Bleach Hereafter RPG

Angel of Death

Hyakuji knew how dangerous it was to infiltrate an enemy’s base with little, if not totally without support. In a regular mission, it would be ideal to send a squad with at least five members to deal with a great threat, but hunting for the Hogyoku shard was a different matter. It was a secret, as he intended to retrieve it for a purpose other than to replace the mysterious crystal he stole from Soul Society.

The spiritual signature of the enemy doubled, as she activated her resureccion form. Her green hair gradually turned white, growing longer as her limbs stretched further along whilst her body increased in size as well, her skin became paler white, and smooth as radish as the woman revealed her gigantic form.

With her enlarged size, she could now easily reach for the invisible closed space without worrying any interruption from the long-maned death god. Before she clawed in, however, the 12th Division researcher shifted his memories to their place in Hawaii, and the tesseract was no longer to be found in Hueco Mundo.

Hyakuji sighed a relief, though, it caught him off guard, as the arrancar turned to him and slapped him with her large hand. While he was quick to notice it coming his way, the gust accompanying it was too strong that he skidded a few meters away before he could fully dodge. Add to the fact that her reiryoku was putting pressure on him, that it slowed his response time a bit. He was clearly outmatched. There was only one way to get on par with her, even if it wasn’t much, it would reduce the power gap between him and the lady arrancar.

At once, he called out for his bankai. Another sword came out from his hands, a pitch-black katana same with his nodachi on his right. Wings of several hundred blades grew out from his back and gloriously spanned from opposite directions.

The lady espada smirked at the death god’s display of power. She was slowly being enchanted, not by his looks, but by his strength as she felt the sudden increase in her opponent’s spiritual signature as well. While higher forms of hollows no longer feel the need to consume souls to satiate their hunger, she found the shinigami irresistible, and it would be a waste if she forgo the opportunity of tasting him after slaying the death god.

Enviousness was creeping in. She wanted his power, right here, right now. She opened her palms and multiple green orbs were summoned, levitating and hovering over her hands before she threw them all in his direction. Hyakuji dodged in great speed, but the projectiles kept raining down on him like heavy rain. One of the shots closed in near his face. There was no time to avoid it except to deflect it with his wings, which he did. However, the blades only melted as the poisonous orb got in contact with them, which sent him off balance, leading to his disadvantage as the lady continued to barrage him with poison.

Hyakuji fell down from the dark sky, like an angel falling from grace, and was swallowed by the white sand dunes as his body landed with great impact.

“Oh. I was just beginning to enjoy our fight… quite disappointing that you gave up too easily…”

[562]

A battle has broken out in the vast, lifeless depths of Hueco Mundo, below an enormous forest which blotted out the bleak sun above. Protecting two of his comrades hiding within a tesseract, the Vice-Captain of the First Division was battling against a powerful Arrancar all by himself. If he was here on a mission, why did he not bring more members of his division, or even from other divisions, to back him up and provide him cover? Surely, he knew that he was wandering directly into the territory of the enemy, which is home to some of the most powerful Hollows ever seen across the three dimensions? What was his purpose here, anyway? What did he come here for?

That all was obscure. For now, what mattered was that Muimina Hyakuji, Vice-Captain of the First Division, was being beaten down by the Arrancar and was on the verge of death.

When Hyakuji, Hiro and Hideki arrived to Hueco Mundo and approached the unnatural forest grown out of the Hogyoku shard, it was not just the Hollows and the Arrancar that was their company - although, the other person who happened to be in the presence of the forest was hidden just as well as they were. It was a young blonde woman, dressed in a dark cloak and covering her eyes and the entire upper half of her face with a mask. An intricate Kido spell hid her presence, Reiatsu signature and movement, and she had set her feet down upon the top of a lesser silver tree in the moment when Hyakuji stepped out of the portal and made his Reiatsu known.

This was a wrench in her strategy, carefully crafted over the course of weeks, ever since she was given this mission. But it was nothing insurmountable, and the nameless rogue instead hopped from tree to tree, observing the battle from one side and keeping track of the location from which the Arrancar had jumped off. If the Vice-Captain was here on his own accord, then he might also be after the Shard, and if so, he must know something she does not about its location.

And that was exactly what happened. Hiro, his comrade in arms, had been sent to retrieve the shard while the Arrancar was distracted, and did exactly that, removing it from the tree it was embedded in and beginning the loud shrinking of the entire structure, as it could no longer support its massive size. Perfect. That was perfect. Hiro swooped back into the cover of their tesseract, but the brief visage of the young Shinigami and the faint flicker of the tesseract was enough for the masked woman to figure out the Kido spell she needed.

