Return of Trouble[Inv]

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[attr="class","bsbody"]Pale lips opened slowly before releasing a bit of a yawn. A sound echoed from the front of the shop as the owner of the pale complexion rolled off to the side of the bed. His hand darting under his pillow to grab what seemed to have been a pale porcine mask. The sound was that of a bell that chimed into the back areas and his living sections when a package or mail was dropped off. ”Time to get up Gott..” He mumbled ever so lightly as he slumped out of his bed.

”Sleep well Kiku?” Hummed off from the mask in his hand.

”You know better than to ask that.” He soon retorted as he soon made his way towards the closet. He quickly dressed himself with his normal attire. A white tank top over his ink covered pale skin with a black jacket over it. He slipped on his shorts before his sandels.

He headed back to the front shop, his eyes flicking across the Broken Dreams banner that was paint above the door. His lips turned into a bit of a smile for a moment before a female voice slipped through his head quickly. ”Remember when we used to break peoples dreams?” ”Shut up Gott” Followed as usual. “I’m feeling lazy today, so we’re checking the mail, and heading back t-” He started to say before his voice was caught in his throat. He eyed the basket that his mail fell into. A single letter was in there. This didn’t seem like any else in there.

He’d soon retrieved it to skim his eyes over the envelope. It was fancy, and had weight to it. The black paper had just his name, and that was it. ”Open it Kiku. Someone is calling us out.” He heard whispering from the mask on his side. Gott wasn’t lying. That is exactly what he thought it was too. Could it be Alexander again? ”Fuck it all to hell. This means my damn name is on a list somewhere. Might as well.” He had muttered after he’d opened it up and read the content.

Timeskip the time of the event

It was lucky for him that the gothic themed. He fit in well in terms of attire. However something bugged him, so he pushed his punk side a bit more, or his bount side. There wasn’t a risk he was taking. Gottes Faust was secured to his face, his red eyes being the only thing visible through the slots in the mask.

As he arrived, he handed the greeter his invitation. ”Sir, your invitation says you reserved a plus one. Is your companion on the way?” He froze for a moment before smirking below the mask. ”No ma’am. They couldn’t make it.” He said with a light tone, though loud enough to be heard over the noise of the event. The blond quickly bowed her head, and let him through. He passed through the area, quickly moving over to a section of tables near that flower that the event was all about. If they knew his name, then they would surely find him soon.

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[attr="class","bsbody"]Kiku lounged back into his chair the moment that they play had started, and it was quite curious that it started a mere moment after he situated himself in his chair. His lips opened just slightly to release a Germanic whisper for Gott’s to hear only. ”Keep your eyes open, and stay focused. I don’t like this...” He said as his nostrils flared. Each person in the area minus a few were human by their smells. A Quincy or two in the mix. However they seemed captivated by the show before him.

His hand came down, and rapped against the table that he was at. He sat, listening and watching the show that was given to him. Time and time again, drinks were brought to his table along with appetizers. As appetizing as the servers were themselves he didn’t feel like taking off his mask for the current moment.

Needless to say as the second act begun he was getting ready to leave. A glass of wine had been brought to his table as he’d begun to stand. He waved the woman off again ”Here is a tip sweetie for wasting you time.” He said with a light smile before depositing a few bills onto her tray as she went to leave. Her face went red face as his voice held the German accent, heavy as he’d been using it the entire time to speak with Gott, who giggled at the sight.

”If you see her again, you should ‘taste her’. I’m sure she’d taste good.” Which was a suggestion that Kiku decided to refuse to acknowledge.

He began to turn to leave as the voices in the crowd reached his ears. The word configurations were entirely to specific for them to be random conversation. He soon sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, and caught the flesh with his sharp canine for a moment before almost deciding to solidify his decision.

”To your right. Fireflies blinking blue.” It was quickly, and likely one of the few useful things Gott had said that night. Kiku swerved his head over, noticing them and how they moved in a path. ”What in the hell is Alexander doing today?” He had said under his breath as he began to move through the crowd towards the fireflies. Little did he realize, the ones he’d heard speaking just earlier were down the path. Again he heard the odd voices speaking again. The moment they spoke of two, his anger tilted.

His reiatsu gathered, and dissipated. His hand lifted to his mask as it began to hum with excitement. ”It’s time! It’s time!” Gott yelled for only Kiku to hear. His own lips opened as his eyes widened. His sharp teeth that would harden the idea of him being a vampiric creature exposed to the air before his voice lifted. “Open for me, Ziege Dich” His hand fell from his mask as strands of reishi began to release from the edges of it. The mask he wore soon had an accompanying hood, and red trench coat like jacket that hung over his body. Three moving claw like appendages came off the fabric, and floated around him.

