Division Four's problems (Malin and Airi)

[malin]

It was a hot summers day in Soul Society, which came as no surprise or shock, considering almost every day was like this. for most people it was the midst of peace times, and so Division four was rarely used, aside from one or two emergency cases. Even then the lack of danger left a lot of free time to it's members, and it's higher ups. Division four was kept the cleanest of all the seireitei mostly because their members also doubled as janitors. For most the day would be business as usual, as they were charged with the cleaning and upkeep of all of soul society. For the higher ups however their wasn't much to do.

Yuan the captain of division four sat back in his office. He was a man of moderate height, and in fact one of the shorter captains, standing in at 5'6" his long hair was a dirty blond, currently he was sweating bullets. His office being made of wood, often became like a sauna in the afternoon. His green eyes were staring down at several papers, all of which he was finding rather boring. He fanned himself a little harder before getting up from his chair, and walking out into the gardens that his office overlooked. It was still hot outside his office, but at least there was more of a breeze than the stiffed air. "I swear they gave me the most uncomfortable office here." He muttered his eye half twitching.

 

[Airi]

Having to do an intense Kido training on such warm and humid day was a great bummer, but Rei didn't have any other choice. The program was arranged long time ago already as a joint effort between Division Four and Five, and was officially endorsed by the Captain Commander himself. Besides, she had personally wanted to arrange something for some of her colleagues to do besides the humiliating janitoring activities that they usually do around Seiretei.

Sighing, the long haired blonde took a sip from her water container as she began to walk back to her division's barrack. She had been wearing a sleeveless kosode and donned her hair up into a bun in expectation to the weather, but it still didn't do much in handling the heat. "Wouldn't it be nice if Shinigami uniform has other colors than black...," she lamented shortly before a group of Shinigami belonging to Division Eleven passed by and began their usual bickering upon seeing a member of Four, to which she replied them with a finger.

"Assholes...," she murmured soon before entering the barrack, feeling happier that she was under a shade once again. It wasn't climate-controlled like Division Two's, but hey, at least it's her home. Once inside, Rei walked further to the center of the barrack, where the Captain's office was located. She paused briefly before sliding the paper door open, hesitating for a bit. For the past few weeks, her brother had seemed a little bit... off. She hadn't been able to ask him about it before, since the both of them had been busy and hardly could be alone together for more than three minutes. Today seemed to be different, though. Maybe it's a good time to bring it up somewhat?

The paper door made a soft shifting sound as the grey-eyed Lieutenant pushed it aside. "Afternoon, brother. Enjoying the paperworks so far?" She greeted and grinned at her Division's Captain.

 

[malin]

Yuan sat back from his desk as he heard the shift of the paper doors. He was grateful for any interruption that took him away from his work, not to mention anything that got him away from this heat, though his face paled slightly when he saw his sister. He had been avoiding her with good reason. He hadn't been of sound mind as of late, problems were starting too arise, and rumors were spreading that the captain of division four wasn't what he seemed, and he wasn't sure who's side he was on when it came to those stories anymore. His mind roamed in two directions almost at once when he saw her. "... Rei it's nice too see you."

He spoke with only a slight delay, and sounded actually happy to see her, but also concerned with her prescience. With one of his eyes twitching slightly he stepped up from his chair turning away from his desk, mostly so he could move around the sauna like room. How did anyone breath in this office? he thought briefly before getting another question How did anyone wear clothing in this place? He shook off the second one as just an impulsive rather stupid thought, the heat was sweltering and so much worse inside his office he was surprised he could even stand it. "Have you... finished class already I thought you weren't due back for another three hours?" He asked slightly dazed as if his full attention wasn't even in the area.

Their was no clock in the office, their was a small book shelf towards the back that had a few medical journals, and a desk plopped lazily in the midst of the room. three chairs, one for him, and two for possible company, and off to the left corner of the room was a bedroll. the entire place was spotless, and spoke of either a captain devoid of personality, or someone who used to owning very little during his life. With Yuan it was the latter of the two options. "Anything I can help you with sister?"

 

[Airi]

She lifted an eyebrow briefly upon hearing Yuan's first question. He knew about the schedule of the training, despite not having asked her before. She couldn't help but wonder whether her brother wanted to avoid her so bad, a thought which brought a slight unpleasant sting somewhere in her chest. And what was with all the formality?

