'That's about what I had expected from her.' Miyako thought to herself. She sat upon the telephone pole looking down upon her battle with the hollow. This was not just any ordinary hollow; this one had fallen long before becoming a hollow. This one had committed terrible crimes when he was alive and was deserving of Hell. Which meant that she had even more reason to be here. Unfortunately it also meant that she now had to step in. And she really didn't want to…
Rukia was grabbed by the hollow and slammed against the wall.
"Your weak, your spell has no bite! If your really a Shinigami then why don't you lose the meat suit and fight me for real?" it growled tightening it grip. "Either way, you die."
"I've had enough of your mouth!" Miyako launched herself from the top of the pole, and landed on the head of the hollow, slamming it into the ground and releasing Rukia. As soon as her feet hit the ground she spun around and landed a steal like kick to the hollow's face. It wasn't enough to shatter the mask but it caused some major cracks and sent him flying down the alley.
"What the hell!? Who are you?!" it shouted standing back up. Miyako smirked.
"I don't give out my name to scum like you." It growled in response.
"Miyako? What are you doing, I thought you said you wanted to see me handle this?" Rukia asked trying to catch her breath.
"You can't handle this guy," She answered turning to her. "He'll eat you alive in your current state. And you've already proven that you are incapable of defending yourself, so I will step in and take this guy down."
"Don't belittle me!"
Suddenly he came flying over towards Miyako again; she just stepped out of the way of the collision. Looking back down the alley she saw that it was Chad. He had landed another hit to the hollow's face, and sent it flying.
"I hit something, alright." He said.
'Chad can't see him though, can he?' Miyako wondered. She watched as he punched at the empty space in front of him, as if trying to find the enemy. 'I guess not…'
As soon as the hollow got up again though, Chad immediately punched him down again.
"Alright, I got him again."
'Now that is impressive.' She thought, a smirk coming to her face. 'Even though he can't see the hollow, he possesses enough force of will to take him down.' Perhaps she wouldn't need to do much after all.
"Damn you!" Bat like wings expanded from its arms and took to the sky. "Lets see you try and punch me now you clueless human toad! You'll never see me coming!"
"Chad, he's in the air!" Miyako yelled pointing. Chad turned to her in question.
"Miyako, are you telling me you can see it?"
"Now's not the time, I can explain later. Listen, he's in the air right in front of you!"
"Alright then." He nodded and grabbed a nearby telephone pole. With a shout he tore it in half!
'Damn Chad!' Miyako's eyes widened in disbelief. "Bring him down!"
He slammed the pole down on the hollow and brought it to the ground with a snap of the pole.
Miyako's eyes narrowed as Rukia walked closer to the hollow, she curiously tapped the Shinai against her shoulder as she watched in suspicion. That hollow wasn't dead yet…
"Your though hollow, another Soul reaper is on his way here right now to finish you off for good." She declared. It only laughed at her. "What's so funny?"
"Lazy Soul reapers. It's no wondered your always getting beaten and humiliated every time you battle us."
Sensing their arrival long before they actually did, Miyako turned and shouted. "Behind!" Smaller hollows under the control of the main one leapt out to capture them. She deflected all that was meant for her away by smacking them away with her Shinai, unfortunately Chad and Rukia weren't so lucky. The small hollows had gotten hold of them and tackled them to the ground.
"Heh, looks like the shoes on the other foot now." The hollow looked to Miyako. "But it seems you really are different from the others. I might have some fun with you after I eat the-" Whit another shout, Chad rose from the ground and threw the small ones off him. "You're the craziest human I've ever seen! You can't even see me and you think you can beat me with shear muscle?!"
Chad threw another punch, and nearly connected again. But since he missed he assumed it wasn't there and started punching in another direction.
"Chad! Kick the air right above me!" Rukia called. He did so and kicked the hollows off of her.
"Another lucky hit!" it started flying off again, the small ones following.
"Chad he's in the air again." Miyako informed moving to stand by Rukia.
"I have an idea." Rukia said.
A minute latter Rukia is being held by Chad, prepped to be launched at the hollow.
"Hey new girl, if you ask me there are some problems with this plan." Chad said.
"Your not the only one." Miyako added from behind them, her Shinai held loosely in her hand with the other on her hip.
