A/N:
Uxintaa: Ahem… Thanks to all that reviewed last chapter. We do not own Bleach or Kuroshitsuji. We only own Jesa, Yumi, and Calirre, and most of the events. (In case we decide to use some events from either Manga/Anime.) Any translations will be at the bottom as usual. Anything else, guys?
Esmi: Please enjoy chapter 2! ^^ You got anything else to add Scae?
Scae: The fight scene was originally written by Esmi and I, as a very general outline, and Uxi fleshed it out for us.
~LAST TIME~
(Yumi POV)
I had better follow Jesa-chan. With that hollow out and about, she could get into serious trouble. Her reiatsu will likely attract it. With that thought, I quietly left my house shortly after Jesa-chan and her friends did. I made sure not to step on any leaves or twigs- trying my best to not make an noise. It would be best if they do not know I am following them, unless Jesa-chan actually does attract its attention after all.
Chapter 2 (Third Person Omni POV)
Rukia spotted a small park near by and tucked her Gigai into a restroom. Ichigo took to a park bench, sat like he was sleeping, and put his shinigami-daiko badge to his chest. They met back up and went to a more secluded corner of the park, then lured the hollow in.
The hollow, thinking incorrectly it would get an easy meal out of Jesa- who was acting as bait- was in for a surprise. It lunged for her, but was knocked back as Ichigo shunpoed forward, blocking with Zangetsu held vertically. The hollow roared, pushing harder. Ichigo slid back a few feet. "Not good!" He pushed back. "Rukia, a little help would be nice."
"You sure you need my help, Ichigo?" Rukia blinked at Ichigo's command, or was it a request? She just looked for a moment, before another slide backwards caught her attention. "Mae, Sode no Shirayuki!" Rukia called as she released her zanpakuto. " Ichigo, I think bankai would be appropriate right now."
Ichigo backed up, and Jesa followed, her fingers at her neck, ready to grab her necklace. "Right. Ban-kai!" Ichigo shouted over the hollow's roar. The dust at his feet gathered around him, as he activated his Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu. Jesa shuddered at the intense rise in Ichigo's reiatsu, even though she should have been use to it by now. It was still surprising to feel his power, especially so up close, like this. She turned to Rukia again, being careful to pay more attention to her and the hollow that they were fighting.
"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!" Rukia called, stabbing the earth four separate times, then took aim at the hollow, careful to make sure the park would remain as untouched as possible. The attack shot forward, but the hollow dodged for the most part. Its left hind leg was caught, but it escaped the ice after a moment.
"Guess it's my turn now, right Ichigo?" Jesa smiled and detached her charm from its chain. "Bridge the gap, Ginrei Kojaku!" Her usual cross charm morphed into an intricate bow. With fluid, practiced movement, she got into position and formed a reishi arrow. Taking aim at the constantly-moving hollow, Jesa let the arrow fly. The hollow dodged just in time, much to Jesa's annoyance. She glanced at Rukia and Ichigo, then looked back to where the hollow had been. She sighed and began searching for the hollow. She spotted it off by the park building.
"Not good." Ichigo shunpoed in front of the hollow, throwing it back just enough to get it away from the child spirit that had come out in commotion caused by the fight. Ichigo gathered his reiatsu, charging a Getsuga Tenshou. "Wish I could fire my Getsuga without risking destroying the park… Oh, well." He raised his Getsuga-laced Tensa Zangetsu to slash down at the hollow. It jumped backwards, just far enough to not be injured by the Getsuga-infused slash. "Sheesh, this one's annoying. I might even need my mask for it."
"Bakudo no rokujuusan, Sajo Sabaku!" Jesa called out, aiming for the hollow, allowing a small smile when it became trapped. That smile soon vanished as the hollow broke free.
Ichigo had enough with this hollow. "That's it." His fingers went in front of his face, as if he was going to scratch it, and pulled on his hollow mask. As he was doing this, the hollow had backed away. Ichigo's muscles tensed in preparation to shunpo, but there was no need. A solid arrow pierced the hollow's mask, Ichigo, Rukia, and Jesa followed the path that the arrow had travelled to see where it came from. All of them relax, thinking the fight had ended. They stood weary, straining their eyes to see the killer of the hollow.
