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| - It was the crack of dawn; the scarlet sun began to rise, signaling the beginning of the new day. Opening his azure within magenta eyes, Kachihi Amagase hopped out of his bed, before trudging down the stairs, only to notice Kijo and Nichima already there, packing. "....Huh? Why are you up so early...?" Nichima responded shy, "W-Well, you see, what better time than ever to leave. We can get this done in one fell swoop. It shouldn't be too hard to get there." Kachihi scratched his head, responding "....Huh. It's like, two in the morning." Kijo yelled out in a motherly yet fierce voice, "Come on, let's get there nice and early, people!" Rika and Fumiko, both who were sleeping, suddenly jumped, hitting their heads together. "Ow!" They snapped simultaneously. "First a loud voice and now this." Kasumi uttered, "...Why don't you two just get a hold of yourselves and hurry up? Stop wasting time. You know Kachihi hates waiting." With that, he also stood to his feet, gripping the bamboo floor before walking downstairs. "Damn idiots, I feel like I'm surrounded by 'em." The moment Kasumi trudged downstairs, Kachihi demanded, "...Hurry up. There's no time to waste." He turned to the door, before leaving. Nichima remarked, "...All we need to is walk straight for 45 minutes, then we should be there, got it?" Rika took note of Nichima's movement. "Why are you moving a bit off?" Nichima stuttered slightly, retaining his shy tone, yet blushing fiercely, "...N-Nothing! It's nothing, g-got that!?" Kijo giggled, remarking, "Sure doesn't seem like nothing, eh Nichima? Hihihihihi." Nichima shot Kijo a 'my god you're going to die' glare, not knowing of the meaning. "...Well, well!" That Kijo woman clapped her hands lightly. "Let's make a show of this, shall we?" Fumiko leapt from where he was standing and landed on Kachihi's back, wrapping his arms and legs around Kachihi's shoulders and torso respectively. "I'll ride like this all the way there." He said, smirking. Rika giggled. Kachihi was thrown off-balance by Fumiko's small, yet still rather significant weight impacting upon his lithe figure; causing his eyes to spill over as he almost collapsed. "...Tch! Just hold on tight and don't do anything stupid, got it?" Kijo leant in closer to Rika, that sincere smile still affixed upon her face 24/7, asking, "Tell me, what's it like in the future? I've always wanted to know." "Um..." Rika's mouth began to tremble. She wasn't used to being so physically close to anyone that wasn't Kachihi, Fumiko, or Kasumi. And with those three, they were never exactly clothed at the time. Well, sometimes they were, but that was different moments. "Um...the future...it's better than this. We have alot of really cool things and...Kachihi, help me out." He whined. Kachihi gave Rika an aside glance, remarking, "...Tch, it's...well, futuristic for one. That and there's skyscrapers...and lots of other stuff. Just drop it." Kijo clasped her hands. "...If you say so~" There was a brief pause. "Oh, we're almost here." The six gazed upon the futuristically advanced city, which was surrounded by a sphere of seki-sekki. All there was...was grey. No colour; no life. It was just within their grasps. Rika gasped at the sight. The place was beautiful, vibrant, full of colour. It was different from their section of the Soul Society, which, while much, much more modern than before (people have pools now), it was still coming out of a massive economic downturn that had forced everyone into dirt poor poverty. This new place, even from a distance, was so different. Kijo, endless barrel of exposition as she was, explained, "The Ensura...Truly, they're a hypocritical bunch. They wish to abolish all technological advancements and improvements, yet they persist in advancing themselves little by little, like a drill bursting through bedrock. One could even call them greedy." Nichima stuttered. "...Alright, let's enter." Without hesitation, he opened a small portal through the barrier, pushing his small body in and leaving enough space for the others to follow suit. Naturally, everyone squeezed in, and Fumiko somehow forced the barrier to open to accommodate him on Kachihi's back. "So, is there a plan?" Nichima nodded. "...Yes, there is. First things first, we need to find the Ensura Council, and try and talk with them ...Being upper class idiots, it'll be difficult, but still..." Kijo pointed forwards, "Surprise, surprise. There's the Council building. Alright, let's do it to it, shall we?" Without hesitation, Kijo began to march forward with a spring in her step. Kachihi applied his palm to his forehead in exasperation, "...Yeah, this is NOT going to go well, I can just tell." Rika frowned. "Shouldn't we progress with a bit