Arishima Genpaku {Complete}

Spirits, ghosts, demons, and monsters; those where the furthest things from the young teen’s mind as he raced along the dark streets. The night air was warm and humid. There was a storm brewing high above the ground already. The light from one of the streetlights caught the boy as he ran; five foot nine inches in height, a lean but athletic build, topped with gray/silver hair. He carried a duffel bag packed with sparring equipment on his back. That was the flash that ran through the streetlights. His name was Genpaku Arishima, and he was running as though he was being pursued by rabid dogs. It had to be getting close to midnight at this rate, which was the reason for his great haste. A light fog had begun rolling in, evidence of the change in weather; it was as if the sky were sinking down meet the earth. The fog made the streetlights farther down the road look like blurred candles. If he hadn’t been in a hurry, Genpaku might have enjoyed it, for it was a rather soothing sight. Though with the backdrop, maybe not so much so; it was far too quiet even for this hour. The only sound was the sound of his own feet echoing off the walls of buildings.

Genpaku was late, and needed to get home as quickly as possible, which meant he would have to head down the alley that let out near his home. That meant he would have to do deal with the gang of boys that used the alleyway as their meeting place. It wasn’t like he hadn’t dealt with them before though. They took a special interest in harassing him, mostly because of the strange coloration of his hair; even he knew it was strange. Silver hair just wasn’t normal after all. However, he had made sure not to beat up the gang members, since his dad had enough problems with him taking the martial arts he had been taking for the past 10 years. All he needed was to give his dad a reason to pull him out of it. His father was something of a pacifist, and only allowed Genpaku to train because of the fact that his mother persuaded him.

He rounded the corner that led down the alleyway, expecting to see the five or six gang members who would turn and smile at him as their night picked up in interest. Instead, what he saw was nothing, strangely enough. He stopped mid step to blink. However, he didn’t question it; it was a godsend to him. He took off again, running down the alleyway. He was down it and out within a matter of seconds; there was a reason he was his school’s track star. Unfortunately, he missed something important as he ran down the hall; he missed the four bodies that were suspended from the building above. Lifeless, cold, and limp, the bodies hung there like dolls. They wouldn’t be found until the next day, along with a fifth.

He cleared the distance between the alleyway entrance and his home’s door in twelve seconds; he would have been congratulated if his couch had seen the sprint. He leaned against the overhang that lead up to the door for a few moments, winded from all of the running. He looked up at the old house that was his home since he could remember. It was spacious, and for now it stood silent and dark. It looked like everyone had gone to bed already; perfect. That was his thought on it anyway. He fumbled in his pocket a moment before he pulled his keys out, and put the house key in the lock, opening the door as quietly as he could.

The house was quieter than it normally was, and it seemed darker too. Genpaku had to blink once or twice before he could take another step. He set one foot in the house, and a chill ran down his spine. What was this feeling? The moment he had entered the house, he had gotten this strange feeling; a urge to turn and run from the house, run as fast as he could. That was the first time he had ever gotten that feeling; he pushed it away. He walked in quietly, removing his shoes and closing the door behind him. He shouldered his bag once more and started across the entryway as he made for the stairs to get to his room.

That was when the light turn on, all but blinding him. He stood there like a deer caught in the headlights of a speeding truck as he saw his family sitting on the couch, lined up in a nice little row.
“There you are. We were worried sick about you, Genpaku.”
Those were the words Genpaku had expected from his mother, but they came from his father. His father was a tough disciplinarian, and he had warned Genpaku before he had left for the training and tournament Genpaku had just came back from that if he got back late there would be hell to pay. Genpaku just blinked once or twice. His eyes moved from his family to the wall behind them. Was he seeing things? It looked like there was some kind of shimmer. Whatever it was, it didn’t look normal. Again, the strange feeling from before came back, only stronger this time. Genpaku’s foot moved back unconsciously.
“Genpaku, are you alright?” his father asked.
“Um, maybe. Did you just…not yell at me?”[/b] Genpaku asked.
“I was just worried about you. Is that so strange?” his father asked. In reality, it was. Genpaku’s dad should have been going off like a bomb by now.
“Are you catching something, Genpaku? Come here and let me check you temperature,” Genpaku’s mother spoke up. Her voice sounded off. His mother had a very warm voice, filled with joy. It lacked both of those things this time around. Genpaku’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at his family. They were acting strange in general at this point. His brother just sat there and smiled. Genpaku took a step towards his mother.
“That’s right. Come here so I can check you. Then I’ll get you something sweet to eat.”

Genpaku stopped dead in his tracks, staring at his mother. His mother’s expression didn’t change; it was the same blank stare. That was the one comment that tipped Genpaku off; he took several steps back, his instincts screaming at him to run from this place with all of his might.
“Mom, you don’t like us having sweet things. What’s wrong with you?” he asked. His mother didn’t really react. Instead, something moved out of the corner of his vision; the strange blur from before.
“Damn, it seems I messed up,” said a new voice; it was a deep voice with a strange garbled quality that made it seem inhuman, and it sent more chills down his spine. He turned to look dead at the blur as he saw a movement, and saw something shoot out straight towards him!

He moved as his training kicked in. The ground where he had been a moment before broke as he rolled to the left just before part of the blur slammed into it. The blur stopped, and part of it moved again. Genpaku felt eyes on him, and they made his skin crawl even though he could not see them.
“Oh? So you can see me little morsel? Good. I was right in assuming it was you with the most spiritual power in this house.” Those were the words the blur said, and Genpaku just got to his feet again, though now he had slipped into a fighting stance almost automatically. He wasn’t sure what he was fighting though.
“I suppose there is no reason to keep this illusion up any longer then,” the voice said, and the house suddenly shimmered and twisted.

