Noble Love - Bleach (Kuchiki Byakuya x Oc x A bit of Various)

十四

It was night time when she arrived, and almost immediately, she picked up countless reiatsu that she knew belonged to Hollows. With her Zanpakutou unsheathed, she used Flash Step to track down the Hollows to kill them before they could cause havoc in Karakura Town.

But something wasn't right here, she thought. There shouldn't be that many Hollows disturbing the peace of the Human World. Some of them didn't have the chance of fighting by the time she arrived, some of them could sustain and fight back, but some of them fought back, and one of them had a Zanpakutou, like the one she was battling currently.

"Why is there a Shinigami trash?" it mocked with a loud cackle. "Are you that desperate to be killed?"

Asa didn't say anything back, and was inspecting its appearance instead. A hole in its chest and a Zanpakutou strapped to its waist; this wasn't a normal Hollow she's dealing with, and its reiatsu was much stronger than a Hollow's. And the next thing she knew, the monster charged at her with its weapon drawn. But it should've known better than to pick a fight with a Shinigami like Asa, who easily dodged its blade and managed to slice off its arm. While it screamed in agony, Asa ran up its arm to get to its shoulder, and leapt up high to stab her Zanpakutou straight into its skull, killing it instantly as it began to disintegrate once she removed her weapon and landed on the ground safely.

Just then, she detected two familiar reiatsu; one of them belonged to Ichigo and the other was someone she hadn't seen for many years. 'Was that Hirako's reiatsu?' she questioned herself while looking towards where the reiatsu came from. 'Why is Ichigo with him?'

"Well, look who we have here." came a familiar voice from the side, followed by footsteps getting louder as the person walked towards her. "I thought of getting rid that parasite by myself, but looks like I don't have to get my hands dirty."

Asa looked towards that direction, and her eyes widened with surprise. "Tadashi." she said. The person stepped into the light, revealing the man who resembled her late husband, with the exception of his hair that had been cut to his neck length, and his crimson eyes.

Tadashi grinned at her and said, "It's been a while, Asa-nee. You've grown more beautiful, and your skills are as sharp as ever!"

The said woman gave him a closed-eye smile. "And flattery will lead you nowhere." she remarked.

Tears began to cascade down his cheeks comically. "You're so mean!" he cried. "I was only trying to compliment you, Asa-nee!"

But she ignored him and continued staring at where the familiar reiatsu came from. "Do you feel that, Tadashi?" she asked, which made him stop crying and look at her puzzled. "That reiatsu, it felt like it belonged to Hirako."

Unbeknownst to her, Tadashi stared at where she was looking with a very serious expression, like he knew what was going on. "Yeah." he said lowly, and the tone itself surprised her as she turned around to look at him with an expression that she was expecting an explanation. Finally, he stopped staring and shifted his gaze back to her. "I was the one who sent him to contact Ichigo."

It took Asa a while to understand what he was actually trying to say, and when realisation struck, she widened her eyes with shock. "So he's a Visored, like you?" was her question, which he answered with a nod. 'The Masked Soldiers.' she thought. 'An outlaw group of former Shinigami who attempt to obtain Hollow powers using forbidden techniques. Their locations and ideals are thoroughly unknown. Tadashi was the first Shinigami to become a Visored, making Ojii-sama banish him even though Michiro begged him to let his brother stay. Now that he mentioned that Hirako is with him, that mean he was exiled because he became one; and he wasn't the only who who became a Visored.'