Chapter 20:Heart Of Sword

"B-Brother?!" Isane stuttered "Captain Unohana, did you just-"

"Yes, Isane" Unohana interrupted her "This is Gamma...my brother"

"But Captain! He's a-"

"Yes" She cut her off once more, not taking her eyes away from Gamma "He is an Arrancar"

"...Captain" Gamma said, his voice rumbling as his eyebrows narrowed "You-..."

"I am a Shinigami" She finished for him "Captain of the fourth division"

"Retsu Unohana" Gamma scoffed "Using mom's surname..."

"I never did like Akutabi" She stated, her tone unchanged as she continued to stare at him

"It was our fathers name..." he glared "Out father was a good man..."

"Our father was a fool"

Gamma's nostrils flares as he clenched his fists...

"Do not speak ill of the dead"

"We are the dead" she stated "How else could I be a Shinigami and you an Arrancar?"

"Typical" he scoffed "You haven't changed, how long has it been Retsu? Two-hundred? Maybe Three-hundred years?"

"Two hundered and twenty-two years" she stated as she tilted her head slightly

"And you're still the ungrateful brat you were when you died"

"I was like that because of you" she glared "You and your father. I wasn't like that before that"

"You always hated Dad...and me"

"That I will not argue" She stated, but then jolted slightly as Gamma sonido'ed away from her, his chainsword fully revved

"Then fight me!" he shouted

...

"No"

"I SAID FIGHT ME!" Gamma roared fiercely

"I will not" Unohana stated

"Captain...you must!" Isane stated "He's an Arrancar! He-"

"He is my brother...Isane" she stated as she turned to her "If you were in my shoes and it was Kiyone over there...could you?"

Isane's mouth stood agape at her Captain's claim but soon hung her head low

"She's right...I would not be able to do it"

Unohana saw the answer in her and turned back to Gamma

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again...What happened to you...Gamma?"

"I lost everything" he growled "I lost it all...Unohana"

"Do you remember our father's land, back home?" She asked "Pastures of grass that seemed to stretch on forever. We used to run across those fields all day, calling up at the sky...and look at us now."

"Bringing up the good ol' days won't change anything" Gamma groaned "...I didn't think it'd be this way...if I ever saw you again...I figured I'd be kinda happy to see you again, but I was wrong"

Gamma lowered his sword as he began to walk towards her

"I've heard voices all my life. But now I hear the voice of a conscience...my conscience, and it's terrifying, because for the first time it's my voice. And it's telling me what to do..." Gamma growled as he stood a few feet away from his sister "It's telling me to kill you"

Gamma raised his sword once again as Unohana gazed at her brother with the same expression before closing her eyes and dipping her head, a smull rustling emerged as she reached into her Captain's haori which soon met with a *clunk* as her sheath hit the ground

"I will not fight you, bro-"

*SMACK!*

Isane gasped as the Arrancar's steel covered hand smashed up against her Captains cheek, the ferocity of the hit undid her braid and left a cut on her Captain's cheek, she immediantly grasped the hilt of her Zanpakuto

"Run, Ite-"

"Isane"

Isane immediantly halted her Zanpakuto release, her captain slowly turned to face her, She was wearing his trademark smile...but tears could clearly be seen forming in the corners of her eyes

"It's okay Isane" She smiled "You don't have to do anything"

"But Captain, he's-"

"Don't Isane..." she stated "I'm telling you as your Captain...do not do anything"

...

"You're pathetic" Gamma scoffed "You just stand there...doing nothing...how long Retsu? How much more can you take?!" Gamma yelled as he slammed his steel-covered fist into her gut, causing the Shinigami to keel over in pain, small drops of blood coming from the corners of her mouth

"Captain!" Isane yelled

"Stay there...Isane" Unohana wheezed as she grabbed hold of Gamma's leg to help right herself "Do not...interfere"

As Unohana was trying to right herself, Gamma gazed down to his sister as she tried clamering up, her reward was a knee to her face, busting her nose

Isane screamed once again as he captain fell on her back, blood leaking from the mangled mess of her nose

"Don't...don't, Isane" was all she could state

"WHY CAPTAIN?!" Isane screamed "WHY!"

"Because" she muttered as she titled her head to face her liutenants "I...deserve thi-"

*SNAP!*

Isane screamed in horror and Unohana screamed in agony as Gamma brought his foot down on her knee, snapping her leg

"You always thought you were better than me" Gamma scoffed as he twisted his foot, causing Unohana to wince in pain "Well no more Retsu! NO-"

*STOMP!*

"FUCKING-"

*STOMP!*

"MORE!"

