...
"Doesn't matter who they are, I'll fuckin' kill 'em all."
When Hiori finally came to, everything was silent. It was not what Hiori had been expecting when she woke, since she was fairly certain that she had collapsed in an alleyway. Groaning loudly, she pushed herself up, only to realize that she was lying on a bed. Not her bed, but someone else's, since the bed was one that was completely unfamiliar. Hiori blanched.
She was in a stranger's bed.
Not wasting a moment, she leapt out from under the covers, scrambling away from the unfamiliar bed and pressing herself flush against the wall farthest from it. Allowing her breathing to settle, she suddenly found the her skin all over her left side tingled and stung, like she had suffered a severe burn of some sort. Hiori's heart fluttered in panic, briefly considering that maybe the technique that she had used to fight her Hollow in her Inner world had somehow affected her body in the human world. She quickly cast this thought aside, however, upon seeing her limp Gigai propped up in the corner of the room, looking thoroughly unharmed, if not somewhat lifeless.
"Ah." A deep, masculine voice interrupted her thoughts, and her head snapped to her head to her right. Her eyes settled on the owner of the strange voice, squinting to try and discern exactly what he looked like from where he stood in the shadows. "You're awake. That was quick, especially for you."
"Who are you?" Hiori blurted quickly, making sure to force any hint of fear in her voice out. The man 'tsk'ed, stepping forward and into the light so she could get a better look. No sooner had he come into view, Hiori's eyes widened to the size of saucers. Short gray hair, golden ear piercings, and light brown eyes... She knew exactly who this man was. This man was Kensei. "No... Way..." she whispered slowly, continuing to take his appearance in as slowly as possible. It was strange seeing him in front of her- She knew exactly who he was, and yet he was so unfamiliar. The many memories that she had of Kensei weren't really hers... They were Hollow's memories. As far as she was concerned, this man was a total stranger.
"How're you feeling?" he muttered, taking a step closer. Hiori flinched away without thinking, pressing her back even closer to the wall behind her. All she could assume was the it was Kensei who had brought her here... She just didn't understand why. "I'm not going to do anything to you, it's just..."
"Sorry," she murmured quickly, peering up from under her lashes to look at Kensei again. "It's just... I know who you are, but I don't really..." Kensei gave her a questioning look, and she sighed. She figured she should make memos or news letters or something, that way she wouldn't have to be constantly explaining herself to people that she came across who used to know her. "I lost my memories."
"I see," he replied thoughtfully, regarding Hiori with a mixture of confusion, worry and interest. The burning sensation on her skin increased, causing her to wince in pain. She wanted to look at herself and try to figure out just what it was causing it, but she couldn't really be distracted at the moment. "Urahara did mention to us that you may not remember when we left you... I guess that's better for you."
"... How's it better? If anything, it's makes things more difficult." Kensei let out a small, bitter laugh, running his fingers through his hair tiredly before he spoke.
"It's probably better for you if you don't remember the things you did."
"I remember now,"
"I don't think you remember everything," he replied quickly, eyeing her up once more. "Or you'd already be attacking me." With these words, Hiori recoiled. What exactly was he trying to suggest? That she was his enemy? Before she could question him any further, he gestured towards her body. "I tried to treat you before this happened, but I guess I didn't get to you in time."
Finally, Hiori looked down, and she had to bite her tongue to keep herself from yelping with surprise. Forgetting the fact that all she seemed to be wearing was her underwear, Hiori's eyes raked over her skin... Or, what had previously been skin. From her collar bone, all the way down to her toes, she found herself covered with what looked like pure white bone. She touched it slowly, hesitating briefly before finally placing her fingertips on it. It seemed that only her left side, at least, had been affected, but it was plenty reason for Hiori to begin to panic.
The strange exoskeleton covered everything from her neck to the toes of her left foot, though it cracked and had broken away in some places, exposing her skin. This was also the case with her hand and fingers, where the bone-like substance had chipped away, only leaving behind pieces that seemed to covered the places above where real bone was located beneath her skin, such as her knuckles. She continued to trace the strange covering, following it all the way up to the base of her jaw, where she stopped.
