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A New Window	By : Platinumsabr Category: Bleach > Het - Male/Female Views: 13905 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. Any Original Characters are mine however, as is the story itself, and if you see it or any part of it posted elsewhere please report it

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Ash
Like Snow

�Enough of that, the Arrancar
did serve the wonderful purpose of telling me how to stabilize the
transformation, and since �will� is such a bothersome ability, one which I have
yet to rectify with Nemu, I simply removed it. Now bear witness, Ichigo
Kurosaki, to the next generation of Mod-Souls.�

Thus, he watched as the first
vacant-eyed Soul Reaper walked forward, and to his horror the puppet reached
up�

�and pulled down a mask.

There was only one word for a
situation like this.

�Oh fu��

And an explosion rocked the
area before it had even passed from his lips.

~~~~~~~~~

Kin felt the earth shake beneath
her feet as she ran to the source of her future father-in-law�s reiatsu. It was
even stronger than it had been before, by many times in fact, and she could
only guess that he had initiated Bankai. It was the only logical explanation to
that kind of increase.

However, the reiatsu she felt of
those around him were bloating because of a much different reason. She
knew the reiatsu of the Vizard transformation, as Masaki had performed it a few
times in her presence. It was just as much of an outrageous increase as it
always was, and what had her dumbfounded was she couldn�t recognize the
original reiatsu of those who had transformed. Sure, she knew there were other
Vizards in the worlds, but none that she knew of wanted to come to Soul
Society, let alone participate in a fight against one of their own. It went
against their principles, unless it was for testing of course.

She was a very apt pupil when it
came to reiatsu emotion discernment too, as her parents had thought it best she
know the emotions of her opponent to best manipulate them was it ever needed.
What was odd about this whole situation was that she felt�nothing. The only
emotions she could sense were from Ichigo and Mayuri, but all the other
impressive spiritual pressures around them were�void. They felt nothing,
nothing at all. That was simply impossible.

She doubled her pace. She had the
feeling she needed to get there now, and then there was also the
situation with Kaien to worry about

Never a dull moment around
here, that�s for sure!

~~~~~~~~~~~

When the smoke cleared from the
Cero�s explosive collision, Ichigo was revealed in perfect health, smoke
wafting from his superheated blade after the instinctive reflection of the
Menos attack like it was something he put up with on a daily basis.

He smirked cockily. �Dang that
stings, it took me forever to learn how to fire those and here these overgrown
action figures can already do it! That is one ugly mask by the way, damn!
Since that creepy bugger over there is your mother and father I can see why
though. Poor bastard.�

Mayuri flinched unnoticeably, but
his expression did visibly harden. �Childish taunts don�t become you captain. I
thought your whole purpose of this trip was to teach me a lesson at my
daughter�s request. The way it is now I don�t see you doing that anytime soon.�

Ichigo�s eyes narrowed
murderously. �Oh I will get to you. I will take out each and every
one of these fakes until I get to you, and then, if you�re lucky,
I will beat you. Right now, I�m seriously debating killing you.� Each
word emphasized hailed a rise in reiatsu, until when he was finished even the emotionless,
supposedly fearless Mod-Souls had some sweat forming on their skin. The one
masked didn�t seem any worse for wear, which was a tribute to his creator, as
much as Ichigo hated to admit it.

�Really?� the other captain asked
amusedly as he thanked the fact that he wore so many layers of clothing. It
wouldn�t be good if the orange-haired man realized even he was feeling
the pressure. �That�s quite a claim. I suppose one Cero wouldn�t really matter
to a warrior of your caliber, but I highly doubt your threat. You see, every
one of these wonderful products has been modified to disregard the reiatsu of
their brethren, but, say they should all call out their masks at once, what
would that mean for their opponent, especially should they be only one person?�

He seemed much too confident in
himself, and Ichigo, though he had been living around countless Vastro-Lorde
for the longest time, knew the veiled threat for what it was. Of course he�d
be able to withstand it, but he could think of few others able to do the same.
Even he would be feeling the pressure on his lungs though. It would seem Mayuri
had simply discarded the idea of experimenting on Vizards, and instead went straight
to the Arrancar for the answers to the transformation. He had to admit that
what the scientist had created, as abominable as they were, would indeed be a
valuable asset to Soul Society should any major disturbance happen again.

Sadly, it went against his moral
code to let such powerful puppets be under the control of someone like Mayuri
Kurotsuchi. He had heard of what the man did to tools that disobeyed him, and
he would sooner destroy them himself than leave them to the mercy of the amoral
freak-show. It was a good thing he wasn�t like Aizen though, because what he
had created could easily be used to overthrow Soul Society. He knew enough
about the man to know that would never be the case; his only goal in life was
knowledge and experimentation, and if he got any sadistic pleasure out of said
experimentation, all the better. How the man had stolen so many Arrancar from
right under his nose Ichigo couldn�t figure out, but he felt bad he couldn�t
protect them, even if they were Hollows. Nothing deserved to be put at
Mayuri�s mercy. Nothing. He pitied the Vizard creations too, he really did.

Nevertheless, they needed to be
destroyed.

He sighed. �I can guess. I really
don�t see what Hat-and-Clogs saw in you. You gave life to a beautiful woman, a
woman with just as many thoughts, feelings, and choices as any other person,
and you broke her down inch by miserable inch just so you would have another
tool in battle. You are the kind of person I hate the most!�

Mayuri rolled his eyes
dramatically. �Save me your self-righteous preaching, boy. I have no need of
petty squabbles right now, but if you are going to try something more
than feel free to face my masterpieces.�

He only had time to see Ichigo�s
knowing smile before the speedster had disappeared from his vision and
reappeared in front of the only masked Mod-Soul.

With his sword through its chest.

�I�m willing to take that as
permission,� the orange-haired captain said wickedly, then turned back to the
bloodied body skewered by his sword. �Sorry.

�Getsuga Tenshou.�

The explosion put the Cero to
shame.

~~~~~~~~~

Tsukiyomi wasn�t about to let her
father do everything. She had been humiliated in their meeting with the captain
of the Twelfth Division, and she needed to salvage her pride. She was a princess
in Hueco Mundo, one of the strongest beings there there were, and yet she too
had been played like a fool.

She was scared of death; it was
one of the few things even she would admit to being afraid of. Normally death
would mean going to Soul Society, or even Hueco Mundo, but death in spirit
meant recycling; memories gone, soul reused. It meant death death.
However, she had been given the one thing a person should never give to a
desperate person.

A way out.

She had been told by not only the
freakish scientist, but also by her own parents that it was possible for her to
avoid her fate, that it was possible for her to �complete� herself and live.
Now every neuron, electron, and proton in her body was aimed towards that one
goal: life, and anything that stood in its way. Mayuri Kurotsuchi was
going to pay for what he had done to her, and he was going to pay for each tear
she had shed with his own blood.

The reiatsu in the air was
disconcerting, because she knew it wasn�t any of the Vizards she knew, and the
Vizards she knew were the only ones there were to know of. It didn�t bother her
though; they were nothing to be afraid of in her mind. Masaki trailed behind
her as she bounded on the rooftops to the source, and her face betrayed her
anxiety.

�Don�t worry Masaki, Kai
and I will be fine. You know we wouldn�t die that easily,� is what she
said, but she only truly meant some of it. Death was never something to trifle
with, she had been taught that well.

Masaki seemed torn. �But!�

�But what!?� She
snapped, and instantly regretted it. She had been on edge ever since their
meeting with Mayuri, and her control was a hair�s breadth away from breaking.
Even though that was a very, very bad thing, in this case she was glad, because
that meant she could show what she felt for just a little while before it was
gone. �I�m�sorry. It�s just a lot to absorb all at once.� Masaki
opened her mouth to speak, and she cut her off right away. �No! It won�t
do any good to wish it had been me instead of you!� Her gaze softened
when she saw Masaki�s devastated face, and she winced as she turned her head
back to face forward. �You�re my twin sister,� she said softly, �I
would do anything for you, and I know you would for me too. To be honest�I�m
glad my little sister doesn�t have to deal with this, and if it meant sparing
you from this again I�d choose the same life no matter how many times the
situation was gone over.�

Masaki wanted to cry, but they
were happy tears. �You can be an evil, royal pain in the ass, but when it comes
right down to it you�re one of the most loving, compassionate people I know.�

Tsukiyomi chuckled and smiled.
�Don�t spread it around, I�ve got a reputation to keep.� She drew
her sword as the ground shook and a plume of smoke was visible in the near
distance. �Looks like the fireworks�ve finally started! It�s payback
time, freak!�

Her sister merely nodded grimly
and drew her zanpakutou too.

They were in for one hell of a
battle, she could sense it. She stiffened and spun when a source of reiatsu
appeared beside them all of a sudden, but she stopped in her tracks when she
saw it was only Kin, and she too looked ready for battle.

�Where�s Kaien?� she asked
immediately. He hadn�t looked too good when he had rushed out, and the last
thing they needed was for one of them to lose control while in Soul Society.
Hell, the last thing they needed was for one of them to lose control, period.

�He said he was going to be fine,
but he wanted me to get either your mom or dad, whichever one was available
just in case.�

Masaki got this sinking feeling
deep in the pit of her stomach, and she couldn�t let it go no matter how hard
she tried. �Dad�s a bit busy it would seem, and I think Mom was going to try
and find him once we left.�

Kin sighed in relief. �That�s
good to know. I�m sure he�ll catch up with us later then, so for now why don�t
we go get some revenge?�

Tsukiyomi smiled devilishly. �You
took the words right out of my mouth.�

~~~~~~~~~

It was insane. It was damn
unbelievable.

