Intro: Another starless night, another sleepless night
"Another starless night, another sleepless night" The thought echoed in his head, of course, every night was a starless night in this city, and of course, every night was a sleepless night since he got there. He looked down at his black robes and wooden sandals, and later on his beloved Zanpakutou that rested in a leather scabbard, hanging from his belt.
Why am I still wearing these clothes? He thought as he inspected his black robe and his wooden sandals. Oh, right, no one can see me anyway, besides my chasers that is, and I doubt they care what I'm wearing… He turned his gaze away from his clothes and upwards toward the starless sky.
In his mind, an image was slowly created, an image he knew well. It was that of a woman, or at least a female, an attractive one. She had smooth blue skin, long golden hair, neatly gathered in a ponytail. She had a pair of wings or her back, and she was wearing a long white dress, she was quite tall, about 1.80 meters tall, her brown eyes seemed different than the rest of her body as they were normal, yet it somehow fit her.
Again wondering about the meaning of life? The woman said in a cute high-pitched voice and giggled.
You seem cheerful today… He replied in his thoughts, she was just what he needed now though, she always managed to cheer him up somehow. He liked hanging around on the top of buildings, pondering about what next, he never did find an answer, but he enjoyed the cool breeze on such a height.
"It's him, he fits the description perfectly, lieutenant!" Azuma told his superior with excitement. Azuma was a big man, two meters tall and about 1.50 meters wide, his bald head showed traces of black hair. When he noticed his superior wasn't replying, he continued.
"About 1.85 meters tall, muscular yet not very wide, messy long black hair and Shinigami clothes. It's definitely Kazunori, lieutenant!" Azuma exclaimed with pride, they have recently found a good observation point on a building and found their man lying down on the roof of a close-by building.
"Stay here, if by any chance I'll need backup, I'll call you. Though I doubt you would be needed" Azuma's superior, Umeharu, jumped from rooftop to rooftop, in the direction where Kazunori lay quietly. He hated Kazunori, even before Kazunori's treason, he has always hated him.
Kazunori probably sensed me before I sensed him, yet he seems completely untroubled by it. Such arrogance, such stupidity, I'll kill him before he has the chance to move!
Umeharu assured himself, he was now much stronger than three months ago, when Kazunori beat him last time. The tapping of his wooden sandals became more frequent as he increased his speed and hopped from building to building faster.
Well Umeharu finally moved, better get up Kazunori decided as he felt Umeharu's spirit energy draw nearer. With a small hop, he stood up and cleaned his clothes from dust. He then readied his hand on the hilt of his Katana, which was in-fact his beloved Zanpakutou. Meanwhile, the image in his head disappeared, feeling the upcoming battle. Umeharu finally landed a few steps away from Kazunori; he had a grin on his bearded face. He as well readied his hand on his Zanpakutou's hilt. Umeharu stood slightly shorter than Kazunori, but he had greater spirit force (according to what Umeharu sensed).
"You've grown a beard? Reached puberty already? That's surprising…" Kazunori said and laughed, he had often teased Umeharu about his immature state when they were young in Soul Society.
Umeharu remained quiet, he had no time for Kazuroni's silliness, Kazuroni must be eliminated! He quickly drew his Zanpakutou from the scabbard, a grin still wide on his face, with the current spirit force he felt from Kazuroni, he was weak! Still, better not take chances. Umeharu thought, knowing that Kazuroni can be surprising.
"Ikio, reveal your blades!" Umeharu shouted, his Zanpakutou gleamed while very clearly changing form. The hilt became longer, the blade wider and another blade came out of the hilt's backs side. No longer did this Zanpakutou look like an ordinary Katana, it now had a marble hilt with golden decorations on it. The steel of the blades was sharp and polished perfectly. Umeharu held the double-edged sword with a stretched hand sideways as if his arm was a continuing his shoulder.
