Forgotten Memories (Open via Skype)

On a warm, bright sunny day in the afternoon, Verinnia Skye was just
released from school. "Ugh...what a long day..." Verinnia complained to
herself as she stopped of at a convenient store. "Guess I'll buy a
little drink..." She thought to herself as she purchased a soft drink.

Verinnia,
being as lifeless and serious as she was, didn't have to many close
friends, so she was usually walking home by herself. Though the close
friends she did have were a weird bunch indeed.

"Veriiiinnniaa!"
Came a voice out of nowhere. A tall girl with dark red hair, wearing a
school uniform was running towards Verinnia. The girl jumped towards a
digruntled looking Verinnia, and hugged her tightly. "You always look so
down! Liven up!" The girl said loudly as she released Verinnia from her
grip.

"....I'm as active as I need to be.." Verinnia replied
back seriously. Verinnia then continued on walking towards her house,
with an annoyed look on her face.

"Wait for me!" Said the girl running to catch up with Verinnia. "C'mon! Let's go do something!" She said smiling.

"No
thank you." Verinnia replied lifelessly. "It's a friday...I want to go
home and rest, go find someone else to do something with, Taiko"
Verinnia said annoyed, eyes drooping.

"Awwww....C'mon! It'll be
fun!" Taiko said, with her smile ever greater. "How bout I hang with you
at your house for awhile then?"


Verinnia was silent for a second. "....Fine"

"Yay!" Taiko said happily as she grabbed an annoyed Verinnia's arm and began running towards Verinnia's house.


As they grew closer to arriving at Verinnia's house, Taiko was just about resting on top of a very annoyed Verinnia's head.

Verinnia was used to Taiko always doing this, so Verinnia just kept on going with an apathetic look laying on her face.

As
Verinnia opened the door to her house, Taiko ran into the house, as
loud as ever. "Hi everybody i'm here to hang out now!" Taiko yelled,
eyes closed, gleefully. Verinnia's family was also used to Taiko's
actions. Her eyes opened and saw no one in the living room. "Where is
everybody?" Taiko asked with a pout.

Verinnia walked into the
house, closing the door behind her. "They went out before school
started, for the day, I told them I'd rather stay home today." Verinnia
said as she began to walk towards her room. "I'm going to go lay down."
She said with a yawn.

"That's boring! Let's play a board game or something!" Taiko said happily.

"I
told you beforehand that I was going to rest when we got here."
Verinnia replied with another yawn. "Why don't you just watch
television, or read some manga while I take my little rest." Verinnia
finished speaking as she walked into her room.

"Fiiine." Taiko said as she jumped onto the couch, turning the television on.

Verinnia
just about fell onto her bed from how tired she was, pulling the covers
over head she closed her eyes and began to try to sleep.

As she
began to sleep a ghost began to float around her room, making moaning
noises. "O damn...not another one..." Verinnia said quietly to herself.
She doesn't know how long she has been able to see ghosts, but it seems
as if she has always been able to. She did not know why she was able to
see them, and sometimes she really wished she wasn't able to see them.

Verinnia
sat up quickly, shooing away the ghost. "Go away! I want to rest! Come
back later!" Verinnia yelled, though she tried to quietly yell, at the
ghost, who face saddened at the treatment.

"How cold." The ghost whimpered quietly.

Verinnia
just said to come back later once again, as she took off her shoe and
threw it at the ghost, going through him and hitting her half opened
closet, causing it to open. As the door opened her Zanpakto fell out of
the closet hitting the ground and slightly coming out of its sheath.
Though she didn't know of the Zanpakto, she had always thought i was
just a regular sword that her father gave to her.

To tired to get up and put it back in the closet, she rolled over and tried to sleep as if she weren't interrupted.


***************
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Touma calmly looked around the nearly-empty street. Despite his clothes
being ages older in style than everyone else's, nobody seemed to notice
him the entire day. He adjusted his sword's position to be a bit further
towards his back before walking down the road again.

Another man
in a matching uniform suddenly appeared nearby, clearly agitated. "What
are you doing, Touma? We're looking for a deserter! What are you doing
just prancing about like it doesn't matter to you that a rogue Shinigami
is out there?!"

"Most people can't see us in the first place,
Hachiro. Since we're looking for someone who can, and someone who
doesn't want to be found, walking through crowded areas to see who
reacts won't hurt."

"I don't know what happened during your last
mission, but this is no time to be lax! Now will you use Flash Step to
search, or should I assume you are a Squad 5 reject?"

Touma
slowly walked towards and then passed Hachiro, his right hand resting on
the hilt of his sword. The air shook slightly as he tried to contain
his temper and reiatsu as best he could. "I get the job done. I do what I
say I will do. And I will not let the deserter escape, even if all I
have to bring back as proof is shards of ice. And if you stop me to
complain about how I do things again, I'll have you charged with
interference."

Touma disappeared, reappearing a moment later on
the roof of the nearest building. "I learned a lot during my mission to
Hueco Mundo. The first being that you always have less energy than you
expect. Don't make me waste any on you."

And then Touma left,
dashing across the roofs to the nearest Hollow he could sense. After
all, there's no reason to abandon the fundamentals of his duties just
because he was on a different mission. And it was the Shinigami's duty
to stop Hollows as soon as they were found.


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"What was that?!" Verinnia thought to herself as she jerked up from her
sleep while she heard the roar of a hollow nearby. "I've never heard
such a noise before, what is it?" She said audibly this time.

