Lemme just...sorry for the bad fighting scenes. At the moment, they're the best I can do. I'm really not very good at them lol.
Kana looked around with a frown, rubbing her shoulder with one hand while the other relaxed on the hilt of her Zanpakuto. She was alone in the Seireitei, and it was fuckin' Ichigo's fault. She almost wondered if it would have been better for everyone else to use Kukaku's cannon and leave Ichigo to fight his way through like he had wanted to. While everyone else had managed to hold a steady flow of reiatsu as they soared through the sky, Ichigo was still pumping too much, causing the other's to struggle to catch up. Kana ignored the fact that it had been her own flare up that had caused the orb to fail on impact. When Ichigo had started yelling and caused Ganju to lose concentration Kana had gotten pissed and her reiatsu had flared towards Ichigo in what she could only compare to a Spiritual slap. As such, between Kana's flare up and Ichigo's own incompetence, the cannonball has shattered on impact and blown the group in five different directions.
Chad had gone first, giving the group a lame thumbs up as he plummeted to the ground after throwing Ishida at Orihime. Ganju had clung onto Ichigo, and she hoped the asshole was suffering for it. Being probably a little overly confident in herself, Kana had assumed she would have the least amount of issues being alone in the Seireitei and had sent Yoruichi to Ichigo before being blown away herself.
She had come at the ground at a hard drop, but wish a wave of reiatsu towards the ground she slowed her fall and instead landed at a gentle 'thud' instead of an attention-drawing crash. Even so, she didn't stay in one spot long, picking one direction and running for it. She extended her reiatsu every 10 minutes or so to feel if anyone was nearby, but she didn't sense anyone, let alone any of her friends.
"What a mess." Kana mumbled, slowing to a fast walk as she turned another corner. She faintly felt a familiar spike a long long ways to her left and frowned. Of course Ichigo would be the first one she would sense would be fighting, but the real question was fighting who? Kana's fingers clasped tighter on the hilt of her Zanpakuto and she peered at the ribbon swaying from it. She still hadn't heard anything since that one whisper, and it was driving her crazy.
"How am I supposed to fight a Shinigami, let alone a Lieutenant or a Captain rank without you?" Kana whispered to her blade, freezing at a flare from behind her. Twisting on the spot her blade was drawn up just in time to block a heavy blow from above, and Kana found herself face to face with her first true opponent. She wasn't ready for this! She didn't know her Zanpakuto's name, and she hadn't even sensed this guy move in until he was almost upon her. She needed more training dammit. Ooooh, Rukia was gonna get an earful when she saved her. Kana grinned and shoved hard. Her opponent leapt back and narrowed his eyes, assessing her as she did the same to him.
He was fairly attractive, an inch or so taller than her, with short spiky black hair, a lean athletic build and dark eyes. Her eyes lingered more over a few noticeable features, the first of which being a banded tattoo across his neck, a 69 tattoo under his left eye, and three scars through his right. The second most noticeable part of his appearance made her stomach sink. With both sleeves rolled up, the white band holding the Insignia of Squad Nine bold across the wooden badge. Noticing her gaze, he tilted his arm slightly to give her a better view of it. Her eyes snapped back to his own gaze with a smirk and she whistled lowly.
"My first opponent is a hotty! Lucky me." Kana chuckled, it swiftly turning into a cackle as he flushed slightly and blinked at her in surprise before he hunched down, very obviously ready to shut her up.
"This is your first and only chance, Ryoka. Give up now and you and the other intruders will still have a chance at living." Shit, even his voice was low and attractive. Now she was gonna be distracted while she fought.
"Haa? First of all, Lieutenant, my name's Kana, not Ryoka. Second of all," She grinned widely, using the element of surprise while she still had it to flashstep towards him and slice towards his left side. His blade barely raised in time to block it, and Kana used the force of his block to leap backwards again.
"My friends and I came here ready to save Rukia or die tryin'."
That seemed to settle something within the Lieutenant and he attacked again, the clanging of steel on steel echoing.
"So rude. Not even going to introduce yourself? Tch, what shit manners they teach y'all around here." Kana mocked, grunting slightly as her blade slid along the Lieutenants. He pulled back to prepare to swing again, but Kana flash stepped forwards, dodging around his blade and slicing towards his side. She was disappointed to find she cut nothing but robe. The serious looking Lieutenant frowned deeper and pulled his arms closer into his side, seeming surprised that she was as fast as she was. Grunting, he made eye contact with Kana and nodded slowly to himself.
