Thanks for the reviews, etc. Enjoy the chapter! =)
Chapter 2: The Chase
Making it over to the 19th District from the 15th wasn't hard for the Onmitsukido member. It was near sunrise when she did arrive though. Damn! I was hoping I could finish this assignment by now, she thought to herself.
You've been going after Ryota for a few days now. You need your rest, Raiza.
Raiza snorted. I've gone without sleep a lot longer than this. You know that.
I do, but take this chance to rest. I doubt your target will go anywhere.
Raiza narrowed her eyes. However, between right now and tonight is enough time for Hitoshi to get a message to Ryota. Maybe I'll rest at least for a few hours and go for a mid-day strike.
Not using the cover of darkness, eh?
I'll be ok. Besides, it'll be more fun if he has the advantage of the day time.
Raiza's Zanpakuto chuckled. Rest well then Mistress. I will alert you if I sense anyone approaching you.
Raiza laid back on the roof of the house she was on and shut her eyes.
"Azumi! Raiza! Run now! Get as far away from here as you can!" a man's voice screamed at her.
Lightning flashed in the night sky followed quickly by the loud boom of thunder. A little girl cowered in the corner with an older woman. A male, looking to be about in his teenage years, laid before them, already dead with blood still seeping from his wounds.
The man soon joined the boy on the ground. He breathed heavily, trying to stay alive for his wife and other child. "Run…" he managed to gasp out before going still.
The older woman screamed and burst into tears and in a fit of rage, grabbed the sword her husband had used. "Raiza! LEAVE!" she yelled at the younger girl.
The girl obeyed and scurried out of the room and outside, running as fast as she could in the rain knowing she was covered in her family's blood.
Raiza's eyes shot open. She wiped the cold sweat on her forehead off with her arm and breathed deeply for a few moments.
…Raiza?
Give me a second.
Her Zanpakuto obeyed. I am sorry child.
Don't be. It's in the past. It has helped shape me into the person I am today. It made me stronger emotionally and gave me a reason to become stronger physically.
The Zanpakuto changed topics. I was about to wake you. I believe it is high time to act.
Raiza looked up at the sky. A partly cloudy day with the sun bearing down upon the Rukongai making it hotter than it was though cooled slightly by a gentle, soft breeze. I believe you may be right. To the inn it is then.
Raiza jumped down from the rooftop and quickly made her way towards the inn, taking care to not be seen by any citizen so as to retain her cover. She got to the side of the inn and waited for the citizens that were near the entrance to leave before she entered herself.
It was a cozy inn. Great compared to what other districts had to offer. She approached the receptionist who glanced up, back down at her work, and then slowly back up at Raiza with fear in her eyes.
"Calm yourself. In which room Kichida Ryota staying in?" Raiza said pleasantly.
The receptionist gulped. "Upstairs, room 24," she answered.
"Thank you," the Shinigami stated before going up the stairs two at a time. She found room 24 easily enough and went through her checklist: 1. Check the room for any reiatsu traces. Currently there wasn't any, but Raiza expected that since Ryota was on the run. 2. Check to see if any kido enchantments were around the door. There wasn't. 3. Scan the other rooms for any other identifiable reiatsu or merely check on the presence of other people. There were other people on the floor, but hopefully they wouldn't get in the way.
Satisfied, Raiza set to work and took out her lock picking equipment. As soon as she heard the audible click, she knew her orders were about to be complete. She gently pushed open the door so as to not make a noise and entered the room cautiously; her right hand on her Zanpakuto and her left out and ready to cast a kido spell.
A few steps in she checked the bathroom and cleared it before moving forward into the main area. There, sitting with his back to her on the bed in a meditation pose, was Kichida Ryota. His Zanpakuto was laying out in front of him.
"Kichida Ryota," Raiza began as his eyes jolted open and landed to her Onmitsukido clad form. "As a member of the Onmitsukido and the Goteijusantai, for taking actions that led to the deaths of several Shinigami, you are under arrest."
Ryota sighed. "I knew someone would finally come for me."
Raiza stared hard at Ryota. "I have one question before I take you back: why?"
Ryota smirked. "Why did I flee? Easy. Because I knew I would be executed anyway. I figured I might as well give myself a fighting chance."
"You don't know if you were to be executed or not. If you had owned up to your crimes, they might have been less severe."
Ryota snorted. "Yeah right. The new Central 46 would not have taken mercy on me even if I had Yamamoto-soutaicho himself vouch for me."
"Regardless of what might have been, my orders come from Soifon-taicho and Yamamoto-soutaicho. I am to bring you in right now."
He sneered. "So you can give me a 'trial?' I don't think so. What it comes down to is how I die. Either I face all the Shinigami and lose my pride before the Sokyoku takes me or I fight against you and get a quick, clean death. I'll choose the latter. Hado #4: Byakurai!" The lightning bolt shot out of his and, with frightening speed, went towards Raiza. He quickly grabbed his Zanpakuto and jumped out the window, not even sure if he hit her or not.
He hadn't. Raiza had easily redirected the kido spell to her left. The wall was left with a scorch mark. Cursing, she leapt after him out the window. Now that he was using kido, he left enough of a reiatsu trail to track.
She used shunpo once and caught up with him immediately in a field. "Hado #54: Haien!" Raiza shouted, shooting condensed purple energy towards Ryota. He dodged, shunpoing forward out of the way, but the energy still exploded upon contacting the ground where Ryota had been. He was fleeing towards the woods with Raiza hot on his heels.
Once Raiza entered the woods, she lost sight of him. She kept her focus on his reiatsu and closed her eyes, waiting for him to strike her. She didn't have to wait long.
"Hado #33: Sokatsui!" he yelled. Like she had with Byakurai, she redirected the attack before shunpoing behind him and roundhouse kicking him in the side that sent him flying into a tree. He made himself stand up on the thick branch that had broken his fall. Ryota now sported a trail of blood coming from his mouth. "Damn you kick hard," he complimented through gasps of heavy breathing.
Raiza smirked behind her mouth covering. She leapt forward towards him as he readied his Zanpakuto to strike at her. She shunpoed away just as his swing came down and instead came from the right side for a clear kick to the ribs. Like last time, he flew into a tree and was now coughing up a whole bunch of blood.
Shakily, he stood up and laughed. "Thank you Onmitsukido-san," he said.
"For what?" Raiza asked.
"For giving me a good last fight. I know when I'm beaten. I won't even use my Zanpakuto on you. You just broke 5 of my ribs and probably cracked several more. There's no way I'll be able to live. I just ask that you give me a quick death right now so that I don't have to suffer through the pain."
Raiza bowed her head before shunpoing over in front of him and unsheathing her Zanpakuto from behind her. Her Zanpakuto's sealed state consisted of a tanto with a twelve inch silver blade. The guard was in the shape of a crescent moon and it, as well as the handle, was black in color.
Ryota breathed heavily. "Would it mean anything if I were to apologize for everything that I did?"
Raiza pulled down her mouth covering. "To others it may not, but to me it does."
He smiled. "You probably don't get a lot of people asking that question. At least I get to see half of a beautiful face before I die even if it is the face of my executioner."
Raiza pointed her blade where he would be granted instant death with the least amount of pain. "I'm sorry," she whispered before plunging her blade into his flesh. He gasped for air several more times. "Peace be upon you," she murmured before he was completely gone. She retracted her blade and re-sheathed it as his body was transformed into pure reiatsu.
My orders have been fulfilled and my objective completed.
Hope you liked it. Not much of chase scene, but can you really expect a long chase scene when the predator is an Onmitsukido agent? ^_^ Rate, review, etc.