Chapter 35
The short arrancar standing in front of her looked familiar. She couldn't put a finger on it, but she could swear she'd met him once before. He was shorter than Kagome with a partial mask that resembled a white cloth covering his face from the nose down. His head was also covered so Kagome couldn't tell what color his hair was. It was his stature and something in his reiatsu that seemed familiar.
Kagome pulled out her soul candy dispenser and swallowed one of the green pills. She looked back at her body, "Find somewhere safe to hide."
The temporary soul nodded her head and took off in the opposite direction. Once her body was out of sight, she turned back to the arrancar in front of her.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Kagome asked, placing her hand on the hilt of her sword.
The short man chuckled. "My name is Mukotsu, arrancar number fifteen."
Kagome's eyes widened. His name. His voice. I do know this man. He was a member of the Band of Seven the one Sesshomaru saved me from. He was bad during his human years, how did he manage to end up in Hueco Mundo and not Hell?
"And who are you, Shinigami?" Mukotsu asked.
Kagome drew her sword. "Higurashi Kagome, ex-miko and the one you tried to kill before you met your end."
The arrancar's eyes widened. "You? Who are you again?" Tilted his head and studied her for a second. "Ah ha! I do know you! You're that little bitch who tried to remove my jewel shard!"
Kagome didn't need any more reason to fight. She charged him. Mukotsu drew his blade in time to block hers. He pushed her back and smirked. "I'm going to love watching that pretty face of yours twist with pain and agony as I rip you to pieces."
"Oh, shut up. You couldn't kill me before, you're not going to do it now."
"I would have, if that stupid, arrogant dog demon hadn't interfered."
"Yeah, well….just die!" She charged again.
Their blades met several more times before Kagome grew tired of her opponent. He wasn't as strong as the two arrancar she met before. She stood a chance of winning, she knew that. She jumped away from her opponent and held her blade in front of her.
"Cleanse, Midoriko."
"Oh, what an interesting zanpakuto name. I wonder though, is the spirit of your sword the same as the ancient priestess? The creator of the Shikon no Tama?" He inquired.
"The spirit of my zanpakuto is none of your business, Mukotsu."
"So, I hit a nerve did I? I guess I should show you the power of my sword as well. It would only be fair." He impaled the sword into his abdomen. "Excrete, Veneno Maestro."
There was an explosion of reiatsu followed by a large purple cloud of what looked like miasma. Kagome distanced herself from the arrancar to avoid standing in the miasma cloud. Before losing her miko powers, she'd been all but immune to miasma, but she was susceptible to Mukotsu's poison before.
When the cloud dispersed, Mukotsu stood taller than before, standing almost a foot taller than Kagome. He no longer wielded a weapon, but long, serrated fingernails that looked more like claws. "What's the matter, Shinigami? Petrified of my power?"
Kagome had to admit, his reiatsu was intimidating now that his sword was released. She wasn't sure if she could beat him without the use of her bankai.
"Arrogance will get you nowhere, Mukotsu. Remember, I've seen you die once. You are not all powerful. And as a friendly reminder of that, I too, shall release my blade. Bankai!"
Kagome's zanpakuto took the shape of a katana slightly longer than her normal one. The hand guard was red and the hilt silver and white. Kagome recognized the blade immediately, wondering why Midoriko took this particular shape.
Mukotsu laughed. "That is your bankai? How pathetic. It looks like a normal blade! I thought bankai was supposed to be the most powerful weapon of a shinigami. I think you got the short end of the stick."
Kagome laughed. "You have no idea what this blade is do you?"
"How could I?"
"Let me start by telling you its name. Tenseiga. This sword belonged to the same demon that killed you five hundred years ago."
Mukotsu bellowed in rage before attacking. Kagome jumped out of the way of the attack noting the poison excreting from the tips of his claws. Can't be hit by that…Alright Tenseiga, show me what you've got! She swung at the arrancar and grinned when the blade bit into flesh. She wasn't sure if the sword could actually cut him considering he was sort of alive. Apparently overgrown hollows count as dead people. It made sense considering hollows were only human spirits that couldn't cross over to the soul society.
They continued for several minutes. Attacking. Dodging and repeat. Kagome's stamina was beginning to plummet and she knew she needed to end the fight quickly. She brought the sword above her head and concentrated on remembering Sesshomaru's reiatsu right before he unleashed his attack. She took too long and Mukotsu's claws sliced into her stomach. The wound wasn't deep, but Kagome could feel the poison seeping into her system.
Shit…I have to end this now! Desperate, Kagome drew upon all her reiatsu and focused it on her sword. "Dragon Strike!" She brought the blade down in front of her in a half arc, releasing a large fury of blue electricity from the tip of the blade. The electricity wrapped around Mukotsu, tearing into his body. He screamed in pain. Kagome dropped to her knees, deprived off all her energy.
Mukotsu, stumbled forward. The attack severely wounded him, but he was still able to move. His poison was already at work in the girl's body. By this point she should barely be able to lift a finger in her own defense. He stopped when he reached her and looked down at her face. It was such a shame that he had to desecrate such a beautiful specimen.
"Kagome, can't I leave you alone for five minutes without you getting yourself into trouble?"
Kagome managed to turn her head to see Renji approaching. He looked beat up and exhausted, but pissed as hell.
"Who the hell are you?" Mukotsu asked, poising his claws over Kagome's throat.
Renji disappeared and reappeared behind the arrancar, holding his blade against his neck. He whispered something into his ear before drawing his sword across his throat. Renji tossed the body to the side and knelt beside Kagome.
