A Lover Returns!

This article, A Lover Returns!, is the property of Another Poetic Spartan

This article, A Lover Returns!, is property of Perchan.

The skyscrapers of Seireitei towered overhead. The sun was shining. Overall, it appeared as if it was going to be a promising day. Though bitterness surged through this pleasantness, completely destroying all positive emotions. Even though the sun was out, it felt like a torrential downpour in this woman's mind. The rain of despair felt as if it was bombarding her at a mile a minute. If only...if only she could make him as miserable as her. Then the rain would end.

A man was making his usual rounds in Rukongai, walking and moving about while giving every man and woman, old and young, a polite smile and a nod with the head. Even though he didn't expect the same exact respect in turn, they returned it kindly, well aware of his reputation and grandness. He was as if he was Positive Karma given flesh because it was the only way one could describe. He moved in earnest, taking long and simple strides. He stopped a nearby shop, exploring the contents they had to offer, and talking to the owner for deals and the like. But as he stepped outside, his jolliness and smile soon disappeared, abruptly being replaced with a slight grimace. He felt a presence...a familiar presence that he attempted to erase from memory. He thought he got rid of it...but now, its back. And it was coming...closer...and closer...

"...It's him." A young woman growled. She felt like she wanted to kill him unaware, attacking him out of the blue. Or at least take him down as fast as possible. She slowly approached him, aiming to attack him with the element of surprise.

The man inched backward, aware of the ominous presence moving closer and closer to him. He looked around, hoping that he would catch a glimpse of the closing presence. The man thanked the shop keeper, and was off, walking as he fast he could as to escape the approaching storm he was well aware of.

"Kei..." A voice came out of nowhere. It sounded erratic and almost psychotic. Not to mention, it came from the mouth of a woman scorned. This wasn't a good sign. The woman lurched forward, as it she was a marionette with its strings cut. While it was obvious that this woman's features were obscured due to not having a proper design as of yet, there was something incredibly sinister about the way she moved towards him; as if a lion was cornering its prey. With her blade sheathed behind her back eminating a dark and possessive aura, the clearly broken Airi Minori uttered in a monotone voice, "...Why, greetings, my Kei...It's been a long time, no?" The air seemingly froze in fear.

The man froze in fear when he heard the voice that he wished to never hear again. The tone cut through the air and pierced into his ears like knives, causing an imagined pain to burst into his head and his body froze, as if it was a trained response. "You..." He managed to say before attempting to turn around but to no avail. To his surprise, he was firmly stuck in place, as if someone was keeping him down. "...Leave...me...alone.."

A sweet smile that oozed sadism and psychosis formed upon Airi's face, as she shuffled closer to him. "Don't lie to yourself. You and I both know...That you need me, just as I need you. And that red string, the red string of fate which interwines us, binds us together for all eternity." She felt as if she could hug him to death, though she managed to restrain herself...for now. The sun's blazing heat was as if a calm breeze in the face of this woman; she was otherworldly beyond all compare. "...So, my dear Kei, what have you been up to in my absence?"

"I'm not the one lying to myself Airi. Its the other way around. You have built a false reality around you, with me at its core. The red string of fate that you speak, was false and you know that. It wasn't real. It could've been but you ruined that. The red string of fate does exist but its not with you." Kei growled, his flight or fight response was kicking in but he was unable to mood. Something was keeping him down but he didn't know what. "I've been....away from you. And I want it stay that way." He bluntly replied back, clenching his fists and teeth.

"Oho. Why so...serious, Kei Yume?" Airi smirked. She believed she knew which buttons to push in regards to this man. A malicious smile which showed no emotion but teeth formed upon her face, as she walked foward, attempt to pull him closer. This did not bode well. In addition, her hand was affixed around the hilt of her blade; as if she was about to strike at any moment, like a wolf in sheep's clothing. It was all about lulling the foe into a false sense of security...though she failed miserably at projecting an aura of calm. "No matter how much you try to deny it, it's true. You and I are meant to be together. Forever." Airi's tone became far more erratic and psychotic.

"Forever....Forever..." Kei muttered the words to himself very slowly, letting the meaning of them sink into his brain. He shook his head away from her gaze. His eyes were downcast; he rather not stare into her in delusioned gaze. He laughed once and looked at her again. "You know, I did wish of that once. It also came into fruition too. But you ruined it Airi. If you only learned to let go, your reality would've been real. And not a lie. Instead, you let it slip from your hands." He finished, pausing to add emphasis. "Airi Minori. You're name meant Lovely Jasmine of Truth. It was beautiful. But that doesn't exist anymore. You aren't lovely, nor a jasmine. YOU are a lie." He uttered distastefully.

