Thunder, Save Me
Summary: Two years after nearly being executed, Riina Asuka feels as if the entire world has turned their back on her. Mislead; she keeps making the wrong decisions. Where will she turn when sympathy runs out? Will she be able to stand when the pressure crushes her? Will her life come crashing down after yet another, shot in the dark?
Sequel to Rain, Forgive Me (a book about moving past guilt); Thunder, Save Me is about being your own hero and standing up when it all falls down.
Chapter Two: Violent Tendencies
The butter was slick against her wrist. She had done this several times before but the bracelet had somehow gotten smaller than usual.
Urahara. Maybe he had caught unto her some how. And then made an adjustment to the bracelet to make it harder to get off.
Her face squished up as if in pain. She huffed and pulled once more on the silver link. It was stuck. All the butter in the world probably wouldn't be enough to get it off! But she had things to do, crimes to commit and people to scare! She wasn't going to let this bracelet- no, she wouldn't let Urahara stand in her way.
Her right hand held the yellow substance, the whole bar was almost gone. She lathered on another coating and dropped the remaining sliver. It had to work this time. She was all out of butter now.
Riina placed her right hand on the link and took three deep breaths. Then she pulled as hard as she could. Her wrist turned red in process. Finally, the silver link was thrown to the ground, or in this case, the roof!
Her eyes widened as the ring fell and she could feel life surge in her like electricity. White flames irrupted around and through her. They reached twenty feet into the sky and five feet in diameter. The spiritual pressure lit her face and swayed her red hair above her.
A wide smirk popped up on her face and she chuckled greedy with the power. Her hands were drawn out and her fingers felt the flames shift around her body. Riina looked down now, toward her zanpakuto.
She walked over to it, the flames dying down to unnoticeable. She picked it up by kicking it into the air and catching it in a swift movement.
"Did I wake you?" Riina smirked.
"Yeah actually." The voice inside the zanpakuto was distant. Almost like a whisper.
The red head walked to the edge of the roof and peeked out at the city. A gust of wind swiping her hair. She inhaled and exhaled deeply. "Ah, a week is far too long."
"You don't have anything to complain about. Try sitting in an empty forest for that long." The voice was getting closer.
Riina kept a gentle smile on her face. She could feel the spiritual pressure rising from the spirit of her zanpakuto waking. She could also feel spiritual pressure coming from others. Humans and tiny hollows.
If spiritual pressure could be connected to heat, then their spiritual pressure would be like a match. Nearly unnoticeable. But she could feel it out there and it was like a breath of fresh air being able to tell that.
The girl looked down at her sword, "So I was thinking we could go out and have some fun."
"Heh, what did you have in mind?" Genkaku asked amused, his voice now felt like he was right beside her.
"I have some ideas."
A shadow zipped by in the night sky.
There was a warm light coming up quickly, that was where Dakushika was heading. He flashed forward. He passed by lonely souls who didn't even notice his presence. It seemed they were either too distracted to see him or their eyes were too slow to even catch a glimpse of him.
It didn't matter either way. These souls, and himself, were in a place known as "Shinda Basho"- the place of the Dead. Some even called it "Soul World" or "Death World". Although it had many names, one thing was sure of this place. It was where humans' souls went after they died.
As for the zanpakuto, they themselves didn't know where they came from. Well at least, Dakushika didn't know. All he knew was that himself and others like him, needed the humans' vessels. Without them, the zanpakuto ran out of power.
It was a strange duo. The zanpakuto were held in a dark place inside the vessel. It was like slavery almost. Yet, without them, the zanpakuto would run out of spiritual pressure and they would die.
With the help of the Elder Scroll Keeper and his leader, Shado Kasai, they were coming up with a way for the zanpakuto to absorb their own reishi without the help of the human souls.
Dakushika landed promptly in front of the bamboo building. Outside the building was a single lantern to help guide Dakushika that way.
He walked in and saw the old woman sitting on a cushion on the floor, along with Kasai. Kasai was almost an exact opposite image of himself. The man had black hair and vivid red eyes.
