37:Variety in Kidou

"Nothing happens by chance, my friend…no such thing as luck. A meaning behind every little thing, and such a meaning behind this. Part for you, part for me, may not see it all real clear right now, but we will, before long."

-Richard Bach

"Way of Binding Number Eighty-One: Severing Void!"

Everything was moving so quickly Kagome only had a moment to glance at Byakuya's casting before rays of red energy slammed harshly into the semi-translucent wall of force. The evil spiritual energy around the rebounding cero's burning into the earth around the shrine's grounds.

The captain was already in front of the blinking Kagome, the girl's lips shifting into a frown as she realized what was happening. Why were they attacking now and here? Because she was separated from where Sesshomaru had been?

"Impressive spell. He didn't even have to speak the incantation." The voice wasn't familiar but of the three white and black clad people approaching them the face of the speaker wasn't either.

Uliquorra both Kagome and Byakuya had seen before, Yammy Byakuya had seen in reports from the other squadrons interactions during battles but the last neither was familiar with. A light haired woman with a low cut 60's styled frilly dress. There wasn't much to the top of it but the skirt was quite poofy. She still had a sword but wore it on her back instead. Bright blue eyes considering the captain across from the trio curiously.

"Shut up Maka." Yammy replied with a frown as he eyed the already cracking shield. "Stop drooling over the enemy."

"Kagome…get inside." Byakuya said lowly, settling a hand on the hilt of his own blade. "What are you doing here?"

"This the guy that got Zommari?" the largest of the espada seemed the most willing to speak freely. "Eh, that guy was a freak anyway."

"Remember your task Yammy." Uliquorra commented, setting a hand on his blade as well. "You should be aware as to the reason for our presence Byakuya Kuchiki."

Kagome edged away from the front of the house as the rest spoke…she couldn't let them follow her if she went inside. Her family would be in danger and she couldn't do that to them. Instead she made a dash for the shack that housed the old well. It wasn't much but it was still a shelter of some kind.

"Kagome…" Byakuya's entire form shifted as he flash stepped in the path of another cero sent his ward's way, pushing it to the side with his free hand as he blocked a strike from Uliquorra with the other.

The second strike however sent him sliding several feet before he could regain his own balance. Kagome though was facing her own new issue with the strange espada Maka looking down at her from near the well.

"What the hell do you think you are doing girl?" She laughed a little after asking the question. "The house would have been safer than anything else at this decrepit old place."

Byakuya however had been effectively split from his ward as the green eyed arrancar pressed forward with his attack against Byakuya's blade. "Bind, Murus-Hierago!"

Kagome flew backward with the burst wave that followed the release of the 4th arrancar's sword, her body slamming through the door of the well's shack and tumbling down the steps inside. She couldn't help but cry out when a loud snap followed one of the bounces, pain writhing up her arm where it had been broken. The pressure from outside mixed with the agony in her arm was creating dark spots in her vision.

"How am I suppose to stand up against things like this?" She thought bleakly as she pushed herself slowly to a sitting position, her back against the once mystical well.

Outside Byakuya had withstood the release far better than Kagome, flashing out of the way before he took any great damage and settling his sword in front of him before opening his fingers slowly to let it fall. He didn't hesitate with the multiple enemies around him, despite the harsh effects that his actions might have on the mortal realm around him.

"Ban Kai." He intoned, charcoal gaze narrowing on the two opponents still harrying him. Blades rising from the ground around him as the two turned back toward where he'd dodged away. "Scatter, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

They had only begun to move back toward him when the swords that had risen from the ground around him burst into billions of miniature blades and moved with his will to both shield the incoming attack and react to counter, driving them instead backward.

"This won't be enough for Uliquorra." Yammy laughed, opening his mouth wide and preparing a cero of his own before the petals washed across him. He hadn't even seen his own downfall coming. The largest of the arrancar falling in a burst of blood as the beautifully wicked petals cut deep into his body.

Though the distraction was small it was enough to give the green eyed espada the opening he needed, his own sword had cut into Byakuya's chest but was just shallow of cutting into his Hakusuitosaketsu. The soul sleep was missed but he had actually grazed his chain link…nearly fracturing his sternum in the process and separating a couple of ribs. Yammy's quick loss had been the distraction he'd needed just as Aizen had predicted.

Uliquorra was forced back as the petals returned though, shielding the bleeding captain and harrying the arrancar's progress to get any closer to his goal. Byakuya needed to buy himself the time, he could taste blood in his mouth after he coughed, and while he could mostly put aside the burning agony in his chest it would only be a matter of time before he would suffocate if a lung had been clipped.

"You aren't worried about your ward?" The question was cool, controlled, Uliquorra was keeping the upper hand and any further distraction would aid him. "She'll die soon enough with Maka after her…"

Kagome meanwhile was watching the odd creature woman approach her, the espada bending over too look at her though Kagome couldn't completely make out details. Her eyes were still blurry and she was putting in effort just staying conscious.

"You are a priestess?" She was bending over her looking at her with a frown. "Here Uliquorra had me all worked up that I was gonna be doing something fun but I'm just crushing a bug. Oh well."

She settled a hand on the hilt of her sword and Kagome grit her teeth.

"I hope this works." The high school thought, finishing the incantation she was muttering beneath her breath. "Let part the cloud's and open the horizon…Heaven's light come at my will and gather your gentle illumination in my hand. Lighting."

The spell worked right at first like it always did. The gentle sphere rising a little into the air at her will, making the female espada stop in confusion and look at the light and then glance back at Kagome. "I think you hit your head on the way down."

