Righting some Wrongs

You had to love Hama Town. Everyone in the place was spiritually aware to some degree or another so you didn't have to worry about hiding away from the standard humans.

Kenji Hiroshi stepped, wobbled and almost fell out the door of the fifth bar he had visited since he ended his battle with the Kōhai brothers. He'd been drinking double halves of whiskey since he arrived and that was four hours ago now. He staggered down the street with a happy grin plastered across his face and it became clear to anyone who saw him on the street that he was completely plastered! Three sheets to the wind didn't describe him well enough. He staggered into a lamppost and told it to watch where it was going before threatening to batter its face off.

"You think your so "hic" don't you? Well, I see through your "hic" you lanky... thing."

When he'd ditched his Gigai for his spiritual body Kenji had forgotten, but he still sported the ruined uniform from his battle. Since his uniform was sleeveless he didn't retain the right sleeve that had been all that remained of his Bankai Shihakushō, so he was bare-chested. His hakama where scuffed and worn and he wasn't doing them any favors by leaning onto brick walls.

"I wonder "hic" where Van is? VAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNN!!!! Get your "hic" ass out here!"

A demonic visage behind her, The Devil Woman of Hama Town glared down from atop a nearby building down at Kenji. Her hair blowing in the wind, it was clear that she was beyond angry with the man she had her sights focused on. How could he come to her home after attacking her husband and leaving him on the brink of death? Her anger was soaring and it was clear as she made no attempt to hide her presence.

"You dare hurt him, come to our home town, get drunk, and call him out? Are you looking for a swift death?" Anna stepped off the building and dropped to ground below, fist first, leaving a large crater in the road. "You don't get to touch or see Van ever again, because I'm ending you here for hurting my family and friends."

It was quite clear that Kenji just wasn't with things right now. He didn't know Anna was even there until her fist smacked the floor, at which point the Head-Captain of the Ryū Order started riding the resulting shockwave as though it where a wave at the beach. But of course he was staggering all over the show and he ended up spoiling the scene by landing on his backside!

"Ow ow ow," he complained before rounding on Anna without the tact a sober man might have. "What's the big idea? "hic". Jeez! I haven't seen the lot of you in weeks and you greet "hic" me like that!?"

He then got to his feet somewhat unsteadily.

"But what's this about me hurting your family and friends?" Good to see alcohol hadn't eroded all his power of thought. "I was in Hueco Mundo "hic" fighting some very courteous "hic" who greeted me with blades drawn and bow nocked."

"Oh? So now you want to play Mr. Innocent because you had a little booze and you think that is gonna make it so like nothing even happened? Who are you trying to fool? Van came back battered and bruised, confused as to why the man he considered one of his best friends would change so much." Shaking with anger, Anna stomped down on the ground resulting in a small tremor to resonate through the immediate area, causing locals to start scurrying away in a panic. As her anger began to peak, Anna's hair began to slightly glow and gain a pink coloration to it as her skin began to darken as well.

It was amazing just how quickly a man could sober up when he put his mind to it. Kenji ceased his staggering and adopted a serious expression.

"Who in the world could bruise Van?" Kenji asked seriously. "The man might as well be made of adamantite for all the good hitting him'll do!" He then sighed. "God, I should've stayed in the pub."

He then looked Anna up and down, knowing she was preparing for battle.

"Are you really going to do what I think you are?" He sighed. "Lovely. This is just what I needed." He drew his zanpakutō but made no movement to attack. "You're too bloody stubborn to listen "hic" to me, so I guess I'll just defend."

Stepping forward, the ground trembles beneath Anna's feet as the air around her seem to thicken and made it difficult for civilians near-by to breath. "Listen? What's there to listen to? I saw Van, you saw what you did to him and you mock us by coming to OUR home and enjoying yourself like nothing happened? What kind of fool do you take me for? Not to mention, Van told me what you did to your own family. Do you think I would just let you off so easily?"

Jumping into the air, Anna twisted her body into a corkscrew-like maneuver allowing her to gain great flexibility while in the air. In doing so, she aimed to bring down her fist upon Kenji's location. Making things worst for Kenji, this is the same fist of Anna's that is famed for being capable of splitting a mountain when she's calm, but now she's entered the state where she's at the pinnacle of her performance!

Anna's words struck a chord. "Not to mention, Van told me what you did to your own family." Those words echoed through his head time and again.