Genpaku nearly threw up. The coppery aroma of blood assaulted his senses as the real scene was revealed before him. There was blood and gore everywhere. However, it was Genpaku’s family that really made him gag. He didn’t have the time to actually look; the blur had bolted from the wall, which cracked and groaned from the force. Genpaku rolled once more, back into the entry hall as the blur slammed into where he had been. Whatever it was, he could make out the general shape. It was extremely long. It looked as though it extended over most of the living room. There was a hole in the ceiling where it had come through. It moved as it looked up at where Genpaku was now. It coiled to lung, and Genpaku turned again. The wall behind him exploded as something impacted with it, but he had already wrenched the door open. He slammed it shut as he took off at a sprint that made his previous one look like he was jogging.

There was the sound of wood splintering and breaking a moment later, but Genpaku didn’t look back. He was sprinting straight for the alleyway.
“Your pretty fast, boy,” said the chilling voice again, and Genpaku look to his left; the thing was right there. There something hit him. It hit him harder than he had ever been hit before. It felt like someone had just taken a car and rammed it into him. He had been at least twenty feet from the mouth of the alleyway, but with that one hit he impacted against the far wall, back first. He felt something crack with the impact, and his vision blurred and danced ahead of him as his mind tried to catch up with what had just happened. It didn’t get a chance as four something’s rammed into his chest; this time something broke. Whatever it was that had slammed into his chest, they didn’t let up on the pressure, and he could feel as another three ribs broke. He coughed, and tasted the coppery taste that meant only one thing; blood. His vision slowly focused once more and he got a look at what was holding him.

It was long, at least thirty feet. It had a multitude of appendages, most of them looking like legs. Already the creature reminded him of a giant centipede. The top eight appendages on its upper body were curved and pointed like sickles; four of these were pressed into Genpaku’s chest. The creature’s head was a mask; bone white with holes where the eyes should have been. There were two pinpricks of golden light in those eyes. The creature had a part that looked like a mouth, but it was hard to tell if that was what it was. Though the creature was rapidly becoming clearer, it was still somewhat cloudy. The creature let out a series of low chuckles.
“You can see me, can’t you little human?”

The creature’s voice was the one that sent chills down Genpaku’s spine, and the creature pressed harder with its arm like appendages, which resulted in Genpaku letting out a scream of pain as more bones broke in other places. The scream echoed off the walls, and should have woke someone up; it would have had the area not been cut off by the creature’s power. The monster let out a laugh at Genpaku’s pain. It let up with two of its appendages, and brought them back as though it were standing there with its arms opened. Genpaku coughed, and more blood showed up. His vision had all but cleared; the creature was clear now. It was looking right at him now.

“Ah yes, your soul will be most filling. However, I don’t think you’ve been tormented quite enough. You need more seasoning!” the creature yelled, and one of the creature’s arm slammed back into Genpaku, point first. It went straight through the skin and bones, nearly hitting his heart and lung. His eyes went wide as the pain swept through him. The other three sickle like appendages came down, slamming into the area around his collar bone and shoulders, leaving huge, bleeding gashes. Then they rose back up to slam into another spot. Both sides were punctured in the same fashion as the first blow, and with each blow Genpaku let out a yell. However, with each blow the yell got weaker.

The creature brought up one of the sickles again, aiming to strike. However, there was the slicing sound, and the creature let out a yell, pulling the sickle like appendages out of Genpaku as the one it had just raised up fell to the ground, severed from the body. The creature looked back at a man that had just appeared in the alleyway. He was dressed in strange garb; a black hakama and matching gi, tied with a similar obi. It was a really old outfit. That registered somewhere in Genpaku’s mind, behind all of the pain. The man was holding a katana which was stained with blood. The creature turned and flung Genpaku backwards down the alleyway; he hit the ground with another sickening crack as a few more bones broke. He landed in a puddle of trash fluid, vomit, and his own blood as it drained out of him. He could see the standoff from where he lay, though his vision was rapidly fading.

The man cursed as the hollow tossed Genpaku aside. However, the man had almost no time to do anything about it; the creature was upon him in a moment, its claws flashing to and fro at the man, glistening in the light scattered by the encroaching fog with the boy’s blood.
”Damn shinigami! Do you know how much effort it takes to regrow these?” the creature bellowed, and a new sickle appendage burst forth from the stump, slamming down where the man had been. The man jumped back out of the way of the attack, but he was steadily being pushed back away by the creature. He was simply being overpowered.

Genpaku watched from his place on the ground. Broken, bloodied, and barely conscious a thousand questions assaulted his mind. However, he couldn’t focus on any of them. Inky blackness was clawing at the edges of his vision, and already he felt like he was going cold. As that happened, Genpaku’s thoughts solidified slightly so that he was able to ask himself some of the questions.
“Shinigami? What the hell is a Shinigami? What is that creature? What is going on? Why does it hurt so damn much? Why my family? Why me?” These thoughts flooded his mind as he watched the fight; the man that had appeared was being overrun by the monster. Was he destined to die here as well, trying to save Genpaku? That thought angered him; he didn’t want to be saved. He shouldn’t have to be saved. But he couldn’t move. Was this the end of the line?
“I don’t want to die here! I can’t let someone else die for me! I have to avenge my family! I can’t die here!” he screamed in his mind.
“Then don’t.”

The new voice rang out as clear as if it had been standing right next to Genpaku. He blinked; he wasn’t in the alleyway anymore. In fact, he wasn’t anywhere he was familiar with at this point. What he saw around him now was a strange Arena like place, made of solid stone. It was worn and old looking, and above him there was a raging thunder storm. Thunder echoed and roared, and lightning snaked across the clouds. He had to raise up an arm as a gust of wind kicked up; dust and rocks were flying everywhere; it was chaos. He squinted, trying to keep the dust from getting in his eyes as he tried to figure out what the hell was going on.

