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This article, Chiaroscuro: Premonition, is the co-property of both LordGalvatron and Stylx. |
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Part 1[]
Soul Society. Outskirts of the North Rukongai. Afternoon.
It was a calm and sunny day. Few clouds were scattered on the blue sky, and a light wind rustled the foliage. Several birds chirped merrily, flying between the branches of trees forming a small forest, accompanied by a number of crickets hidden in the tall grass growing around a nearby lake.
There was a woman crouching on its shore. Wearing a simple, non-descript clothing and with her long red hair let loose, she observed a group of frogs attentively. Then, she lifted her head.
There was a large, semi-transparent prism of glistening energy in the distance, partially obscured by the trees. Some low-pitched, barely audible sounds could be heard every once in a while, and the ground trembled each time they happened.
The woman stood up and straightened her back, slowly shaking her head.
"They're training again, Shōki-san?", asked a feminine voice all of a sudden.
The former Captain of the Twelfth Division of Gotei 13 turned around unhurriedly and smiled when she saw her visitor.
"They've been doing little else since a long time, Motoko-chan", she said and approached the Second Division Lieutenant. "I've tried talking with Kuro-kun about that, but all I've achieved were some Kidō training sessions", she paused for a moment. "You could try to persuade Ikiryō-kun to rest a bit", she added with a wry smile.
Motoko Manihōrudo sighed in response and shook her head.
"I've tried. You can see the result for yourself."
Kaoru shrugged.
"You know, you can always order him to stop", she remarked in a suggestive tone.
The Second Division Lieutenant smirked, but became solemn again when she saw the face expression of her interlocutor change rapidly.
"They make me anxious sometimes", revealed Shōki before turning around to gaze upon the distant Kidō barrier. "They used to be strong, but now... I think they could give Old Man Yama a run for his money in a duel."
Motoko nodded in an absent-minded manner. She was able to sense their Reiatsu from an impressive distance, despite being sure they were not using their full power. The feeling was familiar, but very intense and slightly off, prompting her to cringe inadvertently.
Suddenly, the prism of spiritual energy dispersed, and the power of the two Visored dropped significantly. Manihōrudo let out a subtle sigh of relief. Kaoru saw it, but did not comment upon it.
"Here they come, two of the three stooges", she said instead, a wide smile returning to her face.
The aforementioned men did come indeed, using Shunpo to materialise nearby before she had been able to finish the sentence. Like Shōki, they were wearing simple, somewhat ragged and dirtied clothes and also like her, they were still equipped with their Zanpakutō, which they were actually in the process of re-sheathing.
Whilst Tadayoshi smiled at the sight of the guest and waved to greet her, Ikiryō seemed to freeze for a moment.
"Motoko-chan", uttered Kuragari with a peculiar mixture of emotions.
He had approached her rapidly and embraced her, kissing her ere she was able to reply. It had taken a while before Manihōrudo patted him on the back, reminding him of the two friends watching them in utter silence.
"Why don't you come more often?", asked Ikiryō as Motoko delicately, but firmly put him aside.
"You know I can't. Or have you forgotten already how much stuff has the acting leader of the Onmitsukidō to do?", she retorted. "Anyway, I've got some important news to share with all of you first. We may talk personally later", she added with a very slight blush.
"Before you start, how's Akira-chan doing?", asked Kaoru. "I always knew the boy had potential, but does he manage to run the Division and the Institute as a Captain?"
Motoko smirked.
"Well, I knew you'd want to ask about that, so I've spied on him a bit. He's clumsy, but he makes do", she replied. "He's also inherited your habit of always coming late to the Captain meetings", she added with a slight wry smile.
"Let's just hope Akira-taichō doesn't adopt all of his former captain's tendencies.", Kurokawa teased, looking toward Kaoru, his comment caused Ikiryō to chuckle slightly.
"Let's hope Tadayoshi-kun.", Kaoru replied sarcastically, a small smirk painted on her face.
