Disclaimer: No I do not own Bleach.
Heart of Wind
Chapter 13: Unlucky Number
Takai continued to smile. "You'll be dead in exactly thirty seconds…" His Soul Slayer suddenly disappeared, its body simply dissipating into mist. "Bankai."
Kemura felt his entire body shudder and nearly break in half from the sheer force that assaulted him from all sides. It was like someone was slowly crushing him between their hands…and then that power faded, leaving a dull calm in the air that was even more unsettling than before. "Bankai, you say…but yet I do not see any such thing. I will not play these games with you."
Takai closed his eyes. "Games? Yeah…that's a good way to put it…what I'm going to do to you, that is." Suddenly he disappeared within a twirling tornado of pure spiritual energy. A few seconds later that tornado dissipated to reveal a slim female form, no taller than about 4'8". Her long black hair was done up in a ponytail, and her soft brown eyes seemed to push away any sunlight near them.
("Is this the legendary form of the mighty Wind Princess? Is this tiny woman the being who was said to be as strong as two Captains from Soul Society? Such a thing can't be…") Kemura didn't want to believe, but he could tell it was true. Just from the sheer aura of power she gave off, he knew it was completely true. "You are truly the Death God of legend. There is no way I can possibly hope to defeat you." He slowly stabbed his sword into the already demolished rooftop. "Therefore…I have no choice but to match your power with my absolute best. I was told that using it here would result in punishment, but it must be done even to last for a few minutes against you until my Captain arrives."
"And what is that?" Kyaru smiled calmly, confident she would beat him thirty seconds after they started fighting.
Kemura slowly opened his eyes, lightning crackling within his pupils. "Bankai…." There was an explosion of light and fire that came crashing down from the sky onto him. It formed a glowing cocoon around him, and when that cocoon cleared it revealed him holding a Soul Slayer made entirely from lightning. "Junsei Aoihekireki." (Pure Blue Thunder)
Kyaru whistled in amazement. "Wow…you know Bankai huh? I guess you're a special type of Vice Captain."
"Special?" Kemura shook his head. "No…all Vice Captains of the six Elemental Gods must know how to perform Bankai. However, we are normally not allowed to release such power in the mortal realm." He lifted the crackling blade to point right at her. "Consider it an honor I have done this."
"Sorry, but I just consider it an act of desperation. I guess the Elemental Gods have changed their requirements to include true quality, which is good." Kyaru continued to smile. "Now then, starting when I finish counting to zero, my timer begins. By the end of those thirty seconds, you'll be dead."
"Is that so?" Kemura lifted his Soul Slayer to point at the sky, a large number of balls of lightning appearing around him. "You are wrong in that regard. I will not be beaten that quickly, despite your best attempts. I know I cannot win, but I will not lose easily either. Prepare yourself, Wind Princess."
Kyaru wasn't even paying attention to him. She was counting in her head. ("Twenty-eight, twenty-nine…")
Kemura's eyes widened as his chest exploded outwards in a torrent of blood. His eyes, already misting over, tilted down just enough to see that something had removed his heart from his chest. Then he fell over dead.
Kyaru snapped her fingers. "…thirty. You should have spent those thirty seconds doing something more than talk trash." The lightning balls that had been crackling in the air faded into nothingness. "Oh well, I guess that's what he gets for getting far too full of himself."
A faint clapping could be heard from down in the courtyard at the back of the school. "Very nice Kyaru, but the main event is down here."
The Wind Princess frowned in displeasure at this turn of events. ("I thought I'd at least get some time to fight before he just…") As she hopped off the rooftop, she continued to think to herself. ("…showed up acting like he owned the world.")
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Ryushin felt that mighty force of spiritual energy in the air, and it left him both fearful and hopeful at once. ("There is no mistaking it, that kind of power is Bankai. But the question is…whose Bankai is it?")
Homorue just stood there, mouth hanging open. "There is a scent of death in the air. Someone was just killed in a very violent manner…and the killer is moving towards the other side of the school."
Ryushin didn't bother to argue. He trusted that this Death God from the 4th Squad knew what he was talking about. Turning his head, he glanced at Asura from the corner of his eye. "Feel like finding out what happened to your friend, dog?"
"There ain't no point in celebrating." Asura looked dead serious. "I was having trouble following that fight because of what I sense nearby." He started to walk towards the other side of the school calmly, preparing himself. "Can you sense it? That lightning bastard is dead, but his boss is here apparently."
Ryushin froze, fear running up his spine as he suddenly realized what that pressure in the air was from. It wasn't from the Bankai he had sensed before. No, it was something far more powerful. To his senses, there was a massive source of spiritual energy coming just from the other side of the building. "Homorue-san, you are welcome to stay back."
