A bit late in the day for the update, but I'd totally forgotten. I've been a little down, actually, from lack of response to last week's chapter... but I promised weekly updates, so here we are! I actually hope that this just a matter of, like my mother said once: 'I was looking for readers, not writers', in other words, even if no one's writing to me, that doesn't mean they aren't reading... and I definitely hope you're still reading.
This week, we go a bit more into our newest OCs, and the first confrontation against the Arrancars! (Trust me, this is nothing like canon!). If you're a fan of Orihime... I've said time and again that my Orihime is different from canon in that I've matured her a bit, mentally and emotionally; I made her into what I think she could and should have been in canon but just never seemed to get there. I hope you'll like it. Her importance will not be too obvious just yet, but it's coming. Ulquihime fans, get ready, this is gonna be one insanely wild ride!
Chapter 21. First Contact
A thirteen-year-old girl in a baby-pink colored dress with red accents, white flats and a white scarf covering her hair was sitting on a couch, cup of tea in her hand and a duffel-bag at her feet; across the low table sat an older woman, in her thirties, with short curly black hair and dark-gray eyes in kaki dress-pants and a white blouse, watching the girl while ignoring her own half-empty cup of tea.
"You know you're always welcome here dear." The older woman assured her.
"Yes…" The girl took a sip of tea before turning suddenly serious. "Even when you know what my presence here might mean for you, for your family, for your oldest daughter?"
"Is that really necessary?" The woman asked soberly.
"I know you don't like it Aunt Marie." The girl said softly. "I don't either, but you must know how necessary it is…"
"I sometimes wish I didn't have to see…but I guess even if I didn't they would still be there, wouldn't they?" The woman, Marie, declared.
"Yes, they would." The girl nodded sadly. "Spirits are always around us, both Pure and Corrupted ones, whether we see them or not. I think that sometimes it might even be more dangerous if we weren't able to see them."
"Shouldn't ignorance be bliss?" Marie inquired.
"Not when it can cause death, whether you're ignorant or not." The girl deadpanned. "At least when you can see you know where to run away from, and you might be able to fight…"
"That's the crux of the matter, isn't it? Fighting them…"
"Aunt…I understand you don't like this."
"Do you?"
"Yes! I mean, look at me!" she pointed to the bag at her feet. "I don't even have a home anymore! I don't even have a family! My father pretty much disowned me the moment he realized what I can do, what I am!"
"You have a home, right here, and you have a family, with us."
"Even when you know the consequences having me here will have for her?"
"Does it really have to be this way?"
"You know the answer to that question as well as I do."
"I'm not an Oracle."
"No, but you can still see. You can see them, all the chaos and grief they cause. Too many souls have been lost already. We all need for there to be someone capable of fighting back, of protecting those who can't protect themselves…"
"You…"
"You know that if I could I would handle things myself. I don't like getting others involved, especially my little cousin, anymore than you do. But I can't, I don't have that kind of power. I was born an Oracle; I'm no Maiti, or a fighter of any kind…your daughter on the other hand…she has what she needs to do this."
"And to think that I once found the old tales to be so funny and amazing…"
"Yeah, some things can seem like wonderful, beautiful fairy-tales, until we're forced to become a part of them…"
"You know? I don't know how I hadn't noticed it before, but you're awfully serious for a thirteen-year-old, awfully old, in a sense."
"I guess it's a consequence of seeing all I've seen…"
"Have you seen my daughter? What she will become?"
"I have." There was a mix of light happiness, melancholy and something else impossible to pinpoint in the girl's smile as she spoke about her little cousin. "She'll be the most amazing Peacekeeper to ever exist…"
There was more, something she wasn't saying, and Marie knew that much, but she also knew that Oracles could never be forced to share what they knew, what they had seen, it went against the rules; she just hoped that whatever it was her niece knew and was keeping to herself, it wouldn't be as bad as she feared it might be.
The sky was still dark, as the slim figure walked through a beautifully cared-for garden, the bare soles of her feet brushing on the damp grass.
"Oh Aunt Marie…" She whispered to no one in particular. "I wonder if you would have been so understanding, so welcoming of me in your home, if you had known the kind of danger I would end up pulling your daughter into?"
With a sigh, she moved her hand across a small round platinum brooch she wore, about an inch in diameter, pinned near the end of her sash, it was engraved with a five-pointed Celtic-style star done in silver.
"Is what I did really fair?" she sighed and shook her head. "Probably not. Necessary? Absolutely. Still, to drag an innocent girl into a war she should have never had anything to do with…it's probably the most terrible sin I'll ever commit…" she closed her eyes tightly.
Above her head, the sky began to lighten and change color, as the first rays of the sun reflected over the brown, red and cream colored tones of her clothing. Still, ignoring the growing light, the young woman, who looked to be in her late teens, or early twenties, envisioned the face of a girl in her mid-teens with porcelain skin and eyes as bright as stars…
"I wonder what you think of it all…" She continued to herself. "Do you understand? Do you hate me? Do you wish you had never met me?" she sobbed softly. "Regardless of anything, I will always hold you dear, my cousin…my sister…Deirfiúr…"
xXx
The day after the arrival of two new students on Karakura-High, the Nakama's confrontation with a Visored and their realization that there was yet another unknown person in Karakura with spiritual powers strong enough to take down a highly-powerful hollow, all the Nakama were very tense. The twins kept directing mostly-discreet looks at Keeva, trying to learn more about her, what her power might be, what she was even doing in Karakura; the rest of the teens also kept watch over Shinji, wondering why exactly he was still posing as a student after they had told him there was no Visored among them. Did he not believe them? And if so, why? Was he a risk to them, to anyone else?
