Izanami no Jidō: Gazō no Yomikomi

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Old Enemies
The two figures were walking through a rather straight-forward building complex. One of them was shorter than the other and she had two white hair braids dangling behind her. The other had his hands in his coat pockets and stood straight up, his eyes flaring with purpose. All was quite within the seemingly empty building, the only noise being their own footsteps. The female voice broke this strange violence with a frustrated groan.

"Why do we have to go to his home? Of all other places in the city?"

The male voice sighed. "Sophie, Preacher is the only person in the city who can get us to the Human World without being noticed." She looked up towards him. "Who says we'll get in trouble for leaving?" He tilted his head slightly to the right to where he was looking at her. "No one." He turned his head back to where it was facing forward. "But I'd rather not take our chances."

She emited a heavy sigh. "If he says one word to me, I'm going to kill both of you."

By the time the words had left her mouth, they were standing in front of a white wall. Soifon walked up to it and looked at all of it's corners. After seeing nothing of interest, she turned towards her husband and briefly waved her arms up. "The hell is this? What is he the actual wall?" Taking the opprotunity to amuse her partner, she twisted around and slammed her right fist into the wall, breaking it down. Akisame looked in amazement, surprised that his wife was still just as strong as she was years ago. When the dust cleared, a couple of coughing voices could be heard, and then they saw him.

Preacher was sitting in an office chair that was facing a square shaped desk, which itself was in an oddly small room with just a bed and a small kitchen. In his lap sat two young women wearing buisness suits, trembling in fear at the two figures that stood in front of the newly destroyed wall. Preacher himself gave off a rather dumbfounded expression that made Soifon chuckle slightly. The two women quickly ran outside of the building past the two Soul Reapers, who were staring at the comical face of John Preacher.

"...I say, was that really necessary?" he calmly asked, looking at Akisame rather than Soifon. "In case you didn't notice I was in a rather important...uh...buisness meeting. Regarding my..."

"Save it Preacher, I need a favor to ask you." Akisame said, holding his left hand up. He and his wife then made their way into the slightly dusty room. "You know you could have just imputted the codes into the shorter left hand pannel that i've shown you countless times before rather than breaking down the bloody wall itself!" Preacher said in a frustrated tone. "Now i'm going to have to move back into my little sewer room."

"C'mon 'Preacher'." Soifon mockingly said to him. "I'll bet you were planning on moving away from this little panic room soon anyway. Not many girls like myself would prefer to stay in a crowded little pit like this."

"Ah Ms. Feng, I would greet you in a more appropriate manner, but I would prefer to keep my head on my shoulders." Preacher replied in an equally mocking voice, putting his right hand on his chest and bowing before her. "Uh-huh." she said, looking around his seemingly blank room.

"Preacher, I need to see the PLR." Akisame said, interrupting the conversation out of fear that it would get out of hand. "Sophie and I need to get to the Human World ASAP."

Preacher simply stared at him. "The PLR? THE PLR?! Why in God's good name would you come to me asking for an invention that i've only used one time?!" The enigmatic old man began to pace around the room in a strange manner.

"I just told you, we need to use it to get to the Human World, the Appalachian Mountains specifically." Akisame flatly replied. "I'm serious Preacher. The situation is dire."

Preacher stopped pacing and let his arms drop to his sides as he walked closer to Akisame. "Have you already forgotten what happened last time I used the device?"

Before he could finish, he was interrupted by Soifon. "Wait wait. What exactly is this PLR?"

Preacher sighed. "It's a device that a few friends and I invented. It was designed to get troopers to and from different planes of existance quicker than traditional methods. It takes the Spiritual Pressure of it's target and then quickly fires it towards another plane. I could go more in depth, but i'd rather not. All I'm saying is that when I first used it, we never got word from the test subjects."

Akisame's expression didn't change. "We have to try it Preacher, we need to get to the World of the Living now." Soifon nodded her head in agreement, she wanted this whole ordeal over with.

Preacher let out another sigh. There was no point in arguing with them. They were serious. "Very well. Stand over there in front of the bed." The couple hastily did so and the stood in front of the mattress that only came up to their ankles. Preacher then walked over to his desk and pulled out a small, tazer like device.

