Chapter 36: Fighting the Death II

Yumi's golden eyes widened and a faint horrified gasp escaped her lips. She wasn't sure why she hadn't noticed it the second it happened, but that was hardly what her major concern was.

'Midori! Chidori!' shouting in the general direction of where the two girls lay on the ground, looking so much smaller now that they were quiet and unmoving, sea green hair concealing their faces from view, Yumi shook her head violently, 'Wake up, you two! Wake up now!'

She knew it was an irrational thing to do, especially because her sharp-tongued and violet eyed opponent was eyeing her like she was crazy, but she couldn't help it. She just had to release some of the worry that had built up inside her as soon as she'd felt the reiatsu of those two Lieutenants moving away from where the suddenly faint spiritual pressures of the twins were. Those two hadn't thought they were invincible, but she would've bet anything that they would've thought they could walk away from this fight on their own two legs.

'What's the problem all of a sudden?' tone faintly sarcastic, although it might have been a front, Rukia raised an eyebrow at her opponent. She'd already guessed that the woman was worried about those two former shinigami girls, but it surprised her that she actually cared.

Since when did stereotypical enemies care about the wellbeing of their comrades?

'The problem,' Yumi mimicked Rukia's nonchalant tone childishly, looking about madly in an attempt to find a way to escape this fight and rush to the twins' side, 'Is that two people who are very dear to me look like their over there on the ground in the process of dying,'

Rukia's expression was deadpan, 'You could have worded that differently, couldn't you? I mean . . . in the process of dying, it doesn't make you sound very empathetic, you know,'

'S-shut up,' still distracted, Yumi yelped loudly when Rukia's Sode no Shirayuki slashed down at her, making her raise Umiyara as fast as possible just to block, 'Hey! Watch it!'

She was having trouble telling whether or not either of the twins was dead, not just because seeing through the heavy rain was ridiculously difficult, but sensing their reiatsu was also oddly hard. Especially considering that one of her greatest strengths was reiatsu sensing.

'You don't even have any concentration, so you should be the one to watch it,' appearing behind the woman, Rukia lashed out again, movements direct and forceful, 'I don't know how many times I'm going to need to point this out, but really-,' she sent Yumi a deeply patronising glare, 'Someone like you wouldn't have lasted long in the Sixth Division anyway, so it's probably a good thing you deserted and went off to play enemies,'

'How many times do you have to say that? I'm getting tired of hearing it,' finally assuring herself that neither of the twins was dead, and would remain unconscious but alive for a while, Yumi once again focused on her fight, eye twitching as she heard that line again.

It would be no good if she died. After all, her death would probably cause Raku to lose it again, and then who knew what would happen. Last time he'd destroyed a decent part of the Seireitei, so this time, unless one of the strongest captains or Nanashi stopped him, then anything could happen, and anything probably would.

Nope, dying just wasn't an option.

Scowling, the expression foreign on her usually smiling face, Yumi stabbed forwards with her blade again. She had to get rid of this little shinigami quickly, but the problem was, said shinigami was as adaptable and determined as a . . . as a . . . rabbit?

'Rabbit,' the word slipped from her lips before she could stop herself, and she flushed bright scarlet as an immediate response, because she was incredibly and strangely . . . self-conscious about her obsession with rabbits, 'Ah, er, no, I wasn't thinking about . . . adorable fluffy rabbits with cute noses and fuzzy ears and-,' the white haired woman coughed suddenly and cut herself off, blushing further and getting even more flustered, 'As I was saying, I wasn't talking abo-,'

'Have. You. Ever. Heard. Of. Chappy?' Rukia was suddenly standing directly in front of her opponent, one hand outstretched and clenched around the edge of Yumi's blouse, 'TELL me,'

Eye twitching and expression a mixture of bewilderment and amused disbelief, the former shinigami tried to back away from the suddenly fired up Rukia, 'M-maybe. So what?'

'Whaddaya mean maybe? Whaddaya mean so what?' sounding quite unlike herself and more like someone her treasured Nii-sama would frown upon disdainfully, Rukia shook the taller woman roughly, 'I asked you a serious question, you know, so the least you could do is answer properly,'

'Are you reprimanding me?' irritation seeping into her already incredulous tone, Yumi fought the urge to gape openly at the petite shinigami before her. Somehow, she would never have guessed that her serious seeming opponent would be so passionate about . . . rabbits.

'Am I?' a challenge clear in her tone, although why she needed to be so irked by this, even Rukia herself didn't know, the shinigami laughed manically, dark violet eyes looking quite fearsome, 'Hmph, well I can tell you love Chappy, so you don't need to be so coy about it,'

'Love Chappy?' hoping that Raku wasn't listening, Yumi tried to escape Rukia's iron grasp. Number one, Raku would be able to list all the levels in Hell, the hierarchy in Hueco Mundo, and past and present Seated Officers in Soul Society, before recalling the name of a popular-among-females rabbit named Chappy. And Number two, because he wouldn't have a clue who or what Chappy was, hearing the name and then 'love' in the same sentence would probably unsettle him greatly, possibly to the point where he'd get all angry/sulky . . . again.

