Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Bleach. They belong to J.K. Rowling, Tite Kubo, and affiliates, respectively.
Chapter 2: The Invasion of Rukongai (I)
"Over two thousand in West District 74!"
"Approximately four thousand in East District 49!"
"One thousand twenty-eighth in North District 58!"
"E-Eight thousand in South District 80!"
The assembled members of the Research and Development Institute of the Gotei 13 stared at the readings their instruments were giving in horror and awe as Hollows began pouring into the Soul Society from Hueco Mundo, the Hollow realm.
"Well, don't just stand there!" Kurotsuchi Mayuri, the Captain of the Twelfth Division and President of the RDI snarled, slamming a palm on a table, causing almost everyone present in the huge, screen- and instrument-filled room jump. "Akon, start coordinating fighters from other divisions to fight off the hollows! Nemu! Come with me. I'm calling an emergency Captain's meeting. The others must know of this."
As the Third Seat quickly assumed his seat in front of the massive communications console and began quickly speaking into a microphone, informing the entire Gotei 13 of the situation, Kurotsuchi swept out of the Research and Development Institute, his Vice-captain and daughter right behind him. "I want to know why there are suddenly so many Hollows, and how the hell they breached Soul Society so quickly!" he yelled backward over his shoulder, causing many division members to flinch.
Captain of the First Division and Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, Yamamoto Shigekuni Genryuusai, opened both eyes wide to stare directly at the Captain of the Twelfth Division, who had just finished giving a highly agitated report. The Captain-Commander had never seen the mad scientist so flustered or disturbed. The face-painted maniac had yet to make a comment about experiments, a fact that the other Captains had noticed. Grim looks were pasted on all their faces, even the easygoing Captain of the Eighth Division, Kyouraku Shunsui, and the recently reinstated Visored Captain of the Fifth Division, Hirako Shinji.
"What could have caused such a huge surge in Hollows?" asked the Captain of the Tenth Division, Hitsugaya Toushiro. "I thought that Hueco Mundo wasn't going to give us any trouble after we beat Aizen."
"My division is working on figuring out the true cause of this influx, but there can only be two reasons for a sudden invasion like this," Mayuri replied, beginning to pace back and forth in agitation. "The first," he said, holding up a long, pale finger, "is that they organized and are part of an army somebody in Hueco Mundo has organized."
"Not likely," the Visored Captain of the Ninth Division, Muguruma Kensei, said. "We haven't heard from any of the friendly Arrancar about a possible threat from Hueco Mundo."
"Correct," confirmed Mayuri. "Which means that there is only one possible explanation. There are so many Hollows in Hueco Mundo that the Hollow realm can no longer support such great numbers, and they are spilling into the Soul Society."
Kuchiki Byakuya, Captain of the Fifth Division, frowned. "If Hueco Mundo is becoming overcrowded, it can only mean that some great disaster has fallen upon the world of the living, causing the deaths of so many humans that our shinigami stationed their cannot perform soul burial quickly enough."
A sudden silence fell over the meeting room of the First Division barracks as the Captains, the strongest fighters of the afterlife, realized exactly what they were up against.
"I hereby order all Captains," the voice of the Captain-Commander said, breaking the silence and drawing all attention to him, "to place their divisions at the highest alert possible. Captain Hitsugaya, Captain Zaraki, Captain Otorobashi, Captain Muguruma, you are in charge of the defense of the Rukongai. Organize your divisions however you see fit, but begin defending the Rukongai as soon as possible."
"Yes, sir!" the child prodigy, the two Visoreds, and the berserker all responded. Turning to their Vice-Captains, who had attended this highest-priority emergency meeting as well, they began issuing orders quietly.
"I want all the other divisions to be on alert as well," continued the Captain-Commander. "Captain Unohana, make sure that the infirmary is prepared to accommodate injured. All other divisions, be ready to provide reinforcements for the defense of the Rukongai. I hereby declare the Seireitei to be under martial law. Soul Society has stood for thousands of years, we shall not fall now!"
As the other Captains also began issuing orders, the huge double-doors banged open, causing heads to turn. There in the doorway stood a white-coated member of the RDI, panting and sweating, a sheaf of papers clutched in a pale, trembling hand. "Captains!" the man cried, bowing hurriedly, "we've discovered the source of the Hollow influx!"
"What is it?" Mayuri demanded, completely forgoing decorum. Not that it mattered, not with the Soul Society itself at risk.
