Chapter 25: Struck Down

'This is it,' focusing completely on the faded turquoise dragon of water writhing through the hole in the shimmering sakura pink disc and slamming into the wave of the enemies' combined attack, Likara barely noticed when the words passed across her lips.

She wasn't sure whether or not she believed that their plan would work. All she knew for sure was that she was slightly embarrassed for telling both her Lieutenant and another captain to run as well as racing off herself. On a more positive note, the impromptu plan seemed to be working out pretty well. The only downside was that even if they managed to dissipate the bulk of the attack, there would still be enough hitting the ground to injure someone. She was glad that Hisagi had been good at moving people away but still, some were too close . . .-

'Captain,' although he was incredibly hesitant, Kira took a tentative step towards the young shinigami, his dark blue eyes showing an inner strength that, although prevalent while he fought, was fading as he stared at something in the air, 'I can see that you're concentrating hard, and I don't like to interrupt or anything, but there's something about to hit your fac-,'

Unfortunately for both Likara, who really had been trying to concentrate, and her Lieutenant, one who was now suffering from the psychological trauma of delivering a warning a few seconds too late, at that very moment a piece of black fabric fluttered in front of the captain's eyes before the wind let up and it fell onto her face with a soft rustling sound.

Quickly pulling the piece of cloth off of her, Likara risked a glance downwards to see what she was holding. Strangely enough, it looked much like the bottom half on one of the Onmitsukidō masks, something she hadn't expected to see in such a place at such a time.

Then again, if her memory served her correctly, and it really usually did, that Arrancar woman, Hana, had been garbed in the outfit of the Executive Militia, albeit a more form-fitting version, and she'd been wearing one of the headpieces which covered only the lower half of her face. In hindsight, she had probably been using it to cover up her Hollow mask fragment. Not that the bony protrusion hadn't been slightly visible, pressed against the fabric.

Wondering why the former Arrancar would have discarded the mask, Likara shook her head briefly before releasing the cloth and once again focusing on the path of the dragons.

The black and silver haired captain was trying very diligently to concentrate solely on her own dragon, but since both of the zanpakutō created creatures were moving through the air beside one other, it was also incredibly hard not to look at Tōshirō's icy blue serpent.

Even the briefest of glances made her feel a slight bitterness in the back of her throat.

Both of them had had dreams of their zanpakutō spirits, although she'd only realised that that's what those visions had been when she entered the Academy herself, when they were living in Junrinan. She could still recall Tōshirō lamenting over the fact that his Granny was getting too cold each night and that when he woke up there was frost over everything.

In her cave, it had been a little harder to notice the obvious physical manifestations of a briefly touched on power. Sometimes she'd see a random puddle of icily cold, crystal clear water in a corner or something water related like that, but she'd never connected the two together. After all, because of her personality, thinking something was only a vivid dream made her disregard the possibility that perhaps it was something more. Something important.

But that didn't explain why she felt bitter. Why the first time she saw Matsumoto again she'd been filled with a turmoil of emotions. Why becoming a shinigami had seemed so abhorrent.

The reason was quite simple . . . each event affected the others like water in a fountain trickling from each carved rock bowl to the next, overflowing over the edges and spilling downwards.

If Tōshirō had never dreamt of his zanpakutō spirit, his already powerful reiatsu wouldn't have affected her and, as such, brought forward her own dormant powers. If he'd never met Matsumoto, then he would have stayed in Junrinan and not left for the Shino Academy – she was sure they'd have worked out how to make it so that Granny wasn't at risk any more. If he'd never left to become a shinigami then she wouldn't hate him as much and, consequently, she wouldn't hate shinigami as much, although she'd never fully liked them in the first place. If she didn't hate both Tōshirō and shinigami, she might have forgiven him sooner and gone to the Academy to see him earlier. If so much time hadn't passed, and her hatred had subsided further, then their first meeting in years wouldn't have been the way it had been.

Likara's hands clenched tightly, the bite of her nails into her palms distracting her from the thoughts she tried to avoid the most. She couldn't let herself start hating shinigami again.

