Re: Memories of a Shinigami (BLEACH Club Members only)
(Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Writer's block.)
Another arrancar appeared behind Haku. He looked at Rhea's body then shook his head. "Poor, woman. She was on of my favorites." He said, appearing sympathetic. "If only I had come sooner." The arrancar's reiatsu made the air dense. "I suppose-" He crossed his arms casually across his chest. "It was her fault. I gave specific orders not to let any of the Soul Reapers out of the cage." His voice seemed unmuffled behind his mask.
Bright green eyes glared at Haku. "Soul Reaper, what nuisances. It would have been better off if we had just killed you in the Living World." His reiatsu grew denser. "I should put an end to your life, but he would not be happy." The arrancar put a hand on Haku's shoulder. "I implore you to submit and cooperate. Unlike Rhea, you cannot beat me."
~xXx~
(I'm just going to skip forward with Mugen and Rei.)
Mugen and Rei were visibly the one of the two that were mostly unharmed of the group. They were lucky. However, the others were not. Rei spent most of the time healing the other's injuries. She wasn't the best, but it was better than nothing.
Mugen sat in a corner, thinking. Thinking of a way out, thinking how to survive. Trapped against the odds. His train of thought was broken when he felt a powerful reiatsu in the distance. His chest tightened. A power so immense that he could be affected from the cage... his hope dropped. "We are going to die here..." He said, almost whispering as if the very statement was taboo.
(Edited for Mistress Sheena, sorry bout that.)
Re: Memories of a Shinigami (BLEACH Club Members only)
(My group's unharmed too, you know. Pretty much everyone is. Mugen and Rei aren't that special. =P)
She couldn't fathom how she ended up here. A yawn escaped from her lips as a harsh pound emerged from her head. That's right, she was knocked out from behind by a coward. How else would she have been defeated and locked up in a cage with all of her other friends?
Shino slowly stood up from the ground and looked around at the surroundings. She couldn't really recognize the area of which they were detained. Or even why they were detained in the first place. Was it some sick joke from a twisted pervert?
In any case, it looked like a Kido barrier of some kind. She had no idea how strong it was, so to gauge it, she walked up to it and put her finger up to it. A ripple effect trailed her finger as she ran the tip across the colored energy.
“So, you're finally awake, sister.” said Mai as she walked over to Shino, leaning her head on her shoulder.
“How long was I out for?” Shino paid her no mind and ran her fingers through her red hair, deep in thought.
“A few hours, I suppose. Probably longer than that, I imagine.” Mai's hand subconsciously explored her sister's body, running along her side and lower back. A trial of kisses led from Shino's shoulder to her neck. “Definitely much longer than a few hours...” she droned as her arms wrapped around her sister as she nibbled on her ear.
A flare of heat surged through Shino's body and went straight for her face. She attempted to escape the grip, but Mai had her cinched tight. She was a slave to her sister's bottomless libido. “N-N-Nee-chan... what are you doing? Why can't you do this with someone else?” she pleaded as she continued to escape the waist cinch.
“I did... but I want a girl this time. You know I like to have one of each.”
Shino's face continued to be red with embarrassment. She pried Mai's fingers apart from each other, but couldn't separate them far enough to escape.
“Gomen ne, Nee-chan...” Shino released her limiter and released all of her reiatsu in a single flash. The pressure of it caused Mai to release her grip and lower herself to the floor. “Ow... why do you reject me, Shino?” Mai crawled on the floor and gripped Shino's thigh to aid herself upright.
“Because you're my sister, nee-chan! I went over this already!” she exclaimed with flushed cheeks.
While her reiatsu was released, she looked around the ground for her zanpakutou, but realized it was still in its shikai form on her hands. Saved her the trouble of looking for it. She pulled on the gloves to make sure they were secure, as she looked upon the barrier of Kido.
“Don't, Shino. It's a really strong barrier. You won't be able to break it with your fists alone.” Fukumi piped in.
“You don't know til you try.” she quipped as she glared at the barrier. Her fingertips ran along the surface of it, going around in the circle to find the weakest point. She found the weakest point of the barrier near Haruka's area.
The aura between her rival friend had changed over the years, and she wondered what things she had gone through. From the looks of it, she got herself a boyfriend, which was just fine for her.
Steph was there as well. However, Shino didn't have that warm tingly feeling she had whenever she saw him last time. She put her limiter back on and locked her reiatsu away and walked toward him. Her eyes ran along his short stature. Even if it was over a year since she last saw him, he still looked the same from back when she saved him from bullies.
“Steph-kun. ...What happened to you?” she tilted her head in inquiry. “You don't feel cute anymore...” she spoke softly that only he could hear. She ruffled up his hair for old time's sake before she removed her limiter again and struck her palm at the weak point of the barrier.
A resounding thud echoed through the area. The ground shook from the strength of the impact. A few cracks showed themselves, as they dropped to the ground and showed a very small hole that a mouse could crawl through.
Just then, a loud tingling sensation ran through Shino's hand and arm, and the rest of her body. Suddenly, her arm felt really hot as water seeped through her eyes.
“FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-” she shouted so loud that the next block over could hear.
“....I told you so, Shino. But... at least you made a dent, I guess.” Fukumi quipped as she walked over to her rival's side and patted her on the shoulder. Shino turned over with watery eyes and an awkwardly bent forearm and a red swollen palm.
“It's okay, girl. You did good.” Fukumi patted Shino's back as she quietly sobbed from the pain.
Re: Memories of a Shinigami (BLEACH Club Members only)
"Pitiful child." The arrancar said in a low voice after Haku had collapsed. "You can't even control the power lurking inside of you. Albeit, if you could, it wouldn't matter. You will die, just like the thousands of Soul Reapers I've devoured before." The arrancar grabbed Haku by his hair and dragged him back to the reishi cage where the rest of the Soul Reapers where held.