"There is a man, named Tom Marvolo Riddle, in western Europe, originating in Britain, who has been going on a massive killing spree, helped by subordinates and supporters," the RDI member said, voice shaking as he read the report. "He began in Britain, and has worked his way through France, Germany, and the rest of western Europe, and it doesn't look like he's going to stop. He is a mere human, and he's trying to take over the world by committing mass genocide!"
Muffled curses were bit back as the Captains absorbed this information. If the one responsible for the creation of so many Hollows was human and alive, technically the Gotei 13 had no authority or jurisdiction over him.
"Captain Soi Fon!" the Captain-Commander barked. The Head of the Onmitsukidou, the Secret Mobile Corps, snapped to attention. "I want you to send a party of your best agents to Europe. Kill the one responsible for all this, and send his soul to Hell!"
Despite the fact that Captain-Commander Yamamoto had just reneged on one of the most sacred rules of the shinigami, to not interfere with the affairs of living humans, Soi Fon was unable to hold back a feral smile. "I shall go myself, Captain-Commander Yamamoto. It shall be done."
"Very well," Yamamoto acknowledged. "This emergency captain's meeting is now closed. The defense of Rukongai is now our number one priority! Dismissed!"
"Matsumoto! Organize the division into twenty-man teams, each led by a seated officer. We'll take the West Rukongai," Hitsugaya snapped as he walked out of the meeting.
"Let's go, Kira-kun," Otoribashi Rojuro said, the flamboyant VIsored uncharacteristically grim. "We'll defend the South."
"Ikkaku, Yumichika, mobilize the division and follow me," Kenpachi Zaraki said with a vicious grin. "We're going to East Rukongai."
"Come, Hisagi," Muguruma Kensei said, taking long strides out of the meeting. "We shall defend the North."
As the Captains and Vice-Captains left the First Division barracks, heading to their respective commands, the air itself was fraught with urgency. The very existence of Soul Society, the balance of the universe was at risk. And each and every member of the Thirteen Imperial Court Guard Divisions would give up their lives to protect that.
"Tanaka-kun!" Matsumoto Rangiku, Vice-Captain of the Tenth Division, cried in dismay as her subordinate, part of the twenty-man team she was leading in the defense of West Rukongai, was mobbed by three hollows and disappeared under flailing pale limbs and claws. Growling in frustration, she clenched her fists tighter around the hilt of her zanpakutou. "Growl, Haineko!"
The blade of her zanpakutou dissolved into ash down to her cat-shaped guard, and she whipped the hilt in a slashing motion as the rest of her team fended off the rest of the Hollows. The ash that was her zanpakutou, Haineko's shikai release followed her hand, shredding the Hollows that were viciously assaulting her subordinate.
Screaming in pain and fury, they dissolved into reishi, their bodies breaking down and being absorbed by Soul Society's air. As they finally disappeared completely, Tanaka's mangled and bloody body came into view, his fists clutching his zanpakutou even as it began breaking down, the blade falling into dust and the hilt's wrapping unraveling and falling to the ground.
Choking back a sob as she thought about the man's family, living in the 3rd District of West Rukongai, his wife and daughter now without a husband and father. "Tanaka Jiro," she said, blinking away tears to another member of her team, who took note of the name. "Unseated shinigami of the Tenth Division. Honorable death in combat, protecting Rukongai."
Nodding sadly, the shinigami finished the note, tucking the notepad into the inner pocket of his shihakushou before dashing off, drawing his zanpakutou as he joined the fight, assisting his teammate against a large Hollow with razor-sharp oversized claws and teeth.
"Fall back!" Izuru Kira, Vice-Captain of the Third Division, yelled as they fought. They had been battling for hours now, without pause, to no avail, as the Hollows had pushed him and the members of the Third Division back from the very edge of District 80 of South Rukongai to the inner borders of District 4.
The entire division, numbering some two hundred soldiers, had been reduced by a quarter of its strength, and while each fallen member of the division had taken at least twenty Hollows with them, it had barely dented their numbers, and now there were several thousand Hollows pressing nearly at the very gates of the Seireitei, having completely razed the seventy-six districts and slaughtered all their occupants, despite the division's best efforts.
The destruction of the millions of souls in the South Rukongai grated harshly on Kira's conscience, and he bowed his head in shame. However, his moment of self-loathing didn't last long, and he whipped up his blade to block the slashing class of a thin, humanoid hollow.
"Shinigami!" it hissed, revealing a mottled black tongue. "Die!"
"I don't think so," Kira, replied calmly, pushing a bit of reiatsu into his zanpakutou to strengthen the steel, deflecting the claw in a shower of sparks. "Raise your head, Wabisuke!"