"The trainer dismissed us early. Nobody could pay their utmost attention anyway because of the heat," said Rei before nonchalantly strolling into the office. "Good lord, it's so hot in here... No wonder it gets to your head," she remarked, all the while flapping at the front collar of her uniform in an attempt to shun in some breeze to her sweat-covered skin. With a flick of her fingers, she opened the latch on the office's small window and welcomed in the almost non-existent breeze. Still better than nothing, though. She then directed her eyes back to Yuan.

"You need to get some fresh air. For a moment there I almost thought that you were turning into the head of Kuchiki or something." The lean-framed Lieutenant grinned in her attempt to poke fun at her brother. "Oh, I know. We can go to Rukongai! And get some ice cream along the way. What do you think? We haven't done that a lot since we were attending the academy."

 

[malin]

Going out of the office meant interacting with the world. Yuan let out a sound half way between a sigh and a growl. Why was it after so many years that his own sister constantly failed to see the sure fire signs that he wanted to be left alone? Then again getting out of this office, and having something cold in his hand sounded like it would help to clear his mind. Finally he lowered his guard enough, looking at his sister he gave a small shrug. She won this round with the promise of ice cream, and a chance for him to clear his overly muddled mind. "Okay, we will go out for the day."

It wasn't a good idea for a captain to be seen outside of the Seireitei, but if he left his captains jacket here, their was a good chance he wouldn't be recognized as a captain, at least in the Rukongai at least. Taking off the long white over coat he put it on the back of his chair. "You should leave your lieutenants badge here as well. The Rukongai tends to get too paranoid if they see one of the higher ranks in the area, and I would rather avoid a fight." He said with a slight amount of disdain for the situation he should be staying here.

There was little wonder in his mind why they haven't been past the seireitei walls in so many years. The walls were rich and vibrant, the floors were cut marble, and the gardens always seemed so much nicer inside the walls. Outside the rukongai varied from dirt, too more dirt. It was where they had came from, and they hadn't been back since they were members of the academy together. As they left his office he stretched out slightly feeling the non breeze on his skin directly. "Your right Sis, some fresh air will do me some good." He said trying to give her a fake laugh hoping that Rei wouldn't notice that his attention span wasn't all there. If he could just convince her everything was okay, then maybe there wouldn't be a problem.

 

[Airi]

She flashed a grin at seeing Yuan's shrug. Ever since they arrived in Seiretei, they had been careful to not let their guards down in the competitive world of the Shinigami, but he was taking it steps further than her. While in the academy they had been keeping to themselves, shunning others from their little circle and supporting each other to attain their goals, once they graduated, she had sensed -- albeit reluctantly -- that he had begun to drift away even from her. Granted, they were initially assigned to different divisions -- she was off to Division Five and he to Division Four.

Despite the sterling career that he had in Four, Rei couldn't help but wonder why he got assigned there in the first place. Yuan was one of the toughest fighters that she had ever met, and she didn't only say that just because he was her older brother. When most Shinigami excel only one or two of the four basic combat forms -- Kido, Zanjutsu, Hoho, and Hakuda -- Yuan had almost equal mastery of all four of them. He could have easily been assigned to Division One instead.

Nevertheless, what was in the past stayed in the past. After placing her badge on Yuan's desk as instructed, she went ahead and opened the door for them to venture out, deliberately leaving the window open so her brother would at least have some fresh air on his return. Her smile was widened on hearing his remark, and she deliberately reached an arm out to circle it around her brother's. They hadn't walked hand in hand like that for a very long time, perhaps tracing back to when they were small, and Rei herself wondered briefly why she suddenly had the urge to do that. Maybe she was just feeling very nostalgic.

"I remember there's a really good ice cream place just outside the academy's walls, the one leading to Rukongai. I was only there once because they opened so close to my graduation day," she said, then fell silent for quite a bit. "It had been a while isn't it, since we left Rukongai for Seiretei?" She let out a sigh. "I wonder what happened to our house there."