"I see you've been trying to escape." He aid running his finger along the cracks. Immediately after pulling his hand away, the crack began to repair. He opened the barrier enough to throw Haku's unconscious body inside. "Keep an eye on that boy, I don't want him killing you all before our plan has come to fruition." He said, stuffing his hands in his vest pockets.
"I suppose I have to stay here and babysit you brats."
Re: Memories of a Shinigami (BLEACH Club Members only)
The situation seemed to be growing grim by the moment for them. There were over a dozen shinigami in the barrier, but none of them could do much to change their position. They had all been exhausted beyond the point of being able to fight. Only a few seemed to have the strength to manage more than walking and talking, namely Shino.
Steph was unable to do anything in his condition. He would have tried to stop Shino from breaking her hand on the barrier, but he came to settle into the belief that it would not have matter. In their academy days he knew that Shino was pretty head strong and had issues with following orders. It was doubtful that she would have listened to him. A fact that only made Steph more internally angry. ‘I wasn’t able to protect anyone… I was worthless and now more will die because of me…’
He closed his eyes pushing his head back a little, which was about all he could manage apart from moving his mouth. The damage that he had taken from the last attack left nearly every muscle in his body torn and his bones cracked or fractured. It was amazing that everything inside him was not a fine powder. There was so much pain through his body that it felt like he had gone beyond it and passed into an empty void with all feeling cut off. ‘…see I didn’t die…’
“You would have died from the pain long ago if I had cut the nerve endings so you can’t feel anything!” Adeyaka-Sakura had pulled him into his inner world. She was standing a safe distance away from him on the upside down island that held a lone tree in perpetual spring bloom. The sakura petals seemed to be darker than usual barely twisting in the melancholic wind.
Steph stood up so that he could face her. The look of fear and worry on her words alone were enough for him. Seeing her pained twisting face only made him hesitate even more. “Hey… You worried about me?” he said trying to play off his own emotions coolly.
The fake casualness in his voice made it harder for her to stand. “…stupid…jerk…” She walked unevenly over to him falling to her knees to wrap her arms around him tightly. “…of course…I worry…”
He remained standing silently with his Zanpakuto. The wash of emotions in the air made it unnecessary for anymore words. ‘…I know…’ Waves of petals blew around them as the time slowly turned away for them. Once Steph could speak again he looked down at her. “It’ll be alright. I’m alive still. We’ll find a way.”
“You don’t understand!” she shouted back up at him trying to bury the distress. “The strain of what we did wasn’t just to your body. Your Hakusui Soul Sleep was severely damaged from the overload. Your’s couldn’t handle how much spirit energy was pushed through and for how long. I don’t know if it’ll ever be repaired!”
The news stunned Steph. He was unable to react or move as it passed through him. “…you’re saying that I may no longer be able to be a shinigami and I’ll lose you?” There was another pause in Steph as she stared at him reading his reactions. However, he changed from despair to determination. “I won’t let it happen!”
“Huh? You can’t just make it all better with words!”
“It doesn’t matter! I won’t let it happen, period. End of discussion!”
“But that won’t change anything! You can’t will it—“
“I already said it. I won’t lose you again!”
Adeyaka-Sakura could not say anymore to him seeing how serious he looked back at her. She managed a weak smile for him as he returned it back. He disappeared from the inner world leaving her alone. Once alone she stood up to look around among the horizon filled with endless pink colored trees. “Are you finally remembering, Steph? Perhaps you’re almost ready…”
Steph opened his eyes knowing that only a moment may have passed for him. He would have preferred more time, but it was the situation he had to deal with. There was not much he could do with his body in its condition. A small sigh escaped his lips as he caught Haruka’s watchful presence. He was not able to manage much, but he dully shifted his hand to rest on Haruka’s hand. She looked down at him with surprise and then slowly easing comfort.
The tension in the room was gradually increasing as the time passed on. Everyone’s silence was not helping matters. Steph casually spoke up despite his condition. “It could be because I’m not feeling so well right now…” It was a random statement that seemed directed at no one, but he specifically was eying Shino nearby, who was still nursing her hand.
It took a while, but Shino realized finally that he was talking to her. “Huh?”
“You know… beat up… thrashed…trashed…umm…worked over…I know there’s more I’m forgetting…” Steph tried his best to keep the tone light while he ignored the troubles he was having breathing.
“What’re you talking about?”
“What you said before…you know…”
“I said before?”
“Yeah, about not looking cute…I guess shotas lose their charm when taken to an inch of their life…” he joked trying on a brief laugh that was a mistake for him.
Shino narrowed her eyes over at him forgetting her pain for a moment. “Just what are you implying!”
“Oh I don’t know!” Steph would have shrugged if he could move his shoulders. ‘Well it got her mind off the pain…’ There was no more time left for them as an arrancar returned with Haku in tow, though it was not the same arrancar that he left with. The worse condition that Haku came back in made everyone gasp in pause. Haruka was quick to come to his side after he was tossed in.
It seemed that he was in state to not do much more than exist. Whatever had been done to him brought him back with part of him missing. The unease of his presence was enough to set everyone on edge around him. There was no need to read him too deeply as his words and shifting eyes were more than enough for most. It left Haruka in conflict. She tried to help him, but he seemed too violent at times to get near while others just crying balled up in a corner. Solitude ended up being the only thing that anyone could give him, though inside a barrier that proved a little challenging.
A second arrancar stepped out from the shadows approaching the one that had decided on keeping watching. He looked around at the shinigami and took note of Haku being back inside. In a casual and disconnected tone he spoke indirectly to the other arrancar. “What happened to Rhea?”
