The Mutual Ally: The Juushin Resistance

Aoi was sitting on the porch outside, her sister next to her, rethinking about the events of last night.

"...how could he say that...?"

Kyuui, of course, was rather distraught, barely able to keep her emotions in after hearing those dreaded words that escaped her father's lips. She held her face in her hands, sobbing quietly in an attempt to relieve the pain. "...why would he say that about Mom...?" She continued to repeat the question like a broken record, a montra that seemed to never wish to silence itself.

Aoi sat there, Haiiro on her lap, as she looked off into space. She wasn't as disturbed about what her father had said as Kyuui was. He had tried to suffocate them all, Kyuui, herself, and Adela inside a cave, so it was common knowledge, to her anyway, that Taiki wasn't exactly fond on their mother. She relayed her thoughts to Kyuui.

"I thought he had changed from that..." Kyuui muttered hoarsely. "He was actually showing kindness towards her for once... he was being a true father to us both..." She couldn't bring herself to continue, and instead went on with sobbing quietly once more.

"I wish he had.." Aoi murmured, scratching Haiiro behind the ears. "I think he needs someone to help work him through this Hollow hatred of his."

"How...?"

"I don't know, since I've never heard of shrinks like that." Aoi replied. "I just wish someone could."

"....I can't help but wonder what Mom'll think..."

"Yeah...pity we never found her last night." Aoi sighed, still scratching Haiiro.

"What?!" That immediately alerted Kyuui from her troubled state. "She still didn't come home?!" She spoke in a rather alarmed manner.

"No." Aoi replied. "I'm beginning to wonder what the heck she's doing."

"....what if something happened to her?" Kyuui muttered, apprehension crawling into her mind once more.

"Kaa-chan is-" Right as Aoi was about to say that, the very woman in question strolled through the front gate, looking slightly annoyed.

"Mom!!!"

Immediately, Kyuui rushed forward, embracing the woman in a large hug. "We were sooo worried about you!" She said immediately. "You were so late, I thought something happened to you!" It would be her that was oblivious to Adela's obvious annoyance.

Adela smiled a strained smile as she embraced the elder daughter. Aoi walked over, holding Haiiro and it was she who caught her mother's facial expression. "Kaa-chan is something wrong?"

"In a way yes." Adela replied. "Where's Ahatake?"

"In the house." Aoi replied.

"Hm?" Kyuui released her mother in order to give her a puzzled look. "What about Ahatake-ojii?"

"I have to talk to him." Adela replied. "Come in if you like." She added, walking into the house.

"All right!" Kyuui was immediate to agree, eager to get her mind off of the trouble with Taiki any way possible. "C'mon, Aoi! Let's go inside!" She urged her sister.

Adela entered the room to see Ahatake sitting in a chair, reading the newspaper.

"Ahatake!"

Ahatake looked up, removing his reading glasses as he did do.

"Adela?" Ahatake said, smiling. "About time you got back. Where the heck have you been."

"Under questioning in jail." She said huffily.

"...huh?" A dumbfounded look was now on Kyuui's face, and she stared at Adela blankly. "...why?" Was the first intelligent question that came from her mouth.

Adela sat down in the nearest armchair. "Question on the whereabouts of Tereya. I heard she's dead, and yet when they took the body away, someone came and took it. They haven't an idea who it was, but because I was one of the last seen with her, they got to me first."

That drew a gasp from Kyuui. "Will that mean we'll be questioned, too?" She asked, frowning out of worry. "We all were with her, too!"

"We probably will be." Adela replied. "I'm not so sure. I'm more concerned about why someone took Tereya's body."

"Me too." Ahatake murmured. Could this be a good sign? Or something bad?

"Maybe Grandma's alive...?" Kyuui suggested half-heartedly, putting on a rather weak smile. Though, she she herself had doubted it; her body had suffered several bullet wounds to the chest when she finally went down. Stats didn't look too good in their favor, it seemed.

Ahatake smiled as well. "It is a possibility."

"What's this about Kaa-san being alive?"

It was Taiki.

He was leaning against one of the doorways that led to the room they were in, arms folded across his chest, and expression rather serious compared to his usually cheerful one.

Adela spoke up. "The police question me about her whereabouts. Apparently someone took her body from the ones that killed her and they don't know why."

Taiki looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged. "Maybe some sort of processing? Preservation?" He suggested. "Maybe they wanted her body to remember the incident, or maybe they're some sick freaks who just love to..." He trailed off for a moment. "...you know."

Adela and Ahatake's eyes twitched and Aoi gagged and Kyuui gasped.

