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That Dreaded Word	By : Platinumsabr Category: Bleach > Het - Male/Female Views: 11539 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, or the characters from it. I don't make any money from the writing of this story, but I do enjoy writing it. Any Original Characters are mine however, as is the story itself, and if you see it posted elsewhere pleas

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
Then
There Were Four

Numb.
If there was one word she would use to describe herself as she was it would be
numb. The tears had stopped by now, and she was left with a dull throb where
her heart should have been. She had failed spectacularly. It had never once
occurred to her that his pursuers might have had at least one spy looking over
the operations taking place, and it should have. She of all people knew the
importance of intelligence gathering, she was the captain of the Second
Division!!

Maybe she had gotten complacent
in the knowledge that the creations that had been sent after him had a reiatsu
so easily distinguished from everything else. Maybe she had believed she would
be right beside him when the next attack took place, like she had before. Maybe
she had even prayed every night for one more day with him. Maybes wouldn�t get
her anywhere anymore; she had made a promise to herself. She would find him.
With God as her witness, she would find him. Friend or foe, she would be with
him again.

As hard as it was to accept, the barrier
had been dropped as soon as it was revealed there was no longer any reason for
it to be active. If anyone had been expecting her to instantly run off in a
blind panic, they were disappointed. She had stood, wiped her eyes, and walked
to the door. With not one glance back or one word spoken, Soi-Fong
exited the room that had held her captive while her lover fought for his life.
Yoruichi had dashed after her after the shock had faded, but she was stopped
cold when she appeared in front of her little bee with her hand on her
shoulder. The eyes that had met hers were colder than death, and her regular
scowl had been discarded in favor of one that would have made Aizen commit suicide. The woman of equal height hadn�t even
shrugged off the hand, she had simply taken one step
to the side and calmly walked around the bronze woman frozen in place, never
once changing her pace.

Yoruichi Shihouin, one that had
been through more than many could ever claim, had been paralyzed in fear by one
look. There was no anger there, no hate, only a disappointment seeded so deeply
inside it death had no place. Numb. Even in that
there was something there that made it frightening, something that made it more
than it was. No words would be accepted, no interruptions allowed. She had
things she needed to do.

If there had been any willing to
object to how she walked into the Fourth Division and ordered they follow her,
none dared upon witnessing that look. No one doubted she would kill them at the
slightest provocation, and no one doubted she would feel nothing from doing so
either. Now, standing as she was while she surveyed the bloodied bodies of her
fallen subordinates being tended to, that feeling had yet to go away.

As bad as the situation was, as
much as her fighting force had just been diminished; there was a sense of pride
there as well that her lover had taken down so many by himself. She was left
severely short-handed as a result, but that was of little consequence to her. Just
knowing he would have survived without their interference made all the
difference, but the final outcome was still the same. She would make sure her
officers would survive, she would set everything in order, and then she would
search for him to her last breath; reinforcements and backup be damned. She had
done everything Soul Society had ever asked of her, and for that they had
betrayed her. She owed them nothing.

They had been picked apart with
brutal efficiency, that much she could see with ease
as she walked through the rows of wounded being tended to by the medics she had
procured.� She had never seen a style
that could decimate so many soldiers so completely without a peerless skill in
Shunpo. Yoruichi could do something similar with her bare hands, but never had
she witnessed wounds the likes of which she was seeing on her officers. Had the
cuts been any deeper they would have died without fail, and she almost laughed,
knowing that he had beaten them all while holding back! That would have meant
her body had the ability to laugh though, and that was gone. She knew what had
happened to the ones with the smallest wounds, and her thoughts were proven as
they started to wake up. Each one told the same story.

He had been kinder than she ever
would have been. If she had been in his position she would have murdered each
and every one of them in cold blood, and enjoyed it at that. Almost an entire
division sent after one person, and there wasn�t a single fatality among them.
He had changed so much over their time together, willingly fought to let go of
the hatred that had bound him for so long, and all for her. Had she been
capable of crying any more, tears would have fallen.
Even though she stood among countless subordinates, she wanted to cry. She had
changed too, and it was all because of him.