This was going to be harder than
he thought.

There had been nothing left of
the body when the smoke cleared, even the blood had evaporated in the intense
heat caused by the attack being unleashed while embedded in its body. But what
had happened later showed just how hard the battle was going to be. Mayuri had
simply stepped forward�and picked up the black gikongan pill.

�I told you I had my reservations
about your threat. That certainly was an impressive attack, but even if the
body is destroyed I can simply insert the Mod-Soul into another gigai. You�re
fighting an endless battle.�

The others had yet to move, even
after seeing one of their own literally blown to bits in front of them. Ichigo
gritted his teeth. �You�ll have trouble if they�re all destroyed before you
have a chance to get more gigais. Then there�ll only be you!�

Mayuri sighed. �I did warn you,
but now you�re simply irritating me. Be gone like a good little boy!� He raised
his hand with the strange remote in it, and pressed a small button.
Instantaneously awareness seemed to come to all the dolls, and in complete
unison they drew their swords and raised their hands to their foreheads.

Ichigo chuckled uneasily. �Aw
damn it all!�

And it just progressed from
there.

Within seconds he had been
assaulted from every side, every angle, by masked faces with dead yellow eyes
staring at him. How they had named zanpakutous he had absolutely no idea, but
the fact was they did and their abilities were nothing to laugh at. It was a
monthly event to have a huge free-for-all with the Vastro-Lorde in Hueco Mundo,
but with that their abilities were restricted to the forms they took at release.
In this case Mayuri�s observation about the Vizard and Arrancar really made
sense. He knew that without will or even consciousness, Bankai would be
impossible, so at least he had that to be thankful for.

He sliced skillfully, as if he
were fighting Hollows, and he usually never met dead air. It was the single
most disturbing fight he had ever been in. The fake Vizards showed no emotion,
made no noise when they were cut, and the only indicator of life was the blood
that came from their wounds. They were merciless, mindless killing machines;
freedom destroyed until they couldn�t even voice their pain anymore.

Ichigo on the other hand, he
could grunt his pain all too well. He was facing over a hundred things
that put some of the highest ranking Arrancar to shame. He knew sooner or later
he was going to have to call out his mask, but that would put even more strain
on the air and he doubted there were too many unseated officers within a few
miles still standing with all the reiatsu in the air already.

He sucked in air sharply when he
was caught off guard and a long whip-like zanpakutou had caught his arm in
mid-air, and right after he had been thrown to the ground. �Damn it!!� he
hollered as he rolled and brought up his blade with a crescent moon of deadly
black energy following it. The things adapted fast, and worked surprisingly
well together for not having any thoughts. Most immediately dodged what they
knew to be a killing move but he managed to catch one, and the now armless body
fell to the ground without a sound other than the heavy breathing as it tried
to get back up, regardless of the fact it only had one arm left.

An explosion of energy erupted
behind him and he had been too focused on the others to see it coming. It hit
him dead in the back and launched him forward like a pinball into the bumpers,
because he was soon tossed around the many armed enemies just like the game.
This definitely wasn�t going according to plan. He had only managed to destroy
one so far, and though he had injured far more, they all had that annoying
regenerative medicine that Mayuri always kept with him.

This was going to hurt, both him and
them, but right now it was the only way to get himself to stop moving. He didn�t
want the injuries to be ones he couldn�t deal with later on in the battle.
�Hadou Ninety! BLACK COFFIN!!�

Like the Reaper himself, the
darkness enclosed, and thankfully he was able to make it out of the blast
radius just in time. It did manage to capture at least ten that had been
following him though, but he couldn�t even smile when the black dissipated and
the bloody bodies fell lifelessly to the ground as their pills rolled from
their mouths and more rushed by and snatched them up. He hadn�t used the Kidou�s
full potential, because that would have taken too much out of him. The Eternal
Destruction spells were dangerous to begin with, but with enemies that couldn�t
even be killed by them he was rapidly running out of options.

He needed to find a way to get
rid of those things!! Permanently!

He skidded to a stop as his
sandals kicked up dust in his wake, and just as yet another fake rushed at him,
a black blur whizzed by his head until when he looked ahead, he saw the fake
slump to the ground with a black zanpakutou blazing with dark flames embedded
in it�s skull. The sword retracted when the cloth attached to it was pulled
back, and he looked behind him to see his oldest daughter standing on the air
above him, twirling the flaming blade around her wrist.

�And just when I needed a
good fight! Must be fate.�

Ichigo�s eyes widened when he saw
another Vizard appear behind her and his mouth opened just in time for her to
spin backwards and slice right through the gigai�s neck. He was almost
disturbed by how calmly she went for the vital points on the bodies, but he
guessed she had to have known that what they were dealing with weren�t actual
Soul Reapers or Vizards. The second her first kill had coughed up its pill she
had already known.

�Wake up Dad! We�ve got work to
do!� another voice called out, and he looked to his front to see Masaki had
taken point defending his unprotected areas, and she was single-handedly
fighting of five Vizards without her mask.

He wanted to reprimand them, tell
them to get away, but at the moment he had to admit to himself that he did need
help, if not just to keep some of the fakes occupied while he went in for the
captain controlling them all. He steeled himself. �Thanks girls! Let�s get this
show on the road!�

He would apologize to any
officers affected later, right now, he needed his mask.

The battle had just been kicked
up a notch with the appearance of Ichigo and Masaki�s masks and with Kin
helping out, speeding alongside them, the injuries were getting easier and
easier to avoid. Sure, the fakes may have finesse, but they lacked the raw
power of the Adjucha and Vastro-Lorde, as well as the killing instinct. They
were literally tools, but they were tools under the control of one very skilled
in the art of war and torture. For that reason alone they had to be destroyed.

Kin had forgotten what it was
like to fight without Shunkou, and the fight with Benitenchi had amplified her
speed further than she ever would have thought. By being forced to fight
without Shunpo her natural endurance and speed increased, and that meant her
other skills were boosted without her knowledge. That was all too apparent as
she dodged slash after slash and skill after skill. Demon Art, special
technique, regular attack, it didn�t matter, she flew through them all like
time had stopped just for her.

Incredible�is this really my
power? She thought as she stabbed her sword through the gut of one the
gigais that had charged her but to her horror the thing seemed unaffected by
her strike and instead raised its own sword to strike at her head. Instinct
flashed through her, and before she was even aware of what she was doing she
had let go of her sword and slapped her hands on the thing�s face before the
words leapt from her lips. �Hadou Thirty-Three: Blue Fire Crash!�

The spell vaporized the head her
hands were on and blew through anything unfortunate enough to be in its path as
it cruised forward to no particular target until with a mighty explosion it hit
the nearest wall. Kin couldn�t restrain the victorious laugh that escaped her.
�Take that!!� Sometimes she even surprised herself with her power.

She had to quickly take up her
sword again, because with those she had destroyed even more came at her, and
she could see the captain popping those pills into even more bodies. She
couldn�t release her sword, because a blunt force object would make no sense
against things that needed to be killed in order to be stopped. Sharp
things were the best for that. Dust shot into the air beside her and she saw a
masked Masaki pull herself out of a hole she had created at impact. Her blade
was the same as always, in fact in the entire time Kin had known her she had
never seen her release her blade once.