Kenji's eyes bulged, his features became disbelieving and his hands began to shake. He barely managed to raise his own blade to intercept Anna's fist. The force of her blow pulverized the ground where he had been standing, and the stone that did survive was split! Homes on each side of the street toppled, threatening to completely encase them. Anna moved away in time as Kenji became buried in the rubble. Seconds turned to minutes before Kenji finally dragged himself from the stone. He was panting already and all signs of his inebriation had vanished, though his left arm was dangling useless by his side, the wounds he had healed following his battle in Hueco Mundo being undone through brute force.

"Not to mention, Van told me what you did to your own family." He quoted in pained disbelief. "What do you mean, Anna? What happened!?"

Taken aback for a moment, Anna snapped angrily toward Kenji. "What do you mean what happened? Are you serious? You happened! You cut down every single one of them, not to mention a few of your friends from the Order as well." Still shaking with anger, Anna gave Kenji no time to ponder his thoughts as she was charging at him yet again."

Stepping over pieces of broken homes, Anna kicked up a large wall before hurling it toward Kenji's location as she ran behind it with two cement blocks in her hands, using them as make-shift gauntlets, ready to pummel in Kenji's face.

Kenji stood as still as a statue. Everything was sliding into place. He was wondering why the Kōhai brothers would even bother whisking him off to Hueco Mundo in the first place. Even if they fought him together they must've known they couldn't hope to kill him. And it hadn't seemed to him that they where fighting in the hopes of incapacitating him either. Of course! How couldn't he have seen it until now? They wanted him out of the way, even if only briefly! But why? What did that accomplish? "You cut down every single one of them, not to mention a few of your friends from the Order as well." Again Anna's words echoed through his head. No. No, no, no!

A cinder block smashing to pieces against his head brought him unexpectedly back to the present!

Staggering back as though he where drunk all over again, Kenji struggled to focus his vision. Cinder blocks didn't hurt. At least not normally. They hurt like a royal bastard when the person hitting you with one was as strong as Anna was! He felt blood trickle down his nose and he drew his wakizashi in order to repel her continued assault! He managed to divert her skywards where he then flash stepped away to create some distance.

"I want answers, Anna. I swear on the lives of my children that I was in Hueco Mundo, fighting four of the five Kōhai brothers!" He was getting desperate now. Everything knew that calming Anna down... Ha! Calming Anna down? Some would get farther trying to get blood from a stone. "I haven't the foggiest notion what you're talking about."

Spiraling in mid-air, Anna adjusted herself and landed nearby atop a tree. "Kohai brothers? Like I know who that is? Some mde up names for some idiots you just came up with? I'm no fool Kenji, how could you be in Hueco Mundo and in Soul Society? That's right. You can't. I have an eyewitness for your presence in Soul Society, is there anyone who can vouch for you being in Hueco Mundo? Didn't think so." Gabbing the tree from its branches, Anna uprooted the massive oak before throwing it toward Kenji, was she practicing for a life-sized game of horseshoe? Seemed like it.

Kenji's eye began to twitch in irritation. At this rate... "You know what?" He finally thought to himself. "She was always beyond all reason! Up until now it was one of the things I really liked about her, but to be stuck on the receiving end of it is nothing but infuriating!"

"Anna... I'm sorry. But I'm beyond the point of caring whether you believe me or not." Kenji said at last. "I'm asking you to trust me, like I've trusted you and Van, but I can see when words are useless."

His entire demeanour changed! His spiritual power became sharper, his lazy posture vanished completely and his features became blank of all expression. He performed one motion followed by a slashing maneuver, and the tree was cleaved right in two to fall harmlessly on either side of him! With that accomplished he straightened once again so he could look Anna right in the eye. A single tear fell down his right cheek before he blinked it away.

"Forgive me," he whispered. "Bankai, Sanmiittai Seikatsu Shinsei."

The tattered right sleeve returned, his usual Bankai uniform sporting the same damage it had suffered in Hueco Mundo. In his right hand he held a single nodachi sporting yellow hilt wrapping and a circular guard. He then vanished! He appeared low to Anna's side, where he prepared a rising slash!

Glaring down at Kenji's blade, Anna made no effort to move as the blade tore through her lower abdomen, barely missing her vitals. In this berserker state, she felt no pain as she seemed to not even acknowledge the fact that she was attacked aside from locking the blade between her elbow and knee before throwing a punch at Kenji's face. "I'm gonna put you out of commission for everyone!"