'I'd like to say I can't believe my eyes but really that would be an outright lie,' Hana spoke dryly as she shrugged slightly, suppressing a wince when the movement none too gently reminded her that she wasn't in the best of shape, 'I thought we might actually achieve something with that attack. Maybe someone held back and lessened the destructive power,'

'Whatever do you mean, deary?' Raku customary scowl shifted into an expression of mild surprise, albeit one filled with subtle mocking, 'You say you actually held back?'

'No, I didn't say that. I said-,' suddenly noticing the amused looks everyone was giving her, the black and red haired young woman glared ferociously, 'This isn't the time for games,'

'That's very true,' Yumi nodded agreeably, earning herself an appreciative look from Hana, 'But . . . you have to admit it was the perfect opportunity,' that approving look shifted rapidly to disgust, 'If Raku hadn't done what he did, I'm sure one of them would have instead,'

Midori and Chidori looked around at the mention of their names, or the reference to them, to be precise. Their bright blue eyes were sparkling with mischief as they sent the former Arrancar woman very innocent looks, 'Sure, sure,'

Taking a sharp inward breath, Hana let the matter go because they really had a more pressing matter to be concerned about – not that this lot ever seemed to get concerned, herself included, 'Whatever, really! Sometimes I really could tell you all to get lost in hell,' she put a hand over her eyes, focusing and calming herself down, 'But right now, we're on the brink of a failure,'

'Ooh,' as usual, both Midori and her twin felt the need to completely ruin an otherwise epic moment. Their awestruck exhalation was executed perfectly while they used their young teenager appearances to their fullest extent. In other words, if Matsumoto Rangiku had happened to catch sight of the pair, she would have had a heart attack while screaming 'cute' at the top of her already loud voice.

'Shut up,' trying to keep her temper in check, something both incredibly hard and extremely rare, because normally she just went and roasted something, Hana watched as the two dragons finally broke through the outer wave of their combined attack and began shooting up through the collected power, ice and water rolling from them in cold waves which broke up the formation. The swirling sakura petals released from their disc pattern and instead followed the dragons up through the hole in the wave, cutting away proficiently and disintegrating it.

'OH! What a tragedy! Whatever will we do now that our combined attack had been countered? How shall we finish our mission when facing such impossible odds? What will-,'

Yumeka, who had finally had enough of overdone sarcasm and exaggerated drama for one day, although considering who she spent time with, she should be absolutely thankful for one hour, put a finger Midori's lips, at the same time sending a warning glance at Chidori, 'Alright you lot. Since that failed, we wait for the fallout to settle and then we get back in there to finish this,' her piercing turquoise gaze, a dramatic change from the usual kind warmth, locked on each of the others, 'No more fooling around, get serious for once,'

'Yes sir,' the twins, Yumi, and Hana all nodded respectfully at the older woman . . . although at the same time they were hiding grins and resisting the urge to poke someone.

Raku shrugged lazily before standing up and stretching, 'You're very right, Yumeka,' his serious expression slipped intentionally for a moment, revealing his slight smile, before he scowled, 'Hey Yumi, didn't you mention something about wanting to go home sometime in the near future?'

Wrapping her arms around the young man's waist and squeezing so tightly that the average human in the World of the Living would have had a few broken ribs and lost the ability to breathe, the white haired woman chuckled slightly, 'Yeah, I did. Sooner rather than later, too,'

'We agree,' sighing in an uncharacteristically tranquil way, the twins blinked blue eyes in unison, 'You know, this is quite unlike any fight we've ever been in. I mean, we seem to have enough time to talk and argue and laugh, even though we're in the middle of a battle. It's rather nice not to be so rushed, but I'm not sure that lot down there understand the delay,'

No one could withhold their laughter at the teenagers' curious remarks.

'Not enough!' whirling around, Likara locked her gaze on Hisagi as he headed over towards them again, 'Turn around and move back over here! There's no more time and the fallout is going to hit the perimeter which is where you just took everyone . . . most unfortunately!'

Tōshirō gazed curiously at the Third Division captain before he flicked his darkened teal gaze up at the sky once more. Although everything seemed a little unusual, almost like time was resting and therefore everything seemed slower than it actually was, or should be . . . the danger of what might happen still loomed over them, almost literally, like a frightening cloud.

They knew that he and Likara were targets, but the reason for that was practically unknown. From what the blue haired woman had said, the whole group was from the Realm of Truth, although whether or not that included Mika and Miku, he didn't know. Anyhow, considering that, each of that mismatched bunch would have been in the Realm when he and Likara were.

