Author's Note: Yo. Chapter 4 here.
For those of you scratching your heads in puzzlement at the last chapter, putting 'no' in between two words doesn't always translate to 'of' or 'the' in Japanese, especially when the words 'Aniki' or 'Aneki' are involved.
I'm having a lot of fun coming up with Zanpakutō for Yoruichi and Tessai, and it just so happens that Yoruichi's blade gets her grand debut this chapter. Hope you like it.
Read, Review and check out my other stories!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
"Rukia" - Regular Speech
'Ichigo' - Thoughts
*Kaien-dono* - Zanpakutō speech/thoughts
"Bankai!" - Spiritual Technique
Chapter 4: Hollows, Horrors and Quincy
Urahara Shōten, Karakura Town
Kirika was pissed.
She had followed Urahara around all night as he had erased Karin and Yuzu's memories, given Rukia a Gigai that he 'just so happened to have' and told her to come to him for any products she needed, and had even given her a Gokon Tekkō as a freebie.
"Who is that?" Rukia had asked Urahara about her earlier.
"Hmmm? Oh, she's an acquaintance of mine." Urahara had replied, hiding his lower face behind that stupid fan as he always did. "I was showing her around town when we felt the little scuffle by the clinic."
The highly sceptical face Rukia had had on her face had told Kirika that the former Inuzuri brat was just as smart as she had been forty years ago. Urahara's story stunk worse than rotting fish left out in the sun for a couple of days.
"And her name?" the petite ravenette had then asked sceptically.
"Kokken Asa." he had replied glibly.
Kokken….black dog…he was going to pay for that.
Now that Rukia was leaving -finally! - Kirika could take the stupid mask off and then…ohhhh boy. Urahara was going to get his ass kicked for this. How dare he involve her brother in this?! How dare he force her to stand to one side when he was almost killed?!
"She's gonna kick your ass, Kisuke." Yoruichi opined as Rukia vanished into the streets of Karakura.
"Oh dear…" Urahara said, growing pale as Kirika removed her mask and shattered it to pieces with the strength of her grip.
"Uraaaaaharaaaa!" Kirika hissed angrily.
"Ah…now then Kirika-chan…let's not be hasty here…" the ex-Captain prevaricated nervously as Kirika drew her sword slowly and deliberately, the rasp of metal echoing in the silent shop.
"Oh man. Looks like we'll be getting a new boss tonight." Jinta stage-whispered to Ururu, who nodded silently in agreement.
Urahara pouted at them for that. "Hey! I am a Captain-class Soul Reaper y'know!"
"Yeah, but one pissed woman beats that hands down." Jinta pointed out.
"You might have a point." Urahara said as he beat a hasty retreat into the underground training room, swiftly followed by Kirika.
"This ought to be amusing…" Yoruichi chuckled as she vanished in a Shunpo to get down the ladder.
"Byakurai!" Kirika snarled, sending a blast of white lightning at the fleeing storeowner, passing between his legs frighteningly close to his family jewels.
"Yikes!" he yelped, "I need those!"
"Not once I'm through with you!" Kirika shouted, "How dare you get my brother involved in all this?! HOW DARE YOU!?"
"He is the crux of our plan!" Urahara retorted as he unsheathed his zanpakutō. "We need him!"
"He has no idea about the spirit world!" the redheaded girl snarled. "He knows jack shit about spiritual powers or even how to control his Reiatsu! It would take years to make him a credible threat! Hell, I could kick his ass right now!"
Kirika flashed in and executed a one-handed thrust at Urahara that the man barely parried.
"He's a human; his capacity for growth is substantially more than ordinary Souls or even you." Urahara said calmly. "As for whether you could beat him or not…you have little experience against a blade as big as his."
Kirika snarled again and snapped out a kick at the man, who grabbed it lazily with his free hand. Kirika surprised him by firing a Byakurai at him from her foot itself. His insane reflexes saved him damage, but his kimono was singed and he was forced to let her go.
"Tch. That monstrosity?" Kirika scoffed. "That thing is just an oversized Asauchi. I could cut it to pieces with Nejibana in a trice. Any Soul Reaper could!"
The redhead charged in and locked blades with the man, steel scraping against steel. Kirika grinned, making Urahara wonder what her plan was.
"Hadō #11, Tsuzuri Raiden! (Way of Destruction Number Eleven, Bound Lightning!)" Kirika hissed, sending lightning through her Zanpakutō and down Urahara's own blade. She had been practicing this one in secret after seeing Tessai demonstrate it once a couple of years ago and had only just managed it a week ago.
The blond man cursed and disengaged, but not before getting shocked.
"That wasn't very nice to your poor Zanpakutō." Urahara pointed out as he swapped hands and shook out his abused right hand.
"Nejibana will understand once I talk to her." Kirika replied as she glared at Urahara menacingly. "As for you, you should worry about yourself before anyone else."
