M.O. Revealed (solo)

Kuro strode swiftly through the streets of the Seireitei, returning from a normal hollow patrol. He'd given things a few weeks to settle down after the events that occurred at Yellowstone. But now he intended to do what he'd promised Tatsuya and look for more information about Raiden. But he didn't want to do this alone. He quickened his pace and made his way back towards the second squad sparring grounds.

Just as he'd figured, he quickly found Mika beating and cutting a training dummy to bits. She was never one to slack off for very long, preferring to keep her strength up. Maybe it had something to do with looking her best. But whatever the reason, it made her a person that Kuro could trust to watch his back almost as much as Tatsuya himself. He silently snuck up behind her and caught her attention with little effort, clapping his hands down on both her shoulders. "Good to see you're still working hard."

Mika jumped about three feet in the air when Kuro surprised her. She turned around, trying to save face, a feat that was extremely difficult seeing as her face was blushing in a furious beet red. "T-taichou! Why do you always have to sneak up on people like that?"

Kuro grinned as he shrugged with a carefree air, "I don't know. I just like to do that I suppose." He then dropped the joyous attitude and got straight to business. "We have another task to do. As only you know, I managed to...deliver the package." Kuro had to speak in this metaphorical sense in case someone else should overhear them. "But the recipient wants more. We're going to have to do a infiltration job. The big house."

Mika understood and only nodded in response. She grabbed her zanpakuto, which she'd dropped when Kuro startled her, and stood waiting for his orders. He motioned for her to follow him and immediately turned and walked out of the sparring grounds. They moved swiftly and silently, making their way towards the Shihoin estate. When they arrived, they managed to hide on the low roof of an outer wall and look into the estate. Security was tight, but nothing that the two of them couldn't evade...or at least Kuro himself. He turned to Mika and spoke in a lowered whisper.

"You stay with me while we make our way towards the record building out here. But when I go in, I'll need you to find a good hiding spot that you can see the entrance from and keep an eye out for others. Find a way to signal me if anyone starts to come inside, then get yourself out of here as fast as you can."

Kuro could tell by the look on Mika's face that she didn't like the fact that she couldn't come for the whole thing, but she seemed to understand the importance of the role Kuro'd assigned her. He nodded again and the two of them looked back into the estate again, stood up, and began to move along the roof to make their way towards the Shihoin records, and hopefully the answers to some of their questions about Raiden.

The infiltration started out largely uneventful, except for a few occasions where Kuro had to push Mika back into the shadows to avoid a passing guard. They made their way swiftly into the estate, living up to the stealth reputation of the second squad. As they got further in, the security dropped in intensity. It was likely that the nobles didn't expect anyone to get this far into the estate undetected. Kuro didn't care about that, he was just glad that all was going well. When they spotted the building where the records related to the Shihoin family were kept, Kuro nodded to Mika to remind her of their plan. She nodded back and shunpoed to a spot on a nearby roof that gave her a good vantage point of the surrounding area. Kuro smiled and made his way into the building.

The inside was much different than any other building Kuro chose to associate himself with on a normal basis. After a short straight hallway, it opened up into a large library of books, scrolls, and other mediums of conveying information. There were even a few computer monitors set up that likely had information stored in digital form. Kuro didn't even know where to begin his search. Sliding through the rows of shelves, he kept going until he located a directory. He grabbed the thick volume with hasted and flipped through its pages to the "R" section. Spotting the area with the personel records, he dropped the book, which fell to the floor with a thump, and raced over to the approriate section.

The books were thinner in the record section, each one a thin composite filled with information and notes on the individuals involved with the Shihoin family. That included every member of squad 2. Kuro noticed that one volume seemed less dirty than the others...probably recently updated and dusted before being returned to the shelf. He scooped up this book out of curiosity after noticing the name on its spine. It was a record of Tatsuya, and all his activities dating back to when he was in the academy. Another section of the book had a summary of his abilities, including that of his zanpakuto. This was the section that seemed to be the most recently added, at least the bottom part that displayed a second ability of Tatsuya's zanpakuto that Kuro had not heard of before. "Teleportation through fire...very interesting Tatsuya..." Kuro mumbled to himself as he replaced the book and began to scan the shelves looking for the one he wanted. He saw one for him, one for Mika, and even Shihoin Keita, the young shinigami that the other elders had matched against Kuro in an attempt to put a Shihoin in the 2nd captain position. Kuro smiled while remembering the day until he finally found what he was looking for. Raiden's book.

Raiden's book was quite thicker than most of the others, outlining his whole life ever since his birth into a lower clan that served the Shihoins. Kuro didn't pay much attention to the biographical contents and hastily made his way to the abilities section of the book. Raiden's sealed zanpakuto didn't seem too special, and it's release form was just another weapon, albeit with the useful ability to be separated into two blades. But when Kuro began to read the zanpaktuo's special abilities, things started to click into place in his head.

