In the Open Field [Elyss, Makoto, Others]

Of course, he had been prepared for this. But what had thrown him was the knowledge of his name. More than simple bandits, then, but who would have chased him here of all places? He had laid low for a rather long while now, and he was surprised to see anyone here. More surprised to see a kido. Shinigami, then?

It was weak, which was rather thankful considering the red menace barreling toward him. If she wished to throw herself toward him, then Roman would gladly meet her wish, and he gave the little girl the gentlest of shoves away as he swung his fist quite swiftly toward Elyss. No sense in holding back.

"What was so important you came all the way out here just to die, then?"

Romanova, for her part, did nothing more than seemingly disappear into thin air, her incredibly faint spiritual pressure combining with total invisibility and the ambient spiritual miasma to mask her location near-completely.

Great, it did absolutely nothing. She bit her lip and grabbed at her zanpakuto, it was time to make use of her neglected zanpakuto and the skills that she had acquired from Shishiyuki. Her physical condition was also not too bad so she thought that she'd be able to at least do something in the way of attacking him with her physical prowess in a similar way to Elyss.

Well, maybe not use her shikai on second thought. It would probably only hinder Elyss given the fact that Roman was just far more powerful than either of them spiritually.

"Screw it."

She utilised her shunpo to get behind Roman with her speed, relying on the fact that he was focused on Elyss to properly counter her and in doing so Makoto tried to put her fingers on his back to try and emulate something to the same effect as Shishiyuki's techniques. Tear him apart with her hakuda and physical skills over any kind of magical.

Did she have any names for these techniques? No, her repetoire was mostly trying to take those fundamentals and alter already existing moves. In this case it was manipulating Tsukiyubi to instead send five individual points of force into his body which followed separate paths. Arms, Legs and neck to make it feel like each limb was trying to get torn away from the torso and go in different directions.

Realistically, it wouldn't have been especially difficult for Roman to dodge both the punch from the redhead and the 5 pressure point attacks from her accomplice. In fact, it would have been fairly easy, given his training and his physical ability. But the question she'd asked had more than thrown him off. It was one thing to be accosted by bandits, bounty hunters, all of that. But he rarely had to deal with any of the past beyond the little girl he traveled with, and even that brief moment of hesitation was enough to get him thoroughly off balance, onto one knee. Not a good position.

"If you know enough to ask me that, then you're mighty brave to say it right to my face."

Gritting his teeth as he stood once more, Roman wiped the blood from his face and simply accepted the agony of the 5 blows to his back. It would be a remarkably impressive handicap, and if not for the topic of conversation now, he might even have complimented her on it.

"No. But the one who did is already dead by now."

Of course, they'd already chosen violence. He was nothing if not a quick draw, though he didn't think he was quick enough to fire right between the two of them. Tricky.

Was she crazy? Stop? He was at least on par with a captain-tier threat and she wanted her to cease all hostility to just talk? This man made it pretty clear he didn't want to chat when he resorted immediately to threatening them and fighting. She didn't care if he did it or not, their objective was to acquire the missing piece of Abalia's soul and she suspected it was the child which had become misplaced - nothing about Roman said that he was just going to part with it. If he wanted to return it to her then he might've done it in the past rather than continue this way for so long.

Makoto didn't have the patience nor willingness to allow him an opportunity to turn the tides on them before making a clean getaway with them licking wounds or just being straightup killed in this barren wasteland.

"You're insane, the only way you're getting to have him is when he's on the brink of death and unable to try anything funny."

She spat and followed up with utilising a mixture of kido and hakuda to grab apply the repulsion of seki and the additional force that could swat away a bullet sent flying her way. She'd tear his limbs off before he could get a chance to talk to Elyss just on merit of making sure he was well and truly crippled and unable to turn the fight up over its head, then she could ask whatever stupid questions she wanted.

Makoto was here for one thing and Roman's situation didn't carry one iota of consideration as long as she could pry the piece of Abalia from him and return it to her. Innocent or not, people always had something that made them guilty for something whatever flimsy justification her misanthropy could use to excuse her sadistic battle tendencies. She'd regret it all later but for now the blood just wanted to boil over.

Roman certainly hadn't anticipated the redhead being this physically capable, and bringing up the matter of the Cossacks had been enough to completely throw him off. This wasn't good at all, that much he knew, but he couldn't tell Romanova to run. That was only putting her into worse danger. For now, it was best just to keep having her hide.

The bullet to her side, at least, made Elyss' movements predictable enough that he could avoid her attempt to grab him, though his own physical state was still far from ideal. Well, he'd dealt with worse. Much worse. As far as he was concerned, he was still in top form for now.

"I killed him. Hunted him down for two decades and shot him in the head."

Of course, he had an idea who was asking. If they were shinigami, and after him, no less, then it probably stood to reason that someone had finally put the pieces together. If nothing else, they knew what he had. And it meant that he'd been correct when he suspected who it was that became both Queen of Vastime and Captain Commander of the Gotei.

"That little girl's been with me ever since the day she died. Stayed right by my side. But it seems like you know her too. I guess you're here for her sake, eh? She send you down to handle one more loose end? Or does she even know?"

"You talk too much. The reiatsu of her is tied to this guy, the most logical conclusion is that it's the girl. Return what's her's or keep fighting. Even if you kill us, more will come after it and everyone you kill will hurt her more and more. So just make your decision and stop wasting time."

They didn't need to keep talking or negotiating like this, she just needed to make it clear. He hands over what is not his or he dies and they take it from his corpse. Makoto didn't care either way. Whether he died or not, as long as they left with Abalia's missing fragment then the seated officer was content. Killing him was just an icing on the cake and one less person in the world who she didn't care who lived or died anyway.

Her crimson gaze was fully focused on Roman, it was as if Elyss ceased to be a consideration and her bloodlust was fixated on him entirely. She hated him, she wanted to kill him and there was no reason other than to kill him. He had something someone she cared about wanted. No, needed. He was worth as much as the dirt he was laying in to her as long as that was the case.

"Turn myself in? Now that's quite the ask."

Roman watched the two of them with no obvious degree of distrust, though it wasn't as if he had any reason to put much faith into them. Well, the redheaded one was a bit more trustworthy than the violent one, but that wasn't exactly saying much. His hands were still firmly on his guns, though if nothing else, his fingers were no longer on the triggers.

"And what about her, eh? You want to kill this little girl too? Push her into that boss of yours? I've worked for the Gotei before. For Vastime. I know what that Abalia is like."

His words were flat, but there was an undeniable bite to them, an edge in his gaze as he studied both of the women with an expectant air. He knew all too well that this would probably turn into a massacre if the white-haired one had her way. Or, realistically, if they just didn't give him the right answer. But he didn't want that. He didn't want Romanova to have to see it.