�C-Captain�? Are you alright?�

Any other time she would have
cringed at the voice that addressed her, but this time her cold eyes merely
glanced to the side to glare at the waste of space beside her, the only one out
of the entire group without a single injury. He visibly flinched when the
steel-gray honed in on him frostily, and he gulped. �Tell me, Oomaeda, why is it that every one of my men lay injured
somewhere on this ground, while you stand here unharmed?�

Per usual, her lieutenant
panicked. �T-The fight j-just happened, Captain! I-I�ve never seen
anyone fight like that! Ever! Captain Komamura gave
the order a-and�a-and��

�You froze like the coward you
are when he demonstrated he belonged in ranks you could never dream of amounting
to,� she finished succinctly, and he flinched again.

�To be fair, had I known the
level of the traitor we had been sent to kill, I would have never ordered them
to attack in the first place,� a gruff voice growled through pain. She turned
to see Sajin Komamura
standing before her, tall and proud despite the healer trying desperately to
quell the swelling on the right side of his face. His right eye was almost
completely sealed shut, and his furry torso was wrapped in bandages while
another Fourth Division officer worked on mending what lay under them. They had
long gotten used to the Seventh Division captain�s stubbornness. �I should have
had at least one more captain here as backup for that matter! Your lieutenant
would have been nothing more than cannon fodder in front of him.�

�At least then he would have been
good for something at least.�

The other captain shrugged off
the blatant disregard Soi-Fong had for her
second-in-command. It was common knowledge. �He�s right though; I�ve never seen
anyone fight the way he did before either. When he called out his zanpakutou I
should have instantly intervened, but I doubt that would have affected
anything. When that woman came it was clear enough what the intention had
been.�

�So you know now too? This whole
thing was nothing but an elaborate trap to tire him out so they didn�t need to
waste manpower. Soul Society gave him to them on a silver platter, and they had
arranged the whole thing from the start.� Her jaw set tightly while her hands
flexed spasmodically. They had been right under their noses, and she had been
able to do nothing to stop it from happening in the end.

�That was plenty obvious when I
was stabbed, thank you,� he replied sarcastically. �I�ve been outclassed
before, but I�ve never felt as exposed as he made me feel. All it took was my
name from that tiny zanpakutou, and it was like he had lived my entire life.�

Soi-Fong
grimaced. �He did. If he had your blood on that pen when he wrote your name,
you were an open book to him from then on. To put it another way, you should be
thankful you�re even alive at all. If he had your blood on that pen at any
time, he could have done much worse.�

Komamura
could only nod. He had seen first hand what one word
had done to some of the officers sent against him. Adrenaline and all other
factors had been disregarded in an instant, and they had fallen to the ground
below in the deepest of sleeps. �What are we going to do now? They have what
they came for, and if all of them are like the one that came here, what should
we do now?�

�While you were here, all of the
captains that had been�detained�� she spat the word like a curse, ��were
introduced to the mind behind the planning. Just as we thought: they�re in Hueco Mundo. He used a Garganta
to break right into the Captain Commander�s room.�

The fox-man�s eyes went wide. �How!? Are you saying he walked right into the room and just
talked!?�

She simply nodded tersely. �He
thought it was about time we were introduced apparently. Between the three we
know of, there�s Kuroshiro, the one that came to
speak to us; Nozomi, the one that attacked you and
Gwydion; and Ai, the one that came to him in the first place. If they really can
get Gwydion to join them before I find him, and they promised they would, then
we�re dealing with four unknowns; the best of both worlds in every sense of the
words. Forget the ten Espada, we�ll be dealing with
the four horsemen of the apocalypse.�

�With an army of mindless,
super-powered chimeras behind them,� Komamura sighed.
�I wouldn�t suppose he up and told us about what they�re planning in the
future, did he?�

�Not all the specifics,� Soi-Fong started hesitantly, �but from what he said there
is really only one large goal in mind for them.�

�And that he told you? It�s
better than nothing I suppose. Aizen barely gave us
anything to go on when he defected, and if not for remnants of his reiatsu in
the library we still wouldn�t have had anything to guess at his grander scheme.
What is it this time?�

She shrugged apathetically.
�Simple really: they just want to see Soul Society burn.�

Sajin Komamura�s healthy eye widened, but Soi-Fong
had already turned her back and resumed walking amongst the wounded. Oomaeda�s fear was plain on his face, and she had no desire
to continue the conversation. At the moment, she couldn�t bring herself to
care. Hell, at the moment, she was considering helping them.