"You look like shit." He commented.
"Thanks…"
He rolled her over to see the claw marks across her belly and grimaced. He could tell by looking at them, she'd been poisoned. The wound itself wasn't deep enough to cause any real damage. "We need to get you to Orihime."
She would have nodded, but her body was no longer taking orders from her. It was just like the last time he poisoned her. It was a paralysis drug. Renji scooped her up into his arms and ran in the direction of Orihime's reiatsu.
He found her on the rooftop of a building healing Captain Hitsugaya. Renji couldn't believe the amount of damage the captain took. He rushed to them and laid Kagome out on the concrete.
"Kagome-chan!" Orihime exclaimed. "What happened to her?"
"She had her own fight with one of the arrancars."
Matsumoto knelt beside Renji and inspected Kagome's wounds. "She doesn't seem to have taken a lot of damage. But…this looks like poison."
"Yah. That's what I thought. It seems to be a paralyzing agent. She hasn't been able to move or speak since I picked her up."
"Inoue, I'm fine, take care of Higurashi." Captain Hitsugaya said.
"Are you sure? Your injuries are still pretty bad."
He nodded. "You can take care of them later. We don't know what that poison will do to her if left in her system."
Orihime moved over to Kagome and wrapped her inside her healing dome. Kagome closed her eyes and allowed the warmth of Orihime's reiatsu to flow through her body. It didn't feel like healing kido, but it was soothing all the same. In a matter of minutes Kagome felt the poison leave her system and she was able to move her body again.
Kagome opened her eyes and looked up at Orihime. "Thank you."
"Oh! It's no problem really." Orihime smiled down at her.
Kagome sat up and the orange dome disappeared. She looked around at the gathered shinigami. Matsumoto looked relatively injury free, Hitsugaya was still pretty beat up, but he was fine as well. Renji just looked tired, and sometime during the healing process, Ichigo showed up carrying Rukia.
"Rukia!" Kagome rushed over to her.
Rukia had a fist sized hole punched through her stomach. Kagome grabbed her zanpakuto, which still was in the shape of Tenseiga. She held the blade in both hands and posed it over Rukia's body. Tenseiga was a healing blade that could either revive a newly dead body, or heal wounds. The sword pulsated and Kagome swiped the air just above Rukia's body.
Everybody gasped in amazement when Rukia's eyes opened and she shot into a sitting position. Kagome allowed her sword to change back and she dropped to her knees. It took more out of her to heal Rukia's wounds than it did to release the Dragon Strike.
"Kagome, that was amazing. How did you do that?" Orihime asked.
Kagome held out her Zanpakutou. "My bankai allows me to change my sword into anything I require at the time. When I released it during my fight it took the shape of Tenseiga, a healing sword. It's unable to hurt the living, but it is able to harm hollows and their evolved forms. It's most famous ability is to be able to revive or heal a hundred people in a single strike."
Hitsugaya nodded his head. "I've read about that blade. It belonged to a dog demon."
"His name was Sesshomaru."
"You never cease to amaze me, Higurashi." Hitsugaya complimented.
Kagome moved so she could lean against the wall. Her body was at its limit. She watched the group tend to each other's wounds, bandaging what Orihime couldn't heal. The girl was just as tired as she was after all the healing. Everybody seemed to be in an overall decent mood except Ichigo. He had the haunted look in his eyes he had this morning. She glanced to Rukia. She noticed the same thing.
Kagome knew Rukia was reeling in for a long lecture and Kagome didn't really want to be there when she blew. She turned to Renji.
"I'm going to find my body…"
"You mean you lost it?" His eyes widened.
She shook her head. "No. Yes. I don't know. I told her to find a safe place to hide while I fought. I have no clue where she ran off too."
"I saw her run towards Urahara's shop just before we were attacked." Rukia piped up.
"Thank you Rukia." Kagome stood up and wobbled on her feet.
Renji steadied her. "How about I walk with you just in case."
"Sure."
Renji had to keep his hand around her waist the entire walk to the shop. Whenever he let go, she'd wobble and almost fall over. He really needed to work with her on her stamina. He understood battling with the arrancar took a lot out of everybody, but she was lacking stamina to begin with. With her raw power, she could be stronger than most captains if only she had the endurance to balance out her strength.
They made it to the shop and stepped inside. Nobody was in the front area, but Renji and Kagome could feel their presence in one of the back rooms. They walked that way and Kagome pulled away from Renji the moment they stepped in.
Lying on a futon was Ururu with a sword wound through her lower chest. Tessai and Urahara were at her bedside and Tessai was healing her wounds. Kagome dropped to her knees beside Urahara and took the girl's hand.
"What happened to her?"
Renji answered. "She attacked the arrancar I was fighting."
"What was she thinking?"
"She wasn't. When she's faced with a dangerous reiatsu, she turns into a killing machine. Ururu had no control over her actions." Urahara explained.
"Will she be alright?"
"She'll pull through. Her wound isn't as serious as it looks." Tessai looked up from the wound. Kagome met his eyes and knew he was telling the truth.
"Kagome-chan!" A high pitched girl's voice yelped from the doorway.
Everybody turned and looked at the newcomer. It was Kagome's body. "Ah there you are!"
"Oh Kagome-chan! I was so worried about you!" Her body launched herself at Kagome. Kagome yelped but managed to catch her without falling over. Her body hugged her tightly. "I even did my best to protect Abarai-kun's lunch!"
"My lunch?" Renji inquired.
Kagome sighed. "Long story…"