End of the World; Redux

Without sound the jagged tear opened black and endless against the blue sky, a second later it had healed up leaving no sign of its ever being there in the first place. However the creature it had allowed to cross through its dark maw soared the sky above the market area of the town below it, eyes watching the people moving through it idly. He wasn't looking for anyone purposely, but when he spotted a certain blond, the massive clawed wingspan dipped to tilt the body into a downward angle to take him down closer.

Affirming the identity of the young man, he briefly considered the choices and promptly decided on the next course of action to be put into effect, starting with once again lowering his flight to brush the tip of one wing down over the top of the blond's head to let him become aware that there was something there with him now. The next action would be the boy's, depending on it, he would decide what course would follow -- or rather one might say just how long the rest of his time here would be, extremely short or perhaps lasting for just a few hours longer, provided they weren't rudely interrupted in the course of their little game.

Subaru crossed the threshold of the house activating his wards by his mere presence there. He wasn't sure what kind of game Seishirou was playing this time but he wasn't going to let the man manipulate him again . He'd been a pawn of Seishirou's for too many years already and something had snapped inside him when he held Seishirou's dying body. He didn't even know if he had the capacity to feel anything anymore.

He drew the coat closer around his frame and moved to settle in a chair his eyes staring dully into the fire. He had a job to do later that night and it was necessary to at least try to get some sleep. The problem was the dreams he had occasionally but even though Kakyou had offered to take them he'd refused

The sky split open with their descent, causing quite a scene as they hit the ground and created a deep crater on impact. It shook the ground for several miles, alerting innocent bystanders and stirring their curiosity.

Too bad they never listened when someone told them, "Curiosity killed the cat."

As the dust started to settle a crowd of people started to poke around near the seemingly empty crater. In the midst of it two figures stood, back to back. The smaller of the two was calmly staring through the surrounding tree line, hands deep in the pockets of his jacket, waiting.

"Tch, I came here a few times with a mask on but the human world is more boring than I remember. The spiritual energy here is so thin I think I'm gonna suffocate."

"Stop whining." Ulquiorra's cyan orbs soon bore deep into the buffoon. "I said I'd be fine solo but you insisted on coming along."

"Yeah, yeah... sorry, sorry." The other drawled with a roll of his eyes. He took a few steps toward the craters edge.

"Don't wander too far, we have to wait here." Ulquiorra reminded the fool and turned his eyes toward the slowly gathering spiritual energy. Of course, what really caught his attention was a larger gathering of energy farther off. They had to be the ones that Aizen had sent them after. He had a message for them and the boy known as Ichigo.

There was an exasperated groan from Yami. "Why? Can't we just go find'em and stir up trouble?" A grin spread over his lips at the thought. "Huh? What's with these guys?" The imbecile had a short attention span. "Why are they staring at me? I might as well eat now."

Uliquiorra's eyes rolled over to watch the fellow Arrancar that he'd allowed to come along. The larger man easily sucked the souls from the curious bodies surrounding the crater. "Buaaa! Yuck!"

"Of course, how can such weak spirits taste good?" Uli closed his eyes softly, why had he even agreed to let this dumbass come along anyway?

"Well they kept starin' at me like I'm a freak!"

"The humans can't see us, they couldn't have been staring at you."

"I know, I know, but still I don't like it. How long do we have to wait? And how many do we get to kill?"

Ulquiorra's eyes opened again as they stared off into the distance where he felt that gathering of energy. "Just be patient. We only need to kill one. The others are just a waste of time."

"Tch, how boring."

"Aizen-taichou just wants us to get their attention, remind them that he still exists and they best not forget that he can and will eventually strike."

Hana stared out at the crowd of crazies that they'd somehow lost their minds enough to invite, and sighed, a little. Well, it was going smoother than he could have hoped for, at the beginning of this, and...he smiled, his fingers curling around Uryuu. The official part was done with-they were married, god help them both, and the last two years things had been...well, mostly quiet. Or as quiet as life could be, with friends like these.

Still, this ordeal wasn't over yet. Actually, the worst was just beginning. Something about the wedding reception. And the speeches that were traditional, and they had to dance? Why hadn't they eloped? Still, there was booze, so there was something to dull the burning embarrassment, at least. Also, cake...a rather magnificent cake.

Hana sighed again, and smiled helplessly. Oh well, they were his friends, and he wasn't going to hurt them for being embarrassing today. Much.