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"Huh?" Soujirou opened his eyes, and saw that the monsters were starting to retreat. "....WHAT?!" He said, extremely surprised. The monsters were just walking away from them. In fact, the monsters formed a line. "What is this, marching band?" He yelled at the monsters. They paid no attention to him, and kept walking toward some strange destination. "Ah well. At least I'm still alive. I think." He looked at his hands and arms to see if everything was still there. "Yep. I'm still good." He continued to observe the monsters as they marched in the opposite direction from them.

"Hm....Where are they going?" He asked himself. As he tried to get up to follow them, he collapsed on the ground. "Crap. I....can't move!" He struggled to just push himself back up into a crouching position. He did a crouching walk to the nearest tree, and pulled himself up into a standing position with it. "I really want to see where they're going!" He said to himself. So he slowly followed the monsters, doing some sort of new limp, because both of his legs were messed up at that moment.

Every step hurt him, but he was just too curious to stop. "Isn't my curiosity what got me into this in the first place?" He said, trying to reprimand himself. "Man, I'm stupid. I should have just taken that chance to run away. Or hide. Or something that wouldn't have caused me tons of physical pain." He mumbled to himself. After he limped a few meters, he started to feel calmer. A lot calmer. He sighed, like he was relieved of some great stress or pain. "Huh. That's weird." He said to himself as he continued onward.

He could see the end of the line of monsters. And at the end of it....were humans? Soujirou blinked his eyes a few times, to see if he was hallucinating again or not. He wasn't. "Why are there..." Before he could finish that sentence, he saw the person that they were all going to. "Hm? Isn't that a guy from that boy band? Arashi, was it?" He said to himself. He got closer, so he could see the man's face better. "No, never mind. He seems really calm, though. I mean, there are monsters everywhere. So what's wrong with him?" Soujirou continued his way forward, until he could see what the man was doing. "Huh? He's stamping people with his sword? And they're disappearing?" He tried to get closer, but then he noticed how close he was already. He was just a few meters away from him. "...Oh." He leaped into the nearest bush to hide, just in case the man hadn't seen him already.

"Ow!" He yelled as he landed in the branches. Well, now his "great cover" was blown indefinitely, unless the man was too preoccupied with stamping the people and the monsters. So Soujirou stuck as low to the ground as he could, hoping that he wouldn't be seen, at least.

It had taken a while, but Xeion finally managed to get things done before anything awry happened. Of course, this meant having to ignore the queries of the boys from before for a little bit -- something that hurt him a little bit, but did so for the greater good. The Hollows and the humans have been waiting a long time to receive respite from the pains of the world. As such, it was his duty as a captain of one of the Seireitei's 13 court squads to answer their silent cries for help before anything else. He knew the boys could wait a few minutes. They looked strong enough lads to be able to do so despite their injuries, presumably from roughhousing with each other although the truth was far from that.

The lights dissipated and once again the silent shroud of the night came back to the town with only the light from the few lamp posts illuminating the entire area where they were. "Phew, I'm beat," said Xeion, slumping back down on the ground, sweating but with a satisfied smile on his face. After a few minutes of rest, he stood back up and addressed the curious young boy who had come up to him from before, giving him a confused look. "Huh? You mean you can see what I was doing back there?" asked Xeion, surprised that a human was able to see everything that had just transpired there. "Well...since you did see and all, let me just clarify one thing -- I wasn't hypnotizing them; they came of their own free will. Also, I'm not part of a boy band...I'm just a tourist. Yeah, a tourist from another place far away from here."

Xeion gave the young boy a smile, hoping that his questions would end there since he didn't want to blow his cover. The truth was that today and tomorrow was supposedly Xeion's free time. However, he just couldn't help but take up some purification jobs from the shinigami stationed in Karakura Town in exchange for some free time. Of course, the shinigami from Karakura immediately took up the offer and Xeion was now left with performing soul burial for the rest of the night. Not that it bothered him though -- it was what he considered 'fun'. However, it sure was a pain explaining things when someone with an affinity to spiritual energy could see and feel what he was doing.

"So, what did you think it was that happened exactly?" he asked the young boy, waiting for his answer while also staying alert for any more Hollow activity or human soul that needed to be purified and sent to their rest.