She had spent her entire life in
the Gotei Thirteen, had worked every second she could
spare to become stronger. First it was so she could be by her captain�s side,
then it was to defeat that same estranged captain, but afterwards it was just
so she could be the best she could be. That was, until almost a year ago. Then
feelings bubbling up had found an outlet, someone she was interested in,
someone that could return them. Then her life in the military became so she
could protect him, so she could use her training to help him improve.
She had followed every letter of the law to each dotted I and crossed tee, and
they had repaid her by locking her up while he walked into a trap.

Deceived? She didn�t care if they
had been deceived. With Center Forty-Six being as relatively new as it was,
there should have been no question that they advise the Gotei
Thirteen of their movements, especially considering the previous had been
killed entirely before. Because of that there had been misunderstandings, and
three of the greatest traitors Soul Society had ever known escaped all but
completely unhindered. Thus, to go above everyone�s heads like the previous did
so often made no sense. To simply jump at the mention of �traitor� sickened
her. The smallest amount of explanation would have at least allowed it to be
planned more, and it would have given her a timetable to work with. If she had
been told about it even a day before, she would have done something she had
never considered before without a second thought.

With the situation as it was, she
needed to figure something else out, because there were too many unknowns to do
any definitive planning. Ichigo�s argument from long ago still made sense. Hueco Mundo was gigantic, and
there were just too many places to hide. The desert itself was practically
uncharted except Las Noches and a few of the other
colonized areas, not even taking into account the massive Menos
Forest. With no leads and no ideas, it would be nigh impossible to find them,
especially since they had eluded notice for so long already. The only logical
conclusion left to her was wait, but that was one
thing she wouldn�t, couldn�t do.

Leaving the standing order for
all members capable of doing so to return to Soul Society with their Fourth
Division escort�so called �superiority� discarded upon threat of severe
punishment�Soi-Fong left the area that still hummed
with remnants of his reiatsu. He had truly gone all-out, but it wasn�t enough. Her
feet led her mindlessly, and when her mind came back to itself she noticed she
was in the last place she wanted to be; the last, and the first. She was
in front of his�practically their home.

The spare key was in the same
place as always, and the door was opened easily. It was almost tragic; normally
the place would have been swarming with Shinigami after such an ordeal, but
because his captors had had to show their faces there was eyewitness evidence
that he had gone against his will. That, and he had
decimated most of the operatives that would sweep through a traitor�s living
space for information. Already the place seemed lifeless without him in it,
without the music constantly playing in the background. She stopped short upon
reaching the counter, where a small note stood out sorely on the clean
tabletop.

�I�ve always loved your
smile.�

Five simple words written in a
style she recognized from the art on the walls, and just like that she knew he
had figured it out before it happened. He really had been healed, because she
knew he made it a point not to write unless he had to, and she would have known
the scratchy scrawl he was capable of with his left hand. This was his writing,
how he had been meant to write. There was something off about it though.
If he knew what was going to happen, why didn�t he leave something more?

The answer came to her when she
thought about whom he knew would have normally been here before her, and
suddenly her mind was racing. Okay, so if he wanted to leave a clue that
only I would be able to find, what would my smile have anything to do with it?
Her eyes widened when she saw the covered canvas in the corner of the room. Of
course!

She threw off the sheet from the
drawing, and was once again struck by his talent; how he could see her in such
a beautiful light when months before she had thought herself anything but. In
it had been captured a sight few had ever known possible: Captain Soi-Fong of the Second Division�smiling. Quickly spinning
the canvas around, she searched for some indication of alteration in the seams,
anything that could give away the location of what he had hidden.

Eventually she found it, and she
nearly crowed in victory when she pulled the folded paper from its secret flap.
Had anyone else merely tried ransacking the place, the paper inside would have
no doubt been destroyed. It had been designed that way. His Second Division
training still hadn�t left him after nearly two centuries. She nearly tore the
letter apart in her haste to get it open, and her eyes moistened when she saw
the familiar handwriting. Her knees buckled and she collapsed to the couch,
holding the paper in shaking hands.