 

[malin]

Back in the acadamy Yuan had surprised everyone when he had gone to division four, and he had never actually said the reason for his choice. In truth he had been offered a position inside division one, a position that probably would have put him on the fast track to be a captain a hundred or so years prior to when he had been promoted. However that had been a position he had declined, and he had chosen division four because his sister had chosen division five. Had he gone to the same division as her he probably would have been separated from her, however as a member of division four he could look after her, and make sure that if their was ever an emergency in her division he could be part of the first respond team. He had happily put his career on hold so that he could watch his sisters little sisters back.

When someone breaks the rank of captain it was normally a tradition for the new vice captain to be selected within the ranks of the division, but Yuan had broken that tradition much too a few members disappointment. Selecting his sister as his vice captain had been an easy choice too make, but a hard one to justify to both the captain of division five, and his own men of division four. He had spent most of his life watching out for Rei, but now things were shifting and he was the one who desperately needed help. "Your graduation day was several hundred years ago by now, are you sure they are still open?" He said with a small laugh, shinigami didn't really age, it took hundreds of years for almost any change to set in physically. He knew people older than him, that were locked in the body of 10 year olds, a life he could only imagine was pure and utter hell for them.

Walking with his sister wrapped around his arm he felt slightly more at peace, his mind was able to focus more on the questions she was asking instead of the constant battle it seemed too be. However that didn't mean he could focus entirely on it, and her question took him by surprise. "You mean that old shack that we found?" Their old home was less of an actual home, and more of a small leaky roof that hardly kept the cold air out on a stormy night. He gave a shrug. "Probably home to some new set of orphans... though." He knew it was a bad idea too explore past the rukongai, but part of him wanted too.

"Let's find out? after we get some ice cream." The idea that they could venture so far back into that old place, troubled him. As he walked he had a slight shiver his muscles tensing for a moment as if he thought someone was watching him, inside his head he could hear the faint sound of laughter before he shook it off. He didn't want to focus on his mind, he wanted to be with his sister.

 

[Airi]

"Oh, crap. I didn't really think of that." She chuckled back at Yuan. "Well, even if the ice cream is not there, it'll still be nice to pass by the academy."

Contrary to many Shinigami, who are glad that they've gotten as far away as possible from the academy, Rei actually quite liked being there. After the harsh life in Rukongai, the academy was like a safe haven. They didn't have to scavenge or fight for food, and Yuan would have less wounds and cuts from having to protect her all the time. She liked the study, too. Maybe once it's possible to relieve herself of the duty, she could return to the academy and become a teacher there. She hadn't talked about it with her brother yet, unsure of what he would think of it. He worked hard for the both of them to get to where they were, and she didn't want to make it all seem as if it was all in vain.

They walked rather quickly, mainly due to the temperature. Though beautiful as it was, Rei found that most of the grounds of Seiretei lacked trees and greenery. Except perhaps for some lands owed by the noble families, but they're usually barred from public. Within minutes, they could already see the building of the academy. It was at this time that she gave a soft squeeze to Yuan's hand.

"You think an ice cream stall would close after a couple hundred years, but a shack with broken roof would stay longer?" she asked back with another string of chuckle. "Just kidding, though. I hope it still stands, and any other orphans that found it would find good use of the place."

They turned on a corner and immediately found the ice cream stall. It was surprisingly empty for a hot day like this, but upon closer inspection, Rei figured out that it was because the shop almost ran out already. "Hmm, they only have lemon and cherry flavors left," she told Yuan once she returned back from the conversing with the shop owner. "Which one do you want, brother?"

 

[malin]

Yuan smiled watching his sister go off too get ice cream he sat down for a moment under the shade. He put a hand over his eye partly because it was starting to hurt. It felt like there was a bug or something that had flown up against it, and it was starting to be annoying. He rubbed at it for a moment with a small sigh, and when Rei came back he thought over his options. "Lemon." As he spoke his voice sounded a little more coarse than it did before, it sounded like maybe he was having a reaction to the fresh air of some sort, but his throat didn't feel all that weird.

Rubbing his eye the pain eventually faded, and he gave a small sigh opening his left eye and blinking several times it was like half his vision in one eye had gone black. There wasn't any pain but he couldn't see out of most of his left eye, if his sister was playing close attention there were slight signs of blackness that were clearly unnatural. Shaking it off and trying too ignore it, he gave a smile looking at the academy. Like his sister he did have a fondness for this place, and when he had been a member of the fourth squad he had taken several shift as an acting doctor for the academy. In truth had he selected a division other than division four it probably would have been 13, after all it was the division that did the most work to run the academy.

