I disclaim I disclaim! Bleach is not mine but I re-claim the honor of creating Kye, Yomiko, Nitsu, and Kerioo chan!
I updated sooner than I thought I would…but next week, I will be busy because, well…Uni begins! Hope you enjoy my chapter…I know its long and tedious and something else…. Read and review! Flame me too if you want, though Kye does enough of that.
(Material World)
Yomiko scratched her arm deep in thought. She watched as Kye took a dash towards the ground without another word, shook her head, and gave the setting sun one last glance before pushing her entire weight against the condensed reiatsu beneath her feet. But as the wind hit her body, she felt something warm and solid slide down her itching arm. She turned her head, curious as to what gave her this sensation. Only when the bracelet hung from the tip of her fingers did she assess the situation and close her fingers around hollow air. The bracelet was plummeting towards earth as Yomiko felt in the depth of her gut the liberation of a pressure she hadn't been aware of release her reiatsu.
Her body went limp with exhaustion as the relief faded away, plunging into the empty space. She couldn't summon the strength to even scream as the air wiped her hair loose, and the trees grew ominously closer.
She shut her eyes and waited for an impact that never came. The air compressed her body in a tight hold, halting her fall. Kerioo appeared beside her, his grip tight around her.
-"That was scary, how about we don't try that again, huh?" he remarked with a teasing smile, though she could still see the worry in his gold eyes.
Yomiko snickered as they descended, thinking of the many ways Kye would scream at her for her recklessness. It made her head loll and a heavy feeling, like a hook pulling down on her stomach, was spreading through her adrenaline-ridden system.
-"Where's the bracelet?" was the first thing Kye asked when Kerioo deposited her with care on the ground.
Yomiko was weary of her steps, fatigue weighting down her body along with her words.
-"I…don't…" she started explaining, unsure as to how she would solve Kye's scowling.
-"I got it," Nitsu said, walking passed the trees to where they stood, handing Kye the silver hoop.
Yomiko watched her with interest as she rubbed the bridge of her nose with what seemed to be weariness and an attempt at self-control.
-"I…don't really think I want to know how, or why the bracelet fell off unless it was caused by a third party," she said and looked up with mild hope at both Kerioo and Yomiko. When they both retained blank expressions, she shook her head in disappointment and grabbed Yomiko's arm with unnecessary force, slipping the bracelet back on.
-"You can't remove these bracelets just like that," Kye explained while pulling out white tape from the sash. "You need a vacuum."
-"A what?" Nitsu exclaimed, and cocked an eyebrow in confusion.
When Kye was done strapping the hoop to Yomiko's arm, she looked up at Nitsu and lifted a little silver whistle to eye level.
-"This, is a vacuum and…" but whatever Kye was about to say died in her throat as a strange wind caught all of their attention.
Yomiko looked up in surprise. She became more aware of her surroundings as a reiatsu form approached them, the sensation making the hairs on her arm stand on end.
-"He's a captain," she muttered.
They stood still, as if not moving would erase the fact that there were still traces of Yomiko's ki leading the captain to them.
Kye was the first to react, pulling them out of their trance.
-"Let's go!"
Yomiko followed numbly after them. Then, an idea probed at her mind. It was a random extreme impulse she could not even explain to herself, but she knew it had to be done. The situation felt right and so did the idea. The shinigami captain was close behind them as she shunpoed to Kye and before her elder could protest, she grabbed the whistle from her parted fingers and turned back, meeting Kerioo's confused gaze with a reassuring smile.
She rushed through the trees, not stopping even when she heard Kye's outraged protest, not even to consider her or herself for one second, because if she did, she was sure it would halt her, even if it were the right thing to do. So, when the shinigami's reiatsu was so near it was palpable, she blew on the whistle, tearing off the bracelet from her arm.
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(Material World)
Matsumoto stretched out lazily over the soft carpet, digging her toes luxuriously into its warmth. Orihime was busy in the kitchen; she could hear her scrapping the metal cutlery against the pots, the sizzling sounds and the smell of fried tuna with pineapple chunks tantalizing her nostrils. They were severely overworked these days; arrancaru appeared more often, some powerful, while others seemed to be failed experiments. But she could guess the link between them; Aizen was just testing them, arrancaru and shinigami alike. It was a threatening advantage he held over their heads. In this game, he was the player, the spectator and the puppet master, she could only pray that the roles would switch and soon.
