A Time Not So Remembered

Chapter 35

Learning to Fight Back PT. 1

(A/N Sorry, for the long wait and such. School, man, I'll tell ya… I also had no computer for quite a while. I mean no computer what so ever. But I do have it now as you see. This chapter had been sitting dormant for a long while and I do apologize for that. This chapter I hope to bring a little more of Toshiro back to his former self. I hope you enjoy it. It's going to be a bit short. I'm sorry about that. I know you think it should be long but it's not. I wanted to get something out so you know it isn't dead.)

SOUNDS/sounds

Thoughts

Telepathy/Disembodied voices

(Last Time)

"So you're going to stand up for him, youkai?" the Shinigami off to the right retorted, pulling out his Zanpakuto. "I'm surprised you haven't considered him to be food or something like that."

This was not a good move. How dare he even joke about that! Sesshoumaru pulled Tokijin from his waist and got ready to attack. The other three Shinigami quickly did the same. Toshiro pulled Hyorinmaru from his back but knew he couldn't use him like he should.

"Jaken, take Rin and leave," Sesshoumaru ordered clearly.

"Y-yes, milord," Jaken quickly bowed and pulled on the reins of the dragon.

With them out of the way things will work out better. Toshiro could only rely on his sword skill. Hopefully, that would be enough. He doubt if he should even use his one kido spell as well. Toshiro didn't know if he was really ready for this. Grant it he fought back against Abarai and Kurosaki but they weren't trying to actually hurt him and he was also using a released Hyorinmaru. Here, right now, he couldn't do that and his opponents weren't friendly. That made a big difference. He just had to have faith in his most basic of skills. Maybe, just maybe a fight like this could make him remember.

(Present Time)

Toshiro waited to see who would make the first move. Would it be the three Shinigami or would it be Sesshoumaru? He didn't want to make a stupid move. Sesshoumaru had been teaching him sword art and most of it came to him like second nature but Sesshoumaru no matter how hard he pushed never had any killing intent. Right now, there was a killing intent and Toshiro would be lying if he said he wasn't worried.

"What the matter, boy? You look nervous," the leader spat, eying Toshiro.

"Get ready," Sesshoumaru said in low voice.

Toshiro took in a deep breath when the leader went straight for Sesshoumaru first. The left him with the two other Shinigami. They came at him fast, real fast! He barely had time to dodge both blades. This was going to be tricky. He needed distance an try to handle one of them at a time if that was possible. This was going to hard not using Hyorinmaru. This was stupid. Honestly, if could just use his zanpakuto like he was supposed to this be a lot simpler.

"C'mer you little freak," one them snapped bring the blade down towards Toshiro.

Toshiro quickly knocked it back only to meet the blade of the other Shinigami. This wasn't going to end well unless he could isolate them. He briefly looked over to Sesshoumaru and the troupe leader. They seemed to be on par with each other. Their movements were fluid and well-seasoned. Now if only he could be like that.

Toshiro ducked again. His small stature was a blessing but he wasn't going to keep risking his luck. So far they hadn't released their own zanpakuto. Maybe they didn't feel like he was worthy enough or something. This was getting tricky now as they came at him harder. He was doing more blocking and dodging that actual fighting. He needed to come off of defense at some point. He knew he could do much better than this. He just needed to get his act in gear.

He needed a plan. He was smart. He could figure this out and fight back. First of all everyone had a different fighting style. He needed to look for that opening but which one had the most openings. If nothing else the blocking and dodging gave him the time he needed to study their moves. Out of the two the shorter one seemed to have the most openings. He was a little more forward with his attacks. Alright, he could do this. He just had to time it just right.

Toshiro avoided the taller of the men and when the shorter one went to make his move… Toshiro slashed along the man's side. He felt the blade make contact as it ripped open the man. That actually worked but Toshiro didn't know how deep the blade went. It may have only been scratch. He quickly readied himself for the next attack but it didn't come. The seemed to be in surprise that he actually managed to get one of them.

"That settles it. There is something odd about the blade," the short one said, putting a hand on his bleeding side. "Kid, you're dead."

"I'd like you make it so," Toshiro smirked at them. "You already tried once and failed."

"You are a fool, kid," the taller Shinigami spat as he suddenly vanished.

Shun-po! Turn around! NOW!

Toshiro didn't argue and quickly turned just catching the attacking blade with his own. That was close. Too close. The short one quickly attacked him in the same fashion and Toshiro barely caught that one. They paused and looked at each other. He could counteract Shun-po? Who, or better yet, what was this child? Toshiro was ready for another attack. They were fast but he could still see them. They seemed a bit stumped that he could read them.

"Damn you," the taller one bit out holding his zanpakuto out at Toshiro. "What are you? No human could see us move like that!"

"That's none of your concern," Toshiro replied sharply.

"I'm getting real tired of you," the shorter one snapped. "Akito, let's really give this little bastard a lesson."

"Gladly, Satoshi," Akito grinned at his friend. "Sing to the stars, Hibiki!"