The thought of traveling too his old home disturbed him slightly, he was vacant minded, already, and that shack had several hundred bad memories. Still part of him wanted too see it for himself, and if there were any orphans living there still he could probably do something to help them out. The acadamy had offered them a better life, why not return the favor now that he could, and make sure that someone else would get the chance to be better off.

When his sister returned he gave her a smile both his eyes looking at her though the left one still looked rather raw, and of course had small veins of blackness swimming through it if she looked close enough. Taking his ice cream he smiled. "So what has you going all nostalgic?" He asked, this entire day trip did seem to be a walk into their past, and now he was getting the point where he was curious as too why. "I mean what triggered this?" He asked as if he didn't already know that she was doing this because he was being distant.

 

[Airi]

Rei nodded at Yuan's choice and went back to the shop, shortly after returning with two cones of ice cream. The lemon one she gave to her brother, while the cherry flavored ice cream she kept for herself. At his question, she just shrugged. "I just miss it," she said, then smiled. "Back then we could spend more time together. I kind of miss that."

The blonde opened her mouth again as she readied to ask for something else, but she hesitated midway. It was just about a stupid rumor, anyway. People in Seiretei had been commenting how Yuan had changed in the past months, preferring to stay cooped up in his office and refusing to see visitors. Apparently, he also missed a couple of Captain's meetings as well, but the source of the news was rather questionable. In the end, Rei decided to brush off the topic and sat down next to her brother, enjoying the ice cream in silence.

"Do you want to see the house now?" she asked as her own ice cream was nearly halfway done. When she turned to Yuan, it was then that she realized something was a bit off with his eye. Nevertheless, it was difficult to know what it exactly was from her current angle.

"What's wrong? Did you get an allergic reaction?" asked Rei, while her hand almost automatically reached up to the side of her brother's face and she herself leaned closer to his face for an examination. Her voice was laced with concern. Summer allergens are huge hindrance to many people, but she never witnessed it ever happening to Yuan before.

 

[malin]

[ooc: sorry i didn't post yesterday I was out all day]

Yuan took his ice cream taking some of the refreshing taste and enjoying it. he watched his sister anxiously at the best of times, part of him didn't know why his eyes were so tightly locked onto her, especially since he was almost half blind. He smiled thinking back to when they were children, their career though a smart move for them both had brought them apart ever so slightly, and that actually kind of saddened Yuan. He didn't like that she had grown distant, though now that she was his liutenant such feelings could be remedied. "Well were back together now."

As Rei leaned closer to him his smile fadded slightly as she was taking notice more of his eye. He was still half blind and watching his sister he felt uncomfortable. He didn't like that she was getting too close, and his heart was beating rather faster, part of him was worried about her, but the other half had darker intentions. He didn't have alergies and as she reached up too touch him, Yuan leaned closer his blackened eye scaning her face they were only inches away from eachother as he looked at her, his own hand raised to her face for a moment, gravitating closer too her.

Yuan snapped out of it, pulling himself away with a small yelp the blackness fading from his eye as he blinked and breathed deeply. "I'm fine!" He yelled slightly in protest, but the fact was that in his motions he had dropped his ice cream. He very clearly wasn't fine, in fact he didn't know what was wrong with him, but he knew he didn't like it. Breathing heavily to regain control of himself and his movements, he caughed. "Yeah... I think it's the sun, or pollen, just a headache, lets get out of here, and see the old place." He said with a nervous smile.

 

[Airi]

((Ah, okay. It's alright!))

Rei almost jolted back at Yuan's reaction. He had tried to close in to her but pulled back so suddenly afterwards. In a brief second, she thought she saw black specks on one of his eyes, but quickly concluded that she was only seeing things when her brother turned back around and she saw both of his eyes in their normal bright green color. Nevertheless, his jerkiness didn't go unnoticed by the Lieutenant, though she masked her curiosity with a smile. Once they were out of Seiretei, she could press the matter further without worrying that anyone with important enough position could hear them.

