Crows x Souls

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My apology for suddenly disappearing on you guys without so much as a word. Grandma died, had to do a make up for a compulsory course or risk failing it, and still searching for a new apartment. Last week was too...floozy for me, if that's an accurate word. 

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“You are good. You almost anticipated my moves. Almost.” — Itachi Uchiha.

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Itachi left the office feeling very conflicted, an emotion that was shared by the remaining Captains of Gotei 13. And wasn’t that a scary thought? Just in the span of a few hours, the Gotei 13 has lost 5 of its Captains. 

If this was a scripted plan then Itachi was genuinely worried about what a final execution will be. 

Thinking that, he raced after Yoruichi, grunting when he realized that she wasn’t slowing down even when he called out to her. In fact she was speeding up so fast that anymore further and he would have to use his Sharingan to keep up. 

There was honestly no difference between her short distance movements and teleportation. 

Yoruichi ran past the 2nd Division and Itachi followed after her, trying but failing to catch up to her which ended up creating a very large berth between them. 

Luckily for Itachi, she stopped only when she went a deep distance into the forest. 

It took Itachi almost a minute to arrive, with what greeted him being the sight of Yoruichi punching into trees. 

“Can’t you take a hint? I want to be alone right now, 3rd Seat Itachi.” Yoruichi spoke coldly as she punched into the tree, not once turning to acknowledge Itachi’s presence. 

“Did you know?” He questioned as a soft breeze blew around them. 

Yoruichi’s punching action stopped and she snorted derisively when she heard Itachi speak. “You’re asking me if I knew my best friend wanted to turn my fellow comrades into Hollows? Did I get that right, 3rd Seat Itachi?” She asked sarcastically. 

Itachi paused, going over the limited information he had on both Yoruichi and Kisuke’s history. 

“Is that also going to go into your little notepad?” This time there was an obvious hateful bite in her voice..

Itachi’s expression at this point was no different than a black of ice. “Betraying the bond of trust between comrades and friends, to me, is one of the worst things one can do in service… And yes, I am asking if you knew about his intentions.”

The first part of Itachi’s sentence had Yoruichi turning around furiously to glare at Itachi, while the second had her up in his face with bare centimeters between them. 

She held a finger up in warning at Itachi. “You… you of all people do not get to talk about trust between comrades, and you asking that question proves that more than any words I can say.”

Itachi didn’t show any outward reaction at her scathing words and just looked on calmly at her. 

“Do you really want to stand here and say you didn’t expect something like this from me? You know very well how it is for people like us – wasn’t that what you said to me a long time ago?” Itachi took a step back and crossed his hands against his chest while maintaining a locked-in stare with Yoruichi. “And yes, reasons like these are why I rarely trust people, even you Yoruichi.”

Yoruichi gave him a mocking smile at his admission and walked past him to leave. “Now was that so hard to do?” She asked rhetorically. 

“As for whether I knew about Kisuke wanting to experiment with Hollows and Shinigami, I didn’t. I had no idea he even had such a research under his belt.” Those were Yoruichi’s last words before disappearing altogether. 

‘Do you think she was telling the truth?’ 

‘Unfortunately, reading someone’s emotions or thoughts are not my specialties.’

‘i guess.’ Itachi agreed as he turned to leave. ‘I think I know what is going on.’

He had put a lot of pieces together and at this very moment, three people were at the top of his list. Aizen Sōsuke, Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Kisuke Urahara. 

And surprisingly, Kisuke Urahara was the last name on his top list. 

Mayuri Kurotsuchi, pardoned from the Maggots Nest by Kisuke shortly after the latter became a Captain, was a very scheming and unhinged man. If his words and character were to be taken into consideration, given the opportunity, Mayuri Kurotsuchi would definitely oversee a forbidden endeavor of this nature. 

As for Aizen Sōsuke, while Itachi didn’t detect any illusion on him, he detected a strangeness in his Reiatsu. What if the cause of the strangeness was an act of him hiding his Reiatsu? This was a possibility that Itachi had long considered, which was why he always kept the man under surveillance – just like he did with Mayuri and Kisuke, though to a bit lesser degree than the first two. 

Sunrise was just a few hours away, and along with it came Kisuke’s execution as well as any confession he had to make. Still with everything pretty much wrapped up, Itachi still held the belief that something might happen at the last hour. 

He brought his fingers together in a ‘Ram’ seal and from the billowing of his black clothes flew out crows that formed another Itachi – a crow clone. 

“You know what to do.” 

The clone nodded and broke apart into crows that flew off to heed his bidding. 

…… 

A few hours before dawn, two figures flitted through the shadows that covered every inch of the Gotei 13 under the auspicious night sky. 

Their destination? The pure white tall building that stood in the middle of the Seireitei and led to the hill that held a sealed halberd of execution – The Senzaikyu, or the Palace of Penance. A place that held those who committed the highest atrocities of the Shinigami and are meant to be executed. 

“You know that if we do this we’re going to be just as traitorous as he’s been declared. Are you sure you still want to come along?” A soft silky female voice said in a whisper. 

