Wiping his brow, Kage looked around the room. There were more people here now. That squad 11 shinigami that had taken out all those hollows, the shinigami with the stringed shikai was here as well, as well as most of the others. There was still a missing shinigami though. Even if he didn't remember everyones names, he still remembered that one. It was the other member of squad 2.
He sat up and leaned forward, rubbing his eyes. The trip inside his zanpakuto was intense, but then it always was when dealing with her. Like playing with fire, if he wasn't careful he'd get burned. But the way she spoke to him...
"Make me proud."
He was almost afraid to think about what she meant by that, but he had a pretty good idea regardless. She was sadistic, she was ruthless, and she only ever wanted one thing.
Shaking the thoughts off though he looked around the shop once more. It was dark still, more than an hour or so couldn't have passed since he got back. It was hard to tell though since time didn't exist in her world. As he was looking around though a small fluttering caught his eye off in the corner. Just a small movement in the darkened corner of the shop, but there was only one thing he could think of.
"What's one of those doing here?" he said softly so as not to attract attention. Reaching out and extending a finger, the movement in the corner moved out of the shadows. A small, black butterfly flitted silently through the air over to him and landed on the tip of his finger, waving its wings up and down slowly while he lifted it to his lips.
"You're a long way from home. Are you here for me?" he asked it before turning his head. Lowering his ear to the black insect, he could hear it speak in a language he couldn't understand, but somehow could still comprehend. It was the oddest feeling, like he never learned it but already knew it, like a bird flies or a fish swims.
"Kaze, Kyuusuko" Kage repeated under his breath as the butterflies words entered his ears. His eyes went wide though while it finished its message.
"Terminate"
Kage dropped his hand and the hell butterfly fluttered back up into the air. He looked up and watched it rise to the cieling, following the movement of its wings while it moved into the shadows once more. Once there the movement disappeared, the butterfly slipping back into the soul society.
"Terminate..." he repeated to himself. His heart pounded as he ran it over and over in his head. He was a member of squad 2, and that meant that certain duties fell into his responsability. He knew that when he was recruited, and he'd trained for it every day. Lessons with the other shinigami in squad 2, the attempts on Soifon that forced him to hone his skills. But this time, this was real. Even when he attacked Soifon, he knew that he couldn't hurt her. At the same time though, he knew that she wouldn't hurt him. At least, that's what he thought. Now he would be in very real danger. Not like with a mindless hollow, this was a fellow shinigami. There'd only be one chance here, and if he didn't complete, he'd die.
Rising to his feet, he stretched out a bit. The pill that Urahara had force-fed him had restored him. His energy was completely refilled, and his meditation had honed his focus like the edge of his zanpakuto. Taking a deep breath, he used that focus to push everything else from his mind. All stray thoughts, all doubts and fears, and then every concept of morality and ethics. Right, wrong, or indifferent, it was time to go to work.
Moments later, Kage was flying high over the the city. Focusing his reishi under his feet he launched himself in the air, gathering more around himself to thinken the air and keep himself aloft. It was an expensive way to fly, but it gave him a birds-eye view for a short time. Scanning the city quickly for his target, he saw the damage from the earlier fights. There were still many lights all over the city, red, white, and blue. Memories came back to him from the time he was alive. Red and white...he'd seen those lights on ambulances and fire trucks. Red and blue...that was police. But as long as they were occupied elsewhere he didn't need to worry about being bothered.
"Damnit, I can't see him from up here." Kage cursed at himself. He was too high up, and it was too dark to spot the black cloth of a shinigami. If he couldn't spot him visably, that left another option. Thinning the reishi around him he fell from the sky, descending quickly and landing on the roof of a three story building. The reishi around his body helped to soften the blow, but it was still rather hard.
"Oof. I have to quit doing that." he said, standing back up again. Looking around for a hiding place he ducked off into a roof entryway, hiding in the shadows from the moonlight. He croutch low and used his finger to draw a circle in the dirt. He divided it in half twice and wrote the letters for the cardinal direction in each quarter. With one hand on his zanpakuto he pressed his other on the ground, closing his eyes as he softly spoke.