It was on her face as well.
Kensei gestured to a full length mirror on his left, and Hiori rushed over to it, not really giving a damn that she basically had no clothes on. Back in Soul Society, she was sure that Kensei had seen much more than this, so she figured that he could care less. Ignoring Kensei completely, Hiori stared into the mirror, gray eyes widening with horror as she took in the new appearance of her face.
Her left cheek bone was now covered with the white bone, and the rest that was connected to it looked almost like a mask. The white substance formed what appeared to be extremely sharp teeth, which covered her cheek and ended just before reaching her lips. Suddenly, something else caught her attention, and her eyes followed her new exoskeleton downwards to where her tattoo was which, surprisingly, seemed to have been engraved onto the white bone that now covered the left side of her ribcage. In the center of her tattoo was an enormous hole, through which she could see Kensei, who was standing behind her. Her lips quivered, and Hiori suddenly felt like screaming. She was exactly like them. She was an Arrancar.
"... What th... What the hell is this?" she whispered, tracing around the hole in her side with her fingernails. Kensei's expression flickered, and Hiori saw his hand twitch and get closer to her, but she drew back instantly. "What did you do to me? What is this?"
"I didn't do anything, I found you this way... Worse, actually, it's improved over the last couple hours," he explained, his eyes remaining as calm as possible. "I don't know how you got like this." Hiori bit her lip, guilt washing over her for blaming him so easily. After all, it seemed as though he had greatly improved her condition... Maybe it had been even worse than this beforehand. Her eyes softened as she continued to stare at her body in the mirror.
How had things ended up this way? When Jairo had said that she would be different when she woke up, this was the very last thing that she had been expecting. In fact, this hadn't even been on her list of things to expect. Kensei continued to watch her cautiously, as if she were about to go into a rampage and rip his head off at any moment. Both were silent for a long while, but finally Kensei spoke.
"You're not the same."
"No shit, I mean look at me!" she replied, tracing the mask of teeth that now covered her cheek.
"I mean... You're not like the Hiori I knew." he elaborated, his eyes traveling up her back and finally meeting her eyes in the mirror. "You're not even her anymore, are you?" Hiori paused, peering over her shoulder to meet Kensei's brown eyes. She shook her head slowly, and Kensei sighed.
"... This is too weird." he said monotonously, and Hiori let out a low, barking laugh in reply.
"You're telling me." she said. Suddenly feeling exposed, she glanced around the room, looking for something to put on. Kensei sighed, leaning towards a a table to his left and picking up some light colored cloth. Hiori took it, realizing that it was a pair of pants and a shirt. The top was a white turtle neck with long sleeves, though judging by the looks of it, it was just long enough to cover her ribcage. The pants were tan colored capris, which she slipped on first, and they ended just below her knees. It was covered with various pockets, zippers and strings, to the point where Hiori just thought it was unnecessarily excessive.
"You're so different, but you still call yourself by the same name?" he asked suddenly, and Hiori froze in the middle of putting on her shirt.
"What?"
"It's interesting," Kensei explained, glancing towards the bed and letting his eyes come to rest on Jairo, whose hilt glistened in the low light of the room. "Everything about you is different... It's just strange to me that you continue to go by the same name." Hiori said nothing, merely continued to stare at him as he turned to leave. She made to follow him, but she was stopped by his hand on her shoulder. "The rest of them don't know you're here. They can't know. I don't think they'd have let me bring you here in the first place... You can leave through the window. Here," He held out his hand once again, and she realized that he was holding a dark black hoodie made of cotton. She took it, nodding in thanks as he left.
Then she was alone yet again, her eyes staying on Kensei until he had closed the door and vanished from sight. Her breathing was uneven and shaky, and she once again found herself tracing her pure white exoskeleton unconsciously with her fingertips, shivering slightly as her fingers grazed the skin on her right side, which was completely untouched by the Hollow features that now covered almost the entire left side of her body.