Dakushika, on the other hand, had white hair and black eyes. Their personalities also seemed to be opposing. Dakushika walked over to the two of them.
The older woman looked away slowly and sighed. "I'm afraid we have some bad news."
Dakushika didn't bother sitting down on the open cushion rather, he just stood. "What news is that?"
Kasai rested both his hands behind his head. There were dark bags under his eyes. "Whatever, old lady. We don' know nothin' yet. There could still be a way."
The Elder Scroll Keeper was a sturdy woman. "No. We've tried everything. Kido and science. Nothing is working. I cannot make zanpakuto regenerate the way humans can."
Kasai rolled his eyes. "She gives up too easily."
Dakushika folded his arms and dropped to the ground, sitting perfectly with his legs criss cross. "Kasai-sama, I believe eighty years of trying this plan has shown us that it isn't possible. I suggest we try different options."
Kasai grunted, "Shut up, the both of ya."
The Keeper closed her weary looking eyes. "Eighty years is far too long to be wasting on a failed plan. I'm not about to spend another eighty trying to make it work. It's just not possible for zanpakuto to live fully without a vessel."
Kasai leaned back to a laying position. His legs folded up slightly. He looked like he was holding in the rage building up inside of him.
They had tried for the past eighty years and it was disappointing to hear that yet another plan had failed. In total it had been over five hundred years. They exhausted every plan they could think of.
"So, what do we do then?" Kasai shot up with his hands in the air. The teen was about six hundred years old but he still looked very young.
Dakushika looked to be in his early twenties. "Perhaps, we should take a break for a few years."
"That sounds like a good idea. Working this hard isn't easy for a woman of my age." The Keeper was about two thousand years old.
"And do what in the meanwhile?" Kasai complained. "Just sit around?"
Dakushika would have tried to comfort the younger boy, but he didn't know how. "Kasai-sama..."
Kasai stood up and turned on his heel. "Fine. See you guys in another five hundred years." He scoffed and flashed out the door.
The empty bamboo room had only a single table, a candle, and a few cushions. The two wiser ones sat in silence for a moment.
"He's temperamental." Dakushika said in a monotone voice like usual.
"If you're just now noticing that, then you're not as smart as I thought you were." The Keeper cracked a smile. Her squinty eyes closing for just a moment.
Dakushika merely looked into the flame of the candle.
"You better go after him. How does a five year break sound?"
Dakushika stood and gave a nod. "I am sure that Kasai-sama will not do this willingly."
"Convince him."
"Awake Asuka-san!"
Riina shook her head, "Wh-" Her voice was cut off just as the kick sent her flying backwards. The red head barely regained herself and skidded across the ground, sending dirt up into the air.
Riina used her front right arm to help stabilize herself. She quickly stood up straight.
"I tried to warn you." Urahara cupped his hand around his mouth.
She narrowed her eyes. "I still don't get what I'm doing here." She shrugged. "I'm supposed to be learning my bankai."
"You need to work on control. Hand to hand combat is great practice." The man was observing the fight from a good distance. It was easy to spot his green attire in the middle of this featureless desert.
"Yeah but..." Riina let her words trail off but spoke in her thoughts, "Why Ururu?" She looked down at her opponent who was several feet away.
No she wouldn't question it, she needed to just focus on the task. That might be harder than it sounded. She was out all last night and barely came back before the sun rose. She was exhausted.
Riina huffed and then shook out her arms. "Focus, focus." There. Now she was ready, she smiled. "Alright, Ururu, don't think I'm going to go easy on ya now!"
The dark haired girl merely gave a nod. Then she ran forward toward Riina.
Riina was expecting a frontal attack by her running in front of her. She was surprised, however, when Ururu disappeared and suddenly appeared directly at her left. The girl's leg was swinging right at her.
It all happened so unexpectedly and quickly, Riina didn't have time to dodge. She felt the wind blow into her face from the strong kick that was coming her way. She barely had enough time to put her arm up in defense.
