New characters! Fight scenes! Other! Cool! Shit!
Part I
Either they had been incredibly lucky thus far or evading the Eleventh Division Shinigami was way easier than it should have been. This was what Rukia thought when she and Ganju were ducking away from another squadron of five. The group passed by, not noticing a thing.
"I can't believe it," she whispered. "Can they even sense us?"
Eyes scanning the area, Ganju let out a chuckle, saying, "Probably not. These guys from the Eleventh aren't the brightest."
No kidding.
"Well, if the rest of the Shinigami are like them, this mission will be a whole lot easier than I thought," she said with a grin.
Ganju answered distantly, "Yeah." He seemed too focused on the alleyway they were currently hidden in to really respond. It took Rukia a second to realize what he was looking at, but when she did, her hand went immediately to her Zanpakuto.
He was looking at a door, right in the wall, scrutinizing it. Rukia couldn't feel anything on the other side, but was it possible he was sensing something that she didn't?
He walked closer to it, silently, eventually coming near enough to press his ear right against it. Then, his face broke out into a grin.
"Empty!" he cheered quietly. With a turn of the knob he opened the door.
"Is there a reason we're going in?" asked Rukia with a sigh. She dropped her hand from her Zanpakuto.
"Yeah, lunch," Ganju snorted. He walked into the room with a spring in his step, and Rukia really had no choice but to follow.
"I guess I could go for lunch," she said, exasperation in her voice.
What they walked into wasn't much of a room, per say. It was more of a closet, a dusty, bug ridden, and poorly lit closet, with training dummies and wooden swords stacked haphazardly along walls and in corners. After closing the door behind them, Ganju used one of the newer looking dummies to wedge the it shut, the action itself putting Rukia on edge.
The idea of staying in a small room with only one exit while they were on the run didn't seem like a smart one to Rukia. In fact, it seemed like one of the worst ideas she'd even heard, but…
She bit her lip as her stomach let out a quiet growl and stifling a blush, she plopped down onto the ground the second Ganju started unwrapping his pack.
When he revealed a bundle of wrapped rice balls, her mouth started watering.
"You hungry, Ruk?" Ganju asked jokingly, and she realized that maybe she was looking a little too intently.
"It's not my fault I missed breakfast," she mumbled, grabbing for the rice ball nearest to her. She tried very carefully not to embarrass herself again. They were decent, filling at the very least, and probably a godsend considering all that's already happened in this first morning. Still, she felt a bit bad eating them.
Her friends were god knew where and here she was enjoying a lunch break. Ganju was the only one with the supplies, the only one with any food, and she was the only one lucky enough to get dragged away with him. The others were probably just going hungry.
Suddenly, the rice tasted like sand in her mouth. Still, she kept on eating. It wasn't like letting this food go to waste would be any better.
"Hey, you alright?" Ganju asked after popping a pickled plum into his mouth.
"Yeah, I'm just thinking." In one last large bite she finished off her final rice ball right before standing up. She stretched her arms out above her head, and said, "We should get going."
For a moment, Ganju's eyes widened in surprise as he started quickly wolfing down the last of his meal. Once every grain of rice was gone, he was wrapping up the evidence and stuffing it back into his bag. All the while he was muttering words through his full mouth that Rukia couldn't quite catch, but it was definitely something about how she "shouldn't rush" him.
"We've been here for too long, anyway," she said with an eyeroll. She was pretty sure she could sense some people nearby. They weren't too close, but she definitely didn't want them getting any closer.
"Don't get your panties in a twist," he mumbled. She ignored him, instead pushing aside the training dummy and pressing her ear against the door.
She couldn't hear anything outside, no steps, no talking, and considering how unsubtle these Shinigami were, she was willing to bet that meant it was safe. Just as Ganju finished tying up his pack, she opened the door. The coast was clear. She stepped out into the alleyway.
"Lucky!" a voice cried out with a cheer, and Rukia froze.
The coast was not as clear as she thought.
With her hand on her sword she glanced up and down the alleyway. There was no one there. No one was down the road, no one was anywhere she could see. Then, she saw Ganju, looking up at the neighboring roof, completely rigid.
"Two of 'em in there, just like you said, Yumichika. I was startin' to get bored, too," the same voice drawled, a certain edge to it.
There were two of them up there, standing on the roof, and before she could get a good look at them, they landed on the ground right in front of her and Ganju. She took half a step back in reflex.
They were an odd pair, two men, looking to be in their early twenties (though she knew that didn't mean much here).
"Lucky! Today's my lucky day!" the one on the left continued to cheer, a too-wide grin on his face.
He was tall, probably about as tall as Ichigo or Renji, and completely bald. He had red markings at the corners of his eyes, and a loose yet predatory way of holding himself, like a lion biding his time before he's ready to pounce.
The so far quiet man next to him was much more delicate looking. He was thin with silky black hair that reached his chin. His uniform seemed to be modified somewhat with a high orange collar and sleeve. He looked down at the two, a subtle smirk on his face full of amusement and something that she couldn't quite parse.
She wasn't sure which of the two was stronger, couldn't be sure by just a glance. All she knew is that they were trouble. Using her thumb, she popped her sword out of its sheath a couple of centimeters, waiting.