The hollow dissipated slowly in the air while they were focused on a form in the shadows underneath the taller branches of one of the trees that lined the edge of the park. There they saw a the figure of a young women who appeared to be in her late teens. She had a slender figure and was dressed in a short, long-sleeved silver kimono decorated with a simple icy blue sakura design with sandals and socks similar to those the shinigami themselves were wearing. However, her sandals had black ribbons on them that stopped about mid-calf. Her slender hands, which bore simple tan archery gloves, were holding a long, wooden bow emblazoned with a similar pattern to her kimono. Her long, mahogany hair, which had been pulled in two low ponytails, trailed behind her, dancing in the cool night air. But the most striking feature about her were her brilliant green and yellow two-toned eyes, which had an unnatural, almost unsettling vibe to them, behind her silver-rimmed glasses.
"Yumi... is that you?" Jesa asked, addressing the unsettlingly familiar figure she thought might be her friend.
(Yumi's POV)
I did not acknowledge Jesa's question as I finished collecting the Cinematic Record of the hollow. Summoning my leather-bound book that contained the "To Die List", I scanned my surroundings for the soul of the man I was assigned to collect. "Ah, there he is." Having found the man I was looking for, I jumped down from the tree branch that I had been standing on and started to head over towards him.
"Oi, what are you doing?!" Kurosaki-san demanded, his mask dissipating as he came between the man and me. By this time, I had already put my bow back on my shoulder, but by the tone in his voice, I could tell he was probably going to make my job harder than it had to be. I readied one of my fan death scythes just in case.
"I am doing my job, Kurosaki-san, and I would appreciate it very much if you would kindly not interfere with it, either," I stated in a bored tone, more than slightly annoyed as I tried to move past him to proceed with the collection of the man's soul. Kurosaki-san raised his arm to block my path. I turned my eyes up to his face, an annoyed look starting to appear there.
"I'd rather not hurt one of Jesa's friends if I don't have to, but if you're going to attack some random stranger for no reason, especially right in front of me…" Kurosaki-san glared at me and brought his sword back up in a defensive stance, continuing to obstruct my path. As Kurosaki-san made a slash towards my right shoulder, I parried with the fan in my left hand, making it slide off course, and away from me enough to not harm me.
"I would have preferred to not have to resort to this, but you seem to have left no other alternative," I countered, highly annoyed with Kurosaki-san for interfering with my job, as I gracefully dodged another of strike from his sword. "Bakudo no kyuu, Horin!" The shock and confusion from my sudden attack prevented Kurosaki-san from obstructing my path any longer. However, knowing once his confusion cleared it would not take him long to free himself from my spell, I teleported behind the man. With a quick slash of my fan, I proceeded to quickly and efficiently collect the man's Cinematic Record. "It would appear that I was able to stall Kurosaki-san just long enough to complete my task." Just as I finished, Kurosaki-san's confusion was finally dispelled, and he quickly broke the bakudo that I had placed on him.
"Do you realize you just killed that guy? His chain of fate was still intact!" Kurosaki-san practically yelled at me.
"Yes, I realize it appeared that way, Kurosaki-san, but he was already dead prior to the hollow attacking him," I stated, calmly noticing that Kuchiki-san and Jesa-chan had finally arrived.
"So, you just happened to be in the area after we left your house?" Kuchiki-san asked.
"As I told Kurosaki-san, I was simply doing my job. The man was destined to die tonight," I replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Your job? I thought you were in high school, like me." Jesa-chan said.
"Yes, Jesa-chan, that is true, I am in high school. But I also happen to be a shinigami." I told her with a bored look on my face.
"Not any shinigami I've seen before," Kurosaki-san said, his glare intensifying.
"Surely you did not think the Gotei 13 was the only supervisory body, did you, Kurosaki-san?"
"Supervisory what-now?" Jesa-chan said, her face contorted in confusion.