Erm . . . maybe he was a little overprotective of her. The previous time when there'd been a misunderstanding of that sort, Hana had just been joking that she must share her former captain's high level of interest in the Wakame Ambassador – she never understood how Captain Kuchiki, of all people, could appreciate such a character, of all things – and then he'd knocked the Arrancar woman out and proceeded to sulk silently in his room surrounded by a dark cloud of depression until she'd managed to talk sense into him. But that side of him hardly annoyed her. Except sometimes when she felt deeply guilty for making him that way in the first place, by getting so hurt. Or at least pushing him over the edge and into the extremes.

'You zoned out,' waving a hand in front of the woman's unfocused eyes, Rukia frowned, momentarily forgetting her Chappy crazed state of mind, and becoming almost concerned.

'Haha,' chuckling awkwardly, Yumi stepped back, not even realising she had technically just escaped from Rukia's grip, and she tugged a strand of hair absently, 'Yeah, ah . . . ano . . .' it wasn't like her to be so distracted, but thinking about Raku and his cuter side had definitely ruined her concentration, 'Do you have a, um, boyfriend, Kuchiki Rukia?'

The term was foreign, because she'd never needed to use it before and it seemed too shallow a word to describe what was, but it was probably the easiest way to ask her question and be understood . . .

Now it was Rukia's turn to look completely blank-faced, 'Huh?'

Or not.

The dark haired shinigami was having one of those moments when someone says something and the only thing that appears in your head is 'where the hell did that come from?'

Still laughing self-consciously, Yumi tried to make herself more clear, 'Well, see the guy with dark crimson hair over there?' she pointed, and Rukia flicked a quick glance that way, not wanting to take her gaze off of the woman just in case she was suddenly attacked, 'He's just very protective of me, and since we don't mingle with other people very much, being in a different Realm and all, I was wondering if that was normal . . . you know what I mean?'

Still with a blank look on her face, Rukia just shrugged casually, and answered bluntly, 'No, I don't really get it,'

Thinking of Ichigo, but still not completely getting the topic of conversation, she voiced her thoughts aloud, 'But there's this idiot I know, and he'd always rambling on and on about wanting to protect people. And then he gets depressed whenever one of them gets a papercut and goes off to sulk and then I have to go all the way to Karakura Town just to beat some sense back into him. And then he acts like he was never depressed or sulking at all, and that really irks me. And then he just gives me this stupid look when he thinks I'm not watching,' she huffed loudly, a tic pulsing away on her forehead, 'I mean, what in hell is that look all about? He also makes a similar face when I get hurt. I mean . . . exactly!' she wasn't really making that much sense, 'What the hell is the whole thing about?'

If she hadn't been such a naturally cool person, Rukia would have been literally fuming now. Probably so much so that she would've been able to give Hana a run for her money, and Sode no Shirayuki would've had to start a petition for someone to make her wielder go back to her normal generally composed and cool self. Either that or the spirit would've needed to rapidly adapt her wardrobe to suit the suddenly sunny conditions.

Yumi, while Rukia paced furiously through the air and occasionally lashed out at things only she could see – perhaps floating images of Ichigo's head – tilted her head to one side and considered the petite shinigami. She wasn't sure whether it was just the feminine side of her talking, or if there was actually something there that anyone would be able to see, but the relationship between Rukia and this Ichigo (she was certain he'd been the one who Rukia had allegedly beaten up about as much as Renji) seemed to be both dynamic and close.

If a little unusual, of course.

Rukia, as if sensing a change in her opponents emotional state, whirled around, eyes sparkling in a most terrifying way, 'Whaddaya thinking about now?' a murderous aura seemed to be surrounding her, 'Cause I'm certain I sense something unusual and-,' she twitched, 'Something about me, and probably something about Ichigo too. Whatever that is . . .'

'Oh really?' suddenly remembering that yes, this was a fight and no, she wasn't supposed to begin stressing over the possibly-romantic issues of her opponent who, by the way, she was supposed to be killing, Yumi snapped back to reality, 'Grr, this is happening way too much. I'm just supposed to kill you and then get going, but for some reason, it's way too easy to get distracted!'

As the white haired woman wailed, Rukia snapped out of her own questionable state, and lashed out with Sode no Shirayuki. The tip of the pure white blade met Yumi's side and drove through, barely hindered as it passed through layers of cloth, muscle, and flesh.

'Gurgh!' surprise flitting across her paler than usual features, Yumi moved her golden gaze downwards to where she had just been stabbed, cursing herself for not even twitching to stop the white katana's path, 'Why you-!'

Rukia barely had time to react before Umiyara tore upwards, its diagonal path cutting deep into her body. If she hadn't moved back, her lightning quick reflexes saving her automatically, then she would probably have been cut in two.