The zanpakuto quickly morphed into strange trident shaped weapon. It seemed to be humming with a strange resonance. In fact it made Toshiro's ears ring a bit. He didn't like where this was going. He took a couple of steps back. He looked down at Hyorinmaru. He could really use the strength of his zanpakuto right now.

"Let's see how you do against my Hibiki," Akito boasted, moving steadily towards Toshiro. "That worthless hunk of metal won't last 5 second against him."

I'm more resistant than he thinks. However, that is a sound based zanpakuto. Be extremely careful. Don't let it make direct contact with you.

Thanks for the warning but if you'd just let me use you—

No! Not yet! Figure out how he uses his shikai and work off of that.

Yeah, but…

Toshiro barely managed to jump back in time to watch the trident slam into the hard dirt turning into a super fine sand in a 4 foot radius. That would be good reason not to touch it. What would it actually do flesh? Okay, that's one thing he learned. What else was there?

"Nice, my turn now," Satoshi said, holding up his zanpakuto. "Crack, Raiden!"

Satoshi's blade lengthened a bit and took on strange purple iridescent glow. Okay, so what was his ability? Given the name of the zanpakuto… Most likely some sort of electrical attack. The smell of ozone was thick in the air as Satoshi got ready to swing Raiden. This wasn't going to be good. It started to spark just before Satoshi released the attack. Sure enough of it was something akin to a lightning bolt.

The bolt hit the ground right at Toshiro's feet knocking him back and pelting him with chunks of the ground. Toshiro had barely opened his eyes to see Akito holding this zanpakuto right over head. Toshiro rolled out of the way with no time to spare as the trident reduced the ground to fine sand again. Toshiro quickly got to his feet and took a swing at Akito. Akito jumped back a bit, quickly lunging back at Toshiro with his weapon. Toshiro ducked and swung again clipping Akito in the right knee.

"What the hell is that blade?" Akito bit out, looking down at his knee. "Some sort of demon's blade?"

"Well, he certainly looks odd for a human," Satoshi added, getting ready to swing his blade again. "But his spirit ribbon reads white. If he was a demon it would be black."

"Yeah, even a half breed's is black," Akito snorted, eying Toshiro. "A human couldn't even use a demon's blade without it corrupting the wielder."

This wasn't good. Now they really knew something was different about him other than being to see them. What now? Toshiro was ready for another attack. Akito would most likely move slower now that his knee was hit but it didn't seem to really affect him too much. So the cut must have been shallow. There was cracking sound and a flash of light. One of the bolts made contact with him and knocked him back. He got too focused on Akito and neglected the other one. To his surprise nothing hurt but he was tossed along the ground. That bolt had made direct contact with him, so how come he…? That's right! He looked down at the red charm on his wrist. That was twice that charmed worked. It would only last one more time for him. He had better save it.

"How the hell are you still moving after that?" Satoshi gawked at the boy as Toshiro got back to his feet and faced them. "That was a clear, direct hit! I know it was!"

"I'm just lucky, I guess," Toshiro smirked, spitting a little dirt out of his mouth. "I can tell you, though, that won't happen again!"

"Cocky little fool," Satoshi bit back, raising his blade again. "You're really going to get it now!"

"You really are a little freak, aren't you?" Akito snorted bitterly, also pointing his weapon at Toshiro. "What are you really, boy? That should have been enough of a jolt to have stopped your heart! You don't even have a scorch mark on you!"

"What? Hey, you're, right…," Satoshi stared on in surprise at the boy and then back at zanpakuto and then back at the boy. "There's not even a single scorch mark on you from my Raiden!"

Toshiro smirked and shrugged at the two men. That little gesture really seemed to really ruffle their feathers. Toshiro got back into a fighting stance. He thought about what learned fighting these two. Well, so far he noticed that Akito's Hibiki was better suited for close-range attacks. However, Satoshi's Raiden seemed to be good at long-range attacks, but also given the nature of Raiden, it might also be good at close-range as well. Only why to find out was the test the theory and Toshiro wasn't really looking forward to it. He would just have to treat the zanpakuto as both long and short-range. That was going to be tricky.

You figured out the basics. Now, the one to go after first would be Satoshi. Given that he can strike you out your range he will be your biggest threat. Getting rid of him first is your best choice.

Yes, of course. Is there anything I can do to get me in close to him? I'm one of them myself so there has to be something I can use to counter them, right?

Hmm… Not really. Your physical body, although more advanced than that an average human's, is still physical body and has restrictions put on it. You're fighting instincts are still intact but a bit rusty.

Thanks a lot! Toshiro snapped at Hyorinmaru as he jumped back from an attack by Akito. Damn it! Let me use you even just for a little bit! I think I know what I can do!