Hey Bumblebee,

If you�re reading this either
I�ve beaten your sentries and gone into hiding, or like they promised, they got
to me before I was able to. There�s always the possibility that I�m dead too, but
let�s not think about that. Been there, done that; it�ll take more than that
for me to stay away from you!�

She coughed out a laugh hoarsely,
her face wet with renewed tears. Only he would try to joke with a situation so
serious, but then again he had been expecting it for quite some time. She could
practically hear his voice reading it to her, and her heart throbbed painfully
with every new beat.

'But if you are reading this, that means for some reason or another I�m gone. I�m
sorry about that. Don�t blame yourself; we both knew this was bound to happen
sooner or later. If Soul Society did what I think they did then I know you
couldn�t have done anything, and I don�t blame you, no matter what you think
you could�ve done. You�ve done so much for me already; you gave me a reason to
better myself, a reason to let go of the hatred that�s burned in my heart for
far too long. You gave me a reason to live again, and I�ll always love you.

'Hey, if they haven�t captured
me and your division�s recovering from what I�m about to do to them, stop
reading right now! That�d be pretty embarrassing, ne? Just jump to the bottom
of the letter, okay?'

Her lips quivered as she rubbed
at her eyes. His sense of humor had always been strange, but then again hers must
be too, for her to find what he said even in the heat of battle funny.

'If they have captured me, then
keep in mind my warnings. Tell every captain about Izanami, warn them about
what being cut by her can do. If at any time anyone meets me on the
battlefield, have them run. I don�t care if that sounds arrogant, just have
them run away. Lieutenant Kurosaki would probably be the best bet at defeating
me without too much trouble. She�s my worst kind of opponent, especially if
what I�ve heard of her Bankai is true. Kind of funny, isn�t it? She said the
same thing about me.

'We both know what they plan to
do to me if they catch me, and I can tell you Ai was barely exerting herself
when she pulled me all the way across town in one burst of Shunpo. She was
playing with me, and I�m not vain enough to think I�ve improved that much in
the time I�ve been training. They�re more than any seated officer can handle,
I�m sure of that. I know you�re probably rolling your eyes right now, thinking:
�I�m a captain, imbecile, of course I know that!�

Another laugh escaped her,
unwanted, and her eyes were red once more as she fought the smile wanting to
break free, despite the sadness within her and the tears streaming down her
cheeks.

'I�ve got no illusions about
this, Soi. They�re powerful. If Soul Society wants to
survive them they�ll need Captain Kurosaki�s help. You know what I mean. Even a
newly created Arrancar can fight on par with a high-seated officer for the most
part, and they have Hierro. That�s more than most Soul Reapers can claim, but
then again with Captain Zaraki who knows? I only wish
I could fight alongside you. If I�ve become your enemy know I did everything in
my power to fight it, and know I�ll keep doing everything in my power to return
to you.

'If you couldn�t tell from my
writing, I�ve been healed. If only this had come sooner. My only regret is not
being able to hold you in both my arms one last time and being able to kiss you
goodbye. I�ve been given a real fighting chance now though, more than I ever
had before. Even if I die, I�ll make sure everyone remembers the name Shien, and that he loved you with every breath in his body.

'I love you, Shaolin. Every second I�ve spent with you over the past few
months has made the past two centuries seem like a bad dream. You�re everything
I could have ever asked for, and being with you for as long as I was has been
more than I�ve ever deserved. I�m so sorry it�s come to this. I do love you;
I�ll always, always love you. No matter what happens in the future, while I�m
still myself, always remember I love you.

'I can�t say it enough, but I
love you.'

It was signed with something she
had never seen before: his signature, and a drop of
what she could only suspect was his own blood. Under it even was one more line.
P.S. If you�ve jumped down here, Italy�s nice this time of year I hear, what
about you? White sands, scenery that goes on for miles. I hear the moon shines
so brightly it�s like the night never ends. One day, I hope we can live there
together, where no Soul Reaper could find us. By the way, have I mentioned I
love you?' Beside it at the bottom of the page was a small caricature drawn
only how he could, of a miniaturized version of them shyly kissing like two
dolls in a set.

That time she broke down, great,
heaving sobs that reduced her to her knees on the carpet. Her heart felt like
it was going to explode within her, and the pain coming from it was so real it
felt like a physical wound. If there had been any doubts of who had written it,
there was no way to refute it now. He had used the name she had whispered to
him in the dead of night, the ultimate secret between two lovers. He had called
her by the name she had been given at birth, not the name she had inherited.
The name had only passed his lips once, but still she heard it like he was
right beside her.