First, however, she had to do something about Hyakuji. The masked woman hopped off her treetop, sliding and hopping past enormous trunks and bypassing the patrolling Menos.

Soon after Hyakuji crashed into the sand, an illusionary veil hid him, bending light and Reiatsu alike. Underneath its cover, the masked woman pulled him out of the ground, gently, holding him in her arms. Carrying the Shinigami, she hopped onto the top of a nearby tree, and after a faint smirk, she placed her hand on his chest, casting a Keikatsu spell to rejuvenate him. Once the spell concluded, she removed the veil from him.

The Arrancar would see Hyakuji get buried underneath the soil, no longer to be seen again. She could not stay ignorant forever, however. The mysterious woman briefly flicked her hand, showing the real Hogyoku shard hovering above her hand - then, leapt away just as suddenly as she had arrived.

“I can’t believe you shinigami are that weak…” Rinennea blurted out, as she turned back to her true form assuming he was dead. Now the only problem was to search and kill those two idiots who stole the shard. Perhaps she needed to mobilise some army to know their whereabouts, but it didn’t matter. The hogyoku needed to stay in Hueco Mundo. At all costs.

Meanwhile, a mysterious lady appeared from nowhere and salvaged him from the deadly battle. After carrying him to a safe place, she healed him and left as soon as she arrived. However she managed to hide herself, and not get noticed by the powerful arrancar was pretty impressive.

Hyakuji woke up as soon as the masked woman left his presence. He was about to go his way and meet Hideki and Hiro in Hawaii, however, he still felt the energy of the Hogyoku in this realm, though very faintly, as if it was thoroughly being concealed.

That was strange. He was sure Hiro managed to secure the prized crystal. And yet, he could still sense it somewhere here.

Sapphire eyes scanned the deserted landscape; there was not a single living thing except for the woman who was already a few meters away from him, hopping from one dead tree to another. The shard’s faint signature, somewhat fading as she drifted further away. Which only meant….

Before she could totally escape, Hyakuji appeared in front of her, grabbing her arms in an attempt to pin her down, and oddly, in a careful manner so as not to hurt her completely.

Even with her concealed state, he could pretty much guess she was a shinigami, and a familiar one for that matter, though he could not completely recognise her. While he wanted to hide from any of his comrades his intention in going after the Hogyoku, this was an inevitable case, and if it in any case he had to fight her, so be it.

“I appreciate your help, Miss. But that shard is mine.”

[346]

The nameless woman was expecting for Hyakuji to return back to the fight with the Arrancar after being healed, and so give her ample time to escape the scene entirely. However, the Vice-Captain had another plan. Taking advantage of the lull in the forest, he leapt after her instead, and thanks to his superior speed, he caught up without much difficulty. Atop a dead tree, he grabbed her hands to pin her in place, and announced what he was after.

That should have been expected, and it's what the woman had anticipated before she had even intervened in the fight. There wasn't really any other reason for Hyakuji and his friends to be in this exact place at this exact time, taking down a Hogyoku, outside of an official Gotei 13 mission. What could his goal be with the Hogyoku? It seemed implausible that the poster boy of the First Division was a traitor.

But you know what they say about poster boys, they only really look good on a poster.

The masked woman had come prepared for a situation such as this. Without a word spoken, the Kido spell which had kept her and her immediate vicinity hidden from the senses ceased. Now, they both were as visible to the Hollows of the forest as anything else.

Underneath the woman's tongue was a Hollow Bait pill, which she snapped with ease. The bait was calibrated to work for an hour and attract every Hollow present for several miles from the snapped bait - which, she figured, should be more than enough. Immediately upon the snap, dozens upon dozens of Menos frolicking in the forest would receive a signal to descend upon the bait, the Arrancar, if she was still present, would receive the same type of signal.

Not a word escaped from her lips; and instead of fighting back she remained locked down, her hands at her back bound by a kido, while Hyakuji still held her in place. The lifting of the presence concealment spell was obvious, as the Vice Captain suddenly felt the thick hollow reiatsu in the atmosphere, he could now also sense a surge of menos grande heading their way.

A bunch of hollows from the underground emerged through the white desert sand, and thus surrounded them.

Even so, he remained calm and stoic as he always was; analysing the situation and the best possible escape route they could take. His eyes shifted their gaze briefly to the masked woman, there was not a change in her expression, nor she felt any dread at their current situation.

Meanwhile, the hollows attacked. One after another, feeding on the two shinigami who were completely trapped at the moment— or so the dumb hollows thought. As their figure slowly faded like a shadow being cast away by light.