“She let her hobbies get the better of her.”
“I see…seems she had some fun with him before… He was an interesting one, tried to get me to leave his little friend alone. Sadly there isn’t really much left of his little friend. The little shinigami was interesting, but seems like he’ll die before too long with the way his spiritual energy is disappearing.” The arrancar started to walk away looking bored. “Had hoped for something to cure this boredom…” He walked off disappearing into the morning city.
“Still unsettling as ever…” commented the remaining arrancar.
The Senkaimon had already been ordered for Captain Hitsugaya before he arrived back from the Captain’s meeting. Matsumoto was quick to arrive behind him, appearing out of shunpo. She kept his brisk pace with him watching him ignore the guards. It had been reported only twenty minutes ago that arrancar had appeared in the Tokyo region of Japan. The news put the entire Seireitei into a panic as the Arrancar Wars of old were not easily forgotten. Head Captain Yamamoto wanted the threat dealt with quickly and ordered out a Captain and Vice-Captain to handle the situation.
Once they were through the Senkaimon into the human world Hitsugaya began to search out the arrancar’s spiritual pressure. Matsumoto stepped up beside him a little concerned at the lack of support. “Captain, there were three readings. How come there are only two of us?”
“Situations change, one of the arrancar seemed to have disappeared.”
Matsumoto ran her hand through her hair casually looking a little bothered by her assignment. “I’m not fond of the idea of fighting arrancar. They’re so troublesome. Why didn’t they send another squad?”
“Because some of our own squad is here. They detect a slight presence of the original mission team nearby the arrancar.”
“Shouldn’t the other Captains have come then too?”
“Stop complaining, Matsumoto!” Hitsugaya tried to contain his anger, both directed at her and his own predicament. He had been left as the last one remaining in the Captain’s meet and forced to deal with the matter. Kenpachi had declared if his men had been captured they were worthless to him and should die, so he was not going to bother rescuing weaklings. Byakuya had very similar sentiments, but addressed them in an even colder manner than Kenpachi. Soi Fon expressed that her men knew that death came with each mission and a failed mission meant death, so she did not care either. As for Ukitake, he was not even at the meeting as he was too sick to attend. Thus it was left to Hitsugaya, the only other Captain with members on the mission, to rescue the entire mission team and defeat the arrancar. He could not help but let out a sigh aware of his own misfortune.
She tried to say something to him, but he disappeared. Matsumoto gave a shrug and followed him. The spiritual pressure began to arrive as they sought each other out. Hitsugaya came to a sharp halt as the arrancar he was looking for had revealed himself. He gave Matsumoto a quick glace as a signal. She disappeared back heading for the next arrancar.
“Ah someone to relieve my boredom…” the arrancar yawned. His hand was stroking the hilt of his sword as though eager to begin while showing off his disinterest with the situation.
“You’re an arrogant one,” commented Hitsugaya.
“Perhaps, but what can you expect when all you Captains stay hiding away in your little castle? It gets really boring in Hueco Mundo when you stopped visiting.”
“You caused trouble in the human world just cause you were bored?”
“Well killing our own has its limits and shinigami make for such interesting company. And it is just no fun if the Captains aren’t here to enjoy the fun.”
“All this just to fight a Captain, huh? You’re looking to die apparently.”
“Oho, now who’s the arrogant one, little shinigami? Oh wait, there’s already one I call that. Guess I’ll have to go with little Captain then.” The arrancar returned a wicked smirk as he unsheathed his sword. The spiritual pressure from the two was quickly increasing.
Around the barrier the fighting that had begun could easily be felt along with the light show that was being displayed. The arrancar kept watch at the barrier quickly noted the change, but went back to ignoring. He was already sensing Matsumoto’s approach. “…seems it’s about to start…” He started to walk away when a light exploded from inside the barrier. Following the light was a heavy spiritual pressure that caught the arrancar off guard. “Where’s this coming from? It’s the strongest I’ve ever felt…”
Haruka was pulled back until she was flattened against the ground along with everyone else. “…S-Steph…what’s happening…to you…” A bright light from his body was surrounding him while a haze began to develop as though he was burning the air around him. All anyone could see soon was spiritual energy freely flowing out from his body unstrained and lashing out at everything. It caused the ground to crack and the others moan in pain.
The arrancar recovered enough to begin analyzing the situation that was occurring. “…I see… This is a strange occurrence, I’ve never seen a soul break down in this fashion before. It would seem the strain on his soul was indeed too great. All of his stored spiritual energy is being released wildly and out of control, but to have so much pouring out…” He examined the other shinigami and the force inside the barrier. “Hmm…well I guess since the bait worked we don’t need them alive anymore…” Matsumoto’s arrival to the location turned him away to face her. He stepped out slowly keeping careful hold on his sword as he made his approach.
Matsumoto had to adjust her sight so that she was not blinded by the light emanating from the barrier. The low muffled screams from the shinigami made her sweat in stress. She turned her gaze sharply to the arrancar. “What’s going on? What are you doing to them?”
“You don’t have much time to talk if you want to save them.”
“What do you mean?”
“Surely you can tell that they’re dying.”
Matsumoto narrowed her eyes in questioning as she did not fully understand what the arrancar was meaning. She knew that they were in pain, but the situation was new to her. “What’s happening to them?”
“Must I explain everything to you, shinigami? This is going to be a boring fight if all your brains went to where it looks…” He pulled out his sword and leveled it at Matsumoto. “It would seem one of your shinigami has lost control of his spiritual energy and he has so much available to him. In a confined spiritual barrier like this, it has nowhere to be released. So in short, they are being crushed and suffocated by him as he dies himself. I wonder how long they’ll survive!” The arrancar charged forward at Matsumoto crashing his blade into her blade causing them to slide across the road.