"What is what?" Taiko asked as she lie there swing her legs back and forth whiel laying down.

"Could you go downstairs for a lil while?" Verinnia asked as she got up to look outside.

"Want
to be alone with your little ghosties?" Taiko asked while laughing as
she turned the TV off and went downstairs. "Hehe, have fun."

"What is out there tonight..." Verinnia said softly


***************
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Touma cursed under his breath as he saw the Hollow. He didn't realize it
would be so big, but it was still nothing he couldn't handle alone. He
drew his sword, flicking his wrist to hold it forward as he jumped,
ready to drop from above with the first strike.

He didn't see the
tail until after it hit him, knocking him into a nearby tree. The
monster turned quickly, it's pale white mask of a face lunging forward
to try and bite him. Touma stabbed the mask as it got close, using his
sword as leverage to get behind its black form.

And fall right
through the hole in its body that represented its lack of a heart as he
pulled his sword out. The Hollow took the opportunity to move, hitting
Touma once more with its tail before crashing through the corner of a
nearby roof as it changed its position.

Touma saw the ghost and
the girl at about the same time the Hollow did. "-tch- More
complications. But you're not getting either of them tonight, Hollow!"


***************
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"Wh-what the hell is going on?" She asked herself as she watched the
battle unfold in front of her. "What the hell is that?" She said
loudly as she began to back further into her room. "No, it looks like
it wants me, I can;t endanger everyone. Sword? No, I can't fight it,
no I'll have to drag it away from here."

She said as she quickly
jumped out of the window arms crossed in front of her. She did not see
the man, or the hollow through this, but landed on the ground with a
stumble, but quickly got up and ran quickly. "Whatever that thing is, I
need to get it away from everyone."


***************
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"Damnit!" Touma swore as he saw the girl run off. The Hollow turned and
lunged after the girl, prompting Touma to give chase. If it went after
her, then she had a noticeable amount of reiatsu. And if she ran instead
of fighting, then she couldn't defend herself against it. He had to
hurry, before anything happened to her. And he had to kill the Hollow
quickly.

He held his sword in front of himself as he ran. "Time
to hunt. Toratsume!" The blade glowed white and shifted, the glow
changing form and wrapping around his right hand and forearm. He used
Flash Step to catch up to the Hollow as the glow became metal again,
grabbing it by the tail with the war-gauntlet and throwing it into a
nearby wall. The shinigami slid between the monster and the girl before
lunging, driving his fingers into the monster's face. Ice cracked around
where he hit and spread further with each moment before the entire
creature faded into dust, leaving no remains.

"Well, that was
more than I wanted to do for that one. Are you alright?" Touma turned
around to face the girl, his expression changing from annoyance to
surprise. "Verinnia? What are you doing running from a Hollow?"


***************
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"W-what was that thing? Who are you? A-and how do you know my name?"
Verinnia quickly asked shakily. As she watched the hollow dissipate
into thin air, she felt some sort of relief, but then her confusion
still lingered on as she awaited the answers to her questions.


***************
***************


"What, forget me already? I've still got bruises from the last time we
saw each other." Touma was surprised at Verinnia's reaction. They were
friends, weren't they? "We should probably go send that ghost on,
anyway. There's a deserter around here somewhere, and I was told they
were dangerous." Touma offered his left hand to help her up, unsure of
what was wrong with her.


***************
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"I don't know what that has to do with me," Verinnia said as she backed
away from Touma. "What are you? And what was that thing?" She asked
again as she continued to slowly inch backwards until her back went up
against a tree. There was a look of genuine fear in her eyes although
also filled with curiosity.


***************
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Touma was honestly confused at her reaction. She had her zanpakto in her
hands, and she seemed to have no idea what anything meant. "What-? That
was a Hollow, remember? Soul of the dead fallen to darkness? And it's
our job as Shinigami to stop them from hurting people. Don't tell me you
forgot-"

"What are you doing?! She's the deserter!" Hachiro
stood nearby, his blade drawn. "Apprehend her, you idiot!" He charged
forward, bringing his sword forward to attack. He had no intention of
bringing back anything but a corpse.

Touma intercepted the strike
early, knocking Hachiro off-balance as he took a fighting stance. "What
are you talking about? Verinnia, a deserter? Nobody even told me what
the hell happened!" Touma's temper caused reiatsu to spike, a mist
surrounding his gauntlet. He didn't like forcing answers, but he was
tired of being told nothing. "Now talk."

Hachiro glared. "As soon
as she returned with the advanced party from Hueco Mundo, she turned
and slaughtered the rest of her team and escaped! Now get out of the
way!" He lunged forward to attack again, trading blows with Touma.

Touma
was still trying to wrap his mind around the declaration. All he could
do while he thought back to that day and its events was block Hachiro's
assault. Verinnia? She was barely able to move when she was sent back through to Soul Society. What is he talking about?

"Wh-what is all this?" Verinnia thought to herself as tripped tryign to
get up to run. "This isn't real, what is this?!" She nearly yelled as
she quickly got up to run away as fast as she could, and as weakly and
she was in such a frightened state.

"I need to get away from
them, what do they want from me? Traitor? What is all this about?"
Questions rolled all over inside her head as she ran continuously as she
slowly noticed that she had barely put any distance from them. It
seems the Spiritual Pressure was slowing down every movement she made
and she had no idea what was causing it, but in such a more frantic
yelp, she tripped to the floor as if crushed by the steadily growing
spiritual pressure.