"Anyway, what's this important news Manihōrudo-fukutaichō?", asked Kurokawa, his expression changed, he looked rather solemn, as if he expected the worst.
Motoko's mood change likewise.
"Well, the previous night there was a... massacre... in the 39th West Rukongai district. Nearly 10,000 residents were brutally slaughtered, and a large part of the infrastructure devastated. No witnesses."
Kaoru raised an eyebrow.
"Slaughtered? What do you mean?", she asked curiously, but her voice became noticeably tense.
The Lieutenant grimaced at first, as if remembering something not exactly pleasant.
"They were... torn apart, disemboweled. Someone has made a great effort to mutilate them in many horrible ways", she continued uneasily.
"Did Hollows do that? Like that time about 12 years ago?", asked Kurokawa with uncertainty in his voice.
"Was there any residual Reiatsu? Any clues? Perhaps a message?", wanted to know Kuragari.
"We didn't detect any Hollow Reitsu in the entire area, but actually there was a single message left by the perpetrators", revealed Manihōrudo. "On one of the walls, someone wrote "We're coming back". With blood."
There was a short period of silence afterward.
"This doesn't sound like Hollows for some reason", remarked Kaoru eventually. "The genocide does, but that message... They aren't that clever, and there hasn't been a single new Vasto Lorde since the Dark War."
"Also, no residual Reiatsu", reminded Tadayoshi.
"Were there any Shinigami at the spot when that happened?", further inquired Ikiryō, visibly thinking hard.
Motoko nodded.
"Yes. Three unseated members of the Ninth Division. From the traces we know they'd reacted to the threat and attempted to fight, but they were slain along with the civilians. Not a single body of the opposing side was found."
"Recon teams?", asked Kuragari.
"Already sent. Also, the Ninth Division strengthened the defences of the inner Rukongai districts with the help of the Third and Fifth Division. We're ready..."
Suddenly, the arrival of another Shinigami interrupted the Lieutenant. It was a member of the Onmitsukidō clad in black, skin-tight clothes, with only his piercing, focused eyes visible. Seeing the former Captains, he greeted them with a deep bow before turning toward Motoko and saluting to her.
"Lieutenant Manihōrudo, your immediate presence is required on a Captain meeting. We must hurry", he spoke with disturbing intensity.
Motoko widened her eyes and glanced at her other interlocutors. Then, she exchanged looks with Kuragari.
"I must go", she said in a blunt tone.
"I know", he replied with a seemingly indifferent face.
The Onmitsukidō member bowed again, and then hastily departed together with the Second Division Lieutenant. The three former officers remained there alone, brooding.
Wind blew. Dark clouds were coming slowly from the south.
Part 2[]
Seireitei, 1st Division Barracks, Captain Commander's office. Evening.
Motoko walked into the large hall and took her place near the almost statuesque Tarō Kinzoku, she looked around, and saw most of the Captains had arrived, save the 10th Division Acting Captain and the 11th Division Captain.
Just as she thought of it the massive double doors opened yet again, revealing two figures, one towering over the other, Motoko stayed silent as the two late officers took their positions.
"Now that all of us have decided to arrive, we shall now hold this emergency meeting.", Yamamoto boomed, his voice making a slight echo in the large meeting hall.
"As you all know, there has been a massacre in the Rukongai, the evidence from the scene shows it was not done by hollows, no residual spiritual energy and s message written saying that another attack will be imminent.", he explained, his voice ever so slightly agitated.
"We shall stay vigilant, find out where they are going to strike, and then kill them.", Kinzoku uttered ominously, his face was a stiff as a board, showing signs of determination.
"Ambush technique effective, chance of encounter is high, chance of victory increased.", Takeo Danko said formerly, his gaze was fixated directly in front of him, concentrating on nothing else.
"We have to be careful Captains Danko and Kinzoku, we know nothing about our enemy.", Sakamoto Risa said calmly, "We cannot afford to make such rash movements while we have no information.", she explained, her comment made both of the Captains stiffen up slightly.
