Author's Note:

EDIT ON NOVEMBER 18, 2015:

After talking with my friend and proofreader Hierophant, I've decided to revise some of the fighting scenes in this fanfic, to more readily reflect the conflicts that are the underlying causes of each fight. In most cases, I've added some more insight into the main character's thoughts, as the fights progressed.

In this chapter, the Adjuchas fight scene in the beginning and the morning right after that had been revised. You don't need to re-read any other sections.

Chapter 3: Battles

I've never felt so powerful before in my life.

It's like I've been walking, living through a thick mud for my whole life, and I've only just found out. And now, I'm living in air. The whole world looks brighter, more intense, more there. Even though it's night, my eyes can see everything around me almost as clearly as though it's day; I can even pick out so much more finer details that I've simply missed before. Every movement feels fluid, natural, effortless. It feels like I can crush rocks with my bare hands, jump several meters into the air, and run entire kilometers without getting the slightest bit tired. And the blade in my hands… It feels so right to be there, as though my body instinctively knows how to wield it with deadly effectiveness far beyond what I've dabbled in martial arts.

Is this… how Rina always feels, as a Soul Reaper?

"So this… Is this half of your power?" I look at Rina in amazement.

"No… It isn't!" Rina just looks confused. But somehow, she doesn't look tired anymore. And where did her wounds go? "I still have all of my power!"

"…huh?" Now I'm confused too. Please tell me the conservation of energy is still a thing in the afterlife.

"I… I think my power just acted as some kind of catalyst," Rina says, now looking almost breathless. "Sure, it gave you Soul Reaper powers, like I wanted. But it also triggered all the power you've got sleeping within you, which overflowed… And I think it backflowed into me." Now she's the one looking at me in something resembling awe.

"Uh… So we… basically swapped powers?" I'm still confused.

"Um, kind of?" She seems to think for a bit. "My wounds are healed too, and I don't feel tired anymore. I think you've got at least as much power as-"

With a final shriek, the Hollow finally shatters the six rods of yellow light binding it in place.

"So… Our side is twice as powerful now." I find myself starting to grin.

"Pretty much." Rina's grinning too.

"Awesome."

The Hollow lunges at us again, propelling itself with its grasshopper legs. But this time, we're ready.

The Hollow's long arm blade lashes out, but my own blade rises up to meet it, the motion feeling as natural as though I've done it countless times before. The force as the blades clash immediately brings me out of the power rush and back into reality, as I realize that the Hollow is still very much a serious threat. But my newfound confidence is still there. Now that I feel the spirit energy coursing through my veins, the Hollow's spirit pressure doesn't feel nearly as terrifying anymore. With an instinctive battle cry, I grip my nodachi with both hands and bring it down upon the side of the Hollow's body. I feel the tremor along my arms, and hear the sound of chitin cracking, as a very visible fissure is created in the Hollow's armor. It's far deeper than any of the scratch marks Rina has made.

Damn, that felt great. I can get used to this.

Unfortunately, while it looks like my sword is stronger than Rina's, it's also slower. As I make a second attack against the Hollow, I'm not fast enough to bring the nodachi around to intercept the Hollow's own attack. But fortunately, I remember that one discussion Rina and I had about spirit pressure and the "Aegis" ability. It certainly doesn't sound questionable anymore as my body, again instinctively, concentrates its spirit pressure into an extremely dense layer of force in the area that's being struck.

Ouch.

Okay, that definitely still hurts, a lot. But no, I'm not bleeding. My armor isn't even broken, despite the small crack it now has at the area struck by the Hollow's sword. Good. So I suppose I'm a tank then, in video game terms; slower but much more durable than Rina. At this rate, I can probably afford to just trade some blows with the Hollow then, hitting it while allowing it to hit me and just withstand its attacks.

Though Rina seems to think otherwise. "James! Get back!" She shouts.

"Huh?" I momentarily turn my head toward her, only to get chopped on the shoulder by the Hollow. Ow. Luckily, my Aegis thing still holds it off just fine. But I trust Rina and her combat experience, so I obediently jump back.

"You can't keep that up forever!" Rina says urgently. "Don't let the power get to your head! You might feel strong now, but the Adjuchas still has more energy than either of us!"

Well, so much for that. Guess I can't really be invincible after all. "Then what do I do?" I ask as I parry an aggressive diagonal slash from the Hollow. Damn, the thing is strong; the blow is making my hand a little numb despite my increased power.

A couple of illusory clones of Rina pop into existence beside her with bursts of white light. As nimbly as though they're weightless, they dart toward the Hollow and begin harassing it with lightning-quick sword strikes and energy waves, taking its attention off me for now. "See my sword wave attack?" The real Rina says. "Use that!"

"Can I even do that?" I frown.

"Your power's borrowed from me, so yeah." Now that I have a moment to look at my sword more carefully, the nodachi does look very similar to Rina's katana. The blade is still a clear white, surrounded by nebulous lights of blue and green. Though the patterns are somewhat different, looking rougher and more jagged than Rina's. "You should have mostly the same abilities as me."