"Don't worry, combining your brute strength with my intelligence is our best shot here." She reassured. Miyako rolled her eyes.
"You must be really smart, cus this seems really stupid to me."
"Let me do the thinking for us. I'll tell you where he is and you aim me." Once they finally got a lock on him, they wasted no time to launch her into the air. However the hollow was ready for her, one of the small ones appeared and spit purple leech like things onto her.
"I got you!" Chad ran and caught her at the last minute. "Close one."
"Yea." She agreed. "He's a tricky one, thanks for catching me. Damn what are these things sticking to me? Leeches?" She tried pulling them off, but they were stuck.
"Exactly!" He laughed. "Try as much as you like, but they won't come off. And you'll find they have a nasty little habit…of exploding!" He stuck out his tongue, a high frequency sound emitted from it, causing the leeches to detonate. Rukia fell to the ground as a result.
"New girl!" Chad cried. "How the hell did he do that?"
"You mean you haven't figured it out yet? Their remote leech bombs, when I create a certain frequency with my tongue they respond by detonating themselves. Diabolical aren't they?"
Although Miyako wasn't very fond of Rukia, the hollow was starting to seriously grate on her nerves. He by far had the biggest mouth that she had ever seen. She stepped in front of the hollow as Rukia tried to recover from the blasts. Chad stepped up and stood at the ready near her.
"Oh you want some more, hotshots? Well first I have someone here you might want to see." He had managed to recapture the bird. Even Miyako wouldn't attack with the kid at risk.
"I'm so sorry mister, I was trying to call for you." He apologized.
"Its ok."
"And with three leech bombs on the bird cage, you'll all do as I say. Because if they explode, there won't be enough of your little friend left to spread on a cracker." Miyako's eyes narrowed dangerously, she could see the little slimy bastards just waiting to explode on the hollows command. "Now lets play a new game. Muscle head stays put, while I play tag with the Shinigami and the other girl."
"It would be best to do as he says." Miyako advised. "Although I hate the idea of running, it is the best way to keep the boy safe. That's what matters at this point." Rukia for once agreed with Miyako.
"But what about you two?" Chad wondered.
"Aw, do you have so little faith in me Chad? I'm hurt." Miyako smiled. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I can handle much more than this."
"And I can take care of myself. I made a promise." Rukia smiled. "I'll be just fine."
Miyako's eyes widened slightly, she actually cared about that? She wasn't just humoring him? She still didn't like the little Shinigami but, as much as she would like to deny it, she could feel her hatred for her waver slightly.
"Good luck." He wished.
And with thanks from Rukia and a mock salute from Miyako the chase was on.
The little hollows caught up a first shortly after. Two of the small ones flanked them and fired a string of leech bombs at them. They both jumped in different directions to avoid the blast. Rukia was not so lucky though, as another one appeared and hit her with more of the bombs.
"This might sting a little!" He used his tongue to set them off. Rukia had to stop and lean against one of the walls. Although her wounds weren't too serious, she was starting to slow down. She needed help fast. "My, my don't you look pretty, covered in your own blood. I think red becomes you Soul reaper lets see some more of it!" He tossed a smaller hollow at her.
"Kuchiki!" Miyako grabbed the injured Soul reaper and tossed her on her back, and then quickly running off before the hollow erupted into more leeches.
"Faster, faster!" he laughed.
"Damn your lucky your light!" She yelled as she continued to run, with Rukia on her back she could run as fast as she wanted. So it made things easier when it came to out running the bombs.
"You didn't have to carry me!"
"Yeah? Well if I didn't your ass would be grass! So just shut up!" Miyako stopped once she came to the waterway. Even though she was barely out of breath, she could sense help on the way.
"Done already? How boring, out of all of you, I didn't think tat you would give up so easily."
"That's cus I'm not." Miyako answered. "Its not in mu nature to give up."
"Huh?"
"There's just no need for me to take part in this anymore."
"What are you blabbering about?" A kick was delivered to the back of his head, and the one who had arrived stood proudly on top. Ichigo had finally arrived.
"Perfect timing Ichigo, as always." Miyako praised letting Rukia down from her back.
"You act like you planned it this way, I thought you promised me you weren't going to screw this thing all up."
