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Chapter 20 - Tapioca

"Glasses." The man in a suit called out to Urahara. He had a buzz cut and a well-built figure, his muscles nearly bursting from his suit. A chain hung around his neck and a golden watch shined in the light reflected by the skyscrapers.

"Tapioca." Urahara takes a deep breath in.

"It's been years, hasn't it?" Tapioca had his hands in his pocket.

"It really has." Urahara sits on the boot of his car. The wind blew his grey hair in the wind, along with his jacket flaps.

"You're an international criminal now." Tapioca smiles.

"Yeah, no different from what we were doing. Only difference is that we're labelled as one," Urahara reached into his breast pocket, pulling out a piece of paper. "You said to call."

"For a reunion, I doubt this is one" Tapioca scoffed. "How's Camie and Galliard?"

"They're fine. Camie's got a partner. Galliard's off doing his own thing, his Galliard things." Urahara crumpled the piece of paper as he stared Tapioca in the eyes. "You've been busy."

"Running the world's largest illegal-Chime industry isn't something I'd want the world to know." Tapioca smiles. "Somehow you found out."

"I always do." Urahara smiles.

"So what do I owe the all-knowing Urahara?" Tapioca said sarcastically.

"By now you've seen the news. The whole world has. One of Japan's strongest hybrid taken out by a mysterious chimera, disappearing in an instant without even a single witness. Miles upon miles of trees and forests reduced to rubble, a blockade in the country's most vital subway line." Urahara says, blankly staring into the skyline.

"On that train were 3 Poachers. Two of which are currently in the Organisation's processing, another... missing." Tapioca stole the world's right out of his mouth. "The only man they have linked to the mysterious Arima Gen is Urahara. A high ranking Poacher in the organisation."

"Seems like you've read up."

"I'm a kingpin, that's what I do," Tapioca folded his arms. "You're not the only all-knowing one."

"You know, Camie and Galliard still think you're dead." Urahara added.

"Good. Less people know who I am, less chance I get exposed," Tapioca turned his back to Urahara. "Being here is putting me at major risk right now."

"The fuck you think I feel?" Urahara laughs. "You know how scary it is to run away from an entire organisation and the entire country's police force on your ass? I only managed to escape because I went back into Tokyo. The entire force is expanding outwards in search of me."

Tapioca scoffs, exhaling from his nose. "Is that what you need help with?" He turns his head back to Urahara. "Disappearing off the face of the Earth?"

"The only man I know who's succeeded in doing that was you. Your records clean, not even an ID with your face remains in any government database," Urahara says. "But that's not why I need you. I don't want to disappear, I want to do the direct opposite."

Tapioca raises an eyebrow.

"I'm going to need an entire army of men and resources beyond my wildest imagination to uproot the Organisation, and I know noone better to helo me but the man running the world's largest monopoly on Chimes."

Tapioca turns his entire body to look back at Urahara, showing his sudden increase in interest. "You want to destroy Japan's most powerful military force?"

"I've worked for the organisation for nearly 30 years now. They're not what they portray themselves as," Urahara says in a serious tone. "They're a bunch of crooked, self-serving assholes who'll do anything to get what they want. I've hated them from the very beginning. Especially Kiru Shizomono."

At the mention of his name, the air went still. Tapioca understood. "So you planned it. All from the start."

"Planned what exactly?" Urahara smirks.

"Look at that evil smile of yours." Tapioca folded his arms and smiles. "You knew from the very beginning what you were doing with Arima. You were building your very own weapon. A weapon that could destroy the organisation."

"I know nothing of that." Urahara lies blatantly. "I just want to ensure the safety of my country and my boy."

As Tapioca looks at Urahara, that's when a flash goes past him. A memory, lost in time, but not forgotten. His hair turned brown as his glasses turned a hot pink.

They were in the middle of a forest fire, the trees blazing as the sky a dark grey cloud. Planes flew over their heads, dropping bombs. They were in the middle of a war, dressed in camouflage. Yet, his smile still remained. Urahara's damn smile.

"I like your idea, I've always hated Kiru from the beginning." Tapioca extends a hand out to Urahara. "I'll give you everything you need if you promise to bring me Kiru's head on a golden pedestal."

Urahara looks at his hand as he looks back up to Tapioca's smug face. "That bald head of yours never fails to impress me with your wild ass demands."

Urahara shakes Tapioca's hand.

"Lock on."

Tapioca's iris dart across his eyes, staring upwards to the source of the sound. Within seconds, a giant pair of beetle wings engulfed the both of them as a flurry of bullets rained onto the hard exterior shell.

"Get down!" Tapioca tackled Urahara as the both of the rolled onto the back of Urahara's car.