"Enough.", Yammamoto stated, causing the other captains to become silent. "Ambush tactics will be out of the question until we have sufficient information on our enemy, we cannot afford to strike a threat which may be too powerful for the Gotei 13.", he continued rather solemnly.
"Sir, I think we should get the Kidō Corps onto the scene of the event, maybe they could get a trace of the enemy's reiatsu.", Motoko said tentatively, she felt as if she was treading on egg shells, completely unsure of what was going to happen next.
"I concur.", stated the voice of the Acting Captain of the 10th Divison, Ganjou Mizuumi, his voice echoed through the entire hall, causing some of the Captain's heads to turn slightly.
"The Kidō Corps has already been assigned to the case, their search has recovered nothing at this point in time.", Yamamoto replied, Motoko drew back slightly.
The Captains mused over the possible actions to take, after a short while the Captain Commender gave the final order.
"We shall commence a full action defence of both the Seireitei and the most vulnerable areas of the Rukongai. Division's 2 and 12 shall also help the Kidō Corps discover any information at the scene of the event, Lieutenant's Manihōrudo and Mizuumi shall lead the team investigating. Meeting adjourned!", Yamamoto bellowed, slamming his cane down to the wooden floor, causing a large noise accompanied by a slight rumble, signifying the end of the meeting.
The Captains and Lieutenants moved from their customary positions and began walking toward the big gate to the room, intending to leave. However, before they were able to do so, the door had opened violently. The officers stopped immediately, some of them laying their palms on the hilts of their Zanpakutō.
Caution and tension were quickly replaced by genuine shock as they recognised the intruder.
"Captains... I've got... important data", panted Lieutenant Norio Nishimura.
Then, he staggered into the room, his torn Shihakushō covered with blood and ichor. As he swayed he dropped his sword, a meagre stub of the broken blade protruding from the blood-soaked hilt.
Captain Danko appeared beside him swiftly and supported him, preventing him from falling limply to the ground. The Lieutenant lifted his head with apparent effort.
"We've been... attacked... He... demanded me to tell you... that..."
Part 3[]
Soul Society. 6th South Rukongai district. Afternoon.
Dark clouds were concealing the sky, obscuring the sun and showering the city below with heavy rain. Water mixed with the pools of blood and created numerous miniature streams of crimson, meandering between the corpses of the fallen.
Ninth Division Lieutenant Norio Nishimura and his right hand man, 3rd Seat Officer Yemon Himura, were both standing amongst the bodies of their subordinates, breathing heavily. Both their kimono and swords were covered with blood and ichor.
They had been attacked without a warning. The enemies, unidentified beings wearing black cloaks, ambushed the patrol and killed all Shinigami sans the two officers within a single minute. The Ninth Division members did put up a fight, but their valiant effort was near futile; merely few cloaked figures lied motionless in the company of the 28 dead Soul Reapers.
Some others stood scattered opposite to the officers, but they were not their main concern. There was a group of four unusually tall individuals standing slightly farther, who did not participate in the fight. They wore cloaks as well, but each of them in a different colour. Nishimura was not able to sense their Reiatsu, but when looking at them he had a very strong impression of gazing into a bottomless abyss.
"What is it, Shinigami? Are you too scared to fight?", asked one of the closer cloaked beings mockingly.
"Curse ya, ya bastards!", exclaimed Yemon in response.
Without a second thought, he rushed toward the enemies with his Shikai ready to strike. When the shadowy figures plunged at him, he was envoloped by the aura of his red Reiatsu.
"Smash, Setaishi!", shouted the 3rd Seat Officer.
Then, he struck one of the opponents with the sound of cracking bones. Another one attacked him from the other side, but a swing of the Shinigami's oversized kanabō swiftly decapited the cloaked enemy. The third one halted, suddenly unsure what to do, but soon afterward he too perished in Himura's berserk charge.