At that moment, Airi Minori's eyes widened, as her irises shrunk, giving her a psychotic visage. "Oho, so my name meant something to you?" A smirk formed on her face. There was no truly good way for Airi to be in love with someone, Airi unfortunately didn't love Kei in an equal kind of way, but more in a "mine, mine, MINE!" kind of way. Being Kei Yume was truly woe. "...No. You're a lie. And so is this delicious cake!" Airi screeched, holding up a slice of chocolate cake which looked like it had been half-eaten. Quickly swirling around to shove the cake in her mouth without hesitation, Airi turned around a split second later, with traces of crumbs upon her cheeks. "...Disregard that out-of-context moment. ...You're seeing someone else?" Airi began to snoop around. "If you are, you can stuff it. Nobody's gonna take you away from me. Not even me, see? I'll kill me before that happens." Truly, Airi Minori's hate was safer than her love.

He couldn't help but give Airi a smirk mixed of humour and contempt. He noted her silly reference to an antique video game as the humans would call it."Every name has a meaning dear, including yours." He said, crossing his arms. "You can say that..it shouldn't really matter to you. I'm not the person for you, anymore that is." Kei turned around, his back away from her. "I would like to see you try.." He finished, taking a few steps away from Airi, moving in a dignified yet protected manner.

"Oh, that's cute." Airi let out a sinister, yet strangely adorable cackle. Despite sounding sweet, it was clear that Airi harboured ill will towards the Captain of the 3rd Division. For some reason, her left eye seemed to pulse out, and a killing intent surged forth. "You seem to think that you can evade me. No matter where you go, no matter what you do. Even if you die. I'll be there to take you back. Relocate? I'll be outside your window in a flash. You see...There's nothing you can do." A psychotic smirk formed upon her face, as she gripped her blade. "Even if I kill you, I'll kill myself! That way, we'll be together in death!" A mad cackle erupted from her lips.

"I know I'm cute, isn't that why you have that unhealthy obsession with me?" He joked, taking Airi's words in and thinking upon them. "If you could find me anywhere, how come it took you such a long time for this one eh?" Kei refuted, pursing his lips in the process.

Airi snarled like a savage beast, though she remained something resembling tranquil. She wouldn't give in to Kei's supposed insults. Of course she was obsessed with him- to the point that she wanted to get him out of her head. "...Well, I, I..." She wasn't sure. Airi Minori was never the best with directions; in fact, she could get lost when a door was right in front of her. "...I'm not too good with directions, got that!?" She snapped.

"How cute, I got you there Airi." Kei mocked with an uplifted smile. At least some parts of his former lover didn't change. Her other traits, didn't fare well though. He could feel Airi's eyes staring at him, as if she was looking into the deepest parts of his protected soul. The fact that it could be possible, sent chills running up his spine.

Airi's cheeks became a flushed red, as she snapped, "...Grr. So what? You didn't get me. Not at all." She crossed her arms rather haughtily and turned away in a truly 'tsundere' fashion. "Nope, no siree. You didn't get me at all." Again, Airi Minori had a habit of repeating herself...But really, she continued to switch from 'yandere' to 'tsundere' at the drop of a hat. "...Still, I've..." She gripped her blade with her shaking hand. "I can't chicken out now. Do I really want to kill that idiot? Stupid, stupid, stupid!" These thoughts and memories of Kei and Airi's time together ran though her mind as she smiled slightly, before she responded with a scowl "...If you won't love me, I'll take you by force."

He adamantly returned Airi's scowl with another smile. "I would like to see you try sweetie." Kei teased her with a slight snicker. "Seems like you're remembering the past. It was sweet wasn't it? What's done is done but we should leave the past alone. You have to let me go. Its the best...for me..and you." He said, the pitch of his voice inching lower and lower.

Airi knew when to give in. While this seemed out of character, it was probably for the best. Still, a throbbing feeling belted at her brain, telling her "Don'tgiveupdon'tgiveupdon'tgiveupdon'tgiveupdon'tgiveup" incessantly, like a mantra of madness. She wished to let go. What she wouldn't give to let go of lingering feelings right now. Yes, Airi Minori was one who was easily convinced. "...I don't know what to do, Kei..." Her tone sounded desparate.

His former lover seemed to be folding to Kei's kind words and he had hoped that he can probably forstall the inevitable if he continued the conversation or the "sweet talk" as some might call it. However, deep down inside Kei was prepared for the event that Airi may suddenly turn and attack him. She was known to be unpredictable and what she could be doing right now may be the case. "It's not my life to live Airi. All I can do for you is give suggestions. I will help you if needed but that's pretty much all I can do." Kei said remorsefully. He appeared beside Airi and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Live your own life." Kei whispered into her ears.

