BLEACH: The Dusk In Red

Kai fell onto his back with exhaustion. Instead of feeling his head hit the floor, it instead landed on something warm and soft. He then felt the hands of a woman stroke his hair which let him relax even more. For this brief moment he felt peace.

"Why did you help me when it was too late? I could've saved her if you made me stronger sooner."

"I can't do that whenever I feel like it. I can only draw on the Jigoku Shihakushō's power when that 'thing' gives me permission."

"That thing?"

She gently put her finger on his lips, signaling him to stop asking sensitive questions.

"You aren't ready to hear that name yet. You won't be able to bare the burden which that name carries."

Kai remembering his basic Zanjutsu classes, came to the conclusion that this was his Zanpakutō spirit, and that the world which he was in earlier must have been his inner world. But then he noticed an inconsistency in what she was saying.

"You speak as if the power I've been using wasn't mine or yours. You know what? I'm too exhausted for this."

He closed his eyes as he drifted to sleep on her thighs. As he did a single tear fell from his eye which the Zanpakutō spirit quickly wiped away.

"I hate it when you lash out and cry like that. Your courage is definite but your too impatient, but I know that he didn't make a mistake bringing you here."

Eventually the Liliane's dimension would collapse and Kai would return to the outside world. Yuki would find him alone, along with the corpse of Akimitsu which took her by surprise. She also noticed the missing Linny and came to the conclusion that she didn't make it as she could no longer sense her spiritual pressure. But then there was another oddity.

"Even if she did have those weird powers, she was still a human. What happened to her soul? It should still be around here somewhere?"

As she wondered that, the exit doors of the Senkaimon manifested behind her. She jumped away while preparing to draw her sword on whoever exited, but calmed down when she started to sense the Spiritual Pressure of a Soul Reaper approach her.

2 days later

Kai would once again wake up in the hospital bed of the squad four barracks. He scrambled to look for his Zanpakutō's and was a little disappointed to find that they were missing.

His body was covered in bandages much like before, but what was worse about it was his head which was wringing in pain. It felt as if it was splitting apart. Curiously, Kurenai which had been absent since the original attack flew in from the window and landed next to a cabinet.

"Where the hell were you?"

"Where I was does not concern you human."

"Rude much."

He turned over in his bed, to try and go to sleep, but then after processing what just happened fully, he screamed very loudly. Eventually Ameno Ogidō who had nursed him once before came to check on him and saw Kai hiding in the corner while pointing at Kurenai.

"AHHHH- THAT BUTTERFLY JUST SPOKE! HE'S AN IMPOSTER! AN IMPOSTER!"

Squad 4 had trained its members to be able to handle any patients that weren't mentally well by restraining them with Bakudo and then to call for help, this was a procedure which she was about to carry out. But before she even had a chance to start Kurenai then said,

"I remember you, your name is Ogidō right? Calm this guy down already." 

"Huh?Huh?????HUH!??!?"

After the two calmed down a little, Kai finally understood that this was indeed Kurenai. What everyone was so desperate to know however, is how he could speak now?

"So how can you speak?", Kurenai asked.

"I've always been able to. I just didn't need to up until now. I mean, how would I give you this message from your father?" 

A dark shadow then hung over Kai's face. He politely asked Ameno to leave, and feeling the atmosphere in the air, she decided that her place here was no longer necessary.

To think the answers which he had been looking for were right next to him this whole time. Kai felt... betrayed.

With a serious expression in his eyes, Kai asked,

"What did my father tell you? What is your relationship with him? And why only now?"

Unlike his Zanpakutō spirit, Kurenai didn't bother complicating the answer, or leaving out details with the excuse of 'your not ready'.

"Your father asked me to tell you that you shouldn't look for him. In fact it's likely that he is already dead. Soul and all."

"What?"

"You heard me. I was asleep inside you for too long. My memories have gotten quite hazy. The only things I can remember are events from up to 8 years ago, but I'm sure I've been around much longer than that."

8 years ago? The day of the earthquake. He was told that his father had died due to a collapsed building that day. He even saw his half crushed body being taken to the morgue, but even then his soul should've passed on to the after life? What really happened to him after he died? Did he even truly die that day?

"As for my relationship with him, I don't remember. Again, my memory is quite hazy. And as for why only now, it's because that woman in black asked me too. I intended to keep this all a secret from you until I recollected it all, but she kept bugging me about it."

The woman in black? His Zanpakutō spirit? So she didn't know about this after all. Then does this mean that his quest to find his father was futile? At least it didn't last as long as it could've. But regardless of this, nothing has changed.

"This doesn't change anything. Finding my father isn't the only reason I became a Soul Reaper. I still need to protect others from dying the same way which I did."

"That's good, you'll need that strength anyway. Your father said that you must get stronger no matter what, because if your too weak, then everyone you love will die in the coming war."'

"War? War against who?"

Kurenai himself was unsure who the enemy was. His memories about Kimura(Kai's father) had ended at that point. Kai then said,

"If it's a War then are we up against an army? Should we tell the Soul Reapers about this?"

"Are you insane?! We don't even know who we are up against, and you want to tell them? You will sound crazy! Until I remember everything, we are keeping this to ourselves. Understood!?"

Kai stood up and saluted,

"SIR YES SIR!"

As the two conversed, the member of squad 2 who was spying on Kai heard his entire conversation with Kurenai.

After finding out that they were retrieved from the world of the living via one of the 5 families personal use Senkaimon gates, the stealth corps member had been following them ever since.