She was a natural with the
regular katana, and her training was shown in how fluidly she moved with the
blade. It wasn�t a weapon, it was an extension of her arm. With every strike
sent her way she parried in a way that minimized the shock up her arm and
perfectly reflected it where she wanted. More than a few times she had blocked an
oncoming attack only to slide her blade to the side and Kin could only watch as
the attack glided down her blade and right through the head of an attacker that
had come up behind her. She wasn�t even using her full strength, instead she
was using the opponent�s strength against them. Her dance with Ikki was awesome
to behold, but she was no pushover by herself either.

A laugh to her right and
Tsukiyomi was seen rancorously setting foes ablaze with enough emotion on her
face for Kin to be worried. The instantly cauterized wounds caused by her
flaming zanpakutou weren�t enough for the teen, no, she could only be satisfied
by looking into the dull eyes of the foes she blocked against before her sword
instantly combusted them and they were reduced to mere piles of ash; that
infuriatingly versatile pill gleaming unhurt in the rubble.

Ichigo was getting annoyed. He
was destroying gigais left and right and so were his allies, and yet they just
kept coming back. He wanted to get to Mayuri, he had to get to Mayuri. He
raised his arms behind his head to block the attack from behind, a tactic they
seemed to be fond of, and with a flex of his muscles his sword had cut through
the blade pressing against his and went right up through the masked face above
it. Still in the same movement, Ichigo simply brought his arms down like an axe
and cleaved through the one in front of him too as he ducked and twirled,
sending his sword�s signature attack into the one flying at his seemingly
unbalanced form.

The pace was relentless, and
under any other circumstances he would have been enjoying himself. However, if
he didn�t do something one of his friends would not only have the love of his
life taken away, but also the life that had been spawned from that love. He
wasn�t going to let that happen. �Dammit, just die already!!!� he
screamed as he fired a Cero into the new batch of resuscitated Vizards running
at him.

His spine went stiff when he
heard a pained female cry above the noise of the battle. He spun on the balls
of his feet to see Kin clutching her leg, where a zanpakutou had been stabbed
clear through her thigh. She was like a wounded animal in a den of lions,
because the others honed in on that cry like a mating call.

�KIN!!� he shouted
fearfully as he shot over to try and protect her. Kaien would kill himself if
Kin died, and the wound on her leg was very close to being a fatal one. He
couldn�t make it, not even he could go fast enough to get there in time!
He needed to�

He froze when the scarf around
her neck sprung to unholy life and each individual strand uncoiled and fired
through the foreheads of every Vizard that had been coming at her, killing them
instantly.

Then the air gained physical
form.

Ichigo stumbled as a reiatsu
darker and more demonic then his own unexpectedly pressed down on him and all
the other combatants with crushing force. It wasn�t as powerful as his, but the
sheer amount of killing intent in the spiritual substance had even the mindless
creations shaking severely in fear.

�Oh no�� he breathed out
in a near-silent whisper.

A body fell from the sky and
crashed to the ground below with a huge flare of dust on impact. Before the
dust even settled he knew what was there, for a vicious hiss of Hollowized
breath came out in greeting. The dust fell to the ground faster than he wanted,
almost like even the grains of sand in the air were afraid of the presence they
had heralded. The grey-green skin came into view first, but Ichigo�s eyes
widened in terror at the white clothing on the young man, stained all but
completely red except in a few white patches.

Dark laughter coursed through the
air as the head turned to evaluate the scene he had dropped into. Even though
Kin was in a significant amount of pain, her heart almost stopped when she
realized the eyes tattooed over with orange flames were open.

And there was nothing to look at.

He had no eyes. Only vacant space
looked back at her from the open eyelids as blood continued to pour like tears
from them. His grin was wide and inhuman, and she was sure even though there were
no eyes that could be seen, they were glinting maniacally. She hadn�t dared
move, not after the scarf that she treasured like her own life had come to a
life of its own and killed all her attackers. They were identical to Kaien�s
tentacle-like weapons in his Hollow form, and now she knew that was exactly
what they were. He was covered in blood, and she could see the scars open and
oozing, though the blood never fell from his body.

It was terrifying. He was
terrifying.

~~~~~~~

Ichigo turned to Masaki. �This
is getting out of hand. This isn�t the place for me to be releasing my reiatsu
like what he needs, so use that Kidou Isane taught you and have Sora get over
here right away! Have Asuka ready the Garganta for him, we can�t have any
holdups!�

Masaki nodded. She saw her
father�s plan.

~~~~~~~

�K-Kaien�no�� Kin whimpered. She
had helped him! He had told her she had!! Why was he like this!? Why was he
here!? Dammit what�s going on here!?!?!?

He sniffed at the air
experimentally, and if he had eyes Kin was sure they had just fixed themselves
on her. None of the enemies had dared move, even under the opposite orders of
Mayuri. He walked towards her like he wasn�t used to using his own legs, but it
still got him there. The sword was still embedded in her leg, and it hurt like
nothing else, but she could only blame herself. If she had had Shunkou
activated it never would have made it to her, let alone into this kind of
wound. She had been overconfident, and that had been her downfall. Now she was
helpless as this�thing that looked like her fianc� walked towards her.

He crouched down and stared at
her with the twin voids that occupied where his eyes had once been, and she
gulped worriedly. She cringed when he leaned forward, but to her surprise he
merely stuck his nose into her collarbone and inhaled deeply. His face turned
curious and he moved down to the sword in her leg, where once again he sniffed
like a confused dog. Wary, the long, oddly-colored tongue that had Kin cringing
worse than before stretched from his mouth and the second it had touched the
red liquid flowing from her leg he recoiled and snarled at the Vizards that
were once again moving, which stopped them cold.

He didn�t look confused anymore,
and Kin couldn�t understand why. The monstrous Kaien held his bloody arms out
to her like he wanted to show her something before he motioned to her leg. �Blo�od�.
Pa�rtn�er�. Mi�ne�� The words came out slowly, broken past a voice box not
used to making anything other than feral noises and a mind not adapted to human
speech.

Kin couldn�t make anything of his
words, but he seemed to be honestly trying to communicate with her. He seemed
to understand he wasn�t being understood, and so he leaned forward again and
Kin went stiff when he pressed his thin lips against hers.

Her eyes widened.

His kiss was tender. Not
forceful and angry, or hungry and needy; no, it was gentle, tender, exactly
like the kiss at the Soukyoku. He remembered her! He knew she was something
important to him!

Again, he tried to speak. �My�blo�od�you�ha�ve.
Part�ner.� He was quickly getting a grasp of the language, because already
he had succeeded in making his words easier to understand. He put his fingers
to her lips and she gasped. He was saying she had his blood! He was referring
to the lake, when she had accidentally bit into his shoulder!

Quite possibly, that had just
saved her life.

She always wondered why he hadn�t
recognized her the first time he had transformed, because according to Asuka
even the most low-level Hollow recognized a mate. Now he recognized her
though. He was terrifying, but he was still her Kaien deep down.

He jerked in front of her and a
shadow was cast over them from the man now standing behind them. �How amazing,
so you were actually hiding something like that under your reiatsu control? And
you even inspired enough fear in my creations to cut off their receptors to my
orders. You�ve just stepped up a notch on my importance list, I must get you
back to the lab right away,� Mayuri said excitedly as he held his released zanpakutou.

The one which had just been
stabbed into Kaien�s back.

Kin watched as he slumped to the
ground, and even though he had never been cut by that particular zanpakutou
before, he wasn�t going into his usual convulsions. Of course she knew from her
father that Ashisogi Jizou cut off all movement signals to the muscles, even if
they were completely autonomous reactions. She had been warned because she
relied almost completely on her movement, and it hadn�t even been that to
incapacitate her. She felt like an idiot, but thankfully that poison also meant
Mayuri was none the wiser to his ability�s side-effect.

With the fall of the source of
their fear, the fake Vizards were much more inclined to move again, and Kin was
still out of action. However, now that action had been taken, Ichigo and the
others were done watching as well.

�Get. The HELL. Away from my
SON!� Ichigo shouted as he threw away any notion of holding back and went
right into his White Transformation. With a swish of his sword and an
array of dark light emanating from it, all the Vizards in front of him found
themselves without their upper halves.

Mayuri looked over at the
interruption. �I have something far more interesting than this little match
right now, so I�m going to stop fooling around with you. Ban Kai.� The release
came unexpectedly at the end of the sentence, but it triggered the full release
of the Soul Cutter in his hand, and soon the gigantic abomination that seemed
like a horrible cross between a caterpillar and a cape-wearing baby had filled
a good deal of the area as purple smoke wafted from its mouth.

