Kaorin was standing on the sidewalk. The hot Tokyo sun beat down on her as she waited for the traffic signal to change. She watched the light as it sat unchanging. She began to think about how her day had been. A cloud drifted by in the blue sky above. She thought about how creepy Kimura had been, how weird Osaka had acted. Two smaller clouds trailed the larger one. They formed a loose triangular formation, each of them fluffy and comforting. The light changed. Kaorin started to walk across the side walk. The clouds drifted along, a small breeze provided some protection from the heat. It was pretty boring, but she kind of liked it.
Kagura had always loved swimming. She had always been the best in her swim class, beating everyone except for her instructor. On this hot summer day she had decided to find an indoor pool, or even an outdoor pool, she didn't care. She hoped to use swimming in her future career. But how can I? There just doesn't seem to be a chance. Kagura suddenly shivered. No, Kagura thought, it can't be! The air no longer felt hot, everything felt as cold as death.
"Help me!" somebody screamed.
I just hope I'm not too late. Kagura ran towards the sound. She reached into her coat, pulling out a red glove.
Kaorin wasn't quite sure about what she had just seen. A black shape had suddenly materialized in the middle of the intersection. When she saw the black shape, she had screamed at the top of her lungs. Whatever the thing was it looked like it was alive. Its face was white like a skull's and it even had a skull's signature grin. The thing also had a large hole in its chest. Tentacles covered the lower part of its body like legs. Its large torso towered above her. I must be going crazy, Kaorin thought to herself.
"Well hello there."
Kaorin shivered at the sound of the monster's voice. It had an unnerving ring to it, an indescribable evil. It was almost as if the creature spoke with the voice of Hell itself. When it spoke again, Kaorin nearly soiled her pants.
"I said hello. Didn't your mother ever teach you manners?"
Kaorin simply stood there with fear.
"Then I suppose I'll just have to teach you some manners, little girl."
The monster reared back in order to strike. It had done this many times before. This poor human would experience death in only a few moments.
PHOOM!
A car slammed into the evil being. The driver hadn't seen anything in his lane, and he never would, his jackrabbit start made sure of that. The creature lay on the ground, the wreckage of the car against its side. The monster raised its ugly head off of the road. Two of its tentacles turned into arms. These two arms grabbed the car in their large fists. With an evil screech the creature ripped the vehicle in half. The halves were thrown aside.
"Now I'm pissed," the monster said, "And it seems as if I'll have to take my anger out on you." Two tentacles lunged towards Kaorin. They were ready to kill.
"I don't think so!"
The monster turned, a black sword slashed through its tentacles. An evil screech emanated from the creature. Hatred could be seen in its eyes.
"Who are you?" the beast asked.
"My name is Kagura, and I'm gonna kill you!"
Kagura raised her zanpakutō, which looked like a large kitchen knife. Using her sword she stabbed into the evil monster's mask. Letting out a final screech it fell down, dead.
"Impressive," Kagura turned to the source of the sound. It was Sakaki!
"Sakaki?" said Kagura, "How can you see me?"
"I can see you because I have my powers of my own. But mine are stronger!"
Sakaki pulled out her own black sword. Kagura blocked it with the side of her zanpakutō.
"What are you doing?" Kagura yelled.
"Proving that I'm better than you," Sakaki replied.
Slash!
Clang!
Slash!
Clang!
Sakaki continued to attack Kagura. Each of her blows was fast and swift, but Kagura blocked them all. Kagura swiped at Sakaki. Sakaki didn't even use her sword, she merely leaned away from Kagura's lunge. She then stabbed at Kagura's head. Kagura barely managed to knock her blow away when Sakaki attacked again.
Swish!
Clang!
Swish!
Clang!
Kagura couldn't quite understand what was going on. The Sakaki she knew may have been shy and awkward, but she had never been violent. Kagura was also unwilling to hurt her friend. But it was clear that Sakaki did not feel the same way.
Kaorin watched as two of her best friends fought each other. It was clear that Sakaki held the advantage, and that meant death for Kagura. Kaorin couldn't understand what was going on either. All she could do was stand there while her iPod started to play Drop The World.
"I got ice in my veins. Blood in my eyes. Hate in my heart. Love in my mind. I see nights full of pain, days are the same. You keep the sunshine, save me the rain..."