Yumi chuckled darkly, 'You're not even a Seated Officer, how did you think such a weak attack would kill me?' she stepped back, hiding her groan as her now dull-eyed opponent's katana was removed from her side, 'I bet you can't even lift a finger to stop me from killing you,'

Rukia's eyes focused suddenly, and she straightened, movements abrupt and jerky, before leaping backwards, 'Tsugi no Mai, Hakuran,'

As Yumi raised her zanpakutō to create the whirlpool which would swallow up the wave of ice, her petite opponent used an impressive shunpo to appear behind her, her wound hardly hindering her motions, although it was clear she was hurting, 'Some no Mai, Tsukishiro,'

Darting away, Rukia wondered how long she could last before either passing out from blood loss, or getting seriously wounded. She'd seen her Nii-sama look over before, approximately the moment she'd been hurt, but she was not going to go ask him for help. It would both injure her pride, and probably make him disappointed in her lack of abilities and stamina.

As such, she was going to keep holding out until one of them was completely disabled.

Looking at Yumi, who was glaring at a myriad of cuts and splinters caused by, and consisting of, particles of ice, she smirked slightly. The former shinigami's free arm had been trapped as she'd attempted to outmaneuver both of Kuchiki's attacks, and now she was trying to free herself from the ice, which wasn't easy at all.

Or at least, it was virtually impossible without sustaining injury.

'I hate splinters,' grumbling irritably, Yumi silently berated herself for underestimating her opponent. It had been clear from the start that the pale shinigami wasn't at all as weak as her lack of Seated Position would suggest.

Crap, flinching visibly as she moved her fingers and a splinter somewhere on her hand dug itself further in, Yumi could only hope they melted quick, Umiyara, let's go. The shinigami's pretty weak now, so it shouldn't be much longer.

Hana wanted to take a moment to swear her non-existent Hollow heart out. She was irritated at the conceited captain she was fighting, she was irritated that the red headed Lieutenant had gone off somewhere with his cute Bankai, she was irritated at the captain's shocking lack of aesthetic sense, she was irritated by the feel of the poison moving through her body, she was very irritated at practically anything that moved. Period.

'You still haven't gotten your second strike,' smirking confidently, any sign of unchecked fury was perfectly hidden, and she simply looked powerful, 'I thought you said it was the end,' she mimicked Soifon's serious tone mockingly, 'When you got me the first time,'

Fiery red eyes locked with steely grey ones, and the former Arrancar laughed harshly, swinging her blade and creating a wave of flames which washed outwards towards her opponent, 'And you're not looking in top shape either,'

It was true. Soifon carried multiple injuries and wounds that were like burns but also completely different at the same time. Some were serious, others less so, but she hadn't slowed in her movements at all. Still, Hana could sense the level of pain and discomfort her opponent was experiencing. And in this case, it wasn't an amount which could easily be ignored.

'How I admire your self-control, captain,' sauntering forwards, Hana let some of the fire surrounding her drift forwards, flickering around Soifon's tense form, 'Such discipline must have been so hard to achieve,' she stopped, raising her blade so that the tip was inches from the shinigami's left eye, 'And I can tell it's not perfect yet,'

As Soifon jabbed forwards, aiming Suzumebachi's tip for the mark on Hana's front, the Arrancar drew back her katana and slammed down on the captain's gauntleted arm. Even as Soifon lurched forwards, she swung her legs around and attempted to kick the Arrancar in the head. Laughing, said Arrancar dodged before bringing her own foot up and around in a kick. Blocking, and envisaging what Yoruichi would do, the shorter woman punched forwards, activating her incomplete shunko.

'Oho!' jumping out of range, and surveying the new development with interest, Hana's grin widened and she winked at the Second Division's serious captain, 'This is nice,'

Glaring openly now, Soifon used her impressive shunpo to appear behind Hana, aiming a punch at her head, as well as readying herself to drive Suzumebachi into the Hōmonka. She could feel the compressed kidō sparking and crackling around her, and she briefly wondered how her opponent would get out of this one.

'Cero,' Hana raised a hand behind her back and shot the crimson blast of energy without turning around. She sensed Soifon dart away before she was hit, but she also accurately guessed where the captain would reappear, 'Got ya,'

Stiffening, the grey eyed shinigami tried to wrench her arm free from her opponent's grasp, only to find she couldn't. Surprisingly, Hana's hand wasn't hot at all, despite the fact that she was almost always surrounded be flames. Then again, not all of the flames had heat, so it wasn't that hard to figure out why.

'I don't like my shots missing their marks,' grin becoming slightly sadistic, and bloody crimson eyes darkening, the black and red haired woman pulled Soifon forwards slightly, positioning the captain directly before her, 'So that was just unacceptable,'

Even with the flames having died down to simmer across the ground, Hana was still quite formidable looking. Something that the Captain of the Second Division had only just noticed, having abruptly come into close contact with the former Arrancar.

'Cero,' eyes glittering, with the flames reflected in their scarlet depths, the woman whispered the word, tone almost reproachful, but definitely dark and morbid, and the energy blast short from her palm.

Soifon gritted her teeth together, eyesight blurring momentarily from the shock, and she fought to keep her mouth shut just in case she shouted out. She'd had her arm cut off before, and by her own Lieutenant no less – even if it was on her direct orders. Sure she'd lost her left arm before, but that hadn't hurt to the extent that this did.