Hyakuji reappeared above, leaping away from the masked monsters with the nameless blonde shinigami carried like a bride in his arms; his metallic wings spreading gloriously. Perhaps it was the first time the woman saw it, or the second time if she was around the time he was put to test by the Captain during his application for Vice-Captainship.

Without a word uttered, thousands of blades were summoned, appearing on both his sides for a couple of seconds at first before lunging forth at the hollows beneath, instantly wiping them out.

Unfortunately, the menos were drawing closer; one in particular opened its mouth and let out a powerful cero headed towards the death gods.

Hyakuji did not need to turn around; another set of blades appeared from behind, shielding them from the attack. And before the other giant hollows got a hold of them, he casted a spell, opening a portal, which obviously wasn’t headed to Soul Society.

He did not give the lady any chance to escape nor protest, and immediately escaped through the gate leading to the realm of the living.

Once they were safe, he put down the girl and sighed in relief.

“What were you thinking, feeding ourselves to those hollows? Ishiwara-san?”

It was through his eye ability that he managed to recognise the woman behind the mask. Her kido was strong enough to veil her identity even from his fullbring, but it was easy as pie when she dispelled the concealment to attract the hollows.

"Also, the shard," the Vice-Captain muttered in a stern voice, his hands extending in anticipation that the lady would oblige this time.

[445]

The nameless woman had anticipated that Hyakuji would immediately busy himself with protecting them both from the Hollows. That was an admirable trait, and not enough in the Gotei 13 displayed it. While he activated his Bankai, she began preparing spell incantations which she stored within her Zanpakuto - various utility spells, which would allow her to match the Vice-Captain for what she needs to escape. What she did not expect, however, was for Hyakuji to be done so quickly.

Not cleaving through all of the Hollows so quickly, of course. Rather, suddenly pulling her through a portal and spewing both of them out to the World of the Living. They landed upon the shore of an island, some distance away from civilization, immediately greeted by a bird flock above and the crashing waves of the ocean. Here, Hyakuji revealed the identity of the person behind the mask, having apparently recognized her when the veil covering them from the Hollows was removed.

"My, my, so the sheath is down already, you say?" the woman muttered and removed the metallic mask upon the upper half of her face. It was indeed Irisa Ishiwara, teacher of Kido Arts and an unranked member of the First Division - without her trademark hat and with a slightly different haircut, confusing her identity a bit at first glance. "The Captain's newest second-in-command was surely not worried by a few low level Hollows, correct? So what is to be so concerned with, there?"

Irisa lowered her hands and folded them behind her back, holding the mask in between them. Hyakuji's stern tone did not intimidate her.

"What for, Vice-Captain? As far as I'm aware, your presence here is unauthorized, and you were not among the party sent to retrieve the Hogyoku Shard from Hueco Mundo. By all interpretations of the law, I do not have any right to give it to you without explicit orders from our Captain."

“Your safety,” Hyakuji immediately talked back when the shinigami asked about what was the cause of his concern.

“The arrancar is too strong, she won’t get easily defeated even with our strength combined.”


Unlike in Hueco Mundo, the day was bright and clear. There was barely any clouds, the sun stretching out its arms, shining in its glory in the morning. The Vice-Captain looked towards the vast sea, if only for a brief moment. The gentle crashing of waves against the pristine white sands reminded him of Hawaii… or the paradise island he and the fullbringer had gone to after her trial. She was the reason why he was searching for the shards one by one. And if not for this shinigami in front of him, his plans on meeting Hideki and Hiro on the Aihara’s sanctuary wouldn’t be spoiled.

Hyakuji sighed, “I was about to escape before you helped me out. And thanks to you, I realise the shard was not with them...” he said, meeting the eyes of the Kido expert, unfazed by her smug look.

“To be honest, I no longer have any excuse now that you have caught me red handed. I just intended to borrow it. I… need it for special reasons.”

He didn’t know what this loyal subject planned to do. In case she intended to tell the Captain of this encounter, and he gets punished for it, well at least he did whatever he could to help out his lover. After all, he was not the type to fight his comrade, even though it wasn’t a trivial matter and the life of his beloved was on the line. While he could probably defeat Irisa in a fair duel, it would be more troublesome if word spread that he fought a fellow shinigami for selfish reasons; and besides, Yukari won’t like it if he does so too... Furthermore, going after the shard is just secondary compared to his goal of creating a peaceful world. It was a long term goal for the sake of their future, and perhaps by then, it would be easier to get a cure for her illness.

His gaze shifted towards the sea for the second time, admiring the sea scape, briefly savouring the memories he had with the fullbringer, the locks of his hair drifting against the calm sea breeze.

“Say, Ishiwara-san… would you risk your life just to protect and do everything for the one you love?”

