It's been a while since I last updated (mostly because it's been all Naruto lately for the Camp NaNoWriMo session back throughout July, though I made my goal, which is good), but hopefully with the school year starting back up, I'll be able to update more often. It's much easier to update regularly when classes keep me to a specific schedule. So I'll do what I can to update between climbing the mountain to get to class, and writing up homework assignments.

Also, I'm trying out something a little weird in terms of her "magic/spiritual" abilities. Please humor me.

Akari's P.O.V.

The tallest one looks at me, starts walking closer, and gets obscenely loud obnoxiously fast. "So kid, are you really the one letting off all the spiritual pressure? You look way too tiny to be that powerful."

My eye twitches in irritation, and I glare at him, this oaf who clearly specializes in nothing more than simple combat. Even from what little I've seen, I can tell that there is no refined finesse in his movements. He's the type to favor brute strength above all else. Analyzing a potential threat quickly and accurately is one of the few reasons I've survived until now. "Don't underestimate me just because I'm short! I'm more powerful than you are. And frankly, it would take me no effort at all to send you flying several miles."

That puts a grin on his face. "Well, the kid can talk big, but can you back it up pipsqueak? Feel like showing me the power behind that attitude?" If he thinks that all of this is just attitude, then he's got another thing coming. And maybe he'll learn not to underestimate me, on the unlikely chance he survives an attack from me.

Just as I cross my hands, ready to attack and wipe this guy off the face of the earth, I sense them approach. "Agh! Damn it all to hell! I don't have time to be playing around with soul reapers. I have actual problems to deal with, none of which involve any of you!" I turn my back to them and glare over my shoulder, irritated by both them and the approaching horde. "If you want to stay alive, or half dead, in a manner of speaking, stay out of this."

Then, I press my foot into the ground and take one step, disappearing in a flash of fire, and reappearing a hundred meters away, surrounded by powerful hollows. I growl at them. "Well you lot are sure persistent. You would think that I'm a celebrity with a huge stalker following."

"Delicious!" Creepy.

"Smells wonderful!" A backhanded compliment.

"Let's eat it!" A far too eager threat.

So, when they attack, I attack right back. And stupid Shunsui seems to be holding the other reapers back, despite the fact that they've all followed me, and are watching this encounter. I roll my eyes in frustration, because these reapers really are just proving how useless they are. And it's not something that I expected from Shunsui. I expected him to have half a heart, like all the other times we've met up. Though, I suppose that since it's be a while since our last meet-up, he might just be holding back to assess me again. He does that from time to time. But it never gets any less annoying.

As soon as the first hollow tries to strike at me, I flash into the air, then cast a few very simple spells, obliterating thirty hollows in a matter of seconds. And since this is a good chance to let off some steam, I start flashing through the air, delivering strikes filled with holy power, through wind, fire, and golden light.

Frustratingly, more hollows are gathering. They must be drawn by the spiritual energy that I exude while in battle. There are so many this time, at least two hundred. No matter how good I am at flash-stepping, that won't help me lose this many of them.

I release more power, and a six foot silver and gold spear appears in my hands. I heft it overhead and start spinning it, gathering the wind and creating an enormous tornado. Trees get ripped up, boulders go flying, scorch marks appear on the ground, and hollows start disintegrating.

But they're not disappearing quickly enough, and I get impatient. So I slam my spear into the ground and unleash a spell, one of my most powerful spells. Invoke the Way of Destruction! Seventh School! Third Class! Light Dome!

In an instant, golden light flashes through the ranks of hollows, creating a three hundred foot bubble of pure, holy energy. Any hollows that deserve purification will be purified, and those that do not will be vaporized. And with the battle over in barely the blink of an eye, I put my spear back where it belongs. It dissolves into a pool of soft golden light, before being reabsorbed by my body, leaving no physical trace that it ever even existed.

As the hollows' monstrous forms disappear, about half of the spirits approach me, as little white orbs of light. I let them swirl around me in a flurry, and I talk to them. "Would you all like to stay with me before moving on? I promise to take good care of you." It's an offer that I make regularly, and one that it very rarely turned down. "Have no fear of loneliness, you may all speak to each other while in my care." Many of them really like the idea, and even more of them started whizzing around when I mentioned that they could all talk to each other while inside me. I know that there are few things more terrifying than the thought of walking the earth alone. So I prefer to not cause anyone that fear, if I can help it.

Not that I have much of a choice, myself.

