Aggresive Negotiations (Kaiyo)

Sal stood in the intelligence wing of the Submarine Damocles, around him were monitors with walls of text, holographic boards with pictures and notes spread across it as well as listening stations that picked up and decrypted messages.

"Are you sure about this sir?" The Intelligence officer looked nervously at the scared Shinigami.

"Of course not but i want you to do it anyway." Sal responded and the Officer nodded and turned back to his station.

The information would be leaked to the more nefarious and underhanded people out there in the world just a mere droplet, that he was to be at a specific location at a specific time. They way the Squad 11 captain had Squad 2 looking for him it wouldn't be long before some shady bastard sold him out.

"There...done." Sal placed the man on the shoulder and made his exit from Red Dawn HQ. In two days he would see if she'd show and then, win or lose, there would be one less problem to worry about when he set his plans in motion.

Kaiyo's face was starting to get red, a bead of sweat splashing quietly onto the wooden floor as the girl pushed her body up once more. Single-mindedly focused on the task at hand before she was interrupted. 'Captain!' the gasping shout of the messenger threw of her concentration as Kaiyo dropped, her arms buckling under the weight. Similar to a cartoon character a piano had landed on, the girl scrambled around underneath the large man who'd been sitting on her back to assist her press-ups. He got up quickly to pick up to the small girl, blushing himself as he stood to a mild attention. The girl smile lightly, blowing a rogue strand of hair from her face as she wiped down some dust from her uniform.

'So what's the news?' she mused gently, her eyes sparking with intrigue at the news. The thought never even crossed her mind to address the situation with some more tact, instead, Kaiyo would go for usual plan; all guns blazing. The excitable bundle couldn't help but allow her smile to grow, she owed that man a few battle scars now. 'Tomorrow it is then' she beamed back, leaping into action. It had been long enough since their last encounter, and after stepping up her training, Kaiyo felt a lot more ready for their next stand-off. Of course there was that part of her that Kaiyo could hide from everyone but that man, the one being who had seen the cold reflective epicentre of her soul, and her his. It was an odd relationship to have with a man who was destined to kill her, because it would be undoubtedly be the greatest fight of her life.

Both men had been waiting silently to be dismissed, politely quiet whilst Kaiyo's mind wandered. 'Oh you can go' she giggled gently, realising how awkward the room was starting to feel. The men obliged, quite happy to leave the girl alone.

Falling back onto the sofa, Kaiyo tried to regulate her breathing, she needed a shower, but the adrenaline kicking around her body meant she'd need to go for a run or something beforehand. It didn't really matter in the long run. All she needed was a decent night's sleep, and then, she'd find Sal Norongachi.

Somerset, if there was ever a more stereotypical place in all the world Sal had never been there. The accent's alone called for a Monty Python sketch and the people themselves were a sight to behold.

He had chosen a small cottage miles from any population center, he had no clue how this would turn out and the last thing he wanted on his conscience was the death of thousands of civilians caught in the crossfire should they lock blades again.

He stood at the small window that overlooked the rolling wet fields and waited. It was all he could do, it could take awhile before his information reached the ears of the Captain and even then, she might fear a trap and not show.

Patience, everything hinged on patience now.

Somerset...Not exactly Kaiyo's idea of a nice location to meet, but they weren't terms she could negotiate with. The Captain glanced back up from her folder as the needle jabbed into her arm, the girl winced. Her protest falling on silent ears as the 12th squad member repeated himself, fully aware that the attention span of the 11th squad Captain had missed his detailed explanation. 'As i was saying Captain, their enhancers, to boost your energy and strength. We realise you're walking into a trap, so i was told to fill you up with whatever might give you the edge to win this time' There was a tone of voice that Kaiyo didn't like, aside from only now realising that it might actually be a trap, the suggestion that she couldn't win a fight of her own volition was one that hurt her. The shinigami twigged onto this fact as well, likely from the death glare he was now receiving, the man panicked almost alarmingly quickly. Taking a short step back as he bowed, 'I didn't mean any offence by it Captain, it's simple we, the 12th squad are in the market of combat enhancement and...' Kaiyo sighed lightly, pausing the man's ramble mid-way. 'It's fine, open up the gate will ya?' she smiled lightly.


Kaiyo curled up her small hand into a fist, she had to admit, those injections had made her feel a bit, sharper? That was the best way she (or whoever was writing for her) could describe it at least. The torrent of light rushed through the Senkai gate; absorbing Kaiyo's small frame as she stepped through.