"I'll turn that down, my apologies." Using his Soul Slayer as a makeshift crutch, the blond-haired Death God began to move towards the other side of the building. "Takai-san will need our help with this one."
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The running track of the school had turned into a pulsing hotbed of spiritual pressure. Anything human or weaker that would have entered that area would have most likely been crushed to the ground by the force. And the sources of those strong auras stood about twenty feet across from each other, both watching their opponent with calm eyes.
Kyaru was smiling slightly, as if there were an amusing joke playing in her head. "It's been way too long, Tensutsu."
Across from her stood a giant of a man, no shorter than eight feet in height. His wild blond hair hung down to his shoulders, and his single remaining blue eye shimmered coldly in the sun, his other eye covered by a black eye-patch. "That's funny, I don't remember us having that nice of a relationship…I'd think you would never want to see me again."
Kyaru snickered. "Yeah, that's true. I just wanted to make you feel like you were going to be killed by a pseudo-friend instead of someone who never really cared for you."
Humming to himself, the giant rubbed the hilt of the enormous Soul Slayer strapped to his back. "Are you still talking, brat? You always were a chatty little mouse, weren't you?"
Kyaru's right eye started to tick slowly, showing that her cool exterior was breaking. "I never liked that nickname."
Tensutsu calmly turned and began to walk away. "Regardless, I don't have any interest in fighting you at this moment. And before you protest, consider the integrity of the body you are part of. At the moment it cannot support such a strong Bankai and therefore it is starting to break. That should explain enough, wouldn't you think?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued. "I'll see you another time, Kyaru. Don't worry, I'll be around." And just like that the encounter ended as he flash-stepped away, leaving the Wind Princess alone on the field.
Kyaru dropped to one knee, her ability to ignore pain fading. Her Bankai had just dissipated right before they had started talking, and she was sure that Tensutsu knew that as well. ("I'm glad he decided not to fight, because if he did there would be little I could do to him as I am at the moment.") Then she felt the approaching sources of energy and smiled weakly. ("I'd love to retreat for now, but apparently I cannot shut myself back into the boy's body. He is currently locking me out for some reason.")
Ryushin wasn't surprised by who he saw standing in the aftermath of that spiritual storm. "So it was you, Kyaru-san."
"Yeah, it was me." She slowly stood up and sighed. "Unfortunately, you missed all the fun. Tensutsu was here."
Ryushin paled even more than he had already. "Tensutsu? That beast is still alive?"
"Did you think that he could be killed?" She snickered. "Don't make me laugh, Ex-Captain. You know his nickname." Her right hand tightened into a fist that contained all of her pent-up anger at her current weakness. "Tensutsu, Death God of the Iron Skin."
Homorue thought he had known enough about Soul Society lore, but apparently this was beyond him. ("I've never heard of any Death God by that name. Iron skin….that must mean that his Soul Slayer is a metal-manipulation type…") He stored that information for later, if just because his Soul Slayer was of the same type.
Asura snarled angrily. "Yo, so what's the deal? Are we still gonna fight or what?"
Ryushin shook his head. "No, for now the fight is over. Though I can feel a dark power watching over us even now. Apparently we are now under their watchful eye."
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There was a loud crashing noise as Tensutsu shoved the massive door to the meeting hall open, stomping in angrily. "Damn it all! Why did you tell me to hold back and not fight the little bitch, Reiten?"
At the other end of the huge cathedral-like room, a foursome of men stood in different positions. One of them, a gray-haired man wearing a black Gi spoke up in response to the giant's displeasure. "Because we still have use for the boy and for Kyaru. They are our links to our goal, and you know it. If you had killed them, then you would have made sure our goal would never be found."
A high-pitched laughing came from a tall man wearing aqua-blue robes. "You need to relax, Tensutsu. Think about it, soon we'll be able to attack Soul Society, and kill all of those annoying bugs." He fingered the sheathed Soul Slayer hanging from his chair arm. "It'll make all of our troubles worth it, don't you agree?"
"Besides," A cold voice said from off to the blue-robed Death God's side. It was a green-haired man wearing incredibly long and flowing robes. "I have reserved killing Kyaru as my priority. You may kill one of the others."
"It's so amusing to listen to you three argue like it matters who gets them." The last man, who was partially hidden behind a pillar, chuckled. "Oh well, I don't mind too much. I only ask that you leave the strongest one for me. After all…" The owner of the voice adjusted his black duster so that it revealed one of his dark eyes. "It won't be any fun otherwise."