"I wouldn't count me out yet." Kagome commented as she dove herself behind another side of the well, feeling the shift that always seemed to happen with her magic before it exploded next to the half hollow woman's face.

As if on cue the shack where the girl had been blown back burst apart and the espada that had just been mentioned was tossed backward herself as much of the shack that housed the well was blown apart. Kagome was scrabbling to try to put out one of her pant legs that had caught fire but was otherwise fine.

It gave a moment of pause to the battle outside but as she was still conscious other wounds could be dealt with later. She'd managed to hold her own against the enemy they sent against her, however unorthodox that way had been. Now it was up to him to finish his own opponent.

"Annihilate, Senbonzakura." He reached out to pick himself one of the many forming swords around them, the whole area condensing into a dark globe around them as the countless blades began a slow procession about the exterior.

Uliquorra meanwhile looked around the new area curiously, eyeing Byakuya and beginning forward before needing to pause and block the strike of the captain behind him. Sparks flying between them as they vanished and reappeared across the field. At first he was scoring minor cuts but after only a minute or so he had already left a couple deeper wounds on his opponent.

"This form…it drains the energy from the one you are fighting." Uliquorra observed as he held his own despite the wounds that had been given to him. "However, you have been bleeding for sometime, do you really think that you'll last long enough to finish me off before you fall yourself."

"To whom do you think you are speaking?" Byakuya replied, sliding one of his blades through his shoulder before calling another to his hand. "However, I will be kind enough to return the gesture that you offered to me earlier."

Flash Blossom had always been one of his favorite moves for a reason, it was a quick way to deal with his enemies that would leave them powerless if it failed to kill them. This time was no different and thanks to the current form of Senbonzakura Uliquorra was unable to keep up, the arrancar's sword just short of parrying the pair of stabs that pierced his soul sleep and chain link. He ended on the other side of the espada as he allowed Senbonzakura to return to it's petal state, finishing both the still recovering Maka and Uliquorra mercilessly.

The onslaught wasn't able to last long, not that it needed to, his sword reverted to it's regular form without him willing it too. Byakuya meanwhile took a step forward and wavered before dropping to a knee and then sitting himself before laying down.

He coughed again and could taste much more blood this time. "I doubt I have much longer…I can't even take the breath to cast any kidou's. Honorless espada, I shouldn't expect anything different…"

"Byakuya!" Kagome rushed over to him, wincing as she fell near him on the ground. "You are hurt…I…hold on. I'll heal you."

He blinked, reaching up and wanting to tell her to stop after the way he'd seen her other spells go but only coughing up more blood, pausing when she instead reached out and took his hand.

"She's warm…" He thought vaguely, grasping his fingers around hers at her gesture.

Though his neutral expression broke when she began to glow a celestial gold and the warmth in her fingers slid down his arm and enveloped his body. The pressure in his chest began to lift and the pain started to fade away. "She didn't even cast any sort of incantation…is this a part of what she should naturally be capable of as a priestess then? It must have been how she saved me when we first met."

It was only a few moments and he felt completely better, she relaxed suddenly and he watched her body tremble just a little before she opened her eyes slowly. Though by then his usual face was back on. "I think all the study for other types of magic helped…are you okay now?"

"Yes." He agreed, pushing himself back up to sitting, it wasn't noble to lay on the ground. "Your arm is still hurt though."

"Yeah." She blushed a bit and pulled her good hand away when she realized she was still holding his. "I never really learned much about it at all and I never had to heal myself."

"Well, I'll be able to do that." He answered, rising and offering her a hand to help her off the ground. "Your skin is red, you burned yourself when you attacked that other hollow. You shouldn't be so reckless."

"You were busy." She answered with a shrug, wincing as she got to her feet. "Sides, she said I was like a crushing a bug. I had to prove her wrong. Defeated by a light spell, that had to be a slap to her pride."

"Relax. This will sting at first." Byakuya commented as he observed her, settling a hand on her back. "Way of Healing Number 76: Rejuvenation."

There was a pulling all over her body and Kagome blinked as she felt her arm go numb and then relax again, it was only a moment or two and she had recovered. She still felt a little light headed but that was far better than the throbbing pain she'd been in moments before. After a soft smile she leaned up to him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you Byakuya."

He blinked at her in surprise at the show of appreciation and fell into a slow pace behind her as she moved back toward the house. He wasn't sure of what to say or if she even realized herself what she had done, he knew that people tended to be a bit dizzy after healing magic.

"Do you think we should go back to the soul society early if they attacked us like that?" Kagome asked seriously as they moved back toward the house. "We only had a few days left."

"I will contact the society to let them know what occurred and suggest that with the loss of more people to their effort that Aizen and his traitors will likely back down." He explained, digging out what looked sort of like a cell phone from one of his pockets. "Besides, I wouldn't want to miss having lunch with all of your friends tomorrow and the embarrassed and stressed looks you'll have throughout the day."

Kagome turned around after opening the door to say something to him about it but he'd already turned around to speak to whoever or whatever he was contacting on that contraption. Instead she just sighed and headed in to move for bed…it seemed like her family hadn't realized that anything had happened outside at all. It was certainly a stress reliever to see their holiday unbothered by the issues that plagued her, but at the same time she was starting to realize that she wasn't really a part of this world anymore.

End Chapter

Hmm, I suck at writing action. Action is hard to write though for sure. I'm not honestly sure how they do healing kidou's in the show cause they've never really gone into it but I figure my way will work in the meantime. 100,000 words!

-Aura

To my reviewers:

Ayjah - Yeah, I pondered what his sword would be for a while which is why I didn't add her in before I did.

Nasuki - Heh the last part was the sappy lovey part. I'm such a fan girl.