***************
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Touma stumbled back as Hachiro got a lucky shot in, making a clean cut
down across his left eye. Touma snarled as he quickly made his decision.
"Not a chance. Someone lied, and I'm going to find out the truth. And
until then, I'll protect her!"

Touma knew he wouldn't be able to
do much after this attack because of how much it would drain him, but it
would also help him hide. He began focusing his power for the Kido
through Toratsume, using a secondary trait of his zanpakto.

"Hakudo
Number 4: Hainawa!" The spell is used to bind the target, but is fairly
weak. A yellow tendril to encircle tighten around the target.
Toratsume's power, however, turned the tendril a cold blue as Touma sent
it towards Hachiro. The original spell was weak, but this one was
infused with ice and additional power.

Hachiro dropped his sword
as the spell trapped him "Traitor! I'll kill you, both of you!" Touma
ignored him, using his zanpakto to keep him from bleeding any more until
he had time to treat the wound. He quickly turned and grabbed Verinnia,
disappearing as he used Flash Step to get far away quickly. He didn't
have much time, and he didn't know where would be safe anymore.


***************
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It felt as if she had been taken out of water right before drowning to
death as she breathed heavily glad to be free to breathe again. "What
was that? Why are you protecting me?" Verinnia asked before she
realized how far into the air they were whenever he used flash step.
"Oh jeez!" She said as she clung to the man's arm as she watched the
ground below her travel at immense speeds thanks to flash step.


***************
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Touma dashed around the city, trying to find somewhere to hide. It was
getting hard to think straight, though. The last attack drained him more
than he expected, and Hachiro was more powerful than him to begin with.
He was exhausted, and only barely heard Verinnia's questions.

"You...
You're in trouble. Don't know... We're old friends, used to spar. Ugh,
my head... Need somewhere safe... Have to hide..."

Touma stumbled
as he became light-headed, only vaguely realizing he ran in a giant
circle back to the house the Hollow crashed through. He didn't know it
was the house Verinnia called home, or that there were more people
there. He managed to return his zanpakto to its sheath before collapsing
against the wall, too tired to run any more.

"Sorry... Put too
much energy into that kido. Didn't want him to follow us, but ended up
draining myself too much. You okay, Verinnia?"


***************
***************


"Your the one who should be asked if ok!" Verinnia said as she saw all
the wounds around the man. The only ones home by this point would be
Taiko who probably slept through it on the couch downstairs, and the two
siblings have left for the day although her father may be home. "Can I
help you in any sort of way?" She said as she looked over his wounds
ignoring the weakened state she herself was in from the spiritual
pressure. "How do I know you? I never seen you before..." She said
quietly as she took out a first aid kit thinking it'd be helpful.


***************
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Touma looked at the hole in the wall, thinking. He could feel himself
still bleed from the wound over his eye. "Just... Need something for my
eye. Heh... All the fights I've been in, and this is going to be my
first scar."

He looked back at Verinnia, worried. "You really
don't remember, do you? Never were one for jokes or pranks... Always
took things seriously. You really don't remember me? Do you remember
saving my life back in Hueco Mundo?"


***************
***************


"So I...used to know you, and even saved you?" Verinnia asked quietly
as she tried to think of anything she could. "And whats this Haaco
Moondo?" She said pronouncing it incorrectly. Verinna quickly got
together the required aids to help his eye in few moments flat, possibly
a residue of how effective she was at needing to bandage on the spot
back before when she was in squad two.

"Everything you said seems
crazy, but I guess since I saw those things out there, what you've said
can't all be false..." She said as she finished patching his eye up.


***************
***************


"As much as I'm sure we'd both like to take this slow, it won't be long
until Hachiro catches up. I don't think I'll be ready to fight again
tonight without actually aiming to kill him. And you seem to barely
remember how to carry a sword, much less use one." Touma felt the
bandage, remembering the last time he saw Verinnia treat wounds.

"You
knew what you were doing in Hueco Mundo... Patched everyone else up
after we were attacked before collapsing. Had to practically throw you
back through to Soul Society." Touma looked back at Verinnia's zanpakto.
He remembered seeing her using it, wondering how someone with her skill
could just forget...

"I can think of two choices for you right
now. First is to run and hide; they can't seem to track you, so as long
as you don't draw your zanpakto you should be safe enough. Second option
is try and fight Hachiro and whoever else comes off; unless you're
ready to fight to the death, I wouldn't recommend that one. But if you
fight, then I'll stand with you."


***************
***************



Verinnia eyed her sword which lay a few feet from
her as she thought to herself, stressed. "I wouldn't possibly know how
to use it.... a zanpaktou you called it?" She asked as she moved over
to pick it up. "My father had said it was an heirloom that he passed
down onto me..."


"Verinnia are you ok?" Came a voice before
her bedroom door opened. It was her father who was actually ex-captain
of squad four, Captain Houtai. Seeing Touma there although he was
unsure, but he still may recognize him even in this stat of things, but
he kept his cool and remained in his act. "A boy is in your room?!" He
yelled loudly as he fell to his knees comically holding an arm to his
eyes. "And here I thought I raised you with decency.." He said with a
sullen look.

"Uhh, dad I can explain.." Verinnia tried to say before being interupted.