*STOMP!* *STOMP!* STOMP!* *STOMP!* *STOMP!*

Unohana screamed in agony as her brother continued to destroy her leg further, Isane broke down in tears as she witnessed the scene

"You should hear yourself Retsu" Gamma scoffed "Squealing like a little bitch, you sicken me"

It add insult to injury he spat in his sisters face, Unohana's responce was simply to groan

"You piece of-"

"That's enough"

Gamma jolted he felt the top of a blade being pressed into his jacket but it felt blunt, he creaked his head around to witness who was threatning him

"This is the second time you've interrupted me today...Gintoki"

"What can I say?" The silver haired Samurai smirked "I'm a sucker for a damsel in distress...so do me a favor and let the girl go"

"She's our enemy" Gamma retorted

"She's a Shinigami alright..." Gintoki said as he pressed his wooden sword further into Gamma's back "But take a good look, is she putting up a fight? No...There ain't no shame in kicking her ass in a straight one-on-one fight...but you beating up a woman who ain't even fighting back? That doesn't swing well with me"

"You're quite the honorable Samurai, aren't you?"

"Back off from her" Gintoki stated "Listen… I don't care what you do somewhere else, but anywhere within reach of my sword is my country!"

He then removed the sword from Gamma's back, Gamma then turned around to see the silver haired Nueva Espada had taken up a fighting pose

"Bastards who come in and try this kinda shit…whether it be a shinigami, a fellow arrancar, whether it be some disaster like a meteorite…I'll destroy them all!"

...

"You wanna do this?" Gamma questioned as he prepared to rev his Chainsword

"Yeah" he smirked "Come on...just be prepared to get your ass kicked"

"Hmph...you make it sound as you could kick my ass" Gamma chuckled "I need to come up with some excuse for Kurosaki-sama...to explain why I beat you to a bloody pulp"

"Heh" Gintoki chuckled "Alright then big man...let's dance"

"RESURRECCION: SEGUNDA ETAPA"

A mass amount of black energy began to erupt from the Espada which then shot up into a pillar-like formation

"Resurreccion...Segunda Etapa?!" Shunsui stared in awe at the occuring event in front of him, trying not to be blown back by the sheer force of the Reiatsu

The pillar continued to shoot upwards until it exploded, Shunsui had to stab his sword in the ground so he wouldn't be blown back, eventually the pressure faded, revealing the Arrancar's new form

His hair had increased in length, now at waist length, his white coat had been replaced with an unbottoned black trench coat revealing a plain black shirt along with plain black pants and black military-esc boots, his hands now adorned with black fingerless gloves, the two pistols in his hands had been transformed into an Uzi and a double-barrel Shotgun and the hollow mask over his eye has been transformed into a scope

"I trained day and night for this" He stated as he raised his shotgun "I trained with Ulquiorra to obtain this...all just to take you down"

"Cero Escopeta" (Cero Shotgun)

"You're good I'll give you that" Gamma chuckled as Gintoki skidded along the dirt on his feet

"Thanks" Gintoki chuckled "You're not too bad yourself"

"It's just a shame you interfered in my buisness" Gamma said as he prepaired to rev his chainsword once again "But I have to ask...what is that sword made of? Sure as hell ain't plain wood"

"Who knows?" Gintoki chuckled "Not to sure myself why I got a wooden zanpakuto...but it sure is sturdy"

"Doesn't matter...either way, I'm just gonna kick your ass" Gamma scoffed "And then I'm gonna kill h-"

Gamma jolted as he realized something, he couldn't feel Retsu's reiatsu. He turned around to find nothing but a small pool of blood.

"Oh her? Yeah, the silver haired woman picked her up and ran off as soon as we began fighting"

...

"You son of a bitch"

"Hmm?"

Gamma turned to face Gintoki with the utmost look of anger on his face, his eyebrows narrows, his eyes bloodshot, teeth seething as black flames began to emerge off his body

"Do you have ANY idea how long I waited for this?!" He screamed "How long I waited to kind and kill her?! And you show up and ruin everything!"

"Oh dear" Gintama swallowed "I think I may have annoyed you? Does the baby want his bottle?"