As the sun slowly worked its way up the horizon to spill out into the awakening city, the sounds of battle were faintly heard. Clashes of spiritual pressures ran through the streets. Debris and dust threw up in alleyways and side roads while the two shinigami battled the arrancar. Snow was slowly beginning to fall around the park from the release of Hitsugaya’s bankai. The battle continued to play out covering trees and benches in a thick layer of ice. A massive piece of ice grew out of the center park echoing a hollow ring as it faded away into dust. The pressure was released from the area and the effects of Hitsugaya’s bankai melted away.
Hitsugaya returned his Zanpakuto to its sheath on his back and walked away. “A weak arrancar…I didn’t even need a seal release for my full powers…” After his comment he disappeared into the mist searching out Matsumoto’s presence. He arrived to see Matsumoto staring blankly into the distance leaving him confused. “You kill the arrancar?” She did not respond or acknowledge him making him a little annoyed. “Matsumoto!?”
“Oh Captain!” She shook off her stunned look and tried to look down at her captain without letting it get to her. Unfortunately, it was a failed attempt as her features were shaking. “Did you say something?”
“The arrancar, did you kill it?”
“Uh…no, he escaped before I could finish him off. He returned to Hueco Mundo.”
“I see…and the mission team? Where are they?”
“…over there…”
Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes as he took in the sight before him. He turned away and looked back at Matsumoto. “…I see… I’ll report this myself… You head back…”
“But sir…”
“You can’t help me in your state.” Hitsugaya marched off away from her going to the area that she pointed him to. Matsumoto had soon walked away eventually making it back to the Seireitei. Hitsugaya arrived later along with several squad members carrying back the team. It was several days later until the notice was passed around to the affected squads.
When Hana heard the news she panicked and quickly denied what she had heard. However, when it was insisted upon her as the truth she broke down in tears. It was an hour before she was able to move. She had eventually found her way through the Seireitei to the building where they were supposed to be. The further she went in the worse it became for her making it difficult for her to go on, however she pressed on knowing that she had to see Steph for her own eyes.
In the back of the building away from everyone else was Steph. Hana tried to keep her apprehension down while she walked slowly towards the end of the room. Lying alone was Steph too still for Hana to bear. She froze up in the middle of the room with her eyes staring out towards Steph. “He looks so still…” Hana took a while to resume moving towards Steph trying to keep her hesitation from taking her over again. “He’s really…”
Once she managed to make it over to his side all she could do was fall to the floor on her knees. Her head was left resting on the sheet that covered up most of his body. “Steph…” She pulled back her tears to look at him once more. His blank silent look left her shaking. “It’s true… It really is… Why Steph?!” Hana dropped her head against his hand as her emotions overwhelmed her.
“…uh…that hurts a lot…Hana…” Steph said slowly as even the words were painful to him.
Hana had quickly lifted up her head throwing away her tears to look at him. “You’re awake!”
“Yeah…I guess I am…but could you get off my hand…”
Hana looked down to see that she was pressing a great deal of her weight on his hand so that she could look at him over the bed. “Oh no! I’m so sorry, Steph-kun!”
Hitsugaya leaned back in his chair in his office with Matsumoto dropping down reports. He finished sipping from his tea cup seeing the glaring look of the papers. He was not certain if he wanted to know which reports they were. “What are those?”
“The reports from the arrancar incident, Captain!”
“I thought so…”
“You know it’s pretty lucky how it all happened!”
“Yeah, I guess when I was fighting the arrancar the barrier must have weakened and Steph’s energy was enough to destroy it. Though I still don’t understand how it could have sent more than a dozen shinigami flying and all in the same direction.”
Matsumoto turned away a little not want to look directly at him. “Don’t remind me, Captain. It’s embarrassing to know that lower seated officers beat that arrancar.”
“I’d hardly call getting hit in the head with the heads of a dozen shinigami in sequence a method of fighting.”
“But Captain! That arrancar embarrassed me by getting defeated in such a terrible way! How can I ever live it down?”
“It’s probably why he ran off to Hueco Mundo…” Hitsugaya commented lowly to himself. “I think you’re taking it a little personally. Everyone came back alive, somehow.”
“Yeah I know, even Steph did!” said Matsumoto dropping her fist into her other palm remarking on their good fortune. “Squad Four said that all of his bones were broken or crushed. They had to get Captain Unohana herself to actually heal him and even still it’s going to be weeks before he can even get out of bed.”
Hitsugaya pulled up the top report booklet staring at it intently. “Why does this have your name on the report, Matsumoto? These are yours aren’t they?!”
“But Captain!”
The incident with the arrancar slowly passed away into distant memories. Steph managed to fully recover from his injuries, but it did keep him down for more than three months. Hana had never told him completely what happened and the others from the incident tended to not talk about it at all. She believed that he would take it too personally if he ever found out that he had nearly killed everyone. As side effect of the damage he took to his soul had caused a weakening in his powers overall. No one knew if the damage would ever be fully repaired, but it meant that he fell down in the ranks. It seemed that at least for now he was much more normal with the strange strength in his spirit energy disappearing. An effect that still persisted ten years later as he remained in dead last on the rankings, barely keeping from getting kicked out of the officers’ seat.
Re: Memories of a Shinigami (BLEACH Club Members only)
A strong wind blew away the scent of sweat from the roof top. Perched in a deadlocked stance were two shadowed figures staring down at each other. The triangle shaped roof made the combat challenging for footing, but it did not seem to mind the two. It kept things interesting and swift so there was never a moment of weakness.