Her free hand tightened over the
carpet until a white-knuckled fist was in its place, and her expression
hardened through the inner agony tearing her apart.

�I love you too, Gwydion,� she
whispered raggedly. �I love you, and with God as my witness I�ll find you.�

~~~~~~~

Ai could hardly believe it was
finally done.

Patience wasn�t her strong suit
by any extension of the word, but she had waited, and waited, and waited some
more. When Nozomi had infiltrated the Twelfth
Division she had thought things would pick up, but even then months went by. She
supposed it was for the best. Nemu Yamada was a
scientist, and as a scientist it was a given she was constantly looking for new
ways to do things. If they could find out something even they hadn�t thought of
as she dissected the gift they had unknowingly left when Gwydion had so
unexpectedly defeated his pursuer, then it would be worth it. For all the years
they had worked at their goal, a little longer wasn�t going to kill her.

They did indeed find out
something they hadn�t known before, and that was that young G.T. Takumi was
anything but young, and certainly not unseated. To think he had a
reputation people in the Second Division remembered to this day was
mind-boggling, and his rank at the time was impressive enough. He and his team
were legends in Second Division lore, and to think the leader was still alive
made her tingle inside. She had always suspected there was more to him than she
had been told and that was confirmed when Nozomi had
taken what was left of the saliva she had taken from him. It was little wonder
why he was so good in his placed division; someone with an eidetic memory among
them was a huge advantage. If it was as advanced as Nozomi
hypothesized, he could very well have true photographic recall. Combine that
with his advanced fighting ability and they had a genuine leader.

It was like someone had
gift-wrapped everything that they had been looking for in one perfect package.
Years and years of searching could be set aside, for they no longer had to
compromise in what they were looking for. He had taken everything they had ever
wanted and given it form, with a few extra bonuses at that! He was seen as a
traitor, alive only because there were some among the Shinigami that had morals
higher than pond scum, and weren�t about to sit idly by while an innocent man was
killed for no reason. This had sparked a very real hatred of Soul Society in
his heart, and that was something that no amount of brainwashing could instill.
He was, in every way, perfect for what they needed.

There was only one kink in their
plan, and that one kink was the only thing that made it slightly less than
perfect for him. If they had found him even two weeks earlier than they
had their goals and his would have lined up perfectly. That wasn�t the case
however, and in that time he had managed to meet someone that would change his
life completely, and set it on a course that would go against what they wanted
from him. It would almost be funny if it wasn�t so infuriating.

Captain Soi-Fong
of the Special Ops Second Division.

A woman who barely knew the
meaning of the word �love� had met a man so jaded it should have taken a
miracle for anything to occur between them. Their ensuing relationship could
only be described as miraculous then. What it had succeeded in doing was making
a love so strong even days later what should have been a perfect proposal had
instead been refused outright.

She had waited too long for
someone like him to come along; there was no way she was just going to let him
go. Kuroshiro was a genius in his own right, but
there wasn�t the same spark between them as there was between him and Nozomi. They had something other than mindless lust, and
that was all she could get from him. Theirs was a relationship born from
necessity, really; they would have gone insane otherwise. She simply had to
join in every now and then, because their desires were amplified to the extent
where it made them painful to resist. As much as they were considered superior,
they were very much creatures of passion, of instinct. Their Arrancar pieces
had infused that in them.

They were the ultimate weapons.
Their senses were augmented to a ridiculous degree, their skin and muscles had
been specifically tailored with every kind of tissue imaginable for maximum
strength and protection, and certain drugs designed by Mayuri
Kurotsuchi himself had taken over key glands within their bodies. There was no
possibility of them losing limbs, and even destroyed organs could be restored
given enough time. There was no annoying Inner Hollow pushing at their sanity,
and they could use Resurrecion as well as their named
zanpakutou releases. In tandem if needed. Their power was truly awesome to
behold, yet they were still nothing more than overpowered individuals.

Kuroshiro
was the guide of their group, the mind of reason and insanity all rolled into
one, and she helped him with their experiments as the time passed. Nozomi was the one that gathered the information he needed,
the one capable of reading memories and bending her appearance with little more
than a thought. They had worked for years to amass what they had, but there was
still one crucial element missing. Their search was for another, another that
could survive what they had been through, another they
could look up to, another that would show Soul Society the power they
were missing out on.

It was hard, not impossible, but
hard, to work on their own bodies, and all their trial and error during their
search for that one piece had resulted in was many
overpowered chimeras with barely a brain cell between them. They weren�t total
losses, but it would have been so much better to have one successful candidate,
even just to bolster their group. They had others that could fill the role of
peons, what they needed from their kidnappings was another like them,
another person.

Now they had him. Her bone-haired
companion laid him down on the smooth granite-like table and quickly stripped
him of his customized haori and the fitted undershirt underneath, revealing the
mass of wounds he had sustained during his battle. There were many superficial
injuries, but there were a few that needed to be attended to right away before
anything else could be done.

Plucking a strand of hollow bone
from his head�which soon regenerated�the man of their group jammed it straight
into their patient�s chest. Normally they wouldn�t use anesthetic, but this was
a special case, and they needed him healthy for what they were going to do