"I see. Let's go, then," she said and walked with her brother towards the gates to Rukongai. Fortunately enough, the place where they were heading to wasn't so far away. "You should take care of yourself better, brother. What would people say if the captain of Division Four fell sick?" she added with a chuckle.

 

[malin]

Yuan laughed slightly. If they found out the fourth division captain was sick espically with the illness that he actually had it would be over for him, and the years he had spent not only building up himself but his sister in a position of power would all fall away. His work would crumble into dust or worse if they thought his sister was helping him then she would be killed off just as quickly as they would have eliminated him. The thought was horrifying to him, and only made him want to push his sister away more, but the fact was that that he desperately wanted her company, he didn't have the heart to send her away.

"They would probably say that he was a pathetic captain." He said with a slight nervious laugh of his own. When they finally reached the seireitei walls and passed out to the gate, it was like entering another world. The district's floor was dust and dirt, the rukongai had a hundred different smells that never occurred in the seireitei's more sterile marble floor, and the entire place looked impoverished and run down by comparison. Even the richest section of the rukongai paled in wealth in the comparison to the seireitei. Walking down the dirt roads he couldn't help but be brought back to a time when they were much younger spiritually and physically. Passing a bakery he pointed it out, he watched it for a moment. "We used to have too steal bread from that place." He said with a slight tone of remembrance, not fond nostalgia, but rather just lost in thought.

"Funny that they are still in business here considering most people don't have too eat." For most people in the rukongai food was just something one could enjoy, only people with an above normal spiritual energy had to actually eat to live, odd then that he remembered so many cold nights where the two of them laid starving side by side.

 

[Airi]

"Well, they would be very wrong, then," replied Rei nonchalantly to Yuan's remark. Nevertheless, each word that she said was brimming with honesty. She would never let anyone talk bad of her brother. Even in Seiretei, the gossips that she heard about Yuan she obtained mostly from eavesdropping. Nobody dared to speak to her directly about any problems with Captain Yuan of the Division Four, lest she would get all defensive and argue at the accuser relentlessly until she was sure the other party would detract their words. Or if a committee of disciplinary came and forced the argument to a close.

She turned her attention amicably at the direction that Yuan was pointing, intently listening to his observation. "Maybe because the food here represents hope? There are not many things that you can enjoy doing in Rukongai, is there," the blonde Lieutenant replied. The memories from their earlier years, starving without actually knowing why or how it happened when people around them could go on just fine without even a bite, flashed by, but from the look of it, she was much less affected by it than her brother's. It was horrible, yes, but Rei had always kept this notion that there was nothing that could be manifested from dwelling in the past.

It took them a while of walk until they finally reached the shack; the years that blurred memories and changed the landscape made it more difficult to immediately find it on the first try. As she stood there, Rei took in the sight of the wooden shed and couldn't quite decide if it had become more deteriorated over the years. "Do you think anyone's still living here?" she directed the question. Empty-looking houses in Rukongai are not that rare; most of the time the residents tried to live as secretly as possible, and distrusting potential guests. Even more so if they were orphans, like the two of them were.

 

[malin]

Yuan let out a slight chuckle he was trying to stay positive, but he was shaken. Normally he was under the impression that the past was useless to dwell on, but it was different. When you are reflecting on something you can distance yourself from it, Yuan was confronted with the past. His eyes glazed over slightly, a shadow was falling over his face already disturbed, his mind didn't have the focus it was supposed too have. All of the memories in this shack, disturbed him and his face became more pale as he they looked it over. Rei's voice was an echo as Yuan stepped forward, he looked almost sickly as he walked into the shack. Disregarding his sisters warning of disturbing another group of orphans.

The shack was empty, there were no belongings, even the simple trinkets an orphan group would have had were absent. Hundreds of years, the place looked almost exactly as he remembered it. Their was dust around him as he walked disturbing the home. No one lived here, it was slightly saddening, but his mind didn't really take any of it in. Instead their was just a somberness too his motions, up until he twisted his head back and gave a small laugh. It was uncharacteristic and didn't even sound like Yuans voice when it spoke. In fact it sounded like two different voices were speaking at once. "Wow you two idiots are really something else."

