Tora-chan: Due to supportive reviews, I am attempting to prevent any procrastination, and get on with the story. Hopefully this will be longer than my other pitiful chapter. Introducing another serious character to disclaim:
Konamaru: Hello. Tora-chan doesn't own Bleach.
Tora-chan: Finally, a normal character [even though I love the crazy ones too]
Konamaru: ...
Tora-chan: So, how'd you end up part dog? Did you get rabies before you died? [my personal theory]
Konamaru: ...
Tora-chan: You don't talk much, do you?
Konamaru: ... No?
Tora-chan: Scratch the normal part. Anyways, enjoy and please review! Just to let you know, not all the vizards will be mentioned very much.
Over the next hour, Shinji slipped in and out of consciousness. Pain continued to travel through his body, sending shudders through his bones. Over his random periods of consciousness, he began to sense approaching hollows. In this state, he could do little to prevent his spiritual pressure from leaking out, forming a yellow brick road out to hungry hollows searching for prey.
To help his situation more, instead of recovering as time passed, Shinji could feel himself getting weaker and weaker. Soon, any shred of awareness would disappear, along with a large portion of his chance of survival. Thinking back on his fight with Hiyori, he couldn't believe that he had gotten angry over what now seemed to be such a little thing. "This situation doesn't make be seem weak at all," Shinji whispered sarcastically to himself. The irony of the situation made him laugh, but the immense pain that followed it made Shinji regret laughing, as he slipped back into unconsciousness.
Lisa had been unable to pinpoint Shinji's exact location within the brief seconds she had been in contact with him, but she and Hiyori definitely didn't have to go to any trouble to find him. The solution was helpful but also caused them to worry even more.
They were following a trail of mixtures of small and large hollows, some of the creatures barely below menos grandes. The amount of power that the hollows contained was no problem. They were like flies compared to the power the vizards possessed. What put Lisa and Hiyori's nerves on edge, was the number of the hollows. The amount of hollows would be almost impossible to keep track of while counting. No matter how many the two vizards cut down, swarms and swarms took the place of the fallen. The target of the hollows was extremely obvious, due to the large spiritual that was being emitted from somewhere nearby. As soon as it hit her, Lisa could tell that it belonged to Shinji. It was a relief to know that he was alive, but if they didn't reach him before the masses of hollows, he wouldn't be for long.
Increasing their speed, Lisa and Hiyori followed the trail made by the flow of Shinji's spiritual pressure and began shunpoing, racing the many hollows, while cutting down as many as they could, though that proved ineffective as more hollows entered the area.
Not paying attention, the two vizards found themselves heading straight into a barrier. Expecting impact, Hiyori and Lisa were surprised to find themselves able to enter the barrier, while the hollows were warded off.
Hiyori didn't take much note of this, but Lisa was more aware of this odd occurrence. "Someone knew we would come for Shinji," she interpreted.
"Huh? How?" Hiyori asked.
"Don't you find it a little odd that we were able to enter this barrier without even attempting to force our way through, or anything like that? What concerns we even more is that this mysterious person also knew that it would be us, not Hachigen, Mashiro, Kensei, or any of the others. I find that highly suspicious," Lisa explained. "However," she sighed, "we can thank this person for preventing these hollows from reaching Shinji." Lisa gestured towards the hollows, who were gnashing their teeth against the barriers, attempting to break through it, but to no prevail.
With that, Hiyori and Lisa went to continue their search when a loud bang interrupted them. An opening in the sky past the barrier let some hollows through before closing. Catching the Shinji's pressure on the wind, the hollows began clicking their teeth together in excitement, signalling to each other to attack.
"I can take care of the Hiyori, go ahead," Lisa yelled over the commotion, giving Hiyori a knowing look.
"Thanks Lisa," Hiyori answered sincerely. She was glad that Lisa had understood her conflicted feelings of guilt over her fight with Shinji and was glad that Lisa trusted her to go on alone.