"Now this may or may not be the most painful thing that you've ever felt in your life. But since you're so desperate..."

Akisame held his left arm up yet again. "Preacher, I appreciate all the help that you've given us." he nudged his wife on her left shoulder, goading her into speaking. She simply let out a reluctant sigh. "And I'm sorry about your wall. I'll pay for it in full IF I return." Preacher chuckled before pointing the device at the two Soul Reapers. "Good luck, my friend." he said as the PLR let loose a white beam of energy that engulfed Akisame and his wife who were holding each others hands, and with a bright flash, they were gone from the room.

"Now to clean up this damn mess."

The couple then appeared atop a rather large snowy mountain overlooking a massive mountain valley. "I think we're here." Soifon said, unfazed by the cold. "Yeah, and look over there." he replied as he pointed his right index finger at what appeared to be a small town just below the mountain. "That's where we need to go."

He started to treak down the rocky face, still holding Soifon's hand. She reluctantly followed. They hadn't made it seven feet before Soifon gave a frustrated moan. "You know we could just Flash Step down to the bottom."

He stopped and looked at her in a comical fashion. "...maybe we could maybe we couldn't. What if you can't-" Before he could finish, Soifon jumped off of the ledge that they were standing on, taking Akisame with her. They both fell off of the rocky cliff face at frightening speeds.

"What the hell is she thinking?!"

Then, with lethal precision, Soifon Flash Stepped both herself and Akisame near the bottom of the mountain. The atmoshpere changed from snowy and cold, to mild and spring like. Soifon landed on the grassy ground with elegant grace, while her husband simply fell through a tree. When he landed, Soifon casually walked over to him and picked him up by his left arm. "You okay?"

"Yeah." he said in a somewhat pained groan. "It would've been nice to have recieved a heads up first before you jumped however."

She chuckled. "If I did that, then I wouldn't get to see your face." She let go of his arm and began to walk towards the town that was just beyone the short tree line. "Now come on, let's start looking for McTavish." He regained his tight posture and followed her into the secluded town. As they walked through the surprisingly primitive town. They began searching for their target. After about two hours of searching and asking other civilians, Akisame began to doubt the Oracle's wisdom.

"What a dump." Soifon said, her head tilted upwards slightly. "It's a wonder how this McTavish guy, or anyone else for that matter lives here."

"I don't think it's that bad." Akisame said. "If anything, I like it better than Yurei. It's not as crowded or noisy." He gently put his left arm around her waist as they walked down the middle of the town. She leaned her head on his chest in return. "Yeah it would fit a lazy ass like yourself." She then stopped him right in front of the building that was in the center of the town, and then turned herself to where they were facing one another. "Listen Aki, there's something I think you need to know before we go any further." She gently held his hands and lifted them upwards. "Alright, shoot." he said, curious. She hesitated somewhat to tell him. "I should have told you this before we left, but I wanted to keep it a surprise." She then brought her face to his right ear and whispered.

"I'm...i'm p-"

BOOM!

Midway through her statement, the building in front of them exploded in a brilliant cyan light. The two Soul Reapers were sent flying from the area, and they both crashed through the front of a large bus and busted out of it's back area. The bus itself was sent flying from the explosion. Akisame picked himself up to see a small figure standing in front of the blue mushroom cloud.

"What the hell is that?!"

From what he could see, the figure was short, had a round head, wore a strange garb around it's waste, and it was holding what looked to be a key. He looked over to where he thought his wife was, but she was actually behind him, grabbing him by his shoulders and picking him up off of the ground. "I think it's an Arrancar. The explosion feels like it was caused by a Cero." she said in a serious tone.

"Yeah, I figured as much." He wasn't really in a position to fight. This Arrancar was radiating a crazy amount of Spiritual Pressure, of which was higher than both his own and Soifon's. "Sophie, we need to be careful."

"Uh huh." she replied, a hint of excitment in her voice. He knew that she was raring to fight something. She hadn't done so in centuries. The last being she fought was Ultharon, and she was hopelessly outmatched by him, but she did not plan on making the same mistakes again. "You get some of these people to safety." she said, noting the many hapless civilians running for their lives. "I'll deal with this freak."