"Okay, uh…" I still don't feel very reassured. "How exactly do I do that?"

With a whoosh sound like the wind, one of Rina's clones explodes into a barrage of energy bolts as it's destroyed by the Hollow. "First, focus your energy into the sword!" She's sounding urgent again.

"Uh… Again, how?"

"Use your imagination!"

"Easier said than done!" I say exasperatedly.

Another whoosh, and Rina's second clone goes down. The Hollow's armor looks really beaten up right now, practically covered in scratch marks, but that's not stopping it from immediately lunging at us again. This time, Rina parries it. "No, seriously!" She shouts at me as she begins exchanging blows with the Hollow. "Just give it a try!"

"Ugh… Fine!" To be fair, I can already sort of "feel" the spirit energy coursing through me, sort of like streams of cool, refreshing sensations. When I try to imagine the energy flowing through my arms and gathering into my sword, it comes to me with surprising ease. The sword's glow becomes far brighter than usual, and I can feel it practically thrumming with power. "Now what?"

"Use both hands! Raise it high above your head!" Rina shouts. She's once again using bursts of super speed to disappear and reappear all over the place, dodging the Hollow's attacks while giving me instructions.

I bring the blade up above my head as instructed. "Okay! And?"

"Bring it down, release the energy, and shout 'Kaze no Kizu'!"

"…what?!" I give her an incredulous look. Or, rather, give a look at the position she's been an instant ago. "That's from Inuyasha!"

"Just do it!"

"…Enuma Elish!" I shout, while glaring at the general direction of Rina and the Hollow. At the same time, I bring down the nodachi with both hands, while willing the energy contained within to come rushing out.

A massive wave of blue and green energy surges forth from my blade and roars toward the Hollow. As it strikes, it creates a sound that would've felt almost deafening had I not become a superpowered Soul Reaper with an extra-tough body, presumably ears included. The sound is not all that pleasant, vaguely resembling bone being grinded apart by multiple sawblades at the same time, mixed with the sound of bone burning. When the smoke and dust clears, a deep fissure has been cleaved into the Hollow's armor, running across its left arm that it hastily used to block the attack at the last instant and down its torso, abdomen, and leg. For the first time, we can see the Hollow bleed, the droplets of red liquid on the ground eerily human-like.

whoa.

Now that is what I'm taking about. Sure, I'm not as invincible as I feel. But I can still be pretty awesome at least sometimes, right?

"…wow," Rina breathes, her eyes wide.

"So," I say nonchalantly. "My sword's bigger, huh?"

"That's… not exactly how the attack's supposed to be used," Rina murmurs. She's still staring at the aftermath of the sword wave.

"But at least it works?" I ask hopefully.

"…you should've shouted 'Kaze no Kizu'."

"I bet I didn't even need to shout anything! You never did!"

Sadly, talking is not a free action. Now that we've managed to actually hurt the Hollow, it looks angry. It lets out a horribly ear-grating screech, and there is once again a sphere of crimson energy gathering in its mouth. This time, I can even more clearly feel the sheer amount of destructive power focused in the little orb of light.

"James!" Rina shouts in alarm.

Well. I don't suppose Rina can teach me her super speed thing during the time it takes for the Hollow's cone of death to hit me, can she. And if I just try to run out of the way without super speed, will I be even remotely close to making it? Hell if I know precisely how wide the cone is. And goddammit, I'm hesitating and wasting time, so I'm probably already too late and-

Fuck it. You know what they say? YOLO!

It feels like being struck by an icy thunderbolt as I gather up every bit of willpower I'm able to muster, augmented by the adrenaline rush, and force as much spirit energy in myself to rush into the blade as quickly possible. "FUUUUUS RO DAAAAAAAH!" My mouth shouts out the first tangentially related phrase that comes to mind. Once again, I swing the nodachi downwards, and let the energy loose.

Almost everything I can see in front of me is engulfed by a chilling yet gorgeous clash between red and blue-green, as the turquoise energy from my sword cuts into the Hollow's cone of crimson power. For a few moments, it looks like I'm actually pushing the Hollow back.

But then my sword beam runs out of power, and disappears. The next instant, my senses are consumed by red.

Pain.

…"YOLO" sure doesn't sound nearly as appealing when the consequences are coming back to bite you in the ass, in literally the most painful way possible.

…well, I'm apparently healthy enough to be complaining about this. So I'm not dead, at least.

But it still feels like I've had a ton of burning oil dumped on me. Even though there's no heat, it still burns, everywhere. I briefly wonder if I've become disfigured by all that abuse. On top of that, there's a vague feeling of soreness throughout my body that's sort of there and not there at the same time. Is that from straining myself with the sword attack? Shit. Once again, I'm reminded that this supernatural stuff isn't all fun and games. I may be powerful enough to survive now, but the dangers are definitely still there.