Things were truly stressful for everyone.
Eventually classes finished for the day, and the group of friends reunited in the schoolyard, ready to make their way to Urahara's for some training, and possibly even to demand some explanations from the once-shinigami-captain. What they weren't expecting was for Hirako Shinji to be waiting for them a few blocks away from the school, and that he wasn't alone, with him was a small-looking girl in a red-tracksuit with brown eyes and blonde hair in spiky pigtails. All the Nakama could sense how alike the reiatsu of the two were, and easily deduced that she had to be another Visored, however, only one actually recognized her.
"Hiyori…" Karin mumbled, shocked.
"So it's true, the little raven-princess is now a human." Hiyori chuckled, and then hissed as she added. "And to think I absolutely abhor humans…"
The comment immediately put all the Nakama in high alert, though Karin pushed down the instinct to try and reason with her once-friend.
"I'm actually only half-human." Karin clarified. "Oyaji is a shinigami." She shook her head dismissing that. "Anyway, how have you been Hiyori?"
"I was betrayed, experimented on, turned into part-hollow, nearly-murdered, condemned to execution, forced to go into pseudo-voluntary exile and then spend the last century on the run, knowing that if I'm found, I'm dead…how do you think I've been?" Hiyori snarled.
"I know it must have been hard…" Karin began, before being interrupted.
"You know?!" Hiyori exploded. "You know?! You don't know nothing! You're nothing but a spoilt little princess!"
"Hiyori…" Karin began, beginning to go from happy to see an old friend to annoyed at the attitude she was showing.
"Anyway, it doesn't matter." Hiyori said dismissively. "The past is the past, what matters is the present. What needs to be done now." She turned to Ichigo. "You're coming with us."
"Why the hell would I do that?" Ichigo didn't bother to hide his anger at that.
"Because you're one of us." Hiyori said with a smirk, looking at the others with derision. "Because you don't belong with them."
"Of course I belong with them!" Ichigo retorted. "We are all Nakama, we belong together."
"You must be really nuts, brat." Hiyori sneered. "We're Visored, seen as aberrations by those who consider themselves normal…your so-called nakama, they will leave you the moment they realize what you truly are…"
"You don't know us, so don't presume to know what we'll do or won't do." Orihime stated strongly. "Like Ichigo said, we're Nakama, we stick together, no matter what."
"Why do you even keep focusing on me?" Ichigo wanted to know. "I told you yesterday I'm nothing like you, like either of you. Like Yuzu told Shinji, none of us has a mask…"
"You may have been able to fool Shinji, but then again he's a bit of an idiot anyway." Hiyori stated off-handedly.
"Hiyori…" Shinji half-whined.
"But you cannot fool me." The female Visored went on, ignoring Shinji. "I can sense the darkness in your reiatsu. The hollow in your aura…you are most definitely a Visored."
The girl's words put Ichigo on the defensive, he'd known he wouldn't be able to hide Shiro's existence as a part of his own soul for long, but he hadn't been expecting things to turn south so soon either.
"You will be coming with us, Kurosaki Ichigo." Hiyori stated as she began focusing her own reiryoku, and her reiatsu began to rise. "And anyone who gets in our way will die."
"If you think you can take my Ichigo anywhere you're out of your mind." Rukia stated in a very possessive tone, as she stood in front of her beloved, her reiatsu rising steadily.
The rest of the Nakama materialized their weapons instantly as well, ready to fight for their nakama and leader at a moment's notice.
All but Karin, who took a more hands-on approach on the problem…she went straight at Hiyori, punching her in the face with all the strength her human body was capable of; it was enough to send the small Visored down, to Shinji's, and everyone else's surprise.
"So I'm nothing but a spoilt princess, huh?" Karin practically snarled, as her human body began glowing a red color. "I know nothing?" her reiatsu kept climbing in her anger, and she didn't care. "You're the one who knows nothing Sarugaki Hiyori!"
Furious at being taken by surprise, Hiyori jumped back on her feet, she went to attack Karin, but had to move back almost instantly, when getting too close to the raven-haired girl began giving her superficial burns; Karin's reiatsu was high enough to burn in that moment; neither Visored could believe it.
"You still refer to me as a raven-princess, and then you say the past is the past." Karin commented. "But I don't think you're really letting go of the past Hiyori. Things change in a hundred years, did you know that? I went to the Shino Academy, graduated in two years, I was considered as one of the five most talented shinigami to have ever gone through the Academy, and the most talented woman…then I lost my Nii-sama, the only direct family I had left, a decade later; almost immediately I was declared a captain-candidate. I never made captain, but you know? It wasn't because I couldn't, but because I didn't want to, I achieved bankai about eight years after being named a candidate for the captaincy. But I really didn't want to be a captain. Then two years after that, I was killed; Aizen ordered a hit on me, his first plan failed, but the second one worked quite nicely, I was taken down by an imperfect Arrancar after spending several late-night hours fighting what must have been at least a hundred hollows. I was reborn ten years later; regained my powers a bit over a month ago."
The two Visored could only watch Karin in silence, her aura had gone back to manageable levels in the middle of her rant, and by the time she was finished she looked like a normal human again; only that, by then, it had become pretty obvious that she was anything but a normal human girl.