"I see...," murmured Xeion to himself as he turned around to face the new boy who had just come from the bushes and almost laughed when he saw him -- his white hair and the stray leaves that stuck onto them made him look like some sort of ice cream flavor straight from the curious-looking street stalls of Tokyo. Still, not wanting to disrespect the young lad since he was polite enough to offer him his hand, Xeion just kept the laughter to himself and maintained his calm and composed frame of mind. "It's nice to meet you, Hitsugaya Soujiro-san. You look like this person I know, Hitsugaya Toushiro-san, from where I come from. You're probably one of his descendants or something, but not to elaborate on the matter, allow me to introduce myself."

Extending his own hand, Xeion met the young boy's own and grasped it firmly, shaking hands with him with a smile on his face. Since he wasn't allowed to disclose any piece of information about the shinigami then and there without a good reason to, he found it best to use an alias. Since working with the Ravens, and being one himself, Xeion already had a lot of aliases to choose from. However, for the purpose of this encounter, he decided to use an original alias back when he was investigating a college in Tokyo -- a parody of the word, 'shinigami'.

"My name is Yagami Shin. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Although the young boy tried his best to hide whatever it was from ailing him, Xeion's natural instinct to help people, as well as his keen eye for detail, showed that the young boy had something wrong with him. Even if he tried to hide it, Xeion could tell that there was blood dripping out from somewhere -- he can't forget the irony smell of such things. He was already used to the smell, even back when he was still in squad four, serving as its sixth seat. Therefore, as long as there are injuries involved, Xeion always knew how to find out who is injured. It was an ability that has helped him reduce the casualties in every fight he's ever participated in except his own since, in every battle he's undertaken himself, he made sure nobody got hurt.

Not answering the young boy's question and ignoring it for the moment, Xeion immediately leaned forward and touched the boy's forehead with his left index finger. He smiled before he sent a shot of healing reiatsu into the boy via his brain to supercharge the boy's natural healing abilities. Soon, the boy would feel good as new as the result of such a temporary boost in his system, his wounds and bruises healed within minutes. This showed the young captain's prowess in the healing arts, but this was only a speck compared to what he can do. Trained by Rhia-taicho herself, one can say that his knowledge on healing was comparable to that of squad four's present third seat -- something which was already remarkable as most people in the Seireitei, except those in squad four, have little or no knowledge of medical arts whatsoever. Now that everything was well and good, he thought that he could continue his little conversation.

"Well, I was passing judgment to souls. I'm a soul reaper, you see. You people call my kind as grim reapers, angels of death, or what not, but all roads lead to us. Well, we do have our Western counterparts, but that's a different story."

Xeion told his story in a casual way. At that point, it was only a matter of time before he would find out, especially after that little act he did to heal the young boy. However, to the lad, the story sounded ridiculous, but every little bit of it was true. However, the little boy wouldn't know any better and thought he was being lied to again. In his mind, as with all children in Japan, they were taught otherwise and that soul reapers were silent specters with black robes and scary appearances that ferry human souls to the afterlife, not people who looked like bishounens and wore Tokyo fashion just for the sake of style. Call it reverse psychology -- telling the truth so that the other person can suspect it as false when it is, in fact, true.

Standing there with a quizzical look on his face, Herieo found himself caught within a somewhat deep train of thoughts. His eyes were slit in a cute fashion, sly but just as innocent as ever. He'd watched this man purify souls, save there lives unintentionally, and do other odd stuff. "Hmm.. This guy talks very funny. Maybe Tetsuya should hear this stuff.. He's more 'Down To Earth' then I am. He'll probably know about this stuff.. Or maybe I'm wrong, and he'll be cursing this fellow out! Golly, I'd better stop that before it happens.. This crazy talk points to this man being able to kick our butts if the situation were to come." As he thought, he was suddenly interrupted by the voice of Hitsugaya. The boy spoke like this 'Shin' fellow, speaking of death gods and magic men. It might explain why he was able to kick and punch the hollows too! "Y-You know stuff about this magic too..?! You two are weird.. But interesting!" Pointing both hands index finger towards the two of them, he would stumble forward then point to himself. "I'm Herieo Tenmoni! I scream 'Heroic Effort', and punch stuff! My besty best best friend Tetsuya shoots lightning.. He's probably unconscious on the ground back there, but I'm sure he'll wake up. He's always falling over himself after parties and fun..Heheh." Jokingly, he chuckled and tapped his own forehead. "Me next..? I um.." Nervously, he stared down, looking at his shirtless body. The slightly toned build was slit everywhere, purple bruises lining his back and arms. Slices and markings were abundant on his form, none ever closed. Come to think of it, the boy was looking kinda lightheaded. All this moving and smiling.. Wobbly walking, and hazy standing. He was still human.. it was a miracle he still spoke to these two after doing the most fighting! He'd been going the longest, wasting the most energy, and slamming the most hollows in the face. His body showed it. "And whats this about becoming 'One'..? Isn't that a Metallica song!? DO WE GET TO BECOME SONGS~?! That'd be so cool.. I WANNA BE AN INSTRUMENTAL!" Ha! never mind that earlier comment.. This odd boy was defying the logical laws by screaming out and showing such a hyperactive nature in such a situation.. And in such a damaged state!