"How strong could it be, honestly?" Riina thought on instinct but when the kick reached her it was clear as day she had underestimated the small raven haired girl. The kick sent Riina flying backwards, dust on the ground stirred up as her body was thrust forward at high speed.
Riina couldn't even brace herself against the impact. She was thrown into a giant boulder. The rock cracked but made her body come to an abrupt stop. Her crumbled body now was in a huge indent in the solid rock. Dust cleared to reveal Riina slumped forward in the rock.
The red head coughed. Blood slid down her forehead and over her right eye. She slowly came out from the rock.
"Are you alright, Asuka-san?" Ururu placed her hands over her chest. Her face calm but looked concerned.
Riina wiped the blood away from her eye so she could see. It had been a whole week since she trained like this and it was always a shock experiencing this intense pain. Being restricted by a spiritual pressure limiter made her less accustomed to flying a hundred miles an hour into solid rock.
At the same time, the aching pain in her back and the sensation of blood dripping from her face, was refreshing. Adrenaline pumped through her veins giving her a nostalgic feeling. Like a natural high.
Her hands pulsed at her sides as she looked the shorter girl in the eyes. "Never better." She smiled.
She had planned to go a little easy on the girl but looked like she'd actually need to use all her combat skills.
Riina quickly flash stepped over to deliver a kick of her own. Ururu instantly blocked, the ground beneath the girl cracked from the force but she was able to hold her stance perfectly.
Ururu caught the red head's leg and drew her closer, then she punched her in the gut. The red head was once again, sent backward from the force.
She coughed up some blood as she caught her footing. Her eyes now wide. This girl was a lot stronger than she thought. She hated to admit it but this girl might just beat her. Riina frowned at the thought.
She flash stepped forward, directly in front of the girl. But just when Ururu was about to hit her, Riina flash stepped again. This time the girl was at the little girl's right side. Riina tripped the girl and then kicked her down. The ground once again breaking.
The girl coughed up some blood as well. Riina felt a strange satisfaction from this. Not because the blood was alluring but more like knowing she had injured someone who injured her. The revenge felt kinda good.
Ururu was persistent and jumped back up. Her foot thrust into Riina's face but that wasn't all she did. Ururu also punched her a good ten times in the air before sending another kick.
Riina tried to stabilize herself but failed as she skidded and rolled across the barren desert sand of the under ground training facility. The girl got up slower than the last time but this time with anger in her eyes. She couldn't let herself be defeated by a little girl!
She growled as she flash stepped over to inflict some damage but Ururu suddenly pinned her down to the ground. She pulled on the red head's arm as she held her body in place with her foot.
Riina yelled as the girl pulled the arm. "No, she wouldn't break my arm would she?" Riina's eyes widened as her heart nearly stopped. She heard a thick sounding snap. Her face was in pure shock and her mouth parted open.
"GAHH!" Riina flash stepped away holding her left arm that was limp. "WHAT THE HELL URURU?!" She yelled.
The girl almost looked to be in a trance for a moment. Then she blinked almost as if she was unaware of what she had just done.
Riina's arm pulsed and the pain made her clench her jaw shut tightly. She tried not to scream out in pain anymore than she already had. "YOU-"
The red head jumped at the girl, this time pinning her to the ground. She gripped her throat tightly with her right hand. Ururu's eyes widened slightly and she began to gasp for air. Riina tightened more and white spiritual pressure burst out of her.
Riina suddenly felt her body being thrown off of the girl. She sat up to see Tessai leaning over the girl and Urahara in front of her, blocking her path to the girl.
"That's enough." Urahara said sternly.
"SHE BROKE MY ARM FROM MY SHOULDER!" Riina jumped to her feet, her right hand pulsing with the image of choking the girl.
"I said that's enough."
Riina looked up at the man who was now only a foot away from her. She was panting heavily and her grimace was wide. Her red eyes stared into his gray ones for a second and for just a moment she felt like killing him for standing in her way...
