The sun began to risen in the Seireitei. It was the beginning of a new day, but also the day that Masara and her friends would begin to set their goals in motion. Hayne was leaving the storage house he slept in.
"Man, sleeping on boxes looks easier in the movies, but then again the guy is knocked out." Hayne complained. "Now where is my next victim?"
"I think you mean the guy that will bring you down." He looked up and saw Ichigo.
"I was hoping I get to run into you." Hayne said and Ichigo jumped down on the ground. "Finally, we can settle what we started."
"I've got to say, you've got guts to infiltrate the Seireitei like this." Ichigo said.
"Enough talk already. Let's get right down to business." Hayne said as he pulled out his sword. Slice through the air, Shureddā!" His katana changed into the shikai. "I'm going to shread you to pieces. Ichigo pulled out his weapon as it unraveled. The two of them charged right in as they began their fight.
…..
Nyle
Nyle used his whip like weapon on the soul reapers he was against and they were all getting chopped up. He even used the absorbing technique on them and they all vanished.
"Stop that!" Nyle turned to see Renji heading straight for him.
"Oh, hello." Nyle said.
"Roar, Zabimaru!" Renji said as he pulled out his shikai and thrusted it towards Nyle, but Nyle jumped out of the way.
"You're that soul reaper from the other day." Nyle said as he remembered his first encounter with Renji.
"What do you think you're doing here?" Renji said.
"Isn't it obvious?" Nyle said.
"Don't play games with me!" Renji shouted.
"I wish I could, but I got work to do, soul reapers to kill, and you're next." Nyle said. He lashed his weapon at Renji, but Renji jumped to the rooftops and Nyle went after him. They ran side by side and started lashing at each other.
…
Orihime
Orihime continued her training to achieve her bankai, but she was practically out of strength. She was breathing real hard with some injuries and it looked like she couldn't go on any further.
"It's no use. She's already exhausted." Yoruichi said.
"I agree. I think this is as far as we can go or else she's just endangering her life." Hogohana said.
"No. I can keep going. I have to obtain bankai if I want to help Ichigo." Orihime said as she tried to stand. She tried using another katana, but Hogohana just swiped her sword and the blade broke again.
"That's sword number forty-nine." Hogohan said.
"I can keep going, but these swords keep breaking." Orihime said.
"They keep breaking because you keep resisting the instinct to fight." Hogohana said. "Orihime, I know you want to help your friends, but at the same time you don't want to hurt anyone. You wish to not be a hindrance, but if you can't gain the strength to fight, you won't be able to do that. I'm not saying it's a bad quality, but it is if you want to help and fight."
"Then what do I do?" Orihime said.
"You need to let go and reach down inside for that strength to come out." Hogohana said. "If you can't, you won't be able to help your friends in any matter." Orihime reached for another sword, but felt the spiritual pressures surging.
'I can feel Renji and Ichigo's spiritual pressures. They're righting someone.' Orihime thought, but got kicked in the gut and shoved to the ground.
"Never look away from you opponent, even for a second. That could be a fatal mistake." Hogohana said. "I know you can sense what's happening and you want to go help, but you can't until you obtain bankai." Orihime knew she was right, but she could feel herself breaking apart
…
Ichigo
Ichigo and Hayne kept colliding their weapons against each other. Ichigo wasn't showing it, but Hayne was enjoying himself. He tossed the dagger edge of his blade at him, but Ichigo held up his sword and blocked it.
"Is that all you've got?" Ichigo said.
"You haven't seen anything yet." Hayne said and used the flash step. The next thing Ichigo knew, the chain wrapped around him and he saw Hayne coming at him from behind for a stab. Ichigo stepped to the side and got cut across his chest and right arm and was able to break free.
"I've been meaning to ask. Where did you and your friends learned the flash step?" Ichigo said.
"Masara taught each of us, as well as how we could obtain our zanpakutō." Hayne said.
"How could she have that kind of information if she's not a substitute?" Ichigo said.
"Who cares? This power is awesome and I'm loving it." Hayne said.
"But I still don't understand on why you came here in the first place. What did the soul reapers ever do to you?" Ichigo said.
"Nothing, this is what Masara wants. I never even knew they existed until I met her." Hayne said.
"So it all revolves around Masara?" Ichigo said.