Once the gust came to an end it signaled the start of a charge. Sword was held low and to the side pointed behind ready for an upward swipe. As the figure approached striking distance a flower pedal grazed by his face. He adjusted his movements to avoid it while skillfully keeping his action steady. However, his movement changed and disappeared before reappearing from an angled back attack. The sword echoed loudly as it was met with the second’s blade. Upon seeing his failure he disappeared and returned back to his position. An exhausted sigh came out of his mouth. “I know I saw all of your pedals that time, Steph!” Kagashi complained.
Steph gave him a short grin back. “I keep telling you it’s not just the pedals. I can feel the disturbances in the air from the scent given off by the pedals. You have to be able to move so that you can’t even displace the air.”
“But that’s impossible!” Kagashi returned Steph’s grin with an annoyed pout.
A short laugh came out of Steph. “That’s why it’s a perfect defense. But it does have one flaw. The user’s abilities…” The words made Steph come suddenly silent.
It was something that Kagashi always tried to avoid bringing up around Steph, but it was difficult in sparring. He knew how much of a front that Steph put on for everyone. When his real feelings would break through only helped to accent how much it was truly affect him, even years after the fact. “You’ve got a parry and counter like almost no one else I know, Steph!”
Steph quickly covered up the crack in his mask and push the pleasant smile. “Yeah, I’ve still got my swordsmanship, but my ability to read my opponents movements only comes from Zanpakuto’s abilities. It’s not actually a measure of my own skill.”
“What do you mean, I couldn’t land a single blow on you the entire time!”
“…Kagashi…you were holding back on me again! I know you were.”
There was a small twitch in Kagashi’s eyelid as he was found out. It was a fact that Kagashi was not even using his shikai with Steph. Even without the shikai he restrained his abilities and strength knowing how limited Steph was. Steph would always insist on him fighting earnestly, but Kagashi could never go all out with him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Steph! We’re evenly matched!”
“No we aren’t or I wouldn’t be a twentieth seat while you’re a fourth seat. It speaks to my flaw. I may be able to know an attack is coming, but if I don’t have the strength or reflexes to meet the skill of the opponent it won’t matter.” Steph sheathed his Zanpakuto leaving the pedals to fade away into dust. “Besides we’ve been sparring for a long time now. With my Zanpakuto I know when you change your speed and movements. I know you’re always slowing down when you get into range. You’re skilled enough now to be able to control your body, I guess my being so weak has at least helped you improve.”
It was all so casually laid out by Steph that Kagashi had a little trouble dealing with it all. Steph looked happy and pleasant as though there was not a problem with what he said, but Kagashi did not like hearing Steph being so negative. “You shouldn’t be so quick to judge yourself!”
Steph jumped down off the building beginning to walk away. Kagashi joined him shortly as they leisurely walked towards the squad six barracks. “Hey I’m just saying what’s true. I mean I can’t even do a proper shunpo anymore. What little spiritual energy I have is so uncontrollable that it’s merely my sword skill keeping me an officer at this point.”
There was a certain truth in what Steph said as much as Kagashi would not admit it openly. ‘He’s focusing more on it today than he has in a while…thought he was past it at this point. Did something come up?’ Nearing the squad six barrack’s gate they came to a stop. Entering other squads was not a problem, but Kagashi had the sense that Steph was wishing to leave. “…guess this is where we part…”
“See you next week!” Steph turned away from the gate and continued down the pathway leaving Kagashi pensive. The walk back for him had been very quiet. He dropped himself on his bed resting his Zanpakuto at his side. It had been almost deafeningly silent for him. Ever since he had been hospitalized it was rare for him to hear or see the woman in his spirit world. At first it provided him with an ease that made life smoother to handle, but as the days went on and he did not see her it began to pull at him. He always felt like there was someone with him no matter where he went and he learned that he had found some comfort in expecting that to always be the case. However, as he was now it was difficult for him to make a connection with his Zanpakuto directly. While his sword still worked the link inside seemed to be as labyrinthine as his spiritual energy. ‘It’s so lonely…’
Re: Memories of a Shinigami (BLEACH Club Members only)
White light from the exiting hall of the Senkaimon bathed the ground near the Squad Ten gate. Two shinigami stepped out accompanied by their hell butterflies. The male shinigami, tall and stern, quickly marched off leaving Hana behind to take her own pace. She knew that the shinigami had a personal matter to attend. There was a matter for her as well, but it continued to trouble her persistently no matter how much she tried to handle it.
The subject was Steph. Hana knew that ever since the mission to the human world with the encounter with the arrancar that Steph had come back changed. She had only joined Squad Ten at the start of the mission making it impossible for her to have joined him. It frequently became a question to her if things would have been different if she had been there for him. She wished if she had been there that he would not have had to nearly destroy himself. Unfortunately, for as much as she hoped there was never an answer that she found. All Hana could manage was to keep smiling for Steph as he did as well.
As she entered Squad Ten grounds Hana caught glimpse of a small stone placed alone among the smooth stone finish of the pathway. “Hmm? How did you wander in here?” she asked the stone as she knelt down to pick it up. It momentarily shined back at her making her tilt her head for a second. “Well let’s get you out of here before someone knocks you around.” Hana put the stone into a pocket in her shinigami clothes and continued on.
Hana passed through the busy halls of Squad Ten until she made it to the Captain’s Office. She had her report to make to Hitsugaya, left to her because of her partner’s business. It did not hurt to her too much since she enjoyed the company of Vice-Captain Matsumoto. They got along together very well early on and she was even able to join the Shinigami Women’s Association quickly. Hana knocked on the door awaiting a response from the office, but found none. “Excuse me, Captain Hitsugaya! 6th Seat Hana Asuhara has returned from her mission to the human world! I have my report if you’re not too busy, sir!” Dead silence still.