The thought was, quite frankly, more than slightly uncomfortable and most certainly . . . disturbing.

Sensing a change in the atmosphere, the white haired captain turned and felt his eyes widen slightly as the remnants of that terribly powerful wave of pure energy slammed into the ground with astonishing force, although the earth of the Sogyoku Hill showed no sign that it had ever been impacted on. The forms of Lieutenants, Seated Officers, and a single white haired captain flew outwards, forced from the ground by the shockwaves still emanating from the place that the blast first hit. How it could still be so powerful . . . the thought of what it would have been like had they not broken its strength apart in the way they did.

'Ukitake!' both the Captain of the Eighth Division and Kuchiki Rukia shouted out and they rushed forwards in unison, grasping a hold of the now very unwell man before he hit the dry soil. Neither of them spared the other a second glance before attempting to revive the captain.

'Captain Ukitake,' Rukia clasped the pale man's hands, shivering uncontrollably as she felt how cold and sweaty they were, 'I'll take you to Captain Unohana, just hand in there, will you? Please, sir . . .' anger filled her tone suddenly, although her voice trembled briefly, 'You weren't even well! How come you didn't leave immediately with Unohana! How come you tried to fight?' she raised a hand as if she was going to punch the unconscious man, 'How come you still tried to fight, captain?'

'Kuchiki-,' Kyoraku reached out to the petite shinigami, only to receive the punch meant for Jūshirō right on his jaw, '. . . ow . . .' he straightened and took a couple of paces back, to get out of range.

'Rukia!' Renji's shout suddenly ripped through the air as the red headed Lieutenant pulled himself to his feet, making a few dazed Officers jump and Matsumoto gasp loudly, 'Look out!'

Violet eyes hardening and lips forming a firm line, Rukia leapt to her feet after placing Ukitake down properly. Turning, she drew Sode no Shirayuki in a fluid movement and, in a blind rage, she leapt forwards, blade clashing with Yumi's in a fierce clash of ice and ocean.

Watching the whole event impassively, Likara happened to catch sight of Byakuya out of the corner of her eye. Perhaps due to the fact that she was repeating her internal debate about Tōshirō and her emotions in her head at that moment, but for some reason she could clearly see that he was worried about his sister-in-law but was unable to think of what to do.

Feeling almost like she was in another world, one where she was in the nobleman's position and Tōshirō was the one in danger, the young captain took a few, uncertain steps forwards, her gaze never shifting from Rukia and Yumi, before disappearing with shunpo.

Rukia's deep violet eyes burned with a cold fire, her black hair a dramatic contrast to her pale skin. Her faintly scarred hands shifted on the pure white hilt of her zanpakutō as she attacked the white haired woman, Yumi, relentlessly. There was no coherent thought in her head at all.

'My, my, is something wrong?' Yumi shook her head slightly, wondering whether or not she should use one of her zanpakutō's techniques to quickly rid herself of this enraged girl. However, since her opponent wasn't using any techniques of her own, her abilities to reflect or absorb attacks wouldn't be effective at all. It really was the worst of shames . . .

'You used to be in the Sixth Division,' Rukia's voice was as cold as her reiatsu, if not more biting, the furious anger barely hidden behind her icy mask, 'I thought someone from the Sixth Division would have had more pride,' she wasn't shouting but her words seemed to run through the air on invisible threads, creating a more deadly sound than any scream, 'How . . . darkly amusing, I suppose, to see someone like you fall so, so low,'

'Well,' Yumi's voice was sweet in a chilly and distant way, the young woman instinctively falling back on the personality she had assumed after . . . that incident, because of the confronting way Rukia was speaking, 'I'm glad you find humour in something as serious and terrible as the fatal wounding of your captain,'

'Fatal?' there was a hint of disbelief in the petite shinigami's tone, 'Are you seriously saying you think something like that would kill Captain Ukitake? You have got to be kidding me,'

For a moment, Yamato Yumi really, really wanted to throw her zanpakutō away and slap this piece of shinigami trash across the face with all the force she could pull together.