"You were right Hiyori, the past is the past." Karin went on, more calm by then. "Things change, I changed. I'm no longer Nagaken Karin, I'm no longer the weak little sister of a Noble Clan-Head and Captain of the Gotei 13. I'm Kurosaki-Nagaken Karin, shinketsu shinigami, reincarnation of a captain-candidate, prodigy, bankai-wielding shinigami." Her voice turned to steel as she went on. "You were once a dear friend, almost a role-model to me, Hiyori; but I think I don't know you anymore, just as you don't know me. I'm no longer the raven-princess Hiyori, and if you try to so much as lay a single finger on my brother, or any other of my nakama…I swear I'll take you down myself."
xXx
Things on Wednesday weren't any easier than they had been the two previous days. The Nakama were still on edge about the Visored, Keeva, and even the adults who might be responsible for the Visored being after Ichigo.
The situation from the previous day had ended after Karin's very direct warning against Hiyori. Yet again the Visored had found themselves in a situation they weren't ready for, and that made them hesitate from their original plan of just taking Kurosaki Ichigo with them and ignored everyone else. Despite Hiyori's assurances that the orange-haired had, in fact, an Inner Hollow, he still wasn't at all what they had been expecting; there was no fear in him, for himself or his nakama, no doubt, no uncontrolled anger, even Karin had made more show of her own temper than the one who was supposedly being haunted by an Inner Hollow.
The rest of the week, and even the one following, were pretty tense, what with keeping their guard, studying Castelo Keeva, trying to find whoever else had just arrived to Karakura with the power to fight an imperfect arrancar, wondering what the Visored would do next, and waiting for Aizen to make his move, the number of hollows attacking Karakura kept escalating, but none as powerful as the hamen of that particular day; even the day they took off to celebrate the 'Day of the Dead' was filled with tension as they all waited for an attack that just didn't come; and yet, if the Nakama had just known what would be happening next, they might have tried and enjoy that time to its fullest anyway…
Most seniors saw it as a curse, that because entrance exams for college were so close upon them, the High-School had arranged to have them stay an hour longer on certain days, to help them prepare for such exams. While other students were in fact thankful for the help they could get during that time, others didn't like it in the slightest, like most of the Nakama, who, being already in the Honor Roll despite their relatively constant absences due to their 'spiritual duties' considered that having to be extra hours in school was just a waste of their time, time they could be using to train instead.
Monday was one such day when seniors had to stay for an extra hour, Yuzu had gone home to prepare dinner, while Karin stayed for soccer practice, deciding that at least, if she had to stay, it was for something she enjoyed, and not more dull school-time.
The 'extra-class' had just begun, when, unexpectedly, all the Nakama gasped at once, Mizuiro, Keigo and Chizuru going as far as beginning to tremble slightly.
"What the hell is that?" Tatsuki demanded, as she forced herself to breathe normally.
"No idea." Uryuu replied, focusing on finding the origin of the reiatsu.
"It's much more powerful than the imperfect arrancar from the other day." Orihime added nervously. "And…"
"It's right outside." She and Uryuu stated at the same time.
That was enough, instantly all the Nakama were on their feet and rushing out of the classroom, totally ignoring their teacher's questions and demands on where they were going and why so many of them were leaving the classroom at the same time.
"Whatever happens, don't let anyone get out!" Ichigo ordered the three weakest of the Nakama. "We'll handle this."
"Are you sure you can handle this, Ichigo?" Keigo asked, growing more and more afraid by the second, as the reiatsu pressed upon him.
"We have to." Rukia said grimly as she prepared herself mentally. "Too many lives, too many souls, would be at risk if we don't."
The reiatsu began escalating right then, showing that one of the newly arrived enemies was about to attack, that was enough to send them all into a frenzy. The Nakama rushed to the nearest window and jumped out, uncaring of the fact that they were on a third floor, they used reiatsu to soften their landing, before rushing to the front of the school at top-speed, meeting with Karin, who had left soccer-practice when sensing the danger.
"They're going to attack!" Uryuu and Orihime announced in unison.
"It's a Cero!" Karin was the one to recognize the red-sphere of power being formed by one of four beings standing by the school gate.
Instantly Rukia, Karin and even Ichigo began murmuring the incantation for shielding kidou. While Karin's control was still shaky, and Ichigo was simply atrocious at kidou, it was still preferable to doing nothing at all. Their shields, along with Orihime's own, were enough to stop the Cero and dissipate it, and at the same time anger the one who had fired it. The teens just hoped there wouldn't be a second attack like that one, one had been bad enough.
The Nakama finally got just a few feet away from the gate and could observe the new arrivals attentively: two females and two males, all dressed in white attires with black highlights, their reiatsu was very dark, like hollows, but had the slightest trace of shinigami in them.
"Arrancars…" Karin gasped, shocked.
"What?" Uryuu shook his head, not quite believing it. "But they are nothing like the hamen we sensed the other day!"
"Because these aren't imperfect Arrancar!" Karin answered, half-hysterical. "These Arrancars are, somehow, stable."
The answer came to all of them like one. "Aizen."
"He must have been able to activate the Hougyoku." Rukia assumed.
"But weren't we told that it would take him at least a year?" Chad wanted to know.
"Those who said that were either being stupid…again…" Uryuu muttered with disdain. "Or they seriously underestimate Aizen…"
It didn't even matter in that moment which one it was, what mattered was that four stable Arrancar were in that moment in front of them, with power far beyond any hollows they had fought, or even seen before.
"Orihime, can you do something to protect the school?" Ichigo asked the girl. "Something tells me that we won't be able to get these hollows away from this place, not without a fight, and any fight with enough power to truly go against them could end up hurting innocents."