That was when he noticed he wasn’t alone. Standing across from him was a tall man. He was dressed in similar garb to the man who had appeared and had been fighting the creature back in the alleyway. The same Hakama, Obi, and Gi, but in addition to that he wore a strange overcoat. The man stood in the center of this apparent storm, looking nowhere else but at Genpaku. Gen tried to take a step forward, but the winds kicked up again, roaring as lightning blazed somewhere overhead.
“Who are you?” Genpaku called out. The man opened his mouth to say something, but whatever he said was lost to the wind. When Genpaku didn’t respond in the slightest, the man seemed to give a slight sigh.
“So you can’t hear me yet. I guess only so much progress can be made at once then again,” Those were the first words the man said that Genpaku said, and it sounded as though the man was standing right next to him despite the maelstrom around them.
“That doesn’t answer my question. Who are you, and what the hell is going on?” Genpaku yelled back, and a light chuckle could be heard. Genpaku scowled.
“I’m your soul,” the man said, and Genpaku just blinked.

“I’m your soul, and you are about out of time,” the man reiterated, and as he said the last thing the ground began to break and shatter as lightning struck the ground. Genpaku took a step back, shielding his eyes again. When he looked, the man had moved, and was standing where the lightning had struck, next to a katana. Where had that come from?
“In a few moments, you’re going to die. Yet, all you can do is stand around. Maybe it would have been better if the Hollow had devoured you and saved me the trouble.”
Hollow. Genpaku narrowed his eyes; what the hell was a Hollow? As if to answer the question, an image of the strange creature that had attacked him appeared. The man looked at it a moment before it faded away, a look of utter disgust crossing his face in that moment.

“Now, a Shinigami will die trying to save you. The Hollow will get two very nice meals I suppose,” the man said, and turned as if to leave. The ground was breaking apart, falling down into an endless abyss below. A chasm had formed between where Genpaku stood and where the man was walking away from..
“Wait! Why do you know so much? Can you help me?” Genpaku yelled, taking another step forward. The man looked back; the sword he had left. He walked back to it, and wrapped his hand around it.
“I know a great deal because I do. As for helping you, what will you do in return?” the man asked. Genpaku just looked back at him. What could he do? Whatever this world was, it was falling apart around them, being torn apart by winds and lightning. He was dying, and this man asked what he’d do in return. Genpaku’s eyes narrowed at the man after a moment.
“You’re my soul right? What is a Shinigami?” Genpaku asked. The man raised an eyebrow.
“Shinigamis are gods of death, as the name implies. They guide good souls to Soul Society, and they purify those creatures, Hollows, by slaying them. That is the basis of a Shinigami’s duty. Why do you ask?”
“So Shinigami are dead then? They are souls?” Genpaku asked, ignoring the man’s question.
“Indeed,” the man replied.
“How do they slay Hollows then?” Genpaku asked. The ground near Genpaku crumbled and began to fall away, forcing the young boy to take several steps back.
“They use their Zanpakutou, a weapon that is a piece of their own soul to slay the monsters.”
Genpaku was silent for a few moments as he added things up in his head.
“Alright, I’ll make you a deal.”

“Die damn you, Shinigami!” the Hollow roared as it lashed out once more against the Shinigami. The man wasn’t in good shape at all. He had several deep cuts along his torso and arms. The Hollow simply had too many weapons to attack with; he couldn’t get an attack in. As the Hollow struck out once more, he dodged backwards to get out of the range of the attack, only to be hit by the creature’s tail. He went flying into the wall next to him. The Hollow let out a roar and slammed into the wall. The shinigami emerged from the dust cloud, lucky that he had gotten out of the way, as the Hollow pulled the four sickle like appendages out of the wall where deep holes were left. He readied his Zanpakutou, and as the Hollow charged him he moved forward, trying to get a swing in. However, he was hit from the left by one of the sickles. It was a blunt part, so all it did was toss him in the air, but as he was in the air the Hollow hit him with another sickle, sending him up into the air. It turned the first sickle so that the point was aimed at Jarred.

The Hollow couldn’t believe its luck. Here he had just been going after a boy with an unusual amount of spiritual power, and now it was going to get a Shinigami for desert. It watched as the Shinigami floated in the air, its sickle poised for the finishing blow. The Shinigami seemed to fall so slowly now though. That’s what the Hollow got for being impatient. Finally, the Shinigami had fallen far enough that the Hollow could strike. It started the attack, when a new reiatsu hit the area. The Hollow didn’t even have time to look around; its arm was sundered and hit the ground as it let out a howl of deep pain. It looked around, trying to figure out what had just happened. The other Shinigami hit the ground a few feet away, coughing and rolling away. The new reiatsu hadn’t diminished from when it had first spike up, and now the Hollow locked on to where it was coming from. There was a new Shinigami standing at the mouth of the alleyway. He looked familiar too. Average height, decent build, silver hai-

The Hollow turned and looked back at Genpaku’s broken and crippled body; it was still there, but now the soul was gone! It turned back to face the new Shinigami, the very boy he had just been hunting! Genpaku was staring dead on at the Hollow, with so much malice and hatred built up in his eyes the Hollow couldn’t even return the look. The Hollow let out another yell.
“How the hell did you get Shinigami powers boy!” it roared at Genpaku, but instead of an answer, Genpaku took one step towards the Hollow, reaching for one of the two swords at his side.

Then another sickle broke off as Genpaku appeared behind the Hollow, a blade drawn. The Hollow roared once more, spinning around to slam one of its remaining sickles into the ground where Genpaku had been. The Hollow felt something land on top of the sickle, and a moment later the appendage was severed. Genpaku stood on the sickle, having driven it into the ground when he landed on it, and he continued to glare straight at the hollow. What the Hollow was facing was a Shinigami whose speed far exceeded what it should have been, and who was bent on revenge for the actions it had taken. The Hollow brought its tail up and slammed it into the ground now, trying to squash Genpaku.

