The Precursor (Solo)

Tatsuya felt scared and alone as he ran through the streets of Seireitei, trying to escape from the countless shinigami in pursuit of him. He had no idea why they were after him; he just knew he had to escape Soul Society. He fought through the same shinigami he had once fought besides, trying to get away. It wasn’t long before he was surrounded by his former allies. He took a defensive stance, but did not draw his sword. He couldn’t see himself slashing through them, especially without knowing why they were chasing him in the first place. He shut his eyes as they rushed towards him. It felt like hundreds of years had passed by as he waited to be ganged up on, but no one ever touched him. Tatsuya opened his eyes and stepped back with a shocked expression at the scene that was in front of him. He gazed upon the burning rubble and landscape of what looked to be the remains of a great mansion. As he tried to make sense of everything around him, three unfamiliar figures covered in shadow appeared before him. All three were the same size and shape. “What the hell do you want from me? Why am I being targeted?” He shouted nervously. The shadows just stood still without answering, before the one in the center began to step forward. As the figure stepped forward it began to morph, the shadow began taking the form of a familiar person, Captain Kuro. “Captain!?” He took a step back as the Captain walked closer and released his zanpakuto, looking at Tatsuya with cold dead eyes. “Captain, what’s happening?” Tatsuya nervously asked before being slammed on the ground by Captain Kuro. The captain kept his zanpakuto against Tatsuya’s chest as he held him on the ground. He struggled to get free as Captain Kuro continued adding pressure to his chest, causing him to start gasping for air and cough up blood. Captain Kuro easily picked up Tatsuya from the ground and threw him towards a wall. Tatsuya was moving too fast to stop as he headed straight for it. Just before slamming against the wall he blacked out.

Tatsuya instantly sat up on his bed as he woke up from the nightmare. He was breathing heavily and covered in sweat. He rubbed his hands over his face and through his hair as he tried to slow his breathing and his heart rate. “Not that same dream again,” he thought before he felt a hand on the back of his right shoulder causing him to immediately jumped out of bed in fear. He had completely forgotten he had company as he stared back at Sumiko, who had a worried look upon her face. “Tatsuya, what’s wrong?” she concernedly asked. “Huh…nothing…nothing’s wrong,” Tatsuya calmed down a bit before sitting back down on the bed with his back towards Sumiko. She crawled closer to Tatsuya, and softly rubbed his back with one hand. “Well something is bothering you. You were frightened. Whatever it is, you can tell me.” She hoped to consol Tatsuya. “It was just a nightmare. Really, I’m fine.” He half-heartedly stated while taking Sumiko’s free hand with one of his and giving the best faux smirk he could muster. Though he stated it, he didn’t quite believe it himself, and Sumiko could sense that, but decided to let it be. Tatsuya looked towards the curtain covered window and caught a few glimpses of sunlight beaming through. It was still early as dawn was just starting to break. “I think I’ll go ahead and get a jump start on my day.” He slowly got up from the bed and started to make his way to the closet, only to come up short because Sumiko never let go of his hand. “Please don’t go. Stay here with me. It’s still too early.” She pleaded with big puppy dog eyes. ”Sumiko, I can’t. I feel if I just lay awake in bed, I’ll wither away. Besides, it looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day.” His statement caused Sumiko to reluctantly let go of his hand. In truth he would have loved to stay in bed with her, but he was too wired up from the nightmare. He quickly dressed into his shihakusho and walked back over to the bed, where he had his zanpakuto. Tatsuya tied it to his sash and looked at Sumiko, who had been watching him the whole time, trying to hide her worry. He reached out his left hand and caressed Sumiko’s right cheek, before giving her a small kiss. “Look, there’s no need to worry. Like I said it was just a simple nightmare, so go ahead and go back to sleep, I’ll meet up with you later. Okay?” Sumiko starred up at Tatsuya and returned his kiss with one of her own. “Okay,” she smiled meekly and gently laid back down as Tatsuya began walking to the door. Tatsuya turned towards Sumiko as he opened the door and tried to put on a sincere smile. Sumiko simply smiled back and gently waved goodbye before Tatsuya left the room. As he closed the door behind him, Sumiko could only stare at it hoping Tatsuya would return, if for any reason, just to be next to her. A tear rolled down her cheek as she worried for him, wondering what could frighten a man who has never shown any type of fear. She hoped he would confide his troubles to her. As she tried to make sense of things she subtly fell back asleep.