Chapter 29

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A week went by quietly. It had been a long time since things had seemed so peaceful. Yuki lay alone in her room. The others had spent the entire day there with her, so Ryuuken decided that she should probably rest alone for the night. Crickets chirped loudly outside her open window. A cool breeze flowed through the room.

A bright green leaf flowed into the room in the full moonlight, landing on her cheek. She slowly reached up and brushed it off. It floated down, landing on her pillow in front of her face. She slowly blinked her eyes open, locking her eyes on the leaf. It was radiating a faint Reiatsu. She picked it up and a powerful jolt of Reiatsu flowed through her entire body,

"Jaku…Weiss…" She whispered, "…You're taunting me…" She crushed the leaf in her hand, it disintegrated, "I'm coming for you…"

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Hisagi slept in his room, Ayako dozed in a chair, her feet resting on his bed. Hisagi suddenly bolted upright,
"Taichou!"

Ayako slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes, "Eh…? What's going on…?" She asked groggily.

"Yuki-Taichou…Something's wrong…"

He started to get up, but was in obvious pain. Ayako stopped him,

"I'll go check, you just rest."

He wanted to protest, but she was already out the door before she could say anything.

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Ayako walked down the hall to Yuki's room. She put her hand on the door handle, but hesitated to open it, afraid of what she might find on the other side. After a couple moments she took a deep breath, and went inside. She dropped to her knees as soon as she walked in the door,

"Gone…"

Hisagi walked up behind her, "I knew it…"

She looked up at him, "What?"

"The second she was able to move…She went after him…"

Ayako sighed, "What a troublesome Taichou…"

Hisagi turned, "She's just stubborn…But it's that Stubbornness that might kill her someday…" He paused, "But it won't be today…Let's go, we have to find her."

Ayako nodded, "Yes, sir!"

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Yuki made her way through the streets of Karakura. She had to take special care to walk properly, she knew if she tripped, she wouldn't be able to get back onto her feet.

She'd just passed the park when she noticed she was being followed. She stopped and grabbed Korihoshi's hilt,

"Abarai! Kurosaki! I suggest you stop following me…"

Ichigo came out from the shadows, and Renji jumped down from a nearby tree,

"You should go back to the Hospital!" Ichigo called, "You're not recovered nearly enough to be on your feet!"

She turned, facing them, "You should just go home…"

Renji took a step forward, "We can't do that."

Her eyes narrowed, "I don't want to have to hurt you two…" She growled, "But I will if you insist on pursuing me…"

"We're not going anywhere without you." Ichigo answered.

She sighed, "Very well…"

She pulled out Korihoshi and held it up above her head,

"I'm sorry about this…"

She swung it down with such force they were thrown back. They slid across the ground and back through a nearby building.

They staggered back to their feet to find the entire park covered in a thick layer of ice, a light, cold mist floated on the air. Yuki was gone,

"DAMN!" Ichigo Exclaimed.

He took a step forward, and something sharp skewered his shoulder. He looked down to find a long, sharp ice spike lodged there. He squinted around, and could see a few shining here and there, but could tell the whole place was full of them,

"Looks like we're stuck here for now." Renji said, anger beginning to rise in his voice.

"AHHHH! YUKI!DAMN YOU!" Ichigo yelled.

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Yuki eventually made it to the grave site near Ichigo's house. A loud hiss suddenly filled the air,

"You finally made it."

Yuki smirked, "You don't think I would've passed this up do you?"

Jaku stepped out into the moonlight. He was hunched over, his axe dragging on the ground. His wounds bleeding heavily,

"You don't look so good." She taunted.

"Funny…I was about to say the same thing about you."

She rested Korihoshi on her shoulder, "Should we start this? They'll be coming to find me soon."

He tilted his head to the side, amused, "Sounds good to me."

Yuki brought her sword down, and was gone, Jaku followed.

After a few seconds of slashing at eachother, they wound up in a deadlock,

"You're gonna die here." Jaku growled.

Yuki smirked, "I think not."

Suddenly her Reiatsu skyrocketed. The sheer pressure of it knocked Jaku back, and drove his axe into the ground. He put his arm up over his eyes to shield them from the flying dust.

A moment later, the pressure was gone. He put his arm down and looked up at her, letting out a tiny gasp. Yuki stood, towering over him. Her right eye now glowed red, a catslit pupil,

"Rrrrr…" She growled, "I'm tired of you…" She pointed Korihoshi at him, "You've done enough damage…"

Jaku stood, "Go ahead and try me…"

She dashed at him, but he was gone before she even got to him,

"You're open…" Jaku's voice echoed in her ear. She turned just in time for Jaku's axe to tear into her left shoulder.

She stumbled backward her hand over the new wound, a look of total shock on her face,

"How…?"

"After our last fight, it was pretty obvious…" He was suddenly right in front of her, moving her hair out of her face, "…You're blind on your left." He made a little painful sound, "Ouch…look at that scar…"

She glared, "RAAAAAHHHH!"

Her Reiatsu once again exploded and she slammed her hand into his chest. He flew backward, breaking down several gravestones.

He got unsteadily back to his feet, blood now running down his face. He looked around him at all the broken stones, "…That's bad luck you know…"

He looked over at her, through the blood falling in front of his eyes. She held her blade toward him once more,

"Go…Korihoshi…"

He began to back up as ice began to form at the end of the blade,

"No…This can't happen…"

A gigantic ice cat head formed, then suddenly flew at him, giving him no time to move out of the way,

"NOO!"

It slammed into him, full force, freezing him into an enormous ice tower. She slashed her sword downward and the tower shattered into a million tiny pieces, filling the air with a cold mist. Nothing but that remained. She smirked,

"Farewell…Jaku Weiss…"

As the adrenaline from the battle began to wear off, the pain from her wounds overwhelmed her. She dropped Korihoshi on to the ground with a loud Clang and grabbed her shoulder,

"Ugh…Bastard…"

She fell forward, unconsious.

Ichigo ran up to her from watching the fight on the sidelines. He knelt next to her, his robes torn up and his body full of small, deep cuts from Yuki's ice trap. He sighed as he looked down at her,

"Why must you be so stubborn…It's not like you've got to prove yourself to anyone…" He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, "You're gonna kill yourself you know…"

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Is Jaku dead for good? Who knows!

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