"Binding #4: Crawling Rope!" I hear Rina shout. A rope of yellow energy erupts from Rina's outstretched hands toward the Hollow, wrapping itself around the creature with incredible speed. Okay, so I can still see and hear fine… That's good. "Binding #9: Glyphstrike!" Not stopping for a moment, Rina deftly draws a symbol of red light in the air, and sends the symbol flying toward the Hollow. Upon contact, the symbol expands to cover the Hollow's whole body with a faint red sheen, seemingly stopping its movements altogether.

[T/N: "Binding #4: Crawling Rope" corresponds to "Bakudou #4: Hainawa", and "Binding #9: Glyphstrike" corresponds to "Bakudou #9: Geki".]

"R-Rina…" I struggle a bit to stand up, looking at her. She looks mostly unharmed. "A-Are you… all right…?"

"Yeah, I am," she says. Phew… She must've dodged the Hollow's cone of death. But the expression on her face looks less than happy. "Worry about yourself first!" With a blink of super speed, she appears beside me, and holds out her hands. A wave of pale green energy washes over me, instantly sweeping away all the pain and fatigue. "That could've been really dangerous!"

"Yeah, well, I'm not as fast as you," I mutter.

Her eyes widen a little as realization dawns on her. "Sorry, I didn't realize…" She looks away.

"No, it's okay," I say, and take hold of her hands. "I don't have your super speed, but I must have that Aegis thing you mentioned before. You dodge everything, but I think I can take a few hits. Me tank, you DPS."

She smiles a little at that. "I guess that's one way of looking at things."

"Also, what's with all the random superpowers you keep pulling out of nowhere? You didn't say your Soulslayer has-"

"Demoncraft," she says quickly, as we both see the Hollow break out of its binding, much more quickly than last time; the yellow rope and red sheen both shatter and fade into motes of light. "Basically magic spells. Speaking of that, can you distract the Hollow for a bit?"

"Sure!" I don't know what she's planning, but I don't have the leisure of asking for too many explanations in the middle of battle. Besides, even though I now know that the situation is still as dangerous as ever, I easily trust Rina with my life. Instead of waiting for the Hollow to attack again, this time I run toward it and go on the offensive, gathering energy into my sword at the same time. As we clash blades, I release the energy, engulfing the Hollow in a burst of bluish green. After executing the attack, I immediately dash to the Hollow's left, avoiding its weapon and getting out of the way in case it decides to use its cone of red light again. The Hollow swings at me, but I've made sure the angling is awkward for it; I'm able to bat away the blade with ease. As I do so, I see the small crack on the Hollow's weapon, done by my attack moments ago, and allow myself a small smile.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!" I can hear Rina beginning to chant, somewhere behind me, and feel the steady buildup of power as she pronounces each syllable.

The Hollow's noticed it too. Letting out a hiss, the monstrous creature crouches and bends its grasshopper-like legs, in preparation for a deadly lunge toward Rina to interrupt whatever new magic spell she's preparing. But I won't let it. I step in front of it, using my own body as a shield, willing spirit energy to flow into my Aegis, like how I channel energy into the sword beam attack. The Hollow's legs unbend, launching it forward, but I bring my nodachi down on its right shoulder, using the Hollow's own forward momentum pushing against the blade to let the blade cut deeper. Said momentum still pushes against me, feeling strong as a truck, but I yell out an incoherent cry and use all the strength I have to stand my ground.

"On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus!" Rina continues her chant. It feels way too long, especially since I have to hold off a horrible monster as she does said chant.

The Hollow brings its arm blade swinging horizontally back at me, even though my sword is currently lodged in its shoulder joint. Because of that, I can't use the sword to parry in time. But also because of that, the Hollow's shoulder is weakened, forcing it to strike with much less force. The pain as the Hollow's weapon clashes against my Aegis is no doubt far less than the pain the Hollow must be feeling now.

But this is still not a good position to be in; I'm not willing to find out if the Aegis on my neck is strong enough to stand against the Hollow's attack. I quickly try to pull my sword free and-

The Hollow grabs me with its left hand.

Shit. With that huge sword on its right arm, I've forgotten that it even has a left hand. And now the Hollow is holding me in some kind of cruel mockery of a hug. It opens its mouth, and another ball of red light begins forming.

"In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens!"

Fuck. Whatever Rina is charging up, I'm pretty sure I don't want to get hit by it and the Hollow's deadly blast of death at the same time.

"James! Get out of the way!" And I'm pretty sure that's not a part of the spell incantation.

"Fine! KAZE NO KIZU!" I shout, redirecting the energy in my Aegis to my sword, and let it loose.

"Destruction #73: Double Firefall!"

[T/N: "Destruction #73: Double Firefall" corresponds to "Hadou #73: Souren Soukatsui".]

A few things seem to happen in rapid succession.