Yoruichi sighed. Fun time was over. Time to stick her nose in.
"Kirika-chan, that's enough." she said as she transformed back to her human form, as naked as the day she was born.
"No it isn't!" Kirika snarled back at her favourite sensei. "You still haven't explained why, if he's a trump card of any sort, you haven't let me explain anything to Aniki!"
"His Zanpakutō wouldn't have manifested for decades, if at all, before he died." the werecat replied. "The only way to speed things up is for a Soul Reaper to attempt a power transfer and give his power a template to create his own Zanpakutō with, kick starting his dormant powers."
"Dormant…you mean Aniki's a Pureblood Soul Reaper?!" Kirika gaped at this revelation. "That explains so much about Goat Face being able to use Hakuda."
Yoruichi facepalmed. "I told that idiot to be more careful. Anyway, we needed Ichigo to release his Reiryoku like an out of control balloon because-"
"-you wanted to encourage his friends to become spiritually aware so you could use them as well." Kirika finished sourly. "I figured that much out myself. I don't like it, but I accepted that that much was permissible. My family, on the other hand, is not."
"He's our best chance of getting within striking distance of Aizen." Urahara said quietly, with a quiet confidence in what he said.
"Damn." Kirika cursed after a moment of agonising wavering. She reluctantly sheathed Nejibana and scowled at the shopkeeper. "If my brother dies because of your stupid plan, you'd better have a will written, because you will be back in the Wheel of Reincarnation by my hand."
With that, she stomped off to her room.
"So how did it go?" the former Commander of the Onmitsukidō asked her friend.
"One Substitute Soul Reaper, up and running." Urahara replied seriously. "Kuchiki-san is a little more suspicious than I expected, but nothing I couldn't handle."
"Kirika meant what she said just now, you know." Yoruichi told him. "I really would have a will written up if I were you."
"She's at the overall level of a Sixth Seat, Yoruichi. I might have declined somewhat over the last hundred years, but I am still a Captain-class Soul Reaper. She couldn't kill me in a month of Plutonian Sundays." Urahara replied with an airy wave of his hand.
"She has grown faster than we expected in the last decade." Tessai put in. He had been standing to the side quietly the entire time, to the point the two other Soul Reapers had forgotten he was there. "With her brother now possessing a Soul Reaper spiritual body, the amount of cross-contamination with their Reiryoku will increase during their time at school, especially if Ichigo-kun becomes agitated or overly emotional."
"Crap." Urahara had forgotten about that. "It also applies to Ichigo-kun himself from Kirika because it is easier to contaminate someone of the same race. His friends too. Who are the most likely to develop spiritual awareness and powers?"
"Inoue Orihime, Yasutora Sado and Arisawa Tatsuki." Yoruichi replied. "The three others -Kojima Mizuiro, Asano Keigo and Honshō Chizuru- are barely on the road to spiritual awareness."
"Crap." Urahara repeated. He had planned on two of them, not three. "Who do you think is more likely to awaken specific powers?"
"Sado and Orihime." Yoruichi replied. "Arisawa has slightly less Reiryoku than the other two possess for some reason, plus hers isn't as refined. Unfortunately, that means she runs the risk of either Soul Suicide or Hollowfication unless someone uses the Soul Power Transference rite on her."
"Great. Another reason for Kirika to get pissed at me." Urahara groused. "How long until she reaches that point?"
"Assuming Ichigo and Kirika remains near her, about…a month and a half?" the werecat frowned as she thought about it. "Slightly longer if Ichigo is removed from the equation."
"Assuming the Soul Society hasn't changed much, they'll send someone to pick up Kuchiki-san in about a month's time." Urahara stated. "While both Kirika and Ichigo are invading the Seireitei, Arisawa-san's growth ought to slow down to a trickle. I can probably cobble together something to stabilise her powers in the interim, but once you bring the kids back, something will have to be done about her."
"We'll deal with that when the time comes." Yoruichi replied. "For now, let's concentrate on getting Ichigo on the right track to becoming a Soul Reaper."
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The Next Day
Ichigo's Classroom, Karakura Highschool
Kurosaki Ichigo had just been through the weirdest twelve hours of his entire life, which was saying something for a Highschool student who could see and speak to ghosts.
First, he had been chased by a giant white-masked monster, only to be saved by a half-pint girl who barely came up to his shoulders. Then he had returned home, only for aforementioned midget to appear in his room and act as if he wasn't even there. He had then done what only felt natural; he had kicked her onto the floor, much to her shock.
The girl had turned out to be a 'Soul Reaper,' a spirit charged with the duty of guiding 'Plus' Souls to the afterlife and slaying the 'Negative' Souls known as 'Hollows', the monster things that had chased him previously.