more...caution?" He sounded nervous. Made sense. He wanted to get back to his time to his daughters. Couldn't do that if Kijo got them all killed. Nichima sighed, "...Yes, we should. Oi, you idiot. Get back here." He called out to Kijo, who immediately froze in her tracks, turning to him, pouting slightly. "So, we need a plan of some sort." Fumiko frowned, meowing slightly. "I hate planning..." "It's not exactly my forte either..." Rika admittedly shamefully. "I can carry them out, but thinking of them myself is not me..." Nichima applied his palm to his forehead in exasperation. "Alright, then. Cool story. Now...I say we just walk in there and hope for the best. Besides, it shouldn't be too difficult, right?" Oh, how he was tempting fate too much. Focusing on the objective ahead, Nichima picked up the pace. "Anyone think we're screwed?" Fumiko asked. "Probably, but, we may as well follow." Rika sighed as they followed after Nichima. "Whatever." Kasumi responded. "It's no big deal. Just shut up and follow, idiots." Nichima reached the large complex building, before entering. There wasn't much to take note of; except it was suspiciously business like and greyscale covered the area, preventing any oppertunities of life from seeping forth. "Uhhh, hello?" "Maybe we could destroy it?" Fumiko suggested casually, all the while nuzzling his chin up to Kachihi's neck. He breathed in Kachihi's scent. "So delicious. I could bite you if I didn't love you so much." "Focus." Rika hissed. Nichima approached the tall, intimidating man at the front desk, tapping upon the dumbell. "...Uhm, can I book an appointment, please? It's a simple negotiation- nothing more, nothing less." The man raised his eyebrow lightly, responding, "...Hm? What is it that you want?" Over and over in Nichima's head, a voice resounded, "Ask him ask him ask him ask him ask him...!" Nichima slapped himself in the head, uttering to himself, "...No!" With that, he glanced over at Rika, mouthing, "...You ask!" Rika looked frightened and glanced at Kachihi. "Kachihi...." Kachihi shook his head. "Kasumi, you do it!" Kasumi snapped, "Kijo!" Kijo chimed, "Up to you, Nichima!" Nichima sighed, "...Dammit. Alright. Can we please see the Ensura Council?" The man paused in thought for a moment, before responding, "...Of course. Enter." Without hesitation, the six entered a large throne room, which held six thrones. The man in the tallest throne room asked, "...Hm? What is it?" Rika nudged Kijo. "C'mon, speak for Nichima." Kijo sighed. "...Alright, alright. Now, if I may have your attention..." She coughed. "...As you can clearly see, you, the Ensura, have been oppressing our kind ever since the dawn of time. If I may, can we work out a compromise? Allow our kind to develop, and we shall all aim to work together in order to-" ...*STAB!* In an instant, Kijo, given no time to react, was impaled by a blade; dead center in the middle of her chest. Her eyes spilled over; blood seeped out of her chest as she screamed in pain. Nichima's eyes widened as he rushed over to her, glaring up at his foe, snapping, "....You!" "...We don't accept negotioations, boy." Rika watched Kijo fall, her face plastered with shock. What just happened? "Can we abandon any plan and just kill?" Fumiko asked innocent. Kachihi was at an utter loss for words. "What...what the...!?" He couldn't speak any more, more or less breathe due to sheer rage. "...We need to...we need to get out of here as fast as we can. They're at a level beyond us." Nichima, still absolutely devastated, scrambled to his feet, grasping Kijo's dying body within his arms, following Kachihi's orders. Kasumi followed suit; the three running down the corridor as to evade the oppressive forces that threatened to engulf them. "Why are we running?" Fumiko demanded. Of course, he was doing no such thing. Lazy boy was on Kachihi's back still. Kasumi snarked, "...Because there's people who want to skin us alive chasing after us, derp." All this; the Quincy kept focus on the path ahead, acrobatically dodging and weaving over and under obstacles that obstructed his direction. Kachihi felt Fumiko slipping, though clenching his teeth, his grip upon the vampire tightened, remarking, "Lose some weight, got that?" Reaching a quiet spring, the six screeched to a halt. Nichima clutched Kijo in his arms. "K-Kijo…!" Nichima let out a hoarse yell, as Kijo weakly reached up, gripping his shoulder. "N-Nichma…Let me tell you something. The power you hold, it's the only thing which can permanently kill the Ensura." Nichima shook his head in defiance, shouting, "I…I don't care about that, got it!?" "Hehe…You'll be…better off now…Nichima. It's a shame…that we didn't get to spend more time together…I wanted to be with you forever." Kijo's wounds caught up to her. "No…! You can