She pressed hand to the door thinking about opening it. “Strange, the Captain is almost always in his office at this time.” After waiting for a minute Hana decided it was best to open the door and risk it knowing that the Vice-Captain would probably help her out. She slid the door open slowly. “I’m sorry for intruding, sir! But there was no answer…” Hana looked about the office not finding the Captain or Vice-Captain present. She left her report on his desk next to the rest of his work and started to walk out. A last look about the office found Matsumoto sleeping on the couch in the office. Hana smiled and nodded to herself. Now finished she walked out and left to continued with her own task.
While she made her way back through the building she suddenly felt a little lightheaded. Hana pressed her hand against the wall for support until she felt better to walk. “Strange…guess it’s the mission and stress…” She shrugged it off quickly and focused on seeing Steph. There had been no missions assigned to him today so she knew that he would be in his room.
At his door she paused for a moment trying to catch her breath that was feeling a little short as of late. Her hand raised her to knock when she saw it shaking slightly to her. Hana pulled her hand in trying to steady herself for Steph. “Steph-kun! I’m back!”
The door opened a few moments later with Steph at the door smiling back to her. “Welcome back, Hana-chan!” Steph turned away once the door was opened taking up his seat on the bed.
Hana choked on her step for a moment before entering the room and closing the door. Steph room was dark and empty feeling that it tried to push out the façade of warmth that they both were emitting. She took a seat next to Steph having become much better at reading him, though it was still difficult for her at times. “What happened?”
“Hmm?” Steph glanced over at Hana seeing that she was pressing the issue. It seemed that it was becoming easier to rely on her for support, more comfortable for him. “Nothing much…Kagashi was using kit gloves on me again while we were sparring. He’s afraid of hurting me if he uses his real strength.”
“He knows how much it has affected you losing all of your power. He’s just trying not to make you remember it.”
“I know, but holding back only makes to realize it. Maybe if he actually pushed me I could find what I had lost…I don’t know…” Steph looked towards the wall where his Zanpakuto rested. “I can’t even hear her voice anymore. It’s like I’m alone.”
Hana leaned over touching her shoulder to his. “You’re never alone. I’m here for support so you don’t have to stand by yourself. Remember?”
“…yeah…” He dropped his back to his bed looking up at Hana. She turned around and straddled him staring down at him. “Thanks…”
She smiled at him seeing that he seemed a little relieved even if there was still a heavy troubled fog behind his eyes. “No need for thanks.” Hana laid down on top of him staring deeply into his eyes before pressing her lips to his. After, she wrapped her arms behind his neck and rested her head against him in silence.
Hours later Hana woke up and looked about the room and stared flatly down at the bed. “Another two…hmm two girls…it takes all types…” She continued to stare at Steph with an expectation. A cross expression suddenly arose from her face. “Why is nothing happening? The girl’s infected I can sense it.” Hana leaned down while still seated upon Steph intently staring trying to search for a meaning behind the problem. Unfortunately, there was no conclusion that was made.
‘What’s going on? Why is my body moving on its own?’ Hana said within her mind realizing soon that not even her lips were moving as she wished.
‘Awake I see, you’ve got a pretty strong will to still be so loud.’
‘Who are you?’
‘Your new owner.’ Hana reached out touching Steph still working on finding an answer while the inner self yelled internally. There was still the sense of life and the second presence within, but nothing more than that. No link could be established even with another infected. “Guess I’ll have to just cut my losses. No sense worrying over a single shinigami when I have so many already…”
From inside Hana could see poorly what was happening as though she was being held too far away. ‘Steph?! What did you do to him!?’
‘What the girl? Same thing I did to you.’
‘Give me back my body! And give me back Steph!’
‘Yeah…I don’t think you’re in a position to make demands. This is mine now so just be quiet.’ Hana stood up and walked about the room getting use to yet another body. Afterward, she walked out of the room with a driven purposeful look in her eyes.
‘What about Steph? What are doing to him?’
‘Nothing, can’t use someone in a coma…’
Re: Memories of a Shinigami (BLEACH Club Members only)
With the advantage of Hana’s very familiar terms with most of squad ten, her invader made quick work of her body infecting anyone that had not been yet. There had been some struggling from Hana, but most of it had faded the longer that he remained in control. The quiet had finally started to sink in. Squad ten became captured enough that spreading out into the other squads became a more practical solution. Hana’s body was one of the chosen to depart along with the stone in her possession.
Searching through memories available, he was able to determine that Hana knew someone from the sixth division. The target had been set and Hana’s body walked nonchalantly towards the gate. More than an hour had passed to reach the entrance at a casual pace. In the time he was able keep aware of the happenings around through the other puppets. The loss of one of his favored marionettes troubled him, but he continued with the plan. It could not be stopped with the progress that he had made.
Hana looked towards the gate seeing that it was open enough for her to walk in without announcing herself. The guards nearby rushed over to greet her with some recognition coming to them. “What are you doing here, Hana? It’s getting late.”
“Oh I had something I need to see Kagashi about.”
The guard looked a little nervous as he continued to speak with her. “It’s rather late. Could you come back in the morning? You know how Captain Kuchiki is about the rules.”
“Aw…but I’m going on a mission in the morning and I won’t be able to talk to him.” She reached forward grabbing a hold of the guard’s hand giving him a pleading look, which disguised a smirk. “It’s something for Steph and Kagashi need to help me with it. He’s been pretty down lately.”
The second guard next to him chimed in. “You talking about that genius child? I thought he lost his power.”
The first guard began to look a little pale while he stared with empty eyes at Hana. He suddenly straightened back up feeling better. “It should be fine, just be quick.” His friend at his side reached over about to question him, but was grabbed quietly by the man.
Hana watched the momentary exchange and nodded pleased. She went on past them and casually dropped the stone in one of the main hallways of the barracks that received heavy traffic. While she passed by a few of the shinigami she accidentally bumped into them. The short dialogue with each of them was enough for her. Reaching the officers though remained a more important task. At the start was Kagashi’s room that she was nearing.