Then things had really gone into the Twilight Zone when another damn Hollow had attacked his home and hurt his sisters. He was only thankful that Kirika hadn't been at home at that time, otherwise she would have done exactly what he had done; charged at the thing with the first weapon-like object that had come to hand, in his case a foldaway chair.
He had gotten taken down so easily it was pathetic.
Ichigo scowled as he sat down at his desk. The Soul Reaper had saved Karin, but he had gotten stupid and challenged the damn thing. With the information he had, it had seemed like the right thing to do. The Hollow had tracked him down to eat him, so he had thought that offering himself as a target would save his sisters.
Only the quick reflexes of the Soul Reaper had saved him and when she had scolded him, blood gushing from a deep wound she had received defending him, he had felt like the stupidest idiot on the planet. Of course the damn Hollow would eat his sisters after he was dead. They had above-average spiritual power, so the monstrous thing would eat them like desert to the main course that was him.
The badly wounded Soul Reaper had then offered him a chance to defeat the Hollow; giving him the powers of a Soul Reaper. She wasn't sure it would work. If it went really badly, they could both die.
A chance of victory, no matter how slim, was better than what he had had at that particular moment. Kuchiki Rukia had stabbed him in the chest with her sword and the next thing Ichigo knew, he had cut off the Hollow's arm and then proceeded to give an excellent reason not to piss off a Kurosaki; when a Kurosaki is angry, the subject of that anger very rarely survives.
Roll on this morning and Ichigo is woken up by his dumbass father trying to break his neck…again. To his absolute shock, his father and sisters recall nothing of monsters attacking their home. No, they only remembered a truck crashing into the house while they were asleep.
'Was that something that the Soul Reaper…Rukia…did?' Ichigo wondered absently. He didn't really care. Rukia saved his family, so if she wanted to erase their memories of the event, by all means. Yuzu would have had nightmares for months if she had kept those memories, so the orange-haired boy considered it yet another favour that the petite ravenette had done for his family.
"Aniki!" came from Kirika as she entered the classroom. Ichigo took in her anxious face and presumed she had heard the rumours that had been floating around the school about the whole 'truck-driving-into-the-Kurosaki-Clinic' incident all morning.
"Yo. Heard all the rumours I take it?" Ichigo asked.
"No." Kirika leaned in and whispered, "I felt something dark near home last night. What the heck happened?"
Ichigo wasn't really surprised by this. Kirika had been hypersensitive to possible threats to the family ever since their Kaa-san had died. The last time she had felt something off, it had been a gang about to ambush him and Chad. She had attacked them first and beaten the punks black and blue.
"I'll tell you at lunch." he told her. "But Yuzu and Karin are alright now. They don't even remember that something happened to them."
"Ara, Kurosaki-kun. To what might you be referring?" a familiar voice, twisted into a girlish tone, asked from behind him. Turning his head slightly, he caught the sight of one Kuchiki Rukia dressed in the grey uniform of Karakura High.
"Gah!?" he yelped in shock.
"Aniki?" Kirika asked in concern before turning to Rukia with a small frown. "Who are you?"
'Shit. She's like Ichigo; her Reiryoku and Reiatsu are too high for the memory alteration Kidō to affect.' Rukia thought with a curse. She had only barely recovered enough of her power to cast the minor spell this morning and having someone not be affected by it, other than Ichigo, hadn't been in the cards.
"I'm Kuchiki Rukia." she introduced herself. "And you are?"
"Kurosaki Kirika." the redhead replied shortly. "Aniki, you owe me that explanation at lunch. The teacher's gonna arrive any minute now. Bring the midget with you."
With that, Kirika walked over to her seat, studiously ignoring Rukia's death-glare at the poke at her height.
"Who is she?" the disempowered Soul Reaper asked Ichigo, taking the seat next to him.
"My other little sister." Ichigo replied.
"You don't look alike." Rukia frowned.
Ichigo eyed her before saying quietly, "Her family died in a car crash ten years ago. My parents knew them and adopted her. She's just as much a Kurosaki as I am."
"Oh." the ravenette felt like kicking herself for asking that. "Where was she last night?"
"She goes to live with her kendo sensei every three months or so." Ichigo replied with a slight smile on his face. "She's really good at it, won a Regional Championship recently."
Further conversation was stopped by the entry of the teacher, but Rukia was thinking as she reached out with her spiritual senses and felt the Reiryoku of the class of humans.
Most ranged between negligible to just before awakening the first level of spiritual awareness. Three were on the precipice of awakening the ability to see spirits, which was the second level. She couldn't get a clear read on the glasses wearing kid but his Reiryoku was well refined from what little she could feel of it.
The two with the strongest Reiryoku in the room were the Kurosaki siblings and Ichigo was far stronger than Kirika in terms of sheer power. His uncontrolled Reiryoku practically filled the room, pervading the room and those who sat in it, making sensing anyone else a tough task.