There was hope at this moment. Airi wouldn't let go of the fact that Kei Yumi was once in love with her, and she would hope to keep him at all costs. However, all good things must come to an end. Just like death came to all; there was no escape, no fariness. She wouldn't take no for answer however, drawing her blade and slashing at Kei with incredible force sporting a grin which gave the impression that she was about to lose it. "I won't let you go...! I can't let you go...!"

The blade slashed at Kei's chest, causing him to buckle and move back several steps. He gave a low grunted and clutched the wound furiously bleeding on his chest. "I see...you won't let this go...and so this is how it ends.." He managed to say in between gasps before he collapsed on the ground, unmoving.

Airi's eyes widened. She couldn't believe it. She had harmed him. She, Airi Minori, had harmed Kei Yume. Yet...she felt as if it were the right choice. A murderous grin affixed upon her face, as she pointed her blade at her ex-lover, howling, "Now...I'll kill you, then I'll kill myself. Let's destroy each other, KEI YUMEEEEEEEEEE!"

Deep gasps of breath emanated from the collapsed figure as Kei attempted to get up, albeit with great effort and weakened forearms. He was able to stand up in front of Airi but his legs were continuously shaking, and he clutched his bloodied chest. "You can't kill me Airi. Not right now. Not never." He said in between gasps as Kei moved towards her, moving inch by inch.

Time seemed to slow for him, as the pain constantly fired throughout his body with every step. It felt as if hours passed rather than seconds while Kei edged towards his former lover, until he met her face to face. "I can't be destroyed...." Kei said as he poked her stomach, his eyes started to glaze over. "Because that's not even me." Several familiar voices said in unison, coming from behind and her sides. Several Zanpakuto were aimed at Airi's body, barely touching her but the slightest prick can draw blood.

"...!" Airi clicked her tongue, as she was absolutely surronded, blades skewering her from all over, acting like a pincushion. Or was she? "Utsusemi." It turned out that the Airi Minori that was impaled was a duplicate. The true Airi Minori appeared behind the true Kei, or at least she thought it was the real deal, clapping her hands in a bemused tone. "...Haa...haha. How convienent. Utsusemi can explain everything, eh? Perfect for moment like this." Her slight smile graduated into a psychotic smirk, as she raised her blade, ready to cleave her ex-lover in half with a look of pure glee transfixed upon her face.

"Not perfect everything.." He said, his eyes afixed on Airi's face. Kei raised his hand up in a futile effort to deflect the blade, only for it to sink deep within his flesh, creating a sick and squelching sound. He grimaced, his face having been grimly contorted. However, this provided the perfect opportunity for him to strike, now that the blade was stuck in his forearm. In a matter of moments, Kei smiled and immediately swiped his hand at her, a Zanpakuto having miraculously materialized in his hand. As he made contact, the attacking Kei burst in a poof of smoke.

"...!!" This was really beginning to irk Airi. She forgot that Kei had portable Gigais. She applied her palm to her forehead in exasperation, barely keeping herself from breaking down in a screaming fit of rage. "Damn you, Kei Yume! How dare you make a laughing stock out of me!!" Her teeth were clenched to the point that blood was seeping from her gums. Immediately, she began to scout the area, analyzing every nook and cranny to try and locate her target once again. She wouldn't lose.

"You were never the type of person who took jokes the right way." Kei said regrettably, a series of flashbacks of the two together flashed throughout his mind. He shook his head to stop the flow of memories from overwhelming him. Breaking out in a sigh, he stood up from his hiding place, which was surprisingly close to Airi. In a flurry of movement and clothing, Kei was in front of her, both of his fists were aimed at her stomach. An ominous glow was affixed on his hands and in a second, the immediate area around them was illuminated with a bright light soon followed by a miniature explosion. "This is going to come out of my paycheck." He noted to himself. "Such a shame. I wanted to get Kiyo something."

Airi gritted her teeth, as she recieved the full force of the blow. Her lithe body flailed along the ground at a horrifying velocity, before she planted her blade into the ground like an immovable pivot, halting her fall. She slowly stood, tearing her blade out of the asphalt. Airi Minori's sharp incisors showed themselves, as she ran her hand along her blade, uttering in anger, "Show yourself- Esusekai!" In an instant, her weapon became surrounded in black energy, which converged upon the blade, transforming it into something which couldn't be called a katana anymore- it was more of a giant-handled blade, a giant razor. It looked too heavy, too unorthadox, and most of all, too poorly constructed to actually fare well. Of course, how wrong this was. Airi bounded into the air, attempting to slam down upon Kei's face like a meteor descending upon the earth.

