Side Effects May Include...

(continued from A Dangerous New Foe)

The night was not peaceful in many ways. A fierce wind was blowing through the seireitei with a menacing howling noise, causing trees to thrash violently and cast menacing moving shadows in the dim moonlight shining from a thin waning crescent moon. In his office room in the second squad grounds, Kuro was sweating and shivering fiercely as he lay in his futon. Ever since a few days after his fight in Karakura town with the strange shinigami named Tekeru Seo, he had begun to have disturbing dreams. These had gone from mildly disturbing to horrific nightmares that haunted his dreaming hours. The shadows cast by the tree branches waved back and forth over his face as he continued to experience the horrors in his mind.

He was walking through a densely grown forest that refused to let in much of the light from the moon shining above it. It reminded him of the forest in his soul world where he normally conversed with his zanpakuto spirit, Seishou-seijin. But unlike his soul world, this forest offered no calm clearing filled with the glowing moonlight. It was instead abundant in deep darkness which continued to confuse the eyes and exaggerate the sounds and sights around Kuro, making it seem very intimidating. He stumbled through the brush of the forest, not knowing where he was going or what he was doing here. Suddenly, he heard the swift sound of another living thing running along the forest floor. He could not get a good look at it as it stayed hidden in the darkness around him. The constant sound of its dashing began to put Kuro into a nervous state of mind. Maybe it was the darkness and its sight robbing spell, but this figure was causing Kuro great fright. He began to run through the trees as fast as he could, often stumbling clumsily against them as he tried to avoid running into them directly. He heard his tormentor running behind him on the left side. As he continued to run, he heard a maniacal laugh burst out of the pursuer and echo off all of the trees around them. His fear intensified for reasons he couldn't figure and he hastened his pace.

The forest began to slope downwards as Kuro came upon a hill. He sprinted down the hill realizing that the trees were thinning out on its slope, letting more light through. He also could hear the sound of running water at its bottom. His ears did not lie, and Kuro found himself sloshing into a shallow stream as he came to the bottom of the incline. He turned back towards the hill and listened to hear if his pursuer was still coming. He heard nothing from the forest. He sighed with relief and turned to investigate the area around the stream. He froze as he turned his gaze upstream and saw a dark figure standing in the stream. The figure was too far away to see any details about his appearance. Kuro felt the same indescribable fear rushing back as he stared at the dark one. The stranger began to take slow steps down the stream, closing the distance between himself and Kuro at a leisurely pace. At the same time, Kuro felt a stabbing pain growing in his chest. He clutched his hand to his heart and his breathing began to grow erratic as the pain intensified with each step the dark man took towards him. He fell to his knees in the stream water and bent over in agony. His face was reflected in the water, illuminated by the light that the thinned trees over the stream let in. He stared at his own pitiful face distorted with pain, then was surprised as the image reflected in the water changed to a completely different face. The face of an enemy Kuro had killed years ago, a bount who looked like an american native. It spoke the same line Kuro's foe had on that day.

"He who refuses to embrace who he is is doomed to lose himself."

Kuro didn't understand why this message had appeared to him after all this time. And with the pain he was in, he didn't care. It was centered in the same spot that Takeru had hit him with that strange kido. Looking up again, he saw the dark figure very close now, but he still couldn't make out any facial details as he had placed himself in a dark shadow of a tree cast over the stream. Kuro gasped in a deep breath and chocked out a desperate question. "Who are you!? What do you want!?"

The dark man shook with suppressed laughter and answered in a strange voice that sounded similar to Kuro's but wilder and seemingly distorted. "The answer to both of those questions is the same. I-" he stepped out of the shadows to reveal his appearance to Kuro, "-am you!"

Kuro was astounded. The dark stranger looked remarkably like him. The same hair style, the same facial features. The only differences were the pale skin and hair, and the smug and evil way he carried himself and spoke. But he couldn't focus on this as much as he wanted to as the pain intensified again. Looking down at his chest, he noticed a wound opening up in his chest and blood pouring out of it. But even as he watched, his seeping blood began to turn black, dripping all down Kuro's front and into the stream. His lookalike threw his head back and roared the same insane laugh Kuro'd heard in the forest earlier. Their voices mixed as the stranger continued to laugh and Kuro let out a loud roar of agony as the pain grew to its highest level.

