smile still remained.

"I see." Amparo muttered. "That changes everything. You will not leave this place alive."

He was right. And he so hated it right now.

"Wha...?!" The boy sweatdropped, raising his hands in defense. "Ey, ey, I'm not here to fight or anything! I'm just a sightseer who wants to brush up on his history! Let's talk this out..."

Amparo began to draw his sword, but then sheathed it. "You know...I won't fight you."

"Eh?" Taiki lowered his hands, but he looked over at the still figure of Adelina, slightly confused. "What cha talkin' 'bout? You just said I won't leave here alive, right?"

"I know." The man replied. "Adela...you can have him."

The girl walked towards the young boy. "Alright Amparo-sama."

"...I see."

Taiki slowly turned his head towards the woman as she came closer, along with his body. For a moment, he regarded her for a tense moment, the wind blowing his hair to the side slightly. Then, that smile slowly came across his face, and he gazed into her emotionless eyes. "I guess I have no choice, then."

There seemed to be a more unnerving tone of his eased voice, a frightening look that was given off by his new grin. It itself seemed to give off a murderous intent, as if he had been waiting to fight all along.

"If you want to kill me, then I'll just have to stop you."

His hand gripped the hilt of his Zanpakuto, his thumb pushing against to hilt to slowly unsheath it.

Adela drew her blade. "I have no quarrel with you, boy, but your death has been ordered by Amparo-sama."

"Well, aren't you the good kid?" Taiki retorted slyly. His feet shifted, one foot behind him, one in front, and his knees slightly bent.

"Come, Shinigami."

"Ey, I ain't the one aimin' to fight here." The boy countered. "If your Amparo-sama wants me dead so bad, you'd better come after me."

"Kid, let me give you a word of warning." Amparo spoke up. "Adela may be less powerful than I, but she has power equal to an Espada."

"Then this should be quite entertaining, shouldn't it? For all three of us."

"Adela."

"I know." Adela raised a finger. It glowed pink and fired a surprisingly fast cero.

In the blink of an eye, Taiki's wrist flicked itself...

SHING!

With movement as elegant as a tiger, his blade had cut through the blast, dispelling it into spiritual particles. "A word of my own..." He said, his eyes gazing at his opponent. But his tone was directed towards the two of them. "The flow of spiritual energy is like a river, and can be easily diverted when you know how to. Kaa-san was nice enough to teach me how to do it."

Adela began to walk slowly towards her opponent, her expression having not changed. "I see. So you are indeed skilled."

"Thanks, miss." Taiki replied politely, knees bent, and his sword pointed towards the ground at a slightly acute angle, both hands on the hilt.

"It would be a shame to kill you. Your power could be useful to us."

"Sorry."

The wind started to pick up, becoming more constant between the two fighters. "I'm not the one," He stated softly. "to give my strength to someone else."

"I see. What a shame." She crunched her feet into the sand and bounced off quickly using Sonido, and her fist connected with her quarry's face.

"Umpf!"

His vision was knocked viciously to the side, and he felt his jaw tingle in a tensed manner as he was sent skidding on his feet. But his sword hand, the one having stayed onto its grip, and quickly raised and swung itself downwards. In a return of the favor, half of the blade had sliced into all of Adela's forearm, vertically splitting it and her hand in two.

"You're one not to be underestimated, either..." He commended.

Adela turned around for a moment and Amparo walked over, After a few quick movements her arm was back to normal.

"Aw...!" Taiki frowned again, balancing his sword on his shoulder as he pouted at Amparo. "That ain't very fair, ya know!"

"I'm surprised you were able to pierce my Hierro like it was nothing." Adela whispered. "But your blade itself doesn't seem sharp enough to do that."

"It's not."

Taiki pointed his blade at her, allowing the glimmering moonlight to shine on it for her viewing pleasure. "But there's something else that can sharpen it for me: my reiatsu. A good tool to use when you need to punish your subordinates, instill fear into your opponent, or simply sharpening your blade for maximum lethality."

"I see. Thank you for letting me in on that." She replied, settling into a stance.

"You're welcome. Now..." The unreadable smile re-appeared on his face, and he settled into a stance of his own. "Shall we dance... Adela-chan?"

Her eyes widened slightly at that comment. She jumped high into the air and rocketed down, punching the ground and causing a giant shock wave.