But my conversation with the spirits is cut short when the one with long black hair approaches me at an incredible speed. It's almost too fast for the naked eye, but I can see it quite clearly. I stay still as he drives his blade into my heart, then he pulls it out, and in the blink of an eye, though to me, it feels like several seconds, he returns his sword to its sheath and stands about five meters away from me, his back turned to me.

The other reapers come into view, and blood starts pouring from my chest. But obviously, when I stay standing, with a bored expression on my face, they all seem confused. I sigh and look down at the puncture mark. "Well that's just great. That hurt like a bitch." And I look over my shoulder to glare at the man. "Oi! Jackass! That kinda hurt! Check where you're aiming your sword next time and don't stab me in the goddamn heart!"

Toshiro's P.O.V.

After watching this kid talk back to Zaraki, and with a rather cocky attitude of his own, and a pretty foul mouth, I was surprised to see him fight. Once the hollows arrived, he wasted no time in running away from Zaraki, and heading straight for the battle. He jumped in with no hesitation, and seemingly, no fear of death either. That's worrisome.

The kid has serious skills, and incredible power. I can see why the head captain wanted all of the captains to come out here, this kid is seriously dangerous. He could cause natural disasters easily. In fact, I would go so far as to say that this kid is a walking disaster zone.

Then I realize how far we've come from any populated areas. Did the kid lead us all here so that he could fight without holding back? That would indicate that the kid doesn't want to involve the humans, and create unwanted casualties. That at least says something about this kid's priorities. And it looks like keeping the humans safe is one of them.

Now, as I watch the kid fight, I find myself questioning this mission. Sure, the kid is powerful and dangerous, but did the reports ever include any humans getting hurt. Because if not, then why bother trying to capture a kid who is just running around, killing hollows?

Then, after the kid draws out a spear and starts swinging it around, obliterating the rest of the hollows, I see the problem. While the hollows that were evil while they were alive are cast down into the underworld, the hollows that the kid's powers purify approach the kid as balls of white light. This kid collects the souls of the dead, and it's probably not just the souls of hollows, but the souls of humans as well. And that can't be allowed to continue.

So Kuchiki draws his sword, faster than any normal soul reaper could see, but most of the captains have fast enough eyes to catch it. And what I see when Kuchiki drives his sword through the kid's heart, is astonishing to say the least.

Not only is the kid unfazed by the attack, but he saw it coming. I saw the kid's eyes follow Kuchiki's strike, and he looked bored. It was as though he allowed Kuchiki to pierce him, because judging by the speed the kid demonstrated earlier, and how he could see the sword coming at every moment, he should have been able to dodge it easily.

And then, when Kuchiki pulls the sword out, the kid just looks down at his chest with a bored expression, then complains about how that kind of hurt. Kind of hurt. The kid was stabbed right through the heart, and he says that it kind of hurt. Not only that, but the kid is still alive, and Kuchiki never misses. How is it that this kid can not only see Kuchiki's nearly invisible strike, but survive it, and not even double over? And then, I see the bleeding start to stop, and the hole starts closing up, healing itself.

I force down a nervous stutter. "What the hell are we dealing with here? Some kind of immortal?" If that's the case, then we are woefully unprepared for this kind of mission. We would need to have our best bakudo experts here to contain an immortal.

Zaraki laughs beside me. "I don't know. But whatever this kid is, I want to fight him. That's a lot of power he's got, and I can't wait to test him out. Maybe we can take him back and he'll join Squad 11."

"Unlikely, since it looks like this mission might be a failure." I doubt that this is the kind of mission that we signed up for. Unless the head-captain knew something that we didn't. Though, at this point, I'm more suspicious that it's Kyoraku who knows what's going on.

But more to the point, what this means is that we're not just dealing with an entity with massive spiritual pressure and insane fighting skills, like we were told to expect. But we're also dealing with an entity who collects souls. And to top it all off, one who would appear to be immortal, seeing as he hasn't dropped dead yet. This just got a whole lot more complicated. And the only upside is that so far, this kid hasn't attacked us yet, despite having many chances to.

What the kid does next completely floors me.

Though, considering my suspicions, I suppose that it shouldn't.

Akari's P.O.V.

All of the reapers look at me, some gaping, some with wide eyes. So, I start yelling. "Oi Shunsui! Get your ass out here, because this is getting boring, and I want to know why there are so many spectators to my little sport of running away! And as for the other nine people hiding in the trees, you can all come out now! I know exactly where each and every one of you is. If you're going to surround someone, make sure that they can't see you like a bunch of spotlights in a pitch black room!"

Shunsui comes out from behind a tree and laughs. "I'm sorry for the dramatics, I just wanted the other captains to become properly acquainted with you, before inviting you to come along with me to the Soul Society, Lady Akari."