"A new name..." she whispered quietly, once again staring at herself in the mirror. Slowly, she reached for her Zapakuto, holding the blade up to the light briefly. The bright silver edges gleamed, catching the low sunlight that filtered through the window. She held her breath, grabbing her hand in her fist. A loud ripping noise met her ears as she dragged her blade through her hair, lopping off her deep red hair up to her chin. "A new name..." she repeated, and then she leapt from the window, leaving behind her Gigai in Kensei's room.
She was an Arrancar... It just made absolutely no sense. As Hiori walked briskly over the rooftops of Karakura Town, she continued to tug desperately at the bone like plates covering her skin; Each time she did so, however, a searing pain ripped through her body. Pulling and prying was useless- It was like there was no more skin beneath the exoskeleton. It had now become a permanent part of her body, one way or another, and it didn't seem like there was any way to get rid of it. The most unsettling part to her, though, was the fact that there was an enormous hole in her side, a permanent reminder that she was and always would be partly Hollow.
She didn't know just how things had come to this. There was no clear explanation for what had happened to her- None that she could immediately think of, anyways. Sighing heavily, she slumped onto the roof that she stood on, staring out blankly over Karakura Town, which was now cloaked in darkness. She shivered, drawing the hoodie that Kensei had given her around her body, pulling the hood up over her head. At least this way, people couldn't easily see the exoskeleton that now plagued her body. That's just what it was, she thought... It was a sickness. That had to be it.
What would Toshiro say when she saw her? What about Ichigo and Rukia... Any of the other Shinigamis from Soul Society, for that matter. How would they react? Would they kill her on sight? After all, she looked the part of the enemy, now, more so than she ever wanted to admit. Right down to the decently sized Hollow Hole in her side, through which she was sure that, if she were able to look through it, she would be able to see the starless sky behind her.
A sudden crash caused her to jump, her gray eyes snapping to the dark skies in front of her. A heavy Reiatsu hung in the air, but somehow, it seemed to simply wash over her like a light wind instead of crashing down on her as it normally did. She could tell that the Reiatsu was impressive, far greater than most of that of Rukia's or Ichigo's, but somehow it just wasn't affecting her body like it used to. Glancing down at her bone-covered arm, she touched her white exoskeleton once more... Maybe that was the reason why the Reiatsu felt different. She wondered briefly if this made her Reiatsu feel differently. Only time would tell.
Yet another loud crash rippled through the air, making its way to her ears and piercing the silence that had, moments previously, been so calming. A loud yell met her ears seconds later, and she twitched slightly at the noise; She knew that voice. That was definitely Ichigo. As if to prove her theory, an enormous burst of dark energy rose from the center of town- Her eyes widened. She could see someone... No, something.
It was an Arrancar.
The redhead sighed heavily, groaning slightly as she pushed herself upright. Inside her head, she could feel Ichigo's Reiatsu flickering feebly; He was quickly loosing control of his body. His Hollow was back. Placing Jairo in her belt loop, she pulled the black hood of her jacket farther over her face, shielding her features from the rest of the world. Nobody had to know. None of her friends needed to know the truth- That she had turned into the enemy. With one final sigh, she stepped from the building, and a sudden static, booming noise met her ears as she sped off through the air.
"What is this?" she whispered, staring down at her body as she continued to move through the air at a breakneck pace, the static noise following her wherever she went.
'Sonído,' Jairo murmured within her head, and her eyes widened. What the hell was Sonído? 'It's the Arrancar version of Shunpo.' he explained before his voice vanished once again, leaving her flying through the air by herself once more.
"That sort of technique... It wasn't in Ulquiorra's report..." said a gruff voice, and her eyes snapped upwards. The Arrancar that she had seen earlier was now several yards in front of her, his back to her as she came to a halt behind him. She gasped- Whatever it was, this Sonído worked much easier and was way quicker than Shunpo. "Shingami..."