The limiter usually placed on Captains entering the real world had been signed off, so as soon as that wonderful stench of Somerset hit her nostrils, Kaiyo released a a bolt of her reiatsu. If Sal was already waiting for her, she at least wanted him to know she'd arrived...Maybe he could put the kettle on. A smirk toyed on her lips as Kaiyo leapt through the air, flash stepping at full speed towards the location of Sal. Her white haori fluttering along behind her, in unison with her trusty red headband.

Of all the secret meeting places, a small cottage in the middle of nowhere actually seemed a bit disappointing, but she'd mentioned that one later. Kaiyo appeared at the door in a matter of seconds, her hand hovering at the hilt of her blade as she stepped in. For once, not going in all gun's blazing.

'Heh, so what brings you out here then?'

Three hours slipped by as Sal stood motionless at the window. The sky had dulled and lost its vibrancy, the velvet shroud of night slipping across the world chasing the dying sun.

"Maybe she won't come..." He thought resting upon the wooden window sill. "Maybe I'll be surrounded by an army at any moment..." But he knew neither of those would be true. She was like him, this was a confrontation they both wanted more than anything else in the world. To miss it or win by anything other than their own strength wouldn't be enough.

It was the thrill they wanted. That unknown that they hadn't felt for a very long time, the uncertainty. Will I win or Will I die?

The burst of her spiritual power sent a quiver down his spine, the unfamiliar sense of fear, dread and excitement filled his gut. She was coming, just as he knew she would. It was time.

He moved from the window and stepped across the small open room, a kitchen area to the left of the room, a large stone fireplace to the far right and two dilapidated arm chairs positioned around it. He took a seat in one of the chairs, feeling every spring beneath his ass, and fired a burst of Reiatsu toward the logs in the hearth. They burst to life as she entered the cottage and he looked up at her.

She seemed like a child, a teenager, fair and beautiful her blue eyes and blonde locks could put any man at ease but it was the eyes that gave her away for what she truly was. A killer and a ruthless fighter, exactly like himself.

"I like the scenery..." He said, his Zan positioned to the side of his leg, his hand resting onto of it like one would a cane and his thumb hooked under the hand guard ready to unsheathe at a moments notice.

"We have to stop meeting like this Captain, people will talk." He said with a casual smile his brown eyes locking with the crystal blue of her own.

The lapse of aggression between the two was an oddity, and yet there was something comfortable about it. Kaiyo was in no particular rush to kill the man, so she could allow a few moment of banter to slip by first, perhaps evening finding out a bit more on the rebellion itself. The small cottage was warm, homely even and as inviting as a watches cabin might have been. A smirk toyed on the girl's lips as she cautiously took the available seat, her own eyes staring casually into Sal's; he had comfortable eyes, the type that one could look freely into with no fear of judgement or harrowed emotions. As she sat down, the girl tried to hide her immense discomfort, though the thought occurred that she probably would have been comfortable sitting on the bloody fire, but that was an irrelevant thought for the moment, just like the scenery. 'Yeah you wish' she scoffed, allowing a light chortle of escape her lips.

Kaiyo crossed her legs, her left hand remaining on the hilt of her blade as her eyes traced down to Sal's own Zanpakuto. There was no grandeur in this stalemate; not yet at any rate. 'Well i'm glad to see you've healed up nicely, i'd hate to not fight you at full power' she grinned, that was about as sincere as Kaiyo would get with this man, and it was the truth. As much as she believed his death was both necessary and inevitable, Kaiyo had a lot of genuine respect for the man's battle prowess.

The point of their meeting was still a mystery too her, but it was one which she acknowledged as his to share. He was the leader, she was the participator; at the moment. The fire crackled beside them, radiating heat and light through the decrepit little house, it was quite quaint actually. Their was an odd trace within the fire though, imbued with this man's reiatsu, that gave it a tantalising wisp to the flames. It seemed she was now quite accustomed to his own brand of fire.

The tension in the room was palpable. The threat of imminent violence and distrust, waiting for the other to make their move, lingered as thick and as hot as the smoke rising up the chimney flume from the open fire.

Sal moved his sword in rhythmic circles in his hand as he looked at her. His face was unreadable, his brown eyes alive and smouldering as he thought of the magnificent battle they had. His memory recalling the ache of his body, the days of medical treatment, the fear and excitement that he had thought long since gone from his heart.