"Heart of the south, eye of the north, finger of the west, foot of the east, arrive with the wind and depart with the rain."
Small bits of glowing reishi rose up around him, spiraling in the air breifly before moving out in all directions, fading out of sight the farther they moved away. The circle on the roof lit up as well, brilliantly at first and then dimming. Small bits of reishi moved inside and changed color. Humans remained blue and populated most of the circle, but one last bit shifted from blue to red.
"There you are, Kyuusuko. Sorry, but your time is up. Nothing personal, just orders." he said. With a swipe of his hand he brushed the circle off the roof and canceled the kido before standing up again. Stepping out of the shadows he looked off in the direction he'd been pointed. Holding up his hand he extended two fingers in front of himself, focusing his energy and gathering a bit more reishi around himself.
"Kyokko!" Kage said strongly under his breath. His hair flew as the reishi rose around him and cloaked him from sight, moments later the roof standing empty as it was before his arrival. He moved quickly. Maintaining the kyokko was taxing under the best circumstances, without all the pressure he was under. Running across the rooftops, he couldn't use his shunpo or anything else. He remembered that much from Soifon.
"Shunpo negates the Kyokko momentarily when you step. When that happens, your spiritual pressure becomes detectable, and you become dead."
Using only the smallest amount of energy to jump over streets and alleyways he closed in on his target. Kyuusuko was still out in the field, sitting on top of the porch attached to a house and leaning back on the roof. A bottle of sake was perched precariously on the peak while he craddled a bowl in his fingers.
"Found you" Kage said under his breath. Now it was time to close in and finish the job. Silently as the wind, he leapt through the air onto the same house he was resting on, on the opposite side. His leg gave under him, absorbing the impact to keep him from being noticed. Reaching down he grabbed the hilt of his zanpakuto and slowly drew it, the edge shining in the moonlight as he dispelled the kyokko. At this point, he wasn't worried about being discovered. Even if Kyuusuko was paying attention, it was too late for him to fight back.
Kage held his blade out to the side and closed his eyes again.
"Gleam, the time is now. Silver fang, Bite!" he said in a hushed voice. The blade contracted into the hilt as the cord slid from the end, reaching down to the roof and pooling at his feet. He let the tanto-sized blade fall from his hand and feed the cord through his fingers until he had a good three feet and then reached down, grabbing the end and wrapping it around his other hand. Standing back up, he gave the blade a kick and threw it into a spin.
"KYUUSUKO!" Kage finally yelled out. The shinigami on the roof was startled into attention, rolling over onto all fours in suprise before breathing a sigh of relief.
"What th- Oh, it's you. Hey Kage, care for a drink?" he asked, rescuing the bottle before it could fall off. Kage stook stoicly while the blade spun behind him, but didn't give an answer. Kyuusuko looked confused.
"What's going on? I thought all the hollows were gone, relax already. It's cool." he said, sitting back again and pouring a bowl of alcohol, offering it out to him. Kage spread his stance before spinning around. Using the momentum from the arc of his swing he thrust the blade forward, releasing it with his lead hand. The blade streaked through the air and struck the bowl, shattering it into a million shards. They glimmered in the moonlight amongst the many droplets of sake before it all fell to the roof. Kyuusuko looked stunned.
"Kage, what the hell's wrong with you?" he asked, getting up. The look in his eyes bretrayed a sense of fear that washed over him as Kage jerked on the cord and caught the blade as it flew to him. Letting it out on the cord like before, he moved it into a swing.
Kyuusuko was stunned for a moment, but it quickly passed. The fear in his eyes was soon replaced by anger. For whatever reason, Kage was here for him. One way or another, one of them wasn't walking away from this.
"Fine, then I guess we're doing this." he said as he drew his zanpakuto as well. Gripping it tightly in both hands he held it in a defensive position in front of him.