He started to object to her idea, but stopped himself. Though she may be put in harm's way, there was no convincing her otherwise when she made a decision. "Be careful Sophie, please." and with that he left to help some of the stragglers get away from the area.

Soifon stared at her opponent, a cocky grin cracking her face. "What say you Arrancar? Hm? Are you just going to stand there gawking at your little mess?" she slowly pulled out her Zanpaktou, holding it straight at the figure.

"Sting all enemies to death! Suzembachi!"

With a red glow, her sword transformed from a short katana into a black and golden gauntlet with a small stinger on it's end that fitted perfectly on her middle finger. She stared into the weapon for a brief moment, recalling that she hadn't used it in years. But she quickly resumed her fighting pose, waiting for her opponent to strike.

The Arrancar tilted his head upward slightly, acknowledging his foe's existance. Then, with a quick Sonido, he vanished from his standing position. Soifon was ready however, as she immediatley twisted around behind her and blocked a surprisingly powerful strike from her opponent's key like sword. The attack caused her to drag her feet a little before she quickly parried his blow and unleashed a barrage of strikes upon him.

He was far more agile than she anticipated as he easily blocked or dodged all of the strikes. Not that she was too surprised of course, she wasn't putting much effort into the attacks anyway. The masked foe then backflipped towards the ground ahead of her. As he landed, he extended his left index finger towards her.

"Another Cero?" she scoffed, mocking his simple tactic. "Do you honestly expect me to just stand here and..." she stopped when she realized what his attack actually was. Rather than discharging the Cero, the Arrancar was actually enveloping himself in the Cero's energy. She spread her legs out, ready to Flash Step away from whatever this new attack was to be.

Then, without warning, the Arrancar sprang into the air after becoming fully enveloped in the cyan glow. She tried to track him, but the sun blocked her vision. Then she saw it, a blue trail of lightning was flying over her, then it quickly charged downwards in her direction. Her eyes widened in shock. Only one thought crossed her mind

"Shunko!"

Without a moment to spare, the white energy enveloped her body and she took the full impact of the attack. A large explosion ascended into the air. Akisame, who was nearly half a kilometer away, quickly turned to see the large mushroomcloud. "Soifon!" he yelled, turning around to come to his wife's aid.

When the dust cleared, Soifon awoke to find herself lying backfirst on the ground. Her body ached with soreness over the impact that she had taken. Her Shunko wasn't charged enough to withstand the attack that the Arrancar had just used on her. It was a wonder she was still alive.

Then she felt a boot stomp down on her chest, causing some spit to fly out of her mouth. She looked up to see her Arrancar foe staring down at her, unharmed, and he was raising his sword up in a fashion meant to decapitate her. She would've tried to stop him, but she was too sore. Images of Akisame began to flash through her mind.

"Goodbye, my love."

She closed her eyes and braced for the strike...

SPLURCH!

There was a deathly silence that echoed throughout the area, other than the sound of blood droplets. For a moment, time itself seemed to stand still. No one moved. No one spoke. Everything had froze the moment that the blow had been delivered. A sword was stained with fresh blood that continued to drip from the cold metal. Had one only their ears, they would've believed that Soifon had been decapitated by the Arrancar.

However, the blood did not drip from her neck.

Rather, it dripped on her face....

...for she wasn't the one who was hit.

Through De Soto's chest, a white cleaver had been punched from the back and out the front, the entire tip submerged in crimson liquid. Behind him, a hand held the hilt of the elegant and deadly weapon. It was the hand of a long-haired and somewhat aged man that appeared to be in his forties, crimson eyes narrowed dangerously as he stared into the back of the Arrancar's head. A grim smirk crossed his face. The blow would not kill him.... but it certainly would force him back, if he valued his life.

"This is what happens when you allow yourself to get distracted....." He whispered coldly, his Scottish accent making his rough voice all the more menacing.

She was too surprised to respond. Her face covered almost entirley with the Arrancar's blood, she quickly Flash Stepped away from the two and reappeared next to the newly arrived Akisame. "Are you alright?" he asked, concern taking over his face.

"I'm fine, it's nothing." she replied in a somewhat hazy voice, a result of having the wind knocked out of her. She turned her attention back to the two warriors. "Something tells me that's our guy."