"Shit." A woman laid down on the cement ceiling of a skyscraper, her finger on the trigger of a massive sniper rifle that was nearly the same size as her. She wore a pair of red goggles that had feathers on each end, her hair a milk chocolate brown and her facial features soft. "I missed the shot." She spoke into an earpiece on her ear.

"Mavericka!" Tapioca breathed heavily, the both of them hiding their heads under the side door of the car. He looks up at the car's side window, making out the slight reflection of a woman on the ceiling.

"I got this." Urahara starts making a run for it, dashing out of the car's protection.

Within an instant, a bullet soars through the sky, ripping through the air particles as the bullets unique shape resembled that of an eagle's feather. It's streamline body caused it to easily pierced through the sound barrier as it barely nicked Urahara's shoulder as he managed to jump in the way of a couple dumpster.

"This is hopeless, I can't get close to her, no matter what." Urahara's breathing starts to get heavier as he's realising that his body isn't as agile as it used to be. He was nearly reaching 50 and this profession ages you like nothing else. Urahara had started to slow his breathing and his heart rate.

A single bullet cuts the air between the two of them.

Urahara's breath went still as a single bullet flew past his face. It stopped in midair as rings of air surrounded it's trail, like a footprint of the where the bullet had came from.

Urahara's eyes lit a purple gaze as he jumped out of the way of the dumpster. As he leapt upwards, his body seemingly emerged from his old body. Multiple copies of Urahara existed at the same moment.

His feet glided across the air like a skater on ice, his eyes leaving a trail of neon mist. His body twisted and turned, following the trail of shattered air made by the bullets.

Around the bullets trail were hundreds of copies of Urahara that floated in mid-air, all trapped in time. He travelled through the stopped-time and it was before long he had found the position of the sniper.

A woman dressed in all black with a black cap laid on the top of a skyscraper rooftop, her finger on the trigger of a sniper rifle that dwarfed her in size.

Within the same instaneous second, all of the copies of Urahara disintegrated into air as Urahara appeared behind Mavericka.

"Aeugh-!" Mavericka was caught off guard as she tumbled on the side, narrowly avoiding Urahara's kick to the ledge that Mavericka had her sniper rifle propped up again. His foot kicked the gun off and it smashed into a hundred pieces on the ground floor.

Just as Urahara had appeared, a singular droplet of water landed on his jacket, leaving a dark circular stain. More and more droplets came before it started drizzling lightly, soaking both of them in the evening rain.

Mavericka wore a surgical mask that covered her face. She stood up and rubbed the dust off of her chest and waist.

"Mavericka." Urahara greeted her. Both of them stood adjacent to one another in the crackling rain. The evening moon had forbade either of them to visibly see each other with full clarity, shredding both of them in the pouring rain.

"Urahara." Mavericka greeted back as she reached into her back pocket, taking off a switch-blade which she held like a backwards dagger in her hand.

"We don't have to do this." Urahara tried to de-escalate the situation. Mavericka had started to advance closer and closer as Urahara took precautionary steps to the side, circling one another.

"We do." Mavericka replied blankly and matter-of-factly. "You're a wanted criminal now. An outlaw."

Before Urahara could respond, Mavericka lunged forward with her blade, aiming for the neck. Her shoes pivoted in the wet cement floor beneath their feet, driving the knife deep into Urahara's shoulder as she used her off-hand to thrust it deeper into his shoulder.

Urahara's jacket was stained with blood as he simultaneously kicked upwards, disengaging Mavericka. The kick caused her to lose the grip on the blade as she stumbled backward, catching herself on the ledge of the skyscraper.

Urahara ripped the knife out of his shoulder as blood spurted onto the floor, covering his entire arm in a river of floor and a puddle accumulating at his feet.

Urahara's eyes went a deep dark purple as the only ray of moonlight on the entire rooftop glistened in his eyes. Within an instant, he appeared behind Mavericka, a trail of after images following behind him. He had his arm around her neck and another to apply as much pressure as he could, restricting her breathing space.

Bang!

Urahara loosened his grip on her neck as his arms eventually went slack. Mavericka stumbled forward, her eyes hazy in the rain and from the lack of oxygen.

Standing at the entrance to the roof top was Tapioca, a gun in his hand with smoke whistling off the barrel. "Sorry, Urahara."

On Urahara's forehead was a single gunshot wound, cleanly through his forehead, right between his eyes.

"Goodjob Muira." Mavericka said.

Urahara stumbled backwards and tripped over the ledge, plummeting towards the ground at literal break neck speeds. His body contorts and twists upon making impact with the ground, his blood being washed away by the now relenting rain.

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