This in turn caused a burst of sand to erupt from the ground, covering the entire area in a large dust storm. From it, Taiki's figure burst out of the ground, blade to the ground. When he neared his opponent again, he lifted his blade up to spray sand into her eyes to blind her for a moment.

Then, he poised his sword blade for a lunge attack, aiming straight for the neck. "You're open!"

It collided but merely screeched and bounced off.

A bit of impress showed in Taiki's eyes, as he jumped away, skidding on his feet a distance away from her. "Sharpened your own reiatsu, eh? Good girl..." He complimented, although his tone showed that he was more amused and mocking of it than anything else.

"I learn fast. It's one of the things Amparo-sama values me for."

"Value?" Taiki tilted his head to the side inquisitively. "You sure about that?" He questioned.

"I am." She replied, her blade glowing pink. She swung it down sending a pink crescent at Taiki.

In turn, Taiki performed the same movement as before. With a flick of his wrist, and with one hand, he sliced straight through the blast. "I'd ask you now... but as it is..." He muttered, pushing his legs off and running at Adela, sword poised once more.

She swung her blade and it collided with his, causing a shockwave.

Their faces were inches away from each other, as they struggled fiercely in the dark. Even in the intensity, that smile was still plastered onto his face like mold. But, like before, it was enough to send a chill down the Arrancar's spine, holding so many emotions: happiness, excitement, amusement....

Or maybe, just pure insanity.

He pulled away from the swordlock, sidestepping her to unleash a reflexive diagonal swing aimed at her ribcage.

She hardened her hierro. "You like to fight don't you?"

"Of course not."

The impact of the blow, although not enough to pierce her Hierro, was enough to force her skidding back, allowing Taiki to lower his blade for a moment. "I don't like to fight, because it can lead to one side being heavily wounded. It can mean certain death for life, even if that life is corrupted and torn into two. Whenever someone starts fighting... they're in the wrong, whether on good intentions or not."

"I see. I don't like to fight either, but I will if Amparo-sama orders it."

"Did you wonder that..." Using his blade, he pointed to his still-widened smile. "...because of this?"

"Yes."

"Ah... before we continue, though, I have one more question."

"What is it, Shinigami?"

"What makes you so..." His eyes glowered at her for a split second, as they stood carefully in the sand. "...loyal, to your leader?"

"Simple. We Arrancar have no family, so he's like a brother."

"You couldn't have simply met each other and declared yourself a bond between each other now, could you?" Taiki prodded. "Surely, something had to happen to get you to your line of thought of him."

"I'm not quite sure how to describe it. A naturally formed Arrancar has nowhere to go. He took me in trained me and since then we've stuck."

"Ah..." His smile was masked once again by the aura of amusement. But his words were none too kind. "It must make you sick, to know that your guardian will be disgusted by your defeat."

"I will deserve such treatment if I fail my master."

"That's a disappointing way to look at it..." Taiki's voice seemed to match his words, his mouth setting itself into a slight frown. His feet moved forward, bringing him closer and closer towards the female Arrancar. "But, I suppose it's just your way of thinking. Are you satisfied?"

"Tell you what kid." Amparo called out. "If she loses, to avoid punishment, I let you decide what to do with her. You can even take her with you if you like."

Adela turned at this her eyes slightly wide.

"No."

Taiki didn't even turn towards him, but continued to step towards the girl. "I've no right to take her away from you, sir." He replied firmly. "I just wish for her to fulfill my curiosity."

"I see." Amparo replied and was quiet.

Adela knew her master was serious, and she knew that she had to fight. She vanished and appeared behind Taiki, slashing him in the back.

"Nngh--"

He sucked in air through his teeth, as he felt the cold metal rip into his back. He could feel the warm liquid seep down the middle, but he did not allow himself to waver for even one second. Instead, he turned on his heel and gripped his blade in two hands, his spiritual pressure flaring slightly around him.

"C'mon, Adela-chan... are ya gonna answer me, or what?"

"I'm not sure." She replied. "Am I satisfied? I may never be. But I will have all eternity to dwell on that."

"Are you sure?" His smile widened. "After all, there is still the possibility of me ending your life here and now."

"You don't have the power Shinigami."

"What a bold statement! Coming from a puppet like yourself...." He countered.

She placed a finger on in front of him.

"You can't disrupt a cero from this close range, Shinigami." She muttered firing her pink cero at him.