"At least in this area, and at this time, the only thing we really need to worry about is the school, and the few businesses nearby." Rukia commented.
"Only the school." Uryuu pointed out soberly. "Haven't you noticed it yet? There are no other souls in the vicinity…they have been consumed already."
Orihime covered her mouth, drowning a cry; for a moment it seemed like she would lose herself to despair, knowing that so many lives had been lost already; and then, like that time on Soukyoku Hill, she abruptly stilled herself and, with her hands to her temples, call onto her power, a power far superior than any she had used before in the Living World.
"Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily!" She summoned her fairies. "Can we create a shield big enough, and strong enough to protect everyone in the school?"
"We're your power, we depend on your will Orihime." Baigon reminded her.
"If you can will it, it can be." Lily stated with a huge smile.
"Your only limit is yourself." Hinagiku added. "Now call us!"
Steeling her resolve, Orihime focused all her will on her desire to protect everyone in the school, on not wanting anyone else to die…
"Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily!" Orihime began her kotodama, as her reiatsu rose steadily. "Santen Kesshun! Nibankyuu! I reject!"
Instead of forming a triangular shield between them, as the three flowers usually did, they took positions around the school property; the line of protection formed connecting them, as usual, but then it expanded, below and above them, forming a column of protection all around the school. It was Orihime shield in a form never before seen…
"I'm afraid this will need all my focus." Orihime informed the others, hands to her temples as she focused her reiatsu on the shield. "You will have to be the ones to fight."
"No problem." Chad assured her.
"Thanks a lot Orihime." Ichigo smiled at her. "You've taken a huge weight off our shoulders."
"You're awesome Orihime-san." Rukia added.
Orihime glowed at the praise, the words and feelings behind them strengthening her resolve even more, and with it, her shield.
"What the hell is that?!" The bigger of the two male arrancar demanded hotly. "Who the hell are you all?!"
It was clear that the Arrancars hadn't expected the bunch of human teens standing up to them.
"It's polite for the visitor to introduce himself first." Uryuu stated, with a calm he didn't feel.
All the Nakama were on their guard already, weapons manifested; while some of them cursed the lack of time to get out of their bodies, they still didn't dare try it, not wanting to leave an opening for their enemies to take advantage of.
"Ulquiorra Cifer," The smallest of the Arrancars introduced himself. "Cuarta Espada, under Aizen-sama's command."
"Espada?" Tatsuki inquired, unfamiliar with the term.
"It's Spanish for sword." Chad pointed out helpfully.
"It means we're the most powerful Arrancars." The bigger Espada informed him. "I am Yammy Llargo, Décima Espada."
"Loly Aivirrne, Número 33." The teenaged-looking black-haired, pink-eyed female arrancar introduced herself.
"Menoly Mallia, Número 34." The teenaged-looking blonde-haired, green-eyed female arrancar added almost instantly.
The Nakama filed the new term for later contemplation, in that moment they had to focus on the obviously upcoming fight.
"We're here to test, Kurosaki Ichigo." Ulquiorra announced seriously. "And are willing to destroy any trash that might get in our way."
No one had any doubt that it was the rest of them being called trash, and while Uryuu, Tatsuki and Karin all bristled at the comment, none of them moved a muscle, waiting either for Ichigo to give a signal, or for the Arrancar to attack first.
"I am Kurosaki Ichigo." The orange-haired announced stepping before his nakama. "Why would you want to test me?"
"Because Aizen-sama orders it so." Ulquiorra answered simply.
Most of the Nakama were beginning to tire of the way Ulquiorra kept saying 'Aizen-sama', all except one, who could only watch the black-haired emerald-eyed Espada with a mix of the greatest shock and deepest-sadness ever shown in those eyes…
"So, if the orange-head is the one you wanted…does that mean I can get rid of the rest of the trash?" Yammy inquired with a predatory smirk.
The Nakama didn't need an answer, and apparently neither did Yammy, as they all got ready to fight instantly.
The two female Arrancars, not wanting to be left out, moved to attack Orihime at the same time, obviously seeing her as the weakest link; however, before they could get close enough to her, Karin and Tatsuki were before them, attacking them in turn.
"Chad?" Uryuu inquired, turning to the half-Mexican.
With a silent accord, the two young-men prepared to fight as a team against the Décima Espada, leaving Ichigo and Rukia with Ulquiorra.
Ichigo and Rukia summoned their zanpakutou, cursing not having the time to get into their shinigami forms. Rukia specially, she was still pretty new at using her zanpakutou while in her gigai, but was training very hard to improve.
"You know you will never be able to fight me as a human." Ulquiorra pointed out blankly. "If you're truly Kurosaki Ichigo, get out of your body, fight me as a shinigami."
"Yeah, well…" Ichigo kept his guard up as he gave his reasons. "You see, me getting out of this body would require me lowering my guard, which would put not only myself at risk, but all my nakama, that's not something I'm willing to allow."
"You say you're here to test Ichigo, that Aizen sent you." Rukia commented, suddenly realizing something. "Does that mean you aren't here to try and kill him?"
"I wasn't given such orders." Ulquiorra said simply. "But I suppose if he proves to be as much of trash as the others, I might as well save Aizen-sama the trouble."
"You say my nakama are trash and yet…have you noticed in whose favors the battles around us are going?" Ichigo inquired with a half smirk.
Ulquiorra actually had been noticing. Loly had been easily overpowered by Karin who, despite her still rather erratic control over her own reiatsu, was notoriously more powerful than her opponent. Only luck was keeping the pigtailed arrancar alive at that point.
