The Flame

"Man patience will never be my strong suit." Hiro said as he laid on the couch shirtless with his feet propped up on the arm rest. "I am sweating like a dog over here."

Sitting on the floor with his legs folded Roshoku watched fish swim around in the aquarium before him. Currently they were waiting on Mr.Tanzaku to return with what he needed.

"Dad is really knowledgeable Roshoku you should ask him about the situation that you are ha-" Hiro started saying before Roshoku interrupted.

"Quiet Hiro, I am not worried about it so neither should you be." Speaking in a low monotone he then went back to silence staring at the fish.

"Alright alright..." Turning on some music he started singing along to the lyrics which only irritated Roshoku even more.

Getting up from his seated position Roshoku was heading towards the door when the old man slid the door open saying.

"Please Roshoku make yourself at home you do not have to stand, I take it that you are on your feet enough relax. It is tradition to drink tea while we discuss business." Tanzaku said.

The traditional Japanese style home was his after all and it cost a fortune to make it as comfortable as possible so he would like if everyone was comfortable.

"I have..." Taking a moment to slowly take a seat followed by a sigh of relief from the amount of energy it took to just do simple things. "Heard that you were looking for the artifacts of Aku. Given your current status it worries me that you have such things. I have one thing to ask you before we continue. Are you still a member of The Order?"

Hiro heard the question that his adoptive father asked his brother and turned his music off sitting up. "Dad, you know that he isn't in that group anymore he's a good guy now."

The usually closed eyed old man opened his eyes revealing his faded orange eyes. The look of serious on his face as he said. "Let your brother answer the question Hiro. In fact you can listen while your pour our tea."

Hiro went quiet standing up and doing what he was told. Roshoku on the other hand side glanced the old man. Turning fully to face him the Tanzaku felt an old feeling that he had in the presence of The Order but he had high hopes for Roshoku. He was hoping that he would say that he was no longer in the nefarious organization.

Taking a seat before Tanzaku Roshoku looked the old man directly in his eyes. "I am still a member of The Order." Tilting his head a bit he wanted to see how the man would react. "And yes, I was present when your wife was sacrificed."

Tanzaku seemed to lose a bit of himself hearing the information. Things went silent but Hiro was the one to break said silence.

"Roshoku... wait... You killed Mom?" Hiro asked visibly angered after sitting the tea pot down his fists balled up until Roshoku spoke.

"I did not kill Haya Tanzaku, Mistress did and just so that you know Hirozu... I can't stop Mistress from doing anything that she pleases." Picking up his cup he sipped the tea before rotating the cup in his grasp. "I do not mean to sound inconsiderate under your roof Mr. Tanzaku but the flame of Aku. I am still a member but that is only because one can't simply leave. My teachings... conditioning even. Will be something that I carry with me for the rest of my existence. I am sorry for what happened to your wife but you must understand that was out of my control."

Tanzaku hadn't expected Roshoku to say what he said towards the end their either he was trying to turn over a new leaf or he was acting this out. "... The flame of Aku... It's not something that just anyone can retrieve first and foremost that would cause immense strain on your body. Roshoku you are a powerful shinobi but you'd need more than what you currently have to wield the flame."

"You let me handle that part Tanzaku sama." Roshoku responded.

Looking at Roshoku and then at Hiro he then said. "Kuromatsu the once thought extinct bloodline lives on in the both of you. Unfortunately right now the both of you are not in the position to retrieve the flame of Aku. I can sense it neither of you have attained your bankai, nor have you perfected your Resurrection forms. The enemies in which you will face will not be human, but they will be demons harboring anger of millennia. The flame of Aku burns in Hell."

Hiro's jaw dropped and Roshoku's brows raised up in shock. "Wait you don't mean." Hiro trailed off.

"Yes Roshoku you will have to go to Hell in order to gain what you seek." Tanzaku said. "It is as I said the artifacts of Aku are not things one can just come across."

Hiro then said. "Well... When do we start training?"

"We? You aren't going Hirozu, I'm doing this alone."