Kagura was scared. This Sakaki was a lot stronger than the one she knew. Each blow she made with her sword was faster and stronger than any counterblow Kagura could make. This fight was completely one sided. Kagura realized that she might die. Like Hell! I'm not gonna lose to her!
"What's the matter Kagura?" Sakaki asked, "I thought you always wanted to challenge me? Were you bluffing all this time?"
Damn it, Kagura thought to herself. She's so strong, and so fast. I'm not sure if I can keep up with her much longer.
"I guess you can only fight as good as you look," Sakaki said.
"Thanks," Kagura replied.
"No, you can't even fight that well."
"Shut up!" Kagura yelled. I have to end this fight now. Kagura leaped into the air, she brought her sword down with all of her might and speed.
Clang! Clang!
Sakaki smirked. She had revealed the true nature of her zanpakutō. It could become two identical swords at the user's whim. She quickly stabbed with the sword in her right hand at Kagura. Though it didn't pierce her skin, it did slice through her soul reaper uniform. The black fabric was easily sliced by Sakaki's blade. Kagura used this opportunity to try and slice through Sakaki's neck. Her blow was easily blocked by the sword in Sakaki's left hand.
Damn it! Her blows are just as strong with one arm as they are with two! That means she's been holding back! It was at this point that Kagura knew she was beat. There was no way to defeat this violent, confident Sakaki. At least not this way.
Kaorin stared at the two of them. They both moved so fast. All of their movements were sure and strong. But it was clear to her that Sakaki's movements were a lot stronger. Her iPod continued to play.
"…All this bullshit just make me strong muthah f—ah...!"
At this point Kagura slashed again. Parrying the blow Sakaki lashed out with both of her swords. Using the entire blade of her sword Kagura managed to block both of her blows at once. Sakaki continued to pound away with her weapons.
"Why are you doing this Sakaki?" Kagura yelled.
The girl just smiled at her. "You don't know who I am, do you? You poor fool. I'm not really Sakaki."
Kagura didn't believe her for a second. "Who else would you be?" Kagura yelled, "Moleman?"
"I'll tell you who I am," Sakaki pushed her swords against Kagura's, pinning it to Kagura's chest. "I'm the strong part of Sakaki, but I don't share that name with her. I was forced to live deep inside of her, only coming out in times of great crisis. Essentially I was her sidekick, but I wanted to be the main attraction. One day she was sitting on a curb, her hand had just been bitten by a cat. While she sat there she began to concentrate, eventually spirit ribbons appeared around her. At that moment I knew how I would be freed from the depths of her mind. She didn't know what these ribbons were of course. But that didn't matter. She saw so many of them, only one was special, and it was me. I summoned all of my strength forcing her arm to grab it. At that moment I was free, and I was in control."
"I don't believe you," Kagura said, her sword still pinned to her chest by Sakaki's great strength. "That story doesn't make sense!"
"Oh it does and you know it. Sakaki's never been confident, she's never been violent, she's never been talkative, and she's never been proactive. I am all of these things. So what better explanation is there? When I first had control I reached for my sword. But unlike you I didn't use it to kill monsters, I used it to summon them. I watched people running for their lives from these creatures. It was fun."
Kagura growled to herself. Is it true? Could Sakaki really have such darkness within her? It was hard to believe. Sure Sakaki had always been shy, but she never seemed terribly unhappy. Then again, Kagura didn't really know her that well.
"Do you know why animals attack Sakaki?" her evil side asked. "It's because I dwell inside of her. The animals can sense my hatred of the living, this is what spurs them to fight or flee. Except for one, some stupid dog owned by a little brat. He's the only one that isn't afraid of me. For that, I hate him, and now that I have complete control over Sakaki's body…I'll kill him."
"You're the reason Sakaki always gets hurt?" Kagura yelled. This was really starting to piss her off. "I think I hate you more every second!" she yelled.
"So what are you going to do about it?" Sakaki's evil asked.
"It hurts but I never show. This pain you never know. If only you could see just how lonely it become. How cross I have become. My back's against the wall. When push come to shove, I just stand up and scream 'fuck 'em all'...!"
"Let me show you!" Kagura screamed. Kagura hit Sakaki with her left hand. A red glove pushed the evil out of Sakaki's body, both of them fell down. Kagura got back up. She noticed that Sakaki's body still held one of the swords, but the other was in the hand of a black robed look-alike standing in front of her.
"What?" she yelled, "Why do I only have one sword?" The wicked personality ran over to Sakaki's body. She tried to pull the blade out of her right hand. It was stuck. "Damn it!" the evil screamed. "This doesn't make sense!"