Menoly, on the other hand, had been having an advantage over Tatsuki, whose power began acting against herself, her own human body. What no one had been expecting was the black-haired girl in dark-jeans and a top that had come out of nowhere and engaged Menoly in hand-to-hand combat, soon proving to be stronger than the blonde Arrancar, stronger than any human was supposed to be. It was Castelo Keeva, and while the Nakama weren't completely sure of her loyalties, they were willing to let it go, at least for the time being.
The other battle had been more serious, and delicate. In that moment Chad was standing, holding his badly torn right arm against his body, his armor had practically been ripped off by the sadistic Espada; at the same time, the Espada had lost an arm to Uryuu's seele schneider, who had acted in retaliation to the wound dealt to his nakama. Uryuu himself had some wounds, but nothing too serious. They were at a stand-still in that moment.
"Ichigo, get out of your body." Rukia instructed unexpectedly.
"Rukia?" The orange-haired didn't understand her sudden change of attitude.
"We're winning right now, but things could still change." Rukia admitted. "You've heard Ulquiorra, he's not interested in killing us, just in testing you. Maybe you'll be able to convince him to leave us alone."
Ichigo had to recognize his beloved was right, and that was enough. It took him a second of concentration, and like he'd done before, when going to fight Grand Fisher, he willed his soul to leave his body with just a thought.
"Rukia, please guard my body." Ichigo said seriously.
The obsidian-haired nodded solemnly, getting on guard over Ichigo's empty body; with the fights going on around them she couldn't even try to pull it to where Orihime stood.
*Ossan, Shiro, I think we'll need to work together if we want this to work.* Ichigo murmured into his mind as he got on his guard.
*Indeed Ichigo, we're ready.* Zangetsu assured him.
*Go Aibou, show that boring bastard what we're made of!* Shiro said with a predatory grin.
Ichigo laughed mentally, his inner hollow seemed to be truly thrilled at the prospect of a fight. Too bad that he wasn't planning on letting it go too long.
"Bankai!" Ichigo called almost instantly. "Tensa Zangetsu!"
He knew he was taking his power too high, too quickly, but if he wanted to impress Ulquiorra enough to convince him to leave, at least for the time being, he decided it was better to go all out, or almost all out, right from the start. Even if it could be seen as overkill, he would rather not take chances. Still, he was keeping a couple of aces under his sleeves: his synchronization with Zangetsu, and Shiro's powers.
It just happened that in that precise moment Menoly finally fell against Keeva, Loly barely managing to get herself and her 'sister' out of the way before they could be killed. Yammy seemed to take that as some sort of signal as he feinted in Uryuu's direction, making him move away, before turning to Chad instead.
"Chad, get down!" Ichigo yelled before releasing an attack of his own. "Getsuga Tenshou!"
The gentle giant didn't doubt, he instinctively followed Ichigo's orders, throwing himself to the ground, rolling, trying his best to keep his injured arm protected.
Ichigo's attack was fast and strong enough that it threw Yammy off his track and dug deep into his side, only the Espada's hierro prevented it from cutting straight through.
"What the…" Yammy turned to Ichigo, livid.
Even Ulquiorra seemed to be at least a bit shocked as he watched the apparent ease with which Ichigo had cut Yammy, especially considering that he hadn't had time to charge a particularly powerful attack. If the orange-haired could do that at a moment's notice, what could he do when he had time to actually prepare an attack?
"It's up to you Ulquiorra, you take them away, or I kill them all right now!" Ichigo stated coldly as he began preparing to do exactly that.
Only twice he had moved to attack a humanoid being, the first one having been a disaster; the most recent case had been with Kariya, and while he certainly didn't like it, like he had told the leader of the Bount, he was willing to do anything for his nakama.
"Ichigo!" those listening could hardly believe what they were hearing. "You cannot just let them walk away!"
"Yes I can." Ichigo insisted.
"It's necessary." Uryuu added grimly, having realized what Ichigo was thinking. "If we continue fighting for much longer we will begin to affect Karakura and its inhabitants. Not just because of direct attacks, but our reiatsu. Also, other hollows have begun appearing, called by the reiatsu we've been expelling. We're in no condition for a full-out battle right now."
"That's not all." Ichigo added. "This is the perfect opportunity to send a message. What do you think Aizen will think when he sees three of the four Arrancars he sent personally go back looking like they do right now, and knowing they could have all been destroyed?" He turned to Ulquiorra. "Let me tell you something, this isn't the limit of my power. But I won't power up anymore, for I don't want to affect Karakura and the civilians needlessly. I also want you to tell Aizen something, tell him that if he messes with me, with us Nakama, with our town, he will come to regret it. We're not Shinigami, we're not the Gotei, we don't fight for duty, or following orders, we fight to protect; if you hit, we'll hit back, and you will see how far a bunch of humans with powers can go when they will it so…"
Ulquiorra didn't reply, while under normal circumstances he would have immediately dismissed such threats, thought it ludicrous for anyone to believe he had the power to make them, he could sense that the half-human Kurosaki Ichigo was powerful, and he wasn't straining himself yet. Whatever it was Aizen had had in mind when he decided to send Ulquiorra with three pretty weak Arrancars…he obviously wasn't expecting what had happened, which meant that the 4th Espada had done enough already.