"Darkness and Light Guide Me! Hayai, Fire!" He shouted out. The hilt of his zanpakuto bent as the blade scooted down towards the bottom edge of the guard. From the top of the guard a long barrel extended nearly all the way down the dull edge. Releasing the hilt with one hand, he held it forward with the other, pointing the new gun at Kage.
"I don't know why you're here, but you picked a fight with the wrong shinigami." He said. His finger reached around the trigger and without warning pulled it. Light appeared inside the barrel only moment before a shot of concentrated reishi fired out at near impossible speed. Kage moved as quickly as he could but the bullet still tore through the arm of clothes. But he moved with his dodge and threw forward again. Rather than try to harm him directly, Kages shikai ricocheted off the blade of Kyuusukos and knocked it off course. Exploiting the moment Kage rushed forward with his arm outstretched in front of him.
"SHO!" He yelled out, a sudden wave of force moving ahead of him. Catching Kyuusuko off guard it threw him off the roof and across the street though he managed to twist himself and land on his feet, holding his empty hand on the shingles for balance while his shikai was held out to the side. For just a moment, he seemed to be out of breath.
"Ha...ha...that was pretty good. Let's see you try that again though." he shouted across the street. Kage stopped his rush standing on the same porch Kyuusuko had been on moments before, reeling in his shikai and spinning it up again.
"Kaze, Kyuusuko. By the orders of Soifon and the Gotei 13, you are hereby ordered terminated." Kage informed him, shouting back across the street. Kyuusuko, despite being informed of his own death, looked more angry than confused.
"Bullshit. This is completely unfair. Why did they order my termination, and if they were really serious, why would they send you?" he shouted, moving his shikai back in front of him pointed at Kage once more.
"As for why, you don't need to know. Once you're dead, it won't matter" Kage informed him loud and clear from where he stood. His voice became hushed though, "As for why me...it's because I'm a predator...Gleam..."
Kage pulled the length of cord between his hands taught while the blade spun around in an arc as tall as he was. On the other side of the street, Kyuusuko pulled the lever on his gunblade, charging the gun with his reishi and cocking it.
"What was that? I didn't hear that last part. Actually, nevermind. It doesn't matter, because I'm going to kill you first. Face it, this fight is over. I can shoot you, but you can't reach me. I have the advantage, and just in case you weren't lying, I can't let you go. KageNeko, DIE!"
Kyuusuko pulled the trigger on his shikai. The light inside the barrel flared as the reishi bullet left the barrel. Kage focus heightened and slowed down his perspective of time for him while his shikai swung low. THis move had to be perfect. As soon as his shikai passed the low point of its arc, he spread his legs letting them slide down the shingled roof on either side of the arc. As he went down, his shikai went up behind him. At the top of its arc he swung forward and let the blade fly, the edge shining in the moons light and reflecting the light of the bullet heading his way.
Kage's legs spread far enough to drop him down onto the peak of the roof while he let his shikai go. Inside, he felt the exhileration from Gleam while it flew towards Kyuusuko. The bullet passed over his head, missing him by mere fractiongs of an inch. Several hairs on his head split and flew up into the air in the wake of the reishi shell. Ahead of him, his shikai was nearing the end of its length.
"Gleaming Silver Fang, REACH FOR ME!" Kage shouted. The momentum of his throw carried as more cord fed out of the hilt of his shikai. Every foot that poured out took length off the blade, but Kage knew how far his reach was. Just as Kyuusuko said, this fight was over.
His eyes went wide as the blade struck him in the stomach. Kyuusuko looked down at the hilt sticking out of his body and reached down to grab it. He didn't pull it out, just held it as he stared astonished that the lower shinigami had managed to actually hit him.
"You...how?" He asked in bewilderment. Kage jerked on the cord and pulled his shikai back. Sailing through the air it was apparent just how much he'd had to extend his reach with only a couple inches of blade left on the hilt. The cord pooled around him in a twisted mass before he finally caught the hilt of the blade, but this time he didn't bother to let it out again.
