Bah humbug.
"What're you grumbling about now? Not in the Christmas spirit?" Kiriumi asked, watching the Narrator pout.
No, I hate this time of year. Bad weather, bad driving, people with stress levels through the roof, finals, and staying for hours past when scheduled to work…so much fun…
"Well, just remember that it's all about being with family and friends, so just try to make the most of it." She smiled sweetly.
Yeah, yeah…
Ten people ran hopelessly lost through the streets of the Seireitei; six members of the eleventh division accompanied by four ryoka. Kiriumi sighed tiredly; they had been running for a while and had made no progress.
"Ah…" Uryū looked at the fellow group members and chuckled nervously. "Uh…finding ones way around here requires a lot of work."
"Yes!" Orihime added, smiling just as nervously. "It's normal to run into dead ends every couple of minutes!"
Kiriumi shook her head, placing her hand reassuringly on the busty teen. "You don't have to force it; we all know what really happened."
The bald third seat scoffed. "Yeah, this always happens. That's why I hate letting fukutaichō lead." Yumichika and Kiriumi both sighed, ignoring Ikkaku's complaints as Yachiru attacked him for insulting her sense of direction.
Something caught the attention of the beautiful fifth seat. He walked next to his captain and his fellow eleventh divisioner. "…Taichō..."
"…Yeah." Kenpachi replied, frowning at what appeared to be nothing. "You're shameless to sneak around like that, boys! Get the hell out here!! Cowardly hiding your reiatsus and stalking others isn't something that taichō should do!"
"…You sure speak with authority." A voice called.
Kiriumi glared at the hidden captains. "Just show yourself!"
Four people flash stepped onto the roof of the dead end the eleventh divisioners and ryoka had come to. Shūhei, Tōsen, Komamura, and Tetsuzaemon all stared down at the group. "How insolent of you." Tōsen commented, glaring coldly at the fourth seat. "Know your place, Unohana-san."
Kenpachi stood protectively in front of her, hiding her from the views of the other Gotei Thirteen captains and lieutenants. "Don't concern yourself with her."
"Where are you taking the ryoka to?" The ninth division captain glared at Kenpachi instead. "Zaraki, have you lost your pride and righteousness when you lost that fight?"
Panic filled Aramaki as he gaped at the four men that had appeared. "K-Komamura-taichō…Tōsen-taichō…Iba-fukutaichō…and Hisagi-fukutaichō…!! No way…four taichō-level people at once!"
"Calm down, Aramaki!" Kiriumi bit, glaring coldly at the man over her shoulder.
"Yes!" Yumichika added. "Based on the number of people, we have the upper hand!"
His shoulders fell slightly. "Th…that's not the problem…If we stay here, we'll…"
"Stop whimpering!" Kenpachi barked, grinning manically. "Who said that you're gonna fight?" Everyone stared at the large captain in surprise as his reiatsu exploded. "Four versus one…that's not even enough to test my sword with!"
The four of them jumped down, coming closer to the other, larger, group. "Four versus one, you say?" Komamura asked. "In other words, you…want to fight all four of us alone? I know about your strength…However, you think too highly of yourself, Zaraki Kenpachi!"
Kiriumi stepped around her captain and glared at the others. "He isn't being presumptuous if he can back it up!!" She then stepped back, leaving plenty of room for Kenpachi to prepare for the fight. "He'll show the fuck out of you…" The last part was muttered more to herself.
"Just come on and fight already!" Kenpachi shouted, pointing his sword at the four of them. "It's best if all four of you come together, then one of you might actually have a chance at wounding me."
"Ah…" Aramaki nervously rubbed the back of his head. "What should we do, Zaraki-taichō?"
"Shut up!" He muttered. "Go away."
Yachiru shook her head at the grieving eleventh divisioner. "That was bad, mustache guy." Turning her head to her captain, she stared knowingly. "When Ken-chan gets excited, you shouldn't disturb him." A bright smile then covered her features. "Ken-chan! We'll go search for Ichi-chan! Catch up with us soon! C'mon, Kiri-chan!"
The dark haired chef smiled back at her small lieutenant. "You go ahead, Yachiru-chan. I'm gonna stay and watch Kenpachi's fight."
"Okay!" She cheered brightly, taking hold of Orihime's arm and tugging the rest of them off with her in some random direction. "Don't take too long!!"
"Yeah." Kenpachi muttered, not bothering to look back at the group. "Be right there."
"…'Be right there' you said." Tōsen commented, stepping forward a bit to face his fellow captain a bit more directly. "Are you taunting us? Or do you really think that this is possible? Either way you don't seem to have simply lost your pride…you seem to have lost all common sense."
The large captain barked with laughter. "'Common sense'? Ha! Worthless things like those…I've never had them for as long as I can remember!"
Tetsuzaemon and Shūhei stepped forward, both unsheathing their swords. "Taichō, this here…" Tetsuzaemon began.
"Please, let us begin." Shūhei finished.
Kenpachi stared at them irritatedly. "Idiots…I told you all to come at me at once. I knew it…you do look down on me."
Reaching for her sword, Kiriumi sighed. She could handle them, but it really seemed like more of a nuisance. With her throbbing head and still sour stomach she didn't quite feel up to anything. But suddenly, two figures appeared between them and the lieutenants. "In that case…" Yumichika smiled, standing next to Ikkaku.
"We'll have to go first, taichō!" The bald warrior finished, smirking smugly.
Still, Kiriumi couldn't help but smile fondly at her two closest friends. She could hear them rambling on for a moment before Ikkaku and Tetsuzaemon took off in one direction, while Yumichika and Shūhei took off in another. Yawning loudly, Kiriumi flash stepped to the nearest wall to take a seat on the roof. "I'll watch from over here!" She shouted, resting comfortably against the warm roof and watching the battle commence.
