Chapter Forty-One

Urai snatched Kuronamida from off the ground and lunged forward, even as his female ghost fell. Perhaps her shikai was on a time limit, perhaps her spiritual energy had run out – whatever the reason, in a moment, the tide of the battle had turned. But she had saved his life only minutes ago without even asking his name. Now, he knew, was his chance to return the favor.

He reached her a heartbeat before Halibel and swept the former Espada's blade away from his ghost's unconscious body, colliding with her in midair. They tumbled to the street several feet away from the fallen ghost, but Halibel was quick to leap to her feet again. Urai rolled to avoid her attack and get to his own feet, whirling his lance in front of him to block the oncoming flurry of blows.

She knew her vulnerability, having no release to fall back on, and so Halibel pressed the attack relentlessly. This time, though, Urai had his shikai. Kuronamida's shaft absorbed most of the power in her strikes, translating very little of the force into Urai's much smaller frame. He let himself get pushed back, but now he did so to draw her in, to keep the barrage unbroken as she pressed what appeared to be her advantage.

Then a flash of movement caught his eye. Behind Halibel, where the ghosts had lain, a black streak flickered in and out of existence.

Halibel sensed him coming and jumped away just as the male ghost slashed at her back. His sealed Zanpakuto nearly hit Urai instead, but he did nothing to acknowledge Urai's presence and whirled to chase Halibel once more. Urai's jaw tightened, but he ran back along the street, looking to cut off Halibel's escape, even as his shikai hummed with power beneath his fingers.

Be patient.

It was what he wished he could shout aloud at the ghost messing up his fight, but Kuronamida needed the reminder, too. The Zanpakuto itched to release all her frustrations, all her built-up anger, and it took every bit of Urai's willpower to keep her under control.

What feeble on-the-spot healing Urai had been able to perform for the male ghost did not last long. Within a few moments the two half-healed wounds he had been left with were torn open once more, but he did not slow his movements or lessen the force of his blows. Blood sprayed the ground with each clash, but the ghost seemed not to notice. Halibel flashed away and he followed without hesitation or hint of forethought, looking only to get close enough to hit her with his still-unreleased Zanpakuto.

Urai ran along the edge of the fight, now beside them, now in front of them, trying to intercept either fighter at this point. Kuronamida was becoming difficult to control, raging against Urai's constraint.

Just a few more seconds!

Still running, he turned to face the two fighters and clasped his hands (his lance caught between them) with the index and middle fingers of each raised, launching into a hasty chant.

"Water, running down the mountain, and fire, raging through the air. Mingle your blood and seal your fate! Bakudo no nijuusan: Yameruido!"

Halibel threw herself to one side to avoid the jagged streak of purple light, but her attacker did not see the bakudo coming. It struck him a glancing blow, but just that was enough for his momentum and movement to vanish abruptly, leaving him to topple awkwardly off the roof they had been running across and lie on the street below, unable to rise. In that instant, as Halibel turned to see where the attack had come from, Urai had his chance.

Skidding to a stop, he drew back with Kuronamida in his dominate hand, his right foot sliding back to brace against the pavement. The shaft began to burn with green light before he had even drawn the breath – his Zanpakuto was done waiting.

"Yozo...ratosshin!"

The lance shot forward like a missile, itself the spearhead for a massive blaze of energy. Halibel vanished behind the light, and Urai could not tell if she tried to block the lance or run from it, but it did not matter either way.

The rooftop on which she had been standing exploded, sending shards of masonry blasting in every direction. Urai ducked behind his arm to shield his eyes, but could not avoid getting cut in a dozen places by flying debris. The dark-haired ghost, who was just getting to his feet as Urai's bakudo faded, was knocked violently backwards by the blast.

Halibel, however...

The former Espada burned with green fire, all stemming from the lance lodged between her ribs. For several long moments she stood, the fire glowing behind her bones in eerie silhouette. Then, almost like a last sigh, her blackened skin began disintegrating into ash.

Urai did not move until the last trace of Halibel had vanished on the wind, then he straightened with a heavy breath and sealed his Zanpakuto once more. Suddenly he remembered his injured ghosts and turned, flash-stepping to the orange-haired woman's side.

Her left arm and shoulder had been heavily injured, bones cracked and muscle severed, but she stirred even as Urai bent over her to perform what patching-up healing he was capable of. Her eyes opened with a snap, irises blazing, and her sudden lunge upwards resulted in a mutual headbutt that sent them both reeling.