"Did that end your disappointment, Arrancar?" Her heart fluttered, and her eyes looked downward to stare at Ichigo as she drew her hood even closer to her head. Is that how he would address her once he found out? Would she cease to be his friend, and simply be 'Arrancar'? Ichigo reached upwards, grasping his head with his hand, and she felt his Rieatsu flicker once again. The Arrancar in front of her jumped back and forth on his feet, as if preparing for a jump. She blinked, only to find that he had already vanished, and was now speeding downwards in Ichigo's direction.
Ichigo brought Zangetsu in front of his face, preparing for another Getsuga Tenshou, but he was stopped with a rough kick to the face from the blue haired man. The force sent him stumbling backwards, hitting the ground and rolling for several yards before finally crashing into a light pole. From her place above the fight, the redhead grimaced. This wasn't going well. The Arrancar didn't even hesitate, putting his hands in his pockets before walking briskly in Ichigo's direction. She shook her head- There was nothing for it.
"Hey, asshole," she called, and no sooner had she thought to move she was there, as if Sonído was instinctual rather than something that she had to practice. The Arrancar paused, a loud 'tch' noise escaping his throat for being disturbed. His expression quickly changed as soon as he saw just who- Or what- had said it. In a blur of fists, she tackled the blue haired Arrancar, her bone-covered fist making heavy contact with the side of his face. It was only after she had hit him did she realize that the exoskeleton on his face greatly resembled her own.
The force of her punch sent him rolling backwards, stopping only when his back finally made contact with a building. Groaning loudly, the man pushed himself back up, wiping dark red blood from the corners of his mouth. Despite the enormous bruise now forming on his skin, the man's mouth turned upwards in a feral sneer.
"And who the fuck're you?" he bellowed, slurring his words in an odd sort of way. She fell back on her feet, lifting her arms in a fighting stance in case he decided to use Sonído to come after her. His eyes continued to travel over her body, looking for some clue as to who she was. Finally, his eyes fell on her left hand, where the white structures of her Hollow bones were clearly visible. He arched an eyebrow. "Arrancar?"
"Maybe," she replied. Deciding to abandon being on the defensive, she used Sonído once again, the static noise reaching her ears once again as she rushed forwards. The man dodged her punch, grabbing her arm and flipping her over. Now on her back, she lifted her leg, bringing it up to kick him roughly in the chest and sending him flying back once more. He snickered, stretching his arms as he straightened up again to look at her.
"Now this is what I'm talkin' about!" he laughed, glancing over his shoulder to look at Ichigo, who was still struggling to stand. "Y'see this, Shinigami? THIS IS WHAT I'M FUCKIN' TALKIN' ABOUT!" Then he let out an enormous roar, lunging for the mysterious girl in front of him. She dodged easily, marveling at her own dexterity as he went shooting past her. With that speed and strength, she never would have been able to dodge it if she were still just an ordinary Shinigami. "Sexta Espada, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques."
"Sorry, I don't have a name yet." she replied darkly, ignoring Ichigo as he spat up a good amount of blood. Grimmjow cocked his head with confusion, which she quickly fixed by socking him hard in the jaw. Instead of making him angry or upset, Grimmjow simply laughed. She arched an eyebrow- What the hell was wrong with this guy?
"Finally! Someone fuckin' worth killin'!" he yelled, reaching for his Zanpakuto. Her eyes narrowed, reaching for the hilt of her own Zanpakuto in response. They were stopped, however, by a man that she recognized... Tousen had appeared behind Grimmjow.
"Sheath you sword, Grimmjow," he murmured darkly, his eyes falling on her briefly before he continued. "That's an order."
"Tousen!" he growled, glaring over his shoulder at the dark skinned former Captain. "What the hell're you doin' here?"