All this...from such a little girl. It was hard for the mind to encapsulate, that such a tiny frame could hold that volume of destruction. He had continued to revisit the question that had came to him during their fight. What would have happened if they had met before he had left Seiretei, what would have changed, would he have invited her along on that fateful night Two Years ago?

Why did she have to die?

"Everyday since the day we met.." He responded with a cool smile, he looked over his left shoulder and turning in his seat reached over for a bottle of familiar caramel liquid and two glasses.

"Drink?" He asked pouring as she spoke. He left the other glass on the table between them and took a swallow of the Whiskey allowing a playful smile to slide across his lips.

"You are assuming i was fighting at full power the last time we met Captain."

The pungent smell of the drink was overwhelmed by the crackling oak in the fire, spitting across the room with sparks of tension. 'Pass' Kaiyo shook her head lightly, aside from the fact that she didn't even like such drinks, she'd rather be fully alert for their imminent battle. The thought of course didn't even occur that Sal may have done something to the drink; not out of trust, but more because it just never crossed her mind. As for the battle stimulants she'd been plugged up to, well they were starting to make her feel even more fidgety than normal. Angsty even.

The dubbed, 'worlds most uncomfortable chair' wasn't helping with Kaiyo's need to move around either. The manifestation of the Captain looking as calm as ever, was splintered a little, but the speed and rhythm at which she was tapping her fingers along the hilt of her blade. The etched golden lion on the guard danced from the light reflecting from the fire.

As if they were discussing such trivial manners, the blonde girl laughed lightly, 'Nobody fights me with any less'. The girl wouldn't be so easily fooled into fearing this man; no, any fear she already had for him was locked away beyond the barriers that even Kaiyo herself was aware of. To be revealed only much later to the girl. Her reply was true though, at the level she had reached, it had been a very long time since anyone had been able to fight casually against her. The man that sat so casually just a metre or so away had fought her on full power, and she him...And Kaiyo still didn't know who'd even won.

Her head shifted towards the flames, caught for a moment by their own mystic dance, the encapsulating warmth swirling through the vaguely fogged air. The dark red of the fire rippled through her blue eyes, a-light with so many feelings as she turned back to the man. Shuffling forwards on her chair as she leant closer, as if she were sharing some kind of deathly secret. 'So, would it be too rude to kill you whilst you're drinking? Or were you about to make some kind of point?'

It was almost time. The air was about ready to implode with violence, who knew what kind of blood bath would follow.
Was it wise to call this meeting, he only now thought. The chances of coming out alive again were slim, very slim. She could end him and that feeling drew him like a moth to a flame....and the moth rarely won that contest.

Even if he didn't have a purpose beyond the brilliance of her power to call this meeting he still would have, of that he was positive.

"Of that i am sure..." Sal responded and then he too leaned in, they were mere inches apart, the fire casting sinister shadows across their faces.

"It'd be sexy of you to try..." He smiled in response and the heartbeats ticked by, they both sat motionless reading the other....waiting.....and then Sal broke off and sat back, the hand on his Zanpakuto gripped the handle and then he threw it at her feet, the sheathed weapon clattering upon the bare wooden floor boards.

"I want to tell you a story..." He began, feeling very much defenceless, every cell in his body screaming at him to grab his weapon. "When you've heard it, then...you can do what you like. You've got an 'edge' this time, you may actually finish the job." He said and his eyes showed the disappointment of her choice, that she had not come here under her own steam.

Kaiyo couldn't hold back the smirk that seeped onto her expression as Sal responded, the tantalising aggression in the room was practically itching at her skin. Each clearly enjoying the banter, and anticipation of such a build up. The final dénouement was yet to come though. The blonde girl leant backwards in chair in time with her opponent, her hands retracting away from her Zanpakuto as Sal threw his blade to the ground. The rattle of the heavy metal echoed against the cottage walls. Kaiyo hadn't flinched, but the smirk had drained from her face as she lifted her gaze from the man's sword, to the man himself.

The greater understanding these two had for eachother was an unusual connection, and one which Kaiyo couldn't quite explain herself. She had assumed it simply due their fight, the over-zealous souls of one another that had bounded through their blades had offered a glimpse of something else. That was for now, just her opinion though. One which was solidified as the watched the man closely, the sadness in his eyes dropped shadows onto his face as the fire dimmed.