Much to her surprise the battle started off with a bang, Komamura quickly releasing his zanpakutō and breaking apart the very ground that they had been standing on, then Tōsen releasing his own weapon and showering them with a barrage of blades. Kiriumi had to jump back to avoid being struck with those blades, but Kenpachi just withstood them all, disappointed in the end that it wouldn't even be enough for a morning workout.
Watching this battle proved to be more work than she had thought it would be. The three of them were constantly destroying the walls that Kiriumi had been resting on, causing her to move from one side of the arena to the other ever so often.
Suddenly, Tōsen moved to release his bankai, causing Komamura to jump a fair distance away from the already rather large arena. The fourth seat had never actually seen, or heard of for that matter, of the dark captain's bankai. So, for safety measures, she quickly jumped away as well, landing soundlessly next to the large seventh division captain. Several rings appeared, surrounding the large arena and causing a large, balloon like barrier to surround it.
"Wh…what's going on…?" She gasped, watching it with a mixture of dread and anticipation.
"It is Tōsen's Enma Kōrogi; a barrier that will leave Zaraki without sight, hearing, smelling, or a sense of reiatsu." Komamura mentioned, not taking his eyes off of the barrier. "No matter what kind of devilish creature your taichō is, he will not be able to survive this."
A defiant glare found its way across her features as she stared over at the seventh division captain. "Kenpachi is not as easy to kill as you assume, Komamura-taichō. I mean no disrespect, but my taichō…he fears nothing, and his strength is boundless. Even if he's surrounded in a world of darkness he won't fear anything, in fact he'll—"
Whatever she was going to say next was cut off as she doubled over, holding her stomach in pain. She leaned over the edge of the path they were standing on and released whatever little was left in her stomach from that morning.
Komamura looked down at her, feeling some compassion for the sick eleventh divisioner. "Don't get so worked up over this, Unohana-san. We'll just have to see who comes out victorious."
Finally finishing, she took a seat leaning against the wall. "R-right…"
The battle raged on for what felt like hours in the mind of the fourth seat, until suddenly the barrier shattered and came crashing down. "Tōsen…!" Komamura mumbled.
Suddenly he too was out in the arena, stopping Kenpachi from administering the final blow to the already injured ninth division captain. Kiriumi watched in amazement as the helmet the seventh division captain wore shattered and he was revealed to have a dog like appearance. But her captain didn't even appear to notice.
Komamura's reiatsu flared to insane heights as he growled out, "Bankai!!" An awe struck look covered her features more as a giant creature formed behind the dog like shinigami. The giant appeared to copy every movement that Komamura made.
The two reiatsus flared as they both prepared to launch attacks. But suddenly they both stopped, and all three looked over at Sōkyoku Hill. "Rukia…" Kiriumi whispered, attempting to stand up but feeling a wave of nausea hit her like a bag of bricks and knock her back down.
Kenpachi jumped over to his lover's side, checking her to make sure she was okay. "Kiri, stop moving." He demanded, ignoring her protests. Komamura took Tōsen and quickly disappeared, most likely heading for the Sōkyoku.
"But Rukia!!" She objected, watching from the distance with a feeling of dread rushing through her.
"Shut up." He muttered, pulling her to rest her head in his lap. "Why're you so worried? You know Ichigo's gonna save her."
Ichigo…That was right! She had completely forgotten about the orange haired ryoka. A wave of ease washed over her as she relaxed into his comforting hold. "You're right…"
Her calm and peaceful moment with Kenpachi was ruined quickly by another friend. "Taichō~! Kiri-chan~! Where are you two?" Apparently the beautiful fifth seat had spotted them. "Ah! There you two are! Taichō, you defeated them already?"
"Nah, that wolf boy just muttered something about 'Genryūsai-sama' and ran off." The large captain grumbled.
"Yamamoto-soutaichō must be fighting. I can feel it." Kiriumi added, yawning lazily as she sat up to greet the fifth seat.
"Ah!" Yumichika chirped. "So that must be why I'm so excited!"
Both Kenpachi and Kiriumi looked back staring strangely at the happy shinigami. He basically seemed to shine. "Oh wow! You didn't even get a scratch on you…I wonder why?" Kiriumi smirked up at him.
She had been one of the few to find out about his…interesting weapon. And though she had been sworn to silence that did not stop her from teasing him at any chance she could obtain. "Just call it beautiful talent." He smiled forcefully, a glare hidden underneath the smile.
Her retort was quickly cut short as she felt more sickness wash over her. The two other eleventh divisioners made a move to help her out, but she simply waved them off. Pushing down all of her queasiness and discomfort, she forced a smile. "I'm fine really."
Yumichika glared at her for a moment before crossing his arms over his chest and pouting. "No. I'm assuming that this ryoka disaster should be pretty much done with, so I'm taking you to the fourth division."
Looking to her captain for help, she growled in frustration when he simply shrugged. "Fine! I'll go! Just stop being so fussy about a little bit of a stomach virus!" She pouted, finally giving into her beautiful friends pestering.
Kenpachi lifted her up on his back. "I'll take you." He then shot off in the direction of the fourth division, quickly being pursued by the beautiful, but annoying, fifth seat.
Hehe, I actually had a lot of fun going through the end of the soul society arc again.
"That's good to hear." Kiriumi smiled.
Yeah, and now the brain deadness kicks in, so I think I'm gonna go die now.
"Alright, you have fun with that!" She grinned wider, waving to the Narrator as she hobbled off, running into the wall repeatedly for a couple minutes before she realized there was no door there.