"No way Roshoku! I am not letting you go to Hell on your own with no backup! That's suicide you can't possibly be serious." Hiro said in pure disbelief that his brother wanted to go to Hell alone.

"Hirozu is right you'll be decimated before you can even reach the flames vicinity. You are hiding something aren't you." Tanzaku said expecting an answer.

Roshoku picked up on the old man's expectation and decided to tell them. "I have the Branch of Aku already. That was located here on Earth, I know that the energy of Aku is located in the Chaos Realm which now that I know that the flame is in Hell that puts me ahead of The Order. having one of the three artifacts but no doubt they are working the chaos angle."

"You mean you already possess one of the artifacts?" Tanzaku asked before reaching his hand out. "Please place your palm in mine I need to get a proper reading of you."

Reaching forward he placed his palm in over the old mans and a gasp left the elders mouth. "Your power is being compartmentalized, you are separating but why?"

"I have no choice, you see I am the vessel of Aku. Right now I have to separate my spiritual power from my chakra. It is imperative that I get all three artifacts so that I can control the power that coming over me if I want to retain a shred of who I really am. This power... I've tasted it corruption and I can't sever the bond. It has emerged twice now each time getting harder to revert myself back to my normal state. So if I must go to Hell in order to get what I need then I will go without hesitation. I can not let this happen to myself. I may not be ready in your eyes Mr. Tanzaku but it is now or never. Tell me where the flame is."

This was a lot of information to take in but if Roshoku really is the vessel of Aku and with the artifacts could prevent the darkness from seizing control over him then he had to help. "Aku... Is trying to make a return through you... Hirozu third shelf black book gold print in my study quickly."

Going to get the book out of his fathers study Hiro came back handing it to Tanzaku who opened it to a specific page. "... Has your Zanpakuto vanished yet?"

"Yes about 12 days ago." Roshoku responded. "I've been using war fans ever since, I feel ridiculous fighting without my zanpakuto but I can't even go into my soul self."

"Then Aku has already seized control over you, the artifacts at this point would only do the exact opposite of what you'd wish them to do. Once it is too late... You'd cough up a black liquid which is the darkness."

Face going blank Roshoku listened to what Tanzaku said and nodded his head. "So I wasn't fast enough."

Grabbing a kunai from the strap of his right leg holstering many other kunai knives Roshoku spun the weapon in his hand before aiming the blade at himself.

Hiro without thinking moved as fast as he could to stop his brother from doing the unspeakable. "Roshoku!"

Having his wrist grabbed by his younger brother even Tanzaku was shocked by the sudden action Roshoku took was he really about to...

The kunai hit the floor and Hiro picked his brother up in a restrictive bear hug. "Dad what do I do? You saw what he was going to do to himself."

"Rikujokoro!" Tanzaku said as pillars of light hit Roshoku binding his movement.

"You two don't know what it's like! I'm a prisoner and have been for all my life and now I have to take the back seat in my own body!" Roshoku never yelled and especially in this sort of way for the most part if he wasn't in the heat of battle and needed to communicate he was pretty low toned. "The Order and now this!"

"Roshoku you need to calm down your aggression could trigger a reaction in your underlying negative emotions." Tanzaku said trying to calm him down with what he knew to be a possibility. Given Roshoku's history it was best to appeal to him logically.

"Killing yourself only means there will be no resistance from Aku when he emerges again. You are your best defense and without you living Aku will be the main inhabitant of your body. There is still hope but not with the artifacts of Aku now."

'This is a problem... at this point if The Order gets the artifacts of Aku they will without a doubt go all out to pull Roshoku back into their ranks.' He thought to himself.

"Give me two days Roshoku in the mean time stay here, you'd be best not having to deal with this alone. Your brother and I will be your support..." Getting up after grabbing his cane the elder slid his feet across the floor. "Please get him some civilian clothes Hiro. You should take him out show him something to live for. This will be a hard time for all of us just remember he is the one that is the vessel so any stress you are feeling it can't compare to how he is feeling... As we just saw." Tanzaku said to Hiro quietly.