"I guess. I can't speak for the others, but I followed her because she looks good." Hayne said.
"What is with this guy? He's like a punk version of Kon." Ichigo murmured.
"Speaking of which, where's your friend? What was her name, Orihime?" Hayne said and Ichigo listened carefully to what he would say. "Out of all the girls I've met, she's the hottest for her age. I've heard that she lost her mind last night. That just makes things hotter."
"Where are you going with this?" Ichigo said as he wasn't liking it.
"When I get done with her, she's really going to lose her mind." Hayne said with a chuckle and Ichigo saw his smirk was one of someone who would be abusive.
"Bastard! Bankai!" Ichigo shouted and his sword transformed into Tensa Zangetsu.
"So that's a bankai. This is the first time I've ever seen one." Hayne said.
"I won't let you get near Orihime. You better leave her alone if you know what's good for you." Ichigo said.
"And what will you do if I won't?" Hayne said. His only answer was Ichigo screaming and went right in for an attack.
…
Orihime
Orihime slid against the ground since another one of her swords was broken. She made little to no progress in her training and it was getting more and more difficult.
"That was sword number sixty-three." Hogohana said. "Do you still wish to go on or stop?" Orihime reached for another sword and used it to push herself up.
'Maybe I was wrong, maybe this was a bad idea. Orihime hasn't made that much progress and has used up many swords and suffered great damage.' Yoruichi said.
'I can't give up.' Orihime thought as she tried to stand.
"Either stand and fight or just surrender Orihime." Hogohana said.
'I have to do this. I want to be able to help my friends this time. I won't be a burden.' Orihime thought and remembered all the past battles that haunted her. 'Like when we went to rescue Rukia, or when we fought the Bounts, or when I was captured by the arrancars, the Kasumiōji clan, the zanpakutō and the sword beasts, the reigai, and against Xcution. Every time I couldn't do anything to help my friends. That won't happen this time. I won't be a burden to them ever again.' Hogohana went to attack her, but this time Orihime blocked her and the sword didn't break.
"It looks like you're finally getting it." Hogohana said. "Good, but not good enough. You still have to take this weapon from my hand." Orihime finally dropped what held her back and was ready to actually fight.
…
Ichigo
Ichigo was moving much faster, but Hayne was still able to hold his own against him. Hayne twirled the dagger end around and got it around Ichigo's black katana.
"I have you now." Hayne said. He pulled it towards the wall and had Ichigo hit against it. Hayne attacked, but Ichigo blocked him even though he was pinned to the wall.
"I'll admit, I underestimated you. I didn't think you could keep up with my Tensa Zangetsu." Ichigo said.
"There's a lot of things you don't know about me." Hayne said. "You seemed to have gotten a little upset when I brought your friend in the mix."
"That's because I'm trying to protect her. You're a sick and twisted person." Ichigo said.
"Perhaps, but you can't protect her from Masara." Hayne said. "She'll be tempted to join us and if she won't, she'll be killed." He then leaned towards his ear to whisper this part. "If she does join us or before we kill her, I am going to have a real fun time with that body of hers." All that did was made Ichigo more agitated.
"You bastard! No way in hell is that going to happen!" Ichigo screamed and found the strength to push him off.
"Whoa! Looks like I struck a nerve. You must care for her deeply if you're acting like this." Hayne said.
"Shut up!" Ichigo said. Hayne grabbed the center of the chain and started spinning both ends. "Now what is he doing?" One of the ends was tossed and Ichigo blocked it, but was surprised. "The sword end?" He saw Hayne got in close and stabbed him in the abdomen with the dagger end.
"Dropped your guard." Hayne said. He grabbed the sword end and slashed him across the chest and hit him in the back of the head with the hilt. "I knew you were a pushover."
"Why you." Ichigo tried to get up, but Hayne stomped on his head.
"It's time we ended this." Hayne said as he rose his sword. He brought it down and was thinking it was all over, but another sword, flowered shape, blocked his attack. Hayne jumped back and saw who it was that blocked him.
"Orihime?" Ichigo said.
"Well this is a turn of events." Hayne said. Orihime had some injuries on her, but the most noticeable thing on her was the look in her eyes. They were the eyes of a true fighter.
To Be Continued…
