Mr. 96: Hello, hello, hello! This story is a continuation of Millie M. Banshee's story "A Place In Society," I adopted it because I think it a shame that it was ending on a cliffhanger! So, I checked with her, and now I'm continuing her story for her!

Anyway: Throwaway OC! Tatsuya Fukiage is going to die.

Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo, X-Men to Marvel.

Toshiro dialed up the number of the Soutaicho, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto. The head captain would have a lot to answer for, but first he had to deal with the mission at hand. Still, there was nothing stopping him from asking Yamamoto some questions…

"Has the traitor been dealt with?" the elder Captain asked.

"Yes, but…why did you do it?" Toshiro shouted.

"What are you talking about?" Shigekuni asked.

"Why did you have Kurotsuchi rig that Gigai up for her? Dammit, sir, there was no reason for you to kill her!"

"I am truly sorry to say this, but there was," the Soutaicho replied, "We cannot give Shinigami the right to resign because they are far too powerful to not be on our side. You know that. Therefore, anyone who voluntarily leaves is a renegade, and will be killed to prevent them from harming the denizens of the World of the Living."

"I know that, sir, but I personally relieved her of duty! She would not have posed a threat at all!"

"The decision is not yours to make. And be warned that if you try to make a similar course of action as Akane, I shall be forced to kill you, and it won't be slowly," Shigekuni said, "Even if you do so much as refuse to obey the 66th Junjo, the Society shall convict you."

Toshiro's eyes narrowed. "You know that there is no reason to give out the order for the 66th Junjo!"

"Indeed, there is none, at the moment. But, in the case of Higabana, I have it from a reliable source that, before you became a Taicho, she was in love with you. Were you in love with her?"

Toshiro paused for a minute. "…..No, sir, I wasn't," he said. It was true enough-although he knew perfectly well of Akane's feelings for him, he did not reciprocate them, and this was part of the reason a ridge was driven between them.

"Then there should be no reason for you to mourn her. She was a criminal to have been dealt with," Shigekuni finished. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes, sir, something more urgent. You see, right after I killed her, I saw someone out of the corner of my eye," Hitsugaya replied, trying his best to move on from that topic and obey the Soutaicho's orders, "And it confirmed my suspicion: She wasn't working alone."

"What makes you say that?"

"I knew her well before I became captain, and she would have known I would have support. She had to have someone who could deal with Ichigo and anyone else that could interfere with her. And, judging from the fact that that accomplice did nothing to help her suggests that he was even more psychotic than her. I need to know: Are there any renegade Shinigami who use a claw-type Zanpaku-To?"

The Soutaicho paused before answering. "Hmmm, yes, there is one," he said, "Fukiage Tatsuya, formerly of Squad Eleven. He was the only Shinigami to openly protest the pardoning of the Ryoka."

"Why's that, sir?" Toshiro said.

"It seems that one of the four Ryoka injured him greatly," Shigekuni said, "The answer may surprise you. The one who scarred him is…."

Toshiro's eyes opened wide. He had to get to Ichigo and the others fast…..!

Logan leaned back on the hotel wall. He couldn't shake the feeling that something in his memories was wrong…..

"Problem, Logan?" Xavier said, wheeling into the clawed mutant's range of view.

"Yeah," Logan said, "I feel like my memory's been tampered with. I have these fresh scars, and my brain's telling me it was because I ran into some street punks with Toshiro and Rukia. But I know just a couple of street punks couldn't do that to me!"

"Hmmm, that does sound unbelievable," Charles said, thinking, "I could peer into your mind and see where it's been tampered with. If I may?"

"You'd be doing me a favor," Logan said, nodding.

"Alright," Xavier said, touching the sides of Logan's forehead. "Hmmmm…..you were right, Logan. Part of your memories have been clouded over and replaced with substitutes which were overlaid over the originals."

"Can you undo it?" Logan asked.

"Yes, it shouldn't be too hard. I've been employing a much more reliable mind-wiping process to keep our school a secret, but this one is undoable." He entered Logan's mind, and suddenly both of them were literally shocked.

"That…..was unexpected," Charles Xavier said, "I would not believe it had I not 'seen' it myself, as it were."

"Those bastards…..they messed with my mind!" Logan shouted, angry, "Nobody does that to me!"
"No, no, Logan, don't get mad at them," Xavier said, trying to calm his old friend down, "What they did was no different from what we would have….no, what we have done in the past."

"Are you crazy? We're nothing like them!" Logan said, "They-"

"-Have secrets, just like us. I myself have wiped the minds of those who have discovered our secrets and proved to be our enemies. Just like what happened with Todd, these people believe that we are outsiders to them. But I can't deny that we need to find more about them," Charles finished.

"So do we confront them about it?" Logan asked.

"No," Xavier said, "I don't think they trust us at this point. I think it would be better to ask someone who would be more likely to give us answers, like….Ichigo."

"Agreed," Logan said, "He trusts us. But just to be on the safe side, I'm gonna go get Jean down here. She's good with swaying people over."

"Alright. That would be the best course of action in this case," Xavier said.

A man wearing a Shinigami's uniform jumped through the rooftops. As he did, memories flashed through his mind….

"Whaddya mean we're pardoning the Ryoka?" he shouted to his Captain.

"You heard me. The Ryoka were never our enemies," Kenpachi said, remaining unusually calm even for him.

"Liar! One of them did this to me," he pointed to half of his face, which was hidden in shadows, "And the Soutaicho said their crimes would be forgiven! They can't be forgiven for what they've done!"

"Try to understand. The Ryoka were never here to harm anyone," someone said, breaking the Shinigami's train of thought.

The Shinigami turned around. A girl in red hair stood right beside him.

"You can see me?" he asked.

"Barely. But I could read your mind," the red-haired girl said, "My name is Grey Jean. I'm here to stop you."

"Stop me? Stop me from what?" the Shinigami asked, trying to play dumb.

"You are Fukiage Tatsuya. You were severely injured by someone, and you want to kill him. But I'm here trying to reach him."

"So you can't let me kill him, huh?" Tatsuya said, "Well, I got news for you, girl, I can't let anyone stand between me and that Ryoka!" He raised his sword. "Bleed, Kyuketsuki!" The sword became a claw. "You'll have to be my first victim!"

Mr. 96: Hate to end on a cliffhanger, but I'm on a time limit! By the way, "Junjo" means "Order", and "Kyuketsuki" means "Vampire."