In his head Kiku would imagine himself sitting in a chair behind a screen. Behind him a young woman with red hair stood behind him with her arms draped his neck. Her hair spilling down over her arms and onto his chest. On the screen before him there was darkness as the new level of power engulfed him. On the outside Kiku’s eyes were shut as the power took over him, and as he opened his eyes the world was taken to a blue hue. Things without heat bore a simply line of black around them, while those with heat were bright red and orange. It was time for a hunt.

He picked up his speed now out of the eyes of those who were mortal. The brambles that filled the path were soon pushed away by the hovering arms, allowing his own to be free. The voices hadn’t stopped, but there was something he could see. Tiny orange specks appeared each time he heard it, and it soon vanished. He was concerned? As he reached the statue, he knelt down to read what seemed to be a marker. The words echoed through his mind, and the name Zeus bothered him. It had always bothered. He wasn’t no novice to the lore of the Greek, but he just held an ire for the thunder lord, and he couldn’t put a finger on it. Oddly enough it was like his stomach turned.

He soon moved on beyond the hill, curious of the lights. When he was greeted with the sight of clear garden, but there was more. His mask picked up on the heat signature though fading in the middle of it. The woman that was in the middle drew his attention. His anger faded for concern as he rushed down the hill. “...If this is another one that Alex roughed up, and left for us to clean up can I castrate him? Anyways, I’m sure she’ll be tas-” Echoed through his head as he reached the girl. It was obvious she would need serious help, and not anything he could provide here. “Shut up Gott. I’m taking control for now.” He barked out. It was a rare moment that of all things, Gott went silent. She relinquish control of her arms to his subconscious commands. He moved to the side of the woman, and carefully lifted her up. Ensuring not to move her too much once she was sitting in the massive palms of his doll’s form. The claw like fingers came together to form a snug cage around the woman, ensuring she wasn’t going to fall. She was small, and seemingly frail.

He soon turned, and took off out of the area. Ensuring to avoid any sort of area that would leave any human to see him. Part of him though felt as though some eyes were upon him. He wasn’t sure how, but it was quite alarming.

He arrived back at the shop, and took to using the roof entrance. It lead straight into the back section of his shop where he laid the girl out onto a table that he often used for a work place. He was rather neat about things, so it was already bare. He used the third arm that wasn’t holding the girl to position a pillow below where her head would be.

The arms pulled together before he began to focus on her body. The secondary ability of his sight took effect to actually figure out what was wrong with her besides the burns. That was when he noticed the broken bones and how bad they were. How was the girl so solemnly asleep? ”...Kiku we need to work fast. If she moves wrong, blood-loss will become a thing” There wasn’t another word shared between them. Kiku hadn’t really needed to say anything else as Gott had already started to grab materials with her arms after setting the girl down.

The first thing that was grabbed was a series of palms that were soon spread across the girl’s burn right arm. Leaving that tack to Kiku, something requiring careful hands and not claws. It was applied over the burn if anything to sooth it.

While he was doing this, Gott was waiting for order. The bones were difficult to deal with. The only thing he could think of would hurt her, and it was only something he’d practiced once in the past. Healing His hands came down, and first hovered over the fracture at her left leg. Gott soon came down with her claws, and gripped the woman’s leg at the caff and the other held her hip in a manner that the sharp points wouldn’t cut her. Her sleep would likely be soon disturbed as she began to pull them apart to cause the bone to go back into the skin. Kiku on the other hand began to work on what he remembered from the old days. The days when he was the one they tested this on. ”Please work!” He yelled as his spiritual energies left his body, engulfing the area of the break. He used a concept he’d only heard about. His energies stimulated the damaged areas of the woman. Nurturing the cells with pure energy to force rapid cellular regeneration. His eyes behind the mask watched as the bone in her arm would’ve soon joint back enough to be straight. There was still tearing, but she could heal on her own for that. He moved to the other side of her body, having Gott’s tug on her arm a similar way, and mending it together.

To him, the major panic was over with. However, he would have to immobilize each limb, at least the broken ones. He took pieces of wood in his shop, 2 of them. One as long as her leg, and the other her arm. The one for her arm was carefully slipped up under her before secured with a set of canvas like bandages across the arm. He soon did the same thing to her leg. He took a deep breath before looking across her damaged body once more. Was he done?