In a moment, the small shack was filled with more spiritual energy than even Yuan would have had. A wild crushing amount that seemed to increase the very thickness of the air, not to mention the pressure and gravity. "You two are really sentimental about this old piece of crap?" He said still not looking towards his sister. "Man I had to admit it was a struggle to stay hidden long enough to actually see this peice of shit for myself, but the effort was almost not worth it." As he finished with another high pitched laugh Yuan turned back towards his sister, his green eyes were gone, replaced with dark eyes, black around two yellow orbs. "Hi."

 

[Airi]

There was something off with the way her brother walked forward, yet she couldn't really point out why. Worried that there was something wrong, Rei followed into the shack after Yuan, and was about to ask him if everything was okay when she got taken aback by his sudden laugh. The sudden surging reiatsu shortly after forced her to physically and reached for her sword. It didn't take long for her to recognize that the reiatsu wasn't Yuan's, though it baffled her that there were traces of her brother's presence around.

"What did you do to my brother?" she asked calmly and firmly. Being a Lieutenant, she was well-trained to keep her emotion under control during unexpected moments. Nevertheless, there was still no hiding the feeling of fright that loomed about in her tone. This was Yuan, after all, the one person that she cared the most in the whole world.

"Are you a Hollow? How did you get in here?" Rei gripped at the hilt of her zanpakuto tighter. She'd heard of Hollows that could not only possess humans, but also Shinigami. The sudden change in Yuan's appearance and attitude only affirmed the blonde Lieutenant more of such theory, and she didn't waste much time to unsheathe her zanpakuto entirely. In that moment, she didn't have the luxury of thinking that the black eyes that she was seeing was the same ones that she saw earlier on Yuan before they left Seiretei. "Answer me!"

 

[malin]

Rei's willingness to draw a sword even against her elder brother surprised the hollow side of Yuan slightly. He let out a laugh drawing his own zanpakuto. Looking around he actually didn't expect a fight in this place. He thought that yuan's sister wouldn't have risked it, but now that he saw her drawing her blade and ready for one. He had to admit he liked this girl, he could see why Yuan treated her with such affections and praised her. When she demanded answers he simply laughed at her again. "Don't feel like it. That story is too long for my tastes."

There was also the fact that he was on a time limit. Every second that He stayed above the surface there was a chance that Yuan might break his control and send him back down. He had so many other plans than that. Though he had a twisted sense of fun as he vanished for a second using shunpo He appeared behind his sister swinging the back of his zanpakuto at the back of her neck. He wasn't trying to kill her after all so he used the blunted side.

As he reappeared his face was starting to be covered by a small amount of a hollows mask, it started on the right side of his face forming just over his eye, but it was clear milk white, almost like a part of his skeleton was showing though it was above the skin. "You could say I am a hollow, but that Yuan is a shinigami. it's a little of both worlds if you ask me. Now i answered a question, here's one for you, how can I make you scream?"

 

[Airi]

Withdrawing the sword was actually the easy part. Despite her best efforts to convince herself that the one she was facing was a Hollow, Rei still couldn't bring herself to even call out her Shikai. It was still highly possible that Yuan was still in there, somewhere; the dim presence of his reiatsu was the proof. If she could defeat the Hollow without causing any serious damage, she could perhaps still bring Yuan to Division Twelve for an examination. Unfortunately, it was exactly this line of thinking that brought her guard down. She hadn't quite expected the Hollow-Yuan to shunpo so fast -- faster than Yuan himself, even -- and the next thing that she knew, the blonde Lieutenant was flat on the ground with a throbbing pain at the back of her neck.

"You bastard." She cursed back with a toxic tone at her opponent's ambiguous answer. Though her grey eyes were focused at him, the cussing was partly directed to herself as well. Of course a Hollow that could possess a Captain-level Shinigami would also possess a decent power. Staggering slightly, Rei got back up to her feet and rose her sword up to her eye level with both hands, whispering forth the name of her Shikai, "Bloom, Chimamirebara."

In an instant, her zanpakutou shapeshifted into a longer, straight katana with pure black blade. The plain black hilt was replaced with bright red braid that covered the handle, and a rose ornament could be seen hung from the tip of the handle. She pointed the sword at the Hollow and, referring to his question, said, "Figure it out yourself, would you?"