Gamma's response was to stike Gintoki, which he blocked with his wooden sword. Gamma then Sonido'ed away and appeared above Gintoki, ready to swing down. The silver haired arrancar seemed to anticipate this as he Sonido'ed away causing Gamma's sword to smash into the ground

"I think its safe to say you're mad?" Gintoki asked

"YOU FUCKING SHIT!" Gamma roared as he charged forward again, his expression feral and sword revved up once more, Gintoki immediantly took up guard

"You gonna kill me?!" Gintoki snapped as he parried the blade "I've faced bigger, stronger and hell, even crazier guysthen you"

Gintoki then swung his sword down as Gamma thrusted his upwards

"You know Akutabi...I thought you were a kinda cool guy" Gintama grunted as the blood grinded their blades against each other "Looks like I was wrong about you, I thought you were a nice guy but it looks like you were evil all along, you have some serious sibling rivalry going on and now that you've seen here again, you're on a roaring rampage of revenge"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

"Sorry, I've been spending too much time on TVTropes" Gintama laughed "But hey...that doesn't matter, you wanna do it? Then lets go all the way!"

The two immediantly broke off the clash of their blades as the both sonido'ed across the dirt

"Let's do this!" Gamma roared

"Come at me bro!" Gintoki shouted back

"I'll rip off the damn mouth of yours!" Gamma seethed as he prepared his blade

"You wanna kill me?" Gintoki chuckled as he took a stance "Try it...and fail"

"SET THEM ALIGHT, DEMONIO DE LA LLAMA NEGRO"

"WAVE, BLANCO CABELLERO DE DEMONIO"

Destroyed barracks and charred and smoking earth was all that remained after Cero Escopta

"That was a massive cero" Starrk stated as he lowered the shotgun "The circumfrence of Cero Escopeta is 62 feet, you can't escape it in time"

"Kageoni"

Starrk's eyes widened as he heard those words, he instinctly jumped out just in time to avoid a blade coming out of his shadow and soon followed by the captain

"How did you-" Starrk began as he landed on the ground

"The instant you readied your gun, I was knew I would have to Shunpo behind you" He stated "I admit that was an impressive Cero, If I hadn't gotten out of the way, I would of been fried"

"Stop goofing off Starrk and finish him off!" His Uzi piped up

"I know that Lilynette!" he grumbled as he smacked the uzi against his head, casuing her to yelp

"That still hurts, you ass!"

"Ah, so that little girl is still trapped in that gun?" Shunsui asked "Just like last time...are you going to split her into a wolf again?"

"I wouldn't risk it...not after last time" Starrk said as he remembered Lilynette's sacrifice

"Hmm...that's right...you lost your friend" Shunsui remembered "I'm sorry about that"

"No point in apologizing" Starrk stated "We were revived by the human girl, Orihime Inoue"

"So...what are you here for then?" Shunsui asked "You got your friend back...people to call comrades...isn't that what you wanted?"

"What I want is irrelevant" Starrk stated "I serve him, the one who saved me"

"I can kinda see where you're coming from..." Shunsui said sadly as he lowered his blades "You feel you owe a debt...but do you want to work for a psychopath?"

"I just said that-"

"I know what you said...but what about her"

It took Starrk a moment to realize that the Captain was referring to Lilynette, he then lifted up the Uzi where her soul resided

"Lilynette...we serve the man who saved us...right?" he asked the gun

...

"Right...Lilynette?"

...

"Oi...answer me" he grunted

"He's..." she began "He's...not right Starrk"

"Lilynette, what are you-"

"Starrk...remember what we did...who we are...we joined Aizen because we wanted comrades as strong as us, we wanted people who didn't die just from our reiatsu..."

"But he..."

"He saved us...and we forgot everything about ourselves" she said quietly "We just wanted comrades...a home...with people, not world domination...not getting stronger...just...living"

...

"W-Why didn't you say anything about how you felt" Starrk asked

"Because of YOU!" She snapped "You changed...you wanted to get stronger...you wanted to hunt this Shinigami down, you wanted to protect me

But you can't protect me...without serving that lunatic"

...

"Y-You" Starrk began to pant "I-I-I...I don't"

"He's insane Starrk...we served a madman in Aizen but only because he saved us and we serve a madman in Kurosaki because he revived us to use as tools of war. We fought for Aizen because he gaves us comrades and a home...We fight for Kurosaki because he's a sick and twisted man who forces us to do his dirty work

We're fighting for pure evil Starrk...

And that's not us"

*CLUNK* *CLUNK*

The sound of Starrk dropping the guns he was holding seemed to be the only sound in the universe, his breath began to hitch, his Segunda Etapa form dispelled, reverting him back to his regular released form.

His breath hitched, dry heaves came from his throat as he fell to his knees, his blank state fixed on the sky

"I believed what we were doing was right..."