His hand came up to his face, and drew off his mask for the first time since he’d arrived at the party earlier. His face covered in sweat. However his nostrils flared and something shook him, he’d just helped a shinigami.

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[attr="class","bsbody"]There is only so much shit a guy can go through before wanting to bash his head in, and if it wasn’t for the fact of his fault regeneration, Kiku would be doing so. ’Must not tell Got-’ His internal note about not telling Gott what she was looking at was soon ended with the materialization of the spirit. He felt the mask that was in his hand vibrate with the knowledge that was soon made obvious. ”I’m never going to hear the end of this.” He said as his brow obviously twitched. He continued to listen to the spirit though, ignoring the twisted being in his hand.

He watched the sword, and as the woman’s voice picked up he simply watched her. He could tell she was straining herself, so he let her be her till she went back to sleep. He waited till she was atleast somewhat asleep. He reached down to the ground, and lifted the girl’s soul slayer with his free hand. His lips turned down into a frown as he thought back on his past involving those that used these weapons. Part of him wanted to hide this blade, and never let her see it again. He couldn’t do that however. No, it’d be wrong. That’d be like taking Gott from him. He moved across the room, across from the table she rested upon, and sat it up for her to be able to see if she woke again.

He slipped out of the room, and into the front of the bar. ”So, we have a shinigami in there...
”I’m very aware of what we have back there. What bothers me is how we found her. I felt like I was targeted and drawn. That area, something didn’t fit right.”
”Leave it be? Perhaps it was just Alex, and he didn’t want people to connect you two for something.”

The conversation passed quickly between the two beings as Kiku leaned over the bar, his eyes skimming across the bottles, debating on a drink. He would likely need it.

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[attr="class","bsbody"]As the smell of the flowers reached his nose he didn’t even flinch. Gott didn’t even make a reference. She knew what Kiku would’ve said, and it was for the best in the coming situation that he had his sip first. Before the coolness had set in, he was behind the bar pulling out a bottle of sake sitting in a mini boiler that was stashed for the tenders to use. He took a small sip as the wave hit him. His brow twitched. He didn’t smell anything else around them at the moment other than the girl in the back. Then whatever it was touched him. He was very less than pleased with the situation. ”I feel violated Kiku.” He felt a bit better about the situation.

He was careful as his fingers skimmed across Gott’s mask, in a way reassuring her but also being ready incase something were to happen. Then the voice finally came. The voice first spoke of a being named Hypno. A being of greek lore that stood over the realms of dreams. The voice, there was no one else here that he could detect. Then there were the eyes, the golden ones. Partially he was concerned he’d found a hollow or something that could slip past him before she spoke again. Her voice, had an edge to it, and it just made it worse. Worse enough as he brought the bottle of sake to his lips once more. He took a good bit into his mouth, and swallowed. ”I’m a prototype of sorts. I failed to have the ability to regenerate, so I gained the heal myself and others through other methods.” He’d begun to say before setting down his bottle, and motioning to the seat across the bar from him.

”Why did I help her? I’m drawn to pain. I was labeled Kindred Kummers when I was being designed. My purpose i- was to kill. I do so now to survive and protect. She was hurt, and I felt the need to help.” He said before looking up at the woman. There was something he did though, not as a threat but a habit. Since there was someone about to be sitting at his bar, he quickly replaced Gott on his face. So to limit his own drinking, and to keep his ritual.

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[attr="class","bsbody"]Kiku listened to the words of the woman. He tuned her out the moment she’d began talking about how he described himself, as he’d taken to clean some scuffs off the bar top. They were annoying. He’d found one that was quite annoying to remove. It was off to her side. He’d retrieved a bottle of stain remover in the time it took her to get to the point where she reached over the bar to try touching Kiku and Gott. A very bad habit kicked in, something that comes from not liking people touching his face, he rose the bottle of strain remover up and attempted to spray her in the face. Sadly, it would seem that the moment he attempted to do this the Ain woman barged from the back onto the floor of the bar.

”Kiku don’t do it.
”But, she’s injured?”
”Bedside manners?
”She has two broken limbs and a serious burn?”
”You win this time”

The quick conversation went on while Ain was arguing with the woman who was apparently a kidnapper. His ears picked up a few things while he went back to cleaning his bar. Like how apperently this powerful figure kept calling Ain Odysseus, and then there were more words tossed. The mark finally came up right as she mentioned what he was. He slipped so causing him to loosing his balance and collapse somewhat onto the bar before catching himself barely.