Ichigo coughed and he could see
his daughters and Kin doing the same. He had heard about this Bankai before,
and he knew now that without the antidote or some other way to eliminate the
poison they were dead. The battle had taken on a whole new seriousness.

Then he felt a hand on his
shoulder.

~~~~~~~

Kin was staring at Kaien, who was
still bleeding and yet not bleeding, completely immobile on the ground as he
snarled up at the captain looking over him in wonderment. Her scarf had
returned to normal, but now that she knew where to look, she knew his tendril
weapons were merely extensions of his hair, otherwise her scarf wouldn�t have
responded like that. Since she was so close, she could see something moving
underneath his skin, and though it sickened her, to some extent she was
actually happy, because it meant he hadn�t given up yet.

More like he had just been pissed
off.

She watched the downward
progression as from his head down, the movement of millions of tiny snake-like
threads could be seen moving under his skin. Mayuri couldn�t see anything since
Kaien was still on his belly facing away from him, but Kin could see it. She
watched as they made their way to his fingers and toes, and from there she
could see them tighten in place, like they had wrapped themselves around each
of his individual strands of sinew in place of the now-defunct muscles. When
they tightened she couldn�t even see the bulges anymore. Then she saw his
finger twitch.

He was moving! Even with Ashisogi
Jizou�s specialized nerve poison flowing through him he was moving! And she
could tell from his face, he was far beyond just pissed.

With a savage howl he leapt to
his feet with his makeshift muscles moving his body. Mayuri was so surprised he
didn�t even react when the Hollow Kaien had pulled back his fist and punched
him clean in the face, which sent him flying back into his Bankai. Nothing
happened after that, in fact it was like Kaien had been entranced. He stood stock
straight as he sniffed the air repeatedly, and then his empty eye-sockets
fixated themselves on the golden-headed creature.

With no warning he ran full speed
into the Bankai�s mouth.

�KAIEN!!!� Kin screamed as the
creature ate him without hesitation, more like it had invited the man into its
mouth. She coughed heavily and realized the poison was taking effect, yet she
couldn�t even move.

�He�ll be fine. The murderous
aura hasn�t left the air yet,� a low male voice said and she looked up to see Renji
Abarai standing beside her with Hanatarou at his side.

She didn�t question his
observation, because it only took a second to confirm it herself. �Wh-What
about the poison?� she rasped, looking at the two unaffected people beside her.
Something caught her eye and she looked at their arms. She gasped.

The Hornet�s Crest.

�I�ve already hit anyone who may
have gotten any in their system, even the Hollow. Relax princess, this will all
be over soon,� a feminine voice said from her other side, and Kin looked over
in surprise to see the person she had been looking forward to seeing the most.

�Auntie Soi-Fong!� she cried
happily.

The hard-looking older woman
smiled tenderly at the youth. �I�m sorry. I would have come sooner had I known
things would escalate to this level. We can�t allow the Shihouin heir to the
Second Division to die after all! I�m��

Her words were cut off when the
gigantic Bankai behind them started bubbling and screaming. Like a banshee the
creature screamed, until with a deafening boom it burst into a million
pieces, and they could see Mayuri�s stunned expression from his place beside
it.

When the smoke started clearing
they could make out Kaien�s outline, but when it dissipated completely Kin
could hear Renji�s harsh intake of breath. He didn�t look like he did when he
went in, and instead he seemed to be wearing some kind of odd dress-like
covering with eight two-toned wings spreading from his back.

�He ate it�I don�t believe it, he
bloody-well jumped in there to eat that!� Renji muttered in disbelief.
Even after nearly two decades, it hadn�t decomposed.

Kaien�had absorbed Fornicaras.

He didn�t hold the form for long,
but he had gotten what he wanted. An Espada release wasn�t something one came
across every day, especially when there were so little of them left. The Hollow
Kaien had been able to sniff out the corpse even though it had been twenty
years since the Winter War. It was a useful form, but right then the only thing
Kaien had going through his mind was: Hurt, revenge, kill.

It wasn�t a battle anymore, it
was a bloodbath.

The grey-green Hollow tore into
the Vizards like a wounded animal. Whether it was limb, head, sword, it didn�t
matter; if it was swung at him, he tore it off. He had innumerable tendrils at
his disposal, and they sliced through just as many enemies as he did with his
bare hands. He was a bloodied mess making a bloody mess, and Kin nearly vomited
as the scene rapidly deteriorated into something one would expect from a
slasher film.

Hanatarou knelt down beside her
and she flinched when she felt something prick her arm. �What�d you do!?�

He smiled gently. �I merely gave
you some pain medication. You�ll need it when I do this.� Right when he
said �this� he pulled the sword from her leg and she cried out as the blade was
pulled from her bone. He knew regular healing wasn�t going to be enough for a
wound like this, but he wasn�t the seventh seat of his division for nothing.
His zanpakutou was ideal for these kinds of situations. With a simple slash the
wound had been absorbed and Hisagomaru had been filled to capacity. With a
flicker of movement he had slashed the filled weapon at the battlefield and
surprisingly, a Vizard fell to his attack.

What they saw next froze their
blood. Kaien launched himself at the corpse before picking out the gleaming
black pill and popping it into his mouth. �Kaien don�t!!�

With a sickening crunch
they realized he hadn�t swallowed it; no, he was eating it.

He had found a way to get rid of
the pills for good, and from the way his reiatsu was expanding like a Gillian
evolving to an Adjucha, they knew it wasn�t just getting rid of it.

�Why didn�t I think of
that!?� A maniacal voice asked loudly. Tsukiyomi had lost her fight.
She was far too mad at Mayuri, the fake Vizards, and the fact that she once
again had to rely on someone else, this time for relief from the poison. With
angry strokes she cleaved through the remaining Vizard, eating each pill she
stole from the burnt bodies when she was done. Just like Kaien, her reiatsu
grew each time. They really were partly Hollow, they were getting stronger from
eating those with high spiritual pressure, even if they were mindless gikongan
pills.

Kin couldn�t let this go on. She
had power now, and though that power may not be able to get Kaien back to
normal, hopefully it would be able to do something. The others beside her
gasped as she stood and her reiatsu flared around her as she pushed it to the
surface. She had to stop him, her, them. She could still fight, so now
she would. She didn�t have time to waste on a grandiose scene before she called
her out, she was needed and she was needed now!

�BAN KAI!�

The explosion of wind halted the
battle, and for those moments it was like existence itself held its breath.
When the smoke cleared, something which seemed to be quite common during this
battle, Kin was revealed, wearing a form-fitting golden breastplate that
matched her hair perfectly. However, it was what was behind her that had
their attention. Red wings were stretched behind her back, innumerable feathers
made of translucent ruby as they hung in the air seemingly by their own will.
Inside each one glowed the same blue sparks as the orbs on the ends of her
Shikai, and a second later the reason was revealed.

Kin had activated Shunkou. Her
Bankai ran on the same principle as her Shikai apparently, and its strength was
heightened by the highly destructive skill. When she pointed her hands forward
the feathers all spread out, until like pointers they each straightened towards
a target. They�weren�t wings. No, the feathers only made that illusion when
they weren�t spread out.

�Hadou Four: White Lightning!�

And from each of those
feathers, the spell came forth.

Everyone on the field of combat
was forced to dodge as the bolts came at them from every direction, and only a
few Vizards made it out unscathed. It was awe-inspiring at the amount of
destruction that could be made from four words with that zanpakutou. Soi-Fong
was gaping in disbelief, but Ichigo at least was smiling. It had worked after
all.

�Okay, everyone stop or I�ll
start going into bigger numbers!�

Renji and the others had come to
make sure the situation didn�t get out of hand, and from the looks of it, that
was exactly what was happening. However, they weren�t to get involved with the
fighting directly, they had been ordered.

Kaien though, was under no such
authority.

Mayuri on the other hand, couldn�t
believe the turn the situation had taken in such a short amount of time. He
still had many of the pills left and for once his subordinates didn�t fail him
and in the nick of time he had more bodies. His Bankai�s main body had been
destroyed, but thankfully he still had the normal zanpakutou that came with it to
rely on. He wasn�t completely useless when it came to combat.

He watched as the Hollow Kaien
tore through his ranks, using a different zanpakutou every time. His mouth was
nearly watering by now. He wanted to experiment on the specimen in front of him
so badly it hurt. He was a marvel, a miracle, an absolute anomaly that
shouldn�t ever have been able to exist. Oh what he could discover! After putting the last of his pills into the
new bodies, an expert use of Shunpo had him right behind the person responsible
for nearly single-handedly destroying two-thirds of his army.

With no gentle touch, he roughly
grabbed him by the hair and put his sword at his throat from behind. �I know
you�re aware of your mortality, you wonderful mystery you. So you should know
that I could kill you right now. Come quietly and we can avoid that. I would
hate to kill off such a unique specimen.�

Even Ichigo froze. He now had a
trump card, and he could do whatever he wanted thanks to it. Even Kin with her
omni-directional Bankai couldn�t do anything.

However, those that could see
Kaien�s face only saw an unnaturally wide grin stretch over his face. �You�fell�for�it.
Once�a�night�every�night�touch�them�and�find�zan�pak�tou�de�stro�yed�!�
