Stabilendo in Giù

Vittoria let Gunha in her house; old, worn-down apartment. It wasn't much at all, but dammit, it was still much, much better than the housing of two others. Slowly picking the lock with one of her hairclips, Vittoria kicked the door open; come to think of it, kicking the door open would've been much, much easier. Vittoria analyzed the surroundings, noting the complex to be somewhat run-down, but not bad enough to have to leave—things had changed since she left. There was just enough to live; a table, a couch, kitchen, and beds. Vittoria could do wonders with those objects.

Vittoria turned around, as Gunha collapsed upon the couch, breathing heavily, as if somewhat pained. An incessant beeping rang in his ears. Beep. Beep. Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep. It wouldn't stop. It was like there was a war occurring in Gunha's head and he wasn't invited. He attempted to drown out the sound by covering his ears with a pillow, to no avail.

Vittoria quickly rushed around, busy as ever, pulling out a dustpan and broom, moving about in a similar manner to a squirrel hyped on cocaine in an attempt to clean the whole place up. Gunha wasn't sure what to do- either try everything in the book to shut off the damn noise or complain as loud as he could. Of course, subconsciously fearing Vittoria's reaction to complaints, he decided to keep a lid on it for now. As Vittoria swiftly ran around the apartment, cleaning everything to make it stick and span, Gunha sighed, resigned to this incessant beeping.

"…So, this is your house?" Gunha questioned, rather skeptical. She possessed Gai's cleaning skills, for sure—basically none.

Vittoria looked back for a second and nodded. "Yeah. My little sister Adriana and I live here—"

She was cut off. "…You don't have any parents?" Gunha seemed worried now. Perhaps Megami and Masato did exist in this universe—in the case of the latter, he would need to kill him as fast as possible in order to prevent him from dooming the Earth as he almost did to Soul Society in the previous universe.

Vittoria glanced away; she looked pained for some reason. "…Do not get my started on my mother. And my dad…he died." She found it extremely difficult to continue as she choked on her words—Gunha seemed extremely concerned for a moment there.

Gunha sat up for a moment. "…Why the hell did you take me back to your house, anyway?" He really was confused.

Vittoria glanced back at him, while batting her eyelashes. "…Because you're certainly a good person. And of course, I can't let your questions go unanswered since you're such a nice guy, can I?" …Huh. That was so different than Gai—who was basically 'you piss me off for being such a nice guy, idiot' to him.

After cleaning was done, Vittoria plonked herself down next to Gunha and sighed. "…So, why are you after me, anyway?"

"You're a human with spiritual powers, right?"

Vittoria nodded. "That's right. My mother was a Monk of Destruction and my father was a God of Death. I know that those races are mortal enemies, but I guess that true love transcends those boundaries."

Gunha nodded. "I see. So, you're a student, but you often act like a gangster, I mean…we just met by luck. Your Zanpakutō ability is to return the foe's power…"

Vittoria just simply stated, "But what relationship do you have with me?"

"…I killed your father."

Vittoria froze up; she was utterly speechless. "…Why…?" Those were the only words that could leave her lips; she was too shocked for anything else.

Gunha had a solemn expression on his face. "A close friend of mine explained it to me just this year…Your father's name was Masato Ryūsei, correct? Well, in the world that I come from, his name was Masato Nagareboshi—you may not know this, but the kanji for 'Meteor' aka Ryūsei and 'Shooting Star' aka Nagareboshi are virtually interchangeable in my language…"

Vittoria stopped him. "…Wait, wait, wait. My head hurts enough, 'k? So, you're not from this universe…?"

Gunha nodded. "…Correct. Well, a long time ago, in my own universe, Masato was driven insane by the supposed death of his family and gave in to his dark side—with his powers over the dark arts and the most powerful Zanpakutō in existence, he waged war on the spiritual world—he wanted to go back to when a good friend of mine killed a certain important figure centuries ago—but since that figure was destined to return from the dead once he defeated Arazomekanki with words; the wheel called 'fate' had already set the dates of his death and rebirth. Throwing the wheel of fate off track would throw the balance of the dimensions into disarray, and it would have destroyed all of existence."

Vittoria clutched her head in pain. "…Argh! My head hurts…"

Gunha chuckled and put it in layman's terms for her; "If my friend didn't defeat your father, then he would have destroyed all of time and space. Now, moving on—I knew that this iteration of Masato would have had three children—each universe, it doesn't change. You're the middle child, correct?"

Vittoria nodded. "…But what does that have to do with—"

Gunha continued, "…That's why I needed a skin sample from you. To see if you really are the legendary Unlosing Rising Phoenix; even though that you're a half-breed of Shinigami and Quincy now, you should still possess the immense skill you waved about in your previous life. Isn't that right, Gaikou Ryūsei—no, Gai Nagareboshi?"

Vittoria was absolutely shocked. "…So, I'm this 'Gai Nagareboshi' person…" No, that wasn't it…

Gunha sighed. "…Don't think about it too much. Seriously, one thing that'll always be there is that you're dumb as a stump…"

Vittoria hissed, "Who are you talking to? Me? Or Gai?"

Gunha just laughed and stood up. "…Well, I'll tell you more tomorrow. For now, get some rest. You'll need it for tomorrow." With that, he began to trudge upstairs—it really was odd; now he was acting like he knew the place like the back of his hand.

Vittoria could do naught but glare down at the wooden floorboards, absolutely flabbergasted by this turn of events… "Suddenly, I feel like I don't know myself at all…"