"TOO BAD!" Kagura screamed. She jumped up into the air, she brought her blade down. Metal screeched as the two weapons slid against each other, neither yielding an inch. "Now that I know you really aren't Sakaki," Kagura said, "killing you will be easy!"
"Oh really? Don't you know who I am?"
"No! And I really don't care!" Kagura slashed at the evil spirit which parried her blow with ease.
"I'll tell you anyways, my name is Invincible!" The cruel being stabbed her sword right through Kagura's left shoulder. Blood dripped off of her blade as she pulled it out.
Kagura fell to her knees with a gasp. Red stained her black robe. She was in a lot of pain, but she never let it show.
"You made a mistake," the evil Sakaki said. "I always used to be so careful. Whenever I was in charge I tried to keep her body intact," the evil girl used her sword to point towards Sakaki lying on the ground. "I always thought that if that body was destroyed, I would be too. But you taught me a very valuable lesson soul reaper," Invincible turned towards Kagura. "You showed me that I can survive outside of that meat sack. Now I can finally be me!" She rushed towards Kagura, her speed was incredible. Each of her blows was faster and stronger than the last. If her arm hadn't been hurt she might have stood a better chance.
Kaorin simply couldn't help it. No matter how much she wanted to run away her legs wouldn't budge. She watched as the evil Invincible continued to attack Kagura. Part of her wanted to stay, to see what would happen. There was an unusual quality to the fight. It was like a car crash in slow motion, you knew it was terrible, but you still wanted to be there for the experience.
Kagura was on the ropes. Now that the evil part of Sakaki was free her strength had increased, it hadn't fallen. Her sword was heavy in her hands, she couldn't swing it much longer. That's it! Kagura mustered her strength into one powerful swing. Both of their swords flew off in opposite directions. Invincible was stunned. Kagura used the opportunity to strike.
Her right fist collided with the side of Invincible's head. At the same time she slammed her left fist into the evil Sakaki's stomach. Invincible retaliated with her right fist, Kagura's head turned from the force of the blow. Suddenly her mouth opened. Kagura bit down on Invincible's arm. The evil Sakaki's left fist smashed into Kagura's face. As she was pushed back from the punch her teeth left bloody streaks on Invincible's arm. The evil girl was mad now.
Kagura lashed out with her foot, tripping the evil one. As she fell Invincible kicked Kagura in the solar plexus. Invincible used the opportunity to get up and elbow Kagura in the face. Kagura head butted the evil Sakaki in the face. Both of them staggered back.
"How can you continue to fight?" Invincible asked Kagura.
Kagura's face was covered in blood. Her shoulder was a red mass of blood and flesh. She wheezed with every breath. Yet she smiled, and her eyes were still bright.
"All this bullshit just make me strong muthah fukah! "
"You want to know why I can keep this up?" Kagura yelled. "I already know that I can't win, so I want to go out with a bang!"
"You'll die with a whimper," said Invincible, "When I pierce both of your lungs with my blade."
"We'll just have to find out, won't we?"
They both raced for their zanpakutōs. Invincible reached hers first. Kagura picked up her sword with both of her hands. A sharp pain pierced the right side of her chest. She looked down to see a black blade extending from her black robe. She coughed up blood. Using her sword Invincible threw Kagura over her shoulder. Kagura bounced once, lying motionless while her left hand held on to her sword.
"You thought you were so tough. Now look at you, lying on the ground, blood pouring into your lungs. Pathetic, absolutely pathetic. I've gotta hand it to you though, you're the first thing that's ever managed to hurt me. But I think we'll keep this between you and me." Invincible raised her sword over her head. "That is, if you don't mind." But before the evil side of Sakaki could do anything to Kagura, a black blade punctured her right shoulder. Screaming with pain, Invincible turned around to see who it was that had stabbed her. It was Sakaki.
Sakaki continued to stretch, letting out a yawn. She could have sworn that there was someone behind her, but when she had turned around no one was there. To Sakaki's left Kaorin just stood there, mouth wide open.
"Hi Kaorin!" Sakaki said giving a friendly wave.
"WHAT THE HELL?" At this point Kaorin was completely lost.
"Um, okay?" Sakaki answered.
"I think I need to lie down," Kaorin said to herself.
What's up with her? And here I thought I was being so friendly. That was a pretty good nap I…wait a minute... Why was I sleeping in the middle of the road?