Though it came out broken and slow, it was understandable, and since Mayuri�s
sword was still the remnant left by his Bankai, and thus already released,
instantly it blew apart.

Metastacia�s power, no doubt
about it.

�What!?� The blue-haired captain
cried in astonishment.

Ichigo knew something had to
happen right away or his son was going to become too powerful to do anything
against. However with a flick of the scientist�s hand the remote had once again
reappeared and with Kaien still standing straight, in an instant five Vizards
had appeared and each one had their zanpakutou through his abdomen.

�KAIEN!�

�KAIEN!�

�KAIEN!!�

Ichigo, Masaki, and Tsukiyomi all
cried out at once. He slumped to the ground, where Mayuri angrily kicked him
against the nearest wall.

�You arrogant brat!!! I�m going
to enjoy slicing you up until every one of those hairs throughout your body is
nothing more than a barbershop�s memory!�

This time Kaien was
panting, and the blood was actually escaping the open wounds, where before it
was like the blood had been kept in the scar tissue through sheer force of
will. Even if it couldn�t be seen outwardly because of the nerve poison, being
simultaneously stabbed by five zanpakutous was putting the young man,
Hollowized or not, through a tremendous amount of pain. Since they had gone
clear through his stomach, that didn�t bode well for the healing factor either.

�Masaki! Zanpakutou, now!! We
can�t let him continue!� Ichigo shouted frantically, and Masaki instantly
understood.

She promptly pulled the mask from
her face and as soon as Ikki had materialized, the inner Hollow had already
drawn her sword and faced her opposite. They each put a hand on each other�s
sword hilt and in perfect unison cried out: �Synchronize, Tamasine!�

The normal and white swords
glowed in their owners� hands and melted onto them, until when they were done
both Masaki and Ikasam were wearing fighting gloves, one white and one black.
On the tops of their hands, in the middle of the metal material were ornate clock
hands, both of the opposing color of the hand they were on. The same was true
of their eyes. Masaki now had one completely Hollowized eye, and Ikki now had
one completely normal eye. There was something else different too.

Their breathing, blinks, muscle
movements, everything about them was in complete�synch. Like they were the same
person they clapped their hands together and pointed them at the battlefield.

�Lord of Time��

��embrace thy children.�

They didn�t even talk in complete
sentences anymore, one started and the other completed. It was amazing to
watch, as two people acted in complete harmony. It was a step beyond their
swordplay, and when Kin thought about it she realized that their unique swordsmanship
was likely a side-effect of such a dramatic release. What was more amazing was
that every single person in the field of vision they had pointed at had stopped
moving like they had been petrified.

It was a truly amazing ability.
Together, they had the capacity to stop time.

They had never tried this
particular ability on Kaien before because they hadn�t known how his blood
would react to it, but when they looked at him they saw something far worse. It
had done absolutely nothing. He was still bleeding, and he was still
trying to move. He wanted to fight, even though he was seriously injured. It
was a major downside of the transformation.

�Oh��

��shit!�

�He�s not affected by our
zanpakutou! It must��

��be �cause he�s been cut
by it before!�

They even spoke the same amount
of words each time they talked. It was plain creepy.

�Release me this instant!!�
Mayuri ordered irately. It only cut off movement, just like the nerve poison of
Ashisogi Jizou, so things like talking were still simple to accomplish. �I will
get my Lieutenant back, mark my words! As soon as I�ve returned her to normal��

They were the last words Mayuri
Kurotsuchi ever spoke.

No one had expected it, no one
had seen it coming, the only thing that had been seen was the flash of movement
before the sword had been sliced through his white neck and his head had fallen
to the ground. The woman holding the bloody blade wept loudly as she took in
the dead body, the truly, honestly dead body of the captain of the Twelfth
Division. She shook violently even as she pointed her hand at the disembodied
head. �Hadou Fi-Fifty-four: Blaze of Rescindment.�

And with that, the head had been
removed from existence.

Nemu Kurotsuchi stood there, one
hand holding her bloody sword, the other clasped to her growing belly.
�F-Father�� it was only one of a handful of times she had ever addressed him
like that, yet another thing he had deprived her of. �I�m�I�m so sorry!!� She
cried loudly and fell to her knees in tears. �I couldn�t!! I couldn�t let you
take away my baby!! I w-won�t let you hurt m-me, o-or anything I love�not ever
again!!!�

Hanatarou walked over to her,
still in shock over the death of a captain, but relieved beyond any description
of the word at the same time. Free. They were�free. He let her clasp onto him
as she cried and he held her comfortingly, it was the only thing he could
do. Even though he had been twisted, sadistic, and insane above all else, he
had still been the one to have given her life. He had been her father, and she
had just killed him.

It was like the entire area
hadn�t been expecting this sudden end, but one by one it seemed to sink into
the combatants that their fight was over. The fake Vizards had stopped moving
with the death of their creator, the only one to have control over them; Mayuri
Kurotsuchi was no more. The fight�was over.

However, Kaien still remained in
peril, whether his Hollow existence wanted to admit it or not. Masaki
and Ikki sighed before clapping their hands again and time was restored to the
bodies, when at last Mayuri�s beheaded body fell to the ground, as did all the
Vizards now that they had no one to give them orders. They had been able to do
nothing for Kaien, and to be honest they didn�t know if anyone could do
anything for Kaien.

As if on some divine cue, the
Garganta opened wide. The Soul Reapers that had gathered at the sight of the
Twelfth Division Bankai were quickly panicking, but Ichigo calmed them down
right away before they did anything drastic. �Don�t worry! It�s help you
idiots! Help!�

The orange head of hair could be
seen even before he had jumped out of the Garganta, and the last thing they saw
before the hole closed was a twirl of blue hair. Asuka had wanted to come,
desperately in fact. If her Prince and Princess were in danger, it was only
natural. Nevertheless, she had followed her orders, as much as it ate at her
insides to do so.

Hirenkyaku took him to the
sources of the reiatsu in an instant, and seeing Ichigo still completely Hollowized
was something he hadn�t been expecting. The entire area he stepping into was
bathed in a thin layer of blood, and he could see Tsukiyomi cutting open more
bodies on the ground. He was greatly relieved when he saw her pull out the
gikongan, which meant they weren�t really souls. He would hate to have to stop
her only for her to realize she had murdered countless people. He wouldn�t wish
that on anyone�s conscience.

His breath escaped him when he
saw Kaien. He was Hollowized, but he was cut in so many places his grey-green
skin might as well have been red. Worse than all of that yet, was that he had
five stab wounds�from what he could tell anyways�that went right through his
body, and from the way they weren�t healing he could only guess they were firsts.

�What in the hell happened here?�
he asked as he adjusted his slim glasses. Tsukiyomi�s reiatsu was really
getting to him, but he had been around her long enough to bear it, even if it
was stronger than usual. She looked so beautiful, even battle-torn and openly
angry, her pristine white skin still looked amazing. He blushed and adjusted
his glasses again. Not the time Sora, not the time!

�That doesn�t matter right now!
Please, can you try to help Kaien??� Masaki asked desperately, her sword
already resealed in its sheath, though Ikki was still beside her with the same
amount of worry written all over her face.

Sora took a shuddering breath in.
He was wary to even get close to the young man right now, but thankfully
his power could be used at a distance. �Do those cuts go all the way through
his body?� he asked beyond hope. A cut was significantly different from a stab
wound. Cuts only damaged the outer layer, the epidermis, but stabs often
chipped into bone, and usually internal organs too. This was what they had all
been afraid of. If his organs had been cut and they too were scarred from
completely healing, internal bleeding was inevitable, as was�death.

From the devastated looks on the
two identical faces in front of him, Sora didn�t even need to get a verbal
response. �Dammit,� he whispered angrily. �I�ll do my best.� He placed his
ringed hands out toward the young man still sitting pitifully against a wall,
trying his best to move even though his body was in no condition to do anything
like it. �Souten Kishun, I Reject!�

The fairies shot off his fingers
and over to the convulsing body, but just as they were about to encircle him a
hand slapped to the side and shattered the oval about to encompass him.

Silence.

Nejibana stood there, as regal as
ever. Crystal
tears were falling from her pale blue eyes and from her appearance they could
tell that she had been crying for quite some time. She stood protectively in
front of her partner, her oceanic hair still floating elegantly in the air
behind her. �You cannot help him any longer,� she said, and her smooth,
spring-water-like voice could almost be felt as having been taken over by the
pure, audible sadness that all tears displayed in physical form. It couldn�t
even be described accurately, it was like that sadness that could never be expressed
but through tears was vocalizing itself, piercing itself into their very souls.
The queen of the raging ocean was weeping, and in her voice were the cries of
hundreds of thousands of tears.

�No�� Masaki whimpered, �YOU�RE
LYING!! WE CAN STILL HELP HIM!! HE�S NOT DYING! HE�S NOT!!!!�

Nejibana swallowed the giant lump
in her throat, and she didn�t even try to stop the water falling from her
eyelids. She didn�t answer as she watched Masaki and Ikki dissolve into tears
as they fell to their knees, and instead turned to Sora, who himself was
standing there in frozen disbelief. �Tend to her, young one. She needs you
more than he does.�

And she turned away.