"No!
No need to say anything!" Houtai said aloud back with full life in
his voice. "I know what this is about, you young girls need to
experience at some point!, Why I was a lady killer in my youth, and I
am sure you'll bring the boys in fast and strong! When I was young I.."
He continued on his talking of his life and how well Verinnia was
doing for herself.

"Sorry about the noise..." Verinnia said quietly towards Touma as she blushed out of embarrassment.

"Hey!
I know!" He suddenly exclaimed as he got real close to Touma holding
his arm around him. "Why don't you take my daughter out on a date, away
from this horrible, hollow, of a broken house it is at this moment!"
He seemed to be emphasizing to take her to a safe location as he cannot
be seen, by any other members if any others were to appear.

"But I
don't really feel like going anywhere..." Verinnia began before her
father opened her windows wide letting the sunshine in.

"Nonsense,
it's a beautiful day!" He said as he picked up Verinnia throwing her
out of the window. Verinnia safely landed no problem, but still looked
back up as she spoke aloud.

"How could you just throw me like
tha-" She began to say before he then threw her sword out of the window
towards her. "Are you crazy?! Throwing a sword like that, even if it
is in a sheathe!"

"Hahahah!" He laughed loudly and proudly. "I
did not give you those fighting lessons for nothing, and hell this kid
looks like a strong guy maybe he can teach you a thing or two, right?!"
He said with excitement as he turned around looking at Touma, seemingly
ready to throw him out the window as well.



***************
***************


There wasn't a doubt in Touma's mind that Captain Houtai just entered
the room. And while Touma was a bit absent-minded sometimes, it wasn't
hard to pick out the meaning behind the Captain's "suggestion". He
hopped onto the windowsill as the Captain turned towards him. As sure as
he was that the captain wouldn't hurt him, he didn't want to be thrown
out a window again.

"Don't worry, sir.
I'll take good care of your daughter, since I already owe her a night
she'll remember. I still have to thank her for fixing my eye after my
last little streetfight. Do you happen to have any suggestions on some
nice secluded places the world will forget us in? Don't be surprised if I
return your daughter home a woman!" Touma didn't know the area, but
hopefully the captain would pick up on the meaning. Emphasis on "sir" to
tell the Captain he was recognized, and a question on where they could
hide. And a few comments to tease Verinnia mixed in, to continue the act
going on.

Verinnia didn't very much like the way Touma was talking of her, way to
similar to her father. "They get along too well..." Was all she said
and in a whisper as she began walking off.

"Well son, I would
suggest going to the peaceful forest on the edge of the city, certainly a
good place to explore for a nice date. Including an old abandoned
greenhouse which is perfectly good for, barricading, the energy of
others away...so you can have alone time of course!" He said with his
usual laugh as he turned around to go back into the house. "Don't worry
about Taiko, Verinnia, I'll watch over her!" He said as the last thing
before he went back downstairs.


***************
***************


Touma jumped down and jogged to catch up to Verinnia, trying not to
stumble too much. He noticed he was recovering faster than he used to,
but didn't think anything of it. "Hey, relax. Captain Houtai just gave
us everything we needed. As soon as we reach that greenhouse, we can
relax. But we still don't really have much time, so let's move before
Hachiro finds us again!" Touma turned down the road and started running,
pausing after a few seconds. "Uh... Which way is the forest, Verinnia?"


***************
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"Just north through town." Verinnia said as she led the way at a firm
pace. Verinnia did not say a word for a long while until she suddenly
spoke up. "Why did you call my father, Captain?" She asked curiously.
Maybe it was Houkai's fault for not trying to mention it, but it most
likely isn't the best idea to let her know exactly who Houkai really is
after all, why did he try to hide it even still with all the goings on?


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"Uh... Because that's his rank? Or, at least it was the last time I saw
him. He was the captain of Squad 4, the Medical Corps. You were a member
of Squad 2, the Stealth Corps. But you still don't remember anything,
do you?" Touma kept pace with Verinnia, an odd feeling in the back of
his mind.

His thoughts kept going back to the chances of Hachiro
catching them again. They reached the woods soon enough, but Touma was
still tense. "I really don't know what happened in Soul Society after my
mission started. Once we have time, I'll have to ask him about it.
Assuming Hachiro doesn't catch us first..."


***************
***************


"I'm sorry, but I cannot believe that my father is part of your soul
society thing." Verinnia said as they continued walking. "I would like
to hear more about it, and the current situation I am apparently in."
Again they were walking in silence. Verinnia wanted to truly have
nothing to do with all this, but as it did seem she was in danger from
'something' she just went along with what the people around her were
saying. "It's not too far off now." She said as the forest came into
view.


***************
***************


"As soon as we get to the greenhouse, I'll answer whatever questions I
can. But until we get there, we really should watch out for-" Touma
didn't get to finish the thought as they heard a splintering *crack* as a
tree fell down almost next to them. Touma quickly drew his sword,
Hachiro stepping forward and holding a simple whip with a blade on the
tip.

"Like it, traitorous scum? My Kurohime might not be the
mightiest, but she'll make you scream and beg me to stop. Do you have
any idea how much I've wanted to do this, you frigid bitch?!" Hachiro
struck out with his zanpakto again, Touma only barely getting himself
and Verinnia out of the way. Touma took a few steps to the side, hoping
to give Verinnia a chance to get ready and draw Hachiro's attention.