 

[malin]

Yuan laughed slightly as his sister released her zanpakuto's shikai. Holding out his own blade to the side, The hollow in control of Yuan smirked. She wanted a real fight against her brothers body, it seemed almost laughable however her invitation to try and find out what made her scream was delightful. In the end the hollow accepted the challenge with enthusiasm. "Stitch them up Hari Saki." The blade seemed to steam as it transformed the metal glowing hot as the zanpakuto was forced to change shape.ht

Hari Saki, was a strait fencing blade. small and sharp, it was a needle like blade hence it's name, but it was also bright, covered with an oil that reflected light in a bright green hue. It was that poison that was the strength of the blade, a scratch numbed an entire limb, making it hard for anyone afflicted to feel the pain they were suffering from, or in combat, making their motions slower, and weaker as the drug would weaken someone and make them dull to combat. Yuan's blade was well suited for both the field of combat, and the job of a medic.

The hollow walked foward his blade pointing toward Rei taking up one of Yuan's fighting stances, he walked step over step minimizing himself as a target. Yuan used European fencing instead of the more common Kendo or Japanese combat styles. "You know you can't risk it. You can feel Yuan struggling, can't you? Kill me, and you kill him." He spoke slowly and carefully trying to let his words sink in. "However." Yuan charged forward thrusting his blade towards her sword hand trying to stab under her rose like guard. "If I kill you nothing changes."

 

[Airi]

"You know you can't risk it. You can feel Yuan struggling, can't you? Kill me, and you kill him."

Oh yes, Rei knew that very well, though she absolutely couldn't let it affect her in the battle. No matter how painful it was, she knew that the moment she let her emotion shown, either she would die or Yuan would lose control to the Hollow. Either way, she would be separated from her brother, possibly forever.

So she had suppressed her emotion and let her face be a blank slate. Her calling out for her zanpakuto's Shikai form was actually meant only to provoke her opponent. When 'Yuan' charged at her, Rei didn't even swing her sword and merely sidestepping. Meanwhile, her free hand reached up to the sky and, whispered, "Bakudo #63: Sajou Sabaku."

Rei watched achingly as a thick chain made of reiatsu descended in an instant from the sky and bound itself around her brother's upper body. A binding spell of such strength would be impossible to be broken with mere physical strength, and it was one of the few ways that the ieutenant could think of to help her brother without having to wound him in any way.

"Play time's up, Hollow," she said before summoning a Jigokuchou -- Hell's Butterfly -- to be sent off to Division Twelve. "Even if you don't leave my brother alone, the people that I'm calling will, and I assure you it would be very painful for you."

The blonde froze shortly after finishing her sentence. At that moment, she realized that her words would mean both ways to Yuan and the Hollow. After all, a captain of Gotei 13 being possessed by a Hollow wasn't a very common case. Division Twelve, with its eccentric scientist as captain, would be delighted to find a new specimen for a new experiment. The only problem left was that Rei would neither have control nor knowledge on how they would use Yuan's body...

 

[malin]

"They would dissect us." The hollow's voice was playful now, he had seen the slight amount of fear in Rei's eyes. The hollow was bound yes, and he even struggled slightly, his sisters Kido was much harder to break than even the hollow had anticipated, Seeing the hell butterfly however the Hollow had found his way out.

"You could send that message, but the gotei thirteen would pass a death sentence to Yuan. He and I would die, but more than that, our body would go too that division. Their would be no funeral, your brother would die and his body would be used for experimentation. Not to mention that he would be branded a traitor. Yuan would be disgraced, and all he ever worked for would be thrown out the window." The hollow let out a laugh leaning against the wood of the small shack as he stood upright. "I honestly don't think I could have thought of a better way to die, and take that over protective asshole with me."

Yuan smiled as more of the mask began to form over his face, the milk white bone starting to fill in over his forehead and down around his eye. As it formed more of the hollows reiatsu was allowed to flow free, putting a time limit on just how long Rei had to actually hold the creature she had captured. The creature stretched his neck popping it in places showing it wasn't all that worried as it was chained up.

"You would kill me for sure, but you would never even be able to say your brothers name without being branded a traitor. So.. go ahead. The clock is ticking." Every second the creature could stall for time was a second that he he could struggle more, his spiritual pressure already weakening the chains as he pushed against them.