The burn spread through her whole body, her veins feeling like they were on fire, and she stumbled backwards, gauntleted hand coming up to where blood poured from the open wound. She still had everything down to just past her elbow, but the rest of her arm was completely gone.

'Now that's much better,' wondering how things would turn out now that the captain was handicapped, Hana darted forwards to jab outwards again.

To her surprise, Soifon ignored her wound, and instead lunged forwards with her zanpakutō again. Then, in the blink of an eye, the captain was gone and then, after another second, a whole heap of Captain Soifons were looking at her from their positions.

To be brief, she was now completely surrounded by identical images of a certain shinigami.

Frowning, Hana closed her eyes as they all shot forwards, the movement both to block out the sight of so many badly dressed shinigami, and also to focus.

The flames around her sprang up in a perfect circle, the tips reaching far into the sky, and then the ring exploded outwards, catching many of the clones and destroying them in its intensity. Laughing heartily, Hana swung around to where a slightly singed Soifon struggled to remain upright. She ignored the fact that, in the intense heat, the captain's arm had stopped bleeding.

'You couldn't even get rid of old Barragan on your own,' smirking, Hana internally wondered why the captain was weakening so quickly, 'So I never had high hopes in your abilities,'

Something was happening to the shinigami, her opponent, but Hana was damned if she knew what. Well, she was already damned, but she still didn't know why such a reportedly powerful captain would be beaten down so quickly. It didn't make sense, and it irked her, because she'd been hoping for a fight that would actually injure her seriously.

Might sound masochistic just a bit, but to her it meant her opponent was actually decent.

'He was more powerful than you,' unable to hold back the retort, much to her horror, Soifon straightened her spine and raised her arm, ignoring the fact that she was shaking slightly. She wondered if she should train more, and then she guiltily considered the possibility of asking Yoruichi-sama to teach her again. She was sure she'd improve a great deal under the former captain's guidance.

'And there we have it,' Hana's smirk couldn't have gotten any bigger, no matter how much it always seemed to, 'Imperfect self-control . . . just like I predicted,'

'Oh really?' eyes darting around the rain-less area, the captain worked quickly to figure out the best strategy to disable the incredibly dangerous Arrancar who happened to be her opponent, Soifon resisted the urge to go all Bankai like Renji, 'Don't underestimate me,'

'Don't insult me,' Hana narrowed her eyes and stared down at the shorter woman shrewdly, 'What's with you and not using your Bankai? And don't send that back at me, because I only have resurrección,' seeing the captain's sceptical glare, she frowned, 'Hey, just because I'm not an Arrancar anymore, or not exactly and Arrancar, anyway,' she shook her head and shrugged, not bothering to explain how she was or wasn't a Hollow, 'Doesn't mean I have Shikai and Bankai. On the contrary, my resurrección is just more powerful than before,'

'Does it look like I care?' Soifon had somehow managed to stop being stoic, and now she just looked bewildered. Thoughts shifting over to Yoruichi again, she pulled herself together, knowing that the former captain would undoubtedly have some means of finding out who won what part of the fight, when, and how. And as such she couldn't lose.

'Does it look like I care if you don't care?' feigning confusion, Hana shook her head for the umpteenth time, 'All that's on my mind is killing you, it's not so complicated, right?'

Instead of answering, Soifon darted forwards again, using her powerful shunpo to approach the woman and then attacked her with a variety of hakuda and stabs from her zanpakutō.

In the flurry of cloth, the flash of blades, and the flickering of flames, it was more than difficult to see what was going on. However, both women had quick eyes and minds, so even in the confusion, Soifon avoided getting caught in flames, and Hana avoided getting hit the second time with Suzumebachi.

Still, in such a situation, when two people who are incredibly different in personality but well-matched in terms of general power, something would have to give, or there would be no end to the fight. This could come in the form of a wound, minor or major, or even in a death.

In the case of the fight of Soifon and Hana, what gave was the latter's patience.

And so, following her irritated shriek, the area where no rain could reach expanded by about ten metres on either side. Flames engulfed the Arrancar woman and all that could be seen of her was flashes of her shirt, or the glint of light reflecting off of her burning eyes.

One hand raised to shield her face from the flickering tongues of heat, Soifon silently cursed her situation. Their fighting styles weren't that different, in terms of the fact that they both preferred to incorporate hakuda into their attacks, but Hana had the advantage of range, even if her abilities hardly wounded Soifon. Still, if the captain could get close enough to land Suzumebachi's second strike, then the odds were that she'd win the fight and it would be all over. Of course, being a captain, she had the power to release just the right amount of reiatsu to counter the majority of the burn from the flames. However, plunging straight into the red and orange inferno was hardly an intelligent decision.

There has to be a way to undermine her defence. There always is, drawing her thoughts and strength together, Soifon narrowed her steely eyes and got ready to move, least Hana suddenly burst forth from her cocoon of flames, Although this fight hardly seems as formal as one would expect, and the amount of time-wasting and unnecessary attacks is pathetic, it is still a fight for Soul Society, and as such, any more of the aforementioned issues will not be tolerated.

