BLEACH, Night of the full moon

Episode XX: Night of the full moon--A

"Everything will fade to black. This is the very end." Episode XX, synopsis.

Despite the chaos in the sereitei, Soifon remained in her chambers ignoring it all. She hadn't quite been the same since Omaeda had died even though she had acted contrarily. Her surroundings were so quiet that she could have heard a pin drop. She thought she felt the ground vibrating. Immediately, she picked up her sword and went out to see what was wrong. Having looked around with no sign of any intruder, she decided to go back into her chambers. As she turned, she heard something big whooshing through the air from her right! With a very swift backflip, she moved back several metres before a heavy object crashed the walls of her chambers. She landed on three limbs with one hand on her sword. She lifted up her head and looked up while still in a low posture. The face she saw was a familiar but unexpected one. As it all sunk in, another attack came her way and rolled on the ground out of its way.

"Did you miss me, Captain Soifon?" the attacker asked. He was plump and arrogant as ever. His shikai in the form of a spiked wrecking ball was not too hard for Soifon to dodge or block. She just wasn't so sure if she could or indeed wanted to kill him. As she sunk into deep thought, he threw his spiked ball at her which she blocked with her zanpakuto. Due to her small frame, she had to provide extra support for the blade with her other hand placing it parallel to the blade. The spikes on the ball grew longer and gave off an electric current which shocked her hand. The shock caught her completely unawares. She retreated a good distance.

"How do you like the electric shock?" the attacker asked. "It's a technic I just learnt recently. It's called Kanemochi."

"What do you want, Omaeda?" She asked.

"You didn't cry when I died." He remarked sadly.

"Why would I cry?" she asked. "I don't like you."

"I thought that was always just an act." Omaeda remarked angrily.

"You thought wrong." She said calmly. Omaeda was visibly angry and his reiatsu was completely out of control.

"BAN-" he began to speak but Soifon appeared behind him to his surprise.

"You still disgust me, Omaeda." She whispered in his ear but it was obvious that she didn't mean any of it. "Sting all enemies to death, Suzumebachi!"

Two strikes in the heart dropped him to the ground. The dead could be killed after all. Soifon stared as his body disappeared, she had already said goodbye to him sometime back. There was no regret in her heart.

It had been years since they moved into the ice kingdom. They were seated at a table by the fire place having a cup of coffee. Every day they had been going out into the snow to train. If nothing else, Rukia could now withstand the effects of Ichigo's bankai.

"Say, Rukia-how much time do you think has passed in the soul society?" Ichigo asked.

"It's hard to say really." She answered. "Thirty minutes or an hour."

"And how are the others doing? In the fight?" He asked.

"Well...they're probably frozen." She responded casually. Ichigo spat out all the coffee he had in his mouth. He couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"What?!" he exclaimed. "Why are you saying it like they are pieces of meat?"

"How do you want me to say it?" she asked playfully. "Everything in a radius of two kilometres is frozen."