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Murderer's Sword

"What the…?"

Soi Fong wasn't able to grasp what Tatsuki was doing; the technique was different… no, it just seemed different, but the fact was that her body was wrapped around spiritual pressure, and it was a very strong one. But why? She shouldn't know how to do that! Or so she thought, but Tatsuki did know and now she was concerned on how she passed from a defenseless girl to a respectable warrior; that was how much the look on her eyes changed.

"Yourichi also taught you shunko, uh?" Tatsuki asked.

"What?" Soi Fong asked "You shouldn't know that technique! I invented it!"

Tatsuki raised her left eyebrow; what did she mean she invented it? It didn't matter, because Soi Fong tried to take her by surprise, but her movement became quite clear to Tatsuki and so he grabbed her right wrist before it could reach the inked butterfly that lied in her skin.

"You became slower."

Tatsuki didn't realize that, in fact, she became faster. The spiritual pressure condensed in kidou around her body made her even faster than before, and so Soi Fong wasn't able to react when Tatsuki punched her in the face, and just when she was stepping backwards Tatsuki appeared behind her to kick her waist. Soi Fong flew backwards and crashed against a tree as Tatsuki stood strong.

"Did Yoruichi teach you that?" Soi Fong asked.

"She did." Tatsuki replied calmly "She taught me this technique so I could fight people like you… this is my first time using it in battle actually."

"You must be very confident to tell me something like that."

"I am." She said calmly "I can't afford to lose."

"Then why have you waited this long to kill me?" she asked smirking "Haven't you realized that words in battle are useless? Unless, of course, you want to earn some time."

Tatsuki came to a realization just too late; there was no reason for a cold blooded killer like her to start talking in the battlefield, and she just played her game, as she just merely wanted to earn a few seconds to do whatever she wanted to do. And so, as she was about to try knock her down, Soi Fong acted.

"Bankai!"

Soi Fong was protected by a explosion of spiritual pressure Tatsuki wasn't able to cut through, not even while focusing as many jolts as she could in a fast strike. She was forced to jump backwards and she stared at the bankai.

"Jakuho Raikoben."

It was a weird looking weapon the one she held on her hand, it was like a giant golden hornet held by a rocket launcher. Also she wore a steel sash under armor, so it didn't seem like she cared for speed that much anymore… not it was all on the attack now.

"I would have preferred not to use this."

Tatsuki was filled with fear as she thought those words would be the last she would ever hear, and so she thought the best would be to be ready to avoid an attack that she couldn't actually predict. But, when? Should she start running right back then? There was no way to be sure, what if that what she wanted?

"It's too flashy for an assassination."

Just then she realized that if she didn't move she would have died.

The hornet was shot and she ran faster than she ever did. She managed to dodge the core of the blast, but it was shot so fast that she couldn't avoid the rest of the steam that came from it. She covered herself on the jolt wings that her shunko made, and that would have been sufficient protection, but as she was not used using it the wings were overwhelmed by the blast and so her body was exposed.

She wasn't killed, but she was severely injured. Her body was badly hurt; there were bruises all along her body and some very nasty burns. She got very lucky considering that the whole forest now seemed a empty dessert; the trees and the grass left nothing but mere ashes around, ashes that even covered most of Tatsuki's badly beaten body. In the end the result was obvious: she lost. She wasn't ready and she was only so full of herself, so arrogant… she had no real battles so far, she was always shielded by Orihime and supported by Rukia… how was she supposed to stand her own feet?

At that realization she stood up; even while she had anything but little spiritual pressure left, even while her body seemed about to give up and her sight became blurry, she could not give up. There was too much on stake, and there were many people waiting for her, depending on her. And yet blood came out from her mouth and she fell on one knee as a exhausted- but not even close beaten up- Soi Fong walked towards her. The bankai disappeared, and there was only a simple zanpaktou left.

"I must praise your skills." Soi Fong said "No one has ever dodged nor survive to that blast. But I must also say that I don't use it that much. You've been a tough brat."

Tatsuki could see how the sword was pointing to her neck. She was going to be killed… but she wasn't going down without trying.

She stood up once again and took a defensive stance; her whole body seemed to be about to betray her and she fell as she felt the sword edge touching her neck. But she wasn't killed, and in fact the sword never made it to pierce it. A strong wind thrust Soi Fong back and Tatsuki's body. She was saved by luck.

Tatsuki managed to grab a lone branch that made it through the blast as Soi Fong was literally gone with the mighty wind.

"Tatsuki!"

That was Kon's voice, who happened to come flying along with the strong wind and grabbed on Tatsuki's ankle.

"What is going on?" Tatsuki asked.

"Hang in there!" Kon requested "I remembered this hell zone! If the wind gets you it will throw you into a hurricane so it was cut your body, then fix it and cut over million of times! You have to hold on tight or we are screwed!"

"Look at me!" Tatsuki yelled "Do I look like I can hold on for very long? Besides this branch is giving up too!"

"Just do it! If we don't we die! If we die here we become hell prisoners!"

"God dammit!" Tatsuki shouted "I don't think I'm going to make it!"

"JUST HANG ON, YOU PIECE OF…!"

Just when Kon was about to swear the wind suddenly stopped and Tatsuki finally let go as the branch broke into two pieces.

Tatsuki breathed in and out as she tried to think about what just happened. She got lucky; very, very lucky, because otherwise she would have been killed. How was she supposed to help Ichigo like this? She was beaten and now she realized that she wasn't strong enough.

"Anyway…" Kon said while sighing "What happened to you? I see you are badly injured, but if you are alive that means that you must have won."

"No…" Tatsuki said as a sad gaze covered her face "I actually lost… I was saved by that strong breeze."

"Well, that's what matters, right?" Kon said trying to cheer her up.

"How am I supposed to face Ichigo like this?"

"Hey, don't be so sad!" Kon interjected "So you lost… that happens, it doesn't mean you are weak. Besides, aren't you teaming up with nee-san and Orihime? You alone might not be able to do it, not even nee-san or Orihime might stand a chance… I would dare to say that the only option for you is to join forces."

That was the plan… all along… that wasn't what bothered Tatsuki. What really bothered her was the fact that she felt she was the weakest of the three of them. Both Orihime and Rukia had previous battle experience regarding spiritual battle, but Tatsuki had 0 real battle experience, just training.

Her defeat made her realize of her weakness. She gave Soi Fong too much time when she could have defeated her, she was being very naïve and she couldn't have that… and she still had to master shunko.

Her body was in a lot of pain, but she took it as a punishment for losing and smiled as she walked forward, ignoring the suffering each step was: those were the reminders of what was not mean to be repeated.

"Where to, Kon?" she asked as she struggled to keep walking.

"Are you sure you can walk?" he asked concerned

"I'm fine." Tatsuki replied smiling "This will only toughen me up, besides Orihime can heal me once we find her. Now, where to?"

Kon sighed as he took the lead.