"Drop the titles, they're pointless and I hate them. I left all of that behind a long time ago. You know that very well Shunsui." And of course, that's when the captains come out of hiding, and the confused muttering starts. Obviously these guys have no idea who or what I am. Not that I've ever wanted them to know in the first place. "That's better, now I can see the faces of the humans who are foolish enough to go on this stupid hunting trip." Because dead souls with magic powers or not, these fools are still human, to some extent.

With the hole in my chest sealing itself up before their eyes, they all look at me with either curiosity or disbelief. But I keep my eyes on Shunsui. "So, why exactly are you trying to kidnap me again? I thought you'd given up years ago. I already told you, I have no interest in joining Squad 8, since I'm not even a soul reaper. And you know very well that I don't like soul reapers. So, whatever you have to say, say it fast. If I don't like it, then I'm leaving."

He laughs good-naturedly, which only ticks me off a little more. "While I would love to kidnap a pretty little lady like yourself, this is actually not the normal invitation. Actually, you've been a bit careless, letting your power leak out so much. The Department of Research and Development caught wind of you and traced your location, and the head-captain ordered us to capture you, or kill you if that wasn't possible."

I roll my eyes and sit down on a rock. "Alright then, I might as well warn your friends that I'm in a really bad mood right now, so they should try not to make me any angrier than I already am."

"Well lately, you're never in a good mood. How long has it been since you got any sleep? You seem even more irritable than usual. And pale, you look unusually pale."

I shrug. "It was sometime when a hurricane hit the east coast of North America. It kept all the hollows away and masked my power with natural energy. You know that I can't sleep for longer than half an hour without having hollows catching wind of me."

Shunsui frowns. "The last time a hurricane hit that area was a month ago. Are you saying that you've gone a whole month without any sleep?" His eyes narrow as they flick over me, obviously looking for signs of exhaustion. "That's bad for your health and you know it. In any case, when did you get back to Japan?"

Another shrug. "I made the hop back over to Japan about a week ago, which is when the attacks picked up. Seems like this country is a serious hotspot for hollows. Must be all the dimensions that intersect here. Makes it easy for them to cross the dimensional barrier."

His frown deepens a little. "It's because you draw hollows to you like flies to honey, what with the enormous amount of spiritual power that you have, and especially considering the purity of that power. You're like catnip to them, they can't resist trying to eat you."

I keep my gaze focused on Shunsui, but my senses are keeping track of the other twelve people. "So, is this all of the captains? Because I would hate to have to introduce myself more than once. Introductions get tedious."

He nods. "All of the thirteen captains of the Soul Society are here, so could you please introduce yourself to my colleagues. I'm sure that several of them are unaware of the origins of the soul reapers. So would you mind giving them a short history lesson?"

That sure gets them interested. So I sigh and roll my eyes again. "You sure know how to get your way, don't you Shunsui?" I address the rest of the captains, who are eyeing me warily. "First of all, you all should know that Shunsui is my contact in the Soul Society. Every six months or so, we meet up, and I deliver all the souls I've collected within that time-frame, usually between one and five hundred. The reason that I collect souls is because I'm from the same race as one of the first founders of the soul reapers."

Since Shunsui looks at me expectantly, I get off my rock and walk towards him, engulfing myself in gold fire, revealing my true form. I'm still small, but my short scarlet hair lengthens dramatically, falling in waves down my back. It catches fire as my ripped and bloodied clothes change, revealing a short red silk Chinese style sleeveless dress, and fluttering white silk that forms the loose sleeves, and a many layered, ruffled and pleated skirt that hangs to mid-thigh. A single clear gem decorates my hair, but the gem itself is the size of a large chicken's egg. Scarlet and gold wings emerge from my back, reaching out ten feet in each direction.

"Obviously, I am no soul reaper. In fact, I don't really like soul reapers. And I only protect humans because protecting them usually happens while I'm protecting myself, plus it's a deeply ingrained habit. And since I have no right to involve others in my fights, I always fight away from people. Which is why their presence really bugs me."

My spear appears in my hand, mostly for impact and dramatic effect, but also in case they get it into their heads that they feel like attacking me. I plant it firmly in the ground. "I am an immortal sun bird, also called a bennu, phoenix, vermillion bird, as well as a hundred other names that I don't care to keep track of. Just pick whichever the humans decide to call us nowadays." It irritates me that the humans can't seem to make up their minds on what to call us. But I suppose that just comes with having so many people, and several thousand languages flying around. "I'm seventy-five years old, and obviously, I've been on the run from hollows for a while, as they have some sick notions about eating me for lunch. Now, if that's enough of an introduction, I have some running to get back to." I've wasted more than enough time here.

