Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to the one and only Tite Kubo, whose novels I will buy if he ever publishes them.
As days passed, Hikari had often wondered about the boy draped in black. Ichimaru Gin. How was he able to defeat that monster so easily? He carried a really mysterious air about him, and Hikari had noticed a strong spiritual energy emanating from him that had made her feel slightly giddy. Then her thoughts would drift back to the monster she had encountered. It stood at approximately three storeys tall, and had a dark aura about it. Hikari would shudder at the thought of that day's events, and hoped that she would never encounter such a terrifying being again.
Hana, though, had no recollection of what had transpired, thinking that it was one of her fainting spells she was prone to getting since young. Hikari couldn't tell her the truth; of how the both of them were almost killed by something only Hikari could see, of how helpless and useless she was in this this situation. So she just smiled and went with Hana's reasoning.
Months had passed, and as much as Hikari had hoped to, she had not seen her silver-haired savior. She did notice though, that the number of those masked monsters had decreased significantly ever since she had met him, and took comfort in the fact that he was still around eliminating those monsters.
It was spring, and cherry blossoms were in full bloom in Seika town. Hikari and Hana trudged through the ground, which was littered in pink, white and red sakura petals, chatting about their day in school. It was evening, and the sun was setting in the horizon ahead. It was a normal day.
As Hikari chatted with Hana, she had noticed that the empty street they were now walking along was the same street where she had encountered the masked monster. She wistfully thought back to the mysterious silver-haired boy and subconsciously wondered about his whereabouts.
Without warning, as though he had read her mind, the silver haired ghost had appeared out of a corner ten metres away and strolled in the same direction Hikari and Hana were headed, walking further and further away from them.
As soon as Hikari saw him, she excitedly ran towards the retreating figure. "Ichimaru-san! Wait up!" She called, waving her arms to attract his attention.
The boy paused, turning around, with the same crooked grin still on his face. Then, just as quickly as he had appeared, he disappeared.
Hikari's attention was caught next by a familiar spine chilling roar, followed by a scream which she recognized immediately.
"Hana!" Hikari turned around to see one of those masked monsters. Its masked resembled that of a shark's skull, with many rows of jagged teeth. Its large build towered over Hikari, and Hikari realized that Hana was clamped in its left hand as it lifted her off the ground.
Hikari had frozen in shock, not knowing what to do. Wasn't the silver-haired boy there just now? Why wasn't he helping them now? She was brought back to reality when Hana screamed again, flailing helplessly in the monster's grasp.
With a battle cry, Hikari picked up a thick wooden board that was lying on the pathway, running towards the monster and slamming it to its lower limb, the only part she was able to reach. The impact of the hit should have been able to knock out a grown man, but the monster wasn't the least bit affected by that attack. Hikari tried again, using more strength this time, but to no avail. The board broke into two, but this did not deter Hikari. With one half of the wooden board, she stabbed the splintered portion hard into its foot.
The monster roared in pain, sending chills up Hikari's spine. She could feel dark energy emanating from the monster, one that threatened to choke her to death, but ignored it. Using its free hand, the monster pulled the wooden board out of its foot, before flicking Hikari away. Hikari was thrown back a few metres by the impact.
Where was Gin? Hikari wondered in her desperation. She was sure that he was around just a few moments ago. Why hadn't he come to save them?
It was then that Hikari came to this horrible realization: Nobody is coming to save them. She watched in horror as Hana, still struggling, was lifted right above the monster's gaping mouth.
"Hana!" Hikari screamed. She was too far away to render any help now, and could only watch helplessly as her best friend was about to die.
Hana turned her head towards Hikari. From where she was, Hikari could make out her expressions- scared, unable to comprehend what was happening, but her dark amethyst eyes were pleading as she spoke resignedly: "Run away, Hikari." Even close to her death, she had given Hikari a reassuring smile. Hikari could stand the pain no longer.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Hikari cried, falling to her knees. She was about to lose her best friend, her only friend of seven years, right before her eyes. All her emotions of pain, fear and confusion rose up in her throat as she screamed her heart out. A burst of energy she never knew she had had welled up in her chest, and she let it all out with that scream.
The monster had paused upon hearing Hikari's desperate scream, and turned towards her, its head tilted slightly. It had taken a new interest in Hikari as it dropped an unconscious Hana onto the pavement. Hana collapsed in a messy heap.
Hikari, now relieved that Hana was in no immediate danger, realized that the monster was now headed towards her. The ground shook with every step it took, and as it neared her, Hikari felt its dark energy permeate into her entire core once again, threatening to snuff out her life. She fell backwards onto the ground in a sitting position. She had tried to move, but staring into the monster's red, glowing eyes had immobilized her.
Hikari then heard a snicker, and before she knew it, the silver-haired boy was squatting right in front of her. All she could see at that moment was his wide smiling face and slitted eyes.
"I knew ye had it in ya." His voice was silky as he spoke. "Ya just needed a li'l push now."
Before Hikari could react, she felt a searing pain in her chest. She looked down to see that the boy had stabbed his short sword into her heart.
She did not understand anything that had happened after that. All she knew was that there were large amounts of energy coursing through her entire body, and a long sword had appeared on her right hand. She was draped in a black Japanese traditional kimono, a shihakusho, similar to that of the silver-haired boy's, who had stepped aside so that Hikari was facing the monster headed towards her once more.
Hikari stood up from her sitting position and lifted her katana. It felt so natural and light in her hands. The energy flowing through her body felt extremely calming, and it seemed to be able to cancel the dark energy radiating from the monster. She took a step towards the monster, looking it in the eye determinedly.
Her body felt light as she sprinted towards the towering black form and jumped. Her jump was able to reach up to the level of the monster's mask and she was only able to see the monster's glowing red eyes widen for a second before bringing her katana down onto the mask, cutting it cleanly into two.
With a final unearthly roar, the monster disappeared in a cloud of black dust, which glistened against the evening sun.