"Tch!"

Her fist hit nothing but his Utsusemi clone, which was promptly sent flying before dissipating. Skidding to a halt atop one of the buildings in the distance, the real Kenji cursed himself for a fool. How could he not have seen this coming!? Words from over nearly three-hundred years ago sounded in his head: "Be extremely careful. Someday someone will appear and he will be you and yet not you. If you challenge him too quickly then you will be replaced." He'd been warned! Now he was reaping the rewards of his inaction.

"It's like trying to reason with a brick wall...!"

He was beginning to gain all new respect for Van though. How did the man life with her? Kenji wasn't sure he'd have it in him to do it. Van either had the patience of a saint or there was a side to Anna few but Van or her children ever saw much of.

"Hold on! Yeah, that might just work." She wanted proof? He'd show her some. "After she sees the site of that battle and senses my spiritual power there, she can't help but believe me." Now the hard bit. Getting her to Hueco Mundo.

Letting out a blood-bubbling scream, Anna chargd ferociously toward Kenji's new location, jumping on the builing where he landed and used her fist and feet alone to smash through it in order to climb to the top. As Kenji was standing at the peak of the building, he would feel an immediate tremor as Anna pulled up one side of the building, aiming to tip it over. As the massive building began falling, she began running up its length, all the while maintaining the flame of anger in her eyes. Finally reaching the top, she jumped up toward Kenji with several steel pipes locked between her fingers, wielding them as multiple maces.

There was something wonderful about being a Hohō master. Even when the earth rocked beneath his feet Kenji maintained his balance in thanks to his Shunpo skill to float. Though Anna had made two mistakes: one was attacking him with materials found in the Human World, the other was closing within range of his sword. Her "maces" weren't packed with spiritual power of any kind; they had no resistance when faced with a zanpakutō. Kenji gave himself over fully to his defensive Zanjutsu Form which consisted of tight parries and blocks. He sliced through Anna's make-shift weapons as though they weren't even there simply by adjusting the angle of his blocks, where he then countered swiftly by slicing the final pipe down until all that remained was what she held.

"I don't know why I'm bothering to be honest," he began testily. Again he backed away. "If I wanted I could flee easily and there would be nothing you could do to stop me." He even opened and then closed a Gētouei gateway just to prove his point. "I'm going to ask once more: will you trust me? Or is this destined to degenerate further into madness?"

"Five minutes..." Anna mumbled to herself. "If you wanted to flee, why come to the home of those you attacked? What crazy person would believe the attacker over their beloved, tell me that!? Why in the world should I trust you after hearing about everything that happened, if the roles were switched, could you honestly say that you would be so understanding of the person who left your love in a near comatose state, with injuries lacing their entire body?"

Kenji sheathed his zanpakutō and deactivated his Bankai, returning to his sealed appearance once more. By all accounts his will to fight had been discarded completely. He then raised his head, looked Anna square in the eyes, and smiled!

"If the person was Van?" He asked sincerely. "In a heartbeat." There was no doubt in that tone. Only pain. "Theoretically speaking here: If Van came to me for help, with the entire Gotei 13 hot on his heels and out for his blood, I'd ask him which one died first and then, from loyalty, cull the whole lot just to be thorough. I'd probably do it with Van at my side, too. If he came to me and said he was leading an invasion of hell itself, you can rest assured I'd be at his side asking when and where. I'd probably be the first through the gate and, knowing your husband, we'd be fighting every inch from there side-by-side." He then gained a serious cast to his features. "So, to answer your question, Anna: I'd trust Van with my life and a lot more. When I stared down Averian in Hueco Mundo sixteen years ago it wasn't Meian and Rosuto, or Kusaka and Yoshiro, I wished could be there with me. It was your husband, the man I've supposedly kicked seven shades out of, I wanted with me then."

He then started pacing.

"Do you remember the day we met?" He asked with a nostalgic look. He was even smiling at the memory. "Kazuma had eyes only for you; he was like a lovestruck puppy with his pink thing hanging out. But Van? We fought and struggled, but when he was overcome by his Inner Hollow, I trusted to his strength and resolve back then, too. I even spread my arms wide, leaving myself defenseless, because I knew Van would win. I trusted him and now, countless years on, he's one of my best friends, our children are growing up and getting on with each other, and you and Ino haven't throttled one another as far as I'm aware. I'd say life's been kind to me." The pained look returned. "So let me ask you a question. How the hell could I attack the man whose been like a brother to me since I first left the Soul Society!?"