Free hand clenching, Soifon vanished from her previous position, her whole body reverberating withheld energy as she prepared to attack the former Arrancar woman again.

'Shunko,' this time she wasn't going to let anything stop her, and Suzumebachi would meet her target.

The flames around Hana intensified for a brief moment, battling with the compressed kidō that clung to Soifon's form, and then they blew apart, the rain breaking through the barrier of heat, and the Arrancar woman was once again visible, standing in a circle of still burning fire, with her blade raised defiantly.

No, silently telling herself off, in a most stern and unwavering manner, Yumeka hid a grimace as she backed away from the Sixth Division captain, If you keep this up, you're going to die.

Pulling Shira-Miki through an elaborate series of movements, the blue haired woman once again masked her expression of relief when she saw more blood. It was certainly true that she wasn't weak, but it was also more than apparent that this stoic man hadn't become a captain on nothing but dignity and pride. His ability to control his zanpakutō's scattered form was astonishing, and she would've considered asking about the way the whole thing worked if she hadn't been in the middle of a fight where she was supposed to be killing the captain.

Seeing or finding Captain Kuchiki's weakness was proving to be a lot harder than she'd originally thought, and it didn't help that he gave no sign of emotion, even when she managed to injure him, or when her blood was spilt as a result of one of his attacks.

The only thing that was less than unreadable in his behaviour was the way his slate grey gaze would flick across to where Yumi was fighting, arguing, having a pleasant chat . . . you name it, it was hardly the point.

Considering this in detail, Yumeka's only conclusion was that there had to be some sort of connection between the captain she was fighting, and the petite shinigami who was trying to freeze Yumi in a pillar of ice. Still, that hardly answered any of her questions, much to her irritation.

Another thing that she was confused about was the fact that it was pouring down with rain, something easy to forget if she didn't constantly remind herself about it. It had started after she felt two burst of reiatsu from further over, near Mika and Miku.

The first had been harsh and icy, and that had brought the clouds rolling in. And the second had been cool and damp, which was when the rain had started to bucket down.

And so she was soaked, which was immensely annoying, along with everything else, because the coat she was wearing was one of her favourites.

Averting her mind from her clothes, and just in time to block a direct attack from the shinigami captain, Yumeka pondered something she had forced herself not to think about in such a long time. No, it wasn't a good idea to be reminiscing in the middle of a deadly fight with a powerful captain, and no, if she was thinking straight she wouldn't even have considered it.

But as it was, she couldn't keep her mind off her memories as thoughts of her days as a soul in the Rukongai were just too fresh in her mind. She kept recalling the feel of the breeze brushing her cheeks as it rustled through the grass when she stood in the middle of a green field. She kept thinking of the first time she'd seen a Hollow, and the dull fear she'd experienced when it had turned its insane gaze on her. The memory of strong arms grasping her form as she was flung away through the air after the Hollow had lashed out with its 'hand', and how she'd opened her eyes only to find herself drowning in deep blue.

Cutting out with Shira-Miki's half blade, Yumeka swore softly, startling herself and immediately causing her to make sure no one had heard, except perhaps her opponent, who probably wouldn't be able to guess the reason. In a flash and a sharp clang of blades, she engaged the captain head on and worked on preventing him from releasing his blade again – he was releasing it and sealing it again way more often than she was comfortable with, because one second he'd be using distance attacks and the next a blade would be shooting towards her head – while bringing Shira-Mikki's ice fragments around them in a swirl of danger.

He couldn't kill her with a sealed heart, and she couldn't trap him in her blade's hypnosis, but that didn't mean either of them were anything close to being powerless.

Bringing a leg around in a vicious kick, Yumeka narrowed her teal eyes and then, just as Byakuya moved out of her leg's reach, she yanked back on her katana's hilt and brought the ice particles into close proximity. After just one more heartbeat, she had them circling the captain in an ever decreasing circumference. Then, with the flick of a finger, each particle shot off at a random angle, many meeting their marks.

'Bakudō 61, Rikujōkōrō,'

In the blur created by the rain and the whiteness of the ice particles, Yumeka didn't even see the kidō shooting towards her until she felt the six gold panes slamming into her body.

It was the saddest day when she watched him walk into the grounds of the Shino Academy, even if she knew it wasn't a goodbye forever. She would wait and continue on with her life until he'd appear at the door, each time with more experiences and stories to share. Becoming a shinigami was something she could have done, maybe not at the same time as he entered the Academy, but certainly a short while after. Being around a person with a decent reiatsu can truly affect your own.

And she would've continued to get stronger and her happiness would've blossomed further, if everything hadn't come to an abrupt halt, and hatred hadn't been implanted in her heart. The hatred which turned her against shinigami forever.

Byakuya appeared before Yumeka, but before he could deliver any killing blow, his eyes shifted to one side and, in what appeared to her to be an act of foolishness, he rotated his hand and released Senbonzakura. Everything became clear only seconds after, however, when ripples spread across the air where the katana had vanished.

'Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi,' the twin rows of blades emerged from the ground, scattering on command.

The blue haired woman wondered if he was seriously going to use such an excessive amount of blades just to kill her, when he turned his attention in a completely different direction, 'Gokei,'

The mass of sakura-like blades swirled away, condensing around an astonished figure, and then collapsing inwards in an action which sent buffets of reiatsu and air reverberating outwards.

Byakuya, who had disappeared completely for a second, reappeared, supporting the badly wounded form of the petite, violet eyed shinigami who had been Yumi's opponent.

Yumeka's teal eyes widened as Senbonzakura reformed, and the dust swirling around the place where the technique had been executed, despite all of the rain which should have caused the ground to be too damp for 'dust', cleared.

Raku stood with Yumi at his side, having abandoned his intense fight with Ukitake and Kyoraku, to go and protect the former shinigami, who looked much worse for wear than before. Despite having taken the majority of the destructive force contained in the technique, he was still standing and only a few deep gashes showed that he'd ever been in the centre of the swirling mass of blades. Yumi, however, was leaning heavily on his side, and despite the distance between them, Yumeka saw that her golden eyes were dull.

She saw Raku point at her and she guessed he was asking if Yumi could make it over to where she stood, trying to free herself from the Bakudō. The white haired woman nodded, seeing that Byakuya was now too busy checking over the health of his sister, and she began walking towards them. Raku paused for a moment before disappearing back to his fight, waving off the words of Kyoraku, and Ukitake's questioning.

Having managed to smash three of the kidō panes, Yumeka managed to move a good distance away from Byakuya and the now unconscious Rukia, and she reached out her hand to grasp Yumi's arm. The golden eyes woman smiled weakly at her, and then she opened her mouth to say something.

Words which would never be heard.

Soifon couldn't help the slight smirk that flickered across her lips when she appeared directly before Hana, having used the residual flames as cover, while protecting her body with her shunko, and then, as the woman lashed out violently with her blade, she used her shunpo to appear behind her. Twisting slightly was all it took to see Suzumebachi slide into Hana's back, hitting the exact spot the first, frontal attack had, and completing the poison which had long ago spread through the former Arrancar's body.

Hana gasped in shock and pain, the flames around her swirling into nothing, and her zanpakutō lost its fiery glow, 'Damn . . . you,' her pained voice was filled with resentment.

The shinigami captain just stood back and watched contemptuously as she fell from the sky to crash into the rain soaked ground. The fact that the woman's body hadn't been destroyed by the Homonka hardly concerned Soifon.

She knew her former opponent would eventually die, and probably sooner than later, she as punishment, she wasn't going to go down there and finish her off. No, instead, she would let Hana suffer the effects of her zanpakutō's fatal poison, and walk away right now.

Shoulders squared, Soifon, Captain of the Second Division and Commander in Chief of the Onmitsukidō, shifted her gaze from the unmoving form of the Arrancar woman, and walked back into the thick of the battle.

Renji saw Byakuya save Rukia, and then he saw his old friend's opponent, Yumi, walk away. He guessed that his captain would not interfere further into the white haired woman's situation, so he decided that, since he had been slowly heading that way anyway, he would now engage the former shinigami in a fight. Grip twitching on Hihio Zabimaru's hilt, an action which caused the snake head to curl around, the red headed Lieutenant marched forwards.

Yumi, apparently managing to see him coming, although how you'd miss such a sight is actually a valid point to support her, moved away from Yumeka, and raised Umiyara, undeterred by the fact that she was already badly injured. Her posture screamed defiance, but she was clearly weak and not fit for fighting at all.

Renji, not allowing himself to think of how bad it wound sound – attacking an injured woman and all, even if she was a dangerous enemy – swung Zabimaru with his usual vigour, and almost immediately he felt a stab of guilt.

Because Yumi hadn't even managed to slightly block the strike of the snake head, and now she was being propelled through the air, her cracking zanpakutō the only thing saving her from being crushed by the long fangs that protruded from the snake's jaw.

Resisting the urge to close his eyes, because even given the current situation, such an action would have been more than stupid, Renji manoeuvred the snake head so that it practically swallowed the former shinigami's blade, and then, putting force on the whole 'body' of his own zanpakutō, the Lieutenant sent Yumi flying.

Hihio Zabimaru caught her as she fell backwards, only to angle directly at the ground, slamming her form into the earth. Renji flinched visibly when the sound of cracking bones and screaming filled the air, and he withdrew the , leaving the ruined body of the former shinigami lying in a pool of her own blood.

The red headed man wasn't so heartless that seeing such a sight didn't affect him in any way, but he stood by his duty as Abarai Renji, Lieutenant of the Sixth Division, and did not once regret his actions to the point where he wanted to try and aid the woman.