Might be best to get honest with the lady, who knows, perhaps the appeal to emotion could work.

[439]

Hyakuji said that he did not have an excuse for his actions, but still hid the motivation behind them, veiling them with a "special reasons" blurb. Again, it seems out of character for him to be secretive, operating with a plot hidden from the rest of Soul Society. Of course, you never know if that judgment is true or merely a guise, and he was pursuing an artifact of unbelievable power without informing anyone in his organization, and likely also being aware of its abilities and their consequences, but Hyakuji certainly did not seem like the type.

Irisa needed to figure it out before she returned to Soul Society to grant the shard to her superiors. Perhaps she will need to report more than just the existence of the shard to them.

After that statement drop, the Vice-Captain descended down to a more melancholic mood, before suddenly turning to Irisa and asking her.

"Uh..."

If she had to sacrifice everything she ever had to protect and help someone she loves, would she do it? Irisa briefly wrapped a lock of her blonde hair around her finger. Slowly, she began to realize where the Shinigami may be trying to lead her, and she figured that she will let him have that chance.

But if she were to answer truthfully...

"I don't know. It's hard for me to answer, Vice-Captain, because I never had these sort of feelings towards anyone. There are people I consider friends, of course, and what is left of my family, but it's not what you're asking about in either of those cases, isn't it? I'd obviously do lots of things in my power to help a friend, but... everything is a category of extremely vast breadth. Some acceptable, some... difficult to justify."

The almost eternal silence was covered in the loud beating of his heart. Every second felt like a loud thunder within, as he anticipated the lady’s answer. His eyes carefully watched the movement of her lips, waiting for a sign of sympathy.

He barely knew her, but she seemed to be the listener type; a considerate one, despite her shrewd and deceiving tactics earlier.

Yet, for some reason, the ever wise witch of Shin’o Academy found it difficult to respond to his query, stating that she was somewhat foreign to whatever he was feeling at the moment; expounding further that some actions, depending on the circumstances, were acceptable while some might be difficult to justify.

Hyakuji pondered on the lady's statement a bit more.

Maybe it was wrong to have appealed to her feelings, but then again, he couldn't afford to hurt a comrade; even for a noble purpose such as this. Spar trainings aside, of course, but even then, he always felt it was wrong to lay a finger on anyone. If it were up to him, he always wanted to resolve anything through negotiations.

Learning from the mistakes of his old self, he resolved to himself that violence is always not the answer.

“I see…” The Vice-Captain felt downcast; disappointed. There was only one thing left to do in this case, now that he was trapped in the situation. It also looked certain that she would not yield the prized Hogyoku to him. Thus, resigning to his fate, Hyakuji raised his hands midway, offering it to the blonde death god.

“I guess… I have to turn myself in. I don’t want to fight you, Ishiwara-san. It is against my conscience to kill, let alone hurt a comrade. I did what I could to hopefully heal my girlfriend, and being caught by a colleague especially from the First Division was definitely not in the plan… Indeed, this is something that is hard to justify. So, I am prepared to face the consequences…”

The long-maned reaper sighed, shifting his gaze to the vast sea, admiring the waves perhaps for the last time before the lady bring him in front of the Captain Commander for alleged treason, “I just wish I could’ve said goodbye to her…”

[379]

Irisa's response left Hyakuji disappointed - not in the way that he disagreed with her judgment, rather that it seems as if he had been expecting to bend her to his side with that comment. The Shinigami teacher had seen many of her peers, both her students and her fellow members of the First Division, embroiled in romance, and could tell that it was a deep and emotional experience for them. A bond that could get them to... do a lot of things, if they needed to do something for their second other, including bending the laws of Soul Society.

As she does not have such feelings herself, the most Irisa could do was recognize their existence from an outside perspective and try to compare them to her friendships, familial ties... which was perhaps why the answer she could provide to Hyakuji was disappointing to him.

Recognizing that his opportunities to escape from this predicament were rapidly dwindling, Hyakuji finally offered himself in, extending his hands forward, as if waiting for her to place handcuffs on him and drag him to the Captain-Commander for his judgment. Irisa approached him, her boots stepping past the retreating waves of the island's coast. If Hyakuji's expression was an act, either to trick her or to receive her forgiveness, then it was very lifelike. He was genuinely heartbroken by being caught, by having violated the laws of Soul Society - and, much like she had guessed, by failing his lover.

That may hold a key to whether his story was truthful - and, if it was, what truly was the plot behind Hyakuji's solitary hunt for the Hogyoku.

"Who is she, Vice-Captain? And what does she need the Hogyoku for?"

“Why do you need to know about her?” The Vice-Captain replied in a frown.