"He's got guts", remarked the tallest of the observing beings, clad in a dark purple cape, with a deep yet clearly feminine voice.
"I shall put an end to his senseless struggle", stated the figure in snow white cloak with a booming voice, slowly rising his right hand.
"He's mine", growled the individual in a dark grey robe, instantly walking toward the charging 3rd Seat Officer.
"As you wish", grumbled the man in white , lowering his hand.
Meanwhile, Yemon had got rid off the last enemy in his path and proceeded onward in the direction of the incoming man in grey. Seeing that, Norio at last snapped from his temporary paralysis.
"Yemon, no!", he yelled and rushed toward his colleague.
Himura closed the distance between him and the approaching figure and lifted his Reiatsu-enveloped Zanpakutō above his head. Then, he swung it downward in a powerufl vertical strike, intended to crush the enemy in a single hit.
The man in grey caught it with his left hand, stopping it in an instant. The ground beneath his feet cracked immediately, but the individual himself did not even flinch, effortlessly blocking the weapon.
"Wha?", uttered the 3rd Seat Officer, wrestling fruitlessly with his mysterious opponent.
"Hmph", was the only verbal response that followed.
Suddenly, as Nishimura was approaching the two with his katana ready to fight, the cloaked figure made a sudden move. With the open palm of his right arm, he struck Himura and smashed him into the ground, crushing his ribcage and prompting blood to erupt from the latter's mouth.
Norio halted abruptly as he sensed his colleague's Reiatsu vanish completely.
"You... You son of a bitch!", he yelled at the top of his lungs. "Twist, Kaitenshi!"
He spun his Zanpakutō in front of his chest, activating its Shikai. After the katana had morphed into a long spear with paddle-like blades on both ends, its rotations became considerably faster, stirring a strong gust of wind around the Lieutenant coupled with the release of his spiritual power.
"Renkūdan!"
All of a sudden, a large bullet of highly pressurised air burst forth toward the man clad in grey cloak. The individual swiftly assumed a combat ready pose and simply swept the attack with his bare hand.
Nishimura growled. Another two air projectiles shot in the direction of his enemy, but the latter dispersed them with ease. Even more infuriated, the Lieutenant eventually grabbed his Zanpakutō and charged forward with an inarticulate battlecry.
His enemy briefly hid his right hand within the folds of his cape, and as the Shinigami closed the distance a silver glow darted to intercept his blade. There was a loud clang, and Norio realised his spear had been blocked by a katana.
A fraction of a second later he became sure it was not a simple katana, however.
"Zanpakutō...", he seethed from behind his gritted teeth.
Suddenly, the man in grey pushed him back with little effort. Nishimura attempted to assume a defensive stance, but a surge of sharp pain interrupted him unexpectedly. Subsequently, he watched with shock as his own Zanpakutō split in two and blood sprayed profusely from a long gush opened vertically on his chest.
He fell to his knees.
"Eh, you ain't fun at all", complained his would-be butcher as he casually prepared to decapitate him.
Then, another cloaked figure materialised abruptly beside him - the individual in black who until then had taken no action nor spoken a single word.
"No", he uttered gravely.
The other being stopped immediately mid-strike, and then quickly sheathed his sword.
"Oh well, okay", he replied and backed a few steps.
Norio glanced at the man in black with terror and astonishment. All he could see under the darkness of his hood was something uniformly white. A mask, perhaps.
Pressed by some elusive force the Lieutenant suddenly became drowsy, but the figure's ominous voice quickly extracted him from the trance.
"You'll return to Seireitei. You'll tell the Captain-Commander we'll appear in the 15th East Rukongai district this night", he declared. "You'll tell them Lord Bane has returned", he added menacingly after a short while.
Afterward, all four remaining individuals in cloaks were swallowed up whole by darkness, leaving Norio the only one left alive at the bloody battlefield.
It was raining.