Genpaku jumped backwards as the creature attacked, and landed a few feet away. This was more power than he thought he would have gotten, and he loved it. The Hollow looked up and something akin to fear flashed through its eyes.
“That’s right Hollow, be afraid. Be afraid, and fall,”Genpaku yelled, and ran towards the Hollow. To the Hollow, he vanished from his eyesight. The rest of the sickle like appendages on its left side dropped to the ground as Genpaku slashed straight down, severing each one so that the Hollow fell, off balance.

The Hollow fell straight down so that the tip of Genpaku’s Zanpakutou was resting against its neck. Its yellow eyes widened as it felt the pressure.
“Die,” Genpaku said, and pushed, the blade plunging into the Hollow’s flesh. It broke out the back, and the Hollow let out a roar of pain as Genpaku turned the blade and slashed out the side of the Hollow’s neck. Then he moved once more, and the blade exploded through the Hollow’s chest, the cutting edge of the blade facing up. Genpaku forced the blade up, releasing a great deal of reiatsu as he did, and cut clean through the Hollow’s chest and through the mask. Then he jumped off the Hollow as it let out its death knell and dissipated.

The other shinigami just watched, dumbfounded as this boy who had just acquired Shinigami powers from who knows where literally tore the Hollow to shreds before purifying the monster. Genpaku walked over to where his body lay, broken and twisted, bloodied and ravaged. The boy was silent for some time before he knelt down and wiped the Hollow’s blood on the remains of his old shirt. Then Genpaku got up, and looked over his shoulder at his would be savior.
“It really isn’t polite to stare, you know?” Genpaku asked, the first words the boy had spoken to his would be savior. The shinigami fumbled for words for a few moments.
“How did you obtain Shinigami powers?” he finally managed to get out. Genpaku looked back at him for a moment.
“I didn’t want to die,” the boy finally said. The shinigami just blinked once or twice.

“As the Shinigami in charge of this area, I am ordering you to return with me to speak with the so-taicho of the Gotei 13,” the shinigami said, and took a step towards the boy. However, Genpaku was gone; he appeared at the other end of the alleyway, behind the Shinigami.
“I can’t do that,” the boy said.
“And why not?”
“Because I made a deal with my soul. Before I do anything else, I would slay one-thousand Hollows. That is the deal I made for my powers,” Genpaku responded.
“You don’t get it. This isn’t up for discussion.” The shinigami said, and turned to start towards him, his blade drawn.

“No, you don’t get it, Shinigami. I won’t go. I have to do this, and it will take more than you to stop me,” Genpaku said, and as he did his reiatsu spiked again, making the other Shinigami stop in his tracks. Genpaku took advantage of the situation; he bolted. He took off at speeds that made his old track records look like he was running with one leg. Truly, this power was amazing. However, he could tell the other Shinigami was following him; he felt a presence that told him. It had something to do with the power he was putting out probably. The man had said something about that. He closed his eyes a moment, and forced his emotions down. As he did, his reiatsu dropped. Then he pushed harder, and all but disappeared from sight.

Genpaku didn’t quit running for a good ten minutes. By then, he had crossed most of town, and was at the industrial area. Around here, there were always lights and a few skyscraper-like buildings. He stopped at the base of one such building, looking up towards the top of the building, and towards the growing storm that was loaming not so far away. He bent his knees and pushed off, disappearing from sight once more as he literally flew up to the top of the building. He landed, and looked around. He took a few steps and ended up at the edge of the building, where he sat down. He let his legs hang over the edge of the building as he looked out over the ground below. Because of the fog the lights of the city below him looked muffled and blurred, giving a soft glow to the whole scene.

Maybe it was the fog, or maybe it was the tears in Genpaku’s eyes. There was a crack of thunder above. Genpaku couldn’t hold it in any longer, and he let his head drop into his hands as he started to cry. So many things had just happened, and without the distraction of running to avoid being caught, with the absence of something to take his anger out on all he could do was let his feeling well up and burst forth. He hadn’t cried in year, but he couldn’t help it any longer. Not only had he learned of things he shouldn’t have had to learn about for another 60 years or so, but he had just lost everything he had ever cared for. His family, his life, everything; all because of a creature’s need to feed on some kind of power he barely understood.

The clouds broke then, and rain slammed down upon the earth below as Genpaku sat there. He barely allowed himself to notice the pouring rain though. He just sat there, letting his feeling empty with each tear. Slowly, he calmed. He calmed as much as you could expect someone to in the kind of situation Genpaku had just found himself in. He looked up, watching the rain fall. He looked down, and drew his Zanpakutou for a short time before he sheathed it, and pushed himself to his feet. He looked back in the direction he had ran from. Then he jumped, allowing himself to fall.

Genpaku walked slowly into the house he had lived in while he was alive. Now he could see the full extent of the damages the Hollow had reaped. There was a huge hole in the ceiling where it had made its entrance. The foyer was covered in blood at this point, the walls were torn up. The paintings that had hung on the wall were ripped or blood splattered, so all together ruined. He looked back out into the street where part of the door was. The Hollow had just barreled through the thing when Genpaku had slammed it in its face. He turned back and took a few more steps in so he could see the living room.

Sitting there still, like a macabre family photo, was his family. He couldn’t even really tell they were his family anymore. His brother’s front was ripped and torn, and one of his eyes was missing. His father’s head was all but severed from the rest of his body, and there were a large number of puncture wounds in his body. Genpaku’s mother was no longer recognizable, her beautiful face marred and ripped beyond recognition. She was also missing an arm. All of their clothes were blood soaked, and the couch was too. It took everything Genpaku had to not let his reiatsu spike and attract everything Shinigami in the area.

He turned and walked out of the room. Their souls were missing, and he knew that. The Hollow had eaten them, he was sure of that, which meant that they would be hollows as well. Genpaku walked through the rest of the house, looking over what remained of it. Because of the Hollow’s ability to create illusions, no one around the house had heard anything Genpaku guessed. That explained why no cops or firemen had shown up on the scene yet. He’d have to fix that before he left. He knew exactly how he could do that too.

