Takes place during and after Manga Ch.373, and goes completely A.U. from there.

REGRETS

By

R. Patil

Ise Nanao-fukutaicho stepped into the alley. Once her feet hit asphalt, the senkaimon behind her closed. She felt before she saw; a dozen frightening reiatsu a hundred feet above. She tried to sense identities; half the powers felt like a mixture of shinigami and hollow—Had none of the espada fallen? Opening her senses further, she felt the other taicho and fukutaicho on the ground—many weakened, tire, battered—but all accounted for. Even Her Taicho had fallen! Bracing herself, she looked out onto the street…

Soi-Fon-taicho was being aided (her arm was missing!) by a very large, obese man with pink hair and a hybrid reiatsu. Had an espada turned traitor and joined their side?

That was irrelevant. Nanao's only job was to make herself known to the highest-ranking taicho. She felt the Soutaichou somewhere above her. She very delicately went up while staying hidden. The senkaimon output was camoflaged, she suppressed her reiatsu as far as she could. The Kidou Corps, working with Division Twelve, Third-seat Akon and the secret remote squad liason had developed a weapon that could destroy any King's Keys in existence—both the original, made by Heaven, and the replica Aizen Sosuke was trying to make. It would also destroy anyone near either key, including Aizen, the espada, the shinigami, and probably all of the real Karakura town. So: weapon of last resort. Unfortunately, observers showed Aizen's forces moved just before it could be finished. So, Nanao and Sasakibe-fukutaicho stayed behind to oversee the last of the efforts. If the weapon—Pennance—had to be used, Sasakibe-san would take control of the Gotei-13: there would still be souls to ferry, and hollow preying on them. Nanao, as one of the highest kidou masters in the Gotei-13, ensured the orderly and rapid use of the Kidou Corps in the weapon's creation.

Her arrival on the battlefield meant the final option was available. She had a quiet link maintained with Sasakibe-fukutaicho; If she gave the signal, Pennance would alight.

Before she left the shade between the buildings, she paused; The Soutaicho was standing in mid-air, being faced by the three traitors. There was no way she could get a signal to him without the enemy noticing. She could try and act like she'd been there the whole time, but Tousen, Ichimaru, and Aizen were observant, and surely noted everyone on the battlefield from the start. She wasn't powerful enough to pass herself off as reinforcements. If she were seen, the enemy would know something had changed. Pershaps if she could make herself know to one of the captains, they could find a subtle way to communicate with Yamamoto. She started towards Soi-Fon and the large man, and was nearly bowled over by a flood of spiritual pressure. Two battles raged; in each field, and individual matching previous reports of espada (dressed all in white, mask fagments visible) fought against other opponents, all wearing what might be called "living-world eccentric," and all with hybrid reiatsu. The male espada was dodging attacks from a giant club, while the female espada traded blows with two young girls. There was something familiar about one of them…

It was a fine balance, summoning only enough reiatsu of her own to stand, to move, while not flaring and risk being seen. Fortunatly, Nanao had spent her whole life being invisible.

She had been the youngest member of Squad Eight ever, and one of the youngest children ever admitted to the Gotei-13. Most her age get the label "genius," and get put on the fast-track to captaincy. Nanao, though, stayed in her squad, rose to vice-captaincy, and stayed there. She didn't want glory, or power. She wanted to be good at what she did. And she was terrified of being wrong. She let the taicho, with their unending confidence, command the squads. She simply ran her squad by the book, because that's what her taicho and her squad-mates neeed.

Wordlessly, she reached Soi-Fon-taicho's field of view. Notice, surprise, acknowledgement all flashed in the shorter woman's eyes. Immediately, Nanao ducked into the alley to her left. She heard the giant's gentle voice say "Mm? I almost thought someone was there. My mistake."

And then the world exploded. She was slammed into the wall by a tidal wave of spiritual pressure. Finally, it appeared Her Taicho decided to take something in this life seriously.

***

Stark was interrupted in killing the interlopers "Rose" and "Love" by a sword running through his chest. For a moment, he felt the added pressure, the difficulty breathing, the loss of motor control. He looked down—

…and there was nothing. No bloody blade, no growing red stain, no searing pain—nothing. Looking behind him, he saw only the lazy captain from earlier. "Was that some kind of attack? Pretty pathetic." They continued to face eachother in silence. And Stark still felt that pressure on his chest.