Her hand knocked on his door checking to see if he was still awake before entering on her own. A distant call from the room indicated that he was not asleep. The door opened slowly with Kagashi’s head looking through the gap before letting go of the door. “What are you doing here, Hana?”
“I came about Steph…can I?” She gave the indication that she preferred to speak inside the room. He granted her entry and moved deeper into the room. Hana followed him and reached out taking his hand into her palm. “Steph…he…” She drew out the words to watch the reaction from him waiting for the moment.
Kagashi could see that something was bothering her. He tried to step forward to give her a little comfort, but his mind suddenly felt very cloudy and light. “…Steph…I…he…” Kagashi tried to focus his thoughts through the haze, but it only seemed to be getting worse. There was a suddenly sharp pull on him as he felt something change. ‘What’s going on?’
An explosion from Kagashi’s room shook the barracks drawing attention from all of the members and setting the night sky a light.
Re: Memories of a Shinigami (BLEACH Club Members only)
Pieces of the barracks rained down over the blast site as shinigami came running to the attention. There was too much smoke that was be certain what was happening around. All they could do was talk amongst themselves trying to get information on what others had seen.
“It looks like someone used a kido, but what’s going?!”
As more of the rumbling began to calm down with the cloud they could begin to hear blades striking. There were fast heavy strikes bouncing through the smoke leaving them all even more confused than before. It seemed like someone was fighting inside.
Swords clashed louder as it overcame the environment. Shifting through layers of clouds Kagashi jumped back as Hana burst through the cloud trailing tendrils of dust off her clothes slamming her sword down against Kagashi’s Zanpakuto. “You should just give up the struggle. It won’t last much longer!”
Kagashi broke free from Hana’s attack and disappeared back into the clouds escaping for the moment. The cover he had from the explosion would not last for much longer. ‘She’s right… I don’t know what’s going on, but I feel my control slipping… something’s wrong with my body…’ He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword trying to focus his mind on the world in front of him. It was the last thread of hope that he had before everything was gone. “She’s coming!”
Hana had located him again quickly through his spiritual pressure. She charged at him with her Zanpakuto raised up becoming much faster than she had been before. Kagashi did not know if he was going to be able to block her again. Then everything went gray and froze for him. “Huh?” Kagashi turned his head to the side trying to understand what was happening. The cloud, Hana, sounds all had stopped. “What’s going on?”
“Someone threatens the purity of your soul…” called a voice from the void. A brief light expanded behind Hana with azura wings breaking through growing to a massive size to encompass everything around him.
Kagashi eyes widened for a moment as he recognized his zanpakuto’s form. “Erimaki no Konpekihane!?” He had no idea what was going on anymore or if the strange feeling he had was connected to his zanpakuto. “Why are you here?”
“Someone tries to put you in a cage.”
“You mean that strange feeling I’ve been having in my body? Can you stop it?”
“Will you be content to be a prisoner of your own body?”
“Stop with the riddles already! If there’s something I need to do take me! My time’s slipping!” The wings grew out further completely surrounding Kagashi until all he saw was darkness. When his sight was restored he could see his inner world, a vast field of snow and ice only surrounded by cliffs overcome back densely packed snow barely held from falling off.
Kagashi stared out at the wasteland trying to find what the problem was when a brisk gust blew through catching snow with it creating a thin mist cloud. There was a new presence that he suddenly sensed in his inner world. A figure stalked confidently out of the mist coming into sight as a man, one that he did not recognize. “Who are you?!”
“So you’re a 4th seat huh? Guess I should expect some trouble from one like you.”
“How do you know me?”
“Surface memories are a pretty easy thing to access even without total control.” The man gave him a smirk looking like he knew far more than he should.
Kagashi narrowed his eyes becoming concerned and slowly understanding why his zanpakuto had brought him. “What do you want here?”
“I’ve come for your body. A 4th seat will make a nice addition to my collection.” The man drew his zanpakuto looking ready for a fight.
“You shouldn’t understand me…” He stared grimly at the stranger and summoned his zanpakuto from the material of his inner world. Snow flew up into his extended palm growing as it stacked upon either other as an unwieldy mass. Kagashi closed his hand around the snow tightly sending a ringing through it causing it to suddenly change shape into his zanpakuto. He charged forward at the intruder ready to test the man’s skill. The two blades crashed into each other throwing up snow from the ground as their strengths clashed.
Kagashi forced them back with his speed drawing a wide carving through the snow as they flew. The stranger had found his footing and finally halted the slide. Their swords rattled pressed against each other. The man seemed largely unaffected by Kagashi taking things in strides. He pushed back Kagashi breaking off their first strike. Then the intruder disappeared for a moment appearing behind Kagashi being blocked. Their battle began to spread out through the wasteland with each blocking the other in a stalemate.
‘It’s like he doesn’t seem to be trying… I can’t let him beat me!’ Kagashi pushed through the next series of assaults and tried to crack the man’s defenses. ‘I can’t take this lightly anymore…’ There was a moment that his blade reached the man tearing some cloth, but not before being driven back. He was close, but the mood seemed to change quickly. Kagashi was suddenly thrown back by the intruder’s next swing sending him across the snow only to have him appear in front of him. He had barely been able to deflect the next strike that kept him flying backwards. The cliffs were coming into sight as Kagashi was pressed back. He slowly managed to right himself and getting his footing to keep ahead of the man.
His back to the wall of the cliff, Kagashi disappeared in the next attack appearing above the cliff. He quickly swiped his zanpakuto through the hanging snow creating a cascade effect dropping all of the snow at the man below. As the snow was still falling down Kagashi came to a landing back on the ground examining the remains. ‘Did that get him?’ Kagashi only had a split second in the time that he realized something was wrong to turn before a blade came across his mid section knocking him down.