The plain katana glowed and morphed, changing into a square-hooked blade, with its edge on the inside. Holding it in a diagonal guard stance, Kira saw a pair of unseated division members struggle against a massive, fifteen-foot monster of a Hollow. Narrowing his eyes at the thin one before him, Kira said, "I don't have time to deal with you." Darting behind the Hollow in a flash-step, he slashed down its back, causing it to dissolve into reishi. "May your soul be at peace." Looking around at the devastation around him, he added in a mutter, "Though there isn't much peace to be in around here."
Another hour of fighting later, and he and the division, which numbered a mere half its original strength, were literally pressed by their backs against the walls of the Seireitei. The South Rukongai was no more, and behind the encroaching army of Hollows Kira could see the burning shambles of the eighty districts, reduced to so much rubble by the massive force of Hollows.
Swearing uncharacteristically as he blocked another strike, he hissed to a nearby division member, "Cover me, I need to request for reinforcements!" Nodding wordlessly, the Eighth Seat stepped in and slashed horizontally, dissolving the Hollow into reishi, as Kira flashed into the air, solidifying the reishi in the air to create a platform to stand on.
Sealing and sheathing Wabisuke, he plunged his hands into his shihakushou, staining his fingertips black with a special powder he carried in an inner pocket. Pushing back the sleeves of the uniform, he painted up and down his forearms, thrusting them forward into the air while chanting, "Black and white net. Twenty-two bridges, sixty-six crowns and bells. Footprints, distant thunder, sharp peak, engulfing land, hidden in the night, sea of clouds, blue line. Form a circle and fly through the heavens. Bakudou number seventy-seven, Tenteikuura!"
A glowing square appeared in the air, tendrils of reiatsu branching out from it. Kira closed his eyes, transmitting his message through the communication kidou to the main meeting room of the First Division, where he knew the majority of the Captains, barring Kurotsuchi and Soi Fon, were meeting.
"This is Izuru Kira, Vice-Captain of the Third Division, requesting back-up for the defense of South Rukongai-no, the South Gate of the Seireitei. The Hollows were too strong, and we were unable to protect the Rukongai. The division is down to below 50% strength, and the Hollows still number over five thousand. Again, this is Izuru Kira of the Third Division, requesting back-up at the South Gate of the Seireitei. Bankai may be required."
"Dammit!" Hitsugaya Toushiro shouted, banging a clenched fist on the large wooden table that the Captains were seated around. "How have they pushed this far already?"
Cracking open an eye, the Captain-Commander rumbled, "Calm yourself, Captain Hitsugaya. The situation is grave indeed, and the loss of the entire South Rukongai is a heavy blow. But please remember that you are a Captain of the Gotei 13. If you are called to battle, the lower-ranked shinigami will look to you for support and guidance. A flustered commander does not bode well for an army's confidence. Maintain your composure."
Bowing his head and flushing slightly, Toushiro said nothing as the Captain-Commander continued, "Assistance shall be granted. Captain Otoribashi Rojuro, please go assist your division in the defense of the Seireitei. Captain Kuchiki, please also mobilize the Sixth Division and place them on standby just behind the South Gate. If your division is required in the defense of Seireitei, do your best to give it."
Opening both eyes fully, the Captain-Commander gazed around at the strongest shinigami of the Gotei 13. "It appears that the defense of Rukongai is about to end, and the defense of Seireitei itself will begin shortly." Suddenly, the old Captain looked incredibly weary, as though the weight of responsibility had finally made itself visible on his body after over two thousand years. "Captains, I fear that this may the very last battle we fight. The fate of Soul Society, the world of the living, and Hueco Mundo are at stake. The fate of the universe lies in the balance of the fight we will soon enter. This is a fight we cannot lose."
Appearing in a flash-step high above the raging battle at the South Gate of the Seireitei, Captain Otoribashi Rojuro of the Third Division of the Thirteen Imperial Court Guard Divisions frowned as he reached out with his senses. He could only feel forty-three shinigami reiatsu signatures still alive in the battle below, and several of them were extremely low, barely flickering as the shinigami they belonged to presumably struggled to cling on to life, severely injured.
Reaching a hand to his face, he clenched it into a claw and pulled down, manifesting a beak-like bone mask. His reiatsu skyrocketed, and the blonde Captain of the Third Division drew his zanpakutou. "Play, Kinshara!"
In a flash of light and burst of reiatsu, the zanpakutou morphed into a long golden whip with a spiked, flower-like tip. Slashing it through the air, Rojuro, known to his friends as Rose, cried, "Kinshara Sonata Number Eleven: Sixteen Day-Old Moon Rose!"