The shinigami was just standing there, swords ready at his sides, just looking at him. "Oh, that wasn't an attack, was it? That was just your intent." A slight nod was his only response. "*Sigh* You take this long to make it interesting? I told you we can't wait anymore. Come on, then, all of you. Come to die." Stark readied his pack, his explosive wolf-selves. But as he and the interlopers took their stances, the captain gave a slight shake of his head.

The one with the club called "Uh, you sure you want us to stay out of this, Shunsui?" This time, a slight nod. The blond one said quietly "Yeah, he's got it. Let's move away." And they were alone. Finally, the lazy captain spoke.

"Stark Coyote, Lillynette Gingerback, I must ask you humbly to forgive me." He gave a slight bow. "I despise fighting, and in my aversion I believe I have not taken you seriously enough. I had not meant to insult you."

"So? Prove you're taking us seriously now."

Shunsui crossed his swords before him, the edges of each facing Stark.

"The flower wind stills, the God of Heaven braces, trembles…"

The wind around both of them picked up.

"The flower skies crash down; the Demon of Hell, laughing, weeps blood…"

The wind became erratic and wild.

"Bankai. Heaven's Madness."

The twin blades vaporized in those final words…

The air was perfectly still. The wind hadn't simply died down; it had ended altogether. The natural breeze from the North that had waxed and waned throughout the battle had ceased. The only sounds were the small piles of shifting rubble beneath them.

Too quiet. Too still.

Howling and explosions to his left, and he saw his wolves being picked up, as if carried by a wave. Each was being torn open before vanishing in fire and pain. Stark scattered what he could before he had to dodge the wave himself. Then, he sent the pack against the captain.

From all sides they converged. Stark sent them in from every angle; from before and behind, from left and right, from above and below. Shunsui used the wind to clear a path for himself, then used his great speed to evade the wolves. It was a chase from there; Stark's pack trying to surround the shinigami, and the shinigami dodging and attacking to prevent it. It continued from rooftop to street to the boundaries of the battlefield. In on particularly cheeky move, Shunsui slowed behind the starange espada Wonderweiss, then shunpo'ed again just as one of the wolves exploded. Huh, Stark thought, petty revenge for his friend, or he's still playing games.

But Stark had withdrawn a few from the chase, and as Shunsui rocketed toward him, he allowed them to re-manifest behind the captain, catching their quarry off-guard. He only saw his opponent bring his hand up before he was trapped on all sides.

Stark's wolves were a unique mixure of cero and self. The added reishi and reiatsu allowed for far greater control, a bit of programmability, and more focused explosive power. When detonated on his command, they were fare more dangerous than blunderbuss cero. When they were destroyed, though, the cero and self-fragments lost cohesion, and thus their explosive force was reduced. And before Stark could command his large pack to detonate, a move that definitely would have killed the Shingami, he felt them all get cut down, misfiring almost simultaneously. The ensuing explosion would still have been cool, had he not been so frustrated.

Shunsui stood, singed, his captain's haori still burning and being carried away by the last of the gale he'd used to defend himself. Out of breath, and in a quiet, ragged voice, he said "My turn."

There was a ripple in the air, and Stark's hair blew back from his face as a large gash appeared on his chest. Another gust from his right, and his right shoulder bled and lost function. His left thigh got a small cut as he dodged wind from that side.

Stark turned to get distane from Shunsui, maybe throw off his aim, but the shinigami shunpo'ed right behind him, and delivered a kidou-charged blow to the espada's face. They began exchanging blows, but they blocked eachother well. This served Shunsui, though; while Stark's hands were busy his pistols were useless. It also kept Stark in place while Shunsui used his sword's wind attacks to slash his opponent's back. Stark cried out in pain, then threw a cero from his eye, and the two separated, both breathing heavily, singed and bleeding.

"I've *pant* got to *pant* give it to y-you *pant* espada. You're the toughtest *pant* fight I've had in a *pant* few hundred years."

"It's a real *pant* love-fest with you *pant* isn't it, shinigami?"