~~~~~~~

As much as it pained him to admit
it, she was right. He could do something for Tsukiyomi, but it had been
made abundantly clear that it was not his place to try and help Kaien.
Wordlessly, he nodded solemnly to her even though it was a pointless gesture and
walked over to the white young woman, still bathing in carnage as she tried to
deprive more fake bodies of their mindless cores. He knew he should have known
better, but that didn�t stop him from putting his hand on her shoulder. Maybe
it was the depth of the moment that halted his brain processes, or maybe the
chance to touch her was too tempting to resist, but nonetheless he had
immediately been blown into the wall behind her.

Tsukiyomi had reacted on impulse,
and even in her completely emotional mind she still had to see who she had just
punched. This being, this personality hidden deep in her psyche, the one
allowed to love, hate, experience to every possible extreme froze solid
upon witnessing an orange head of hair now smeared with blood. One frame of his
glasses was cracked and they were askew on his face, but it was the wound on
his head that brought that emotional being to the brink.

She knew him. Like Ikki, she too
was like another being, trapped inside, constantly wanting out. She could do
everything her host didn�t allow her to do, she was the side of herself not
even she wanted to admit existed. She was the part of her that wanted to try
crazy things, that wanted to run amok, or just run period. She was the part of
humanity that every human had but most had the opposing angel called common
sense to balance it out. She was spontaneity on steroids, emotions at their
purest, most basic level. She loved what she wanted to love, hated what she
wanted to hate, and wanted to go through life in the moment where reason and
consequences didn�t matter. Constantly�searching.

Yet she recognized the face, the
bleeding head of the teen now only half-conscious. She had played with him long
before their time in Hueco Mundo, trained with him as he struggled through his
inability to use some of the most basic Quincy
techniques as he watched his older brother master one after another. She had
been there when his rings had manifested, when the only one she had
given him had turned into his only method of attacking, as the others turned
into his ability to repel death and save life. He was the one she constantly
wished was an Arrancar, just so she would be able to show physical affection
without hurting him.

For him, she had actually wanted
to let this side of herself free, just so she could tell him she might�like
him.

And now, just like in so many of
her nightmares, he was hurt. Because of her.

The manic glint that had been
growing steadily in her eyes as her reiatsu continued to swell with each pill
she devoured, dimmed almost completely as she finally comprehended the fact
that she had nearly killed the only man her age she would trust with her life.
Oscar was nice, but he was too unpredictable and dare she even say violent, for
her to trust absolutely. As unlikely as it was, it was a human that held all
the attributes she would look for in a significant other. He acted just like
she did, calmly, but with pride. He was proud he was a Quincy, if only in name. He was proud of what
he could do, of the modest, if not highly developed for their basic function, Quincy techniques he could
use. He was stubborn, but not overly so, and he had an�airheadedness about him
that made her want to smile at every lame joke he told, even if he could keep
his emotions and his cool hidden deep behind the panes of glass that shielded
his eyes, more so than his older brother could ever hope to achieve. He was
simply Sora Ishida.

She knew how her dad would react
if he knew she was falling for an Ishida, but she couldn�t deny that it felt
wonderful to give herself up to the wind as she fell from that tall peak and
see where it took her, whether that be to the sunny shores of happiness or the
deadly rapids of rejection.

This�was what she always wanted
to experience. This feeling, show this emotion as herself, not her strange
Hollowized side that took everything to the extreme. This blissful unknown
between love and friendship that took a human heart to either overcome or
abandon, the human heart that had the freedom to make the choice between the
two.

In that moment something snapped
inside her, something clicked into place. She stood unexpectedly in a meadow of
yellow flowers, clouds floated sideways in the sky above. She watched, frozen
in time as she saw herself, her human self with dark, Hollowized
eyes smile sadly, as if resigning herself to her fate. As she looked closer
however she saw that it wasn�t herself, but it was someone who looked extremely
like her. She too had white hair and Hollowized eyes, like she had noticed
earlier, but not only was her skin different, but also subtle differences in
the bone structure of her face, and eyes not thin and seductive, but instead
wide and innocent, even with the dark transformation that had overtaken them.
This�wasn�t her, yet she knew deep down inside that this being, this entity,
was what she had been fighting against. She had never thought it had a
recognizable form before.

You finally did it, the
unlikely doppelganger said, with what may have been deciphered as happiness
etched in melancholy deep in her voice.

She tried to speak, tried to say
something to the entity, the version of herself that she had been fighting
against for the last how many years of her life, but no words would come.
Instead, she found her arms lifting, unburdened by the constant nattering that
had nearly succeeding in destroying her mental health more times than she would
care to admit.

The peachy-skinned, Hollowized person
that looked so much like her smiled. I know. I finally know where I belong.
She showed me that when she pointed him to you�and he in turn showed you
without even being aware of it. It�s funny, I never got to talk with you once,
the only thing I thought I could do was help you feel. Now, when it�s
finally time�I find myself wanting to tell you about all the things I felt as I
watched us interact and I thought of all the things that could make it better,
as I felt all the things you wanted to feel. I guess in the end, the one who
had never shown emotion ended up showing the one who only felt emotion what it
was like to truly experience, and what living life with emotions was
meant to be like. I guess I can say irony did literally kill me!

She stopped and rubbed her eyes
as tears now flowed. So I guess this is our first and final meeting then. It
sucks, but sooner or later this day was going to come. I�m just glad you
embraced me sooner rather than later. Six years is far too short, especially
when it comes to realizing the true value of feeling. We won�t meet again, but
I�ll always be with you. Goodbye, sister I never met. To Masaki I gave my life,
my will so that she could live. To you�I gave my emotions, my future.
Everything I wanted to experience and everything I wanted you to experience
with the life I had restored.

I�m sorry I wasn�t strong
enough to live with you, and I�m sorry I was too strong to live without hurting
you. Now I finally understand what I wanted to feel, what I felt from mother�s
song. Masaki and Ikki had it the moment they were born, but now I finally
understand too. It�s not that I wanted to receive love to understand it, it�s I
wanted to give it. I wanted to give and receive everything I could, and
because of that you had to hide everything that would usually be used to show
that. I�m so sorry, but now, I finally, finally know what to say.

With that, she too stretched her
arms towards her, and Tsukiyomi couldn�t understand it, but she could feel
tears falling from her eyes. I love you Mother, Father, Masaki, Ikasam, and
I love you brother I never got the chance to meet. I love you Tsukiyomi, and
this is really goodbye. Thank you, I�ll never forget the years I lived through
you, and I�m sorry I couldn�t give you what you needed without these results.

She smiled sadly as she reached
forward and hugged her, where Tsukiyomi found she could do nothing else but
clasp on to her desperately, like she didn�t want to let this person go no matter
how strong the feeling inside her was that this was what needed to be done.
Tsuki could feel the warmth flow into her as the youth in her arms started
fading, glowing as if by her own light as her existence was at last absorbed.