While Kirika was weaker than her brother, she was far stronger than any two or even three of the rest of her classmates put together. If Ichigo was a high-Fourth Seat in strength, Kirika was a borderline Sixth Seat. Her Reiryoku was also under far better control than her brother's was, but still leaked a small amount into the room.
'This is bizarre. Ichigo's other two sisters -the ones to whom he is related to by blood- are nowhere near as strong as Kirika is.' Rukia thought as she scowled at her workbook in puzzlement. 'It is a bit much of a coincidence that his foster-sister is spiritually aware and while not as powerful as he is, strong enough that she can see spirits too. Could she be another Soul Reaper?'
After considering this notion for a moment, she discarded it. She wouldn't have been sent to an area where a deserter lived without a suitable warning.
In an unrelated note, a white-haired man in the Soul Society sneezed guiltily.
Lunchtime…
"So, let me get this straight." Kirika said slowly. She, Rukia and Ichigo were in a quiet part of the school grounds so they could talk uninterrupted.
She jabbed one finger at Rukia. "She is a Soul Reaper and she saved you from being a dumbass last night, as well as the lives of our family, from a Hollow."
Kirika then jabbed her finger at Ichigo. "And Aniki here absorbed all of your powers last night, rather than the half you intended him to have. Now you are powerless until they return inside your Gigai and you want Aniki to be your replacement until that happens. Correct?"
"Pretty much."
"Indeed."
"OK. I believe you." Kirika said simply, making Ichigo faceplant at the ease of her acceptance.
"Why the hells are you so accepting of this?!" he asked as he got back up.
"Because my ability to see and sense spirits has been at the level to see Hollows for years." Kirika replied with a shrug. "I've never attracted them but I have seen them and Soul Reapers around Karakura every now and again. In fact, a couple of days ago I felt someone fighting in Karakura Honcho."
"That was me." Rukia said with a nod.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Ichigo pressed.
"You can be exceptionally dense sometimes." Kirika sighed. "Even though you can see ghosts, you refuse to believe in something unless you can see it up close and in person. As I didn't want either of us to be attacked by a Hollow or our memories erased by that stupid little memory eraser that Soul Reapers carry around with them, I decided to keep quiet."
"You mean a Kikanshinki?" Rukia asked and pulled out a box and showed her it.
"That would be it." Kirika nodded. "Now Kuchiki-san, there is a little business we have to sort out between ourselves."
"Oh?" Rukia asked warily, only to be surprised as Kirika bowed deeply to her.
"Thank you for protecting my family." Kirika said earnestly. "If you need anything from me, all you need to do is ask."
"I-It was nothing." Rukia flushed at the deep bow she was being given. "My job is to slay Hollows."
"Exactly." Kirika straightened up as she spoke. "You only needed to kill the Hollow, not risk your life and powers to save a family of spiritually aware humans. Aniki and I owe you a debt."
Ichigo nodded in agreement. "I never did say thanks for what you did for us. Sorry for that and thanks."
Rukia flushed again. "I'm not deserving of your praise. Had I been stronger, I could have defeated that Fishbone-D without needing to risk your life to bestow my powers upon you."
Kirika frowned. "Speaking of the transference rite thing, is it common to do that?"
'Damn.' Rukia thought. "Actually, no. As I explained, the risk of one or both participants dying is very high and thus is highly discouraged."
"So…it isn't against the law or anything?" the redhead pressed.
'Damn and double damn.' was what Rukia thought even as she said, "Unfortunately it is, but if Ichigo kills the Hollows while I recover my power, no one will be any the wiser."
"Fair enough." Kirika nodded.
"Great. I have to fight those things again." Ichigo groused. "Why do I have to fight for strangers?"
"Because we owe Kuchiki-san a debt and, as much as I would love to help out, you're the one with her powers." Kirika replied bluntly.
"Jeez. Don't hold back, Kirika; tell us how you really feel." her brother said wryly.
"I always do." Kirika replied faux snootily before she grinned at her brother.
"Look on the bright side Aniki; you can live up to your name now."
"Strawberry?" Rukia asked in puzzlement.
"My name means 'First Guardian.'" Ichigo said with a twitch of one eye. "Get it right, Midget."
"Who's a midget?!" Rukia retorted and kicked him in his shins.
Kirika watched with a small smile as the two started to bicker. Mission 'Get-Aniki-to-act-like-a-Soul-Reaper-without-a-fuss': completed.
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After School
Training Room, Urahara Shōten
"Try again." Yoruichi directed Kirika.
The purple-haired women didn't look remotely tired, while the redhead was almost dripping sweat from her exertions.
"Why do you want me to learn Utsusemi (Cast-Off Cicada Shell) anyway?" Kirika gasped. "You know I'm only average with Shunpo!"