"Civility is rare. We need to put a bit of grace wherever we can."

"Hm. I guess that's just not how Hueco Mundo works. But then, it's rare to find company… worth being civil to." A pause, and more wolves appeared, and Stark raised his pistols. "Alright, let's end this."

Shunsui raised one hand. "Yes, yes. Of course. But first, a haiku. I just composed it, and think you should hear it."

"Wha? Just now, as we were fighting?!"

"It's a bad habit, I know. But please, indulge me."

"Whatever." and a small shrug.

"Thank you for your patience." The captains large sword re-formed in his left hand.

"Wind links Heaven, Earth."

Wait…

"Breath links Heaven, my body."

…one sword…

"Wind. Breath. No difference."

….!

Shunsui's other sword exploded out from Stark's chest, having been drawn into the espada's lungs as air by his heavy breathing, then re-formed at the captain's command. The sword flew gracefully, end over end, into Shunsui's open right hand. Stark was too surprised to send his wolves, in too much pain to bring his pistols to bear. As he saw his opponent rocket toward him, he saw all joking and pretense had fallen away. In place of the lazy drunk was a warrior; skilled, cunning, deadly, and absolutely resolute. But still without malice. Stark let a little admiration show through. The two locked eyes one last time. The espada's said "You did well. I'm okay with this."

As his swords fell, the shinigami's eyes said "I'm sorry."

The body fell, and Shusui closed his eyes in a moment of silent prayer for his enemy.

Then he felt the energy fracture, a small, bright flame of spiritual pressure breaking off from the dark, cooling mass. And then, he heard a girl's cries.

Oh, gods no…

"Nononononono…. Stark? STAAAAAARRRRRRK!"

When Shunsui opened his eyes again, Lillynette was standing below him, holding Stark's body to her, quickly becoming covered in blood.

"Nonononodon'tleavemedon'tleavemedon'tgodon'tgononono..."

When Shunsui came near, she looked at him. There was panic in her eyes. Terror. And pleading. He knelt next to her. In a small voice, she said "I don't want to be alone."

He put a hand on her shoulder, quietly assuring her "You won't be."

He stood. She stopped crying.

"Close your eyes."

She did.

* * *

Nanao felt a swell of pride as Her Taicho stood above his opponent. From what she'd seen, it looked like Sereitei's forces had been bloodied but overwhelmingly victorious. With their strange allies, it would soon just be Aizen, Tousen, and Ichimaru against a dozen captain-level opponents. Part of her knew that the traitors still had some stratagies yet to play, but now she felt the first few rays of hope shine through. She watched as a girl, apparently the fraccion to Shunsui's late adversary, hold the espada's body, watched as Her Taicho knelt and put a hand on her shoulder in reassurance. Though unlikely, Nanao's mind began to calculate the logistics of taking the aarancar girl in—sleepng quarters, food, keeping her away from Kurotsuchi Mayuri… She knew there was a slim chance of this, but Her Taicho did have a strong gallant streak, and a penchant for rescuing girls, and that's why he was raising his swords up now… no—

NO!

He isn't—

…he didn't…

She watched the two aarancar bodies fall, the girl's refusing to let go of the man's. Both of their bloodied faces seemed at peace. And as they fell, their bodies began to disintigrate, leaving nothing but spirit particles to be carried away by the wind. High above stood a dark and terrible stranger. The twin swords he held looked menacing, dulled with blood, and still hungry.

And then, the stranger noticed her—

And Kyoraku Shunsui stood again, mere feet from her, his face wearing surprise and nervousness, like that time she'd caught him sneaking through a window in the women's brought his sword through a little girl's torso in one textbook-perfect, fluid motion! God! Her mind just realized what he'd done. That monster was not Her Taicho; he was kind and gentle, and she wished he'd had his ugly pink coat so he wouldn't look like he'd just slaughtered a child!

He tried to smile, tried to wear the clown's mask again, but as he reached out to touch her shoulder, she flinched.

Nanao. Flinched.

Shunsui saw those beautiful violet eyes, eyes he'd seen lost, hopeful, happy, angry, annoyed, and hold so many emotions over the years, now filled with horror. At him. At what he'd done. She'd seen what he really was.

And he'd lost her.

End Ch.1