His breath began to hitch as he collapsed onto all fours, his breath halted and he heaved until he vomited

"But I was wrong...we found ourselves in death Lilynette..."

His breath became erratic as he panted for air, his head hazy as he tried to regain his composure, he managed to get on his knees and all he could do was stare the sky

"But...we lost ourselve in life"

"I...I...What did I..." Starrk panted as he exited his release form altogether, returning to his normal state "What...have I done?"

"Starrk..." Lilynette said quietly as she appeared beside him

"You..." Shunsui began as he lowered his blades

"You there, Captain" Stark said as he faced him "Kill me"

"Starrk!" Lilynette gasped, and even Shunsui was surprised by his statement

"No...Lilynette..." He said sadly as he stood up "I walked down a path filled with blood...and no matter what...I can't turn back"

He then lifted his head his head to face the Shinigami captain

"I have killed...so many innocents today that I cannot ever look at myself in a mirror ever again..." Starrk said "I can't go on like this...so...I want you to kill me"

...

"She...is your family" Shunsui stated "And there's nothing...no man wouldn't do for his family"

"What do you-"

"You were put on this path because of me" Shunsui said as he deactivated his Shikai and sheathed his blades "I set you up on this twisted path of revenge...those innocents...their blood is on my hands, not yours"

"But-"

"I took her from you" he said as he removed his hat "And vengeance clouded your mind..."

"This isn't by you!" Starrk shouted "I did this! I killed all those people!"

"Because of me" Shunsui said sadly "You know...I didn't want to kill you that day"

Starrk simply glared at the man

"You're not evil...you just want comrades" Shunsui sighed "I could tell that...even back then...Aizen just got to you first"

"What...what are you saying?!" Starrk yelled while shaking his head "I asked you...to put me out of my misery"

"No..." He stated as Starrk's head snapped up to meet him, his teetch clenched...his eyes watering

"YOU HAVE TO!" Starrk screamed "I'm a monster! My death will be a benefit to others, I...I can't forgive myself for what I've done...and no one should forgive me for what I've done"

"You just said it yourself...Kurosaki was using you as tools of war..." Shunsui said as he faced the Arrancar "What you did...was not for your revenge...it was for his"

Starrk lifted his head to face the captain once more

"I admit...I find it hard to admit that a kid could've fallen this far" Shunsui said sadly as he began to approach the Nueva Espada "But it's clear he's just using you...manipulating your feelings..."

"I...I...I don't" Starrk began to pant and he fell back down to his knees "I don't know what to do anymore..."

"I do" Shunsui said as he stood a few feet away from the arrancar "I can't guarantee that I can get you cleared of war crimes...or even if you'll be well liked...but I know you can have a home, and comrades and someone who will let you walk your own path...and not manipulate you for his own sick twisted goals"

Starrk lifted his head, and saw a dead serious expression on his face

"I want you to join us...join the Soul Society"

...

"Are you kidding me" Starrk scoffed "You seriously think that'll work?"

"I've never been one to hold grudges..." Shunsui sighed "But the road out of hell is a long and hard path..."

"How...how do intend...to get me in there?" Starrk asked "How do intend for me to redeem myself?"

"It's simple. You may never forgive yourself. Accept it. You hurt others many others. That cannot be undone. You may never find personal retribution." Shunsui said with a stern face "But your life does not have to end. You can still make it right. If you don't fight for what you believe in, you may stray from your path. But do not fight for yourself. Fight for others, others that may be saved through your effort. That is the least you can do."

"I can...save people?"

"Save people from going through what you did..." Shunsui nodded "And you can end the suffering brought on by Kurosaki"

Starrk turned to Lilynette to match her somber look, her face screamed of sorrow, worry...but hope

Hope that he would do the right thing

"Revenge clouded my mind...and Kurosaki used that to his advantage

I am my own man"

"Starrk...what are we going to do?" Lilynette asked quietly

...

"What you and I were involved with... the things we helped do... I'll be honest Lilynette, I don't know if we can ever be forgiven." Starrk sighed "But, I think that we have a chance to do better. And if we wake up every day and try to make things better, eventually, we might find that better is good enough...and things can go back to the way things were before...or maybe even better"

Starrk lifted his head to meet Shunsui's, the captain offering his hand to him

which Starrk accepted

"Alright...I'll join you" Starrk said as Shunsui helped him up

"Welcome to the Gotei 13, Coyote Starrk" Shunsui smiled

"Thank you, Shunsui Kyoraku"