I couldn�t let my two sisters
die after all, even if it was my life you needed.

Realization struck Tsukiyomi like
lightning, and suddenly she understood the reason for the tears falling down
her eyes. Her sister, her third sister. It wasn�t that she was too weak to
survive in the womb, it was that she had chosen to give up her life so that the
two that were too weak to survive would live.

She fell to her knees as she
pounded he grassy, flower-laden ground and tears fell from her eyes. She could
feel. She could feel�without worrying about how to feel.

�Goodbye�sister who saved
my life�I love you too�.�

And just like that, her reiatsu
changed.

She fell back to reality in the
second heartbeat it had taken to have the revelation of her inner world, the
truth of her very life. She shuddered involuntarily as she felt her reiatsu
spike, as something changed in the very core of her being. She could feel the
happy tears of the part of herself now past as it fused seamlessly into her
spirit, where it belonged for the first time in her life. It was the feel of
the burden that had weighed her down for the past five years turn into a
blessing, and at the same time she was sad to see the burden go, when she knew
what that meant now. The last of their sister�s soul was gone now, but
paradoxically it lived on in them at the same time.

She felt tears fall from her eyes
as she saw the blue oval of his healing powers over his body. He was awake
enough to heal himself, she hadn�t done anything that couldn�t be undone.
Tatsuki had finally reappeared after following the commotion, and she felt the
drastic change in her daughter�s reiatsu, and not just it�s frightening volume
either. She stood by her, stunned, as she saw the tears not black, but normal,
fall from her Hollowized eyes.

Tsukiyomi�had completed herself.

Before that could even be fully
comprehended, she had ran over and thrown herself into the young Ishida just
recently healed as she continued weeping, both tears of joy and tears of
sadness.

The look on Sora�s face was
priceless, and he didn�t know what to make of the normally calm and collected
Tsukiyomi crying into his shoulder, but he did know now was not the time to
speak, so he simply embraced her comfortingly and allowed her to cry. He didn�t
care if this was a dream and he really hadn�t saved himself from
unconsciousness, if it was real he was going to savor it.

He had the feeling something very
drastic had just happened, and when he looked over, he saw another miracle happening
on the bloodstained battleground.

~~~~~~~~~

Nejibana smiled somberly as she
watched Tsukiyomi go through everything that she needed to. She had always had
everything she needed, the only prerequisite had been that she recognize that.
For the one that always fought off emotion even before her soul�s powers had
been developed, the hardest thing to do was to realize that she actually wanted
to receive and reciprocate them.

Kaien was still squirming behind
her, but she knew better than anyone that the Hollow had pushed his body far
past his limits. Even though the neural poison had been neutralized at the same
time as the deadly counterpart that came later thanks to the addition of
Suzumebachi; his body had still been put under far too much of a strain. Though
using his tendrils to take back control of his uncooperative muscles had been
an excellent strategy, it had damaged them at the same time, and with his
reiatsu continually pumping out of him rampantly, there had been no greater
concentration available to his Ierro, and that was shown in how many new cuts
he had on his body. His muscles didn�t respond to the stimulus anymore because
of the poison, but that didn�t mean that his body wasn�t reacting at all.

As it was, she doubted he could
even stand up anymore. He needed rest, but in his condition he would simply
bleed out since his organs couldn�t fully heal. Right then, he really was
between life and death.

It really was�the end of their
time together.

Masaki and Ikki were still
crying, and Ichigo and Tatsuki looked like they didn�t know how to respond,
like their hearts had frozen and numbed them to the situation around them. She
took one last look at everyone, her new family she had only been with for such
a short time, and silently waved goodbye.

She turned slowly and walked over
to Kaien, where she knelt down to his level. He was whimpering now, not knowing
any other way to express his futility anymore. ��Kin��

That one-worded whisper, that one
plea from lips caked in blood came from both aspects of himself, that much she
was sure of. He knew. She wiped the tears falling from her eyes and his too,
both the bloody and the watery, as she looked at him like a lover to a
terminally ill love.

�I always knew this day would come,� she admitted softly. �The day you walked into the throne room, I
knew you right away. You were my partner, my missing piece, and the person that
needed me the most. I could tell from the moment we met what you needed�and I
was terrified. I knew even though you looked like everyone else, that really
you were just like me, but blessed beyond any description I could think of.
You, out of all of us, had the ability to interact with those around you. You
weren�t restricted to one person, one world, one lonely existence. But I could
tell that you were paying for that with your life.� She hiccupped as her
tears resumed and she stroked a hand down the bloodstained cheek of the one she
had been with for two lifetimes. She had never imagined it would be so hard to
accept.

�I knew you needed me, you were called to me the second you set foot in
that room. I�ve failed you yet again. I couldn�t protect you when you lost your
body to Metastacia, I couldn�t stop you when your body was tainted further by
Glotoneria. Once again�I�ve failed you. I could have�it took me so long just to
get up the courage to return to your side and right then I should have�but I
just�I wanted to be with you again! I wanted�redemption.�

She was breaking down.
Zanpakutous are no different from humans or souls, they are merely spirits
encapsulated in the form of a sword, an immortal shell that will never truly
disappear, even when their hosts do. Sooner or later some one else will come
along with the ability to wield them, and once more they will appear. It was their greatest strength and
their greatest curse.

�Of course you didn�t notice that it was the day after I had rejoined
with you that your Hollow hole had disappeared. You would have found out mere
seconds later if you had turned into a Shinigami after I had returned to you.
But�even then you knew. When I came out to greet you, you somehow knew that
what I was seeing was the person I had failed, not the person I could still
protect. You�ve always known me inside and out; the only reason you never tried
to obtain Bankai was because you didn�t want to take over Ukitake�s position
more than you already had. You never wanted to force me to submit. You were
brash, careless, more idiotic than most anyone I had ever been exposed to
before, but you were the purest soul I had ever come into contact with.

�When I saw you again, when I felt you after decades of loneliness,
what was the first thing you said to me? �This must be a pretty pathetic sword,
it doesn�t even cut!�� she recited with as much wit as she could, losing
strength to both tears and the hiccups that came with them. It was a tragic
sight, one no one in the vicinity had ever been privy to in the entire history
of Soul Society. A zanpakutou, materialized like any other person, breaking
down as she watched her partner lose strength. And Kin, who simply couldn�t
believe her senses, and refused to believe them altogether. She knew; Nejibana
wouldn�t even let her pass if she tried.

�I knew it was you, and my heart soared. I had another chance! But�but
you didn�t recognize me, but you recognized that I was important to you. The
happiest days of my life were the ones I spent talking to you, those nights
when we shared everything, Past, Present, and Future. You scared me; you
possessed the redemption I dreamt of, but at a cost I had never imagined. I
wanted to be useful to you again, I wanted to be with you more! To dance
together like we used to! But I knew�deep down I knew I couldn�t put it off
forever, otherwise I�d end up failing you again�� she trailed off
mournfully. She couldn�t stand the thought, but even with this she was only
delaying what she had set out to do.

�I can�t fail you anymore, I won�t let myself! Time after time my pride
has been crushed beneath the finality of defeat, and not even my desperation,
my love, or my anger could do anything about it. I wanted to be with you even
longer, I wanted to take pride in the life I would help you lead, and yet even
when the miracle happened and I was given that chance, the Cinderella story
would lose its magic in what seemed far too short.

�Kaien, I�m so sorry. I�m so, so sorry��

The water mistress was shocked
beyond any meaning of the word when she felt arms wet with blood wrap around
her small body, and though he was weak, Kaien had still managed to move his
head to her shoulder. �Nejibana�you�ve
never�never failed me. I�should�apologize�instead. I�m sorry�you�ve always
suffered�because of my recklessness. I put you through�so much pain�and still
you never�blamed me. I never�deserved you�but for what it�s worth�you�re
forgiven,� he croaked out weakly, and she knew that it wasn�t his blood
speaking, but the lives of her two partners speaking in unison. Her tear fell
heavier, and she smiled brightly as the face once wrought with despair glowed
in happiness.

She hugged him back, more
passionately, more intimately than she had ever embraced anything as she buried
her face into his neck, uncaring of the blood marring her flesh. �I�ve l-longed to hear those words for s-so
long!!� she cried happily. Already she could feel the hesitancy dying in
her heart. She knew what she had to do, and she would do it happily. She could
only hope he could forgive her. �I love
you, Kaien Shiba; I love you, Kaien Kurosaki. I would have been happy to stay
your sword for all of eternity, but if this is what I can give�then I give it
to you with no regrets. My wish has been granted, I will be able to protect you
forever, I understand that now. Goodbye��

Kaien could feel something in the
darkness he was surrounded by, the place he felt his consciousness forced to
whenever his blood took over his body. He could hear; each and every word he
heard her speak through heartache and tears as he felt his body weaken. That
one word, that one word at the end of her confession, was like a blade pierced
through his heart. Don�t go!! Don�t leave
me alone here!!

And as he felt his body warm�as he
felt his body strengthen beyond anything he had ever felt before�he felt these
words waft into his prison as light broke through the endless darkness that
made up this world. �I�ll never leave you
alone. I�ll always be with you from now on. I�m what you needed Kaien, you were
so unbalanced because you were a zanpakutou spirit with Hollow blood. Your
zanpakutou nature couldn�t bear it, what you needed was another zanpakutou.

�You constantly absorbed them for that reason, and your blood didn�t
allow you to fully heal because it didn�t want to lose, because that meant its
death. It was never meant to have any pull in your body, but since it did
because of the Hougyoku it didn�t want to give it up. Like everything in the
world, it had a sense of self-preservation. A copy couldn�t fill your void, and
the second I felt what you had done the moment I cut you I knew that that void
was meant to be filled by me. Death frightened me, because I had never truly
had a concept of it when it came to my existence, but now I understand, I
finally understand.

�This is my power, Kaien, my life, my gift to you. I will always be
with you now, a part of you so intricate I will no longer be able to talk to
you like we used to. Don�t cry, this is my redemption, this is the chance I�ve
waited for. I�m sorry�I couldn�t bring myself to do it sooner. This is
my�goodbye. It�may sound strange�but I do love you. Don�t�cry��

When the voice faded, the world
exploded with light. Blue sky stretched as far as the eye could see, and blue
rose petals floated without end on the water that licked silently at the sandy
shore. The agony of his blood was gone, the darkness he had fought against by
himself for his entire life had been vanquished by the one person that had
lived closest to his heart for two lifetimes.

She�was gone.

He could feel her presence within
him, feel her power, the calming water, the raging rapids, the all-consuming
strength of the ocean flow through him. It was his now. She had given up her
life so that he could live his.

And he fell to his knees at the
shore and cried.