"Not funny Tou-san." Aoi muttered.

"Hey, I'm just throwing that out there...."

Adela shook her head to clear out the mental image. "I don't find it funny in the slightest, but I do think there is a chance she may be alive. If only she'd listened to me and gotten a job."

"I feel your pain." Ahatake replied.

Taiki smiled, obviously amused at the thought. "Well, if she is alive, maybe the people who saved her actually gave her one." He suggested. "Maybe she'll come back with a big ol, fat wad of cash because of all the hard work she's done!" It was obvious sarcasm; he knew Tereya wasn't that much of a hard worker.

Ahatake laughed. "Fat chance. Anyway, I think we should look into this."

Kyuui frowned. "How? The only ones that would know where she is would be the ones that got the body, as well as the officers. But, considering they're either dead or disappeared long from the scene..." She trailed off, letting the information sink in. Silently, Taiki praised himself for having such an influence on the girl.

"True...and I doubt whoever took her would be in a place that isn't built out of Seki Seki.." Ahatake murmured.

"Where should we start looking?" Taiki added. "How should we start looking?"

"Not sure. Considering the fact that wherever she is may be concealed with Seki Seki, she could be across the street and we wouldn't know."

Once again, Taiki scoffed. "Well, there goes the simple sensing..." He muttered in slight annoyance. "But, either way, I doubt the people who took her would hide in plain public. These officers are like hounds, after all."

"The best place to hide something is in plain sight." Adela recited. "Or so humans say."

"And these guys practically stem off of the humans. I bet they've thought of that, too!"

"Then wear do you suggest?" It wasn't Adela who asked but Ahatake. "Underground?"

"Nope." A rather smug smirk came across Taiki's face. "But I think that'd be a good place to start. Thanks for the suggestion, Tou-san."

Ahatake's hollowfied eyes searched the room. "And how do you suggest we take this search of the underground? Did your Zanpakuto suddenly become a drill?"

Taiki shrugged. "Well, it would take a bit of energy control, as well as a need for spiritual sense and cooperation from everyone, but I think we could get the job done." He answered.

"Sounds fun."

"Oh, isn't it?" The white-haired man joked.

"So when do we do this?" Aoi asked. "And will we need Midoriko?"

"It'd help speed up the process." Taiki replied coolly. "Who's gonna be the nice person to find her?" He looked around.

"I'll go." Aoi said. "It won't take long."

After a glance at her father, Kyuui said immediately afterwards, "I'll go too!" She stood up to Aoi's side before anyone could argue.

Aoi was surprised, but glad nonetheless. "Alright, let's go." She said and they were out the door.

No Prejudice For The Hunted
"Sorry, Aoi, if this is too sudden..." Kyuui muttered, careful to keep up with Aoi as they walked. "But, I just can't be around Tou-san right now, and...well..." She trailed off for a moment. "...you know." She finished sheepishly, shrugging her shoulders in a slightly helpless manner.

Aoi wrapped her arm around Kyuui and brought her closer to her. "Of course. I understand." She said, smiling in a consoling manner.

Kyuui gladly accepted the embrace, returning the favor. "Thanks, Aoi." She said gratefully. "Though, we do know where Midoriko actually is, right?"

"Where else? With Kibou." Aoi said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Ok..." Kyuui breathed a sigh of relief, glad that they were thinking the same. "Just checking to make sure."

"Where else can she be?" Aoi asked. "Hasn't been torn away from that boy in awhile. She practically lives there."

"Well, we all have our own plan for the day..." Kyuui said thoughtfully. "I just thought she would at least be visiting somewhere else, a public place like a restaurant, theatre, or something..."

"Nope. Kibou is her life." Aoi said, sighing. "It's a wonder that she doesn't get bored over there."

Kyuui smiled. "Well, it's a good thing that she isn't. No one wants to be bored for so long."

"Yup." Aoi agreed. "17 years of boredome." They approached the door and rapped loudly.

However, this time... no one answered the door. But behind it, there were a collection of voices, loud and seemingly argumentive in tone. Two of them were Kyashi's and Ryuka's, while other voices were seemingly foreign. However, there was one voice that Ahatake himself would probably recognize.

"...I told you, we don't know anything!"

"You're wasting my time."

It was a mechanical, cold, and calculate voice that chilled Kyuui down to the bone. Who could it be...?

Aoi decided to opened the door and it creaked.

Guns cocked in her direction. Through the door were three soldiers, with their rifles aimed in her direction. Kyuui's eyes widened in shock, and out of fear, she grabbed Aoi and pulled her away from the door in an attempt to hide both of them. "Sssh!" She hissed.