He stared at Ain through the holes in his mask before blinking slowly. His expression quickly changed from confused to annoyed. ”You’re lucky I consider myself somewhat a doctor, or I’d make you lay there without an help for the paid.” He said as he slipped from behind the bar with a bottle of whiskey in hand. He set the bottle next to her head, within reach of the burnt arm. The salve by this time should’ve allowed it to heal enough for it to be usable. ”Now dear~ Resonated from the mask with a feminine purr before Kiku’s voice followed in a half serious tone. I haven’t the faintest why she’s interested in me. However I’m curious who you really are. Are you Odysseus with boobs, or are you this shinigami sitting on my floor that I found half dead?” He released a light sigh. "First it was a marker talking about Nyx and Zeus. Now Odysseus? What's next, going to tell me Achilles is real?"

 "Indeed, we do my brother." Theocelese said just as softly, cigarette resting between his lips. He gazed back at Caesar in a similar fashion."I would take that away from you, just as you have taken away a beautiful death for me." The statement was nothing short of the truth, though it did leave the question lingering in the air that perhaps...maybe all of what Caesar saw earlier reflected the possibility that the Arrancar was looking to die in a blaze of glory that would redeem him from all the countless innocents who had been harmed or killed in his name. To assume that Theocelese saw death in combat as nothing short of what he'd always wanted, but this time, it was different. Whatever rope he clung to from losing himself and becoming the thing that both men feared was growing more thin by each rise and fall of the moon. In this perspective, it was clear that Theocelese's intentions were to just let go when he stormed the castle, so to speak.



"I'm not asking you to run, Caesar...I'm asking you to not take any chances. Humor me, call me crazy, say what you will, but just humor me. Let me leave knowing I have seen you in Hueco Mundo with my own eyes, give me that modicum of comfort and then you may return here once I depart for whatever cursed Sun Realm." Theocelese's voice remained low, but oh how the thrumming in his mind grew even worse from the aggression still palpable in the air. He ignored it the best he could, and resorted to a slow, but constant cracking of his knuckles to keep his hands from being idle for too long. "You still have yet to fulfill my request to watch over Shiro. When she is not in attendance at school, that is when I have been training her. In Hueco Mundo, and she resides within Las Noches.



And if you do not wish to do this for me...then believe my benefactor. If Apollo really has an eye for Ain, and...I think I now know why, then it is imperative he remains free from his clutches. If I'm right...she's no longer just important to you...you know who I am now. You know if that is my oldest of friends...if I lose it and your strength is not enough to contain me, his...her, words may do just that. It would not be the first time." Theocelese let that possibility hang there. It looked tough for the Arrancar to openly admit to Caesaer what the man already knew, but he did it. He reached an elbow out and gave the Vizard a nod. "...Besides...you never said Ain couldn't make me bread..." He shot a challenging grin to his brother, and took another deep pull from his cigarette, left eye slightly more closed than the right and his teeth slowly grinding at the filter of his smoke.

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[attr="class","bsbody"]He’d done the bad thing again, tuning her out while allowing him to walk over to a table, and drag a chair over to them. Gott had taken to listening, making note of everything that the girl was saying. ”11th? Isn’t that the squad the last one was from?” She’d giggled into Kiku’s ear. He took to plopping into the chair next to her, and took off the mask to let it sit in his lap. His pale face looking forward towards the door. His mouth opened for a moment before he released a yawn.

”Tonight has been a cluster fuck. From the invite to this. I’m project name Kindred Kummers, or Kiku for short. I’m a bount, so that’s the reason you can’t actually sense me.” He said with a chuckle. ”Ignore the mask also. If it talks to you, pretend you heard nothing.” He said as the said mask vibrated in his lap, less than pleased about his words. Gott was still upset about the whole being nearly touched by the woman Nyx. ”I found you in the strangest fucking place. In the middle of a garden, with all your injuries you were sleeping peacefully. Given it was likely from the guy named Hypno keeping you asleep. I was sent an invitation with my name on it to the event where I found you after.” He said, also filling in any little detail he might’ve missed.

He was about to say something else before she spoke about being dead, then apologizing. His hand had already slipped his mask back upon his face, his body’s stance having changed. Part of him wondered if he’d locked the door before leaving. Knowing him, he likely forgot. ”You did” ”Fuck” This passed between them as his nostrils began to flare. His senses went on high alert as traces of hollow reiatsu filled his nose, and strong sources at that. ”Fuck everything.