Turquoise energy explodes from my sword. It's at point-blank range, and the sword's already buried in the Hollow's flesh. The crescent-shaped wave cuts off the Hollow's bladed arm right at the shoulder, finally letting me escape from its deadly hug and dart to the left, out of the way of its huge cone of red light.

The Hollow fires said huge cone of red light.

And Rina fires her humongous blast of sky-blue flames.

Damn. Hers is bigger this time.

…and I suppose any ejaculation jokes are completely inappropriate here. Welp.

The Hollow's cone of red light is completely swallowed by Rina's giant torrent of fire. And while the energy in the Hollow's attack isn't hot, Rina's definitely is. I can feel the intense heat from several meter away, and is that lava I see on the ground? Hot damn, pun intended. The blue fire proceeds to swallow the Hollow itself. I think I hear sizzling. Nothing can survive that, right?

…fuck. I shouldn't have even formed that sentence in my mind. As good ol' TV Tropes can tell you, saying "no one can survive that" will absolutely guarantee said person's survival. Now I've just totally jinxed it. Stupid brain.

Aaaaaaand of course, the Hollow survives. Almost its whole body now looks charred and blackened, and I can smell the highly pleasant and soothing aroma of burnt flesh. But it's still standing. What the hell does it take to kill this thing?! Is it really that much out of our league?

Cutting off its goddamned head would do the job, I bet. I'm certainly not going to give it time to recover. Before the Hollow can regain its bearings, I push aside my doubts and dash toward it, sword raised in both hands. Can't waste time charging up another sword wave attack; I have to make this count. For an instant, I glimpse an eyeball-sized chunk of blue crystal or something embedded in the back of the Hollow's neck. The edge of my nodachi cuts into the crystal, shattering it, then cuts into the Hollow's armor and… stops.

No. Damn it. A normal sword attack just isn't strong enough, huh…?

Suddenly, the Hollow's eyes change colors, turning from a chilling, otherworldly blue to the same crimson as its cone-shaped blasts of destructive energy. Shit, don't tell me the thing's just getting stronger?!

"Where… Where am I…?"

A hissing, buzzing, hideously distorted male voice. I'm pretty sure that's not Rina talking.

"Is this… the human world?"

The sound is coming from the Hollow's mouth. That thing… Apparently it can talk?!

The creature looks at me with its now-red eyes. I flinch, expecting an attack to come. But it doesn't.

"Soul Reapers… I want no business with you, or humans. Don't follow me if you know what's good for you."

Before Rina or I can say anything, the Hollow reaches out with its still mostly intact left arm, and makes a grasping motion at seemingly thin air. The air then proceeds to be pulled back as though it's some kind of curtain, revealing a misty, bottomless blackness underneath. Without another word, the Hollow walks into the darkness; the black void then closes itself and disappears without a trace.

"Uh…" I'm not quite sure what to say. So I just look at Rina.

"I have no idea what's going on either," she says, looking just as confused as I am.

"Its eyes changed colors," I say a little absently, replaying the scene in my mind. "After I broke a blue crystal thing embedded in the back of its neck. Its behavior changed after that. Do you…"

"No, I haven't seen or heard anything like that," Rina says, and frowns. Then she lets out a big sigh. "Whatever it is… Let's not worry about it for now. Adjuchases like that rarely leave the world of Hollows, and it doesn't sound like that one wants to come back anytime soon. So…"

"So… GG?"

She lets out a laugh. "Hehe… I guess. I haven't had a fight this intense in, like, ever."

"I gotta say, that was pretty awesome." Dangerous and painful, yes, but still awesome. And we even survived! "So I got my awesome Soul Reaper superpowers a few decades early?"

"It's temporary, though," Rina says with reluctance. "It'll fade away after a while."

"…damn it," I sigh. "Any ways for me to, I dunno, keep this power?"

"You… probably shouldn't." Rina looks at me, and I can see fear and uncertainty in her eyes. "I said before I gave you the powers… This is illegal. I just hope it'll disappear before anyone from Soul Society finds out…"

Ugh. I really don't like her having that look. Superpowers are nice, but there's no way I'll keep them if it means putting Rina at risk. I take hold of her hand. "Sure, I understand… I'll instead just become a Soul Reaper the proper way when the times comes, alright?"

"Alright," she smiles.

"So…" I say after a moment. "How do I turn back to a human?"

"Oh!" Rina looks like she's finally remembered something. "Your body!" She points to somewhere behind us.

My jaw drops when I see a double of myself lying motionless on the ground, wearing the clothes I was wearing before I became a Soul Reaper. "W-What…"

"Don't worry! You're not dead!" Rina says helpfully.

"…uh." I'm not quite sure what to say or do.

Apparently I'm once again making a funny face, because Rina's expression breaks into a grin. "I guess I forgot to tell you… Soul Reapers are spiritual beings, so you get ejected from your body if you become one."

"So… That means I can return to my body, right…?" I'm still feeling uneasy about this.