"Why are you trying to hide me?"

"If we get caught, we're going to get in trouble with those police!" Kyuui whispered. "I don't want to have that on my To Do list right now!"

"Well we have to get Midoriko!" Aoi hissed back.

"You want to try stepping through that door and not get shot, or immediately captured?" Kyuui asked in frustration, peeking through the crack. "She's probably in the same predicament right now--"

"Where is she? Where is that woman?" The mechanical voice once again rang out, cutting her off. This time, it was Ryuka's annoyed voice that sounded in an answer.

"Well, maybe we'd tell you after you'd let us tend to our kid--"

"SILENCE!"

Kyuui swallowed hard. "I really think we should get out of here and get the family." She said quietly.

Then they heard Midoriko's voice. "What the heck is going on down here?"

"You are hereby under questioning." The mechanical voice stated. "Do not attempt to resist. Now, I've heard from earlier reports that the Kurosaki family had taken regular visits to you. I'm sure that would involve that little killer, hm?"

"They don't know anything, either!" Kyashi insisted.

"You make a very poor liar, woman. Now, tell me where are you hiding the killer!"

Midoriko spoke up again and her tone was very polite. "Officer, I've been all around this house for the past few weeks and they aren't hiding anyone here at all. If they were I'd have seen them by now."

For a brief second, everything was silent. Then, the mechanical voice spoke once more. "I think it's time to take a visit to the Kurosaki house this time. I'm sure the direct members of the family will tell us exactly where the bitch is. Let's go!"

Kyuui's eyes widened, and she promptly released Aoi in a reflexive manner. "We have to get out of here!"

Aoi and Kyuui ran to the side of the house, behind a dumpster where they would be perfectly hidden. "This could be trouble."

It wasn't soon after that they both saw the intimidating figures of the soldiers, all wielding their rifles as they headed outward. They shuffled silently behind a rather calm Damian Seken, who was leading the march with a rather confident gait. Kyuui held her breath as she watched them pass by the house.

Aoi and Kyuui snuck into the house when they were sure it was safe.

However, they had barely gotten to the door.

"Hey! You there!"

Immediately, rifles were clicked in their direction. "Stop where you are!" The voice ordered, the one of a lone soldier who had the intelligence to turn around and spot them, unfortunately. "Put your hands behind your head, and don't move!"

"What is it--" Damian himself had turned around, stopping his complaint when he saw the two girls. "Ah... the two fresh spawn of the litter." He muttered to himself, clearly amused. He turned towards the soldier who spotted them and nodded in his direction. In turn, the soldier lowered his rifle.

Aoi swore and turned around, but did not put her hands behind her head. "What? We're just paying friends a visit."

Kyuui allowed herself to say nothing. However, she did see something out of the corner of her eye; at some houses, there seemed to be a shifting of the windows, followed by tense movement behind the blinds. It was a bit odd to watch... were the citizens actually making a spectator sport out of this?

"Those friends of yours happen to be under law enforcement." Damian stated. "I advise that you leave to your own house."

"Um...our Aunt in here and we need her?" Aoi said, though it sounded like a question. "Can we please get her and then get right out?"

"I don't care. Leave now, or I shall apprehend you both."

Kyuui swore she heard a click from the house windows.

"Fine, not in the mood to deal with you lot." Aoi snapped. "Onee-chan, let's get home."

"Sure thing, Ao--"

BANG!

Their short conversation was immediately interrupted by a loud gunshot, followed by a loud scream of pain. Kyuui's eyes widened in shock upon what she saw; a bleeding gash in Damian's arm, the arm itself on the verge of falling off. He staggered back, leaning against the wall and groaning in the shocking pain.

But that wasn't all.

From the windows, several bursts of reiatsu were fired upon the unsuspecting soldiers. The bullets tore through their body armor before they had a chance to react, and so fhey fell like sacks of potatoes. They couldn't even bring their rifles to aim, as their lives were helplessly extinguished.

"Well, aren't we on time, today?" A cool-headed voice called from the rooftops.

"What the heck?' Aoi was shocked and looked around for the source of the voice.

"Up here, girl."

Damian was the first to look up. "You...!" He growled in anger, struggling to stand.

On the roof of a small house stood a lone figure, dressed up in the very same Shinigami uniform as the dead soldiers. A small pistol was in one hand, freshly smoking. In the house he stood on, several differently uniformed figures came into view, each one holding up arms against the lone Yuurei trooper. "Seken..." The man on the rooftop said calmly. "It's been a while..."