Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ 30Kisses ❯ Ultra Unholy Hearted Machine ( Chapter 19 )

Urahara no Sakaba was down a side alley, dimly-lit and quiet. Despite the first impression, this place was in no way dingy or low-class. Indeed, the only overtly suspicious part of the establishment was the landlord, a laughing, stubbled man with shadowy eyes. After all, a lot of money passed through this bar and the owner had clients to impress.

 

Not that every deal was completely legal . . .

 

"Is that all then? Drive off the Menos Grandes from Karakura? No extra details or complications you want to mention now?" Three people, small table in the center of the bar. Blocked off from three sides by plants and screens, but the conversation could be easily heard, forcing the participants to try to speak under the soft music. One man, the speaker, tall with dark hair and pale, grey eyes, and two women. One woman, slight, with indigo eyes sitting on the same side as the man, the opposite party, dark, with strong features.

 

"No, that's all. The only thing left to argue over is payment." The woman, really a girl, pulled her hat lower to shadow her eyes. She scribbled out a check then passed it over. The man looked it over then handed it back. "You would need at least 100 times that amount to purchase my services for this task."

 

"100 times-" the girl shut her mouth with a snap. "They said he was an asshole," she muttered under her breath.

 

"If you'd like a more affordable deleter, that one," he indicated an orange-haired teenager who was sulking at the bar. "-is known for doing pro bono work."

 

The girl twisted to look at the person. Then she whipped back to look at him. "You've got to be joking. You don't think I'd trust my brother with something important, do you?" This time she wasn't even trying to keep her voice down. Her brother noticed and scowled at her.

 

" . . . " Pale eyes widened considerably. He took a closer look at his potential employer. "Now that you mention it, there is some resemblance . . . "

 

"If you'd like, I'll pay you 1000 times that amount." Someone else intruded into their conversation.

 

The three looked over. Standing there was a tall man, with brown hair and eyes, and square, wire-framed glasses. He was dressed in a black suit.

 

"Excuse me, sir," said the girl. "But we're not quite done here."

 

"Yes, we are." stated the grey-eyed man and got up.

 

"Look," she said, desperately. "Isn't there anyone else you could recommend?"

 

"Be nicer, Niisama." The last member of the trio hissed to the man. When it became clear that her companion was ignoring the other, she took matters into her own hands. "Do you see those two over there in the corner?" she asked, in a deep voice that belied her delicate frame. "The man in white with the blue crosses and the girl with bright hair? Those two aren't quite as good as we are, but almost and they'll be willing to work for that amount."

 

"Thanks," said the girl. She quickly made her way over to the indicated couple.

 

The two men had already moved to another table and started talking when she joined them. "Kuchiki Byakuya and his sister Rukia. Deleters. Rated SSS. Ex-officers of the Sixth and Thirteenth Divisions respectively."

 

Byakuya showed no surprise at the other's information. "And yourself?"

 

"Aizen Sousuke, Fifth Division."

 

"So what's the job?" asked Rukia.

 

"First, there's something I want to show you." He handed over a photograph.

 

"It's not my position to criticize the Court of Pure Souls," said Rukia. "But isn't that overkill?" The photograph showed a man, with bullet wounds everywhere and a large hole in his sternum, where a large caliber finally killed him. The remnants of some sort of bracing supported his jaw and a large number 10 was tattooed on his left shoulder.

 

"If we had used anything less, that man would still be walking around." The two siblings stared at him. "It's a drug called Divine Breath. It grants Shinigami the abilities of a Hollow. The appetites of a Hollow too." Byakuya's eye twitched and Rukia flinched. "I think you can see where I'm going with this."

 

"Arrancar."

 

"Do you know 'The Ultra Holy', the drug from a few years back?" Rukia flinched again.

 

Byakuya's eyes narrowed. "The one that caused Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease?"

 

"It's the same group. They-"

 

"We'll take the job."

 

Aizen looked surprised. "You don't want to know anything else? I have-"

 

"You have the coordinates of their base?" The military man nodded. Byakuya held out his hand. Aizen placed a disk in it.

 

"It's called Las Noches. It's in Hueco Mundo."

 

"We'll do our own research. Our sources are likely to be far more thorough then your own."

 

"Yess," Aizen quickly pulled out a check. "I promised to pay you 1000 times what that girl was offering, didn't I?"

 

"No, just ten times the amount is sufficient."

 

"Excuse me?"

 

Byakuya stood up. "We don't like drugs."

 

"Niisama, isn't it strange? I wonder why 5th Division came to us. They should have lots of options available, ones that are both legal and cheaper than us, so why bother with Erasers?"

 

"Rukia"

 

"Yes?"

 

"It isn't our place to question the government. We should just be grateful that we're getting this opportunity." They continued walking in silence. Then Byakuya halted so suddenly, Rukia ran into his back. "There," he said, gesturing to a white smudge just over the ridge. Rukia pulled out a pair of binoculars and focused on the tower. "Can you hit it from here?"

 

"Of course, Niisama!"

 

"O Lord, mask of flesh and bone, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of man, truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws! Hadou 63! Soren Sokatsui!" A blue ball of flame sped forward and incinerated the tower. The two deleters dashed forward, entering the factory before the flames had died down.

 

Deep in Las Noches, the sound of explosions rocked the inner rooms. "Espada Szayel, we have two intruders."