"Well, well. If I didn't know any better I'd say you actually cared about what happens to me." Rukia teased.
"I guess I do."
"How touching, do you plan to keep standing on my head all day?" he shrugged Ichigo off, and he landed next to Miyako. "Who are you anyway?"
"Ichigo Kurosaki, age 15, substitute Soul reaper. And if you really want to play some serious tag, I think its me you want to chase."
"Substitute Soul reaper eh? Crap I screwed up." Rukia pulled her red glove on. "When the three of you split up back there I should have gone after you!"
The small hollows all shot their leeches and his tongue released the sound.
"Ichigo!" He turned to Rukia and she pushed his soul from his body, his black robes and giant Zanpakuto on his back now present.
"Where'd you go?" He soon found out. Ichigo cam from above and slashed his sword down at him. He only got a graze to the arm as he leapt away. "Your too slow! But I can tell your soul is going to be tasty." He mocked as he landed and summoned more small ones. "Say hello to my little friends."
"I see, you used these leech bombs to tie up Chad, and then used them to attack two defenseless girls." Miyako took slight offence to being called defenseless but stayed silent. "What a coward, time to pay!"
"The only price I'm gonna pay is indigestion after I finish eating two more Soul reapers!"
"Ichigo?" The voice brought Miyako's attention away from the battle that was going on. She turned to see that it was Chad with the bird, having finally caught up. "Ichigo what's wrong?" It was probably an appropriate question to ask, considering Ichigo's body was lying against the wall. Rukia probably would of left him lying on the ground, but fortunately Miyako had a bit more care and respect for him then that.
"Don't worry about him, just get out of here with that bird." Rukia ordered. But he persisted.
"What's going on? What's wrong with Ichigo?"
"Ichigo's fine." Miyako reassured. "He's fighting to protect us all."
Ichigo sliced through more small ones, releasing the leeches within.
"Pretty good moves for a Substitute. But aren't you forgetting something?" he laughed. "The leeches spilling from their guts are still live ammunition!" His tongue created the sound again, and the bombs detonated. "Take that you rookie reaper!" Suddenly Ichigo leapt from the smoke of the blast and brought his sword to the hollow's neck. Not enough to cut his head off, but enough to let the threat of it is clear.
"Tell me, before I slice and dice you, you killed the mother of that boy inside the bird didn't you? You might as well admit it, cus either way your going down."
"Is that true?" Miyako asked. She kneeled down next to the birdcage and rested her Shinai on the ground.
"I'm afraid it's all my fault. I…I just wanted to bring my mother back to life. I didn't mean for those people to get hurt. If I had known about that I never would have done it. All I wanted was just to see my mother again. I'm sorry."
"Wait," Rukia said. "So you really accepted such a lie? That if you did what he said, that he would bring your mother back to life, how could you believe that?"
"Because he wanted to believe it!"
"Bastard!" Ichigo cursed.
"Yes, I killed the brats Mother back when I was still alive, you might of heard about me. I was all over the TV, the radio, everywhere. They never would of caught me either I was too smart. I'd still be out there hunting today but it turns out the brats mother was my last score. She was a sweet one. I stabbed her eight times and she ran and ran bleeding, and when she couldn't run anymore she still tried to protect the kid. I really got off on it. But that's when everything went sour; I chased her onto the balcony to finish her off, and that stupid kid grabbed my shoelaces. I lost my balance and went over the railing, 20 stories down! Who'd a thought I'd be knocked off by a snot nosed kid?! Suddenly I was dead, I was pissed and I wanted payback. The punk kid was still alive, so I sucked out his soul and stuck it in the stupid bird! Then I made him a deal, I told him that if he could run from me in that bird body for 3 months, I'd bring his precious mommy back to life."
"How could you do that?!" Ichigo asked.
"I couldn't do that you moron! Bring a dead person back to life? Nothing, nobody could have brought her back after what I did to her. I just said it to get the brat to play along! And it worked like a charm too. He runs from me and I get the thrill of the chase, not only that, there's the added pleasure of slaughtering everyone that tries to help him! And every time he squeals 'don't hurt them!' and he wants to quit our little game, I use my clincher. 'Mommy's waiting for you to save her.'" Ichigo's eyes widened in horror. "What a laugh! But it always works, and he's off running again! 'Momma! Momma!'" He laughed as Ichigo started to shake in anger. The hollow pushed Ichigo's blade away from his neck, catching him off guard and jumped into the air. "But enough about me, now its time to kill you!" He threw some more small hollows, but Ichigo caught them instead of dodging or slicing through. "Your defense is weak Soul reaper!"