Touma
felt a bit off, though. Something inside him wanted him to just jump to
the fight, something he wasn't sure he liked. He wasn't as ready to
finish this fight as he thought he was. He'd have to stall for himself
as well. "Wow. You have to relax, buddy. Seriously, I had no idea that's
what you were looking for when ya took me out drinking when I got back.
Really, no reason to go off the deep end."


***************
***************


Verinnia stumbled after being pushed out of the way of his attack as she
soon fell to the ground. Feeling ashamed at that push she seemed to
suddenly have a burst of bravery. She stood not to far away from Touma
as she wielded her sword, in a most amateurism way. "You want me right?
I don't know why you do, but if that's what you want.." She said as
it seemed she could barely hold her sword correctly. A small puff of
spiritual energy seemed to spring forth from her, but then quickly faded
away; It seemed the seal placed upon her was quite strong.

It
wasn't long before she again began to collapse from the spiritual
pressure, but she was able to stand up now although her sword now seemed
so heavy it began to fall to the ground in her grip.


***************
***************


"You- You- How dare you!" Hachiro was furious. He didn't bother aiming
before lashing out wildly. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" His attacks
hit all over the place, his reiatsu spiking wildly as he lost himself to
his rage.

Touma moved before he realized what he was doing. He
saw the one attack head towards Verinnia. He saw blood splatter from a
wound. He turned his head, seeing Verinnia behind him as the whip was
drawn back out of his gut. "Guess... We're even." He collapsed in front
of her, blood slowly pooling from his wound.


***************
***************


"Touma!" Verinnia exclaimed as she thought to herself, "Did...I just
call out his name?" The thought quickly left her as she rushed to his
side. "Touma?" She said as she shook him, tears actually at the brim
of her eyes, she may not remember who he is exactly, but a relationship
of any means holds no bounds on the emotions of a person. She staggered
as she stood up while her grip on her sword became more firm. It must
of been the life threatening atmosphere, because suddenly Verinnia
stepped forward and held her sword in one hand and stood on one foot as
she raised the blade, pointed downwards, above her head as she uttered
the words, "Chakujitsu Shoujo!"

Verinnia sword glowed as it began
it's change towards it's shikai state. It slowly formed into a tight,
light and quick rapier which seemed to have slits every inch or so as if
it could fall apart easily.... "Now, have at you!" She said as she
prepared for a strike naturally. "How am I doing this?" She thought
to herself as everything came so naturally towards her.


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***************


"HahahaHA! You think that flimsy little thing can hold up against me?
Let me show you what my Kurohime can do!" Hachiro started lashing
forward with each strike, aiming for Verinnia with each crack of his
whip. No fancy attacks, no movement. Just simple strikes with the dagger
on its end.

Touma thought he heard his name being called. He
heard Verinnia, then something else. Something inside him. Something
angry. Something violent. Something thirsty for blood. Something that
wasn't his zanpakto's spirit...

Verinnia, eyes squinted, and suddenly serious, dodges each blow with
just sidesteps as she stepped closer to him. "You are a brute who does
not understand power," She said as her sword fell into a whip like
state. "Onpa, Butsukaru!" She exclaimed loudly as she swung her whip
sword forward, then back immediately as it created a massive sound wave
which nearly broke the sound barrier right in front of him. This not
only heavily damaged his ears, but also sent him flying into a nearby
tree. Verinnia smiled at her work, even though her head was still full
of questions of how could she be doing this, but she was enjoying it.
That is until she suddenly felt a massive pain coming from herself. She
dropped her sword and fell to her knees as she held her head tightly
with both hands. A white smoke seemed to emanate from herself ever
since she used this power, but as the pain overtook her the sealing kido
seemed to take back into place as it sealed her powers closing the
white smoke which was starting to form on her skin like a shell.


***************
***************


Touma reacted to the sonic burst from Verinnia's attack. The voice was
still pestering him, telling him to rip Hachiro to pieces. He stumbled
to his feet, picking up his sword as he stepped forward. "Time to hunt.
Toratsume!"

Hachiro glared at Verinnia. His ears were ringing
from her attack, and could barely hear himself think. Seeing her
collapse prompted him to start another attack, only to be deflected by
Touma's gauntlet. Before Hachiro could strike again, Touma closed the
distance and had him by the throat.

It was only a few moments
before Touma dropped the frozen corpse, his head throbbing in pain from
the buried voice screaming. He couldn't think straight. All he wanted to
do was get to the greenhouse. "Ugh... V- Verinnia? Where's the
greenhouse? Can't... Gah! Head hurts..."


***************
***************


"I-it's just ahead of us.." Verinnia said as her head continued to
ache. She did not even get back onto both feet, but began crawling
towards the location of the greenhouse which one could see in the
distance covered in moss. If one were to pass by it could even pass for
regular foliage.

"Touma..." She said as she suddenly stopped
crawling. "Who am I?" She said as tears actually formed on this
serious girls face. "What I just did.... it felt like I always did
that, but...." She stopped as she thought in pain. "It suddenly felt
dark, and hollow after I said whatever I called out..."


***************
***************


Touma stumbled to the greenhouse, not saying a word for a while. His
gauntlet glowed again, flowing as energy back into the sheath and taking
the form of a sword once more. He grabbed onto Verinnia's shirt,
dragging her inside as he tried to gather his thoughts against the
fading yelling in his head and headache. A stick was knocked over as
they entered, letting some vines tumble down and cover the entrance.