The Shinigami responded accordingly to Airi's attack, bringing his Zanpakuto up to deflect the blow. But he didn't anticipate the force of the woman's blow, causing him to move back quite a bit the while sending a nerve jarring numbing feeling up his arm. He slightly growled at her attempted attack, noting the new weapon."Must be her Shikai. Even after all these years, its still ugly to boot." He though to himself. Kei closed his eyes and inhaled deeply and with a sudden motion, he whipped his Zanpakuto towards Airi, in hopes that it would catch her off guard.

Airi couldn't move her body to evade such a strike. In an instant, the Shinigami was struck with the full force of Kei's blade, the impact of which sent her hurtling across the ground with exceeding speed. While she had excellent offense and speed, her defense wasn't too top-notch. She could barely stand, using her large slab of metal of a weapon as a crutch. She slowly staggered towards Kei with blood trailing off her body, before her weapon released a large amount of unique reishi, which had reality warping properties. This reishi flowed through the air within a ten kilometer radius and changed the environment to a battle space, rendering her the master of this domain. In an instant, with the command of "Osoku Jikan", a supposedly good-as-new Airi leapt foward at sub-light speeds, slashing at Kei wildly like a savage beast.

He was taken aback with Airi's sudden "resurrection" and revitalization of her body, especially with the woman's new found ferocity as he attempted to deflect her wild strikes. His face was scrunched up in a combination of concentration and frustration as he didn't have enough time to think of a reasonable way to counteract Airi. His efforts proved to be somewhat futile. Even though Kei was able absorb the majority of the attacks, he caught the last few assaults caught him off guard and subsequently sent him spiraling a noticeable distance. "GRRRRAH" He manged to utter before hitting a building full force, obliterating the majority of the interior and causing a large plume of smoke to form.

Airi quickly rushed foward to chase after Kei, though at any time she knew she would collapse. "Maybe only a few more minutes of fighting, then I'll go down", she thought to herself. Though her resolve was strong, so she could possibly be able to fight for longer.

As Kei hastily got up from the attack, he could see Airi rushing towards him. And through careful observations of her bodily motions and facial features, he could tell that she was faltering and may stop at any moment. However, Kei was careful not to underestimate Airi; she had a penchant of playing possum, even in the most crucial and serious situations like when she pretended to be dead during a Hollow excursion and scared him half to "death".

"You don't have to do this Airi!" Kei called out as he began a small run, his Zanpakuto by the Shinigami's side.

"...Tch! Kei Yume, you don't understand...It's all I know now. All I can do...is kill you. Then kill myself." Airi snarled, as she gripped her own Zanapakutou, uttering under her breath, "Osoku Jikan." Reishi amassed and compressed upon her legs, magnifiying her speed ten-fold, leaping forward at incomprehensible speeds- which was further amplified by the application of Shunpo aka Flash Steps, almost instantly appearing in front of the captain, brandishing her blade, swinging with the force of ten tonnes behind her blow, aimed at Kei's face.

A wing appeared before Kei's face, having blocked the full blow at his expense, most notably ripping the wing in two as well as sending the Captain several meters back, crashing into another building. Kei's face was downcast as he stared at his damaged appendage. It fluffed it once but to no avail; it was broken beyond repair. He momentarily closed his eyes and the wing was quickly enveloped by spiritual energy and once it dissipated, it revealed a replaced wing. "You think that's the only thing you can do Airi but it isn't. You only wish acknowledge the easiest thing for you rather than put an effort into our damaged relationship." He said aloud, looking at Airi's facial expression for any hint of change.

"I can fix it. I can fix it, so we can be together once again...!" Airi Minori was a walking mass of contradictions, that was for sure. Her grin was full of audacity, not the sanest look around. She slowly approached Kei, before shooting into a series of wild and savage blows which threatened to do serious harm to the Captain

"You said that to me before Airi. LOOK AT THE RESULTS!" Kei cried out to her, his face sunken and sullen. He quickly raised his arms to absorb the woman's furious blows. Each hit sent large bouts of pain up his arm and into his body but all Kei did was grit his teeth in solemn silence. The ground he stood on and around him started to crack from the pressure, leaving a massive indent on the ground. While she gave him blow after blow, Airi failed to realize that his wings covered had now covered the both of them. In a swift motion, Kei grabbed Airi at the waist, catching her in surprise. With a flap of his wings, the two were up in the air.

