HEY GUYS, HERE'S CHAPTER 9!

Chouko's POV

Great. Now here I was, all alone, facing this Espada, with only my bankai to help. Now even my bankai wasn't working, I was really alone. Correction: I was not alone, because my zanpakuto was with me. But unfortunately, it wasn't responding, so technically it didn't count...Darn it, why did Ichigo have to leave?

Me alone here with this Espada, is this how it all ends? Grimmjow lunges at me, and I wince, remembering how last time Ichigo had thrown me out of the way. No throwing me out of the way this time... I know this is cowardy, Kori no Sokubaku, so don't be mad at me, I think as I balance my weight lightly on my toes and I wait for Grimmjow to get closer, I'm going to have to duck... At the last moment, I propel myself upwards and leap, Grimmjow falls to the ground, but swerved at the last moment.

"You're not getting away, pretty girlie," He says, his grin growing wider and wider, as he opens his mouth. Cero. Kuso, I manage to think before the cero hits me, full blast. I pick myself up and tried to catch my breath. "Like my cero, pretty girlie?"

Ow. My chest hurts...I 'm panting now, gasping for breath. My bankai...it's not coming. Why? Did I not achieve it? Wait, no, can't let my mind get messed up. I did, I used it on some hollows before this, so why is it not working now? Dammit! Kori no Sokubaku, where are you? I feel the Espada's reliatsu rise again, and I know instantly he's going to try and escape. He knows I will run, and when I do, he'll go looking for Ichigo. I can't let him hurt Ichigo. No one will get hurt, not when I can stop it. I focus my gaze on the number 6 tattoo on him, and force my fear to calm down. I won't run. If I do, he'll go after Ichigo. And then it will be Raki-kun's incident all over again. So I can't run. I. Must. Hold. My. Ground.

He raises his arms, and his eyes widen in suprise as he sees that I'm still standing in his way. Raising my zanpakuto, I block his arm, but I couldn't cut it. Why? He's not Kenpachi, and I was a third seat. C'mon, Chouko, I think to myself, raise your reliatsu! I block his arm over and over again, but I just couldn't cut him. Why? Darn it! IF I DON'T CUT HIM ICHIGO'S GONNA GET HURT! Shunk. My blade sank into his arm, and that's when I notice it. White. A white-gloved hand.

Cold sweat drips down my neck, and my zanpakuto stops. I'm frozen. A white-gloved hand. The image of Raki, a trainee whom I was in charge of on a mission, flashes in my head. His body, drenched with his own blood, was held up by a white gloved hand. This hand... Pain. My legs crumble and I stare at the gaping wound on my chest. Blood. I can't move. The white gloved hand wasn't white anymore, it was red. That's right, this was a red gloved hand, not white.

"Hmph, you're no fun, just like last time and the time before," says Grimmjow, towering over my bleeding form, "Gonna go look for Ichigo now-oh wait, forgot I had to do that."

I stared as he raised his arm, is this how it ends? His hand plunges deep into my chest, deeper than the wound he created before, and I feel my heart being squeezed. my body goes limp and blood is dripping out of my mouth. Kori no Sokubaku...he must've been angry at me. I had wanted to go back into my inner world to apologize to him for me yelling at him, but there was no way I'd be able to do that anymore. Kori, if you're here, if you're listening right now, then I just wanted to say I'm sorry. For yelling at you and, I hope you'll find a new master that's better than me...

Grimmjow lifts me up, and he's saying something, but everything seems slow...I can't breathe, and I try to pull my body away from him. He squeezes my heart tighter. he says something 'bout the last time...that would be when i first fought him with Ichigo...the time before? What? Did we meet before? I gasp in pain. This feeling...I've felt it before...But where?

Flashback...

"Masumoto-sensei!" says Raki, his black curly hair flying as we shunpo through the trees, "Ano, arigatou gozaimasu for taking me with you! I'm greatful you gave me this opportunity to practice!"

I shake my head, "J'm no sensei, I'm just plain Chouko."

Raki shakes his head, and I notice that he was already panting from the shunpo pace we were going at. Not good, not when we were going to hunt a Menos Grande. Sure, I was a third seat, but he would want to fight too, and in this condition... Raki notices me slowing down my pace and he quickens his, "Iie, you'll always be like a sensei to me. And you don't need to slow down you're pace, I can keep up!" I would've contradicted him, but the brave face on this small child stopped me. If I contradicted now, would I kill his courage? Would he grow up to be a coward like me? I can't le that happen. So I quickened my pace again. "Masumoto-sensei, " says Raki with a smile, "I always wanted to go with a Shinigami on a mission, you know? Everyone else has, but no one would pick me. They said that I was too impulsive. But I'm happy 'cuz you gave me a chance."

I nodded, and put a finger on my lips, "Quietly now, I can sense the Menos's spiritual pressure nearby." We near the clearing and I motion for Raki to split up, to follow our plan. He nods, and was about to go, when he stopped. I followed his gaze to the Menos Grande, except it wasn't a Menos. One thing, it didn't have a pointy nose, and it had electric blue hair, with a sneer on it's face. The number six. Shit. I feel Raki's reliatsu rise, and before I could do anything, he charges out to the clearing, where this what'ever it was could see him.

"You Hollow, you killed my parents and me!" screams Raki, raising his kantana.

"Wait Raki," I push him down on the ground, "That's not a zanpakuto. You'll get killed! Stay back, and go find reinforcement, now!" But Raki wasn't listening, and his bit of reliatsu was flying wildly. "Raki!" I should've stopped him. I really should've. But I didn't. I wasn't fast enough, or strong enough, to stop a anger-filled boy, hungry for revenge.

I watch in horror as he lunges towards the What'ever it was, debating whether I should go help him or go back and get reinforcement. He seemed to be holding on his own, I thought, calling for reinforcement will only take a moment. But a moment was all it took. Right when I turned my back to them, blood sprayed. Raki, bloodsoaked and limp, was held, by the neck, by a white glove. "Raki! No!" Whipping out Kori no Sokubaku, I charged towards them. At that time, I hadn't learned my shikai yet. In moments, the what'ever-it-was was gripping my heart.

A few days later, Captain Kyoraku came to visit me in one of the healing dorms in Squad 4, telling me that it was only luck that had brought him coming to our rescue, but

Raki was already dead.

I stared at the Espada before me, with one glove stained red, and the other white. Opening my mouth, my body convulsed and I coughed up blood, "It was you? It was you who killed Raki?"

To be continued...

AUTHOR'S NOTE

HELLO! THANK YOU FOR READING THIS CHAPTER! I'LL UPDATE SOON, PROMISE!

PLEASE REVIEW, EVERYONE!