"Shuhei Hisagi, Lieutenant of Squad 9 of the 13 Court Guard Squads." There were no more real words after that, unless you wanted to count Kana's swearing when Shuhei's blade clipped her left leg or sliced a few inches of a lock of hair shorter. She felt less like she was fighting and more like she was playing a game of cat and mouse. After long minutes they found themselves back to where they started. Both had small cuts and a few bruises, panting slightly.
"It seems we've reached a standstill..." Shuhei stated, and Kana's eyes narrowed.
"Why haven't you won yet?" She demanded and he looked surprised.
"What do you mean?"
"Your Zanpakuto. Surely if you had released it this would have been over." She scowled, flicking her own blade upwards to point at his. This seemed to tick him off, and he clenched his sword in a tighter grip.
"I don't expect a Ryoka to understand. A Zanpakuto is a dangerous thing to everyone involved." Kana scoffed, rolling her shoulders back.
"Well duh. Power in anybody's hands is dangerous, but your Zanpakuto is part of your soul! It's your responsibility to handle your power." Kana accused and Shuhei lunged with a shout. It seemed she had pissed him off. Eye's brightening she grinned and dodged his attack, pushing off the ground to leap high and bring her blade down hard with both hands.
"I see! You fear your power! What a sad excuse for a Shinigami you must be, to have a Zanpakuto but not truly be able to use it. You're likely one of the most unreliable Shinigami here!" She taunted, raining down blow after blow as he got sloppier with each word, growing more and more frustrated. She could see his mind spinning with his words and finally it cost him. Kana's Zanpakuto sunk into his shoulder, and she cackled as she brought a foot up, kicking him hard in the chest. He flew backwards into the wall hard enough to leave a dent, and Kana grinned madly at the blade in her hand as it dripped.
'...blood...sweet blood...fear...'
The whispers were so faint she would almost think she imagined them, but they were surely there. Inhaling deeply, Kana flicked the blood off her blade and watched it splatter across the wall as she approached Shuhei's rising form as he glared at her. The sky grew darker above them as dark clouds started to roll in and the dance of their blades started once more. The clouds loomed over ahead, and Kana shivered at the comforting sound of the low rumble of thunder while Shuhei looked unsettled by it. On Kana's far left she felt the spike of Ichigo's reiatsu as well as someone's she didn't recognize spike sharply before plummeting. Throwing out her reiatsu in a wave Kana grinned crookedly at Shuhei.
"Would ya look at that, it appears as though one of your friends has lost. What hope do you have then?"
'...fear...more...blood...dark skies...'
Kana's thumb stroked the hilt of her Zanpakuto as she heard the whispers in the back of her mind. They were getting louder!
"You don't understand anything about what it means to fight as a Shinigami!" Shuhei yelled, and Kana cackled loudly.
"I don't care!" She raised her blade to point at her opponent again.
"I fight for myself, and my friends, and that's all the reason I need!" Shuhei's eyes widened slightly as Kana's reiatsu spiked, and he looked unsure for a second before his face settled in determination.
Then he said the words Kana was both dying and dreading hearing. The activation of his Shikai.
"Kare, Kazeshini!"
Shuhei's reiatsu spiked, visibly showing in a shadowy teal aura. His blades had split into two Kurasigami type blades with a long chain connecting them.
"Winds of death, huh." Kana laughed as Shuhei grasped the chain in one hand, sending one of the blades spinning in front of himself before launching it towards Kana. She leapt over the spinning blades, taking mind to not get ensnared by the chain as it doubled back for Shuhei to catch and settle again in his grip. Tilting her head to the side, Kana gave the Lieutenant a pitying smile.
"Do you fear death, Shuhei? Is that why you were so reluctant to release your Zanpakuto!?" Kana laughed, knowing damn well she looked insane but she didn't care in the slightest.
'He may fear death. But we do not.'
The world flashed white for a second as another peal of thunder rumbled, but when Kana next opened her eyes instead of meeting the dark brown of Shuhei Hisagi, they met violet eyes and a mad grin.
'Finally. You can hear me, Kana.'