"Sure! You just hold up your arms, go like 'ooooooOOOOooooo… I have retuuuuurned from the deeeeeeead…', and-"

"You're just messing with me again," I give her a stare. Then I just walk over to my body, sit down, and allow myself to drop into it.

There's a moment of slight disorientation as I feel things sort of snap into place. After it's done, I don't really feel any different… Though the rush of spiritual power through my body is now much more muted. I look at my arms, to see that I'm once again wearing the normal human clothes I wore earlier.

As I stand up, Rina proceeds to take out the little thumbnail-sized black ball that is the compressed form of her homunculus, and… pop it into her mouth, like some kind of pill. An explosion of smoke later, she too is once again wearing human clothes.

…I'm not even going to ask any more questions at the moment. "Let's… just go home, okay? I'm feeling tired…"

"Okay…"

-OOOOOOOOOOOOO-

I expected to be sore all over when I wake up next morning, like what would normally happen after the intense physical exertions during the battle yesterday (no, not that kind of physical exertions). But instead, I wake up feeling better than ever. I feel completely energized, in fact, not groggy in the slightest.

"Good morning…" Rina whispers, her voice soft as silk, as she opens her eyes beside me and gives me a warm, dreamy smile.

"Morning," I reply. This all feels… normal. "Uh… Last night wasn't a dream, right?"

"Oh…? What kind of wild and kinky sex did you dream of last night?" The corners of her mouth curl up in a little smirk.

"T-That's not what I mean!" I sputter, feeling myself turning red. Geez, and she admonishes me for making sex jokes… "I mean the s-superpowers! I really did get them, right? I became a Soul Reaper?"

"Mhm… You were so big… And so strong…"

"S-Seriously! Are you still asleep or s-something?!" I cough.

"But it was true! Ehehehehe…" She leans into my chest. Her face stays whimsical for a second, then becomes genuinely relaxed and content. "Thank you, James… If not for you, I don't know if I would've made it yesterday…"

I put my arms gently around her. The world of ghosts may be a lot more dangerous than I thought, but I'd gladly embrace all of it, if Rina is here with me. "No problem… You know I'll do anything for you."

"I love you…"

"I love you too… Rina. More than anything else in the world…"

-OOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"So… How do I go back to being a Soul Reaper again?" I ask after we've finished breakfast.

"Use your imagination!" Rina says cheerfully.

"Again?" I give her a look. "Well, since it worked fine last time…" I try to mentally take hold of the spirit energy that I can now feel flowing within me, imagining it breaking free of my physical body. But… My control still feels much more muted than when I wasn't in my body. After a few minutes of trying in vain, I shake my head. "Nope, doesn't work."

"Hmm…" She frowns, scratching her head. "How about this. Try materializing your Soulslayer."

"Let me guess. I'm also supposed to use my imagination for that?"

"Yup!"

"Whatever you say…" I try to gather energy into my hands, like what I did yesterday for the sword beam attacks. But without the actual sword as an outlet, it just gets congested in my hands. It starts feeling pretty unpleasant after a few seconds, as though my hands are being frozen and electrocuted at the same time. "Uh… It won't come out."

"Sex joke."

I glower at her.

She gives me an innocent look.

"Okay, fine, I did that first," I admit. "But seriously. My hands are starting to hurt, and I can't conjure the sword like you apparently can." I let go of the energy and let it recede back into my body; this is going nowhere. "How long did it take you to learn that, anyways?"

"Um… A few days of practice?"

"…then there's no way I can figure it out in a few minutes!"

"Hmm…" She seems to think for a bit. "How about this?" She reaches into her bag, rummages for a moment, then pulls out a red fingerless glove with a white skull emblazoned on the back.

"What's that?" I eye the glove with some suspicion.

"A glove!"

"…I noticed."

"Just put it on!" She now has this mischievous grin on her face that makes me feel excited and alarmed at the same time.

"Okay…?" I pick up the glove gingerly. It doesn't explode, or zap me with electricity, or transform into some horrifyingly absurd thing from Rina's darkest nightmares. Still gingerly, I put the glove on. It still doesn't do anything weird. But I'm still not convinced.

"Now bop yourself on the head!"

"Huh?"

"You know, like the Soul Burial!"

"Uh huh…" Very slowly and carefully, as if the glove will suddenly come to life and bite me, I touch my forehead with the gloved hand.

It feels like the whole world is falling away from me. Or is that me being ejected from something? At the same time, it feels like a sack of heavy clothes are falling off my body. Then the rush of power comes back, less intense this time only because I'm not completely new to it anymore. After a disorienting couple of seconds, I can see my arms covered in armor again, and feel the nodachi strapped to my back.

And my body is now slumped back on the bed, motionless.

"…whoa."

"Yay! It worked!" Rina says gleefully. She then leans over my motionless body and begins poking it in the face.

"Hey! Don't do that while I'm defenseless!"

"Aww…" She pouts. Then she appears to concentrate for an instant. A puff of bluish green light later, her body too is now lying motionless on the bed. And she's again wearing her too-sexy Soul Reaper outfit. "Here, you can do it to my body too! Or…" Her grin becomes devious. "Or would you like to do more than just poking, hmm?"