Kyuusuko's fingers grazed the wound. Blood covered his skin but he remained standing. The amount of blade Kage had needed to sacrifice to reach him had reduced a fatal injury to a flesh wound. It bled, and it was painful, but it wasn't lethal.
"HA! This is the best you can do? I can't believe they sent you to kill me, this is a joke." Kyuusuko shouted at him. He gathered his reishi around his shikai for a last bullet. With Kage doing the splits over the roof of the porch, he couldn't move to dodge. This was an easy shot. A light glow came from the barrel as the bullet formed and he reached down to cock the round.
"Wha-" he said with a grunt.
Kyuusuko looked down at his shikai. Trying to move the lever to cock his gun, the lever suddenly didn't want to move. Grabbing it with both hands, he tried to pull the stiff handle away from the hilt, but as hard as he tried it wouldn't budge. The more he tried, the heavier his breathing became and the more ragged it got. The next time he tried, he fell off balance and stumbled backwards. Tripping over his own sandals he fell back against the roof and slide down, falling off the roof and into a hedge of bushes before rolling out onto the lawn on his back.
Kage watched him fall without a grin, without a sense of satisfaction, but a cold stare. Pulling himself up to his feet he sealed his shikai again, the blade growing out as the cord recoiled into the hilt once more. Back on his feet again and with his zanpakuto sealed he jumped off the roof and landed in the street, walking casually across the rest of the way and standing over the fallen shinigami.
"You bastard" Kyuusuko spat between labored breath, "What did you do to me?"
Kage held his sword out over Kyuusuko in one hand, letting the moons light reflect off the edge into his face.
"It's a neurotoxin, very, very potent. It spreads through your bodys reishi to every muscles and paralyses you from head to toe. It stops you from moving pretty much anything but your mouth, eyes, fingers and toes, but it doesn't keep you from speaking, and it doesn't keep you from feeling." Kage explained to him. Kyuusuko could only stare up in horror as he faced his own mortality.
"Kaze, Kyuusuko, you are terminated, for your laziness as a member of squad 2 and a member of the Gotei 13. You're a liability, and that makes you a threat. A single weak point. And I'm here to fix it." he told him as he lifted his zanpakuto high in the air. Without another word and before Kyuusuko could argue anymore, he brought it down in a wide vertical arc in an incomplete circle. With a flash after it passed over him, Kage reversed the blade and gripped it with both hands, driving it down into his chest, through his head and into the ground.
Kyuusuko's eyes were frozen wide in suprise, pain, and fear as he yelled out. But no sound came. Moments later, a slash opened in his neck, pouring out blood on either side of his neck as both arteries and his larnyx had been severed in the previous slash. Paralyzed as he was, his body didn't even twice as his heart struggled around the impaling blade until it finally stopped altogether. Moments later, the life left his eyes and Kage reached down, brushing them closed with two fingers.
He withdrew his blade and wiped off the blood on Kyuusuko's clothes before he sheathed it and covered the hilt in his robes. Turning away, he picked up his zanpakuto, already returned to his sealed form by the death of its owner. As much as he knew he shouldn't feel for him, Kage made sure to clasp Kyuusuko's hands around his zanpakuto before he left the body there and made his way back to Uraharas shop.
Kage wasted no time in returning. He used his shunpo to cover the distance in seconds and a minimal number of steps. Carefully pushing open the door so he wouldn't wake anyone that was sleeping he walked back over to his seat. Sitting down just as he was before he left he did his best to make it look like he'd never left. Of course, now even he himself needed a bit of rest. The fight and finding him in the first place had been taxing, so he was looking forward to it. Leaning back he lowered his head and closed his eyes. As he settled in his hand rested on the hilt of his zanpakuto, and in the moments before he fell asleep he could hear Gleams voice echoing in the back of his thoughts.
"I'm proud of you, Kage."