He walked up to his father’s study, and walked over to a painting of a beach. With that, he drew a Zanpakutou, and slashed the area near the painting, letting out some power as he did. The result was a small explosion as the wall next to where his father’s safe was located was damaged. He looked out the window to see a light turn on next door. He repeated the trick once more, breaking the safe open. Inside were many things, but the most important was the family will. His job here was done. He sheathed his blade and made his way down the stairs, but stopped for a moment, looking at the remains of his family.
“One thousand hollows. I will slay one thousand hollows before anything else. I swear it,” Genpaku says, and then takes off running as a few people walk over to see what had happened to the house. A scream pierced the night.

The murder of the Arishima family made front page the next day. It was called the latest attack of a serial killer, and one was found and executed for the crime. This was how the government had to cover things up considering it had no idea how any of this happened. It was filed under the unexplainable deaths file, and left at that. The bodies were collected and moved, and with time the events became a back thought of the living. Genpaku found out the explanation for what had happened, and half wanted to destroy the government building for the phony story. But he couldn’t do that. It wouldn’t be right. No one living knew about what was happening. No one knew what actually happened on that October day in 1888 but Genpaku and Soul Society.

Rumors were running rampant in Soul Society about the strange Shinigami that had appeared in the human world. Jarred Reino, the seventh seat of the first division was the one who brought in the initial report, taking it straight to his captain after he had lost track of the strange Shinigami whose speed was incredible and whose reiatsu was frighteningly high. In response, a search team was sent out to find the Shinigami, but it came back empty handed. Apparently, Genpaku had learned rather quickly the basics of controlling how much power he used and how much he let off, as he was able to evade capture. Of course, part of it was that Soul Society had much more important things to take care of rather than the appearance of some strange Shinigami.

With Soul Society in such disarray, a small matter like a strange Shinigami destroying Hollows in the real world was something that fell on the back burner. However, reports did come in on the Shinigami’s activities. However, these reports were few and far between. Genpaku earned the nickname “The Phantom Shinigami” because of the fact that he usually was there, dispatched the Hollow, and vanished before another Shinigami got to the place. He abused his natural speed and agility both in fighting those hollow she found and in escaping from Shinigami who had managed to arrive before him and attempted to bring him in.

Things took a change as he neared the completion of his oath, however. Genpaku had managed to evade capture for a good number of years by this point, since his capture was a low priority they never sent truly strong people after him. He was unfortunate however in that, when he was just sixteen hollows shy of his goal he ran into a different tier of Shinigami. He had been in the middle of a fight with a specific hollow; his brother, to be exact. The battle had lasted longer than most of his other fights. However, as he finally finished his brother off, sending him on, he turned to find a Shinigami simply standing, yards away, watching him. He was dressed similarly to the man that had appeared to him the day he had died; the white haori hung about his shoulders. Genpaku started to run, heading in a different direction when the man appeared ahead of him again; Genpaku jumped back and away.

He took in the man before him with a cautious eye. Already, the strange Shinigami had proven he was unbelievably fast. That was the advantage that Genpaku had on most of his opponents, so that was going to be a problem. Besides that, the man didn’t seem too different from the other Shinigami he had seen. The only characteristic he saw different was the white haori he was wearing. Genpaku setup in a fighting stance, his Zanpakutou held at the ready. The man across from him just looked back.
“Good evening, Phantom-Shinigami-kun,” the man said in a cheery tone. Genpaku’s eyes narrowed. “Come now, this doesn’t have to come down to violence. All I’m asking is that you come with me,” the man said, and Genpaku tensed. He was just like the others.

That was why Genpaku didn’t wait for the man to ask more. He shot forward, aiming to slice the Shinigami. Hopefully, the man would be too confused by being attacked to follow Genpaku when he continued on his way. However, as Genpaku got within strike range and swung, his blade stopped halfway, the blade caught in the man’s hand. Instead of standing there, wondering how the man had done that, Genpaku gave pressure, and started to jump up, so that he could use the held blade as leverage and get a kick in. Such a tactic would accomplish his goals all the same. However, no sooner had he started this than he felt a hand on his wrist. There was a tug, and he was suddenly upside down, and then he slammed into the ground with a thud, knocking the wind out of him.

He gave a cough as he rolled over and jumped up to his feet, expecting to be pushed onto the defensive right away. Instead, he found the strange Shinigami in white standing there, looking at him as if expecting Genpaku to carry on a conversation. Genpaku had no such intention; he needed to get out of here, since all this Shinigami wanted to do was bring him in. That wasn’t what Genpaku could do. He had an oath to complete. As such, he shot forward again, but this time he tried a feint attack: the result wasn’t what he had expected. He got within range, and the man vanished!

The Captain appeared behind Genpaku, a look of mild amusement on his face. He extended his hand so that it was just behind the Shinigami’s head, and gave a small push of his power. The result was a blast that hit Genpaku, and sent him flying forward into the wall ahead of him. The Captain started forward, fully expecting to have knocked out the young Shinigami. However, when he did start walking, Genpaku turned over, glaring at him but obviously dazed. He was also trying to figure out what had just happened. He had felt the man’s power from the force of the blow, and he was well aware of one thing: he couldn’t win a straight out fight with this Shinigami. He was just too strong.

The Captain came to a stop, appraising the boy once more. He was tough, fast, and knew how to use a sword. That was what he had gotten so far. For the time being he had no apparent knowledge of how to use kido based attacks, it seemed. There was a hint that he was also strong in hakudo techniques, which was interesting.
“It should be apparent to you now that you can’t win, Phantom-Shinigami-kun.” the Captain said, much to Genpaku’s annoyance. The subtle use of language as an insult really got to him at the moment.
“So why is it that you want to continue fighting? What is so important that you wish to continue fighting an opponent that by now you know you cannot win against?” the Captain pressed. What was driving him?