"H-Hey, I wouldn't do that!" I cough, and try not to stare at anywhere inappropriate.

"Oh? So you prefer me conscious and moving when we do the deed, huh?"

I try to think of a retort, but what she's saying is true. "O-Obviously…"

"Ehehehehehehe…"

…she's way too cute when she laughs like that.

I shake my head and take a look at our bodies. Mine is breathing slowly and steadily, eyes closed, as though it's just asleep. Rina's body, however, is completely still, even though the skin still feels warm and alive.

"So I assume that my body is still, you know… alive?" I put a hand on the chest of my body. Its heartbeat and the heartbeat I feel in my current, uh, ghost body are already out of sync, the physical one beating a little more slowly.

"Yeah," she nods. "It's physically in a coma, though."

"Huh," I blink. "Is that what happens to people in vegetative states? Like, are they bodies without souls or something?"

"Um, actually, no. A person's soul is connected to his body through a Chain of Fate. If the chain is broken, the soul can't properly go back to his body and control it anymore, and the shock is enough to shut down the body's brain."

I frown. "Is that what those chain things are?" I remember seeing the dangling chains seemingly attached to the chests of every normal human ghost I've seen. The ghosts didn't know what the chains are, so I eventually stopped wondering about them.

"Yeah. And… If a ghost's Chain of Fate completely erodes away…" She's beginning to look uncomfortable, squirming a little as she sits. "The ghost succumbs to negative emotions and becomes a Hollow."

A chilling realization hits me. A Hollow's hole on its chest… It's where a normal ghost's Chain of Fate would be.

"Don't worry, it'll be okay once the Hollow is purified by a Soul Reaper…" Rina takes hold of my hand and squeezes. But it sounds like she's trying to reassure herself even more than me.

"So… Do I still have a Chain of Fate?" I ask after a moment. "Because I don't see one."

"Um… I don't think you do?" The look on her face is like when she's trying to tackle a particularly hard math problem. "I mean, Soul Reapers don't have Chains of Fate… And your soul got turned into a Soul Reaper, instead of having its Chain of Fate severed, so I don't think your body experienced the shock that would've otherwise killed it… Transferring Soul Reaper powers is illegal, you know. Not like I can find out much about it."

"Huh…" I digest the information for a moment. "I assume I shouldn't stay out of the body for too long, since it's pretty much comatose when I'm away."

"Yeah, definitely."

"So… I feel like now is the point where you tell me more about Soul Reaper powers," I say, and look at Rina in the eyes.

"Wanna know more about the cool stuff, huh?" She smiles. "Okay. Soul Reaper powers are divided into four main categories: Armsmanship, Celerity, Demoncraft, and Martial Forms. The names are pretty much self-explanatory."

"What about that Aegis thing?" I look at my hands, and briefly focus. The faint shimmering of light and air between my fingers is enough to show the layer of hardened spirit pressure protecting me.

"Oh, that's just a part of the Martial Forms. It focuses on unarmed combat and using spirit pressure to strengthen your body, so the Aegis is just a part of that." She gives me a slightly pouty look. "Your Aegis is so strong, though! Even though nobody taught you… I'm kind of jealous."

"Hey, come on, you've got super speed and those crazy awesome spells. And you can heal. And you're really good at swordsmanship. If anything, I'm kind of jealous of you."

"Ehehe…" She laughs, clearly pleased.

"Speaking of which. Any chance you can teach me the super speed and magic spells?"

"Hmm…" She thinks for a bit. "The super speed thing, Celeritas, took me a couple of years to learn properly, and even that's apparently really fast by normal standards. As for Demoncraft… It's easily the most complicated of the four groups of abilities. People say I'm pretty good, but it took me even longer to learn the spells I know now. So…" She looks apologetic and a little sad. "I… don't think I'm in any position to teach either of those."

"Eh, that's alright," I shrug. "How come I'm automatically so good at Aegis then?"

"I think that one's more instinctive. Like, it requires more brute force than fine control. Some people can just do it with no training at all, I heard."

"Geez, you make me sound like some kind of brainless thug or something."

"Oh, come one, we both know how smart you are!" She grins and gives me a quick peck on the cheek. "Spiritual power isn't correlated with intelligence anyways. You just have a lot of it, and don't know how to control it properly yet."

"And is that why you said the way I used your sword energy wave attack isn't how it's supposed to be used?" I ask, while mentally comparing her version of the attack with mine. Mine is huge and packs a ton of power, but each one takes at least a second or two to charge up. On the other hand, Rina's version is not as powerful, but intensely sharp and focused, and she can spam dozens of those at the same time.

"Yeah!" She sounds a little plaintive. "It's supposed to be an elegant technique, and you butchered it."

"You're just jealous that mine's bigger than yours."

"Hmph."