Kuro's eyes flew open as he returned to reality in a shock. The sun was shining brightly through his window and there was not even a light breeze remaining from the heavy winds that had blown last night. No sign of the torment Kuro had gone through was mirrored in this scene. He held his hand to his chest, still remembering the feeling of the pain in the dream. A chill ran down his back as he thought of the dark guy who looked like him. He got dressed and tried to pull himself together for the events of the day.

Kuro wearily stepped out onto the sparring grounds to try and shake the uneasy feelings that wouldn't leave. Many of his squad members turned to greet him as he passed, but all he could return to them was a small wave of acknowledgment. His head was still full of the images and sensations he'd gone through. Determined to free himself from them, he began to practice his fighting by going through simple exercises and form practice. As he trained, he heard the sound of some light footsteps walk up to him. Turning, he saw Mika Nishino standing beside him with a curious look on her face.

"Is everything alright Taichou? You don't look well today. A lot of us are worried."

Kuro turned his gaze to the other members around the sparring grounds and noticed that they did seem rather aware of him. Their eyes kept shifting over towards him and he could just hear his name being softly spoken between them as they discussed amongst themselves while they sparred. He hoped that they wouldn't make too big of a deal out of this. But he knew that he'd have to show them that they didn't have anything to fear.

"Everything's just fine Nishino-san. I just had a bad dream and didn't get a good sleep last night." Kuro had to admit that Mika was becoming quite a good shinigami. Her performance in the field was remarkable and the concern she'd just shown told him that she cared for her team. Both of these were good qualities. Smiling sneakily, he came up with a new idea. "Perhaps you'd like to spar with me to help me wake up?"

An excited look lit up Mika's face as she bowed with enthusiasm. "I'd be honored sir!" Kuro chuckled as she went through a few warm up stretches and took a stand against him with a space of about 20 feet separating them.

"Whenever you're ready." he said smoothly, deciding to let her begin the match. She obliged immediately and dashed straight at him with her fists ready. He watched her approach closely and waited until her first punch had almost hit his stomach. Silently shifting to the side, he avoided the blow while catching her arm and flipped her to the ground. "Come at me seriously, or I may end up hurting you by mistake." Mika leaped back up immediately and instead of backing off from Kuro's intimidation like most would, she began a ferocious assault of attacks that Kuro could find no opportunity to counter. They were easy enough to dodge, but the continuous flow of strikes left no room or pause for him to exploit. He continued to dodge her attacks while stepping back to try and make some room, but she matched his every step and did not let up in her assault. At first, it was fun. But as it continued on, a new feeling began to well up inside of Kuro...annoyance. This annoyed feeling quickly changed into anger, and aggression.

Roaring with defiance, Kuro lunged straight into Mika's flurry, taking a number of quick strikes all over his face and torso. He ignored this blows and grabbed her by the front of her robes. Shock came to her face as she noticed his change in attitude and was lifted by her robes off the ground. Sneering towards her, Kuro drew back his other arm and punched her hard in the stomach. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a tiny feeling of glee arose as he watched the pain show on her face. Grinning even wider, he slammed her as hard as he could into the ground, kicking up a large cloud of dust. The dust cleared to reveal him kneeling over her prone form, wondering what had come over him. He looked around at the other squad members, who all had their eyes locked on him now. Their chattering voices were rushed and suspicious as they talked about the spar they'd witnessed.

"That's not like him is it?"

"Did you see his eye?"

"What's going on here?"

Kuro ordered the members to get Mika to the fourth squad for treatment, then immediately rushed back to his office. He slammed the door behind him and leaned against it, fear flooding back into him. There was something going on here, and he didn't like it. He wanted answers before someone ended up dead.