She rolled on her stomach, resting her chin over her hands. Times like these, where she lied down and rested, were an unguarded opening to thoughts of Gin. She wondered what he was up to…if he thought of her as mush as she did of him…
Her thoughts were cut short. The sudden hit of reiatsu left her momentarily breathless. She heard a pot smash on the tiled floor in the kitchen before her cell phone beeped furiously. She flipped it open, watching a red dot bob on the screen, her captain was nearest to the scene and she could see he was already making a move on the situation. She considered staying with Orihime but, by the feel of reiatsu that had just hit her, all trace of laziness was completely erased. She popped a soul candy in to her mouth as Orihime walked into the living room.
-"Orihime-san, watch over my giggai while I'm gone," she called out from the window.
-"Matsumoto-san…"
-"It's better you stay here," she said with a smile before dashing out onto the roofs.
She kept her footsteps light and swift, wondering what could have possibly possessed such a strong reiatsu. It worried her, could this be another of Aizen's arrancar? Or even worse, an espada…she called out into her earpiece urgently.
-"Division 12th, we need the power limit released!"
She heard the other end crackle for a while before someone answered.
-"Matsumoto fukutaichou, there doesn't seem to be a reason for the limit release."
The shinigami's statement brought her to an abrupt halt as she tried to control her shock.
-"A powerful being just appeared in Karakura Town, I…I saw it on the cell phone…"
-"It came out here as well, but the equipment seems to have some sort of malfunction. The red dot only appeared for a few seconds before vanishing again. The town doesn't seem to be in any danger…"
-"But I felt it!" she insisted, almost screaming into the earpiece.
-"I'm sorry but, without evident threat on our screens, we cannot risk it."
Matsumoto was about to add something else, but the line was cut, leaving her fuming.
She flipped her cell phone open once more to confirm what the shinigami had said. Indeed, the red dot was gone but she could still sense a sort of trail in the earth. They would have to fight whatever it was with what they had, she thought as she continued her way to the captain, following the traces of reiatsu.
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Something was shuffling through the branches, he could hear it coming closer but the earlier mass of reiatsu was nowhere to be found, only a trail remained, as if the earth was absorbing it. He came to a halt at a wide clearing, a river snaking across it. He looked past the slithering water and gasped in surprise.
A shadow moved into the moon's light, revealing a girl not much older than him in appearance. She wore her long, dark hair in a tidy braid; her green eyes sparkled even with the faint light. She sported the same black hakama as a shinigami, but her top was a velvety green corset, ending a little above her green obi sash held by an emerald orb. Pieces of white tape wobbled from her arm, as if something had been torn from there. Though he couldn't clearly sense it, he knew the reiatsu had belonged to her.
She dug her hand into her sash, making Hitsugaya grasp his zanpaktou's hilt, ready to draw at the sign of a threat. She merely pulled out a withered root and held it in her hand for a moment. It gradually stretched, morphing into a long katana, its hilt and sheath ornate with incrusted emerald stones. She set it firmly on the ground and rested her weight against it. He introduced himself in a formal, deep tone.
-"Hitsugaya Toushiro, Captain of the 10th Division,"
-"It's nice to meet you, Toushiro," she replied with a smile.
He waited for her to give him a name and status but she merely stared at him with a meek smirk.
This girl, he noted, didn't seem like a threat, though he had to remember the reiatsu was hers.
-"Aren't you a little tired from exhausting all that energy?" he inquired, watching her body struggle against her efforts to stand erect.
-"Maybe a little bit," she said.
Hitsugaya unsheathed his zanpaktou and pointed its tip towards her. He didn't like playing games, and he felt that fighting an unidentified enemy was a sort of puppet show.
-"What are you?" he questioned.
-"Not someone you should be pointing a sword at,"
-"What is you're name?"
She seemed to consider the question as she cocked her head to one side. Slowly, she unsheathed her own sword, the scabbard diluting into grains of sand sliding through her fingers to rest at her feet, before she replied in a quiet voice.
-"Yomiko."
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-"Kerioo! What is this child up to now?"