But Ichigo was done listening; he didn't want to hear another word. He ran up to him just as he was about to set the bombs off and punched his hand full of leeches through his teeth, shattering them.
"Here, take your bomb back!" He growled. He stared wide-eyed at Ichigo. "What's wrong? Aren't you gonna detonate them? Go on just do that thing you do with your tongue!" only a weak garbled noise was heard. "Well if you aren't gonna use it, then I might as well take it from you!" He yelled ripping his tongue from his mouth.
"Agh! My tongue! You son of a-" But he didn't care, this is where he would end it. With a yell of fury he slashed right through the hollow's mask. Dooming it to death. But it was different from the last time; a bright light erupted from his broken mask, summoning a set of dark doors. The doors were black in color, and were held shut by chains and two conjoined skeletons made to look like they would open the door. Each had bandages wrapped around their heads and one of their eyes, and paper seals were placed on them as well.
Ichigo braced himself as he watched them start to break open.
"Don't worry, they're the gates to Hell. But they open only for him." Rukia explained as she came up behind him. The chains that held the door closed started to snap. "The Zanpakuto can only wash away sins one has committed as a hollow. Those who commit terrible crimes while alive go to Hell." More of the hollow's mask broke away, until finally a giant arm skewered the hollows body with a giant sword, and took it behind the doors and into Hell. With the soul claimed, the doors shut with a boom, and the chains resealed. Cracks then appeared all along the doors, increasing in amount and size, until finally the door shattered. Revealing Miyako walking towards them; her face truly neutral with one hand in her pocket, and the other on the Shinai as it lent against her shoulder.
"So that's Hell." Ichigo breathed.
"Not quite what I expected either when I saw it." She commented. She didn't stop walking once she got to them, she just went passed them. Rukia's eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Hey wait, what do you know about-"
"Did you forget?" She interrupted, she turned her head and the expression on her face surprised them both. She gave a sad smile. "There's a little boy that needs to be reunited with his mother."
They all returned to the place by the waterway, Chad stood against the wall, Miyako was leaning against the fence with her arms crossed over her chest, and Ichigo stood by Rukia as she checked on Yuuichi. It was sad news to learn that since Yuuichi's soul chain had been severed, there was no way to return him to his body. Yuuichi really was dead.
"Oh, no." He cried.
"Don't be sad," Rukia smiled. "The Soul society is a wonderful place that's very peaceful." Miyako's grip on her arm tightened. "You'll be happy there! You'll never be hungry, and you'll never grow old, in fact it's a much better place to live then this world."
"So now you're suddenly an expert on life in this world?" Ichigo dully asked. "Anyway you're missing the point here, when you pass over you'll finally be reunited with your mother." His little eyes brightened. "Maybe we can't bring her back to life, but she is on the other side waiting for you. And this time, its really true."
"Ichigo." Rukia awed.
Miyako smiled lightly.
"Mr. Sado?" Yuuichi asked turning to Chad. "Thank you for everything you've done for me. You carried me everywhere in your arms, and kept me safe, and you were even brave enough to face a terrible monster and protect me from it."
"Hey, don't even mention it."
"I guess its time for me to go now. I don't know what else to say other then thank you. All of you." Yuuichi's spirit manifested outside the bird and smiled at them.
"Yuuichi," He looked up to Chad. "Someday when I die and pass over too, would it be ok with you if I sometimes carried you around again?" Yuuichi looked genuinely surprised at the question, but he smiled and nodded.
"Well then," Ichigo reached for his sword. "If you're ready, lets begin the Konso."
When Miyako returned that night, she went about her usual routine of putting food in Tobi's bowl and straightening out the living room before moving upstairs to bed. But as she came to the TV stand she caught a look at the drawing of the boy. A look of sadness crossed her face.
'Nii-chan.'
Wow, I am on a role with these chapters! 3 within 3 days. Not bad. Please favorite and review!