"In the hopes that you trying hard to master it will make you improve on your basic Shunpo ability." the Shunshin replied easily. "I wouldn't ordinarily teach Onmitsu Shunpo Shihō no San (Way of the Onmitsu, 3rd of the Shihō) techniques to anybody who hadn't at least mastered the regular Shunpo, but you learn better with a goal, so there you have it."
"I'd almost rather have to deal with Benihime again rather than this." Kirika grumbled. "Shunpo is too hard."
"As I've told you before, you shouldn't try and control it so much." Yoruichi told her student. "The Reiryoku will flow to where you want it to go naturally. Forcing it stifles the flow and reduces the effectiveness of the technique."
"I'll try…for the hundredth time." Kirika sighed. She hated doing so badly in her favourite sensei's specialty.
Yoruichi drew her Zanpakutō (whose name Kirika still didn't know) again and stood ready. Kirika readied herself to attempt the difficult technique yet again. Utsusemi sounded simple to accomplish. Using Shunpo, Kirika was supposed to move at great speed, leaving an afterimage behind her that looked as if it took damage from the enemy attack before dispelling itself.
Far easier said than done. Yoruichi could create three afterimages at once because of her skill at Shunpo. Kirika could barely create an outline of an afterimage, which was apparently a sign that she could eventually master the technique…once she actually managed to move faster than a non-seated Soul Reaper held down by a Bakudō.
"Three….two…one….now!" Yoruichi said as she drew her blade back and thrust it at Kirika, who vanished in a blur, leaving behind a hazy blur that looked like a paper cut-out of herself. It was about the same size and shape of Kirika, but would only fool a blind man without the ability to sense Reiatsu.
"Not bad." Yoruichi allowed as the incomplete Utsusemi faded to nothing. "You are improving, but for now you should rest."
"Arigato, sensei." Kirika answered from behind her. The girl walked over to a nearby boulder and sat back against it with a tired sigh. She had been practicing the Utsusemi for almost the entire time she had set foot back in the Shōten and she was exhausted.
"So, are you still pissed with us?" the werecat asked as she sheathed her kodachi-sized Zanpakutō and joined her student.
"No." Kirika sighed, "I don't like it, but Aizen is someone who has to be defeated. If even half the stuff you've told me about him is true, then normal measures won't be enough. Hell, I doubt I can do much more than irritate him as I am right now."
"It's good you have a firm grasp of your limits, but don't put yourself down too much." Yoruichi told her firmly. "Most Soul Reapers never approach the amount of Reiryoku you possess, nor do most Soul Reapers gain the skill with the Zankensoki (Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohō and Kidō) that you possess."
"It isn't my power though." Kirika brooded. "I only obtained this power thanks to being lucky enough to have a Water or Flowing Water-type Zanpakutō. For all I know, it's Kaien-shi's Soul Reaper powers."
"Kaien didn't have those bandoliers that you have, so I kinda doubt it." Yoruichi pointed out. "Now then, I think we've rested enough. We'll move on to Zanjutsu practice…Shikai vs. Shikai."
"You're actually going to use your Shikai?" Kirika perked up at that. "Why?"
"Because mine isn't as…bloodthirsty…as Benihime, so it is safer for you to practice against." the werecat replied as she stood up and drew her blade. "Watch."
The purple-haired woman flipped her sword into a lazy spin before catching the blade in her right hand, between her index and middle fingers as she said, "Kizu ya kizu…Manekineko! (Scratch and Wound…Beckoning Cat!)"
In a burst of white light, the blade changed shape into a golden gauntlet that reached to Yoruichi's elbow. The fingers of the gauntlet had claws at the end and the palm had the paw print of a cat engraved in it.
"That's your Shikai?" Kirika asked.
"Yep." Yoruichi replied as she flexed her gauntlet-covered hand experimentally. "Manekineko here is glad to be released for the first time in a hundred years. Better release your sword as well, Kirika-chan, otherwise this will be a short spar."
"Got it." the redhead stood up, stretched and drew her sword. "Surge through the Great Sea and Roil the Dark Heavens, Nejibana!"
The trident-like weapon appeared in a whirl of light and with a surge of water surrounding the two ends of the weapon.
"That Kaigo is different than the one I remember Kaien using." Yoruichi commented.
"Nejibana told me the same thing last night." Kirika shrugged. "Considering I'm in a unique situation, it isn't like there's an instruction manual for all the changes that have happened to the both of us."
"True." the werecat acknowledged. "Well now…let's begin. I'll restrict myself to the strength and speed of a Fourth Seat, the same as Kisuke did. Last as long as you can against me."
"Great." Kirika muttered as she spun Nejibana into what she referred to as the Neji no Kamae (Stance of the Screw), a one handed stance which allowed her to build up the centrifugal force to land a solid first blow against her opponent.
Nejibana had told her that the amount of water she released for each strike of her Shikai was a determined by a combination of Kirika's experience with wielding Nejibana and the number of rotations she added before each strike.