Just letting a colleague know about an unknown lover was already putting her life to risk, what more spilling out her whole identity.

“Ishiwara-san. I hope you understand. But I just can’t let you know her identity. I can’t… let any of our comrades know about us… just telling this to you is already putting our lives at risk. I can face the consequences alone. But I will spare her from that.”

Since they were both in the First Division, it was certain she would recognise her with just the name, and he couldn’t let anyone from their department know anything about her unless they belonged to his squad.

He barely knew Irisa even from their previous missions, it was a rare occasion to be in the same team. Heck he even couldn’t recall if she was with them during the search party for the former First Division Third Seat, his mentor, Kanemi Yuna, who he replaced months after her disappearance.

Hyakuji met the lady shinigami’s gaze. Perhaps, he could tell Yukari's condition at least?

“But… if you must know. I need the Hogyoku to heal her… she… is currently suffering from a congenital insensitivity. It was the only way to help her as there is not any cure for it at the moment.”

“So please, Ishiwara-san…” the Vice-Captain bowed down in dogeza, his long and smooth black mane touching the pristine sands of the coast, the shihakusho untainted by the grains of the beach, even his hands as they touched the ground.

“I was told that the pieces would go back to the realm they came from after the wish has been made. I am willing to search for it after. I just need it this time.”

[307]

If Irisa's intent with her question was to see how truthful Hyakuji is, then the Vice-Captain did not quite play along - he immediately went on the defensive, stating that she had no reason to know about his lover and would only endanger her needlessly. That got Irisa to raise her eyebrow. Surely, Hyakuji could recognize that he wasn't being asked about his lover for no reason? He had possibly committed a grievous violation of Shinigami conduct for her, so, it was only natural that, during an interrogation, the other side would want to know the specifics. When they are captured in the act, beggars cannot be choosers.

Irisa, however, did not need to have Hyakuji come up and tell her who he is having an affair with, especially as she already had a hypothesis. She had read as many of the files about the Battle against the Demons in Soul Society that she could find, from eye-witness reports to theses written by 12th Division members on how the Demons might have been able to cross to their dimension - for personal reasons. She knew very little about the Demons and wanted to fill her encyclopedia, after all. All those readings gave her a fairly clear image on how the battle went, including all of its participants.

Her idea was reaffirmed when Hyakuji suddenly changed his tune, and finally explained that he had to find a way to heal his lover's congenital insensitivity. At least, this proved that he wasn't talking about Maria.

"I see who you're talking about."

Irisa remained silent, watching Hyakuji bow and beg for another chance. Her arms were folded behind her back, she looked down at her fellow Shinigami, then sighed.

The visage of the tropical island around them both suddenly turned to a blur and faded into darkness. One of the spells Irisa had activated in advance was a rift gate to transport her away at a sign of trouble - and, this time, she used it to transport them both to somewhere different.

The two Shinigami were surrounded by a few dim lights submerged in darkness, arranged around them in a wide circle. A metallic suspended bridge was below their feet. Light filtered from deep below, like a fire underneath a vast cauldron.



Irisa did not speak up or explain where she had transported her and Hyakuji, instead slowly walking forth across the bridge - as if inviting Hyakuji to break the question first.

Hyakuji was not truly the type to bow to anyone, but he had to eat his pride for the sake of his beloved. While he may be kind and considerate, it did not come to a point when he had to plead this desperately for someone. But he had to.

Perhaps Irisa didn’t know it, perhaps she did. It was difficult to read what was on her mind currently, mainly because he was half-worried about Hideki and Hiro. While it was obvious that the lady shinigami was testing his patience, he was determined to wait longer and endure.

A mind game had already been in place the moment he refused to choose violence. Yet, it was only this moment that it had been more obvious. The lady shinigami certainly did not let her emotions sway her in making decisions, which made it more difficult for the Vice-Captain to appeal through. Her caution was understandable, but then again, he could not let his guard down for her to ease up either.

In a blur, the bright ambience brought about by the paradisiacal seascape turned into a dark, pensive atmosphere enclosed in a wall of books, with a small suspended area at the centre supported by a narrow bridge.

His eyes wandered briefly. There was no mistake, they were transported to The Archives. He had been here quite a few times for special authorised reasons, but infiltrating it this time without authorisation from the Captain Commander or the 5th Division Captain was worrisome.

“Are we even authorised to be here, Ishiwara-san?”

Hyakuji thought highly of his comrade, being one among the “most obedient” soul reapers he’s acquainted with, breaking some rules to ensure her own safety made him rethink his assessment…

Perhaps she wasn’t as holy as he thought she was.

[302]