 

"Bring up an image of them." Two separate pictures formed. One was of Byakuya. Having stabbed one of his adversaries, he reanimated the body with a handful of metal shards, forcing it forward to attack the other guards. The other image showed Rukia, using kidou to quickly freeze then reheat portions of the supports of the factory, weakening them until they collapsed, while dodging various attacks. Pale pink eyes behind square frames narrowed in displeasure. "Zommari, is the 'Cracker' ready?"

 

"Yes, Espada."

 

"Very well. Let's go shatter these two."

 

"These things don't appear to have been killed by Senbonzakura." Rukia straightened up. "I hope he didn't use that technique again."

 

"Ah, I'm glad to find you alone." She looked towards the voice. Two men stood framed in the only doorway still standing. One was tall, dark and muscular. The second was thin and slight, with pink hair and glasses. The smaller one held onto a girl, with a syringe pointed at her neck. She wasn't in very good condition; she couldn't stand and the skin on the lower left side of her face was sliced off, showing her teeth and jaw. A six was tattooed on her right hip.

 

"Hostage taking by using an Espada? Why should I care?"

 

"Ex-Espada. I'm afraid she got cold feet and tried to escape. She's a little roughed up, but I haven't done anything serious to her yet. However that may change."

 

"Hadou 4! Byakurai!" A bolt shot out of Rukia's fingertip and struck the pink-haired man on the shoulder. "You're a sick, sick man."

 

He pressed a hand to his wound. "Clearly, you're not worth negotiating with." He made a sharp gesture to the taller man, who had grabbed the girl when the other dropped her. "Let them take her. They have all ceased to interest me." The darker man pushed her forward. Rukia took a step back. This seemed a little off to her.

 

Before the girl could fall completely, Byakuya caught her. "Rukia, if you are going to rescue someone-" Writhing veins appeared all over the girl's body.

 

That's when it all came together. "Hadou 1! Sho!"

 

She was just barely in time. The kidou pushed the girl back, into the two retreating men. And then she exploded.

 

In the aftermath, it seemed very quiet. "Thank you, Rukia. I suppose I let my sentimentality to get the better of me again. Allow me to clean this up."

 

"Wait!" The pink-haired man had managed to survive the explosion, although his companion hadn't been as lucky. "Who hired you? Was it the Third Division? The Fifth? Or the Ninth? It must have been one of those!"

 

Byakuya stared down at him. "Does it matter?"

 

"Let me tell you something interesting. Do you know about the Ultra Holy? We made that in conjunction with Fifth Division."

 

"What?" Rukia couldn't believe her ears.

 

"The captain of Fifth Division, Aizen Sousuke, has been trying for years to create a warrior that exists with both the power of a Hollow and the skills of a Shinigami. Sometimes it happens naturally, but he was looking for a sure-fire way, a process he could replicate infinitely. But that is the one area of research that is strictly forbidden in the Court of Pure Souls. So he came to us.

 

The first drug we created was the 'Ultra Holy'. But it was too strong. It was so addictive that the user's body couldn't handle it. So we turned it over to the Fifth Division so that they could dispose of it.

 

Now, with the creation of the 'Divine Breath', Aizen no longer needs us; he can create his own Arrancar. He killed the intermediary and sent you to get rid of the evidence."

 

"Those divisions you named . . . "

 

"Only Third, Fifth and Ninth divisions are involved, although First Division probably knows more than it's telling. And of those divisions, only the captains are fully involved, although the Third and Fifth lieutenants may also know be part of the conspiracy. I'm sure the lieutenant of the Ninth division isn't part of this."

 

Rukia let out a choked sob. "I guess this explains why they asked us to take this job."

 

"You lost your wife to the 'Ultra Holy', right? I'm sorry about that." The Espada raised one hand.

 

"Hadou 54! Haien!"

 

Rukia watched the purple flames consume the Espada. "You don't believe him?"

 

"No, I do believe everything he said. I also paid attention to what he didn't say."

 

"The distribution of the 'Ultra Holy'?"

 

"Yes"

 

They walked out, stopping along the way to plant explosives. As they watched flames consume Las Noches, he broke the silence again. "Rukia"

 

"Yes?"

 

"It's not your fault."

 

She stayed silent. When she looked at him, it was if his face was carved of marble, as if nothing could touch him. She looked back at the flames. "It's not your fault either, Byakuya."

 

Five years ago

 

"How long have you been using drugs? How long?" Byakuya grabbed his wife's arm and shook it violently. He knew he was leaving bruises, but he didn't care. Hisana was dying and he hadn't even known!

 

"I never stopped! You just don't get it!" Hisana wrenched herself away, then curled up in a ball, sobbing. She didn't cry for long though, soon the effort had her spitting up blood.

 

"Did you know?" He whirled to look at his wife's sister. It wasn't fair of him to take out his anger and hurt on her, but she was the only one left.

 

Rukia bowed her head, more to hide her tears than any fear of Byakuya. "I only found out a month ago. Before-I thought she had stopped! And I begged her to stop this time. I threw away her stash! I made the servants follow her when she went out! I even took away her money, but she sold her jewelry to buy more!"

 

"Do you know what it is called?"

 

A weak voice came from the bed. "It's a new one that's been making it's way through Rukongai. It's called 'Ultra Holy'."