Kye said, her ragged whisper barely audible above the sound of rustling trees.
-"Do you really need to ask that?" he countered in a similar whisper.
-"Why doesn't she ever listen to me?"
Kye looked exasperated to the point where she snapped a twig she had been twirling nervously between her fingers.
They sat quietly for several moments, watching Yomiko un-disguise her zanpaktou, unsheathe it and reveal her name. Kye felt a wave of relief at her not mentioning what they were.
-"You know," Nitsu reasoned, "I think we should have seen this coming."
Kye looked up at him curiously.
-"What do you mean?"
-"That she is doing this for you…" Kerioo replied.
Kye turned and parted a few branches to look at the little girl standing at the bank of a river, facing off a shinigami captain.
-"That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard," she mumbled more to herself than to her companions.
-"Well, watch carefully Kye, so she can prove to you she is beyond shinigamis."
She frowned in Nitsu direction, but he gave no more emphasize on the subject.
-"If she is not dead by the end of the night, I will make sure she never sees another sunrise. This must be allover Soul Society's radar."
-"I bet they are avidly watching with rice balls up their noses," mused Kerioo.
-"Yeah, and not crouching on a dense forest…"
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She hoped that Kye wasn't thinking of intervening. She knew Kerioo and Nitsu would understand, but Kye. Yomiko wanted her to watch, she wanted to show that she was just as useful and powerful, worthwhile taking on this journey.
The idea of having her first official fight felt dizzying, almost unbelievable. In her head, she went through all the forms she had learned over the years, practicing them with such diligence; they felt imprinted in her mind.
She watched the captian shift, bending his knees at the right angle to strike with swiftness. His sword pointing upwards in a standard position that seemed to hold more strength than the wielder wanted revealed. He was short and young, but she was beyond judging people by mere appearances of age or stature. All that mattered was his captain's robe and abilities he would mirror through his swordsmanship. His eyes held a certain spark of wittiness, and it momentarily brought her back to Kerioo's eyes, though these held a different kind of sharp. They felt wise and aged, showing that he partook in no games or illusions.
She raised her own blade, bringing the cross guard up to ear level, holding it parallel to the ground, making sure her elbows were aligned with her arms and hands. She thought of the sword as an extension of her body, and her zanpaktou, as an extension of her soul.
Her feet parted slightly, remembering that balance was everything in a fight and a shift in your resolution could be the downfall of your body. Feet, a foot apart, knees bent at a 175-degree angle, leg muscles tight and ready to move. But most important was attempting to read through your opponents attacks, and never leaving him out of your sight.
That is what she thought of, as their blades met in mid air, grinding metal against metal, creating sparks that nearly blinded her. They flash stepped back, panting as they circled each other and jumped once more to hit their blades. It was fast paced, but never the less; her eyes never left him or his blade as they tried to find an opening against each other. All she could hear was the clattering of the swords, their movements, she imagined were a blur and keeping part of her concentration set on coalescing spiritual power beneath her feet to keep her air born was taking its toll on her movements.
She stepped back and landed firmly on the ground, raising a cloud of dust around her. She cleared it just in time to see him slash through her defenses.
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Hitsugaya hit the ground with speed but did not slow down as the cloud of dust momentarily distracted his opponent. He could see the opening as he flash stepped towards her, raised his sword and brought it back down with alacrity.
His attack was abruptly halted, but not by her blade which still hung limply by her side. The sand around her had condensed and formed a translucent yet solid shield between his zanpaktou and her body. His eyes were widened by shock and he retreated, watching as it diluted and snaked around her.
-"How did you…" he muttered.
She smiled shyly.
-"My sheath dilutes into sand and serves as a shield when my guard is down. It senses danger."
Hitsugaya frowned and planted his feet firmly on the ground, letting his reiatsu concentrate around him, feeling his power recharge him like a battery.
-"Fine, let us continue."
He ran towards her and dodged her attack, trying to hit her back, only to be met by the strange sand once more. She turned to face him, then disappeared, only to shunpo beside him, slashing his arm, leaving a long cut where the blade had met flesh.
Hitsugaya winced and jumped up into the air, readying Hyourinamru to release its Shikai form.
