"Alright, guys. This fight is probably gonna be a whole lot different than the others," I said.
"You seem in a better mood," Fujimaru smiled.
"It just took a little pep talk," Rukia said.
"Anyway, Rukia and me will handle the hollows towards the left. Fujimaru, Captain Kuchiki, and Ichigo will distract the hollows on the right so Shinji, Hiyori, and Kaien can go through and get to the guys in the back," I said.
"You sure you'll be alright," Kaien asked.
"I'll be fine. Its not like it even hurts anymore," I muttered as I subconsciously placed a hand over the scar that had formed on my chest, which probably didn't help Kaien's belief. "If you're that worried, then let's just get this done with," I sighed. Kaien slowly nodded, as did the others.
"Let's go and stop this distortion," Fujimaru said before we all went our separate ways.
"What should we take out first," Rukia asked, looking from the Menos Grande to the two Frog Heads, and finally the portal.
"Where's the fifth guy," I asked, looking around for the owner of the more stronger Spiritual Pressure I felt.
"Now that you mention it," Rukia trailed off.
"I take it that you're talking about me," a voice said as I felt someone grab onto my ponytail and yank me into the air. I quickly started thrashing about in order to escape, kicking my captor in whatever way I could and trying to ram my elbow into his face, but it hardly seemed to phase him.
"Matsuri," Rukia shouted and quickly yanked out her sword.
"Now now, why don't you calm down," my captor said and placed his own sword against my neck, causing my thrashing to stop. "Now, you know Hitsugaya, don't you," he asked.
"And what if I do," I asked as I turned towards him out of the corner of my eyes.
"Then you'll tell me everything you know, or," the black haired man trailed off as he pressed his sword lightly against my neck, drawing blood.
"Hey! What's going on over there," Fujimaru's voice called out.
"N-nothing! Just keep on going! We'll be done soon," I shouted.
"That's right. Tell me everything about Hitsugaya and you can be on your way," the man said.
"What do you want to know about Captain Hitsugaya," Rukia asked, still gripping her sword tightly.
"So he's a Captain now," my captor mused before suddenly turning around, whipping me with him due to his iron grip on my ponytail. "Reign over the Frosted Heavens, Hyōrinmaru," the man shouted as he swung his sword in the opposite direction where a huge wave of water was coming from. A huge purple ice dragon shot out of his sword and clashed against the wave, instantly freezing it and leaving Rukia and I stunned.
"Hyōrinmaru," I asked. When I heard the sound of ice breaking, I quickly turned back to see Kaien fly through the frozen wave, his zanpakuto in hand. My captor simply returned his sword to my neck, which was now ice cold, and Kaien quickly stopped in his tracks.
"I take it you're the leader here, since they all hold you in pretty high regards," my captor said and yanked my ponytail even higher, causing me to clench my teeth in order not to thrash about. "Well well, are you not the nice little girl I thought you were...? You've got a nice little scar here," the man said.
"Kaien, just forget about me and get him," I shouted.
"I said just tell me about Hitsugaya and I'll let you go," the man said. I quickly moved my head to the side, ignoring the pain that came, before reaching behind me and grabbing my captors wrist with both hands and squeezing as hard as I could, instantly causing him to let go and pull his hand back. With his grip on me gone, I spun my leg around and knocked his feet out from under him before jumped back onto my feet, only taking a second break before slamming my fist into his chest, causing him to sink into a large crater, his mouth open if he was going to scream but nothing came out.
"Guys...! Now," I shouted. Rukia was the first to take off, where as Kaien was still stunned by how quickly I broke free.
"Some no mai, Tsukishiro," Rukia shouted and sliced her zanpakuto before quickly leaping away once more as a pillar of ice appeared, encasing the black haired man inside. By this time, Kaien got over his inital shock and prepared his zanpakuto for his blow. He easily slid his sword against the ground, causing a torrent of water to shoot out of it and slam through the ice pillar, breaking it instantly and shattering it to pieces. Once the water and ice disappeared, it revealed the man wasn't there anymore.
"Guys! What happened," Ichigo called out before he used Flash Step to get beside us.
"Nothing too big that we couldn't handle," I said as I started fixing my ponytail that had been nearly destroyed from the fight.
"Looked like you guys got pretty serious," Ichigo muttered and nodded towards the frozen crater.
"Meh. Details, details," Fujimaru sighed as he walked over to us as well. Ichigo was about to protest when the ground started shaking.
"Not this again," Kaien muttered as another portal appeared.
"This is just like the tower, only there's no getting out of this," Ichigo muttered.
"Who cares! Its been a while since we've had to get serious like this! I say bring on the next fight," Fujimaru grinned. Rukia faked a cough and nodded towards the black haired male putting his sword away.
"Right... Do you guys mind if we wait a minute," I asked.
"Yeah. We should heal whatever wounds we got. We have no idea if the next time will be ten times harder or just as easy," Rukia said.
"That's right! Matsuri, you got hurt, right," Kaien asked.
"Yeah, but I'm fine. I actually just wanted to talk to you," I muttered with a slight blush for some reason, causing Fujimaru and Ichigo to whisper back and forth.
"Of course," Kaien smiled. I briskly walked away to avoid questioning from either Fujimaru or Ichigo, and Kaien followed. "So... You see," I trailed off.
"This is about what Mr. Urahara said, huh," Kaien asked.
"Yeah... You see... Since you're an Artificial Soul, and was created by him... You're kinda forced to stay here forever," I said slowly due to pure nervousness of how this talk would go. Kaien remained silent for a few minutes. My eyes widened when he clasped my hands in his.
"Then... Then will you stay here with me," Kaien shouted, drawing everyone's attention over and causing me to blush.
"K-Kaien, I," I paused, trying to think of the words to say.
"Its not like you can't leave here with you! I mean, you can come and go when you want, but at least come back for visits and stuff," Kaien said.
"Alright... Its a promise," I smiled. Kaien just smiled as well.
Notes:
- I've pretty much lost interest in doing all of the floors for Bleach Tower, and there's not much going on besides fighting and fighting, so it'll be a time skip during next chapter.