The shinketsu shinigami watched Yammy attentively, while his previous attack had had to be very fast, he had still called its name, which meant it had held considerable power, and still, the wound he had dealt Yammy hadn't been as serious as he'd been hoping for, which meant he would need more energy. He began to gather reiatsu into Zangetsu, planning on trying to cut Yammy's head off next; he knew that if Karin got into her shinigami form she would have no trouble taking down either Loly or Menoly, Rukia could do the same and handle the other female Arrancar, while Keeva was still there and seemed to be pretty powerful, Ichigo didn't want to be dependent on her; if Ulquiorra tried to attack then he would have to leave Yammy to Uryuu and handle the stronger Espada himself, he had absolute confidence in his nakama.
"Why are you doing this U…lquiorra?" Orihime's sudden question took them all by surprise.
It was obvious that it took great effort for her to keep her focus on her shield while at the same time hold a conversation, but she still did it. Orihime had only had to stop a handful of attacks, and while the two girl's attacks hadn't been too strong, Yammy's had had enough force to rattle her shield, and make her flinch visibly while pushing more reiatsu into her technique, she wouldn't last much longer. What she had done, the kind of shield she created, was like nothing she, or anyone else, had ever done before; she was using some of the reiatsu Ichigo kept releasing, which helped a lot, and yet she was still a human, with human limitations…
"Aizen-sama…" Ulquiorra began.
"No." Orihime's voice was surprisingly strong as she interrupted the Espada. "I don't want to know why Aizen wanted you to do this, I want to know why You want to do this…"
No one said a thing, all of them waiting for what the Espada might say; they had no idea what Orihime expected to achieve by interrogating the Espada like that, but as strange as the orange-red haired girl could be at times, she was not stupid, she was in fact one of the most intelligent among them, so they trusted her, and waited for Ulquiorra's response.
"I…I am looking for something." Ulquiorra answered after a while.
"What are you looking for Uk…Ulquiorra?" Orihime inquired, so softly a stranger might have thought she was talking to a scared child.
"I…don't know." Ulquiorra replied, as softly and hesitantly as she.
Silence reigned for what seemed like forever, everyone present seemed to be having a hard time processing what Ulquiorra was saying.
"You…you are looking for something, without knowing what it is?!" Tatsuki half-snapped, thinking the whole thing was insanity.
"I will know when I find…it." Ulquiorra replied, a bit more strongly, responding to Tatsuki's own tone of voice.
It looked like Orihime wanted to say something more, but then the shield rippled, it was becoming increasingly hard for her to keep it up, but she knew she couldn't let it down until the Espada were gone, it would be too dangerous for those still inside the school otherwise…
"Yammy, Loly, Menoly, we're leaving." Ulquiorra ordered.
No one said a thing, none of the Nakama tried to stop the Arrancars either. Ulquiorra simply made a motion with his hand, opening what looked almost like a black hole in the air, he went through, closely followed by the two arrancar girls, who were holding each other up, and Yammy, who was carrying his cut arm.
No one lowered their guard, or even breathed, until the hole in the air closed again behind the Arrancar. Then Orihime's shield dissolved into the air, at the same time she dropped to her knees, panting; Chad, Tatsuki and Karin finally allowed themselves to fall down in exhaustion, Uryuu barely keeping himself from doing the same; Ichigo made sure they were all alright, before getting back into his body.
"So…we survived the first attack…" Tatsuki commented with a sigh.
"Barely…" Chad muttered, not liking that fact at all.
"We need to up our training." Uryuu decided.
"And next time there's an attack, those of us who need to get out of our bodies to fight better are doing that, before going to fight." Karin stated seriously.
They were all quite sure things wouldn't have been that close, or even bad, for some of them, if they had had access to their full power.
"As interesting as it is to hear you all making plans for future battles…someone wants to explain to me what exactly is going on?" Someone unexpectedly asked.
During the whole exchange between Orihime and Ulquiorra, the Nakama had almost forgotten that Keeva was there, that she had helped Tatsuki fight Menoly, and had displayed power like none they had ever seen before. But as she spoke out-loud to all of them, they remembered, and immediately got on their guard again…
"Hey!" Keeva cried out, seeing Uryuu's arrow pointing at her. "I'm not your enemy, ok? So put that down! Or out! Whichever."
"How can we be sure you're not an enemy?" Uryuu inquired. "We don't even know who you are! How you have power…"
"I just helped you, remember?" Keeva pointed out, making sure not to make any sudden moves that might provoke the others into attacking her.
"That might have been a strategy to get close to us and then attack us when our guard is down." Karin said stoically.
"You are pretty paranoid, did you know that?" Keeva deadpanned.
"It's not paranoia when the danger is real." Orihime quoted.
"And since I don't know what the danger is supposed to be…I still call it paranoia." Keeva retorted cheekily.
"You don't know…are you telling me you got involved in a battle of this level, without even knowing what the stakes were?!" Ichigo practically snapped.
"Pretty much, yeah." Keeva shrugged.
Ichigo's reiatsu was pushing on her, but she forced herself to remain standing, she used her own to lock her muscles in place so she wouldn't collapse under the pressure.
"Ichigo, calm down." Rukia said, taking a hold of his arm. "If you keep this going you're going to seriously hurt her. And maybe even yourself."
"She's right Ichigo, you're letting out too much reiatsu." Uryuu added.
"The hollows appearing…" Tatsuki began, remembering how complicated things got when Ichigo's reiatsu flared too much.
"Are being dealt with." Orihime said softly. "By Ishida-sensei, Urahara-san, Yoruichi-san, Ichigo's otou-san, Yuzu-chan, and someone else…"
"A Visored?" Karin inquired.