-"Set upon the frozen heavens," he intoned. "Hyourinmaru!"
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Yomiko looked up at him with deepened interest as a dragon made of water and ice emanated from his blade, darkening the clear night sky with gray clouds.
-"A zanpaktou of ice that controls the weather…" she muttered to herself. It sounded familiar…
She let the tip of her zanpaktou touch the ground momentarily, before raising it as Hitsugaya set the dragon upon her.
She barely had time to put up a fraction of her reiatsu as a shield against Hyourinamrus powerful ki. She watched as the surrounding trees were incased in a thick layer of crystalline ice and wondered if it was ordinary for a captain to wield this much power.
Her form flickered, and she reappeared on the other side of the river and concentrated on feeling the earth's energy flow within her, imagining it squeeze into an energy ball at her fingertips. The skin on her hands tingled with power.
-"May the Earth become your wholesome body, Byakko!" she called out.
She let the familiar ki of her zanpaktou snake through her, awakening her senses to a more alert state. Her sword broadened and curved into a half mooned shape, its guard moving to the center of the blade.
The symbol of the earth, an upside down triangle cut across by a line parallel to its base, engraved itself onto the metal, in a similar fashion as when she had tattooed it on her abdomen so diligently.
She looked up to witness his surprise gaze, the dragon circling above him, reflecting in the pool of water. Her reiatsu enveloped her in a green glow, humming softly across the clearing.
-"Taichou!" a woman called out from behind Yomiko.
The young girl turned around to face a busty, woman with strawberry blond hair that cascaded down her back in luscious waves. Yomiko increased her reiatsu and let it overwhelm the shinigami to the point where she fainted onto the moist soil, eyes shut as if asleep.
-"Matsumoto!" the captain screamed out, ready to run at her aid.
-"Don't worry," Yomiko reassured. "She's only sleeping…"
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He could feel it too, the soft hum of the girl's reiatsu, like a lullaby daring him to fall asleep. His thoughts felt as thick as honey, lips parted, feeling heavy and numb along with his tongue. The energy holding him up was beginning to falter, making his body sag. He could feel the zanpaktou slipping away from him, and only Hyourinmaru's scream brought him back to reality.
-"Hitsugaya, focus!"
His eyes snapped open. He hadn't been aware of them closing. Yomiko remained still, watching him with a peculiar expression.
He wasted no time. Raising his zanpaktou, he slashed through the air, sending an overflowing amount of water in her direction, but she merely dodged it, reappearing at the top of a tree.
She was too fast and his attacks had no effect over her as she possessed a higher amount of spiritual energy. He had no choice; he had to fight her with his bankai.
-"Daiguren, Hyourinmarou!"
The ice dragon fused his body, giving him wings and claws made of ice. He lifted his sword and flash stepped towards her as she widened her eyes in shock.
-"Dragon Hail Flower," he muttered.
The earth suddenly raised, forming into a solid wall. Hitsugaya's katana sunk into is core, freezing the entire wall and shattering it into a thousand crystals.
-"Binding spell 125, restrain, devil's snare," she said, looking up at him with a glint of defiance.
Green ropes burst from the ground, snaking and binding Hitsugaya before he could even react. He struggled against their hold, attempting to slash at the ones around his ankles, but these roots weren't ordinary…they were oozing with an outrageous amount of ki.
They seemed to tighten their grip the more he struggled and Yomiko looked up at him in amusement.
-"Keep moving and they will eventually cut through your flesh."
He froze, and understanding overwhelmed him. He knew now what her abilities were, though it seemed unlikely and even preposterous. Her zanpaktou was an earth type but it seemed to control the element…
-"Byakko doesn't just control earth…it is the Earth's spirit," she answered to his unasked question.
-"Just what exactly are you?"
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Inhale…exhale….breath….
Wow, I have never written a fight scene and this….kept my fingers skidding through the keys. It was non-stop writing. And sorry I stop it here. But I have to think on a couple things before I continue. Next chapter…their will be more characters introduced and the Heavenly guardians…well I guess Kye's plan just flew out the window hehe….
Oooh, and yes! If you hadn't noticed, The Heavenly Guardian's zanpaktou's are a little different than that of a shinigami's but, I will let Kye and Nitsu explain that in the next chapter.