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Takai slowly opened his eyes and yawned, realizing that class had already gotten out. ("Well, it's more likely they evacuated after the building got put the wringer during my fight with Kemura.") Stretching, he looked down at his non-Death God body and then lazily walked towards the entrance to the school. ("Whatever, I'm going home for now.")
As soon as he was walking out of the front of the school, he knew what was coming. Turning on one heel, he snapped his arm up and used it to deflect a punch aimed right for his head. "Yo, Asura!'
The black-haired punk sneered and removed his fist from Takai's guard. "You're a real piece of work, you know that? You went straight to sleep as soon as that girl disappeared."
"What can I say to that? I don't have any reason to continue this now. I beat Kemura, and I don't have any inclination to fight that one big guy." Rubbing the back of his head sleepily, Takai glanced up at the slowly dropping sun. "What happened to the others?"
"Homorue said something about needing to go back to Soul Society, and Ryushin went home right after the fight had ended. He said some crap about going to speak with the Sandal Hat Bastard." Cracking his knuckles, Asura sighed in displeasure. "That pisses me off, that he would just up and walk off when I challenged him to a rematch."
Takai shrugged and stalked towards home. "It's fine. Honestly, I hope the next time we all meet it won't be to fight."
"You must be nuts." Asura followed him. "Seriously, what the hell is the matter with you? You fight the toughest out of all of us and yet once it's all done you turn into a pacifist. It's gotta be something with that Kyaru chick, right?"
"Shaddup." Takai kept walking, his eyes closed as he headed towards the general direction of home. "Your talking just makes my head hurt."
Asura nodded sagely, a large vein bulging out of his forehead in anger. Casually walking up to Takai, he screamed right into his friend's ear as loud as he could.
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Takai opened the door to his apartment slowly and walked in, listening to the silence with distaste. ("I wish Sis would just move back here already. Sheesh, it's not like I'm intolerable or anything.")
As he flicked on the lights to the little one bedroom apartment, he smiled to himself. "But it's nice to be alone in this tiny little place! It was so crowded before!" Turning back to close his door, he looked up at the moon and smiled just a little more. "A full moon and a weekend, this couldn't much better."
"Maybe so," A voice from inside the room behind him said. "But it might get a lot worse if you don't answer my questions."
Takai froze, and then slowly turned to face the speaker, his eyes ice-cold. "I can't get a break, can I?" Sitting on his couch was a black-robed form he instantly identified as a Death God. "You people are really annoying with that whole 'appearing out of nowhere' thing."
The Death God, a young teenage boy with a black ponytail and dark silver eyes, calmly laced his fingers together and watched Takai. "Sorry to just show up, but my business is rather important. Please hear me out."
"Whatever, hurry up and get it said then." Takai didn't even bother to shut his door. "After your questions are asked, I'm throwing you out on ass, no offense."
"Then my first question should be easily answered, because you are not affected at all by the energy I have released so far. Who was it that killed the rogue Death God Kemura Ushudan?" The silver-eyed Death God seemed to see past Takai, like he wasn't even there. Not in an arrogant way, but in a way that spoke of how he was deep in thought.
"I did." Takai spoke plainly and sharply, really intending on hurling this guy out the front door now. ("Who does he think he is just barging into my…")
"I'd like to fight you." The boy stood up and slowly walked towards Takai. "Please step outside. I would prefer to avoid forcing you to go outside by attacking."
Takai could sense this was true, but it still unnerved him to no end. "You have some gall. Fine, I'll love knocking you on your ass." He turned and walked towards the grassy field located in between all of the apartment complexes. "What's your name anyway?"
The young man was already standing in the middle of that field, his Soul Slayer, a long blade with a chain attached to the hilt's bottom, drawn. "My name is Reizo Kagirinai. Now come and prove that you were actually capable of taking down the rogue Vice-Captain of my Captain's predecessor."
"So you're 10th squad huh?" Takai snickered and his body disappeared in a flash of light. When that light faded he was wearing his Death God robes. ("That's interesting, I didn't leave my body this time. I just…changed.") Drawing his Soul Slayer, he felt it pulse in his hand. "You're strong, I can tell that much. But I want to see just how strong now." His spiritual energy leaked out into a blue aura around him that slowly turned white. ("Calm and focused…channel those feelings…")
("This is amazing.") Reizo narrowed his eyes as he perceived the energy coming from Takai. ("It is like this man's aura is shifting between wave-lengths. However, that is dangerous for him.") Lifting up his blade, he shifted into a neutral stance between defensive and offensive. "Make the first move."
To be continued…