"Settle down!" Urai exclaimed, pushing her back to the ground with one hand while the other explored the bridge of his nose for fractures. "I finished off Halibel; we are not in immediate danger anymore."

Of course, like any good insane Shinigami, her expression went straight from determination to disappointment. Her eyes dimmed back to their usual dark brown, her lips curving downward.

"Oh."

Urai twitched. "'Oh'?" he repeated bitingly, leaning in closer to glare at her eye-to-eye. "I'm sorry, but you were unconscious, so I had to finish the fight I started. You saved my life, I saved yours, and so now we're even. Don't 'oh' at me as if I stole something from you."

Her expression stretched into shock for a heartbeat, then she seemed to relax against the ground. She closed her eyes, smilingly just a little as if she was embarrassed.

"You're right, sorry. You just... can't imagine how good it is to fight someone who isn't him." She paused, then blinked and looked over at her bleeding companion, who was now struggling to get to his feet again. Her eyes hardened. "Good, he's still alive."

Pale light flickered into existence. Urai held his hands over her shoulder and concentrated on trying to stop the bleeding, first. The more complicated stuff, he knew, would have to be done by a Fourth Division healer. His patient groaned, then, ignoring his protestations, pushed herself up on her good arm into a sitting position.

"Go see to him," she insisted, immediately switching back to defiance. "I can handle my own healing."

Urai hesitated, but only until he saw her good hand bathed in a much more intense kido glow then anything he knew how to do. He dipped his head in acknowledgment, then ran over to the dark-haired ghost.

And almost got punched in the face again.

He ducked under the man's enraged swing and held up his hands, bouncing backwards a few steps on his toes. "I'm sorry I hit you with a bakudo, but I had a clear shot at Halibel and you were in the way! We're all allies here." I think.

The man didn't say anything, but he let out a sharp breath and let his arm fall to his injured side. His gaze faded past Urai's shoulder and landed on the woman, and the subtle change in expression (emoting Urai knew not what) perfectly mirrored her own look a moment before when she had seen him.

Not relief, not disappointment, not cheerfulness, or even just recognition. If anything, Urai thought it might, possibly, be a look of assurance, some grim promise, but without context it might mean anything.

"She's done something," he muttered under his breath, also now ignoring Urai. "Something has changed."

Urai's patience with these two was stretched thin to breaking. "I don't know who you are or why you stepped in when Halibel had me pinned, but my debt for that is paid. If I do not start getting answers out of you, I'm going to find the nearest sane officer and turn you in."

Yellow eyes rolled. "You aren't very threatening while actively healing me," the man said hoarsely. "But as long as you can get me back in fighting order, Urai, I'll try and answer... some questions."

"Let's start there, then," suggested Urai. "How do you know my name?"

"We've trained together all year. You just didn't notice us."

Urai didn't feel the need to correct him. In hindsight, it was a pathetic first question.

"Who are you, then?"

The man did not answer. His brow furrowed and he looked away.

"I can answer that." Urai looked around and saw the woman, already looking healed, standing just a few steps away. She drew in a long breath, as if what she was about to say was some risky confession, and slowly, painstakingly, declared, "I am... Kurosaki Ryohime. I... we used to be members of... of the Fourteenth Division."

The air snapped.

Urai's thoughts raced, bringing up questions and supplying possible answers even as his patient tensed, his reiatsu spiking as if preparing for a fight.

"Now?" he asked, caught between anger and confusion. "Why would you tell him that now?"

"It's true, isn't it?" she replied just as intensely. "We can claim otherwise, that those decades made us different people, but who we have become does not change who we are."

"It has for me!"

The Fourteenth Division...? There has only ever been one. I know that name. She was here last week.

"Kurosaki... but, how?" Urai interrupted, and she tore her attention away from her argumentative companion.

"It is a story too long to even begin now, but we are here now, and we have trained for decades with one purpose."

The argument suddenly seemed to be forgotten. Eyes burning, her companion growled, "We will kill Caro."

Holes were beginning to appear in the formation. Everyone was converging, and then in their fighting members of both sides were drawn away from wherever they had once been stationed. Urai could sense, on the very edge of his abilities, his own captain battling the First Division Captain at the edge of Seireitei, a battle which left scars all the way from the First Division Barracks where it had begun.

Nor were they the only two former allies battling across the city, and beyond. Something had sparked, an order from Caro or a concerted effort from the surviving Shinigami, and the conflict had redoubled in strength and intensity.

Now, they only had to wait for an opening. A chance to slip past the remaining captains standing guard, and then reach the First Division barracks.

Now, Urai had allies. They had a plan.