Speechless, Anna stood in a single spot shaking with anger as tears began streaming down her face; her Evilize Mode subsided and her appearance returned to its original form. "W-why!? Why would Van say that it was you that attacked him in Soul Society? Everything you say sounds true, but what explanation do you have that it wasn't you? Like you said, the man that's been like a brother to you, how could he mistake your identity for another? It just doesn't a up!" Placing her hand against her chest, Anna looked up toward Kenji with pleading locked into her eyes, almost as if she wanted Kenji to give her an answer that would send everything back to normal.

He sighed with relieve. "I just done the impossible." He thought suddenly. Anna wasn't throttling the life from him!

Stepping towards her Kenji slowly shook his head. "When I was a kid," he began, "I visited old Garian Shinjo at his shack on Monte Rosa. He was one of the men who created the Seireitei. My mentor at that time, Ryōta Hachirō, brought me along for the trip. I sparred with Garian's son to pass the time, but we where attacked. Takeshi Shinjo shielded me from his attacks but then said they had no killing intent. To this day I still don't know who that man was, but before he left, he warned me: Be extremely careful, he said. Someday someone will appear and he will be you and yet not you. If you challenge him too quickly then you will be replaced." Kenji stroked his stubble. "With all this talk of me attacking people, I can only assume that we've got an impostor on our hands. One who, going by that warning, could replace me: so he probably looks like me. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say he probably has similar reiatsu too."

"If there is some bastard out there that is impersonating you, then why aren't we out there ripping him limb from limb? I understand the dilemma with you, but point me in his direction and I'll solve it mysel--" Stopping mid-sentence, Anna coughed up some blood as the wound inflicted onto her was finally taking its toll. Wiping the blood from her mouth, she seemingly spat in death's face as she continued. "If he has a similar reiatsu to you, then finding him should be no problem. Just look for well....you."

Kenji sheathed his right hand in green spiritual energy as he knelt in front of Anna. "Hold still," he said as he begun the healing process. "I'm not ripping him limb from limb because I was stuck in Hueco Mundo. Shūhen Kōhai is one of my old enemies, and he has four brothers. Now that I think on it the brothers brought me to Hueco Mundo so my impostor could run rampart without me being here to throw a spanner in the works." He didn't want to know... but yet he needed to. "How many... How many did he attack, claiming to be me?"

Breathing slower now as to ease herself from the pain of the wound, Anna relaxed herself. "Aside from Van and your family? There was Captain Kei Yume and a man Van doesn't know. Little Hitsugaya, an Amagai, whoever that is. Let's see....there was also Kaimen and Shinrei as well. Apparently the damage done to Shinrei was far worse than what anyone else received.'

Kenji's arms fell limp at his side, his mouth was hanging open, his eyes where widely disbelieving and goosebumps rose on his exposed skin.

"... Shinrei..." He whispered.

He clenched his fists tightly, raised his right arm, and thumped the building he was on with enough strength to split it clean in half! Electricity surged along his limbs as though they where dancers on a stage, and his teeth where gritted in frustration. Kenji's cry resonated through Hama Town and his spiritual energy wasn't long in following. The very rubble from the building he'd destroyed was pulverized, and when he touched the floor he created an instant depression in the ground. The sky darkened, rain began to fall and lightning flashed! Thunder roared in the distance.

"The bastard...!" He swore at last.

Anna smiled as she weathered well...the weather, in order to comfort Kenji. "Don't worry. You know what you have to do. Don't worry about everything here and with the others. I'll be sure to inform everyone on the situation. You go take care of this imposter."

"... Not yet." Kenji said finally. "There's something I have to do before I kill him. Van," he said, "he deserves to hear the truth from the horses mouth."

"If you can get him to wake up, then by all means please talk to him Kenji. Whatever happened between you tw-er...between him and the faux-you, caused some sort of spiritual damage to the point where he has been in a coma-like state for some time now. We've tried everything at this point and have gotten nowhere at all." Anna's voice was filled with sadness and nothing like her normal tone, giving her the appearance of a more innocent young lady.

Kenji didn't even wait for Anna to comply. He put a hand on her shoulder, shrouded them in black swirl of energy which then enclosed around them. When it faded Kenji had teleported them across Hama Town right to Van's bedside.