Toshiro ducked as Akito took another quickly at him. Satoshi quickly followed with a quick slash at Toshiro's middle. It burned into fabric of his haori but didn't make contact with his skin, thank goodness. He knew how to get rid of Satoshi but it will be impossible without Hyorinmaru's help. He knew he could summon his zanpakuto without its permission but he knew Hyorinmaru would be furious with him afterwards and he would also blow his clover. At this point Toshiro wanted to really see what he could do. He was tired of ducking and dodging these two.

Hyorinmaru was an ice type therefore he was water; a great conductor of electricity. That he could surely use to his advantage in this fight. He was tired of this fight as well. He had to end it and pussyfooting around like this wasn't doing anything to aid him. He had had enough. Everything be damned at this point. He looked up to see Akito bringing down his trident at him.

"Let's see how resilient you really are," Toshiro muttered to Hyorinmaru and brought the blade up to meet the other zanpakuto. I'm sorry, Hyorinmaru, but I can't keep holding back!

Both weapons made hard contact with each other. Toshiro pushed back with all the strength his tiny frame at to offer. Akito looked on in shock. Hibiki could not cut through the boy's blade. He could hear it humming with vibrations but it wasn't dissolving. How could that be? The only thing that could stand up to Hibiki was another zanpakuto.

"That's can't be," Akito chocked out, pulling back as Satoshi took his place in assaulting the boy. "Hibiki, couldn't cut through that blade! But the only way that could happen… No… It couldn't be!"

Akito watched at Toshiro and Satoshi continued to fight on. He then looked at his zanpakuto wide eyed. The boy was wielding a zanpakuto? How? He was human, right? He had to be! His spirit ribbon was white not red! The more the thought on it things were coming together and the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. That wasn't a human child they were fighting. A living shinigami? How can this be? But it was there, just the same, before his eyes.

"SATOSHI! STOP!" Akito yelled at his teammate to stop his assault on the boy. "STOP IT! THAT BOY ISN'T HUMAN!"

"Not now, Akito!" Satoshi bit back getting the boy close to large tree to corner him. "I got you know, you little brat."

"I wouldn't count on it," Toshiro leered at the man, holding Hyorinmaru out in front of him. "I'm not going to go down so easily."

"Brave words for a dead boy," Satoshi smirked, charging up for his final attack.

"You're correct on that fact," Toshiro replied in a sarcastic tone. "Technically I am a dead boy."

"What?" Satoshi retorted, eying the boy oddly.

"Satoshi, get back, right now" Akito ordered again running towards his friend. "Listen to me that boy is a—"

"Sit upon the frozen heavens," Toshiro called out as Satoshi looked a little lost. "HYORINMARU!"

The weather around them suddenly darkened and cracked with thunder and lighting. Satoshi quickly took notice that the blade in boy's hands had changed. It was a little long longer now and the end of the sword now sported a long chain and crescent shaped blade. It couldn't be! That was a zanpakuto that boy was using! That was impossible! Akito quickly stood beside his teammate ready to fight the boy again. He looked a little weary, however, as did Satoshi.

"Now I have no problems fighting back! I'm tired of not being able to fight back," Toshiro bit at them as a thick icy fog stated to surround them. "Thanks you to all of you I can't remember who I am or where I come from! My earliest memories are of you kidnapping that woman and attacking me! This ends here and now!"

The fog was so thick that visibility was no more a few feet in front of them. The boy was gone and sun had pretty much set and the clouds above didn't help either. They listened for any sound around them. The air was heavy and silent. Silent? Wasn't their group leader fighting that youkai? This couldn't be good. They couldn't pick up their boss's energy. It wasn't there any longer. This couldn't be good. When did the demon dispatch their commander? Was the demon lurking just out of their vision?

Whatever was going on it wasn't good. They knew the boy was there but the fog was thick with his own energy that they couldn't pinpoint him well. They quickly got back to back so that neither the boy or the youkai could sneak up on them. The air was so cold despite it being the height of summer. It felt like winter had just drop down on them clear out of the blue. For all they knew it could have. This wasn't looking good at all.

"Damn it, what's going with that brat?" Satoshi bit out, looking over his shoulder at his friend. "Was that really a zanpakuto he was wielding?"

"Yeah, it was. I tried to warn you," Akito replied sharply. "I put it together when Hibiki couldn't cut through his sword."

"Wonderful, now we have no idea where he is or that youkai either," Satoshi grumbled, turning back around to face forward. "I don't get it. How can he be in a physical body? I mean someone's working on that concept right now but it's nothing more theory, right?"

"I thought so too but then how can he…?" Akito trailed off seeing faint showdown move out of the corner of his eye. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Satoshi said quickly.

"This fog is really getting me," Akito grumbled, rubbing his eyes. "Come out, kid! Stop this hiding and fight us! That's what you wanted to do, right? Then do so!"

(A/N Yeah, short like I said. I'm getting tired and my brain hurts. I'll leave this here. I hope it was somewhat enjoyable. I'm working on a school movie right now. I'm acting this weekend but my main purpose on the movie is doing makeup and wardrobe. So tiring. Laterz! Please review!)

Millie M. Banshee