"We...
You are a Soul Reaper." Touma was finding it easier to think now,
though he knew that voice wasn't going away. "You were- are trained to
fight Hollows, souls of the dead lost to evil intentions. And that was
your zanpakto." The headache was starting to fade, but the voice was
still in the back of his mind. "This is going to take time. Just rest
for now, we can talk more when you can think again."


***************
***************


After many moments of passing, Verinnia's breathing came to a more
normal pace as she rested against the stone wall beam. "A
soul...reaper?" She asked both he, and herself while she looked at her
hands, and the sword laying next to her. "But, or maybe I should start
out with, what IS a soul reaper?" She asked, obviously skipping the
question of what humans normally think soul reapers were like.

She
picked her sword up looking at it, "It's back to a normal sword
again...is that some sort of power?" She asked hurriedly as all the
questions she wanted to ask began to cloud up in her mind.


***************
***************



"A Soul Reaper is a soldier and a guardian." Touma
went into the explanation automatically. He memorized the lecture so
long ago, a constant he could hold onto while he was on the mission in
Hueco Mundo. "We hunt Hollows, spirits of the dead lost to pain and
hatred. We protect humans and wandering souls from Hollows, purifying
the darkness from the monsters with our Zanpakto. We are also tasked
with sending the souls of the dead on to Soul Society."

"The
Zanpakto... That question is a bit harder." Touma looked at his,
reminding him of the voice he'd been hearing. "It's as much a sword as
it is a part of us, as much alive as an object. It... Inside every Soul
Reaper is a second spirit, and that spirit is belongs to our Zanpakto."
He holds his out towards Verinnia. "If you look, you can see that even
now, in their most basic forms, our Zanpakto look different from each
other. Every Zanpakto strong enough to know its own name has a unique
form. When we learn our Zanpakto's name, we can call out more of its
power in a form designed to make best use of the power. There's more,
but... But I think you should try meditating, talking to your sword. I
think it will do us both some good."

Whatever
it is you did out there, whatever happened to you, we need to find out
Verinnia. Someone went through a lot of trouble to hide you, and someone
went through a lot of trouble to frame you. I'm tired of being ignored,
and I want answers.



***************
***************


"Talking to....my sword?" Replied Verinia as she gave Touma strange
look before looking towards her own sword. "I am sorry, but that sounds
ridiculous." She looked towards Touma only to see his serious
expression which caused her mind to shft gears. "But I guess, after
seeing what I had seen today, I may as well add talking to an inatimate
object to the list of weirdness."

"Umm, ok, sword, zanpaktou
thing..." She began talking to herown sword while giving nervous
glances towards Touma. "I guess I should start with introducing myself
then? It's only polite.." She said with a chuckle, barely believing
that she was actually trying to talk to a sword. "I am Verinnia Skye,
what is your name?"

Nothing but silence followed her question,
but in Verinnia's mind a feint sound could be heard that may have
resembled a voice. "Did you hear that?" She suddenly asked Touma.
"Did, did I actually hear a voice coming from my sword?" She kept
asking repeatedly in dissbelief.

Suddenly a natural urge to close
her eyes took over her as she continued to speak with her sword, and as
she did so for only a few moments, the voice became more clear. "My
name is, Shoujo, Chakujitsu, but it appears you cannot see me yet, but
at least you are able to hear me once again. I am your Zanpaktou, call
upon me with my name when you are in need in battle. Your amnesia is
not a physical, but a spiritual one, a barrier you were put under to
order to protect yourself and the ones around you from the third soul
inside of you."

"Third....soul.? She asked as the small vision
faded from her view. She opened her eyes and looked towards Touma.
"Did, um, where you able to see what I saw?" She asked curiously as
shewondered about what she had just experienced.


***************
***************


Touma waited patiently at Millia meditated. He was a bit surprised at
how quickly she was able to enter a meditative trace, considering she
forgot most of her training. He shook his head as Millia asked her
questions. "Nobody can hear the zanpakto but its wielder. What... What
exactly did it tell you? You went into a trance, so I didn't get to hear
anything."

He looked towards his own zanpakto. The voice in the
back of his mind was coming back. If he didn't start meditating soon, he
wondered if he'd be able to tell his ideas apart from the invasive
mind's... "And then get some rest. We have a lot to do tomorrow."


***************
***************


"It told me it's...name?" She said still bewildered that she was able
to talk to a sword. "And it also stated that....that I was under a
seal, or something that caused myself to obtain amnesia." She explained
hesitantly thinking to herself that she sounded like an idiot.


***************
***************


"A seal..." Touma shakes his head. "There's not much I can do about
that. I know some folks back in Soul Society that could probably remove
it easily. But as long as it's on..."

Touma looked at his
zanpakto, thinking for a minute. "Get some rest. If we don't have any
way to get your memories back, then I'll just have to teach you as much
as I can. We'll start in the morning." And that should give me plenty of time to find out what's wrong with me while I'm we're at it...

"I guess we'll bunker here for now then?" She asked as she looked upon
the sun beginning to set, the sky reddening. "I don't mind being out
here, but it does tend to get cold at night, so we should go buy some
blankets in town or something before staying at this greenhouse."
Sheathing her sword she stood up, but before walking in any direction
she thought for a moment before saying, "I do feel a familiarization
towards my sword though.."


