Chapter 28: Hollowfy
Kurayami watched Gin as he surveyed the battle below, her almost crimson eyes noting his every move. The silver haired man turned to her, narrowed eyes exposing nothing, and grin still constant.
'Aren't ya gonna attack me?' he mocked her faintly, fingers trailing over Shinso's hilt.
'You're not mine to kill,' she vanished from where she'd been standing, appearing behind him in an instant, 'If you were,' he barely drew his zanpakuto in time to block the would be killing strike of her hand, 'You'd already be dead,'
'That's kinda mean,' he jumped away from her, landing several metres back, 'I wasn't ready for an attack like that,'
Kurayami didn't reply, but her own eyes narrowed slightly.
'Gin!' Matsumoto's voice rung out seconds before a cloud of ash coated the grinning arrancar shinigami.
'Ya seem to have caught me, Rangiku,' his words were similar to when he, Tosen and Aizen had left the Soul Society to go to Hueco Mundo.
The Lieutenant didn't speak, she just pulled sharply on the hilt of her zanpakuto.
There was a splattering of blood and then the ash cleared, leaving a slashed Gin standing before them.
'Yer determination hasn't changed,' he raised a hand to his head, touched his bloodied face, 'But yer gonna have to do better than that,'
Gray and white pooled in his hand and a Hollow mask formed over his face. It covered only his left eye, reaching above his head slightly, and was shaped in a mix between a fox and a snake.
Instantly, any injury or tear to his clothing faded and then he let the mask dissipate.
'Ya gonna stand there all day?' Gin sounded faintly smug, 'Ya shouldn't give me opportunities like this,'
Once again Matsumoto found Shinso's blade shooting towards her, her eyes narrowed, 'Heineko!'
The ash spun round in front of her, stopping the strike. However, as Gin applied more pressure to the blade, the tip began to emerge. Rangiku's eyes widened as Heineko's ash blew apart. Jumping out of the way to avoid the strike, she used shunpo to retreat to where her captain was standing, near Kurayami.
'I'd say the force of his strike has increased,' Rangiku commented, knowing, from experience, just how hard Gin could press on his zanpakuto.
'It would have,' Kurayami spoke suddenly, 'After all, he's gained a new power now,'
'You could kill him easily, right?' Matsumoto was curious, after all, she'd seen how easily the black haired arrancar shinigami had got behind Gin.
'Kill him, yes. Easily, maybe not so much if he Hollowfies,' brown eyes met blue ones, 'But this isn't my fight. The duty of the Thirteen Protection Squads is to protect the Balance of Souls, and, as such, Ichimaru's elimination is necessary. I do not belong to any Division, and never have, so what right do I have to interfere with events in the Seireitei?' her gaze hardened, 'However, if we were in Hueco Mundo, I would not hesitate to kill him,'
'I see,' Rangiku wasn't sure anyone understood the extent of Kurayami's power. She'd obviously been a Vasto Lorde arrancar for longer than Gin, and her powers even as a shinigami seemed to be at an average captain's level, or even above.
'But will you fight him?' Toshiro asked after listening to the conversation silently, 'Fight Gin?'
'Of course,' the faintest trace of a smile touched her lips and even Matsumoto, self-obsessed as she could be, recognised how stunning the black haired girl would look if she actually finished the movement.
Toshiro turned to face Gin, shifting the focus of his attention, and drew Hyorinmaru.
Rukia sensed the reiatsu of both Captain Hitsugaya and Lieutenant Matsumoto surge and assumed that they'd begun fighting Gin. Her hands, clutched around the hilt of her katana, were shaking ever so slightly. Ichimaru had always terrified her with the way he talked, moved and his constant smile.
However, she couldn't let herself be distracted. Frowning, the shinigami ran another Hollow through, gaining a light scratch to her cheek as a result of her carelessness.
Ichigo spun around, 'Are you okay?'
Rukia, all fear forgotten, glared at the suddenly distracted substitute shinigami, 'I can't believe how low you've fallen, saviour of the world,' she smirked, 'Unless you're blind, you should be able to tell that that Hollow only scratched me!' she shouted the last two words.
'Hey! I was just being nice!' Ichigo protested, glaring right back.
'Nice?' Rukia half shrieked, completely forgetting the fact that Gin had led an army of Hollows to most probably destroy the Soul Society, and that they were in the middle of a battle.
'Yeah!' Ichigo had, apparently, forgotten too.
Looking over at the pair, Byakuya tried not to think about the consequences of such arguments.
If Kurosaki gets Rukia killed, he ran a Hollow through absently, Then I won't just be able to let the matter lie. That boy, well, you wouldn't guess he was instrumental in the Winter War. He seems to have developed a strange personality quirk that makes him, the stoic shinigami sniffed as he cut another Hollow in two, Unintelligent.