~~~~~~~~~

The reiatsu that shattered the
air was unlike anything ever felt before.

Everyone had watched silently,
like what they were witnessing demanded their complete attention. No one spoke,
no one blinked, no one dared breathe
as the small, powerful, and beautiful body clasping itself to the bloody Hollow
faded into the body of the young man in an amazing spectacle of glowing light.

They watched, speechless, as the
tears of blood were replaced by real tears as the blood disintegrated from his
body. Then�he started screaming. They clasped their hands to their ears as he
screamed like his mother had died in front of his eyes and he had been so close
to saving her. His anguished wails pierced the air like the damning finality of
a body-bag�s zipper. They watched, as up from his feet white flowed.

His skin faded from the normal
peach associated with humanity to the ashen pallor of an inner Hollow. His
white clothing turned black as the transformation continued, and as it went up
his stomach and arms his skin sizzled as the scars once there burned away with
a small puff of steam. The black tattoos of his arm to cover those scars now
healed turned silver as it continued
up until it covered his face and hair, and that wasn�t all that had happened.

There were gasps of astonishment
when his down-turned head had been taken over by the white coating. His hair
wasn�t completely white. A streak of pale blue had taken over the left side of
his bangs, and his hair seemed to flow backwards in the air like the waves of
the ocean. When the screaming stopped and the head turned up to look at the
heavens, more breath was lost. Only one of the flame tattoos over his eyes
remained, and it was his left eye that had kept it as the yellow eye now back inside
looked mournfully towards heaven. His right eye lacked that orange tattoo, in
fact it even lacked the black one of old as well as the eye that should have
been there. Instead of the yellow of his left eye, his right eye was a crystal
blue, just like that of the woman that had vanished in his arms. What was more,
was even though he had clearly undergone the White Transformation they had all
seen in both his parents and his sister, his eyes didn�t have the typical black
sclera that came with it.

No one dared move, no one until
Kin finally regained motor control.

She stepped forward hesitantly,
her Bankai still at the ready in case Kaien had actually lost complete control
and this was the final product. �Kaien�?�

He chuckled softly, and she was struck
by how his deep, gentle voice had gained an unearthly quality. It sounded just
like she could remember Nejibana�s, though it was enough that his voice was
still easily recognizable, and the Hollow�s tinge was nowhere to be heard. �In
both my lives, she felt like a failure�when the one that had really failed was
me��

His tears started again, and she
knew deep in her heart that this was her Kaien, and he was hurting beyond
imagination. Her Bankai was disabled silently, and though her clothing was
ripped in places and still bloodstained in others, she knew she had to walk
forward and hug him. She felt his warmth as he returned her hug gratefully, and
her heart wept with him, because it was the only thing that had the slightest
inkling to what he had just gone through. She knew, in fact she was probably
the only one that had noticed.

His zanpakutou�was gone.

He hugged her closer right before
he let go, and as she watched him walk away he took off his jacket and the now
black energy of his Cero exploded from his white, completely healed back. The
energy of his technique was far stronger than she remembered it, but not only
had he eaten most of the Vizard Mod-Souls, but he had just been completed
thanks to Nejibana.

He stood, his silent fury burning
in his bi-colored eyes as he looked down on the headless corpse of Mayuri
Kurotsuchi. His muscles rippled with tension as he fought the emotions inside
of him, until with a furious scream he pulled back and punched the dead body
lying on the ground, the power of Cerokou behind his action demolishing the
ground beneath the body the second the strike was set. It may be called
disrespecting the dead, but had he not met him Kaien was sure�sure he would
have had more time with her. His screams escalated with each punch he laid
until he had created a large crater and the body had been disintegrated in the
heat of the black Cero energies.

�DAMN YOU!!!!!!!!�

Once again, all he could do was
fall to his knees and cry.

He was complete, but Nejibana was
no more.

From the core of his soul, he
felt this melody rise, like the hymn on an angel�s lips.

I just need to get away from me

I just need to find some peace of mind

Caught in this game of unmet expectations

I want to leave it all behind

I want to be small

I want to be just like a child

I want to be quiet in your arms

I want to be small

I want to be just like a child

I want to be quiet in your arms

So in that moment when I lose myself

Let the world fade away from me

Give me a moment just to seek the silence

I just want to be set free

I want to be small

I want to be just like a child

I want to be quiet in your arms

I want to be small

I want to be just like a child

I want to be�quiet in your arms

He smiled through the tears and
clutched his chest. �You had no regrets, just like you said. Thank you�thank
you�and goodbye.�

He stood shakily. It was his life
now, and he could live it fully.

~~~~~~~~~

Author�s Notes: I want to thank everyone that reviewed, I�m happy
for that believe me, but after writing this chapter I�m too emotional to add
anything witty or something like that. Just as one extra note: I had always
planned on coupling Tsukiyomi and Sora after I named him, so I�m sorry if it
seems a little abrupt but this was what needed to happen in this chapter.

The song at the end is by Amanda
Falk, and I greatly encourage you to listen to it to get the full impact. I was
listening to it and one of her other songs as I wrote this, and I have links to
Youtube videos where they�re used below.

The song listed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiX2ZquRfto

The other song that I didn�t put
in but I wanted to use: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6KhGPDi9Lw&feature=related

Thanks for reading, and I�d
really appreciate more reviews again. I�m certain I gave enough to review about
this time. Jeez, I haven�t felt like crying when I�m writing for so long, this
is pitiful. Good thing none of you can see me.

Until next chapter.

Editing is a wonderful thing. Now that I'm back in a steady state of mind (which is destroyed whenever I read this chapter again, gah, I sure hope it affects all the people who read this like it does me or I'll feel like a real wimp) I'd like to humbly request feedback. I was pretty shocked I had to threaten not updating to get reviews last time, but nonetheless I was happy with all the reviews, as well as the quality of them. This chapter is two and a half times longer than most I've posted and I really need feedback because I did a lot of things in here that I need to know have been accepted by my readers. I'm happy with it, but I would still like to see the reactions. Once again, you have my humble thanks, and I thank everyone that does review from the bottom of my heart, because knowing that my writing doesn't suck is a wonderful weight off my chest. Thank you all again.
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