Soujirou looked down, to see the sword impale him through the heart. "What the..." Before he had time to finish his sentence, he was separated from his body. "...hell?!" He finished his sentence as his human body fell to the ground. He looked at both of his arms. He was wearing strange, black clothes that seemed to be hundreds of years out of place. Is that a hakama?!" He exclaimed, as he lifted his left leg up. "IT IS!" He exclaimed yet again, to confirm his thoughts.

He grabbed the sheath of his zanpakuto, which was on his left side, tied by....that white belt thing. (xD) He flicked the guard with his thumb, separating the sheath and the sword. He did this because now it was much easier to take out the sword. He fluently pulled the sword out with his right hand, then grabbed the other side of the hilt with his left hand to steady it. "Oh, look!" He said as he examined the guard on his sword. "It's flower shaped!" He said with a smile. (Think Soujirou Kusaka's guard, if anyone's seen DiamondDust Rebellion.) "Looks sort of different from what my grandpa uses, but at the same time, it looks really similar." He said in amazement.

He flicked the sword up into the air with his right hand, and watched as it flipped a few times. Just as it was about to hit the ground, He grabbed the hilt. The blade was in the exact same position as it was when he had thrown it. "Yep. Still got it." He said amusingly. He was talking about his sword training, when he would occasionally throw his sword up into the air when he grandpa wasn't looking. He grabbed the sheath with his left hand to steady it, and sheathed the sword. "Well, thank you, my good shinigami. Now, what to do?" He said as he stared down at his sword. "I'm assuming this is my, 'zanpakuto', correct?" he said, pointing to his zanpakuto.

Herieo could now be seen crouched, poking the lifeless body of Hitsugaya. He smirked playfully, his eyes slitting as he began to lift it over his shoulders and into a fireman's carry. He wobbled a bit, but soon after was able to stand still. He looked down towards the oddly dressed boy, chuckling but nodding. "That outfit suits you! It's pretty odd though.. All weird and stuff. Those sleeves are kinda odd too.. All flappy~" Herieo made his comments without any fear, or sign of modesty; He felt, already, that this kid was friendly and nice enough to take his words. The boy, though they'd just met, felt like a friend. "..Huh.. Oh yay! Now, I have two friends! Hitsugaya and Tetsuya!" Excitedly, Herieo would skip forward towards the boy.. The distance between them was quite minuscule, and might seem a bit uncomfortable. To add on to the odd vibes released, he would bend down into a crouch, coming just below eye level when compared to the boy in height. His eyes were no longer slit, now being used to examine the outfit. After looking over it and such, he began skimming over the blades body and whatnot. "..He said you can get back into this body right..? If so then.. I wanna be one too! Once Tetsuya gets here, I'll make him wanna join me in doin' it too! I wanna be a soul.. It looks pretty dang fun!" Giggling, he sat the body of Hitsugaya down in front of him and proceeded to position it correctly on it's back. "..Cept having a 'Zanpikota' like yours. I have a.. An um.. I have a little fear of blades. I-It's not so much being cut by one.. But cutting others with them. I can't stand the sight of someone being cut!" Having leaned in towards Hitsugaya, he was whispering lightly as to hide it from anyone else nearby. After drawing back, he lip synced a short 'Don't Tell Anyone!' to the boy, nodding and giving a half smile. With that, he would crouch down and sit cross legged, awaiting the man's return.