The deep grunt of a man sounded immediately after her words. “It’s already too late to think otherwise. And besides, it’s not like you can do it on your own.”

The woman’s voice went silent after that, until it came back with a tiny whisper. “Thank you for your help, Tessai.”

“Don’t mention it, Yoruichi.” Tessai said with a dignified voice. “I think a certain someone will get antsy and cause a ruckus if we don’t hurry.” 

They crossed the suspended bridge so fast that none of the guards stationed around saw or felt them. With Tessai’s help, they passed through the barrier without tripping anyone up, but that was where their smooth sailing stopped.

The guards will definitely know the moment Kisuke disappears from his cell. 

Thud. Thud. 

Two thuds sounded as Yoruichi knocked out the two guards in front of Kisuke’s cell where the condemned man could be seen smiling lazily at them.

“Oh? Visitors for the condemned man, how truly touching.” Kisuke tutted. 

“Shut up. We don’t have much time. Hachigen has secured Shinji and the others. It’s now or never.” Yoruichi said hurriedly as they opened his cell. 

Kisuke stepped out with an understanding nod, his perpetual smile gone like a swift mirage. “There and there. I was feeling really stuffy there for a second.” He tapped his wrists and above his heart and exhaled when he felt the comforting flow of his Reiatsu once again. 

“I’m not asking you how the hell you did that when you couldn’t use Reiatsu. At least not until we’re far away from here.”

It wasn’t up to five minutes after they made their escape that the alarms sounded all over Seireitei. 

The three of them had just passed the gates when Kisuke glanced behind them and remarked. 

“We’ve got someone on our tail.” He flicked his finger and the crow that had been watching them from a distance away burst into feathers. “There.”

Kisuke led them, Tessai, Yoruichi, and Hachigen who’d quickly joined them after they crossed the gates and ran deeper into the Rukongai, towards one of his hidden caches where a hastily assembled Senkaimon had been built. 

The place was a hidden cave under a groove of trees that was so naturally hidden that no one would notice or even want to search for a cave in such an open location. 

Tessai and Kisuke immediately got to work and activated the Senkaimon, which was when Itachi showed up after managing to track them with his Sharingan. 

“A fitting conclusion on the topic of trust, isn’t it?” 

“Hachigen and Tessai, you guys should go on ahead.” Yoruichi prodded them and turned to Itachi after they’d crossed over. 

“This is more complicated than you understand, Itachi. Please go back and just act as if you didn’t find us.”

Itachi frowned. “For you to leave like that? I don’t see Soi Fon with you… I see, so you’re not taking her along.” He shook his head upon seeing her reaction. 

“You’ve become strange, Yoruichi.” He muttered, though he was sure the two of them heard him. “Trust really is a luxury only the naïve fool can squander carelessly.”

“I’m sorry to break your touching reunion but we’ll be leaving now. See you whenever, 3rd Seat Itachi.” Kisuke said. “And I guess congrats on your upcoming promotion.” He added with a chuckle. 

Itachi however ignored that comment and asked the both of them. “I am not an idiot. I know you’re trying to save the six of them and my question is what was your participation in all this?”

Kisuke looked at Yoruichi and then at Itachi as if he was thinking something over, which he was, before he sighed and answered truthfully. “Someone discovered a secret research I’d stopped a while ago and took it further.”

“And you know who it is?” 

“It’s dangerous for you to know, Itachi. Especially in the position you’re in—” 

“Mayuri Kurotsuchi or Aizen Sōsuke, who is it?” Itachi interjected, surprising Yoruichi and Kisuke. “Aizen, I see.”

With his Sharingan active, he’d seen the minute involuntary twitch they both had in response to him mentioning Aizen’s name. 

“And I reckon he’s the one with the illusory Zanpakutō, even though he is known as a water type.”

“Just promise me, Itachi, that whatever you do, don’t go against Aizen. Not now at least, not with your current strength.” Yoruichi said in a way that it almost sounded like a plea. “Just trust me, please.”

“Trust? That’s a tall order, even for you Yoruichi.” Itachi replied. 

Yoruichi nodded solemnly, but still asked. “Is that a yes or a no?” However when Itachi refused to reply and just stared at her in his usual stoic way, no hate or anger in his eyes except curiosity and admonishment, Yoruichi broke off into a small grin which expanded to a full blown smirk. 

“And here I was thinking I just lost a friend, hahaha.” She laughed boisterously which made Kisuke grin too, especially seeing Itachi remain silent and just stare deadpan at Yoruichi. 

“As much as I'd love to stay behind and tease you for months about this, we really have to go now. Hope we see each other again, Itachi.” 

Kisuke stepped into the Senkaimon and when Yoruichi was about to follow after him, she stopped when she heard Itachi speak. 

“Soi Fon is in a very fragile place right now, Yoruichi. She probably already sees me and Kisuke as betrayers for different reasons, if you of all people betray her… she will hate you until the end, Yoruichi.”

And for that, just for that reason alone, Yoruichi thought about staying back but she knew she couldn’t. 

“Please take care of her for me.” She turned and sported a soft smile when she saw that Itachi was already gone. “Thank you.”

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