Chapter Four - I Am...
The power in my hands,
Is everything but my own.
The fire in my eyes,
Is what keeping it going.
-Dear My Love by Amaya Arashi-
Tai unsheathed her Zanpaktou as Byakuya did.
"I hear you're good at flashstep." She smirked. "So am I."
She flashstepped to his side instantly, her blade at his neck. Little did she know his blade was at hers as well.
She smiled. "Oh, you are good."
"Enough chatter." Byakuya said. "Fight."
She swept out of the position gracefully, taking a stance a foot in front of him. Thier swords meant with a cling, thier eyes meeting over the blades. They both gave each other a smile of sorts, and then they were a blur of clashing swords.
They didn't fight to cut, but they fought to block. Finally, when neither of them could take it anymore, they stepped back.
"Are you going to bring out your Shikai?" Byakuya demanded.
"I'm not sure you'll want me to." She smirked.
"Do it." He said.
"If you want me to..." She trailed off.
Tai lifted her Zanpaktou in front of her, she smiled...
"Ataemasu koi, Kurai Hikari! *" She called.
There was a blinding light. No one could see, even the ones overhead were blinded.; Tai took the chance to get behind Byakuya as she hid her reiatsu and pressed her glowing blade to his neck.
The light faded, and Byakuya looked around for Tai, but gasped when he felt a blade at his throat.
"How...?" He asked.
"I'm not done, yet, silly." She smirked.
Her Zanpaktou's blade glistened the same green as her hair. The hilt was black with lime green-looking lace around the handle. The yellow ribbon that extended from the hilt circled them both.
She leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "Grant me darkness...Kurai Hikari."
Light from all around the training grounds was draining into her Zanpaktou. A huge spherical darkness surrounded them all, engulfing them in the dark. Byakuya heard the silent gasps and the little giggle from Tai as she faded back. He held his Zanpaktou, observing how even though he couldn't see, he could hear.
He sliced his Zanpaktou to the side, thinking he heard the rustle of her Shinigami uniform, but his blade touched nothing.
"Silly, silly, Bya-kun." Tai's giggling voice called. "You can't cut me in this state."
Her blade slipped out of the darkness, right at Byakuya's neck.
"This is just too easy." Her voice whispered.
But he reached back but his hand felt nothing.
Damn it. He thought. I won't be beat this easily.
But she had faded back.
He didn't feel her presence, until he heard her words...
"Bankai." Her voice muttered. "Akarui no Kurai Hikari."
Light flooded back, blinding him again. He was thrown back at the force, catching himself before he fell.
Her reiatsu was pounding off her skin, and when Byakuya was able to see again, his breath stopped. She looked amazing with a glowing sparkle of the released light on her skin and the strong green reiatsu surrounding her.
"There are three stages to my Bankai." She told him. "Dusk. Dawn. And Midnight. Dusk, is a defense."
She whipped her sword parellel to her eyes. "Higure."
Light particles from the sky gathered and melted to her Zanpaktou. She pulled the light from the sun all the way down to herself, the blinding light forming a force-field around her.
"Go ahead, Byakuya." She called. "Try and hit me. I promise I won't move."
He scoffed, but raised his Zanpaktou to his face. "Scatter, Senbonzakura."
His blade separated into thousands of little blades, reflecting the light. They looked like pretty cherry blossom petals floating on the breeze.
He sent them at her like he would any other opponant, arrogant of his power and sure that he would win. The blades hit the shield hard, drawing out five seconds of a pure reiatsu pounding.
But then they moved to the side and revealed the shield just as strong.
Tai poked her head over the shield. "Hey. I said try and hit me."
She looked around and laughed. "You already tried didn't you? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."
Byakuya's wide eyes grew angry. No. He wouldn't let this girl beat him. He wouldn't.
He used his hands this time, slashing he blades at her as hard as he could. He thought he felt her break, but he was wrong. He pulled Senbonzakura back and the shield was still there.
The shield retracted into Tai's Zanpaktou and she sighed. "Yeah. So, that's Dusk. Next is Dawn. She's my offensive attack."