"The presence doesn't feel like a Visored." Uryuu threw in his two cents. "It probably is whoever took care of the hamen two weeks ago."
The others nodded, they still hadn't been able to find that person, and while that stressed them out, in that moment the priority was standing in between them.
"How exactly did you get involved in our fight, when you had no idea what it was about?" Rukia asked the human girl. "For all you know, we could have been the bad-guys."
"Please, I may not have known the details, but I'm not stupid either." Keeva grumbled. "I know what hollows feel like, I've seen them before, I've fought them before…"
"You've fought hollows?!" Tatsuki didn't quite buy it.
"Why would you fight hollows?" Chad asked, concerned.
"Yes, in America." Keeva answered. "And someone had to do it. Otherwise innocent people would die. I wasn't about to allow that."
"What about the resident shinigami?" Rukia asked, half-confused, half-worried.
"Before him," Keeva signaled to Ichigo. "I had never seen a shinigami."
As the Nakama processed what Keeva had just said, and all its implications, the short-haired girl remembered what she had talked with Serenity recently, regarding the very teens that still stood guard around her:
Keeva dropped from the building's roof and to the apartment's balcony, at times like that, it paid to be living on the last floor, even if usually it was a pain to have to climb so many stairs. She had just finished a hollow that had gotten too close to their home, and she had done it fast, so her lady wouldn't feel the need to act herself.
As the fifteen-year-old straightened up from the crouch she'd landed on she saw her lady standing against the balcony's door, watching in the distance as a combination of white arrows, an orange-tinted shield and a blue energy dispatched a bit over half a dozen hollows that had appeared a few miles away from their apartment.
"They seem to be quite good." Keeva commented.
"True." Serenity sighed as she turned and walked away from the window. "But regardless of how good they might be, they won't be enough."
"What makes you think that?" Keeva asked, confused.
She'd seen the human teenagers fighting several times, and could admit that they were incredibly powerful, at least half of them were considerably more powerful than her. It almost seemed like they should be capable of handling anything thrown at them, and yet her lady was saying they weren't strong enough…what kind of power was coming at them then? Who or what could be so strong that the power they had witnessed thus far would not be enough?
"If their power were enough, we would not be here." Serenity stated calmly.
"I still don't know why we even came here." Keeva stated in a tired tone. "You say we're needed, and yet nothing I've seen thus far suggests such a thing. You talk about working together, and yet you refuse to have us introduce ourselves to them…"
"You will." Serenity interrupted her without reacting to Keeva's tone of voice. "The moment will come when you will realize how much you're needed, and you'll get the chance to introduce yourself to them. Just remember one thing: no matter what happens you're not to tell them about your origins…or about me."
"Why not?" Keeva was confused and beginning to get stressed out by all the secrecy.
"It's not time yet." Serenity answered simply.
And as angry as the younger girl was at what the older was saying, she held her temper and rather unkind answer back; Serenity was her lady, her superior in each and every way that mattered, and Keeva would never try to force her will upon her, or truly disobey her, she would always follow her lady, no matter what.
"What am I suppose to say then, when this time comes and they all interrogate me about my powers?" Keeva inquired formally.
"Tell them you're a human who acquired powers through necessity." Serenity instructed. "They will believe it, after all, at least two of them are the same…or so they believe."
Keeva nodded, willing to follow those instructions regardless of how unsure she herself was of the tactic. Wouldn't it end up making things harder if they lied and had to change their story later? How would she, would they, explain having lied first?
By that point Serenity had turned around, already on her way back to her room, massaging her temples softly with the pads of her fingers.
"My lady…" Keeva called unexpectedly. "I cannot help but wonder…how much do you know exactly about what's going on, what's coming?"
"Not enough." Was all Serenity answered before locking herself in her room again.
The short-haired girl was brought back to reality by Rukia speaking, directing a question straight at her.
"Who are you?" Rukia wanted to know. "Really."
"My name, as all you must know already, is Castelo Keeva." The ebony-haired introduced herself. "I am a spiritually aware human, with certain abilities that allow me to defend myself, as well as fight back. Just turned sixteen…What else? Like I said in the first day of class, I am Mexican but have lived in many places. I'm proficient in gymnastics and several martial arts…oh, and I came here to Japan because my sister wanted to come."
"How did you gain powers?" Tatsuki wanted to know.
"Well…" Keeva shrugged, apparently uncaring. "I just needed them and they were there. I've always been able to see what other people couldn't. At first I had no idea what it meant, thought it might mean I was crazy or something, everyone else thought that at least; then one day I was attacked…and I discovered I could fight back. I've never been too interested in unveiling the specifics, the whys or the hows, I only care about the what."
"Which is why you got involved in a dangerous battle without even knowing what was really going on." Karin muttered, not quite buying it.
"Like I said, I've fought hollows before." Keeva justified herself. "And since you were the ones fighting them now…I assumed you had to be the good guys."
"And if you had been wrong?" Uryuu wasn't sure why, but the girl's attitude was bothering him somewhat, she seemed too blasé about things he considered serious.
"I would have been screwed." Keeva shrugged again.
"You don't seem to be too bothered by the possibility of your own death." Chad commented, beginning to get bothered as well.
"Have you never heard the phrase, 'Live Fast, Die Young'?" Keeva deadpanned.
"Going back to something you said earlier." Rukia decided to change topic before things got too much tenser. "You mentioned a sister earlier…that she's the reason you're here. Does she have any power of her own?"