“I have an oath to keep. I will die again before I allow myself to fail to uphold that oath,” was Genpaku’s answer. The Shinigami in white raised an eyebrow.
“What was this oath then?” he asked. That struck Genpaku as strange. It was obvious that by now this Shinigami could have taken him away.
“I swore I would slay one thousand hollows before I did anything else,” Genpaku responded, pushing himself to his feet using his blade.
“And how many more do you have left to kill?”
“That marked the nine hundredth and eighty-forth,” Genpaku answered again.
“So you only have sixteen hollows left to slay before you would come along willingly? What if I let you finish what you had started?

“I would simply stay nearby so that once you were done with what you had set out to do, you would come along. I wouldn’t interfere with the fights in the slightest. Because otherwise, it will be troublesome for me if I don’t bring you back,” the Shinigami in white said, offering something that no other Shinigami had given Genpaku: a chance to finish what he needed to do. Genpaku took a moment to weigh his options. That was his option. He could neither outfight nor outrun this Shinigami. If he didn’t take this offer, he would be pulled off to Soul Society, and he would fail the oath he swore on his family. He agreed.

It took Genpaku another seven days to finish what he had started. When Genpaku slew the last hollow, the Captain walked forward, and opened a gate to Seireitei. Genpaku turned and looked at it and the Captain, and for a moment he thought about running. But, he knew it would be useless to do so. He sheathed his blade, and followed The Captain through the gate.

Genpaku was led through the Senkai gate and thus was the first time he laid eyes on Soul Society, and on Seireitei. He came to a stop as he looked over this new world. He was allowed to stand for only a few moments before he was urged forward. He was led through a maze of hallways and passages until they came to a large door with the number 1 on it. He was led through this door to the First Division headquarters and eventually to the office of the Sotaicho of the Gotei 13; Yamamoto-Genryuusai. Of course, at the time, Genpaku had no idea what that actually meant, but the air about the man as he met him was enough to tell him that he shouldn’t fool around.

The meeting was brief, and Genpaku was honest and recounted the events that led to his acquisition of his Shinigami powers and what he had done afterwards. He was then led away and to a holding cell while a decision was reached. He of course did not like being held like a common criminal, especially with how co-operative he had been thus far, but in the end his arguments had fallen on deaf ears. Oddly enough, however, he was allowed to hold onto his zanpaku-tous while he was housed in the cell; Genpaku figured this was a test. While he had them, he could break out of the holding cell. However, doing that would make him a criminal, and would undermine his cooperation thus far. So, instead, he sat there quietly and waited.

Meanwhile, a meeting was held to decide what course of action should be taken with the anomaly known as Genpaku Arishima. Yamamoto-Genryuusai was the one with the answer to the question that most brought up; why did this shinigami in possession of two zanpaku-tous? Several hundred years prior, there had been a family line within Soul Society that possessed the unique ability to pass on their shinigami powers to later generations. However, this came at the cost of sealing their own powers away. In addition, which generation that power would show up again in was unknown. So while the power was unique and interesting, it served no practical use.

Several hundred years ago that family line all but vanished when a dispute broke out within the house and lead to a civil conflict between members. The details about the dispute where never cleared up since the whole incident sprang up and was resolved within two days. One of Genpaku’s ancestors had resolved the situation by slaying the rest of the family, stealing a gigai, and fleeing to the human world. Shortly after that, he disappeared all together when he sealed away his own powers using the family technique. It appeared that, since then, the ancestor had lived out the rest of his time until the gigai had ceased working and his soul, lacking any spiritual power at that point, passed on.

Since then Genpaku’s family had lived on, ignorant of their heritage until his ancestor’s power had awoken within him in response to the hollow attack. Such a shinigami could be a useful asset to the Gotei 13, if he was willing to co-operate further that was. Several hours later, Genpaku was pulled from this cell and brought back before the So-taicho and presented with a question: would he serve Soul Society? He was silent for a few moments as he contemplated his position and the offer. Finally, he spoke.
”I’ve nowhere to return to ,a nd none to fight for. Where else could I go but here?”
He was enrolled in the Shinigami Academy shortly afterwards for formal training.

Genpaku was enrolled in the Shinou Academy for formal training around 1940. He would spend two years in the academy before graduating; he says that’s only because of the challenege he had laid before himself before he had come to Soul Society. Slaying a thousand hollows had forced him to grow at a rapid pace, and so there was not much for him to learn out of zanjutsu or hakudo. He picked up kidou quickly enough, being a diligent worker and constantly striving for perfection. He was placed in class 1 for obvious reasons, and made many friends during those years. He graduated and applied to enter the Gotei 13, and joined the Seventh Division.

Despite being placed into the Seventh Division though, Genpaku constantly visited other divisions and trained with them. He knew he had must to learn yet, despite how well he had done at the Academy, and he was motivated to learn as much as he could. He wouldn’t learn enough from only a single division, so he sought out the other divisions to see what he could learn from them. He sought out others that were as strong as he was to train with, and sought out stronger people to learn from.

Genpaku’s training wasn’t just to aid his own powers, however. Genpaku was seeking something specific; the names of his Zanpaku-tous. He hadn’t missed the strangeness of his possession of two Zanpaku-tous, and had done some research of his own. He didn’t know that he could have asked someone about his powers and his past; instead he sought it out on his own. It took him a great deal of time to sift through the archives before he found the small blip in history that set things in motion for him. That single blip set the wheels in motion once again for him as well, as he began to think upon the implications of the information. He had two zanpaku-tous because he had two sets of Shinigami powers at work within him which more or less fused to be his power. That meant he also had two names he needed to discover.