The first strike allowed her to strike powerfully and release a considerable amount of water to smash into her target, which usually resulted in the target blocking her, allowing the attack pattern known as Shōtotsu-ha no Totsugeki (Charge of Colliding Waves), an unrelenting attack whereby Kirika crushed the enemy between the strikes of Nejibana and the ice-cold water waves released as a result of those strikes.
Moving quickly, Kirika leapt forwards and executed a vertical slice at Yoruichi in order to feel out the woman's fighting style.
The werecat grinned slightly and blocked the trident-like weapon with Manekineko, the impact cracking the ground beneath the woman and the strength behind the blow was absorbed unflinchingly by Yoruichi and transmitted to the ground.
'Not a bad attack.' the woman thought as she held the three pointed blades away from her body. 'Nejibana really is a powerful Zanpakutō, and Kirika-chan is learning how to use her very quickly. Now then…time to counterattack!'
With a heave, the werecat threw off Nejibana to one side and was about to strike at Kirika when her student one-handedly spun the long weapon around and launched a horizontal strike at the cat woman.
"Whoa!" Yoruichi fell back from the strike, as well as the follow-on attack that cut her cheek, as well as soaking her to the bone from the water.
"Aren't you going to attack, Yoruichi-sensei?" Kirika called before she launched another attack that the Shihōin Princess.
"Heh. Looks like I'm a bit rusty with my Shikai." Yoruichi chuckled as she flashed away from Kirika with a Shunpo. "Time to get my act together."
She slammed the palm of her gauntlet onto the ground. "Manekineko: Sokusekka! (Beckoning Cat: Paw Print Curse!)"
A large red cat's paw print appeared on the ground where she touched it.
"A paw print?" Kirika asked with a raised eyebrow, "Interesting. Let's see what it can do."
Spinning Nejibana around, Kirika attempted to strike at Yoruichi, but just before she would have struck her sensei, the paw print glowed brightly and dragged her weapon to the paw print.
"What the-?" she squawked as she tried in vain to lift her weapon from the mark.
"That's the power of my Manekineko; control over repulsion and attraction." Yoruichi grinned, "Now…"
The purple-haired woman touched the mark with one armoured finger and said, "Manekineko: Handōka! (Beckoning Cat: Backlash Curse!)" before leaping away.
With a crimson flash, Kirika and Nejibana were hurtled away from the mark and through a boulder that just so happened to get in the way.
"OK, Ow." Kirika thanked her lucky stars that Soul Reapers had very tough bodies as she got up out of the rubble. "Attraction and repulsion. Gravity? Magnetic fields? Whatever. That hurt like a bitch!"
As she picked up her Zanpakutō, Yoruichi flashed in right in front of her and hit her lightly with her armoured hand's palm, a grin on her face that made Kirika sigh in defeat.
"Oh crap."
"Indeed. Manekineko: Kōsekka! (Beckoning Cat: Crimson Repulsion Curse!)"
With a flash of crimson, Kirika was flung back yet again, this time crashing into the training room's wall, Nejibana slipping from her hands yet again. A moment later, the razor-sharp claws of Manekineko were laid at the stunned girl's throat.
"An important lesson, my student." Yoruichi said softly. "Never let go of your weapon or lower your guard in the middle of a fight. Either of these can be fatal, especially when facing an opponent of the Onmitsukidō. Understood?"
"…Ow. Yes, sensei." Kirika wheezed as she recovered from the blow. "Lesson received and understood…painfully. What the heck is your Zanpakutō anyway?"
"A Melee/Kidō type." the werecat replied as she removed the bladed claws and returned her Zanpakutō to its Fūingata state. "It uses gravity control Kidō to either attract or repulse the last person I've touched. Not a terribly effective weapon for an assassin, unless I use the fourth technique, Manekineko: Roppō Shinkō (Beckoning Cat: True Blessing of Six Directions), but that technique is far too imprecise and hard to set up for an assassin to use."
"What does it do?" Kirika asked curiously, as she resealed her own blade, and then winced at the beating she had received.
"Easy there." Yoruichi began using Kaidō on Kirika before continuing. "Roppō Shinkō happens after I create a circle of six Sokusekka. It crushes anything and anyone within the circle, as well as drawing in anyone -even me- who gets too close to it. It was the last technique I learned before achieving Bankai."
"What happens when you learn Bankai?" Kirika asked. "Nejibana told me how a Soul Reaper achieves Bankai, but not what it is."
"Ah." Yoruichi nodded. "Well, one thing that is universal is that your Reiryoku and Reiatsu increase dramatically. A Captain-class Soul Reaper can take the blade of any unseated Soul Reaper without a scratch, while the attacker would be injured by the difference in their Reiryoku. The greater the disparity, the more damage the attacker receives."