The Nakama got on the same page as her almost instantly, Rukia's suspicion of that unknown sister and the unknown spiritually empowered newcomer being one and the same.
"She's not a fighter." Keeva answered simply.
It looked like one of the Nakama was going to insist, but this time it was Keeva who interrupted them, changing the topic.
"Look, I know you may not believe anything of what I'm saying, but believe this." She said strongly. "Class is over, there will be several dozen high-school seniors swarming this very spot any minute now, and unless you want them to see you all here and wonder what exactly is going on, maybe even make questions I'm sure you don't want to answer…"
The Nakama didn't like it, but they knew she was right, they had half-registered the sound of the bell that announced the end of the extra-hour for seniors shortly before, and there was no way Chizuru, Keigo and Mizuiro would be able to stop all of their classmates from leaving for their homes for long, and it would be too suspicious if they even tried.
"We're not done." Ichigo stated. "We'll talk more later, Castelo. Let's go guys."
"Keeva is just fine." The girl said off-handedly. "I've never been one for formalities. And if you don't mind, I need to get home soon, my sister worries."
With that, she began making her way uptown; she was a couple of blocks away when she stopped with a sigh and laid herself against a tree.
"I know you're there." She said out-loud. "I can sense you."
Without a word Uryuu came out from behind another tree a few feet behind her, he didn't seem too bothered by the fact that he'd caught him following her.
"Why are you following me?" Keeva asked with a tired sigh.
"I know you're lying to us." Uryuu said directly. "I'm not sure yet just how much of what you told us was a lie, but I know for sure not all was the truth."
"What makes you so sure?" Keeva inquired, honestly curious.
"You may have trained yourself to keep your emotions contained." Uryuu stated formally. "And may have no outward reiatsu to give you out, but the stiffness of your own stance, of your voice, the steel in your eyes, it all gives you away."
"Your companions didn't seem to notice." Keeva pointed out.
"Most aren't as observant as I." Uryuu admitted. "And yet, none of them trust you either. They won't unless they have a reason, or someone they trust tells them to…"
Keeva frowned, wondering if she was reading too much in his words.
"What do you want?" She asked, allowing exhaustion to show through. "Really?"
"I want to know why you lie." Uryuu answered honestly.
"That's none of your business." Keeva stated, steel once again on her voice and eyes. "I am entitled to secrets, this is my life we're talking about!"
"Not when your secrets, your lies, could affect my nakama, could mean life or death for them." Uryuu stated strongly. "I am a Nakama, they're precious to me, I may not have as much raw power as Ichigo, but I will do anything and everything in power to protect them all, including discovering the truth about someone who lies about being a simple human girl who one day discovered she could fight spiritual beings…I know you have to be more, and I'll find out the truth, for the honor…"
"Of the Quincy, right?" Keeva finished for him, her voice suddenly filled with sarcasm. "I've seen you before, you and the rest of your nakama, Ishida Uryuu. I've seen you fight, and I've heard you talk. I've heard you say that same phrase 'For the honor of the Quincy…' over and over again in the last couple of weeks…But what honor can there be in a race that no longer exists? In people long dead?"
"Not all Quincy have stopped existing." Uryuu said, voice hard, he didn't like the way she spoke about the Quincy, or that she'd obviously been spying on them and none of them had so much as suspected a thing. "Even if I am the last one…"
"Even if you have family who are Quincy as well, a handful don't make a race, not at all." Keeva insisted. "You seem to be so proud to be part of a practically extinct group…and yet you have it so easy. Because even if you were the last of your people, you're not really alone, you have others around you who, even without being Quincy, understand, because they see, sense, the same things as you. You have no idea what it's like, to be the only one, to be called insane, schizophrenic, or even stupid, only because you see, hear and sense things no one else around you can. You don't know what it's like to be passed around, from place to place, from group to group, like a used toy, or an old piece of furniture no one actually wants…you have no idea what really being the 'last one' is like!"
Uryuu was shocked into silence, he honestly had no idea how to respond to that. It had never occurred to him. During his childhood, he'd always had his grandfather and master, and then, after losing him, he'd still had his father, even if their relationship hadn't been ideal back then; then the others had come into the picture: Ichigo, Orihime, Chad, the twins, and everyone else…Castelo Keeva was right, he'd never been alone, and she…
Keeva for her part had slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide, stance as tense as that of a frightened doe about to dash away from a predator. She couldn't believe everything she'd just said, everything she'd just revealed, she'd never said things like that before, admitted so much. She'd trained so hard to keep her emotions under wraps, and yet somehow the Quincy had managed to push all her buttons in quick succession, she'd just snapped.
Before he could gather his wits and say something else Keeva spun around and, pushing a great deal of reiatsu into her legs, ran away so fast Uryuu lost sight of her in a matter of seconds. He briefly thought of going after her, but he was still too shocked to track her down effectively. Her words…they had been nothing like what he had been expecting, like he could have ever expected, he honestly didn't know what to do in that moment. And yet, in that moment he knew one thing, as surely as he'd known Keeva was lying: she was in pain, in so much pain, and he couldn't help the almost soul-deep and absolutely irrational need he was feeling in that moment to aid her, to protect her…he must be insane, or coming down with something, to want so much to help someone he didn't even know…
It was crazy, for weeks they had been worrying about Aizen, about the threat he represented for them and for all of Karakura. There was also the stress of knowing there were other people in Karakura with power and unknown intentions. And yet…no one could have ever expected for things to get so complicated, so fast…and the war hadn't even truly begun yet…
Just what was going to happen next?!