"But come on, you have to admit, a huge wave of energy coming out of a sword is awesome no matter what the situation is."

"…fine, so it is. But seriously, learning some control is good for you!"

"Let me worry about that after I become a Soul Reaper properly, alright?"

"Right…"

"Also." I stand up. "Do I still show up on mirrors? I wanna see what I look like as a Soul Reaper."

"Well, you'd definitely show up on mirrors made of spiritons. Non-spiritual mirrors? Uh… I haven't actually tried before. We don't have those in Soul Society, for obvious reasons."

I look at the bed and the floor. "We don't cast any shadows… I assume photons don't interact with spiritons even if we make ourselves solid?"

"Um, I guess?"

"…how do I even see things then? I mean, if the photons pass straight through my eyeballs…"

"Because of the spiritons in the air? Like, the spiritual equivalent of photons or something. I don't really know…" She pulls out a handheld mirror used for putting on makeup, out of her bag. "Here, use this. It's made of spiritons."

I hesitate a bit. "Uh… Becoming a Soul Reaper didn't make me uglier, did it…?"

"Don't worry, you look as dashing as ever!" She smiles brightly as she hands me the mirror.

Somewhat warily, I take a glance at the mirror. Messy brown hair, amber eyes, skin just barely on the better side of not too pale… Well, I look just about the same. I was wondering if turning into a Soul Reaper would give me crazy orange hair or something, but apparently not. I'm wearing what looks like some kind of medieval full plate armor, made of some unknown jet-black metal (the color doesn't look painted on), decorated with white borders and patterns. The armor appears bulky, but is actually surprisingly lightweight; I can barely feel it on me at all. My sword and sheathe look pretty much the same as Rina's, just longer. This whole getup actually looks pretty damn cool, though I'm not entirely sure if it meshes well with my face. I was never very confident in my appearance, despite how much Rina kept calling me a "total stud".

"See? You look awesome!" She deliberately swoons into my arms and gives me a dreamy look. "Ehehe… We'll be the best Soul Reaper couple ever…"

Rina's Hollow alarm chooses this moment to ruin by releasing an ear-grating noise. This one is slightly less godawful than the one yesterday, sounding only like shoving a metal bar through my ears as opposed to a red-hot metal bar covered in spikes. But it still makes me jump. "Gah! What the hell?!"

"Hollow," Rina says, instantly serious again. "Low-level this time. I can handle it fine."

"Wait," I say, taking hold of her hand. "Let me come with you."

"James…" Her face is guilty and a little pained. "You don't have to… I shouldn't have brought you into this, and…"

"But I want to," I say, putting as much determination into my voice as I can, and look steadily into her eyes. "I don't want you to face danger alone… Please. Let me help. Let's do this together."

Her expression softens. "All right…" Then it becomes solemn again. "We need to hurry. There's no time to waste."

I nod.

Without wasting any more words, Rina turns toward the wall and… just walks through it. I hesitate for a moment, wondering if I can get the ghostly intangibility thing right. But… Like Rina said, there's no time to waste; the Hollow may attack at any moment. So I grit my teeth, try to imagine the sensation of my ghostly body falling into my physical body (and thus being intangible), run toward the wall, and brace for impact.

The good news is that I make it. It kind of feels like passing through some odd mixture of water and cotton.

The bad news is that my apartment is on the third floor.

"AAAAAA-" The scream begins to automatically emit itself from my throat. Then the adrenaline rush comes, and the falling starts to feel a little slower than usual. It gives me an instant or two to think. Ghosts can float, right? So why don't I-

It's like slamming into a wall of hard rubber. Well, it's not the fall that kills you…

"-AAAARGH!" The scream finishes when I realize that I'm standing several meters above the ground, on thin air.

"Don't worry! You're standing on a layer of hardened spiritons created by your mind!" I hear Rina shout. "Use your imagination!"

My mind spins. A few meters away, I can see Rina floating in midair just like I am. But if it's just a layer of spiritons created by my mind under my feet, what the hell is holding it up?! And-

Dammit, no time to worry about this now. I take a leap toward Rina, and imagine the layer of invisible but solid substance under my feet. And it works. Within seconds, she and I are running toward the site of the Hollow attack on thin air.

"Hey, couldn't we have done this during yesterday's fight?" Even as I run as fast as possible, talking doesn't feel difficult, presumably due to Soul Reaper powers.

"It wouldn't have helped. The Adjuchas could do it too," Rina says. Then she stops. "We're here."

In front of and below us, I see three… four… no, five Hollows, surrounding the ghost of a young woman. They're all large, brutish creatures, and one of them is holding the ghost woman's entire body with one hand as if she weighs nothing.

"N-No… Zack… Stop…!" The woman is struggling to force the words out. I quickly see why: the Hollow holding her is tugging on the Chain of Fate protruding from her chest with its other hand.

But the Hollow doesn't stop.