"Wow…but the last one applies to all Soul Reapers though." Kirika pointed out.
"True." the werecat acknowledged. "No, the other thing about most Bankai is that they are massive. Bankai are greatly enhanced versions of a Zanpakutō's Shikai and are usually massive constructs of some sort. It usually takes a decade to learn and control your Bankai, but Kisuke managed it in three days thanks to one of his inventions."
"Benihime's Bankai…Brrr!" Kirika shivered. That sword was scary enough in just its Shikai form. Kirika really didn't want to face the Bankai version.
"Yeah…I fought against Kisuke's Bankai once and vowed to never do so again." Yoruichi echoed her student's shiver. "I came close to dying in that spar more times than I ever did in the Onmitsukidō."
"Right…never fight against Urahara-san's Bankai." Kirika nodded.
"You pick things up quick." the woman chuckled. "There is one universal rule about combat with Zanpakutō. No Shikai can ever defeat a Bankai, period. To try is to fail, so either run or fight without using your Zanpakutō if you are faced with a Captain-class opponent who uses their Bankai."
"Not surrender?" Kirika asked for clarification.
"If a Captain has used the Final Release, it is a declaration that they are fighting you seriously and will do their utmost to defeat you." Yoruichi replied. "It is more than likely that surrender wouldn't be allowed."
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One Month Later
Minamikawase Area, Karakura Town
Wearing another black mask and her cloak, Kirika stood next to Urahara as they watched Kuchiki Rukia flee the Kurosaki Clinic.
"She is an idiot." Kirika grumbled in the distorted voice that her mask gave her. When Urahara had created another mask for her, he had altered it so Kirika could speak, but, Urahara being Urahara, he couldn't resist a joke, which was why Kirika sounded like Darth Vader right now.
"Maa, she's trying to be considerate." Urahara replied as they began to carefully follow her from a distance. "After everything that has happened this month, it's hardly a surprise."
Kirika snorted softly. Yes, this month had been quite the set of surprises for herself, Rukia and Ichigo.
Aside from slaying generic Hollows, several incidents had cropped up that had tested her brother. The first was the Hollow Acidwire, who had been the spirit of Inoue Orihime's brother Sora, forcibly converted into a Hollow.
Following the usual instincts of Hollows, Acidwire had gone after his only remaining relative, Orihime, to eat her soul. Before that, he had saved her from being run over by a truck. He had then attacked Ichigo in his bedroom.
This had been a big test for Ichigo, as her brother hadn't realised that all Hollows were formerly either human souls or Plus Souls. When he had used his monster of a blade to attack Acidwire, he had cleaved off part of the Hollow's mask and had recognised the human face hidden beneath it.
He had been conflicted about fighting Acidwire after that…until he had heard that Orihime would be the true target of Acidwire as his closest living relative. That had set off his 'Hero Complex' and Ichigo had charged off to Orihime's apartment, arriving just in time to stop Acidwire from killing Tatsuki, who the Hollow had born a grudge against as Orihime's best friend.
Ichigo's stupidly large blade was very blunt because of his righteous anger at a brother trying to kill his own sister. Orihime had been displaced from her body by Acidwire and then a battle ensued between the two brothers. Acidwire was a long and serpentine Hollow, resembling a Naga from Indian mythology, and had the ability to spit mildly corrosive acid, as well as use his tail as a club.
At length, Sora had regained control of himself, ripped the rest of his mask off and had used Ichigo's Zanpakutō to purify himself, going to the Soul Society in peace at last. She suspected, and Urahara agreed with her, that Ichigo cutting off some of Sora's Hollow mask had helped Acidwire to regain some of his humanity, allowing him to act rationally rather than on his jealous instincts.
She had been somewhat amused the next day to hear what Rukia's Kikanshinki had placed inside Orihime's memories in place of the actual events, something about Sumo Wrestlers.
The next incident had involved yet another of her brother's friends, Chad. He had found a parakeet and had been cursed with bad luck ever since, to the point that a steel girder had dropped on top of him. Chad had tanked it with only some cuts and bruises.
It turned out that the parakeet contained the Soul of a boy called Yūichi Shibata, who had been placed inside the parakeet by the Hollow nicknamed 'Shrieker' and he had been told that if he stayed with one human for three months, Shrieker would bring his mother back to life.
Chad had lasted the longest, so Shrieker decided to kill him up close and personal after school one day. Both she, concealed nearby, and Rukia watched with mouths agape as the Mexican boy faced Shrieker, something he couldn't see, with an extremely calm attitude and his fists. He actually smashed the Hollow a couple of times, twice with his fists and once with a telephone pole he picked up, though he relied on Rukia to guide him to his target.
He had lasted long enough for Ichigo to come to the rescue. Kirika's older brother had been even more furious with Shrieker than he had been with Acidwire and had ripped the Hollow's tongue off to prevent him from using the leech bombs that he could fire off.