But as I turn to leave, one of the captains, a young woman, from the looks of her, leaps towards me with the obvious intention of picking a fight with me. But I saw her first strike coming with my precognition, and I catch the strike easily, and our faces remain only inches apart. "Regardless of what or who you are, my orders stand, and those orders are to take you into custody, or kill you if the former is not possible."

She strikes at me again, this time, activating some kind of ability, her zanpakuto ability, I've heard Shunsui call it, and strikes at my stomach. I don't resist her, but I stand my ground, refusing to move an inch. "Will you be taken into custody, or must I kill you instead?" It sounds to me like she actually believes that she can kill me. It would seem that she didn't take the whole immortal part very seriously.

My mouth twitches. "You can go ahead and try, but if you strike me one more time, you'll have used up your three mercy strikes, and I will start fighting back. That is my policy when fighting ignorant humans. I give them three chances to back down before I start knocking them around."

That just pisses her right off, and she strikes me in the stomach again, hitting the butterfly mark she put on me earlier. But though she expects me to keel over, I just burn the butterfly mark off and glare at her. Then, in an instant, I close the distance between us, with a pinprick of light in my palm, and I slam a palm strike into her stomach, sending her flying back towards her compatriots.

With a sigh, I draw back, looking over at her form as she struggles back to her feet. "I did warn you, copiously. You hit me a third time, so I hit you back." I look around at the rest of them. "Now, is there anyone else who wants to be foolish and try to piss me off, or can I be on my way? Because three strikes and my restraint goes out the window. And if none of you want to get seriously injured, I suggest that you just turn around and go home. On the other hand, if you don't mind getting beaten to a bloody pulp, then go ahead and attack me. I'm not picky about who I fight, whether it's hollows who want to eat me, or soul reapers who want to kidnap me."

But the old man who seems to be their leader holds back the large, black-haired one, who really looks like he wants to fight me, the black-haired woman who hit me earlier and seems to want a re-match, and a really creepy silver-haired guy who I just want to poke some holes in and burn to a crisp. Seriously, that one creeps me out on all kinds of levels. But, with him holding them back, it looks like there is nothing more for me to do here, and that means that it's time to leave.

But just as I turn to leave, Shunsui pipes up. "Akari, you've been summoned."

That confuses me. "And who exactly presumes to have the authority to summon me anywhere?" If this is something serious, then he should have said it in the first place, rather than all of this pointless dancing around. Hence, my skepticism.

He reaches into his robe and pulls out a small object. He tosses it to me, and I catch it in my left hand, it's a small circle of gold with my family crest on it, an ancient symbol for a powerful line. It feels warm and familiar, then I realize why, I've felt an energy similar to this before. I bite my lip, then throw my spear high into the air. "I see, so you aren't here because of the orders to give chase to me, you're working for Him. I suppose that it was only a matter of time before he caught wind of me and summoned me." I shake my head. "Alright, you win, I'll go with you. But as soon as this meeting is over, I'm going to leave." My spear comes hurtling back down, plunging into my chest and disappearing in a flash of light.

He smiles at me. "You can sleep on the way, I promise that no one here is going to hurt you."

I scoff since that's quite a bold promise. "No one could kill me, no matter how hard they tried. That doesn't make me trust them." For all I know, one of them could bind me up while I'm asleep, then proceed to wake me up and torture me until I got myself loose. And I would rather not go through that again. One torture session by some hollows that were too smart and too sadistic for their own good was enough.

Shunsui nods slightly, his eyes warm and bright. "Well, if it will make you feel better, then I will carry you myself, and you can sleep on the way to the meeting."

I consider his offer. He's certainly strong enough to protect me against hollows, though I don't know how he stacks up against his fellow captains. It would be nice to finally get some sleep, but I don't trust all these other reapers. Then again, I could just exude a protective aura while sleeping, in case any of them try anything funny. So with a fragile thread of trust, I let my wings disappear. "Alright then, I'll try to have a nap. It's been a month since I last slept, so I guess an hour or so wouldn't hurt." I approach him and he picks me up delicately, much to the astonishment and confusion of the other captains. But I ignore them and put up my protective aura. "Oh, and if any of you try anything funny within ten feet of me, I'll wake up and smash your face in." It's crude, but it's one of the most effective threats I have. And when I'm satisfied that my threat has been adequately received, I relax into Shunsui's arms and fall asleep.