Sakaki felt something grab her shoulder. You, a voice filled her head. I can't believe you would defy me.
"Uh, what?"
You heard me! Just now, you stabbed me with that zanpakutō in your right hand.
"I stabbed you with what?"
Oh that's right, you can't see me. Well I should at least give you the privilege of seeing your executioner.
Sakaki was pretty sure that she'd suffered severe head trauma. In front of her stood someone that looked just like her, with a black sword in her right hand. Behind her lay someone who looked like Kagura lying in a pool of blood. When she reached up to scratch her head, she noticed that her hand was holding on to something. It was a black sword. It was identical to the one held by the person who looked just like her.
"Sakaki!" yelled Kaorin, "run away!"
"Run away from what?"
"That crazy chick with the sword!" WTF? Is she blind? Kaorin couldn't believe anyone could be so dense.
"She seems nice enough," Sakaki responded.
"But she just killed Kagura!" Kaorin retorted.
"What? Are you serious?"
"WTF? Just get out of there!" screamed Kaorin.
"But what about Kagura?"
"SHE'S DEAD!" yelled Kaorin.
"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!" Sakaki yelled back.
"I'M PRETTY SURE ABOUT THIS!"
"NO! You're not!" Sakaki yelled, "I have to help her!"
"Oh please," said Invincible, "I have all of your natural ability. Without that you can't beat me."
"NO! BUT I CAN!"
Sakaki and Kaorin both watched as what seemed to be a huge kitchen knife sliced the evil Sakaki look-alike in two.
"Hrgh!" Invincible yelled before dying, a cry of pain and anger.
Kagura stood in front of them. Blood dripped from her chest, from her face, from her hands, and from her sword. She smiled at the two of them. She coughed. Blood sprayed from her mouth onto the road. At this point Kagura collapsed. Her face hit the hard asphalt.
"Kagura!" yelled Sakaki, "speak to me!"
"Hrgh. I can't breathe."
"But, if you can't breathe…how are you talking?"
"This is…not…the time…." Kagura coughed up more blood before continuing. "At least there's some good news…."
"Really?" Sakaki and Kaorin asked.
"Yeah…really…."
"What is it?" Sakaki and Kaorin asked.
"It's…hrgh…bleah." Kagura lay still, she stopped breathing for a moment.
"NO!" Sakaki screamed at the top of her lungs.
"I'm okay…well not really…. Anyways," coughed Kagura, "the good news is that you won't be bitten by cats anymore…Sakaki…."
"And that's special how…?"
Sakaki and Kagura both looked at Kaorin, stunned.
"Um, don't judge me!" Kaorin yelled.
"Too…late…bleah…just kidd…." Kagura stopped, her eyes became dull, her chest stopped moving.
Kaorin felt tears form in her eyes. She knew that Kagura had been joking before. Now she would never joke again.
"NO!" yelled Sakaki. "She was the best person I'll ever know! No one can compete with her!"
Not the most tactful thing to say, Kaorin thought to herself. Sakaki continued to sob, saying things like "wah!", and "wahhaha!". Kaorin cried too, not only because one of her friends had died. But also because the person she so greatly admired didn't seem to return the favor.
Four Weeks Later…
Sakaki sadly walked down the sidewalk. Ever since that fateful day she had become even more quiet. She missed walking around with Kagura scaring away all the cats that came nearby. Sure it had been annoying as shit but it felt strange not to have it happening.
No one had believed the tale Kaorin had told. Her talks about a monster in a white mask killed by Kagura caused the police to throw her in an insane asylum. Sakaki had tried to plead with the guards to let her out. Apparently though she had already been dismissed by the time she had arrived there at 10 minutes later.
All of their other friends explained that Kagura probably just moved away without telling anyone. They figured that they would see her again somewhere. Sakaki had pretended to agree. Kagura had definitely moved away, but now she would never be seen again.
Sakaki continued to move down the sidewalk. No cats ever seemed to be in this alleyway anymore. This meant that Sakaki still didn't know if what Kagura had told her was true. A small bush shivered. Sakaki watched as a brown cat walked out of it. The cat was small, it had brown fur, it had small ears. Slowly, Sakaki stretched her hand out towards the furry creature. The creature sniffed at her hand, and then the cat rubbed its head against it. Sakaki was shocked. It almost seemed as if everything was alright again. But she couldn't be sure.