She pointed her sword down this time. "I suggest you move, Byakuya."
He glared at her and she just turned. "Fine, then, picky little man.
"Fukusho, Keimei."
Her blades formed many around her, emmitting tones of bright light again. She was suddenly surrounded by her katana. There had to be forty or fifty of them, at least.
She lifted her Zanpaktou before thrusting it forward. The katana's hit the wall of rock 1500 feet away like bullets. Each and every one of them went straight through.
"Ouch." She smirked before pulling her Zanpaktou back.
The katana's drew back out of the rock and flew towards her. She swiped her blade across before her and gathered them up.
"Alrighty, then." She twirled around to Byakuya. "I won't show you Midnight, because I haven't learned to execute it without killing someone yet. But I will explain it. It has a simple command and is the most powerful of my three Bankai stages. 'May darkness fall upon the light of your soul' is all that needs to be said before saying the command Shoushi which obviously means Midnight. And after I've said those words, it's pretty much hopeless. Even if I die in that same second, my Zanpaktou's still going to find it's way to you. But, anyways, it takes all the darkness from your soul, every single sin you've comitted, and multipies it by millions. And that pure, painfilled darkness releases from the tip of my blade, and strikes my opponent before completely devouring them."
It was silent as she smiled. She sheathed her Zanpaktou as it went back to it's unreleased form.
"And that's all she wrote!" She twirled. "Nice, huh?"
Byakuya stood up and frowned.
"Aw, don't be so sad, Bya-kun!" She hugged him. "I'll let you beat me next time."
He walked away silently, ignoring her.
She sighed before turning to Yamamoto. "That's my power, sir."
He nodded as she bowed. "Who is the next youngest?"
"Mikoi, sir." Tai called.
Mikoi was instantly at her side.
"That would be me." She bowed.
"Have fun." Tai patted her on the back before flashstepping to stand beside Sai as she leaned against the wall.
"Who do you wish to go up against?" Yamamoto motioned to the Captains.
She glanced at them, that same frown on her face. She walked in front of them and narrowed her eyes at Zaraki.
"You'll do." She muttered.
Up above, Yumichika heart dropped to the floor. Now she was most definatly going to die.
Zaraki smirked before walking forward.
"I don't wish to kill you." She told him her eyes on the ground. "But if you try to kill me, I will not hesitate. Is this clear?"
"Whatever you say." He smiled evilly.
"Before we begin." She glanced up at him with cold eyes. "What is your name?"
"Zaraki Kenpachi, Captain of the 11th Division." He answered.
"That's lovely." She muttered.
Suddenly, she was in front of him, ripping off the eyepatch that covered his right eye. Before he could get to her, she was back where she began, holding his torn eyepatch in her hand.
"Just as I suspected." She sighed, looking glumly at the reishi-eating eyepatch.
She threw it to the ground before looking back up at Zaraki.
"Zaraki Kenpachi, I don't want you to make this easy for me." She sighed.
Kenpachi released his full reiatsu, making Mikoi giggle. The crushing power that was nearly suffocating the onlookers above, didn't phase Mikoi.
"Zaraki, you're going to hurt them." She looked up at them. "Please stop. You're not intimidating and I really don't care how strong you think you are."
Zaraki was starting to get mad. What was this girl?
"Zaraki..." She said darkly, before whipping her head towards him. "I said stop!"
She was able to control her reiatsu, releasing it at full power towards him. It didn't escape the empty path between the two of them, but the pure force of it knocked the breath out of Zaraki. He was trying his best not to fall to his knees.
He yelled loudly before she finally stopped.
She drew her Zanpaktou slowly as he tried to regain his breath.
"Next time...think about people other than yourself." She muttered.
She brought her blade up to rest flatly in the air in front of her.
"Seichou suru..." She muttered before twisting her Zanpaktou down and stabbing it in the ground. "Kowashite Jishin."
The ground shook, knocking Zaraki to his knees. He struggled to gain his feet before someone saw.