"I can see why you would not understand, Jesa-chan. It is not as though we ever discussed our abilities beyond seeing spirits. Indeed, as far as I was aware, you did not have any."
"Same here. Maybe I would have mentioned mine if I knew you had them yourself, but I didn't want to make you jealous…"
"I did not wish to endanger you, either." I said letting a look of genuine concern flit across my face.
"So we're still good?" The corner of my lip curled up into a smile at her slightly shaken, crass greeting.
"Of course, we are, Jesa-chan."
"Wait, you're just going to let it slide that she probably just killed someone?!" Ichigo was indignant.
"What about that hollow mask of yours, Kurosaki-san? How can I be sure you will not endanger her in some way?"
"I trust him, Yumi."
"His mask is not the only thing that resembles a hollow's, Jesa-chan. His reiatsu has traces of it, as well. How can you be so sure he will not harm you at some point! You saw what that hollow did, what it is capable of doing!" I stared daggers back towards where the hollow had been not too long ago.
"I also saw you possibly kill someone in cold blood. I still trust you, too."
"That is different, Jesa-chan." I said through clenched teeth.
"How so?" Her glare was a rare sight.
"We will continue this conversation later. I still have a job to finish." My voice had a tone of finality to it, hinting that I did not wish to continue this conversation any longer.
"Fine," she said. "Come on, Ichigo, Rukia. Maybe we'll all be calmer by the time we get back to Yumi's house."
After the three of them had started back towards my house, I trapped Kurosaki-san in the 61st bakudo, Rikujokoro, and teleported away to deliver my report.
(Jesa's POV)
"Oi! Yumi!" I shouted. "Mou… Well, I guess now I know what she was doing when she would disappear before."
"That doesn't exactly improve what I think about her." Without even looking, I could tell Ichigo was scowling.
"She probably has her reasons for what she did." Rukia said.
"What," Ichigo said while breaking out of the bakudo. "Like Soul Society and their treatment of the other vizard, and any other group other than themselves? I'm not convinced."
"I don't blame you," I said. "I didn't expect that bakudo from her. Maybe she thought she was protecting me, though. We were like sisters for years, after all."
Ichigo calmed down somewhat when I brought up the sibling bond Yumi and I had. "Alright, alright. I'll see what she has to say. I'll reserve my judgment until then."
I nodded and hoped that would be enough to prevent a tension headache. Those were among the few downsides to my kyoukan. I loved having powers, what girl wouldn't? But the pain I felt when my friends had arguments near me could be unbearable at times, especially if I was participating in the argument. I almost never had to deal tension headaches lately, but from the churning coil of emotions I could feel in Yumi's reiatsu, combined with Ichigo's confrontational personality...
A/N: Scae: And we shall leave the chapter at that as well.
Esmi: We will try to to stick to a bi-weekly update schedule from now on as well.
Uxi: Meow~
Esmi: Okay, that was random.
Uxi: Of course~ Why expect anything else?
Scae: Translations
kyuu: 9
rokujuusan: 63
mae: dance
mou: sound of annoyance or aggravation
ja ne: see ya
Uxi: Extra Translations and Explanations:
Shunpo(ed): Flash Step: A high speed technique traditionally used by Shinigamis to move from place to place in short amounts of time.
Bankai: Final release: achieved by materializing and subjugating the 'power spirit' associated with an individual's power.
Bakudo: Way of Binding: is a binding form of kido (way of destruction)
Horin: disintegrating circle: an orange and yellow rope ensnares and immobilizes the opponent and allows the caster to control the position of their opponent.
Rikujokoro: Six Rods Prison of Light: six bars take form an asterisk at the midpoint of an opponent, to bind and immobilize to the point that the opponent has to focus to remove the Bakudo before they will be able to move again.
Sajo Sabaku: Locking Bondage Stripes: Thick 'yellow' rope that wraps around the upper part of the opponents body immobilizing the opponent and cannot be removed with physical strength alone.
Esmi: We would like to thank tardiscompanion101 for beta reading this chapter for us. ^_^
All of us: Ja ne!