Watching expressionlessly as the former Arrancar fell first, not dead but clearly suffering from the poison administered by Soifon's zanpakutō, and then the white haired woman who'd once been part of his Division, fell next to the hand of his Lieutenant, Byakuya shifted his attention to Yumeka. His opponent was struggling to break free of the last two panels of the kidō, and one was clearly beginning to crack under the concentrated pressure she was applying to the weakest point. He admitted that her having been able to find that one major weak point in the panel did impress him, however slight that emotion might be.

'Nii-sama,' Rukia was struggling to stand up on her own, embarrassed that she was leaning so heavily on the Kuchiki nobleman, 'I'm alright now, honestly,'

True to her word, she managed to straighten, and then she quickly assessed her own wound. It was deep, a diagonal slash across her chest, and still oozing blood. Luckily for her, though, it was the only major wound she'd really received. The others that she'd need to take care of at some time were only slight. In comparison, anyway.

'I'll go to the Fourth Division, don't worry,' pulling a smile onto her face with an effort, the petite shinigami felt lightheaded with relief – or it could have just been the blood loss affecting her – when her brother released her arm and stepped back, expression as stoic as ever, 'I'll be back though,' there was a determination in her tone that clearly showed how much she meant it.

And so, being an intelligent man, Byakuya didn't dispute her words, even though he strongly believed she should go to the Fourth and stay there. Sometimes having such a stubborn person as a sister-in-law come adopted sibling was quite hard work.

As Rukia vanished with one of her best shunpo, something Byakuya knew she'd put a lot of thought and effort into, he turned around to where Yumeka was attacking the final panel, having regained most of her mobility.

Moving with the subtle precision that he was known for, the captain used his flawless Senka, having reformed Senbonzakura. To his surprise, the blade missed Yumeka's side, having been re-directed by her particles of ice. However, standing behind her now, as she struggled to turn against the remains of Rikujōkōrō, he raised his hand with great deliberation.

'Hadō 1, Shō,'

Yumeka's teal eyes widened as she was abruptly shoved towards the ground with a force belied by the low level of the kidō. She'd guessed after he'd used Bakudō 61 that her opponent was highly proficient in kidō, but to harness such power in Hadō 1, it just hadn't seemed possible.

When she hit the ground, like Hana and Yumi had just moments before, the final beam of yellow light protruding from her body shattered and the fragments seemed to represent everything that she had come to believe in and hope for. She wondered if Mika, Miku, Raku, and Nanashi could complete what they'd left undone now that five of them were disabled.

Eyesight blurring, the force of the fall affecting her badly, Yumeka tried to work out what injuries she'd sustained. As far as she could tell, she didn't have any broken bones, but the lack of clarity in her sight and the roaring in her ears told her that everything wasn't alright.

Turning her head to one side, her darkened teal eyes widened as the world around her was engulfed in white. When she blinked again, she saw two familiar hands reaching out to her.

This has to be a joke, right? A cruel, cruel joke . . .

Suddenly she realised the reason Raku had needed so much convincing just to believe Yumi was alive. But this was different, because she knew he, Shikaru Yami, member of the Sixth Division and acquaintance of Yumi . . . she knew he wasn't alive. That becoming a shinigami, that living as a shinigami, and that dying as a shinigami, was how he'd existed.

She would never be able to forgive Soul Society for ruining her hopes and breaking her promises. The blue haired woman didn't want to be given any false sense of security again.

Come on, Yumeka! I don't have all day, you know . . .

She didn't want to believe that the image of the black haired, blue eyed man could be anything other than a figment of her imagination, brought to life in the confusion her mind was suffering from after taking that impact. And somehow, she knew that if she let herself fall into those welcoming arms, then she wouldn't be opening her teal coloured eyes for a long, long time.

Yumeka?

Her whole body was so heavy and her eyes, previously opened wide from shock, were beginning to close. She felt her fingers uncurl and her sealed zanpakutō rolled away from her hand. She felt reality becoming something which seemed so distant that even trying to reach out would be foolish. The comforting embrace of the whiteness around her, and the waiting arms of Shikaru seemed to become more and more inviting with each second that passed.

With each heartbeat that kept time in her chest, she found herself relaxing and sinking away from Sogyoku Hill, falling free from reality.

Sorry for making you wait so long . . .

With a content sigh, Yumeka released her hold on the present and faded away into happier memories of the past, a calm smile lightening her features.

Thank you for walting

Yumi couldn't move. She could feel the hot wetness of her blood seeping into her clothes and down into the earth which she lay sprawled on. How many broken bones a person could survive, she didn't really know. What she did know, was that it hurt like hell.

Pain filled golden eyes moved laboriously to where Raku was fending off the two older shinigami captains. She hoped he hadn't heard her scream, or sensed the change in her reiatsu, although the possibility of that happening was non-existent.

And even if he had somehow missed both of those signs, than it was clear enough that sooner or later he'd sight her, broken and bloodied, and then he'd either rush over or go crazy and start destroying things.

Regret filled her body and weighed her down more than any physical wound. She hoped Raku would be alright. He'd already taken one devastating attack on her behalf, and she didn't want to make him suffer by disappearing again. Even if it was him who had left after she'd been injured that time and sent to the Fourth Division, she'd always blamed herself, because she thought she'd driven him mad and then away. Out of Soul Society and into another dimension away.