Her Zanpaktou glowed a soft orange for a second. When the light faded, it was revealed that the blade was the same glowing orange. The hilt was a mixture of black and dark orange. The ribbon that blowed in the wind, encircling her, was a dark black that faded into a less dark trangerine color.
Yumichika swallowed hard as he watched, his heart pounding. He hadn't had the least bit of faith in her before, thinking that she would lose. But now...how could someone as beautiful as that lose to someone as ugly as Zaraki?
Rocks shot up to form random walls around them. One hit Zaraki's left foot, knocking him completly sideways. He caught ahold of another rising wall before he fell over.
"Kyuukei banare." Mikoi said.
The wall Zaraki held crumbled beneath his hand. The rock shot towards the sky, dancing around them like a giant whirlwind.
She pulled her Zanpaktou from the ground and earth in the sky rushed to her side. She thrust her blade towards Zaraki, impressed when he blocked most of the on-coming rock.
When one hit him square in the chest, she dropped her raised hand and the rock fell down to the ground. Zaraki spit out blood and laughed.
"You think that...hurt me?" He demanded.
He released his spiritual pressure again.
She raised an eyebrow. "I already told you, you don't intimidate me."
She sighed. "This is boring. I'm going to finish up."
"Bankai." She muttered. "Kowashite Jishin Kinzoku."
She sliced her sword in front of her, cutting the air open and watching as molten earth oozed from the spot she cut.
She lowered her Zanpaktou to her side slowly.
"My defensive abilities are simple, but powerful." She said. "My first is obvious."
She swiped her hand to the side, feeling everyone stare as the rock wall shot up.
"My walls are impenitrable." She said. "Because the rock vibrates, making it impossible to cut. That's the whole point of my 'earthquake' abilities. But, also..."
She cut open her hand in one graceful swipe and reached over to the earth. As soon as the blood touched the earth, it formed into a huge shield.
The shield was elaborate, unlike the uneven rock wall to her side. She held it forward, the shield covering most of her body. The light brown guard had dark designs on it that resembled the mark on her eye.
"This, is also vibrating." She stated.
She let go of the handle, letting it hover in the air in front of her. She swung her arm around, the shield following her hand in the air.
"I don't need to hold it." She said. "It leaves my hands free to slice up my opponent."
She brought her hand forward and let the sword rest in front of her. She waved her hand and the shield melted into the ground.
"My offensive abilities..." She stepped to the wall she had been at moment's before. "Are these..."
She touched a hand to the wall, melting into it. When her body was fully engulfed in the wall, people began to gasp. She had disappeared.
And then, she leaped out and kicked Zaraki's feet out from under him before jumping on top of the wall she had came out of.
"Zaraki, I have a feeling you need to be taught a lesson." She told him.
She jumped up, whirlling around in the air before she threw her Zanpaktou up. She caught the blade with her bare hands. Blood poured onto the blade before she stabbed it into the rock wall. She licked her fingers, sighing at the salty-sweet taste.
And then she thrust her hands forward.
Rock-hard earth poured from her hands towards Zaraki and his eyes went wide as it engulfed him. The spherical shape surrounded him building up nicely.
Finally, Mikoi closed her hands and grabbed her Zanpaktou from the ground. She leapt on top of rock dome.
"Kenny!" A little pink-haired girl cried from the side-lines, her eyes slightly frightened.
Mikoi smiled at her. "Don't worry, sweetie. He's just fine."
She stabbed her Zanpaktou into the rock and twisted it. The rock crumbled and she pushed up, bringing the rock with her before it could fall on Zaraki. She twisted her hands, the earth crushing to dust before thier eyes.
She touched back down beside Zaraki before snapping her fingers. The rock walls around them also disintergrated into dust, leaving the training ground just like they were before thier fight.
"Remember this, Zaraki." She said without looking at him. "You'll never get anywhere with a hostile attitude like that."
She walked towards Yamamoto, leaving Zaraki sitting there.
"I'm impressed." Yamamoto nodded. "Good job."
"Thank you very much, sir." She bowed.
"Who will be the next one?"
Comments:
Sorry!!! :sorry this is so long, I just didn't want to have to do five chapters of them just fighting.