Chereads / BLEACH: The Dusk In Red / Chapter 31 - Mirror Mirror On The Wall

Chapter 31 - Mirror Mirror On The Wall

Linny and Kai were dropped into a green field of nothing but grass and blue sky. The sun rained its warm rays, almost as if there was nothing that the two should be worried about. 

Kai instantly stood up and drew his Asauchi while taking a place next to Linny. The Captain and Liliane stood before him as the two watched his struggle. His blade was shaking in his hands as he was unsure if he could beat the two opponents standing in front of him, but he had the courage to face them regardless.

The captain raised his arms which made Kai flinch. He pointed to a table behind him signaling the two to come sit down on it.

"Lets talk for a bit."

Although he was giving the two an opportunity to live longer, Kai still held down his position, determined to take him down.

"Ah- I see..."

He slowly began to release his Spiritual Pressure which made Kai's chest go heavy. He eventually fell to one knee, as he himself felt like a small boat struggling to stay afloat in a raging storm.

"This power..! It feels just as heavy as that guys! Maybe even more!"

He recalled that time he was blasted with Izuru Kira's Spiritual Pressure for the entrance exams. Although back then Kira was holding back to try not hurt anyone, the captain could probably rival him, putting him at around Lieutenant level in strength.

Seeing the power gap he quickly whispered to Linny who was even more fearful of the two compared to him,

"Whatever happens now, stick close to me. I'll try to buy time until we can contact others somehow."

After a couple minutes, the four were sitting around the tea table that came with a foreign china tea set. In the middle was a hot tea pot with Liliane used to serve tea for everyone, all the while checking her mirror for something. At time she made a very anxious face and then suddenly she would go right back to normal.

But the thing that bothered Kai and Linny the most was the corpse of the Soul Reaper which was rotting right next to them.

Since there appeared to be no insects in this world, the corpse hadn't visibly changed that much, aside from its pale face and dry lips.

 The Captain just looked at the Tea with distain while he encouraged Kai and Linny to drink it.

"Have a sip, if you think it's poisoned then don't worry, you already know that I could kill you two quite easily." 

"You're not exactly making it easier for them?", Liliane said teasing him.

Ignoring her the Captain then said, "If you have any questions, then feel free to ask away. I'm not really trying to buy time for anything."

Trying to display as well as stand on equal footing the Captain, Kai grabbed onto the tea cup by the handle and chugged it all in one gulp. He then spat some of it out onto the grass while rubbing his tongue.

"EW- its bitter!"

Captain and Liliane laughed at him. His attempt to seem tough failed miserably. But at least Linny was looking much better now.

"I apologise, I forgot to give you sugar. But I suppose its too late for that now."

As he coughed he cleared his voice and then asked,

"What did you guys do to Yuki? And where is the muscular guy?"

"Liliane's ability here can copy and stored other peoples Fullbrings in her mirror. The current ability that she uses can create subspaces. It's how we've gone undetected for so long. She used it to send those two to another space for them to fight in."

Liliane angrily kicked him while complaining,

"Stop telling others about my ability! It was meant to be our groups secret!"

"Our groups secret won't matter anymore since we're disbanding."

"What!?"

The shock was enough to knock her off balance a little. Even Kai and Linny were perplexed by what he had said. She quickly checked her mirror and used it to monitor the fight going on between Yuki and Melqart, only to see Melqart's corpse being burnt to cinders.

"You! You knew Melqart would lose?"

He remained quiet.

"Then why did you even let them fight in the first place?"

"He wanted an opportunity for revenge so I gave it to him. It's his fault for letting his rage devour him."

With tears falling from her eyes, she then kicked captain off his chair making him fall onto the grass. She then got on top of him and started to beat him relentlessly all while he didn't resist.

"Why captain?? Why did you let me send him to his death? It's his blood on my hands too dammit!"

She grabbed onto him by the collar and lifted him up. His face was slightly injured but he still kept the same look of exhaustion in his eyes. It was as if he had given up on everything in this world and was prepared to die.

"You two were close right? You should have recognised that for yourself."

Rage filled her as she swung a left at hook at her captain which he tanked. The hit made him bleed a little from his nose, but aside form that he was mostly fine.

"Captain... I don't need that name anymore. It has always been Akimitsu hasn't it?"

She spat at him before getting up and leaving. As a black box surrounded her, she gave him the middle finger before disappearing.

He got up while slowly pulling himself back onto the table. He sat down on the chair before finally pouring himself a cup of tea.

"Sorry about all of that. I was going to have to tie up the loose ends sooner or later. This group was never destined to last forever anyways. It was a miracle we kept together for 7 years."

"7 years? And you threw it away just like that? Why?", Kai asked him.

He laughed to himself a little before it turned back into a bored look. The exact same as Yuki's.

"The powers we had were strong, but unlike you Soul Reapers we were not rewarded for killing hollows. Up until back then we had lived a life of suffering, but once we met that person everything changed. Life was good and we had a purpose. But then she just disappeared all of a sudden. I gathered what remained and formed the assassin group, robins hood. But even after killing so many people for money the hole in my heart could never be filled. At least not in the way that she filled it. In that respect, I am no different than the hollows which you had been killing."

Then suddenly he kicked the table over, and charged towards Linny, preparing to strike her in the face.

Kai immediately drew his Asauchi and blocked the strike, leaving the two to clash for a short while.

"So you think killing a small child will fill it? Do you think it would make you feel something?"

"At the end of the day, I'm an assassin. Before I quit, I will at least finish of the target. They paid quite the hefty sum to see this girl dead."

He then disappeared while leaving behind a flash of green light. Once he reappeared he was now a decent bit away from the two of them. Kai recognised that light as the movement technique which Sakugo used to move around.

"Hey Linny? I defiantly won't be able to beat this guy by myself. Can you support me?"

She then took what appeared to be her own fighting stance, as she stood next to Kai as an equal.

"I've never fought before. But I will try my best!"