after. Ai moved to the other side of the table and began helping stitch
together the gashes on his torso, but the one that needed the most attention
was the stab wound that had gone completely through his body. As she coaxed her
reiatsu into the cut to jump-start the healing process, she saw Kuroshiro nod to her. She nodded back, aware of what was
going to happen, and soon the man had pulled two more hairs from his body and
stabbed them right into their subject�s heart.

Even unconscious the body groaned
as flesh and muscle sizzled and mended while organ and marrow regenerated,
sealing shut the sewn wounds seamlessly. The man may have been a bastard of
unheard of proportions, but Mayuri Kurotsuchi had
been one of the greatest minds of his time. Some of his concoctions made Fourth
Division medicines look like home remedies. Then there were also some that made
Second Division truth serums look like placebos; those were among the
most frightening of his creations, and something they were going to be putting
to use very, very soon.

�He�s out of immediate danger
now. We can start whenever we want,� the silver-eyed man stated simply. �Can
you see the wisdom in patience now, Ai? I can�t imagine him being able to
accomplish what he did now a year ago.�

The woman in question flicked
some of her barbed hair behind her ear irritably. �Okay, okay, you made your
point. He�s grown tremendously in that amount of time; most Soul Reapers would
take decades to get these kinds of results.�

Kuroshiro
nodded. �True, but he�s been constantly exposing himself to Tatsuki and Ichigo
Kurosaki�s reiatsu, not to mention the other captains he�s come into contact
with. It�s a well-known fact that those in the vicinity of Ichigo Kurosaki have
displayed rather unusual strength development. Besides, we gave him plenty of
motivation.�

At that she could only laugh.
�That we did. You better hope to god you can replace those memories�� She let
the threat trail off suggestively as one of her hands trailed to the hilt of a
zanpakutou, but her companion merely chuckled darkly.

�Come now, Ai, how long have you
known me? Have I ever stated something I cannot do with perfect confidence in
my actions?�

�No,� the gray-skinned beauty
grumbled acquiescingly. Her very countenance was more out of fantasy than any
of the others, but that had to do with what she had viewed herself as while she
had been undergoing her transformation. The initial procedure itself was
painful, but nothing compared to the true trial: when the reiatsu inhibitors
were removed and the permutation was allowed to take place. As much as she was
proud of her body, her elfish qualities were always more prominent in the white
darkness of Hueco Mundo. �Where�s
Nozomi? I wanna get this
show on the road!�

�Right here, beautiful,� a sultry
voice hummed into her ear while arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her
against a body nearly as voluptuous as her own. Any idea of jumping in surprise
was made useless by the gesture, but Ai had never been one to scare. At all. Besides, if she had wanted to she could have
skewered her in the nanosecond between her words and the actions they came
with. It wouldn�t have been the first time she had done so either.

�You really have to stop that,�
she chided mockingly. �One of these days I might choose to do some real
damage.�

The living darkness that was Nozomi smiled, revealing bright fanged teeth on her
backdrop of shifting night. The only real way to know she was there was the
grey kimono she wore, and the white bone that traced certain paths of her body.
With all the dark colors her skin shifted through when she assumed her true
form, her seemingly amorphous body was given definition beyond what one would
initially assume, and her beauty was undeniable. It led one to wonder about
what she thought of herself during her transformation however.

She crossed her arms under her
bust and shook her head like a frustrated teacher. �Getting impatient are we?�

Ai very nearly growled at her.
�You and I both know that doesn�t begin to describe it.�

�That�s exactly why you were
posted by the academy and I was sent to retrieve him. Knowing you, you would
have been out at the first sign of battle, and killed the rest just for fun!�

Dark grey skin flushed slightly.
�You know me too well. I have to say I was a bit surprised though; I expected
him to be a bit more injured. This was tame, even for you.�

Nozomi�s
expression both brightened and darkened at the same time at the reminder.
�There�s a reason for that. If he had been at full strength I might have
actually had to call out one of my zanpakutous. It
wasn�t for lack of trying, I�ll tell you that. When, or if, you fight him,
you�ll know what I mean. He�s far more skilled than anyone has given him credit
for, even with that rep in the Second Division. It wasn�t anything I couldn�t
handle though, I�m just surprised how far he pushed me.
If he had had Bankai, I�m certain I wouldn�t be standing here.� She saw the
look in the other woman�s eyes right away. �Whoa, down girl! We still have
stuff we need to do, remember??�

The girl in question could barely
contain herself. �But! B-B-But!�
She pouted dramatically when her companion�s face didn�t change. �Fine. Let�s do this then.�

She and Kuroshiro
moved their unresponsive captive to his side, exposing his vulnerable back to
their inspection. It was a mark for his character that he had no scars there,
and the only marks that were there had been caused by complete bodily
penetrations. One by one the only conscious man among them began removing
spines from his bony hair, and with surgical precision Ai would insert them
into key places in their patient�s spinal column, where the effects would be
directly administered to his brain-stem. It was a dangerous procedure that in
anyone else�s hands would have killed them instantly, but each spike�s
placement had been long planned in advance for the sole purpose of avoiding
that and maximizing the results.

Rolling him to his back again, he
let out a barely audible groan as the needles were pushed deeper. Kuroshiro gave what might have been his version of a smile
as he unsheathed one of his swords, then with no warning cleaved off the man�s
right arm and slashed through his right eye. The body of the former Second
Division officer shot upwards with a terrible scream, its remaining eye wide,
gazing off into nothingness, which gave Kuroshiro all
the time he needed to raise his other zanpakutou in front of his face.

�Greetings, Gwydion Torisuna. We have much to discuss.�

~~~~~~~~

Soi-Fong
was going over various scenarios in her mind and planning strategies when her
mind was abruptly plugged in to another source. Disorientation made her body
numb, only to chill when she realized what she was suddenly looking at. From a
first-person point of view she�someone was looking over a bloodied operating table, and her
stomach lurched when she saw Ai and the newly-introduced Kuroshiro
standing over the body of her lover.

The grey-skinned woman turned to
the projector of the quite obvious Kidou transmission with a devious smirk, her
whole being wide with delight. �Why hello, all you captain�s of the Gotei Thirteen, and let�s not forget, Captain Chibi herself! We thought we should let you all know just
how one of us comes into being! You know, give you a first-hand demonstration
of the true genius and insanity of one Mayuri
Kurotsuchi! If you�re wondering why we would show you this�well, they say
morale is half the battle, right? And I do so love
messing with Chibi-chan�s head! I hope none of you
have eaten recently!�

The screams started soon later,
screams she couldn�t escape, couldn�t block out�would never forget. The screams
of a body unaware of anything but pain as flesh was flayed off and muscle
replaced, of body parts not its own being sewn lovingly into its architecture
and inhuman devices placed where others should have been. The screams of her
love having his very existence violated.

The screams of
defeat.

Soi-Fong,
captain of the Second Division and witness of untold atrocities, vomited until
she had nothing left to give but her tears.

She had lost, now the battle to
get back what she lost would begin.

~~~~~~~~

Author�s Notes: I have no idea what to say, I really don�t. I�ve
been doing things on FF.net for the past few months and am currently working on
another well-received story, so this one got put farther back on my priority
list than I would have liked. Anyhow, I�m going to post this story there
eventually. I�m still in the process of finessing and uploading A New Window,
so this one will come soon after. I still have where I want to go with this in
mind, so I�m looking forward to it. If you want to check out what I have posted
elsewhere, my penname is the same. See you there!
- 17
- 18
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That Dreaded Word