***************
***************


Touma nodded slowly. "Yeah, probably a good idea. The cold doesn't bother me much, but blankets would be a good idea. Though..." He looked down at his zanpaktou, thinking for a moment. "I don't think it's a good idea if I leave. Among other things, most people can't see me. And I haven't quite recovered from our fight earlier, so I'd only slow you down. I think I'll meditate for a while instead."

"Alright then." She said without questioning the cannot be seen thing. "I will be back in a few." She said, and was all she said as she left him to meditate. After a long half hour she returned holding bags filled with not only blankets, but some several types of foods and an assortment of other products.

"Here, this will keep things warm." She said as she unpack-aged a small heater among the blankets. "How, uh, is that meditating going?" She asked with curiosity.

Touma watched Millia leave, sighing as he sat a bit more comfortably as he began his meditation. Even without her amnesia seal to try and figure out, he had a lot to figure out. The strange voice he's been hearing, the "third spirit" she had mentioned, and what had happened during the fight. It didn't take him long to enter a trance, walking through his inner world to speak with his zanpaktou directly and losing track of the world around him until well after Millia returned.


A soul reaper's inner world is unique to the individual, and as unique as their power. Their inner world is the home to the zanpaktou spirit, shaped by personality and ability to house the "perfect" spirit for their weapon. A stable inner world is consistent and fits the zanpaktou's appearance.


Touma's inner world was a forest, deep in the middle of ancient trees. Always the same trees, always at the same old temple gate. He could just see the temple at the top through the barren winter branches. "Just once, it would be nice if I didn't have to climb-"

He turned quickly, reaching for his sword. He heard something in the woods... Woods that only existed in his mind. Something was definitely wrong... And there was no time to waste if there was something new inside this world. Touma ran up the stairs as fast as he could, panting slightly as he reached the temple.

The temple was old and abandoned, a sight of what once could have been grand. The only thing clearly alive was the tiger laying on the temple steps. "Toratsume. I found Millia, and there's something else-"

"I know." The tiger, Toratsume, stood up. "I am a part of you, remember. The voice is no threat if you don't heed it, now continue about Millia."

Touma nodded, walking up past the tiger. Toratsume stood and joined him through the temple. "Millia has amnesia. She couldn't even remember her zanpaktou's name! And what she said... Her amnesia was a seal, a spell. But why..."

Toratsume growled. "I don't like you asking questions you know I can't answer. I am power and strength, not wisdom and knowledge. If a spell ails her, then seek a caster. Otherwise, teach her yourself from the beginning."

Touma sighed. "That I can go to? None. She's not the only one who's been brainwashed, all of Soul Society has. They think she's the one who slaughtered the return party, but she couldn't have... She was barely breathing when we sent her back with what was left of the return party. But everyone's convinced she's a traitor and a murderer, so I can't go to anyone."

"Nobody in Soul Society." Toratsume paused at a doorway. "Then find someone outside of Soul Society. I have no advice on spells, so unless you want to train then there's nothing more I can do."

Touma looked at the doorway, a few steps too far to look inside. "You aren't going to get to dodge the question about the voice next time."


Touma stretched as he came out of meditation, noticing Millia returning. "Mostly useless. Just told me what I already knew. He can't help with the spell that's affecting you, and we can't go to anyone in Soul Society for help. Not that we could get to Soul Society... So that leaves us two options: Find someone in this world who can help up, or have me train you from basics."

In an adjacent room, a Kitsune stirred from his slumber as he heard the door closing behind verinnia, snapping awake and alert as he realized there was someone in his den. Cursing softly to himself for his carelessness, he was used to the only normal people who tried to enter his home being passersby trying to escape bad weather. He closed his eyes and tried to sense their auras- one seemed to be a fairly normal person, but the other... That explained why they didn't wander past the place at least. His other guest had a decent spiritual pressure, so he wouldn't be deterred from exploring. Qael sighed to himself; it appeared he had... guests.

Reapplying his cloaking magics, he slipped around the corner of the room on all fours, keeping low to minimize the chance they would notice him first. What he saw only made him groan in frustration. Black kimono, Katana, and the markings... his visitor was from Soul Society, of all places. Praying to the spirits that this one wasn't as much of an ethnocentric jerk as most of them, he scuttled around the corner to get a better look, remaining as quiet as possible to not disturb the man's reverie. He seemed... docile in this state, though one's meditative aura often didn't compare to their consciousness. Cold to the touch- no, that was his aura. Likely to do with his sword. Young, not likely of high rank, though that could be deceptive with spirits. Quickly thinking, he decided it would be best to wait for him to wake up; most beings did not react well when forcibly stirred by a stranger. He skittered off into the foliage in the corner, further darkening the corner with his magic to better hide himself, and waited.

Not having to wait too long, the other presence he'd noticed soon returned. The human woman had brought back food and a heater, and had...
That didn't make sense. The human also had a Zanpakto. He had no time to contemplate that mystery however as her return also heralded the spirit's reawakening. Before the two got TOO settled in, he decided it was about time to introduce himself. At least the way he enjoyed the most, anyway. His bony fingers moved quickly, and before long a soft mist poured down from the ceiling above the far wall from the door. As the mist thickened it coalesced into the shape of a male face, the eyes looking thoughtfully at the two inside the greenhouse. Further enhancing the magic, the mouth opened with a deep, rolling voice. "Who are you, and what business do you have here young ones?"