"What...? Do you really not understand? Taking it upon yourself to invade the living world, mobilizing five Arrancar without permission, and attacking Shinigami. It was all against orders. You understand, right? Aizen-sama is furious with you, Grimmjow," Tousen's eyes roamed over her body once more, pausing momentarily on her hand, before turning away from her and Grimmjow. "We're going, your punishment will be decided in Hueco Mundo."
"... Shit." Grimmjow mumbled, meeting his opponent's eyes briefly before turning away.
"Wait!" Ichigo bellowed, drawing all attention towards him for the first time in several minutes. "Where the hell are you going?"
"Shut up," Grimmjow muttered. The sky in front of him ripped open, and she watched as the bright light of Hueco Mundo filtered into the living world. "I'm goin' back to Hueco Mundo... 'Sides, I wasn't fighting you." His gaze returned to the girl in the black jacket, regarding her with a mixture of amusement and awe. "Arrancar... I'll be back."
"Stop fucking around!" Ichigo bellowed, glowering up at the sky. "You come and attack us, and when you feel like it, you just leave? Stop joking around and come down here! Our fight isn't over!"
"Our fight isn't over?" Grimmjow repeated, glancing over his shoulder. "You stop fucking around. This... Girl and unfinished fight spared your fuckin' life, Shinigami. That technique you used hurts you, too. I can tell by just lookin' at ya. Even if you could keep firing those all day, you still wouldn't be able to beat me in my Released form."
"Released... Form?" Ichigo breathed. The girl also raised her eyes, gazing upwards at Grimmjow with astonishment. Release? What was that? If it was an Arrancar technique... Did that mean she had it, too?
"Don't forget my name... Either of ya." he warned, turning and walking into Hueco Mundo. "And pray that you don't hear it a second time, Shinigami. The next time you hear it, Shinigami, it will be your last." And with those last words, the sky closed behind him. She narrowed her eyes at the place where he had disappeared.
"Dammit..." Ichigo choked out. She whipped around, watching as he fell face first into the ground. She ran over, crouching beside him and listened to his unstable breathing.
"...Ichi-" she paused, crying out as a sharp pain shot through her skull. Clutching her head in pain, she doubled over, eyes wide. "W-what the-"
'Do you want to hear it now, Wielder?' Jairo asked softly, his voice echoing through her mind louder than it had ever been before.
"Stop it!" she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks as she writhed in pain.
'I'll give it to you...' he murmured. She gasped, feeling some sort of strange energy welling up inside her. 'Your name.'
"What are say-"
'Wielder... Your name is Leona.'
In this chapter, Hiori has her first encounter with Kensei as the "new her", which Kensei immediately picks up on, saying that she is no longer "Hiori" and is instead and entirely different person. He also states that he wonders why she even bothers to continue calling herself "Hiori", since there seems to be nothing left of the Hiori he knew within her. This also seems to provide a reason for why Jairo keeps calling her "Wielder" instead of "Hiori".
After leaving Kensei at the Vizard base, Hioria wanders around town deliberating her new predicament- It seems that, during her fight with her Hollow, some of her Hollowfication did not wear off, and instead became a part of her, so that she now resembles something like an Arrancar. She sees Ichigo's fight with Grimmjow, and unconsciously uses Sonído to get over there as quickly as possible. This indicates that she truly is an Arrancar, since Sonído is something that comes instinctually to Arrancar only.
After a brief fight with Grimmjow, he is collected by Tousen, though he shows a great deal of interest in Hiori, even though Ichigo is yelling at him about leaving. Once he leaves, Hiori goes to help Ichigo but is stopped by an enormous pain in her head. During this time, Jairo speaks to her, and finally tells her her "real" name.
*Leona: Latin for "Lion", the feminine version of Leon.
In other news, I've decided that Hiori's- Or, now, Leona's- theme songs are All the Things She Said (t.A.T.u.) and Bloody Mary (Lady Gaga), since those are the two songs that I always seem to want to listen to when I'm writing.
Thank you all for the reviews- I finally got past 100! I was so excited! It really means a lot to have all of my readers showing me their support with reviews/alerts/favorites.