"Raiden is able to take the form of anybody he has had contact with. While in this form he is able to use all of their abilities. However, he is limited by his own skills."

As Kuro started to sort this major find out he heard a booming noise accompanied by a sudden spike of reiatsu from outside...Mika's reiatsu. He put the book back on its shelf and turned to head out of the building and leave the estate. But before he left the room, Mika came rushing in out of breath. Kuro rushed over to check that she had no injuries, inquiring as to why she hadn't followed the plan. "You were supposed to escape after letting me know that people were coming, why did you come in here?"

Mika gasped for air and smiled grimly. "There were too many of them. They blocked my way and only allowed for me to get cornered in here."

Kuro cursed under his breath and turned to head back to the shelf. If they were discovered, he might as well take another look at Raiden's book and finish up reading about his abilities. Maybe his past would offer clues too. But before Kuro could take a second step, Mika threw her arms around him from behind, tugging him in the other direction. "We have to get out of here Taichou, while we still have the chance."

Kuro's face dimmed, out of Mika's sight. Raiden can take the form of anybody he has had contact with... Having that thought flash through his mind, Kuro shook "Mika" off, spun around with furious speed and landed a punch right in the pit of her stomach. She stumbled back in obvious pain, bent over and beginning to wheeze. Kuro glared at her as she tried to breathe properly. "You should learn to imitate others better before trying to fool those who are close to them...Raiden." As Kuro finished his sentence, the person in front of him smiled devilishly and transformed back into the onmitsukido commander, still smiling at Kuro with a look of complete confidence even though his cover had been blown.

A few moments passed with Kuro and Raiden just staring each other down. It was the commander who broke the silence with a question of curiosity. "Very good at discovering my identity Akarui-Taichou. But what was it exactly that gave me away?"

Kuro scoffed at the question as if to say it was an insult to imagine that such bad acting even deserved a response before answering. "Contrary to the tough girl act that she puts on with her training, Nishino-san is actually a shy and easily embarrassed girl who blushes and fidgets around me almost constantly. There's no way that she would have so nonchalantly grabbed hold of me like that."

Raiden seemed confused about Kuro's reasoning at first, but such a face quickly dissolved back into the confident gaze he'd worn before. "So it was nothing wrong with my acting, it's just that your relationship is deep enough for you to pick up subtle hints like that. Truly brilliant Taichou."

"Enough with the mindless chatter Raiden." Kuro's words struck like ice, cold and straight forward. "What is it that you want now?"

"I simply wished to discover what it was that you would be doing in the clan records. No harm in that is there?"

"And so you had to disguise yourself as Nishino-san? Don't try and play word games with me. I know that you're the one who killed the Shihoin elder."

Raiden raised an eyebrow, acting shocked and taunting Kuro with his answer. "Oh really?...if that accusation is true, why would you have failed to report such a finding to the other nobles?"

Kuro was getting very annoyed by Raiden's antics. "For the same reason that you've withheld from trying to kill me so far...I don't have any proof. But with what I've found out today, everything is starting to make sense. I have no physical proof, but I know what happened that day."

"What day are you referring to?" Raiden continued to try and toy with the conversation, "Perhaps you mean the day that we had to investigate your presence in Yellowstone? Just what drove you to be that far out of the way in the first place? What were you doing there?"

Kuro decided that it was his turn to be aloof with information. "Probably exactly what you think I was doing. But you can't report such accusations to the nobles for fear that I'd reveal my accusations about you. Even without proof, my position gives me enough influence that my words wouldn't be immediately dismissed without consideration. You'd go down far before I would."

"That's a bluff Taichou. Thanks to what I can do, I have a perfect alibi with eyewitnesses for that day. You will never be able to prove a thing."

"Yeah, you're making sure of that. Like when you killed your own man just because we managed to get information out of him."

"What a groundless statement. That was an unfortunate accident that happened while he was on patrol."

Kuro's distaste was at a point that he didn't think could get any worse. "Yeah right, you snake."

Raiden seemed to respond at this moment. "I'm not the snake here. You are! You and the rest of those undeserving rats from the Rukongai. You'd better watch yourself Taichou. If you continue to get in my way, I may be forced to make sure that you are removed from my path...permanently. Just like that girl outside. My men should be finished with her by now."

"Don't sell my squad members too short Commander." Kuro replied as he walked for the door, leaving Raiden standing there with a dangerous look on his face that showed that he was serious about his threat. "You'll get what's coming to you soon. Until then, we can continue this game of yours." Kuro sped out of the building, only to find a large group of bodies strewn everywhere when he emerged. Mika was standing in the middle of them, giving one last punch to the final guard, knocking him out like the rest. Kuro managed a quick smile at this display, which she returned, but then only nodded to signal that they had what they'd come for. The two quickly shunpoed from the estate grounds to plan what to do next.