The cut was deep and he was feeling the blood pouring into his cloths. Above him the intruder stood with his sword pointed down at Kagashi. “You’re mine…”
“Is this what you did to Hana?” Kagashi questioned trying to delay time until he could move.
“No, she was quite easy to take. She gave up without a fight.”
“I doubt that…”
“A stubborn one huh? Oh you know that weird kid huh? I guess it runs between you then. Shame you’ll never see your friend again!” He raised his sword up for the killing blow.
Kagashi stared narrowly at the man trying to understand what he was meaning. ‘Weird kid? Steph!? What did he do to Steph!? I can’t stand here and do nothing! I have to save Hana and Steph if they’re under his control!’ Determination inside Kagashi grew into sudden power as blue energy bled off him. Kagashi raised his sword up quickly. “Freeze all, Erimaki no Konpekihane!” A solid column of ice burst from the tip of his blade as his shikai was released piercing the intruder through the chest.
The ice column broke off as the man dropped down to one knee holding his chest where he was skewered. His breathing had quickly becoming shallow and difficult. Kagashi stood up slowly holding his sword up trying to keep his strength. “Leave now!”
“Tch!” The stranger faded away from the inner world leaving Kagashi to collapse to the ground.
A sigh of relief came from Kagashi, but he could not rest. The inner world disappeared sharply with Hana appearing in front of him. Kagashi raised up his sword to block her strike in time. ‘My strength and reflexes are back! I just have to rescue Hana from him now!’
Re: Memories of a Shinigami (BLEACH Club Members only)
Kagashi had been able to take the first blow from Hana without much worry. However, the following attacks seemed to be even stronger and faster than the first. He was having trouble keeping up with her through all of the falling debris and clouds. ‘I don’t remember her being this skilled…is it the doing of that man I fought?’ She did not give him much room for questions keeping up a relentless assault.
There was little sign of the Hana that Kagashi recognized with in her eyes. It had seemed like the man was correct. He was not certain how he was going to be able to get to her. Keeping up with her fierce sword work was a challenge enough for him. ‘If Steph was here he could probably wake her up… This is not something that I’m suited to…’
Between breaks in the cycles of Hana’s attacks Kagashi slipped in to try to put an end to the fight. He went for her primary sword hand to restrain her. The controlled Hana had greater strength than he was expecting nearly making him lose his hold instantly. ‘I need to keep her from fighting somehow…’ Kagashi turned about as they fought for control. “Hana snap out of it! Listen to me!” Her free hand balled up into a fist and tried to knock his head off. There was no getting through to her and he was going to lose his grip soon the more her strength was overcoming him. “I don’t know if this’ll work, but… Bakudou #1 Sai!”
Targeted for her dominant arm, the kido worked to bind her wrist to her waist keeping it immobile. ‘Sai’s not meant for someone that’s an officer and she’s stronger than normal… I don’t know how long it’ll hold her…’ Kagashi pinned her to the ground to restrain her completely. Unfortunately, the moment he had let his guard down in relief Hana’s free hand released a quick attack kido of her own. The blast knocked Kagashi off her and covered his face in scorches, minor but enough to sting him.
‘She’s going to be a handful…I don’t know if I can do this without hurting her…’ Kagashi coughed up some air taken back by the surprise attack. He could see that she had already broken free from the bakudou and charging for his undefended position. There was too little time for him to do even a defense against her shunpo. He still tried to lift his zanpakuto in time, but it all seemed to move in slow motion watching her speed towards him. Her sword was swinging in motion for a lethal blow that would get between his defenses. ‘Steph…’ Kagashi narrowed his eyes building his reiatsu in the final moments.
At the last moment Hana came to an abrupt stop in front of Kagashi. Her sword point only inches away from him. Between them several papers were falling through the air, probably slower than the rest due to being light and blown so high up. Hana dropped her sword suddenly and grasped at the papers quickly. The empty dull eyes had instantly changed turning bright and excited. “He’s so cute!”
Kagashi could only manage a disbelieving expression as reality seemed to collapse. “Huh?!”
Hana cradled the papers against her face with great affection and joy. There was a moment where Kagashi was quite certain he was seeing hearts coming off of her. “Oh! And here’s one of him sleeping, too! So adorable!”
“What’s going on?!” Kagashi yelled, finally breaking out of his confused state.
It was enough to startle Hana and lose hold of a few a papers in her hand. One still managed to remain and she noticed that Kagashi was in front of her. She turned the paper around revealing it to be a photo and one of Steph from when he was practicing in private, an oddly voyeuristic image considering it was most likely in Kagashi’s possession. “Why were you keeping these from me, Kagashi?!”
“Hey! Wait a minute those aren’t mine!” he insisted. He flailed his arms trying to deny the clearly embarrassing implications that came along with him having such pictures. “I’ve never seen this before in my life!”
There was a mischievous cat-like grin on Hana’s face as she leaned in a little closer to Kagashi. “You’ve known him longer than any of us, Kagashi. I bet you’re even a founding member of the Steph Fan Club!” Hana took great pleasure in watching Kagashi become completely flustered. She could not help but giggle a little to herself. “I bet you have even better pictures hiding in there!”
Kagashi had lost control of the situation left to a stuttering mess the longer he tried to fight her. He did know what was going on anymore. Hana had disappeared on him into his broken room in the barracks. It took him several minutes to recover enough to realize what was going on. ‘I guess she’s back to normal…’ The longer he stood around doing nothing the more his room was being torn apart for more photos. Kagashi jumped in fear and ran after her. “What do you think you’re doing?!”