This was one of the driving forces behind Genpaku’s considerable motivation. He wanted strength, for a plethora of reasons; above that, he wanted to discover what he was capable of. It took him another 40 years before he succeeded in acquiring the first name; he discovered it in the heart of battle just as he had with his powers in general. He had been on patrol when a strong hollow had attacked the area he was patrolling; unlike normal, this hollow attacked him instead of a ghost or a similar being. Genpaku sensed the intent just before the hollow launched its attack, nearly impaling him. Genpaku dodged out of the way, turning to face his assailant; the hollow had brown skin and the mask that reminded Gen of a frog. He had just drawn his blade when the creature launched another attack; a tongue like appendage, which looked more like a spear, shot out towards him at frightening speed. He brought his zanpaku-tou to deflect the attack; he noted as the spear point hit that it had surprisingly little weight to it. He lashed out, and cleaved into the appendage, but found a great deal of resistance to the attack. The hollow retracted the appendage, and began to cackle.
”Oh ho! So you can actually cut my tongue eh? Too bad it doesn’t mean a damn thing, Shinigami!”

The hollow stuck its tongue out, and already the wound that had been on it had vanished, healed over. Genpaku mentally cursed, and decided he needed to get on the offense now. He shot forward, deflecting the appendage with his blade as he charged. He felt something slam into his back right shoulder, however and stopped his charge to look back as the appendage sank in. He grimaced, and spun around to slice off the appendage all together. When he did though, the appendage disengaged itself from the spear point, and retracted into the hollows mouth; said hollow let out another cackle as Gen pulled the spearhead out, wincing as he did so, and turned back to the Hollow. This was bad; the hollow shot the barb out again, a new spearhead attached. Gen shot to the left to dodge, but the tongue literally turned and followed him. He changed direction and shot backwards, and as he flew backwards the tongue suddenly came to a halt and retracted. Genpaku shot forward again, charging the hollow; it launched its tongue attack at him again.

Genpaku changed direction and shot downwards, and the tongue followed. He stopped and shot up at an angle, aiming to pass the tongue, but it changed directions and came straight for him. He shot to the left, and it followed him out to a certain point at which point it retracted again. He had worked out about the max distance the hollow could shoot from, but it didn’t change the fact that, at the moment, the hollow could react faster than him. He held out a hand.
”Shakahou!” [i]he called out, and a blaze of red flame shot out towards the hollow. The hollow opened its mouth and shot out its tongue again, which slammed into and through the attack and continued on towards Genpaku; he shot to the left and launched another shakahou to try and catch the hollow while it had already launched its attack; whoever, the tongue changed course and slammed through that attack too.

Then the hollow pushed for the offensive, and shot forward while retracting the tongue, before launching it again at him. He shot forward towards the hollow and the oncoming projectile, but changed course and shot down, trying to escape the attack; it followed him down. He stopped and moved to the side in hopes of grabbing a seconds worth of time to escape with, but the attack had already changed course and doubled back on him. He watched the attack home in on him. And then everything stopped. He blinked, and was no longer in the human world.

He stood at the center of a large stone arena. Above him a large storm hung, lightning coursed over the clouds from time to time. He remembered this place from when he had been dying; only now, it seemed infinitely calmer than last time. And standing across from him was the man from before. Now Genpaku got a real chance to look at him. He was a tall man, easily standing at least six and a half feet tall. His shoulders were broad, he had long black hair that hung messily about his head, and piercing yellow eyes that currently stared straight back at Genpaku.
”Long time no see.” Genpaku said.
”You’re pretty calm for someone who is facing a fatal blow outside this world, you know.”
Genpaku merely gave a shrug. ”What, should I be screaming? I’ll think of something. For now, I’m more interested in why you’ve shown yourself to me now, of all times, after so many years of silence.”

The Zanpaku-tou spirit smirked.
”Because you’ve been searching for me,” it replied.
”Both of you, actually,” Genpaku retorted. The Zanpaku-tou spirit blinked, and then chuckled lightly. A sudden breeze rolled through the arena, and Genpaku spun around as he heard a light laugh come from somewhere.
”For now, you have me. Tell me, what do you seek power for?” the Zanpaku-tou spirit called out, and Genpaku looked back with a raised eyebrow. He was quiet for a moment as he thought.
”I seek power to know what my limits are, so I know what I can do. It’s a greedy reason, I’m aware, but that is what I seek power for right now; for myself. I’m no use to anyone dead,”

The zanpaku-tou spirit seemed to be content with that answer. He started to laugh as he stood there, and there was the sudden crack of thunder. The arena around him began to dissolve, back to the real world, but not before the spirit spoke again.
”That will suffice, Arishima Genpaku. What once blocked your ears from my name was worthless vengeance and anger. Use my power to protect yourself, and to survive. My name is…”

The hollow’s attack closed in on the boy as there was a sudden spike in Reiatsu. Genpaku brought his blade to bare and deflected the first blow.
”Pierce the night, Raiden!” he called out, and another burst of reiatsu signaled the release of the sword. The zanpaku-tou glowed and shifted appearance to that of his shikai, at which point he spun around and cut through the tongue. The spear tip fell harmlessly down to the ground as Genpaku turned his attention to the Hollow. It began to retract the tongue to rearm, but it felt a strange lag between its thoughts and its actions. Genpaku was upon him in that moment of lag, and within another few moments the hollow was dispatched. Genpaku returned to Soul Society to get his wound treated, injured by happy that he had discovered the name of his first blade; the blade handed down to him from his ancestor.

Genpaku’s second blade made its appearance to him at a very different time; during the invasion by the demon Ender. Ender had invaded the Soul Society, and sought to control it. With Ender came a horde of demons that set upon the member of the Gotei 13. Genpaku fought alongside his Division members during this invasion, attempting to cover them as they made their retreat towards the underground bunkers that the other divisions were heading for. However, with the number of demons relentlessly attacking them, it was hard to keep on the move. Constantly, members were being picked off and pulled into solo fights before they were jumped upon and devoured.

