Prologue

Then sun was setting over Karakura same as it always did. The people for the most part were nestled in their little homes, unaware of what was to happen to them in less than a year. They were all going to die. Not only would their earthly bodies die, their souls would also be consumed to become part of the King's Key.

Mizuiru was walking back to his best friend's place like he did almost every day before he went home, if he went home at all. That woman drove him insane! Mother or no, sometimes he could reach back and smack her with his Zanpakuto.

Oh yeah, you didn't know that, did you? Last spring, while he and Keigo had been at one of their usual hangouts, a depraved soul known as a Hollow. They had both discovered their own latent Shinigami powers that had resided deep within them. They met a Shinigami known as Rukia Kuchiki. She helped guide them and mold them into suitable warriors. But even she could never have guessed at the level of power that those two possessed.

After she had been with them for a couple of months, her older brother and his vice-captain came after her. Though they tried their hardest, at that time they were powerless to stop him. Shortly thereafter, they were trained by Urahara and someone who they would never had expected, Isshin Kurosaki. Evidently he had been a Captain in the Gotei Thirteen. Mizuiru had gone with the old goat-chin.

Mizuiru shook his head to clear his thoughts. This was no time to be dwelling on the past. He had enough to think about as it is. He sighed, however, because that was nigh impossible with all that had happened recently. For instance, he had tried to talk to Ichigo about if he knew about what his father really was, but could not figure out a way to do so without accidentally revealing too much. He didn't want to reveal Soul Society to somebody who knew nothing about it, but who knew for sure if Ichigo knew or not? He certainly was not going to risk Ichigo knowing nothing in the presence of that Chibi-Captain. He shuddered at the cold memory of the last time he had pissed Toshiro off.

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"So what do you think?" asked Shinji to his fellow Vaizard.

The other Vaizard was clad in all black, looking like a member of the second division. There were slight deviations, however. For instance, the Vaizard wore sunglasses to hide his eyes, a pair of bony ebony gauntlets, and although he wore a cloth mask, his uniform also sported a hood. "He doesn't seem too bad, but I would like to see the extent of his abilities for myself."

Shinji's forehead suddenly grew an anger mark, "What the hell are talking about?!! You just saw what he can do when he was sparring against Hiyori!"

The other Vaizard simply just turned his head towards him, and let his eyes bore into Shinji's, "I meant I would like to test his abilities myself, if you don't mind. I hear that that man had trained him."

Shinji tilted his head to the side and scratched his head, "Okay, okay. I will let you personally test his abilities. How does tomorrow sound to you?"

"Sounds absolutely perfect, Shinji."

Shinji sighed, "Just don't kill him, okay?"

The other Vaizard chuckled beneath his mask.