What follows is the most horrifying, blood-curdling scream I've ever heard as the woman's Chain of Fate is pulled out of her. A hole breaks open in the location the chain once was, and out of it floods a liquid energy of ghastly, dead white that swallows her whole body. Screams continue to emanate from within the mass of glowing liquid as it writhes and squirms in sickening ways, until the whole mass contracts and solidifies into a tall, thin, only very vaguely female humanoid shape, resembling some twisted amalgamation of fish and harpy. The bleached bone mask on its face and the hole in its chest are enough to tell me what the woman has become.

I just float there and gape, too horrified to even feel like throwing up. That woman… She… She just…

"James!" I hear Rina shout. "It's okay! We can still purify her!"

Oh… That's right… We can still purify ghosts that have become Hollows… Everything is still okay…

"Boss, we've got company," one of the other Hollows says. It sounds like rusty gears grinding painfully against one another.

"Fuck! SSSSoul Reaperssss!" Another one spits. This one sounds like a bunch of snakes.

"Only two of 'em though…" A third one, sounding like the crackle of burning wood, says. "We can take 'em!"

"Keehee… They can be Mary's first meal!" The fourth says. "Whaddya say, M-"

Before the crow-like Hollow can even finish its sentence, it is sliced in half by a flash of turquoise light, right down the middle of its beak-like mask. Beside me, Rina's katana is pointing downwards, having already been swung, the white blade glinting in the sunlight.

"Robin!" The dead tree-like Hollow screeches. "You'll fuckin' pay for this, bitch!" It takes a mighty leap, flames bursting from its gnarled bark-like fists.

Its right fist meets the blade of my nodachi, and is split in two like traditional wood splitting. "Don't you dare threaten her," I snarl. The Hollow hisses and punches me in the guts with its other arm, but it barely feels like anything at all. With another instinctual battle shout, I swing my sword diagonally, destroying the Hollow with a single mighty cleave.

When I glance at Rina, she's no longer there. Instead, she's a few meters further away, standing over the quickly dissolving corpses of the other two Hollows that have been sliced apart by her deadly energy.

"Who… Who are you…?" The newly born Hollow, formerly the ghost of a woman, whispers. Even at that volume it sounds shrill and barely human.

"Someone who wants to split us apart…" The Hollow leader says, its voice hoarse and parched. "Don't worry, Mary… I'll take care of them… She just took away my gang… But I won't let her take you away…!"

With a shriek, the Hollow jumps. No… It's stepping on seemingly empty air, like us. There's a rushing of dry wind as it approaches. It raises an arm, and out of it comes a blast of scalding air roaring toward us. When I bear the brunt of the attack, Rina is no longer there, instead appearing behind the Hollow in a blink of speed.

Slice. Split. Fall.

"Huh? Zack…?" The final remaining Hollow, made from that woman, babbles. "What… What did you do to him…?"

"I'm sorry…" Rina murmurs. Her face is somber and resolute. "I hope you'll find each other in Soul Society…"

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM…?!"

The Hollow spreads its fin-like wings. Sharp talons curling, it dashes toward Rina, hands outstretched and reaching toward her throat.

"Destruction #4: White Thunder."

[T/N: "Destruction #4: White Thunder" corresponds to "Hadou #4: Byakurai".]

A blinding beam of bluish white lightning is shot from Rina's fingertips. In an instant, it pierces the center of the Hollow's forehead, before it even has a chance to scream.

This wasn't a battle. It was a massacre.

"Rina… I…"

"Do you… still want to help me, after what you've just seen?" I can practically feel the strain in her voice. "You… don't have to, James…"

With heavy footsteps, I walk on the air toward Rina. Even though the fight was hardly any exertion at all, I still feel exhausted, mentally and emotionally. But my mind is unchanged. "I… I said we'll do this together, Rina. We're… just doing what's necessary, right…?"

"Right…"

She takes hold of my hand, and gently squeezes. I squeeze back.

We're silent on the way back to my apartment. Neither of us want nor need to say anything, and just quietly take comfort in each other's presence. We don't say anything as we pass by Gunther, not even when the tall German appears to be looking directly at us.

I'll… need to get used to this, sooner or later. Some things just… have to be done.

I hope.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Author's Note:

Armsmanship, Celerity, Demoncraft, and Martial Forms obviously correspond to Zanjutsu, Hohou, Kidou, and Hakuda in canon. I didn't call it "Bladesmanship" or something like that because in this universe, the Zanpakutou/Soulslayer does not necessarily have to take the form of a sword or bladed weapon; it could be a blunt weapon as well. These terms will be added to the glossary.

I know I haven't really explained why the Adjuchas randomly showed up in the human world, and only complicated things further. As I said, all will be revealed in due time.

The Hollows near the end of this chapter were taken down very easily because James and Rina both have the power levels of mid to high-ranking Soul Reapers. Like, 5th seat or above. Normal Hollows obviously aren't going to be much of a challenge for them. Don't worry, starting from the next chapter I'll quickly begin introducing opponents that can actually threaten them.