"Releasing your Slayer already, I thought you would be more patient" Kazuroni said with confidence and chuckled. "Oh well, lets play the way you want to play. Shimeyo, spin" Kazuroni said calmly as he drew his Zanpakutou, his Zanpakutou gleamed as well while it changed form, however this was a more drastic change. A ring-shaped base with four 1 meter long blades attached to it was the form of the released Shimeyo. It had no decorations of any sort, it was simply a metal ring with blades attached to it, yet the blades were obviously sharp. This giant shuriken which was Kazuroni's Zanpakutou was held calmly in Kazuroni's hand, as if waiting patiently for Kazuroni to use it.
Umeharu has seen this Zanpakutou before, but with the release of the Zanpakutou came a strong feeling of… Danger, or was it the sense of a strong spirit force? How could he have grown so strong! Umeharu thought in amazement. How could his spirit force be greater than mine even though I practiced crazily for the passed three months and with much better tools for training!
Fear began to spread in Umeharu, but he would not let that bother him, he can't lose to Kazuroni again, not after all that training!
"Surprised? Can you possibly know the amount of Hollows by the day in this city? I'm surprised it hasn't been completely ruined with the incredibly small forces of Shinigamis that protect this city." Kazuroni said and laughed, he just loved to surprise people, especially Umeharu.
"What? You didn't think I would ignore my Shinigami duties, did you?" Kazuroni said in a mocking voice, of course he ignore his Shinigami duties, he just loved killing Hollows.
The grin was long gone from Umeharu's face, he gripped his Zanpakutou tightly and charged at Kazuroni.
Kazuroni's hand snapped back and then snapped forward, he let go of the giant Shuriken in the climax of his arm's speed. The Shuriken turned into a blur as it spinned and moved toward Umeharu, slicing through the air with ease.
"Shit!" Was all that Umeharu managed to blurt out before leaping sideways. The giant Shuriken known as Shimeyo missed him by several inches and continued ahead, slicing through the building as if it was butter. It quickly disappeared from sight, as it cut through the New-York blocks.
Umeharu continued his disturbed charge at the now weaponless Kazunori. He held the double-edged sword known as Ikio tight to his back, ready to slash violently at any given direction.
As soon as he was close enough, his hand snapped into action, thrusting Ikio forward, directly at Kazunori's chest. Kazunori saw the stab coming and slid forward, directly under Ikio, too quickly to notice Umerharu's smile creeping to his face.
"Now!" Umeharu shouted, and the obeying Ikio shot it's backside blade like a bullet. The long, yet fast blade came too much as a surprise for Kazunori to dodge, it impaled his arm and pinned it to the building.
A pain-clutched scream escaped Kazunori's mouth. He tried to lift his arm over the blade's edge, but the blade came in at a sharp angle.
Umeharu ran toward the shocked Kazunori and readied his now single-bladed sword. He stepped on Kazunori and aimed his blade at Kazunori's neck, inches away.
"It's called Dokuga (Poison Fang), a new ability my dear Ikio developed. You were the first victim of it so far… Any last wishes traitor?" Umeharu said proudly, glad that the weeks of chasing finally paid off.
"Yes… Have a marry after-afterlife" Kazunori said happily, and just as he finished the sentence, so fast that it could barely be seen, came Shimeyo. It sliced through Umeharu at the waist, accurately chopping his body into two pieces and easily settling in Kazunori's out-drawn hand. He placed Shimeyo on the ground and used his free hand to slowly but painfully drawn out Umeharu's blade. After freeing his second hand, he held to Shimeyo and stood up. Looking down at the half-corpse of Umeharu and expressing a faint smile.
"Good bye old friend, and I'll cya in a few years perhaps" Kazunori whispered, as he walked away, exhausted but satisfied. He sat down on the building and looked up at the still starless sky.
Pondering about his next actions, not that he reached an answer to his many questions, questions that will forever remain unsolved.
To Be Continued