The golden eyed woman was about to send a kick flying Rukia's way, intending to distract the shinigami before slashing her chest, when a dragon of freezing water slammed into her, driving her through the air and then making her spiral downwards, slamming into the ground, massive jaws pinning her there until its entire body burst apart in a rain of ice water, 'U-urgh,'

Pain racked her whole body and Yumi felt like the cold was seeping into her limbs, making her want to shiver, except even that caused further agony to run through her aching form. She probably had some broken bones, badly bruised definitely, and she was soaked to the skin.

Trying to raise a shaking hand to brush aside the pure white hair which had been plastered to her face with the freezing water, the water she knew came from the girl-captain's zanpakutō, the young woman unintentionally let out a sharp breath, the sound almost an agonized moan but far too insubstantial to even be called that, H-how pathetic. I can't even . . . move to defend myself anymore. I wonder if R-raku and the others will . . . avenge my fall.

'Yumi!' the scream was shattering, a piercing sound that smashed through the air and made Kira cringe. Seconds later, Hana appeared by the white haired woman's still form, blood clearly seeping through her makeshift bandage, the crimson nothing compared to the burn in her red eyes.

People who hurt the former Arrancar's friends usually didn't live to regret it. That, or they were so badly beaten up that dying would've been a far more appealing alternative to living.

As the others from the Realm of Truth appeared around the pair, their shunpo apparently flawless, even the green haired twins', the shinigami readied themselves for the final strike against these intruders. It was clear that the enemy had been severely weakened, if only psychologically by the injury of that single young woman, so while they were uncollected, it was the perfect opportunity for the last fatal strikes. It had to end sometime, didn't it?

Likara found herself turned towards Tōshirō, still not allowing herself to register how much her thoughts were focused on him and everything around him, and she met his dark turquoise gaze with her own bright ones. A silent message of understanding passed through that stare and the black and silver haired captain raised Tatsumaki MitsuRyu and her wings shifted slightly. Her thoughts shifted to when she'd looked at herself in a polished panel of crystal while in Bankai, and she'd seen how those same wings bonded onto the birthmark on her back, the silver white standing out against the black and the thin line of intense turquoise.

'MitsuRyu,' her voice was inaudible to all but herself and the spirit of her zanpakutō, 'Don't fail me now, alright? I trust you with everything, remember that, even my life. Now . . . go,'

As the silver bladed katana sliced through the air, the watery dragon flowed effortlessly from the tip, snaking its way high above the heads of the gathered shinigami to twist around the almost identical ice serpent already there. The dragon pair turned their great eyes upon the comparatively small figures standing down below, weapons drawn but not raised.

They seemed like tree sparrows, the type often seen around Japan, with Karakura Town being no exception . . . so small and powerless looking against the great force of a wild gust of wind, or the onslaught of a downpour when there's nowhere to fly and hide.

The two young shinigami captains slashed their katanas downwards in the air.

Both dragons reacted immediately, turning downwards and spiralling around each other with faster and faster movements, blurring into what seemed to be a single entity.

There was a resounding but broken echo as the reiatsu formed serpents smashed into the ground, bodies breaking apart in a wave of water and jagged splinters of ice. The shockwaves of energy released from the impact lifted the former shinigami and Arrancar off of their feet and sent them flying away, tumbling and crashing into the ground, the circumference of their previously tight circle suddenly made wider.

The fight was over, it seemed, because not one of those from the Realm of Truth rose to attack again.

'M-midori,' Chidori's voice was the barest of whispers, and every breath she drew into her chest caused pain to resonate through her whole body, 'Are you there? I can't see you,'

'I'm here,' both of them had been tossed away together, like everyone else, but they'd landed the closest together. Midori pulled herself across the ground, very carefully, wincing as she went, and she took her sister's cold hand, 'Don't worry at all, I'm right here with you,'

'Are we going to die? We lost, didn't we,' fingers curling around those of her twin, the teenager smiled weakly, the expression lighting up her face, showing just how much she was never going to lose her cheerful optimism, even in the face of her second death, 'Ow,'

'Ow indeed,' the other blue eyed girl chuckled breathlessly, trying not to move much because of all the broken bones she could feel in her body, 'But I don't think we'll die, I'm sure we'll all get out of this just fine. After all, we made a promise even before going out into the Rukongai, didn't we?' her sister nodded, blinking as she tried to see through the copious amounts of blood running into her eyes, 'We're all going to get home, no matter what,'

Midori, however broken her own body might be, was worried about her sister more. Even though it didn't look like Chidori had any broken bones, not that she'd escaped severe bruising, there was blood welling up constantly from somewhere beneath the teenager's sea green hair. That same wound was causing the crimson liquid to run into the girl's eyes, temporarily blinding her, hence the reason she hadn't been able to see her sister.