Airi was absolutely flabbergastered. How did Kei grab her so fast? One of nature's mysteries, that was for sure. Still, her resolve to take Kei's heart or his life did not falter, as she spat, "You think you've figured me out, eh? I'm not the type to know the meaning of "give up". This won't end. Oh no." A smirk of audacity formed upon her lying face, as she declared, "I won't let you take the next step." She focused her spiritual energy to her feet, shifting the weight of her entire body downwards in the hopes that Kei Yume would drop her in exhaustion.

"...Uhmm...Airi...you do realize that we can float right?" Kei murmured into her ear, letting his grip loosen. Even though she placed all of her weight towards the bottom, he hardly broke a sweat. In fact, he noted it to be quite similar to that of a short workout to him. He continued, "Give up you say? Hmmph. I faced worst things than you ever would, like almost having your own bestfriend nearly assimilate you and take away a significant amount of your power. I didn't give. I just couldn't. And right now, I wouldn't give up to the likes of you!"

Airi's eyes widened. "Well, don't blame me for not knowing that!" Yes, really. She was so used to running around and jumping high that she didn't even know that they could float. In response, she focused her spiritual energy into the center of her body, releasing it in a single, enormous burst that wrested Kei's grip off of her, allowing her to plummet to the ground without a care in the world. Kei's words struck her significantly, as she yelled, "...Oh, my. To think that you've been through all that...I can't help," A wicked smirk formed upon her face. "But to try and comfort you." Blatant lies.

The forced of Airi's energy burst sent Kei back several meters, ultimately losing his grip on the woman. He growled in response, observing the Shinigami slowly descend to the ground. "Hmmph. Whatever you told me was a lie anyhow dear." He yelled at her. Kei quickly raised his Zanpakuto blade towards Airi and swung it in a robust arc. "'Yume no Piasu!" He cried out as an arc of whitish red energy erupted from the blade, raging forth towards Airi as if it were a herd of maddened bulls. Absolute truth.

• WHAM!* The blast connected with Airi's lithe body with incredible force, sending the Shinigami careening across the ground at incredible speed. She flailed across the now torn-up asphalt like a rag doll which couldn't cease its motion. Not only was Kei Yume far, far stronger than her, he had a valid reason to fight her; i.e. a reason which wasn't driven by sheer insanity. Weakly planting her blade into the ground, Airi realized; she was completely full of contradictions and she most certainly had several thousand screws loose. She ceased all movement; her eyes became dull husks of their former selves and she was reduced to a blubbering mess. "W-Wha...what...?"

"Do you wish to accept defeat Airi? Or do you wish to continue the senseless violence you yourself had come to enjoy?" Kei uttered with a hushed voice, slowly coming down from the air. He knelt down besides her and cupped the woman's cheek, gently caressing it with a meaningful glance. "Do you wish to continue? I'll count from 10....10....9....8.....7......6.......5......4......3......2.....1....."

"...I can't do this anymore." Her voice was full of remorse. Slumping forward, Airi sighed, "...I, I just can't do it." Yes, really. Airi Minori, queen yandere second only to one other was defeated by sheer logic. Tears welled up in her eyes, as her golden eyes spilled over. Suddenly, a bombardment of droplets descended from the greying cumulionimbus clouds which hovered in the sky, pelting down upon the two. "...I...really...can't do it, Kei."

He edged his mouth closer to her ear, just close enough that he could bite it. "Bullshit." He murmured, barely audible to the untrained ear. "I know who you are, you were my lover, a merciless and crazy woman who would prefer to see me dead for the wrongs I apparently committed. I assume this isn't over."

Airi sighed in a dejected tone. "...You're wrong, Kei. It's over. I..." She gazed at her navel in thought. "The only really perfect love is the one that gets away. You've...I've screwed up my chance with you." With that, she withdrew her Zanpakutou; the oddly-constructed blade dissipated in a matter of moments. Turning around, the young woman's feet began to move. As if by instinct, she had began running away before she knew it. Her last words, "Good-bye, Kei Yume" echoed throughout the atmosphere.

The Shinigami Captain made no attempt to catch the dejected woman who slowly edged herself out of his field of vision. He blankly stared out into the scenery before him as Kei gently clasped the hilt of his Zanpakuto. The man turned around and started to walk away, his steps being rough and hesitant. At a snail's pace, Kei's gloved hand slowly moved to the confines of his coat, eventually taking out a small ring with a finely cut ruby.

He looked at it with interest, moving it across the palm of his hand, observing the beautiful shine it gave him. "This was supposed to be for you...." He quietly said to himself. "You say won't come back. But you will. I'll look forward to that day, whenever that will be." Kei finished and returned the ring to his coat. And as night started to fall, he shimmered out of view.