((Hey there, Oath-kun and Smico-san. I'm just going to go ahead and turn Hereieo-san and Tetsuya-san into subbies now since I don't want you guys to wait for too long. I apologize if I seem to be acting somewhat of a puppeteer in the case of Tetsuya-san. sweatdrop ))

The cold, crisp night air, enough to calm the raging souls of anyone who was fortunate enough to be out at this magical hour was slightly overpowered with the alluring smell of what seemed like a medium cheeseburger with extra cheese and ketchup. The fresh aroma of the condiments along with the hot meat permeated the immediate area, allowing themselves to gently waft over to anyone in the vicinity and make their stomachs rumble as if telling them indiscreetly that they, too, also wanted the same and needed to be satisfied lest they risk incurring the wrath of gastronomic punishment which their stomachs know how to deliver all too well with optimum effect. Although that was the primary signal, the smell itself was an indicator of another thing -- it was Xeion, back from his little trip to Wacdonalds. He carried a small plastic bag with three other burgers and three cans of coke while he himself generously chomped down on the fourth burger that he was holding on his right hand, occasionally taking a sip from the medium-sized can of chilled green tea that he had bought from a vending machine near the Wacdonalds establishment.

Upon his return to the park where he met the young boys, he saw that they were getting used to each other, horsing around just as young, energetic kids should, but it seemed as if the secret of the shinigami would spread like wildfire if word of this gets out. The realization of that hit Xeion on the head -- there was only one thing he could do at that point, that is, to make all three into substitute shinigami so as they would be sworn to secrecy, whether they liked to or not. He already was finished with one, meaning that there were only two left. Xeion hated to force them into a world which they may not be prepared for, although unbeknown to him that all three were eager to get their hands on a zanpakuto, but this was better considering the alternative method of dealing with those who know of shinigami.

Putting the bag down near the fountain, Xeion silently drew Elena out, her solid form shining undeniably brilliant when the street lamp's light reflected against her glorious, metal frame, and performed a shunpo on the spot, reappearing a short while after just behind the young boy who sat cross-legged, awaiting for his return. In one swift movement, the blade was upon him, lunged deep into his back and pierced his heart although no pain came from it as the steel made contact with the flesh. This was because of Xeion's masterful stroke as well as employing his extensive knowledge of bodily functions he had acquired from his days as squad four's sixth seat. It was the same case as Soujiro-san before him, although the main difference was that this time, Xeion stabbed the boy from behind while Soujiro-san was stabbed from the front. Before long, he, too, would experience the same as the former.

Next up was the last of the three, but it took a while before he could find him. He had no tell-tale signs of being in the immediate area, but that didn't really mean he was gone. It was probably because he was knocked unconscious, thereby limiting the spiritual energy he produced since his body was in a resting state. The captain of squad nine really had to utilize his reiatsu detecting skills, as well as his keen eye, to locate the body of the young lad whom he found somewhere near the park, passed out from their previous encounter with the Hollows, although in Xeion's mind, he was just tuckered out. Since he was sleeping, one might assume him to be 'safe' from unnecessarily spreading word of the shinigami as real, but seeing that his friends were already ones, Xeion was even more sure of his decision to turn the three into substitute shinigami.

Painlessly stabbing the boy on the heart and retracting Elena back before sheathing her, Xeion breathed out a sigh of relief although he might get a little bit of insults coming his way once the boy awoke from his fatigue-induced slumber, but that was fine. Hoprefully, his friends would repirmand him before anything bad happened. It would be bad if the boy were to release his zanpakuto unnecessarily since that would attract attention from the patrolling shinigami, at least, the ones whom Xeion hadn't made a deal with to take the night off so he could take their duties and purify the Hollows himself.

Walking back to where he left the bag of food, Xeion murmured to himself, smiling while he did. "Haha, it looks like I'm doing the same thing as Feiy-sama did for me. What a glorious day indeed," he whispered to himself as he sat back down near the fountain and gazed up at the sky, the stars and the moon twinkling above the heavens like ephemeral angels, singing to a cosmic chorus. "Magnificent," he uttered out once more, a smile coming upon his lips.