The girl's face quickly softened and her spiritual pressure drained away. Her eyes were slightly wide as she looked past Urahara and toward Ururu and Tessai. He was healing her with kido.
Riina felt her brow crease upward in concern. She blinked several times before she walked the other way. She headed back up to the shop. The whole way she just stared at her right hand.
Riina sat still while Tessai healed her left arm. She didn't look at anyone. She just stared down at the floor boards. Blue ish green light was under his palms as he healed her.
A foot step? Her eyes darted up. Ururu plopped down to her knees and held out a cup of tea.
"Here. It's your favorite tea, peach tea." The girl said meekly.
Riina looked at the mug, it had cute little flower designs on it and the steam from the warm tea rose into the air. The scent was pleasant. She didn't smile, "No. You shouldn't give that to me."
Ururu looked down at the mug, "Asuka-san, I apologize. I don't know what happened..." Her voice was so quiet it was hard to hear.
Riina shook her head, "Don't apologize, we were battling. Things happen."
The girl looked up her eyes were dark and soft.
"I... I uh..." Riina avoided eye contact. She took the mug. "Thanks."
Riina looked away but heard Ururu get up and then leave. The red head bit her lip. She was still angry at Ururu. She wasn't upset that her arm was broken, she was upset because she didn't get to finish the battle.
But she had a fear dwelling in her. She had tried to kill her. And when Urahara stood in her way, she wanted to kill him for a moment too. It made her frightened of what she was feeling. She wondered why she would react so strongly like that.
She sipped on the tea. Tessai was the quiet type and didn't say anything. He was soon finished.
"Thank you." Riina murmured.
Tessai hummed and nodded.
Then she was left alone in the room. Everyone else was outside. Once a week, Urahara would take off her spiritual limiter for a day of training. Sometimes even twice a week. But this training session was one of the most intense that she had.
She looked down at her side. Her zanpakuto was on the other side of the room. Genkaku was probably sleeping, he didn't really ever help her train. She had begged him and ordered him to help her learn bankai for two years and yet he still resisted most of the time.
She still didn't know why he was doing that. She guessed she'd have to ask him again and see if he answered. But not right now. Yes, he was probably sleeping. She had to make the best of the rest of this day. She had all her spiritual pressure after all, and although she could take off the bracelet at night, it was nice knowing she didn't have to sneak around this day.
Seeing as though she was wasting away precious time she could be spending using her spiritual pressure, she set down her mug and got up. She stopped after taking two steps forward... no she'd take the tea with her.
She grabbed the mug and took another delicious sip of the warm substance. Then headed out.
To her surprise only Jinta and Ururu were outside. When she exited the building she had to cover her eyes from the bright sun. She looked at them. They were on their knees with a broom and were poking under the van with the broom.
Riina walked over. She heard them bickering.
"Ururu you idiot!" Jinta huffed as he poked the broom below the van. "You got the ball stuck!"
"Jinta..." The girl spoke quietly, "You were the one who threw it..."
"Yeah but you should have caught it!" Jinta growled. "Great, now I just pushed the ball further back."
"But Jinta, I would have caught it if you didn't throw it so high." She said softly. She was also on her knees, her skirt was tainted by the dirt.
"Shut up, Ururu!" Jinta huffed. "Help me out! Can you crawl under there?"
"Am I interrupting something?" Riina placed a hand on her hip.
"Get out of here carrot head. We're trying to do something."
"Yeah I heard." Riina sighed. She watched the boy inch under the van a little and wave around the broom wildly. "Look, I could try to get it out." she shrugged.
"I don't need your help." The boy continued flailing the broom.
Riina knelt down next to Ururu. She directed her comment to Jinta, "Are you mad at me?" She asked seriously.
"I just don't need your help! Now scram!"
Riina had a pretty good idea why he was mad at her. She had injured Ururu. He wouldn't admit it but he cared a lot about her. Riina looked at the girl near her. "I'm sorry okay. To both of you." She gritted her teeth. The apology was almost painful.