 

[Airi]

Each word of the Hollow was like a slap across Rei's face. Yuan's popularity was already worsened around Seiretei already, and if the news leaked that it was because he was under the influence of Hollow... She gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on Chimamirebara's hilt as memories after memories flashed by in her mind. Yuan picking her up on her first day in the academy. Yuan helping her perfecting her sword stance. Yuan handing her the Lieutenant badge in his office.

She turned around swiftly and with an equal speed sent her fist hard across the chained man's jaw. There was insurmountable anger in her act, though the pain and sadness were equally apparent, as shown by the presence of tears on the sides of her grey eyes. Even so, she was still unable to use her zanpakuto. Not when it's against Yuan, anyway.

"Get the fuck off Yuan..." Her voice was cracking now. "... Please."

 

[malin]

Yuan's face stopped being over shadowed for a moment, seeing his sister in emotional distress was starting to give the shinigami side of him more energy to fight the hollow within, but even so the mask retained it's form and the hollow side stayed in control. The hollow side seemed amused for a moment watching Rei become more and more emotional. As she threw her fist in anger he took the hit hard his jaw moving though he could bet that it also felt like punching a brick wall. The punch would most probably bruise but it was enough to make him take her far more seriously.

The rooms atmosphere shifted and change almost all at once. The half broken ceiling creeked as the pressure in the room increased filling it with his own energy. The hollow flexed and the chains weakened and shattered as he let loose the full amount of strength that he had access too. Disappearing through the use of Yuan's shunpo only to appear behind her and this time strike her hard with a full on shoulder tackle trying to bring Rei too the ground.

He pushed her hard to the ground not saying a word, but his hand on the back of her head pushed her face towards the mud. "What if I don't, What if I enjoy my freedom, and hell what if I decided too make Yuan really hurt you." He leaned in closer. "After all, I know everything he does, and I think I figured out how to make you scream."

 

[Airi]

Rei barely had the time to be surprised when the chain broke as she shortly felt the blow that brought her to the ground once again. Gasping, she kicked and struggled to escape, only to find it impossible to escape with Yuan's full weight pressing on her back and his hand gripped firmly at her nape. Her brother was strong, but never in her life had she experienced it first hand like this. It was almost like the Hollow was forcing her to taste her own medicine, and she absolutely, utterly hated it. But most of all, she hated that he was turning her and Yuan against each other like this.

"Stop it!!" Rei yelled and shut her eyes close as the mud approached closer to her face. Her chest heaved and fell rapidly, while the bun of her hair began to unravel from all her struggle, letting her blonde strands fall down her back and shoulders. Dying in the battle was one thing, but she would never forgive herself if she was to let herself die on Yuan's own hands. She knew for sure that she would still be holding the guilt even after she was reincarnated.

"Please... just give Yuan back his body," she sobbed. The blank, unmoved exterior that she had set up earlier was shattered to pieces now, without even the slightest hope of it ever be recovered in a short time. "I-I'll do anything... please..."

 

[malin]

The Hollow smiled hearing that Rei would do anything. There were many dark secrets that Yuan had hidden away in his mind, part of them had been what caused his hollow side to grow to such strengths in the first place. The Hollow looked around the broken home the two of them had once shared, smiling as it heard her willingness to do anything it asked. His hand slipped from Rei's nape, and his weight left her, the hollow stood watching over her, his dark yellow eyes looking at her. Finally it nodded thinking things over in it's mind. "Anything is a dark road. You would be in debt to every dark and depraved thought Yuan has ever had, not to mention what ever I am feeling at the moment."

"I accept that condition, I will give Yuan his body back for an extended period of time, but from now on, you are gonna be my cute little servant girl." The hollow had no intention of leaving just yet, or even forever. Any deal would be temporary, but Yuan was already struggling, and soon the hollow side would fade away, the mask had already stopped being formed, the two sides reaching a stale mate, and the more energy he exerted the shorter his time in this world would be.

Looking around the shattered shack he literally could not think of a more appropreate place for their first encounter. Lifting her head up from the ground the hollow pressed his lips against Rei's own, taking a passionate kiss and even forcing his tongue into her mouth before pushing her away slightly so that she was free too move. "Now lets see what the little sister has too really offer." He said with a harsh laugh.