"Higher than the question of our duration is the question of our deserving. Immortality will come to such as are fit for it, and he would be a great soul in future must be a great soul now." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Chapter Twelve: Dead End
"What's in this for you?" asked Renji, eyeing Kazumi skeptically.
"I do not wish to see Arisawa dead, and I am ready to leave this place for good," replied Kazumi, simply.
"Why bother helping me?" Renji asked. He was still not convinced - the kid was hiding something, he was sure of it.
"I care nothing for you, shinigami," answered Kazumi. "Arisawa, however, clearly does care for you. You will not survive continued experiments. In fact, I am amazed that you are still alive."
Renji looked at Tatsuki. "He's telling the truth," she said, slightly surprised herself.
"Arisawa, your powers have now completely returned. I can do nothing for him, however," said Kazumi, gesturing to Renji. "Even with the Sealing Stone, it would take some time for his powers to return."
"I'll be just fine," said Renji, bristling at the implication that he was useless to them. He was still suspicious of Kazumi, but he knew that a better opportunity to warn the Seireitei of Raiden's intentions might not present itself. It was a chance he was willing to take.
"Can you walk, shinigami?" asked Kazumi.
Renji got to his feet, swaying slightly, but refusing Tatsuki's help. "We need you to fight, Tatsuki. I can walk on my own," said Renji, shooting a glace at Kazumi.
Kazumi opened the door, and they followed him down the corridor, stepping over an unconscious guard as they went. "I was to bring you, Arisawa, for Raiden's next experiment," explained Kazumi, nodding to the guard. "My friend here could not be persuaded otherwise.
"There are only thirteen guards here at the moment," Kazumi continued, as they walked down the corridor. "The only one with any Reiatsu to speak of is Kin. The others are weak, Rukongai street fighters, with minimal spirit energy. They will be no match for your zanpakuto."
"Here," said Tatsuki, handing Renji the glass shards she had stashed in her pocket as they walked, "you may need these." He nodded, and put one in his pocket, holding the other out in front of him in anticipation of an attack. Weak as he was, Renji was still determined to fight.
As they reached the end of the corridor, they entered a large, open area where they found six of Raiden's guards heading towards where the prisoners had been kept. "Minoru, rise up!" shouted Tatsuki, releasing her zanpakuto. Minoru's blade glowed red as it changed into its trident form. Several of the guards backed away to avoid being hit by the transforming zanpakuto, but two with rudimentary spirit energy weapons stood their ground.
"I'll take these two," said Tatsuki. Renji and Kazumi moved to the sides of the corridor and Kazumi drew a blade from his pocket.
Tatsuki rotated the blade of her zanpakuto in circles, and flames flew from the tips of the blades towards the two men. One of the men dodged her attack by jumping out of the way, rolling onto the floor and getting back to his feet. The second man was slower, and the flames caught his shoulder as he tried to avoid the attack and he screamed in pain as the fire spread across his chest and surrounded him. The flames turned bright blue as they covered his entire body, consuming his weapon, which melted upon contact. The fire then contracted, leaving nothing but ashes behind. Several of the guards who had witnessed the attack retreated down the corridor in fear.
Tatsuki pointed her zanpakuto at the second man, but he instead aimed his weapon at Kazumi. A stream of blue energy issued from the guard's blade towards where Kazumi stood. Kazumi raised his blade and deflected the guard's attack, which rebounded and hit two of the guards, knocking them to the ground. "I am your opponent," snarled Tatsuki at the second man, and she raised her zanpakuto straight up over her head and twirled it deftly around. A ribbon of fire like a whip grew from the blade's tip, and she swung it in the direction of the guard who had tried to attack Kazumi. The fire snaked around the guard's spirit weapon, and then continued to travel up his arm and wrap itself around his chest. Tatsuki pulled back hard on the stream of fire, and the man flew into the air and landed with a resounding thud on the cold stone floor. At the same time, Renji moved towards the remaining two guards, grabbing a small stiletto from the body of one of the guards as he ran and pocketing the glass shard.
"You're too weak to fight, shinigami," yelled Kazumi from behind Renji. "Let me take these two."
"I can still fight," growled Renji, glaring at Kazumi. He lunged at one of the guards, who jumped back to avoid Renji's blade. Renji laughed and ran at the man, this time catching the side of his arm and leaving a deep cut, but the effort left Renji winded, and he tripped and fell against the wall, barely catching himself before he hit the ground. "Damn," he thought, "I can barely move without falling over."
Kazumi, using shunpo, reappeared behind the two men and neatly stabbed the injured man in the back. He fell forward onto the floor, Kazumi's blade still lodged in his back. Kazumi raised his hand towards the blade, and the blade shook slightly and then flew out of the man's back and into Kazumi's hand. The last guard turned and began to run down the corridor towards what appeared to be a large room. Kazumi threw his blade and it soared through the air, guided by Kazumi's reiatsu, and landed squarely between the guard's shoulder blades. The guard fell to the ground and did not move. Kazumi again raised his hand in the direction of the blade and it again returned to his fingers.