Eventually, Hiyori reached a strange little park that looked like it had preserved. This thought was supported by the amount of lonely souls inhabiting the park. At this discovery, an idea flashed through Hiyori's head. Maybe these souls had seen what had happened.
Hiyori approached a small girl holding a beat-up teddy bear. "Hello," she greeted the little girl softly.
"You not one of them, are you?" the girl whispered fearfully.
"One of what?" Hiyori asked, confused.
"You know, one of those monster-people. They look like you or me, but they have monsters inside, like those," the little girl pointed to the hollows in the distance.
"I am one of them, but we aren't monsters," the little girl interrupted with a gasp. "We used to be shingami, but a bad man tricked us," Hiyori attempted to explain.
The little girl nodded, seeming to understand. "A bad man tricked me too," she started. "He told me that he would give me food if I got in his car, but, he put bad things in the food that hurt my tummy, and then I woke up here. I miss my mommy," the little girl finished, the beginnings of tears forming.
Hiyori hugged the little girl, something very rare for her, but she felt bad for the poor child. "Shhh," she soothed the girl. "You'll find your mommy soon. I know it."
"Okay, I can be very patient, you'll see," the little girl smiled through her tears.
"But," she started, "What able your friend?"
"My friend?" Hiyori had been focusing on the little girl, not Shinji. "Is he here?"
"The guy with the short, blonde hair, he was like you. I think he was lost." she nodded, as if confirming this to be true. "A man came a grabbed him, but then the man left," she explained. "But," she added, "He's still here. I think he's asleep," she whispered, "So don't wake him up,"
"Okay," Hiyori couldn't help smiling at the child's innocence, even though it was now obvious that Shinji had been taken by surprise and attacked.
"Goodbye!" Hiyori called out as she started to leave.
"Wait!" the little girl yelled, running up to Hiyori. "You didn't tell me your name!" she said with a goofy grin.
"My name is Hiyori," she smiled.
"That's pretty! I'm Hisana," the little girl exclaimed proudly. "I was named after my mommy's sister. She died a while ago. She got sick, but she was nice, and i'm happy to have her name," she proclaimed. For some reason, that name sounded familiar. Maybe she knew it from her time in the Gotei 13.
"Bye now, Hiyori!" the little girl waved.
Hiyori waved back as she headed by where the girl had pointed while describing the fight. A small sliver of relief flowed through her when she saw familiar blonde hair in the tall weeds. She was relieved to see that he didn't seem to be bleeding from anywhere, except a small amount on his right arm.
This swallowed some of the newfound relief. It seemed as if Shinji had been injected with some sort of poison. Otherwise then the basic identification of different kinds of wounds, Hiyori had never learned much about the medical side of kido, of anything medical at all, she had to admit to herself. That included anything to do with poisons. For all she knew, Shinji could be fine, or dying. That didn't make her feel any more comfortable with the situation unfolding. All she could do was get back to Lisa as soon as possible.
She arrived by the barrier just as Lisa finished off the last remaining hollows. It seemed that more hollows had appeared after Hiyori had left; Lisa looked annoyed and tired. Seeing Shinji in Hiyori's arms, Lisa asked, "Is he alright?"
"I'm pretty sure that he's been poisoned," Hiyori shared with her. Lisa nodded, supporting Hiyori's observation.
"In that case, we'd better hurry back, just in case," Lisa stated. "Oh wait," she paused. "We'd better block Shinji's spiritual pressure so they don't give us any trouble," she pointed to the hollows outside the barrier, awaiting a meal. "Hakufuku!" Lisa called out. Light gathered around Shinji, and then vanished as quickly as it had appeared, creating an invisible barrier. "Are you ready? This is going to be tough," Lisa prepared Hiyori. A grin appeared on Hiyori's face. "You know I am," she grinned. With that, they prepared to jump through the barrier, and face the masses of hollows in order to get Shinji back to the warehouse.
It had definitely come close, but they had managed to make it back to the warehouse without any serious injuries. Both were a little worse for wear, but had taken down at least half of what had to have been thousands upon thousands of hollows. Lisa had taken Shinji to a small room that the vizards used as a medical center. This was seldom used, so the others were a concerned when they saw that it was being used, but calmed with Hiyori's explanation, and Hachigen's help.