Verinnia just stared at this figure before her as she slowly turned to look at Touma. Then she looked backed toward the newcomer. Then back to Touma again. "...Touma..." SHe said as she walked to him both with a feeling of fright, and annoyance. "What...the...hell...IS THAT?!" She asked as he grabbed him by the collar. "Can you explain this as well mr.shinigami?!"

Touma tensed up and turned to face the new voice, crouched with his hand on his sword as it spoke. He tried to think of any kido that could make this kind of illusion, but couldn't think of any. Wracking his brain to try and come up with any idea on what a Soul Reaper could use to do this, he forgot that Verinnia had no memories of Soul Society. At least until she started shaking him, the surprise from the situation leaving him helpless and flopping like a ragdoll.

Touma pushed Verinnia off him, standing up and pacing in a small circle in agitation. "Enough! Enough surprises, enough lies and complications. -GAH- How do any of you put up with all this crap?! I just wanted to relax after a long-term mission, and there's just problem after unusual situation after lie! And now a youkai?" He dropped to his back, trying to calm down. "This is just... Too much. I don't do intrigue or diplomacy. This is just too much for me to handle. And-" Sitting up again and looking at the mist face, he remembered what he just said. "Youkai? Ah, crap. You claimed this greenhouse, didn't you?"

Qael supressed a chuckle at the display of a shinigami being whipped about by the strange woman. His connection to his illusion wasn't as easy to stifle, the walls themselves seeming to laugh at the scene before them. Composing himself, he continued to address the pair. "You two are at least a lot more.... humble than the last Soul Society visitors that came before you. Your antics are a welcome reprieve from the ethnocentric entitlement I have come to expect from them. As for your question..." The shadow melted off the wall, pouring down the wall to coalesce a few feet in front of them, taking on the appearance of an elderly gentleman in a business suit that bowed before the pair. "This is indeed the modest den I have claimed for myself, however, I will not have it be said that I am a poor host. What brings you here before me?"

Touma knew he should get up to show some amount of respect, especially since he hadn't identified what kind of youkai it/he was yet. He just couldn't bring himself to move at the moment. "Started with lies and deceit, and now at hiding and treachery." Of course that wouldn't be enough, even he wasn't happy with that description. "There was an extended mission in Hueco Mundo. You know what that is, right? Well, she-" Touma pointed to Verinnia mid-sentence, or at least where he thought she was. "-she was sent back to Soul Society wounded, barely alive. I went through the rest of the mission, and now am on a mission to apprehend a traitor. Except everyone seems to think she did stuff she was in no physical condition to do, and I'd rather know the truth regarding a friend instead of just kill randomly. So now we're hiding until we can figure out how to figure out the truth of what happened and why everyone seems to remember a lie."

Somehow, talking it out again, even in a reduced manner, made Touma feel a little better. Just well enough to recognize an itch in the back of his mind as he sat back up. "I don't suppose you can help? Or at least wouldn't mind the company for a while?"

Verinnia bopped Touma on the head although not hard at all as she said, "You have forgotten to inform him that I apparently have amnesia, caused by possibly a binding spell, or whatever." She then walked back towards her collection of provisions she had brought and sat down, uncaring of what was going on around her; After all, she had no idea about how one should act around such beings, so she acted like her normal self although it seems that a bit of her original personality is beginning to seep through as one looks at how she bopped him on the head.

Qael contemplated what they both said. It seemed magics of a few kinds abounded in what they were involved with, but other than the female pushing the male around a bit they both seemed to be passive enough. He had the shadowy form on the wall continued voicing his words. "While I can't say that I know much about binding, it's fairly apparent that someone is using your friend as a scapegoat. There's obviously a number of ways to have done that, but by the sound of things someone probably used an illusion to make the culprit look like you. Amazing really what you can make people see that isn't there, like the image you lot have been talking to." He waved his hand, the shadow dispersing immediately. Walking up behind Touma, he plucked an apple out of a container on the floor and reached aroundTouma from his position behind him that the man could see his paw and the apple in it. "Food? I know running around tends to work up a bit of an apetite." The kitsune wasn't hiding at all anymore, his russet fur covered in a kimono that bore a striking resemblance to the kind the Shinigami wore, only bleached white. "I just have a couple of ground rules for your stay here- No damaging anything, and no one dies inside the house. If you really must die, do hike a bit out in the woods before you kick off, wouldn't do to have scavengers in my front lawn."

Touma jumped up and turned over, yelling for a moment and swinging toward the kitsune. "Damn! Don't sneak up on me like that!" He hesitated for a moment before taking the apple and taking a bite out of it. "Thanks, though. I don't know what we're going to do next, but I assure you that dying isn't on the list."

Touma sat back down, looking toward the door. "Not until after this is solved, I go on a proper date, have a few kids, and spend a few centuries as a Captain anyway. I've got plans to work on!" He chuckled at his own joke, looking between the two others. A youkai fox and a friend with amnesia. Strange company, but at least they weren't dull.

"I would be taken aback by the shock of this new coming of this speaking spirity animal or whatever, but I believe I am out of 'wtfs' to give." Verinnia said as she watched the Kitsune go around talking mainly to Touma. "At any rate," She spoke up again. "I know nothing of what is really going on, and you both seem to do although I wish this was just a dream still. While holding her sword once more her face grew an apathetic frown. "But I guess I'm stuck with it, eh?"