Ururu smiled faintly.
No response came from Jinta. Riina held out her tea, "Could you hold this?" she asked the girl. Then she crawled over to the male. The dirt made her cough. "Hand over the broom."
"No way. Get lost." Jinta had no coordination as he whacked the broom under the van.
Riina rolled her eyes. "I can get it out, now let me help."
"Get lost!" He repeated.
Riina frowned. She had crawled halfway under the van with this boy and he wasn't the least bit grateful for her efforts. "The selfish brat!" She thought as she crawled back out with dirt covering her black hoodie jacket.
Now standing and staring down at the pathetic male she thought she'd try one last thing to help the two of them out. She knelt down a little close to the van. Her hands clung underneath it.
Her spiritual pressure flowed around her and she closed her eyes to focus. White flames rose from her and then she opened her eyes at once. She lifted up the van slowly. Her back was curved to hold up the heavy object. She managed to clear it four feet off the ground.
"Go ahead and get it." Riina sweated, but smiled.
Jinta looked at her without moving.
"Oh yeah, two tons is nothing, take your sweat time." She huffed. More sweat beaded down.
Jinta crawled over and grabbed the ball. The whole time he had a smile on his face. "I can just imagine ya dropping it over me." He shook his head and scurried out.
As soon as he was clear she dropped the weight. The van clashed against the ground with dust flying out from beneath it. Luckily none of the glass windows broke. Riina leaned forward panting. Her forehead touching the light colored vehicle and her hands rested on her knees.
"You're w-welcome." She breathed out.
"Whatever, anyone could have done that."
Riina turned around in a snap. "OH REALLY?! I'd like to see you try!" She pointed her finger at him.
"Maybe I don't want to." He crossed his arms with a smirk as he turned away.
"Maybe you could try after I take your head and beat it through the van!" Riina got closer.
"Watch it, carrot head!" Jinta turned toward her.
Their foreheads clashed. "STOP CALLING ME CARROT HEAD!"
"Carrot head! Carrot head! Carrot head!"
"YOU have the same color hair, baka!"
"Alright, alright, break it up." Urahara showed up with groceries in his hands. Tessai wasn't far behind him also carrying some bags.
"Urahara-san, Tessai-san?" Riina placed a hand behind her head and smiled a little. Her face still somewhat sweaty. She hoped they wouldn't notice the axles on the van being out of place. She was sure it was still drivable, or she hoped so. It looked like a pimped out low rider, maybe they'd like it.
Then she imagined Tessai and Urahara wearing gold chains around their necks and blaring out rap music in their new low rider. She sweat dropped. "You guys went to the grocery store?"
"Somebody forgot to get them yesterday." Urahara reminded as he walked past the children and into the shop.
"Oh... right." Riina bit her lip while looking at the ground.
"Inoue-san called you while you were training." Tessai entered the shop but spoke to her from the other side.
Riina jogged inside. "Oh really? What did she want?"
"She said to remind you it was Thursday." Tessai straightened his glasses. He placed down the bags on the counter.
"Thursday... Thursday..." Riina nodded a little. "Yeah, I have no idea what she's talking about." her head changed to shaking.
"Lessons, Asuka-san." the man got out some fruit and placed it into the according fruit bowl. Though the apples didn't look good next to the oranges apparently, because he took a pear and placed it precisely in between them.
"Crap!" Riina ran out the door.
"Your books, Asuka-san." Tessai added.
Riina ran back in and out of the corner of her eye saw the man add a broccoli in front of the pear. Then he shook his head and put it back on the counter.
She grabbed her books and then zipped back out. She had forgotten all about her lessons. Truthfully, it had been kind of a long day so that came as no surprise. She flash stepped off.
The blonde man gasped and dropped his fan. His hands immediately gripped his head. His precious van! The left axle was completely messed up, leaving the whole left side of the frame only an inch away from the ground. "JINTA! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE VAN?!"
Author's note: This is the updated version, some things are better about it and some things are worse. Oh well.