"What's going on?"
"Is Shinji okay?"
"Why didn't you tell us?"
A number of shouts blasted in Hiyori's ears as she attempted to explain what had just happened. She was about to lose it, when an angel came.
A big, mostly bald angel. Hachigen.
"All the matters," Hachigen's deep voice bellowed, scaring everyone, "is that Shinji, Lisa, and Hiyori are safe."
With a few grumbles and muttering under breath, the mob surrounding Hiyori dispersed. She let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you Hachigen," she said appreciatively. He had been a lot of help lately when she thought for a second.
Hachigen nodded, and then turned to walk away.
"No really," Hiyori added, "Thank you."
A smile crossed Hachigen's face. "You are very welcome," he answered.
Hiyori felt a little better as she waited for Lisa to return.
When Lisa emerged, she found Hiyori asleep in a chair down the hallway. Not wanting to disturb her, Lisa tiptoed as quietly as possible, but to no avail. As soon as she stepped within 5 feet or her, Hiyori's eyes shot open. "Is he okay?" she asked breathlessly.
Lisa smiled at the girl's impatience. "He should be fine. Whatever he was poisoned with doesn't seem lethal, but I was unable to identify it," she informed Hiyori.
Hiyori let out a sigh of relief. With that, the wall of worry and guilt finally broke down. "Can I..." she trailed off, unsure how to ask.
Understanding, Lisa answered the unfinished question, "You can go in."
Still slightly unsure, Hiyori slowly walked in.
Shinji looked normal, if she could ignore the needles in his arms that were attempting to fight off the effects of unidentified poison. She could almost pretend that he was asleep. She had to admit though; it was nice not to be the one needing to be cared for once. It had been extremely annoying having everyone fuss over her after that bastard Gin had almost cut her in half. It had been understandable though.
As she went to leave, Hiyori took one more glance. "See you soon," she promised, even though she knew that he couldn't hear her.
Unfortunately for, Hiyori, that would not happen.
When Shinji awoke, something was wrong.
Very wrong.
A strange buzzing from an unidentifiable source was giving him a headache. It got worse, and the room began to spin.
When it stopped, Shinji felt even stranger. He couldn't think straight. At the moment, he couldn't remember what was going on and started to rub his head and then froze.
His pupils dilated and his mind became blank.
Shinji was no longer in control of himself; someone else had taken over and was now pulling the strings.
He ripped the needles out of his arms carelessly and stealthily made his way out without being discovered. He was now on a mission, willing or not.
"Lisa! Lisa, wake up!" Hiyori yelled, frantically shaking the poor girl.
"Hiyori," Lisa yawned, "It's three in the morning. What is compelling you so much to wake me up at this hour?" Then she noticed the tears flowing down Hiyori's face.
"S-s-hinji's gone. I went to check on him, and... and," she continued sobbing, "he was gone! I can't find him anywhere!"
"Wake the others," Lisa ordered. "I need to do more research," she muttered, walking away. "Lots of research."
Tora-chan: This took forever! At least it's a decent length [or I think...]. For all you action and suspense lovers, more is coming. The plot has just begun... Well, anyways, I will admit, I can't help adding small bits of comic relief into it. Sorry, i'm more of a humour story-writer. Hope y'all don't mind. Here's *drumroll!* Gin!
Gin: 'Ello readers! I'm 'ere ta fank all ya reviewas fa ya reviews. Fanks ta: I be the Princess, Okari, an' Grimmjow Fangirl 4 life. Y'all get an oran' balloon.
Tora-chan: I love you Gin! *hugs him*
Gin: I luv ya too Tora-chan!
Tora-chan: Bye! Please review, everyone likes reviews. Flames will be used to set Aizen's pants on fire while chanting "Liar Liar Pants on Fire," cuz you know, he's a liar...
Anyways, please review! Adios!