Tears prickling her eyes, the white haired woman tried to move, only to begin panting in short gasps as her pain was magnified tenfold. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as her lungs struggled to retain what little air she managed to inhale. Her vision clouded briefly, and she whimpered.

To hate oneself . . . it was a phase she'd been through before, and now it returned, along with the helplessness she felt when she realised she could do nothing for Raku.

She had been beaten down like Hana and Yumeka, and Midori and Chidori before them. She was useless now.

Hana's reiatsu was dimmed down to a slow burn, but Yumeka's had almost completely vanished. Since Yumi didn't even want to consider the fact that she might have died, she instead believed that the blue haired woman had gone into a coma, due to the force of which her body had hit the ground. Midori and Chidori were further away, and in the odd rain, she found it hard to pinpoint the strength of their reiatsu. However, while Chidori's remained at a steady low level, Midori's occasionally increased in pressure before dropping again.

Neither one of them was dead, and Yumi suddenly wondered if Chidori was using kidō in an attempt to save her twin's life. that would, after all, explain the odd bounds in her reiatsu.

Hoping her body would recover from the shock of the wounds if she gave it time enough, and wasn't attacked again by another shinigami, Yumi let her eyes slide close and the darkness of unconsciousness enveloped her.

Silently cursing Soul Society, Seireitei, shinigami, and anything that came to mind, Hana gritted her teeth against the agony that the poison in her system was causing her. If she had understood Soifon correctly, she should have vanished into a Homonka shaped afterimage. However, as far as she could tell, she was still pretty much in her usual form.

'Pretty much' being because she was also wounded badly in the chest, and that was not normal for her. And, annoyingly, her powers of Hollow regeneration, while nowhere near as fine-tuned as Mika and Miku's, were failing to make much of a difference, other than closing the flesh wound.

Crimson eyes dulled in pain, and the effort she was putting into resisting the poison, Hana thought about what would happen now that their ground was five members short. Nanashi was arguably the most powerful, but even he had his short-comings. Raku could potentially become a one man army, especially because of what had happened to Yumi, but that force was one of the wildest, most untameable things that she had ever heard of. He could probably deal a devastating blow to the Soul Society, but he could just as easily turn against Nanashi, his good friend. Mika and Miku were a formidable, deadly duo, but even with their regeneration skills, they weren't as strong as the other two aforementioned men.

Closing her eyes briefly, Hana cast aside worries for the four remaining fighters. She instead focused on consciously shutting down her body so that she could use all of her remaining energy and power to rid her body of Suzumebachi's poison.

No attack was impervious to counterattack, and even ones such as this could still be rendered useless. However, it was going to be a long and painful battle, and the former Arrancar was just glad no one would be in her mind to see how hard she had to struggle, just to survive. As she forced herself into unconsciousness, her thoughts swirled forwards in her head.

Nanashi, Raku, Mika, Miku . . . good luck you four. Four is an unlucky number, ne? Oh well, didn't we come here to end Soul Society's luck? Even if I'm hurting like a million swearwords which I won't use right now, and even if I'm sure Yumi and Yumeka are too . . . even if the twins came so close to death that even I wouldn't joke about it . . . I don't regret coming.

Yumeka's probably in a coma right now, but I'm sure she'll be recalling happy times, if that last shift in her reiatsu was anything to go by. Yumi's probably beating herself up about not being there to support Raku, but she's done her part, and that's all we can ever do, right?

I don't know who exactly I'm talking to, and I'm not desperate enough that I'd need to talk to myself, damn it! But anyway, sometimes putting everything into perspective is good.

To Soul Society, we obviously must look like the enemies who want to destroy their peace. But to us, Soul Society and the Gotei 13 are the oppressive, negative force in this fight.

We might be willing to come into this dimension and wreak some chaos, but they're willing to kill every single person who steps outside of their strict boundaries.

Look at it from both sides.

We're people too. We have feelings, and dreams. We can fall in love, vow revenge, or cry because we're sad. And even if I myself don't do any of the three aforementioned things, I still have my personality, my history, and the thoughts in my mind.

We're not just a problematic issue which needs to be resolved and then swept away into the shadows.

To view us as such is to say that we aren't beings in our own rights. That we're just mindless creatures filled with hate and the desire for revenge, or just the will to create chaos.

I regret not being able to fight more. Hell, I wish I'd shot that cero through that bitch's heart. But if this is what it takes, I'd do it a million times over.

Sorry you four, I ain't gonna be jumping up to help you.

But ya'll manage alright, hey?

Author's Note:

As an apology for not updating faster, I made the chapter longer . . . is that good enough? I hope so . . .

For people who really want to see Likara and Toshiro's fights, we will be returning there in the next chapter, don't worry!

I wanted to focus on some of the other fights for a while, because even if they are the enemies, that lot from the Realm of Truth are still distinct characters. If that makes any sense . . .

Well, thank you for reading, and if I don't update soon - i.e. in the next week - then it's because I got a whole lot of work.