Akisame looked at the one who had impaled the attacker. He gave off a certain aura that he swore he could have felt before, but he couldn't place it. Whoever it was, he was clearly an ally and he owed him a debt, one that he planned to repay soon. He then tried to help his wife while watching the inevitable battle at the same time.

The Arrancar began to chuckle. "Distracted?" He lowered his sword to the ground. "...I wasn't distracted..." he said, coughing through most of his words. "...heh, I was just having a little fun...that's all." Without warning, De Soto used his Sonido to escape the blade's deadly touch. Reappearing right behind the Soul Reaper, he quickly lifted his sword up in a position to strike his opponent from the right shoulder down.

Within the instant the Arrancar disappeared, the apparent Shinigami spun around to initiate a complete 180-degree turn. As he did so, the tip of his blade dragged along the ground, and the metal's friction with the ground caused sparks to fly up. What appeared to be smoke seemed to be accumulating around the blade itself in the duration of the swing, glowing a faint blue...

Then, when the Arrancar re-appeared behind him and swung, he swung as well.

But his own swing unleashed the energy channeled within.... to devastating effect.

An immense energy wave was unleashed point-blank at the Arrancar, continuing to visually extend to the sky itself. The bright illumination of the blue color seemed to overshadow the entire village itself. Those who had not yet been evacuated.... a few children.... as well as a few adults.... stopped to look in amazement and wonder at the lethal and yet beautiful display made.

De Soto never saw it coming.

His eyes widened with surprise. Whatever attack it was that his foe had just used, it was no simple energy blast that was just shot right off of the bat. This attack was meant to finish him off for good.

"Wow!"

This was the only thought that he could manage to think as his body began to sizzle from the immense energy. Within a few seconds, he was nearly a mile away from the smoking town, caught up in the beam of energy that sent him flying. "THIS ISN'T OVER HARRY!" he yelled as he crashed into the ground in a somewhat comical matter, not caring whether or not Haralson had heard him. Next time, he wouldn't be so careless.

Soifon and Akisame simply stood in amazement, the former more so than the latter. This Arrancar was nearly twice her own power, the power of a former Gotei 13 Captain, and this stranger came and defeated him within a manner of seconds.

"Checkmate....."

The Shinigami sealed his Zanpakutō sheathed his blade, closing his eyes and smirking as he spoke the last word indicating the end of that duel. The Arrancar's last shout did not reach any of their ears, so their moods were effectively isolated from each other. Basking in the triumph of his victory, he clapped his palms together and casually turned himself around to face the two, eyes glancing in the direction of Soifon for a moment. However, it was only a brief moment. He closed his eyes and gave a nodding bow to the two - a nonverbal welcoming gesture - before he lowered his arms to his sides, turned away, and started to walk in the direction from which he came. Upon seeing the duel ended, the rest of the people decided to scatter back into their own homes and idly chat about what had happened.

"...Damn."

It was all Akisame could muster. He was equally as surprised as his wife was. "He's no ordinary Soul Reaper. That's for sure." he told her. She was wiping off some of the dirt that was on her uniform. "Oh really? What makes you say that? The fact that he just made me look like a goddamn fool in front of all of these humans?" she frustratingly replied.

He simply sighed as he watched the stranger walk down the road away from them. "Well we're not going to find out just standing here. C'mon lets go get him." With that he hastily walked in the same direction of his target.

Soifon looked on in slight disappointment. She was upset that her husband had already forgotten about what it was that she was going to tell him. She gently held her wolf amulet within her left hand, debating on whether or not now would be a good time to break the either good or bad news to him.

"Hey what are you waiting for?" he said back to her, still moving.

She exhaled and quickly followed him. As they caught up to the figure, Akisame tried to approach him in the most polite way possible. "Hey ah, that was pretty impressive what you did back there." he said as he was justa few feet from the man, his hands in his coat pockets.

The man immediately stopped within his tracks... not abruptly, but in a quick and gradual manner.

Once again, he casually turned around to give a cocked eyebrow and a casual frown. "Eh.... I don't find the usual spiritual energy light show thing very impressive myself...." He said, his Scottish tone once again showing itself. "I'm pretty sure that you'd be capable of much better feats, had you not the foe that you did...." He peered slightly, looking the two over carefully and placing a hand thoughtfully on his chin. "From the looks of things and the fact that I never saw you around these parts, I can safely say that was your first battle in your travels, aye?"