keep on living…!" Kijo silenced Nichima, responding tenderly, "No…It was my choice…to go away now. Better that, than to do nothing…and keep the Ensura ruling." Kijo placed her hand upon Nichima's cheek, as she requested, "I need you...to do me a favour. Deep within the 'forbidden area' is a mystical object known as a Nox Core. It should be able to unleash your full potential." Nichima's eyes widened in confusion. "…Full potential? KIJO!" Kijo's smile remained genuine. "It's too late…for me to undo my mistakes. But you can't let the Ensura win. You can't. Good-bye, Nichima. See you again. I'm glad…I got to meet you before my death. Don't worry…these people will take care of you from now on…" Nichima began to shake Kijo, screaming, "Come on! Don't talk like that…!", though Kijo smiled sweetly, placing her hand upon Nichima's cheek. "Never forget. That's the truth. My life was meaningful…because of you." Kijo gazed to the sunset, stating weakly, "The sunset is beautiful today…" Embracing Nichima weakly, Kijo whispered, "I'm sorry I couldn't hug you…Nichima, don't be sad. Because we made that connection, memories of us together will never go away. Memories of you and I will always be together…forever, inside you." Nichima continued to hold Kijo until her eyes closed, dropping her hand. Nichima, body shaking and eyes widened slowly stood up. He couldn't believe what was happening. She just…died before his eyes. Rika was taken aback by this. Why was Kijo the one that had to die? She had been so nice, so upbeat. He didn't want to see this. "Now do we kill?" Fumiko suggested. Even he had to admit, Kijo had been a doll to them all. He didn't want to just let her die and not do anything about it. Nichima was still shaking; he couldn't believe his eyes. "...We need to head to the forbidden area; straight away." Kachihi questioned, "...But we don't even know where that is-" Fury could be witnessed in his eyes; Nichima snapped, "...Shut up! Come on, it's back near the Ensura Council! Underground! Let's go. There's no time to waste." Without hesitation, Nichima furiously stormed off. Rika and Fumiko were both taken aback, shocked. Fumiko slid off Kachihi's back, getting on his own feet. "This is no time to be getting a ride from my love." His eyes began to glow. "Gunshin, take over!" He sprouted cat ears and the long bushy tail once again. "I noticed I'm always here when something is going wrong." Gunshin sighed. "Does no one see something wrong with this?" Kachihi applied his palm to his forehead in exasperation. "...Yes, there's most certainly something wrong. If you can't see..." He pointed to Kijo's dead body. "...We need to stop Nichima from doing anything too reckless." Focusing upon the path which Nichima was running, Kachihi ran off, with Kasumi in close pursuit. Nichima grumbled. "...Power. I need power! Power to protect them all! I just need..." Finding a small pedestal, Nichima thrust his palm into it, opening a door to the unknown. He was sure; that was his destination. Gunshin was running on all four's, since it was faster and he could keep a bit ahead. "I smell a thirst for power." He muttered. "Nichima is going off the deep end." Kasumi gritted his teeth fervently. "No shit, Sherlock. We need to find that idiot before anything particularly nasty occurs. You know how time travel works? Then we need to make sure that we don't interfere unless it's absolutely neccessary." Running down into the cavern, the six happened upon a furious Nichima, gripping a small core within his palm. "Don't try to stop me! This is for the good of us all! Maybe after this...Kijo and I can be together once again!" "Kasumi, don't get snippy with me." Gunshin said calmly. "I am merely stating my observations, as someone new to the situation are wont to do." "Kasumi, we have to focus on better things than your snark, so please, behave." Rika insisted for possibly the 80th time in a week. Kasumi shuffled towards Rika, somewhat impossibly mid-run. "Well, sorry. Just statin' the obvious here, y'know." As if instinctually, Kachihi slapped Kasumi in the back of the head before focusing upon Nichima once again. "Dammit, Nichima, don't...!" Kachihi howled as he approached Nichima, aiming to disable him. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Nichima grasped the core tightly, before raising it up to the sky, declaring, "I am the Alpha. I am the Omega; yin and yang focused in a single being. The ultimate life form; one without peer. All shall bow before my might and cower and fear as I usher in a new rule of peace!" The core shone brilliantly, before emitting a bright flash of light that blinded the six. As the light subsided, an all too familiar figure stood before them; possessing a "bishōnen" appearance. He had messy light-blonde, messy hair that was tied into a long braid. His emerald eyes sparkled in a similar manner to a stream. He was dressed like a nobleman. He was clad in white, skintight pants that flared out at the cuffs. These pants had two belts wrapped around the legs on the left side near his thigh, and a golden chain dangled down from the highest belt. On his upper body, he sported a emerald coat that has golden linings; this coat resembles a trenchcoat, which was frayed at the 'cape' portion of the coat. The sleeves of the trenchcoat were puffy at the end with black cuffs and gold lining surrounds the edges of the cuffs. Underneath this trenchcoat, he sported a light-green shirt. He wore two gemstone earrings, and to complete his attire, wore ankle-length black boots. "...This is...!" The figure uttered, glancing upon his new figure. "K-Kazuma!" Rika gasped, his eyes quivering. Nichima...was Kazuma!? Gunshin's eyes narrowed. Being well acquainted with the eccentricity that was Kazuma, but also the level of danger, he didn't like to think what Kazuma, in a less than settle mental state, would be like. Nichima, now Kazuma's eyes focused upon the doorway out, as he waltzed past the four, seeing them as nothing but mere pests; his emerald eyes cold and indifferent. Kachihi reached out to him, trying to catch up with him, demanding, "N-Nichima! So you're Kazuma!? Wait, no..." As Kazuma focused upon his destination, Kachihi continued, "...Tch! That's not the problem here! What are you planning to do!?" "I am...I am going to end this all. Maybe then...I can bring her back. I'll wipe the Ensura off the face of the earth, forever labelled in history as mere myths. It's the only way, understand!?" Kachihi hesitated, attempting to retaliate, before Kazuma thrust his hand out, causing light to amass and converge upon his palm, before expanding and solidifying into an enormous broadsword with nine orbs engraved in a zigzagging pattern on the blade and a red orb on the cross-guard. On the sides of the cross-guard, there are golden angelic wings. It had an even brighter trim around the blade, and around the orbs, they were decorated in crystals. This was certainly the Imperial Blade, Kotoamatsukami. "Don't try and stop me, or else you'll end up as my victims as well." "Kazuma!" Gunshin called out to him. "Think about what you're doing! You're going to kill an entire race of people! Some of these people could possibly be innocent! I know it's beyond your capabilities, but think for a second! I know you're furious, but focus that into killing the ones who caused this!" Kazuma shot Gunshin a a fierce glare. "Don't you see!? All of them...Look at what they did to our kind! You saw what they did to Kijo first hand! I won't forgive them! All of them shall be purged in the abyss of my true power, understand!?" Without a second to waste, Kazuma Nagareboshi dissapeared in a flash of light. Kachihi, without hesitiation, ran after him. "...We don't have any time to waste, got it!? Come on!" Gunshin and Rika followed, with Kasumi catching up. "Is there a plan at all...?" Rika asked, nervously. "We can't exactly hurt Kazuma, for several obvious reasons." Kachihi growled. "...Dammit! Then we need to find somebody from our time frame and set him straight!" Really, now. He wasn't sure if this would work or not. "Find someone from our time frame while we are a millenia or so in the past Kachihi?" Gunshin hissed. "Just how do you expect us to manage that?" Kachihi scratched his head in exasperation. Yeah, he didn't think this one through, that was for sure. "...Alright, new plan. Does anyone have any psychic ability?" Kasumi applied his palm to his forehead. "...You, dumbass." Kachihi sighed, "Oh yeah, right. Well, now let me try something. Fumiko, Rika, bring me Kijo's body." "I can do that." Rika volunteered, and began to glow. A faint whoosh was heard as the cadaver came whisking into Rika's arms, knocking him back. "Even dead she hurts people." Gunshin noticed. The faint emerald energy emitted from Rika and Kachihi focused upon the corpse of Kijo, before enveloping her entirely. Spiritual energy from all around Soul Society was drawn in, amassing upon her person. In a bright flash of light, a new being was born. Before them, a tall, extremely beautiful young woman with raven hair and ivory skin stood. Her shiny, midnight black hair reaches down to her ankles. The rest of her hair is cut with scissors like it's a bother and left just like that. Her skin is fair, as though she's never in the sun and is incapable of holding a tan, but it's not an unhealthy pale. "Hihihihihi~ And you two are...?" The woman questioned, before dissapearing into the unknown. Kachihi, unhesitantly ran after her, with the others in hot pursuit. END
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