Kaiyo wouldn't attack him now anyway, an opponent of such a standard deserved more respect than a half-arsed strike without any honour. If Kaiyo was going to beat this man, it would be on fair ground. The girl slowly moved her arms up, the soft material of her uniform sliding along her skin as she linked her hands together behind her head; melting back into her uncomfortable chair. 'Heh, i have all the edge i need without your Zanpakuto thanks'. Of course Kaiyo appeared quite calm and relaxed, as did Sal, but she didn't doubt that they could both be battle ready within seconds- even faster perhaps. Still, she'd bite; she'd always been quite partial to a good story.

The Scottish berserker cocked a smile at her bravado. She was well aware that he other, less natural, weapons at his disposal. She had felt the ire of the creature that resided within him in their previous encounter and he doubted she would soon forget the pain of Abaddon's anger.

She was listening, however, and that was all he wanted. What came of this meeting after he had spun his tale was entirely up to her, he would cross swords with the demure Captain again in a heart beat. A part of him relished the thought, was practically salivating in anticipation of that eventual, and quite possibly inevitable, clash.

"What if I told you that Sereitei had been infiltrated," He began. "That its being rotted from within by forces totally beyond anything you or I could handle?" Norongachi's voice was deadly serious and then his eyes found the smouldering embers of the dying fire and his mind was cast back to that winters night in England so many years ago.

"They unleashed something on the world four years ago." He began, recalling with a vivid clarity the nightmare of that night. "A virus, a..life form, I don't know what it was but it infected the humans of a small village in England, turned them to monsters....they wiped out everyone in our team except myself and Jin Yagami. Its spreading, all across the globe. It CAME from Seireitei, these...things are ravaging the Earth but it isn't that simple. The forces at work behind the infiltration of Seireitei and the creation of these abominations is poised to strike, NO WHERE is safe." He lapsed into silence and the fire popped and crackled in the half light.

"That's why I was exiled, that's why I was branded a criminal. I saw the birth of their master stroke and worse than that, I lived. Four years I've fought and I've bled trying to stop them. The Twelve, as they have called themselves, are beyond me, beyond you, beyond Seiretei.

You had a taste of...that thing that resides in me the last time we met. That creature is one of them, or was before I subdued and made his power my own. The point is this; I can't save everyone alone. I NEED help or quite frankly, everything that you hold dear will be gone.

I want to clear my name Captain, I wan't to go home but I can't do that until this is done, until they are cast down and the pawns in Seireitei are dealt with. So my question is this; Given what you have heard, am I still your enemy? Or will you become my Ally?"

Kaiyo remained silent as Sal spoke, her brow furrowed deep in thoughts of the maelstrom foreshadowing this meeting. A harrowing life awaited outside this little haven of civil tongues. Of course she was no professional, but the forceful certainty of the man was convincing her that at the very least, he believed what he was saying. That offered no comfort to the Captain. The heat from the fire was drying out her skin, stupid trivial thoughts such as moisturising were crying out for some escape. Dutifully, Kaiyo waited until Sal was finished. Unable to find any words that could answer his question, or any of hers.

Her eyes shut slowly, a heavy sigh tumbling from her mouth. The lost fragility of her life no more than a whispering thought. In the grand scheme of things, Kaiyo's choices probably wouldn't affect too much, and if what Sal had said was true, she couldn't stop these evil twelve anyway. Her eyes fluttered open, their blue hue's caught in the flames that continued to radiate tendril shadows across the room. The silence had no doubt been expected after such a tale, but even Kaiyo hadn't expected he response.

The short girl rose to her feet. Her arms hanging loosely at her side, still holding no obvious aggression, or motions to combat. Not today at least. In a way she couldn't justify to herself, Kaiyo trusted this man, he had no reason to lie to her. There was bravado, but between this pair, that's all it remained. 'Thanks for telling me' she mused. With such a reply, Kaiyo turned to leave. There was nothing else she could say, not for the time being. Reaching the door of the little cottage, the blonde haired girl turned, caught in the draft that seeped through the wooden door. 'Lookin forward to our next fight Sal'. She smiled gratefully at the man.

Kaiyo had only ever wanted to help people; a noble aim that had caused her so many problems. Sometimes, there were moments of clarity though, like that single moment before rain touches the ground and the air has already whispered of it's arrival. It's the anticipation. That was what Kaiyo felt, because from this very moment, as soon as she left this cottage, she would be waiting. Waiting for this man to kill her, and she would do all she could to help others before she reached that point.