As the head of the whip blurred downward into the middle of the thousands of Hollows, a massive sound wave emanated from the head, a deafening vortex of reverberating sound smashing through hundreds of hollows at once. The entire battlefield was covered in the telltale trace of dissolving reishi as almost half of the entire Hollow army was destroyed in a single blow.
Flashing down to ground-level, Rose joined what was left of his division in the fight. His whip blurred as he sent it rocketing through dozens of Hollows at once, smashing through their masks and purifying them. As the onslaught subsided, he turned to the devastated Third Division. A cluster of shinigami crowded around one caught his attention, and he flashed over.
Biting back a curse, Rose looked down at the bloody form of his Vice-Captain. Kira's right arm had been torn to shreds, barely attached to his shoulder by a few threads of muscle and tissue. His stomach had been torn open, and three division members were desperately healing the wound, trying to staunch the bleeding the best they could.
Kira coughed, blood spattering onto Rose's Captain's cloak, his right hand twitching uselessly as he instinctively reached for his blade, but failed to do so. Turning his head, he looked at the mangled remains of his arm and sighed. Having been a former member of the Medical Corps, he knew the extent of his injuries. Letting his head fall back against the ground, he looked up at the form of his Captain, who gazed down at the fallen Vice-Captain with sorrow and regret in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Captain," Kira said, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth as he struggled to pull air into his lungs to speak. "I wasn't able… to defend… the Districts very well."
"Don't speak," Rose hushed him, although he knew is was a futile effort. Kira had lost far too much blood to survive now, and the division members that were trying to heal him were only prolonging the inevitable.
"No," Kira coughed. "Please. Let me talk." Looking up at his Captain with pleading eyes, he didn't wait for Rose to respond. "I know that… I don't have much time left, Captain. Answer me this question. Did… did I serve faithfully?"
Rose sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. "Yes. Kira, you were the most loyal Vice-Captain I could have asked for."
Kira smiled, a breath of relief escaping his lips. "Thank goodness… Please, Captain. Tell my friends… tell Hinamori, and Renji, and Hisagi… tell them that I'm sorry. I couldn't live long enough to fight alongside them like I used to." His gasps were shorter now as he struggled for breath. "Thank you, Captain, for everything that you've done for me. It's been an honor serving under you, even though it wasn't for very long."
Rose looked into Kira's blue eyes solemnly. "It was an honor to be your commanding officer." Taking a deep breath, he said the last words he knew his Vice-Captain would hear. "I, Otoribashi Rojuro, Captain of the Third Division of the Thirteen Imperial Court Guard Divisions, do hereby release you, Izuru Kira, of your duties to the Third Division. May your soul rest in peace."
Kira exhaled slowly. "Thank you, Captain. I… I have fulfilled… my duty…" With those words, the life left the Vice-Captain of the Third Division's body, and one of the most loyal men of the Thirteen Imperial Court Guard Divisions died.
Rose bowed his head, silently mourning the loss of his subordinate. As the last of the Hollows were finally cleaned up by the exhausted division members, they too fell to their knees, pressing their foreheads to the ground in homage of their fallen Vice-Captain, whose body was already dissolving into reishi, Wabisuke reverting to its sealed state and shattering, disappearing as the last of his master's body vanished.
After a few minutes of complete silence, Rose turned to the next-highest ranking member of the Division, which he found to be the Sixth Seat. "Masuda-san, please give me a list of those lost in action. I shall personally see to it that they are honored for their service. Their families…" The Captain's voice trailed off as he gazed across what was left of the South Districts of the Rukongai, all eighty districts reduced to so much rubble and stone.
Hello again! So I've been making good progress on A Common Enemy, so I decided to upload the first part of the Invasion of Soul Society! Also... um... sorry for killing Kira (again). It's just that his death would impact so many people and push their character developments in the perfect direction that he serves as a perfect source of angst! So yeah, that's my (somewhat pathetic) defense for my actions. Anyways, thanks to everyone who's reviewed, followed, or favorited this story. I respectfully request (read: beg) that you leave a review for this chapter if you enjoyed it (despite Kira's death) and add it to your alerts or favorites. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all next chapter!
~fokker333
Edit 9/4/12: Several of you have complained that Ichigo isn't here for all this. Frankly, I'm a bit offended that you all think that I'm negligent or incapable of thinking ahead. Ichigo is one of the main characters for this story for a reason. So, in order to address these question without giving too much away, I'll just say this: he has his own problems right now, but you'll see him soon.