Renji slid down the wall of the corridor. Tatsuki sheathed her zanpakuto and ran over to him, putting his arm around her shoulder and lifting him up onto his feet. "I said you were too weak," said Kazumi, eyes narrowed. Renji ignored him and straightened up, forcing himself to stand and once again rejecting Tatsuki's assistance. She raised an eyebrow but said nothing. The three of them walked out through the corridor into a open cave area with stalactites and stalagmites scattered throughout. Within seconds, they were confronted by a second group of guards, men and women. There was a flash of light from what appeared to be a crudely-fashioned spirit weapon, and Renji, Tatsuki and Kazumi ducked behind a particularly large stalagmite which stood nearby. Bits of rock flew into the air.
"Stay here, Renji," said Tatsuki, standing up and moving to the side of the rock formation to get a better view of the fighters. Renji scowled but stayed where he was. "Kazumi," Tatsuki said, ducking down again to avoid another attack of spirit energy, "I'll distract them. You go around the back and see if you can take a few of them out using your blade." Kazumi nodded.
Tatsuki stood up and, using shunpo, maneuvered away from Renji and Kazumi and towards the side of the cave, which was less cluttered with rock formations. She raised her zanpakuto, releasing its shikai again, and shot a wide burst of flame in the direction of the four guards, who stood about forty feet away. At that distance, even the guards with no particular spirit power were able to easily escape the attack by backing away towards the other side of the cave. Kazumi, seeing his opening, vanished and reappeared behind the fighters, knocking one to the ground and grabbing a second by the shoulder and quickly stabbing him in the abdomen. The two remaining guards ran back behind a formation, barely missing another attack from Tatsuki. The flames hit the rock, blackening it.
Renji, sensing his opportunity, stood up and moved over to where Tatsuki stood. "I'm not going to let her fight alone," he thought. "I'm not totally useless." He saw Kazumi move again, this time behind a formation about fifteen feet away from the two remaining guards. There was a flash of light again, and Tatsuki turned her blade to deflect the attack. One of the nearby stalactites fell to the ground, sending debris in all directions. One of the larger pieces of rock hit Kazumi hard on the shoulder, and he fell backwards, hitting the side of the cave. There was another flash of light, as a woman, holding a short sword, stepped out from behind a stalagmite and approached Tatsuki. Out of the corner of his eye, Renji saw a second figure approaching from behind Kazumi, holding a large rock over his head.
"No you don't!" yelled Renji, and he threw himself in between Kazumi and the guard, knocking the guard off his feet. Renji rolled onto the ground as the rock flew out of the guard's hands. The rock landed on Renji's leg. "Shit," growled Renji, pushing the rock off his leg. "It's broken," he thought, as he tried to move it. The pain was tolerable, but he knew he would be unable to walk without assistance.
The guard got up from the ground and turned to face Renji, who was now only feet away. He laughed, pulled a small knife from his belt and walked over to Renji. "Die, shinigami scum," he said, as he thrust the knife towards Renji's chest. Renji tried to move, but he wasn't fast enough. "It's over," he thought, as he watched the blade come closer. But, as Renji braced himself for the impact of the blade, the guard's eyes registered shock, and Renji saw blood drip from the man's mouth. Kazumi pulled his blade out of the guard's back, and the guard fell, sideways, onto the ground.
Renji looked up at Kazumi with surprise. "Thank you," he said. Kazumi opened his mouth as if he were about to speak, when there was a powerful explosion and bits of rock and dust rained over them. "Go help her," said Renji to Kazumi. Kazumi moved quickly next to where Tatsuki stood.
Tatsuki was having more trouble with the female guard than she had anticipated. The woman, although not formally trained, had strong Reiatsu, and was clearly an experienced street fighter. She moved quickly, and was able to easily dodge Tatsuki's attacks by hiding behind the scattered rock formations.
"Kazumi," she said, acknowledging his presence. "I need your help." He nodded, and disappeared, reappearing some twenty feet away from the remaining fighter so that the woman could see him. She moved to a spot behind yet another formation, covering herself from attack. Tatsuki saw her opening and, using shunpo, moved quickly behind the woman. She pointed Minoru at the guard and flames burst from its tip, hitting the blade of the woman's weapon. It glowed bright red. The woman screamed from the heat of the blade and dropped it onto the ground, where it broke into pieces. Kazumi, approaching from behind, hit the woman over the head and she slumped onto the ground. "Nice job," said Tatsuki, smiling at him. "Thanks." He nodded.
There was a low moan from over Tatsuki's shoulder: Renji, struggling to get up off the ground. "Renji," said Tatsuki, shunpoing over to him and giving him her shoulder for support, "are you okay?"
"Find Raiden and the Stone," he said, panting, "I'll catch up with you."
"You know damn well I'm not going to leave you here, Abarai," she said, scowling at him. Renji laughed. It was good to see her back to her old fighting self. "Kazumi, where to?" asked Tatsuki, satisfied that Renji wasn't going to fight her to stay.
"The laboratory is over there," he said, pointing to a rough opening in the cave. Renji and Tatsuki followed him, Tatsuki tightening her grip on her zanpakuto with her free arm. They slowly walked through the entrance and into the laboratory.
The first thing they saw as they entered the room was Raiden, standing about fifteen feet away from them. "Raiden-sama," said Kazumi quickly, pointing to Tatsuki, "use the Stone on her."