In life, Shrieker had been a serial killer and had murdered several people, including Yūichi's mother. The kid had been smart though and had tied the man's laces together, making him fall to his death from the balcony of their house.
The entire deal he had given Yūichi was bogus of course, which was why Ichigo was so angry at the Hollow. Ichigo had loved his mother a lot and seeing someone abuse the love a son had for his mother was like a red flag to a bull for him.
Ichigo defeated Shrieker, cutting his entire head in half, cleansing him of the sins he had committed as a Hollow…but not as a Human. The Gates of Hell appeared, a pair of massive purple doors with a pair of skeletons mounted upon them. When they opened, the Gatekeeper of Hell, laughing demonically, had impaled the Hollow on a sword and drawn him into Hell, whereupon the door closed and disappeared.
Urahara had informed her that the gatekeeper was a 'Kushanāda', one of the Guardians of Hell that punish and hunt sinners, known as the Togabito, for their crimes committed while alive.
One aspect that had been unexpected during the whole incident was Karin being able to perceive the presence of Yūichi within the parakeet. This meant she could likely see the forms of Soul Reapers and Hollows, so Kirika had made a mental note to keep a closer eye on her.
Sadly, Yūichi's body was dead and he couldn't return to it. The only thing to do was send him to the Soul Society via a Konsō (Soul Burial). Kirika had been moved by how elegantly her brother had executed the Konsō on the boy.
The idiocy of Jinta was to blame for the next incident. Rukia used the 5000 Kan bounty on Shrieker to purchase a tube of Gikongan (Artificial Soul Pills) for Ichigo, but ended up with a Kaizō Konpaku (Mod Soul) instead! Jinta had grabbed the first box that said 'Kon' (Soul) rather than reading it properly.
She'd pounded his head a dozen times for that!
Mod Souls were illegal creations made to animate the corpses of humans in order to fight Hollows. The creator, according to Urahara, was imprisoned inside the Maggot's Nest for his work on Project Spearhead. All the Mod Souls were supposed to have been destroyed, so it must have been pure bad luck to have an entire case of them in Urahara's shop!
After suitably punishing Jinta, the Urahara Shōten crew went to retrieve the Mod Soul, which was running wild in Ichigo's body at school, kissing girls! She was lucky enough to have left the room before that happened, but anyway, to make a long story short, Kon, as Ichigo called the Mod Soul, was now in a stuffed lion plushie and acts as Ichigo's way of getting out of his body when Rukia isn't there. Kon does what he's told, or he will suffer the 'Bostov' treatment from Yuzu…tea parties and frilly dresses galore.
Hehehehe.
The second-worst incident was the revelation of the identity of the Hollow who killed their mother. The Hollow known as Grand Fisher, with his ability to use a lure-like appendage to draw victims close to him so he can devour them, attacked Ichigo when they were visiting Kurosaki Masaki's grave.
Of all the things Kirika had seen in her life, being unable to aid her brother against the thrice-accursed Hollow that killed their mother was one of the hardest things to watch. Seeing Rukia's face twisted in agony as she watched as well was also hard, but for a different reason.
She knew what Rukia had been thinking; she was standing by and watching someone who greatly resembled her old Lieutenant fight a Hollow in a scarily similar situation to how Kaien had died. That kind of agony wasn't something that the adopted member of the Kuchiki Clan could forget easily, if at all.
Fortunately, for all concerned, Ichigo badly wounded Grand Fisher and sent him scurrying off with his tail between his legs. Rukia had looked so relieved when Ichigo was victorious. The Onmitsukidō member who had helped out had hopefully kept his mouth shut.
The most recent incident had been that stupid Quincy Ishida's doing. He had challenged Ichigo to a match, practically strong-arming him into a 'How-many-Hollows-can-we-kill' contest by using Hollow bait to draw a slew of Hollows to Karakura Town.
Kirika had helped out her brother, killing those that he or Ishida couldn't get to in time. Things were getting to the point of overwhelming when a Gillian-class Menos Grande appeared, the skyscraper-sized Hollow devouring lesser Hollows like a starving man.
While Ichigo eventually defeated it, the sudden retreat of a Menos-class Hollow from the World of the Living would draw attention from the Soul Society, which was why she and Urahara were out here at two o'clock in the morning watching Rukia flee from Karakura in a futile attempt to distance herself from Ichigo so he wouldn't be killed.
"A Senkaimon has just opened." Urahara drew her mind out of its thought process, "Odd…it feels like a Captain and a Lieutenant, both under Gentei Fūin (Limiting Seal). This just got a whole lot more serious."
Kirika nodded before she stiffened. "Aniki's on the move. He must have discovered Rukia's note."
"Better get into position then." Urahara sighed, "This isn't going to be pretty."
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Next Chapter: Kirika-sensei
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