Akane's POV

I looked at her for a moment then grinned. She was strong for a kid, refusing to die like that, even with my sword in her stomach. Smart too. She'd frozen the blood around the wound to make a bandage.

I re-sheathed my sword and began to walk away.

"I thought you were going to kill me."

I paused and turned to give her a feral grin.

"I want to fight you again. There are so many others I can kill who would harm people like you. This is the 80th district after all. So you'll live to fight again."

"You're crazy."

"Never said I wasn't."

"I'm travelling with you."

"What." My face blanked out for a moment while I processed the information.

"I. Am. Going. With. You."

"I just about killed you kid, and you want to travel with me?"

"You are not the worst I've met by don't call me kid."

I shrugged at her, and flicked my head in the direction I was walking. She stumbled along beside me for a while before I finally snatched her dark blue hair pulled her to the ground and cut myself.

"What the he-"

I pressed my blood against her wound where it fizzled against the ice for a moment before her wound closed.

Katsumi's POV

It didn't take any genius to tell I was in trouble. The strange girl's blade was lodged in my middle, and all she had to do was whip it out and kill me. Good riddance to this place. She tugged on her blade and it slid out of me, making my skin crawl. I was never good with blood. As I watched, the dark red stain on my middle around the wound froze over, and numbness crept into the pit of my stomach. My zanpakutou trying to keep me going. Ha. This was one fight we could not win, with smarts or swords.

The girl sheathed her sword and turned to walk away.

"I thought you were going to kill me."

The childish words had slipped past my traitorous lips before I was aware I had spoken. But they were true. I had fully expected that last breath to be my last. Why wasn't I dead now? Don't question it. I'm not ready to leave you just yet. The voice was frantic in my head, but her words drowned out any chance of a reply.

She smiled an almost animalistic grin.

"I want to fight you again. There are so many others I can kill who would harm people like you. This is the 80th district after all. So you'll live to fight again."

"You're crazy."

Again I had no control over my speech. What was up with me today? I really never had a problem holding my tongue before.

"Never said I wasn't."

Ok then. There was no choice for me anymore. I could not let her get away. She had dispatched me with almost no obvious effort on her part, yet I had to go all the way to releasing my shikai before she struck me down. I had to learn to fight like that. My mind had barely come to that conclusion before the words were there.

"I'm travelling with you."

"What?"

Her face blanked as she stared at me. Guess I have to spell it out.

"I. Am. Going. With. You."

"I just about killed you kid, and you want to travel with me?"

"You are not the worst I've met by far. And don't call me kid."

I had always hated that nickname. Kid. I wasn't that young. And I had proved I could kick any other adult's butt from here to Seireitei if I had to. And there were plenty of chances for that in the 80th.

She didn't say anything, and turned away with a flick of her head. I took it as a yes. Pulling my sore body to its feet, I strapped my zanpakutou to my back and stumbled after her. This was my first test. To see how far I could go with a major injury. I glanced down. The red stain was still covered, but I could feel my energy sapping just trying to keep the patch there. I can't say I've had worse, but I've been injured to almost this degree. I didn't know I was lagging until she stopped, and yanked me to the ground by my hair. She cut her wrist, and pressed it to the ice on my stomach.

"What the he-"

The ice shattered, and I blanched, expecting a lot of pain. Instead there was a slight stinging, and I watched the gaping cut in my middle close. What was this girl?