"Sorry about that. Now ...Let's see here..."

He took in Van's condition with a growing sense of hatred. Van was just as strong as Kenji was, so if he was in this state after tussling with his impostor, then what state was Shinrei in!? He touched his forehead and tutted. He had a high fever, and his spiritual energy flow was abnormal. Too abnormal.

"Remember I used to have Hollow powers?" Kenji asked of Anna. "I lost them fighting Averian. He killed the Inner Hollow and my soul was changed accordingly. I think something similar has happened here." He then took a deep breathe as he held his good arm aloft. "Hail to thee our lady of night, with warm tidings, heal our weary hearts. Nigendō #7: Joshinchō."

Four pillars formed at the four corners of Van's bed while a "sheet" of electrical energy created a makeshift ceiling, appearing like a blanket. Kenji then applied his lightning natured reiatsu into that blanket, causing it to send out pulsing waves of electrical energy between the pillars. The energy phased right through Van, leaving nothing but the healing Kidō in use to work its wonders.

"Leave him in that for a while and he'll be back to his old self in no time."

Anna smiled as tears streamed down her face. "Thank you Kenji! I could never re-pay you for this." As she continued to laugh and cry at Van's bedside, two kids peeked around the corner of the room.

"Mama? Who's that?" A blonde-haired child was standing near the doorway with a boy with spiky purple hair at her side. "What did he do to dad?"

"Hopefully put him out of his misery for good. Its not like he was going to wake anytime soon anyway." The boy sneered as he adjusted his zanpakuto and stared down Kenji. "Hmph. You don't look to strong. Not even worth my time."

"You owe me nothing. If I'd been more careful all of this could've been avoided a long time ago."

Kenji grinned as the children appeared. He grinned at the purple-haired loud mouth as he hardened a little spiritual power and sent it flying to smack him on the backside! "Disrespecting little shit. He's either fearless... or just downright stupid. I'm not sure which, though he's got guts. I'll certainly give him that." He then walked towards the girl, kneeling so he was on a height with her. "You are your mothers double! I'm Kenji Hiroshi, an old friend of your parents." He was half expecting the purple-haired brat to draw that zanpakutō on him.

Shin'yo went to do just that after being struck by a small portion of Kenji's spiritual energy. However, he stopped short of grasping its handle as he received a double glare from both his sister and his mother, freezing his body in its tracks. "Like I said, not worth my time. Hmph."

"Shin! Shush! Be nicer to Mr. Hiroshi." Yukia blushed as she smiled toward Kenji. "T-thank you. Teehee. Oh! And thank you for taking care of dad!' Continuing to smile, she bowed quickly before chasing Shin out of the room.

Wearing a grin on her face, Anna was no longer the malicious woman she had showed herself to be only some time earlier. "Well, Kenji. What do you plan on doing from here?"

"Nice kids." He noted with a smile as he remembered his own. "What do I plan to do? Commit bloody murder." He couldn't put it any simpler than that. "When I find this impostor..." a surge of killing intent entered his reiatsu. "I think you get the picture. But before I do that I need to gather some information. I also need to see Shinrei. He was always like a son to me so I adopted him to make everything all official, so my look-alike not only targeted one of my oldest friends, but also my son. So vengeance is high up there."

He then made for the door but stopped just before opening it.

"Van can be as stubborn as a mule when he wants to be," Kenji began. "Seeing me right away might not be the best thing after he awakens. So I'm gonna make myself scarce, Anna. Please, just make sure he understands that it wasn't me?"

"I'll try to make sure he does." Anna said with a smile, before turning it into a darkened grin. "However, do me the pleasure of making sure that when you find that rat bastard, you throttle him good enough for everyone that he has hurt. He doesn't deserve a second chance at life and be sure you don't give him one. If I find out you took it easy on him for even a second, I'll be sure to drive my sword through the both of you."

"And I'd welcome it. Oh, by the way, I'm borrowing this." One of Van's blue kosode was sitting out and Kenji donned it before turning to Anna. "If you see him before I do, don't hesitate. Go along with the illusion, get close, then destroy him." With that he opened the door and left. As he walked he could barely contain his raging emotions. Part of him wanted to head straight to Horiwari and see Shinrei. Another part told him how stupid that would be. He also wanted to kill his impostor, but he didn't know where to begin looking for him. So he disguised his spiritual power and flash stepped through the streets...

Next Story > Surprising Return.