Genpaku could only do so much. He was a fourth seat by this time, and had taken the responsibility of the seat very seriously, and attempted to watch over the lower seat members. However, with the chaos that Ender’s invasion brought there was only so much he could do. He only had so much power then, and even using as much of it as he could with Raiden, it wasn’t enough. He took a stance as the demons formed up to rush them again; they surged forward and Genpaku held out his hand.
”Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Hadou #33, Soukatsui!”

The blue blast of energy ripped through the charging demons, dealing with most of them because of the narrow corridor. However, more crawled over the walls and rushed down the corridor. Genpaku was winded now from the fighting, but brought his blade up all the same.
”Fall back to the bunker; I’ll catch up!” he called back to his allies and shot forward towards the oncoming horde. He took out the first demon with a slash of Raiden, and then he launched a blade of electricity towards the oncoming ground. The first in that group took the blow, stopping as the electricity coursed over it. The rest rushed past it and continued to push towards Gen, blood on their minds and a meal in sight. He took up his stance, gritted his teeth, and prepared for the worst.

Then the world vanished away again. He blinked as the old arena came into view. This was so not the time for an impromptu talk with Raiden and he glared as he looked for the Zanpaku-tou spirit. However, he found himself standing alone within the arena’s walls.
”Raiden! What’s going on here!? I don’t have time for this!” he called out to the empty arena.
”You’re so worried about your friends; that’s cute actually, and admirable,” [i]came a feminine voice. Genpaku blinked, and spun around, looking for the source of the voice. A gentle breeze floated about him.
”Who are you? Where are you?” Genpaku called out again.
”Silly; I’m part of your soul. And I’m right behind you.” came the voice again.

Genpaku turned back around, and came face to face with a young woman. She stood just shy of his height, with gentle features. Her hair, the color of brown gold, hung down past her waist. She was dressed in simple, modern dress, and for the moment her eyes were closed as she stood there, smiling at him. He blinked a couple times, surprised by the sudden appearance of who he could only assume was the spirit of his Zanpaku-tou and his own Shinigami powers. She opened her emerald eyes to take him in a moment before looking up at the storm that still hung above the arena.

”You seems to be having a lot of trouble out there keeping those demons off you and your friends,” she said as she turned back to look at him. He felt almost ashamed under her gaze and looked away.
”I can help you, if you want,” she said. He looked back at her and she smiled again, closing her eyes as she did so.
”Of course I do,” he started to say, but she held up her hand to stop him a moment.
”First, you must answer me a question. Raiden once asked you what you fought for, and you said you fought for yourself. Raiden has helped you fight to protect you since then. However, what do you fight for now though?” she asked, and opened her eyes, tilting her head as she waited for the answer.

He blinked, and had to think about it for a moment. Above, lightning flashed and thunder cracked; Raiden was being impatient maybe? He sighed and looked back at the Zanpaku-tou spirit before him.
”I fight for those I call friends; for those in my division and thus under me. My power is useless if I am dead, buts its also useless if it can’t be used for anyone else,” he said simply. The Zanpaku-tou spirit stood there, silent for a moment.
”And that, Genpaku-chan, is why I feel sorry for you. You’re far to carrying about those around you compared to the world you’ve been pushed into, and the fighting you will have to do. Then again, maybe it is that situation that pushes you onward. I will give you back your strength, for I like Raiden am nothing more than a part of you. Call on me when you will, my name is…”

And he was back in Soul Society as the demons closed on him. Raiden glowed and returned to its sealed form. However, Genpaku suddenly felt a block, and shunpo’d back and away as the demons converged on the spot he had been in. He couldn’t release the second blade yet; there was a block between the two blades. Well, that told him something important; he was incapable of releasing both blades simultaneously for now. He doubted he could handle the stress of both releases anyway. He sheathed Raiden and drew the second blade as he fired off a byakurai at an oncoming demon. He dispatched another pair of demons with the sealed blade before the rest charged him. He reached for that power of his, and found it this time.
”Howl through the world, Fujin!” he called out, and the blade shattered.

The wind in the area suddenly kicked up, and within moments a blade of wind had materialized in place of where the actual blade had been. Genpaku slashed with the blade at an oncoming attack from a nearby demon, and discovered the back drawn to his weapon; the clawed hand flew right through the blade and left a deep gash in his right shoulder. However, the demon fell over, its whole right side scoured with slices. Genpaku shunpo’d back once more, and lashed out with the blade, releasing a blade of holding winds that cut through several of the demons. Using Fujin, he managed to push the demons far enough back that he could make an exit safely and return to the bunk. His wounds were saw too once more as he contemplated his new weapon.
”Remember Genpaku, Raiden and myself are nothing more than an extension of your own power. Use it to protect those precious to you, and to protect youself.”

It had taken Genpaku nearly a hundred years to grasp the names of his Zanpaku-tous; and that was him moving fast. After the Ender invasion was finally repelled, and the chaos that followed it with the war on the Soul King and formation of multiple organizations, Genpaku had been kept on his toes. However, they then entered the era of low distress, the era that had multiple different names. Genpaku didn’t take this time of peace for granted, however. He used the era of peace to forge forward on his training. All of the encounters and events thus far had jump started his training, and now he took that and ran with it. Throughout his battles thus far he had lost friends, and while he knew to a degree that it wasn’t his fault he believed that he could have done something about it if he had gained more power. This became a driving force behind Genpaku’s motivation.

He trained relentlessly throughout the times of peace, seeking the next level of power he could attain. He began his search for Bankai with his blades. In his mind, that was the next logical step. Halfway through the era of peace, Genpaku rose to the rank of Vice Captain, and while thankful for the promotion it did nothing to slow his attempts at progress. This was around when a talented Shinigami by the name of Solas Foiche stepped up to take the place of the third seat of the division. He would train with her from time to time; eventually the two would develop a friendship of sorts, though Gen was basically a friend to any and everyone. He became known for his excessive training and cheery attitude; many outright stated that he wasn’t a fighter based solely on his attitude. His skills argued otherwise.