Thinking about it, Byakuya realised that Ichigo had never come across as being amazingly smart, although records stated that he got good grades at school, but he always seemed to manage to save the day. Also, he'd always argued with Rukia, and actions such as attacking Kurayami just because he'd thought she was going to attack Rukia, were common too.
I correct myself, two more Hollows greeted Senbonzakura's petal like blades, That has always been in his personality. It seems that, for some reason, it's just magnified a bit at the moment.
Still considering Ichigo and Rukia, Byakuya continued directing the deadly blades of his zanpakuto at the Hollows, finally coming face to face with an arrancar.
'Who wants to go first?' Gin grinned and leaned forward slightly, 'How 'bout Rangiku?'
The Lieutenant frowned but swung her zanpakuto's hilt, curling the ash around Gin again. Toshiro felt a sudden burst of reiatsu and every single particle of Heineko's blade was blown away.
'Hmm, maybe we'll get Hitsugaya to start,' Ichimaru stood straight and looked at the short captain, ignoring Matsumoto completely, 'Or this ain't gonna be hard at all,'
Rangiku glared at her old friend, furious of his casual dismissal of her abilities. As a captain, Gin had been more formal, but he was always as nice as someone with his distant personality could be, offering her some of the dried persimmons he made or remembering his birthday. But now, she wasn't sure what to think. Perhaps becoming a king of Hollows had warped his mind slightly, or maybe it was because of the brutal way Aizen had tried to kill him. Either way, she found it slightly easier to attack the man.
'C'mon,' Gin's tone was almost patronising, 'Ya don't wanna make me wait,'
Toshiro glared at him, turquoise eyes burning, 'Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyorinmaru,'
Immediately he swung the zanpakuto, sending an ice dragon hurtling towards Gin. As the silver haired man raised his blade to stop it, Toshiro used shunpo to get closer to him before swinging the chain attached to Hyorinmaru's hilt at him.
As Shinso shot towards the dragon, Gin raised his other hand and grasped the crescent on the end of the chain effortlessly, 'Ya shouldn't try the same thing twice,'
Toshiro turned abruptly, raising Hyorinmaru to block the extended blade of Shinso, 'Don't worry, it wasn't the same,'
Gin's grin lessened slightly as he tried to work out what had changed. As Toshiro jumped away from Shinso, he slashed the air with his zanpakuto. The ice that had begun falling when the dragon was destroyed immediately rose and shot towards the now definitely surprised Gin.
Shinso retracted instantly and the arrancar shinigami slashed away all the ice daggers.
'Impressive,' he commented, shaking ice from the now short blade.
'Gin,' Toshiro paused, looking at the man, 'When did you get arrancar powers?'
'A while after gettin' to Hueco Mundo,' Ichimaru grinned, 'Tosen got Hollow powers, so ya would expect Aizen to have given them to me too,' he tapped Shinso on his palm, 'Actually, he didn't. Aizen didn't know 'bout my Hollow powers,'
'What?' Toshiro's eyes widened in surprise and he stared.
'When Aizen tried to kill me,' Gin seemed completely relaxed, 'I had to wait 'til he left before Hollowfyin' and regeneratin',' he turned to Matsumoto, 'It was a good thing you left else I mightn't have had enough time left,'
'How could Aizen not know?' Matsumoto sounded shocked, and she tried not to think about Gin's last comment.
'Cause he was busy,' the simple comment had a strange ring of truth to it.
Kurayami suddenly appeared beside Gin, only a step away, she spoke impassively, 'Did you think no one knew about your Hollowfication?'
'Of course,' Gin's narrowed eyes opened ever so slightly, but this time the blue remained hidden, 'Why?'
'Actually,' Kurayami turned around and began walking towards Toshiro and Rangiku, 'I knew. I sensed the change in your reiatsu as soon as you gained that power,' she turned slightly, surveying him through the thicker hair over her left eye, 'Did you really think nobody would notice?'
Gin didn't speak, but Shinso extended in his hands.
Kurayami didn't even try to dodge, but it made no difference as, when the tip of the blade met her back, it stopped its path of extension.
Toshiro's eyes widened as he realised that, with her hierro and strength, she managed to stop Gin's blade without being pushed forwards one bit.
'Ichimaru,' turning, she grasped the blade with her hand, 'Did you develop your hierro?'
Shinso suddenly retracted and, due to Kurayami's hold on the blade, Gin was drawn forwards.
As the sealed Sode no Kurayuki pierced his stomach, Gin almost winced in pain, but knew that even an injury like this wouldn't kill him. He'd already seen the powers of high speed regeneration when the girl who'd just stabbed him had healed the massive would he'd dealt to her.
Kurayami slashed sideways and removed her blade from Ichimaru's body, flicking it clean and sheathing it. Rangiku noticed that not a single drop of blood fell onto her shihakusho.
Gin straightened and opened his eyes slightly, sclera going black and irises gray, as the wound healed seamlessly, 'Ya're one cruel kid,' he commented lightly, grin not faltering once.
Author's Note:
Bear with me . . . we're not finished yet