Kuro sat alone in his office for hours, lost in worry about what was happening to him. His behavior on the sparring grounds was not like himself. He could only remember being that cruel that one time against the bount when he left it to die at the hands of its doll. But even worse than that was the feelings of enjoyment he had felt in his head while doing it. Something was wrong, and his squad was starting to notice it. If any further incidents occurred, he might be reported and sent to the 4th or 12th squads for investigation. That was something he did not want to happen.

Kuro then came to a conclusion. Even in this state, there was someone that he could rely on for support. He sat in the center of his office floor and drew his zanpakuto from his robes. Gripping it tightly, he focused on the blade and exhaled slowly, letting himself slip deep into his mind. When he next opened his eyes, he was standing in the forest of his soul world, on the edge of the usual clearing. But things were different this time. The moon shone with a eerie red light instead of the calming white, and the edges of the clearing were beginning to grow wildly with vines, thorns, and weeds. It was as if his soul world was slowly transforming into the forest in his nightmare the previous night. Such a change couldn't be a coincidence. Kuro called out for his zanpakuto spirit, hoping that it would have some answers.

"Seishou-seijin! I need to talk to you!" He waited for a second, then remembered the relationship that the spirit insisted remain between them after Kuro had obtained bankai. "I order you to show yourself!"

The ninja-clad spirit burst from the overgrowth on the other side of the clearing and came to a stop bowing on one knee in front of Kuro. It kept its gaze towards the ground in a display of loyalty as it answered Kuro's summons. "What is it you need master?"

Kuro rolled his eyes at the nonsense he was forced to endure. While he respected his spirit greatly, it had grown harder to deal with it since Kuro's domination of its power, making itself insistent towards a reversal of their roles. Kuro had liked being the student better than the master. But such things were to be expected when one gained higher power, just like his rise to the captain position of squad 2. He sighed and began what was likely to be an interesting conversation. "First off, stand up. You know I don't like the formal servitude thing. Secondly, I need to ask you if you know anything about what's going on with me. I had a strange dream last night and lost control of myself during a sparring match today. I won't lie, I'm scared."

Seishou-seijin gave in to Kuro's request and stood up facing him, then turned to the side and stared up at the moon, seemingly in deep thought. Kuro didn't speak any more, choosing to let the spirit think and answer him when it was ready. After a few moments, it gave a sigh like Kuro had and lowered its gaze to look at the surrounding forest as it spoke. "The change in this world shows that your soul is going through changes in its entirety. During your fight with the shinigami you met in the living world, something was set loose inside of you." The ninja spirit turned back to stare at Kuro with its glowing eyes. "There is a darkness in your heart that has always been concealed. The strange spell that shinigami hit you with let that darkness become free. It's starting to influence you. That is the source of those nightmares and the changes happening to this world."

Kuro could hardly believe what his zanpakuto spirit was saying. But he had to admit, it felt a bit better to just have an explanation for the craziness going on. And because of talking with Seishou-seijin, he was aware of what he should do next. "Taichou, can I come in?" Kuro was jarred out of his meditation and back into reality by the knocks on his door. Walking over and opening the door, he was surprised to see Mika standing there, not looking like she'd gone through the abuse he'd given. He reminded himself that he had been in his office for hours, and that the fourth squad was plenty enough skilled to fix her up in that amount of time. Stepping aside, he gestured for her to come in and take a seat. He sat behind his desk opposite of her and stared guiltily down at it, unable to look her in the eyes.

"I don't blame you Taichou. I've gotten worked up in a spar before too. You don't have to beat yourself up about it."

Kuro felt even more guilty after hearing these words. She didn't even know what was really going on here. He couldn't afford to let her or any more of his squad members get hurt by him. They were all too precious to him. He stood up from his desk and walked around to the other side, placing a hand on her shoulder as he paused beside her. "You are a fine squad member. I have something I have to do so that I can be worthy of being your captain again." Not saying anything else, Kuro left Mika sitting in front of his desk and dashed off towards the closest senkai gate, heading for the living world.