He shifted his gaze to Soifon, whom he had noticed when he had struck the Arrancar from behind. "Sucks, doesn't it, lassie?" He asked in a sympathetic, yet teasing tone. "You catch a fish and you end up hooking a Loch Ness. It's a pain...." He chuckled. "But, it has to happen sometime, doesn't it?"

She blushed. ''"Lassie?" ''She found the name to be somewhat charming, wishing that her husband would refer to her as such. "Yeah, I guess so." she replied, not looking directly at him.

Akisame smiled and turned his attention back to the man. "You could say that." He held his right arm out in a position to shake his. "My name's Akisame, this is my wife Soifon."

The man closed his eyes and nodded, raising his own hand to grasp the other man's hand in a firm handshake. "Always a rarity and pleasure to see a couple who know how to handle themselves in a scuffle..." He answered, releasing the handshake and folding his hands behind his back. "My name's Jack Taylor. What can I do you for?" To keep his own polite countenance, he held a serene and relaxed look in his eyes as well as a light smile.

Akisame's eyes squinted behind his glasses. Something didn't feel right about this Talyor figure. Questioning him further would probably yield better results. "Maybe you can help us." he said as he crossed his arms.

"We're looking for a man named Haralson McTavish. Do you know anyone by that name around here?"

The mention of the name wiped the smile off of Jack's face, and for a moment, he looked surprised. However, his expression immediately changed into a more solemn one. He took in a deep breath, closing his eyes and clasping his palms in front of his face for a moment. For a moment, he didn't allow himself to speak, granting the existence of a somewhat tense silence. Then, he exhaled, lowering his hands and looking at the both of them with a grimly serious face.

"I was hoping that no one would have to mention old Harold after what happened here...." He said lowly. "But....I suppose it can't be helped this time. I sense a long discussion approaching, and you've obviously come quite a long way, so I think it'd be best if I showed you my home so you can rest your feet."

He shifted himself back around and began to walk away, giving them both the notion to follow him. "And I'm not taking no for an answer...."

Akisame was shocked, his eyebrows raising slightly. He began to ask what happened to Haralson, but decided not to refuse the man's kind offer, thinking that their current location wouldn't be the best place to discuss anything further. "Very well. Lead the way." he said as he took Soifon by the hand and followed Taylor

Soifon wasn't all that convinced. Her eyes squinted slightly while looking into Jack's. She knew that he was hiding something, but she couldn't place it. Reluctantly giving in, she went along with her husband.

"This is gonna be a long trip."

Explanations
Shortly afterwards, the three had approached Jack's home and entered inside. With persuasion from Jack himself, they had all made themselves comfortable within his living room. Jack was sitting in a solo chair himself, a lighter in one hand, and a lit cigarette in the other. Two fingers held the cigarette in his mouth while he took a drag before exhaling the smoke in a direction away from them - just in case they disliked it. He didn't want to be rude, despite his smoking habit.

"Haralson was an old friend of mine...." He began, keeping a casual tone as he explained. "He was a bit of a loner and an anti-social fellow. Most of the neighborhood didn't like the guy because of him throwing his depression around like a ball. I was pretty much the only person he could ever consider a buddy, and it was because of him that I learned that he actually had a daughter and son.... both of whom who were enlisted within the Gotei 13."

Akisame sat alongside his wife in a large sofa that sat across from Jack's. He pulled out a cigarette of his own and lit it with a lighter that was built into his right index finger. Soifon simply sat up straight, trying her best to look sophisticated in front of the man. She took interest into his last sentance concerning Haralson's children and their service.

"Do you know who their names are? Or which divisions they belonged to?" she asked. "I'm the former Captain of the 2nd division, as well as the former Commander of the Omitsukido."

The last sentence brought Jack to smile a little. "Aye..." He confirmed. "The lad's name was Braeburn, 3rd Seat of the 5th Division. The lass's name was Brina." He leaned forward a little, keeping the cigarette in his mouth and folding his hands as he rested his arms on his lap. "You've probably heard of Brina first - she was considered a prodigy in the membership of the Omitsukidō's Punishment Force, second only to the Commander-in-chief."