Drawing herself closer to her twin, Midori tucked her legs up too so that their bodies, facing each other, were almost perfectly identical. She brushed aside the stray strands of Chidori's hair and then rested their foreheads together, imitating the position that they'd assumed many times after first becoming shinigami, when everything was still frightening and they'd jumped at the slightest of noises. Growing up in one of the Rukongai's toughest Districts sometimes caused irreparable damage, and it hadn't even been a number over seventy-five.

'Don't worry, if we always keep thinking positively, then there's no way we can just give up. So don't you run away from me, and I won't run away from you. Sisters are meant to support each other, although I'm sure that's not actually what happens in at least half of the cases, so we won't ever give up hope, right Chidori?' the teenager ignored the ache of her broken bones and focuses solely on making sure her twin was listening to her every word.

Sure there were times when she knew Chidori wanted to tell her to 'shut up', especially when she was babbling on about Hana, Raku, Yumi, or the other twins, Mika and Mika – Yumeka was a topic no one ever broached while chattering random gossip . . . there was no chance they'd get away with it without suffering some great injury, end of story – but they always had each other's backs and they were always there to support everyone together.

Thinking positively even when they could easily both die . . . it was just who they were.

'You're right, as usual,' the other girl smiled again and relaxed her tight grip of her sister's hands, 'So I'm not going to give up or give into pessimism, Midori . . . we'll leave that to Miku,'

'He's not actually pessimistic, just . . . extremely seriously ninety-nine per cent of the time,'

'. . . Whatever,'

Mika appeared beside his brother in the air above the shinigami and he gestured to the fallen bodies of their boss' allies, 'What do you think? You're the one who makes up the in-battle plans. Is this a failure or a half-success?' he paused before adding, 'None of them are dead. Yumi probably has the worst injuries, followed by Hana and Chidori. The others are just winded, bruised, or suffering from a couple of broken bones. It's nothing too serious, but still . . .'

'And it's kind of sad, but none of those shinigami look at all remorseful,' Miku turned his crimson gaze to where the group stood, checking over their own wounded, 'And they have completely let their guard down, funnily enough,' as usual, despite his words, there was not even the slightest hint of humour in his tone, 'They struck down the others when they had their guard down, looking at the extent of Yumi's injuries. It's only fair we do the same,'

'Agreed,'

Both of them raised their steady hands and materialised their weapons with a deadly gleam in their blood red eyes.

Author's Note:

This took longer to write out than I thought, my apologies. And it's not just this chapter, but this entire battle scene! I really didn't expect it to go on for so long . . . And it's not even full on action or anything majorly fast and constantly epic like that . . . my bad. Sorry!

Ah well, Likara and Toshiro worked together willingly for once, which was rather nice, albeit unusual . . . poor Ukitake, because he was sick and then got hurt by the fallout as well, and Rukia, because she feels hurt because of what happened to her captain . . . poor Kyoraku, because he was punched in the face and everyone knows how powerful Rukia's punches are . . . and those guys from the Realm of Truth have had a seriously bad time this chapter, haven't they? I mean, all of them are either unconscious or too badly wounded to move right now . . .
Actually, I'm pretty certain Raku isn't that badly hurt at all - maybe some bruises or cuts from the ice, but nothing serious - but he won't fight anymore because he'll be looking after Yumi for sure.

Continuing along that line of thought, I think I should have written the Midori and Chidori part with the focus on Yumi and Raku instead . . . I really, really do. Of course it would have been almost completely different, because they have different pasts, but I think a scene between that pair would have been more fitting. I'm sorry!
Still, I also thought it would be a good way to elaborate on the twins' personalities (the green haired ones, not Mika and Miku) and to show how optimistic and close they are. Even if Midori annoys Chidori by chattering on about everyone else, except Yumeka, they still come across as being close.

Okay! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!