Surprisingly one of them didn't attack at that. The bald one instead started doing some weird dance involving precise footwork, toneless singing, and what looked like strange parodies of battle stances. Rukia could only look on in confusion and mild horror.
"We should probably run," Ganju whispered over her shoulder.
"Where?!" she whispered back.
"I don't know!" he admitted. "I just don't want to fight these guys."
"Neither do I, but can we even outrun them? Don't Shinigami have Flash Step? Besides," she said, giving the two another once over, "I don't see any White Haori or any Lieutenant badges, so, I think we could take them."
"They're strong! You can sense it as well as I can!"
"Hey," interjected the bald one, suddenly much closer than he was before. "What are you two arguing about?"
Rukia flinched back, mouth firmly shut. What was with these guys?
"Eh, it doesn't really matter," he said with a shrug. "We're gonna beat you anyway, so go ahead and talk."
"If we wait too long, though" the prettier one argued, "someone else may come along and steal our kill."
Oh great, Rukia always wanted to be some weirdo's "kill."
"Good point!" the bald one said with a smile. "Okay, how about I give you until the end of next dance to finish arguing."
"That's it, I'm running!" Ganju yelled.
"Wait, don't just–!" Rukia cut herself off. He was already sprinting in the other direction, kicking up dust.
"Yumichika!" the bald one called.
"Got it." The other, Yumichika, apparently, took after Ganju in an instant. The two were out of sight in seconds.
"Did he really just…" Rukia trailed off. Well, she sure felt abandoned.
"Oi, girl!" Rukia stiffened, her attention on the only Shinigami remaining. "Why didn't you run? I'm guessing Big Guy over there noticed we were strong and took off, so why didn't you?"
Rukia wasn't sure if she should answer, and for about the second time today, it struck her that these Shinigami sure were…chatty when it came to their enemies.
Still, she eventually answered with, "I could sense you and your friend, too. I figured if you two were that strong you'd be able to catch me."
The bald Shinigami raised and eyebrow at that, seeming interested at the statement, though he didn't say anything.
With a gulp, she continued, "I also thought that if I were smart enough, I just might be able to kick your ass."
That gained a much stronger response. The man busted out laughing, hard enough that he had to clutch his sides, and Rukia almost felt offended. Sure, it was a decent quip, but was it really that funny?
"I can't really tell if that was smart of you, or dumb of you, girlie," he said between laughs, "but it sure did remind me of someone."
Rukia didn't respond. She just grit her teeth and stared him down. He could only talk for so long. Eventually something had to give. She was still his "kill," after all.
It happened in the span of a moment. It was barely a twitch of movement, too fast for her to process, but suddenly he was rushing her, sword in hand. She dodged out of pure instinct, jumping to the right, watching as his blade went wide. His next blow was blocked by a drawn Sode no Shirayuki, but she found herself shaking under the pressure.
He kept going after that, "aggressive" not even beginning to cover it, and it wasn't easy to take. Rukia was small, light, and compact. This meant that she was hard to hit, but when he did hit, the effort it took her to keep him from slicing her to ribbons was enormous. He put everything he could behind every strike.
She might be able to work with that, but she wasn't sure how, not yet.
He drew back quickly after that, and she fell back, as well, readying an attack in that moment. He didn't let her, coming in from the right far faster than he should have. For a second Rukia thought he had two Zanpakuto somehow, but no, he was attacking with his sheath of all things.
It wasn't a style she had ever heard of, not that this guy looked like the type to take formal lessons to learn something like that, but it sure was effective.
Just before he could land a blunt hit on her stomach, she dropped to the ground, only to have to block another blow from his blade, turning what would have been a strike straight through the head to a graze on her cheek. She followed through with the created opening, slicing up his arm and into his sleeve before breaking away the instant his other arm began to move.
She tumbled away before he could strike again, landing on her feet, facing him.
"Hey, what's your name?" he asked suddenly. He was standing at the ready, but not attacking, a near gleeful look on his face. Rukia stared at him incredulously. He continued, "Here in the Eleventh, we ask the names of the people we fight. It's an honor thing, a little odd, but I've always liked it."
Rukia relaxed slightly, bringing a free hand up too wipe the blood dripping down her chin.
"Rukia Orikasa," she answered. "Why didn't you ask earlier?" He sure had plenty of time too.
"I had to make sure you were worth fighting, first," he said with a shrug.
"Did I pass?" she asked flatly. The Shinigami looked down at the steadily bleeding cut on his arm, grinning.
"Yep."
Maybe she was a little drunk off the adrenaline, but Rukia couldn't help but crack a smile back. This man enjoyed fighting for the sake of fighting. Sure, she didn't quite understand it, but for some reason his joy was infectious. In a way, he reminded her of someone she knew, too.
"What's your name?" she asked back.
His smile took on a crazed quality at that, and he answered, "Ikkaku Madarame, Third Seat of the Eleventh Division."
He got back into a battle stance at that, sword in his left hand, facing her, and sheath in his right, at his back and at the ready.
In that moment Rukia got the sense that their previous scuffle was little more than a greeting, like a bow or a handshake. Formalities were finally out of the way, and their fight could really start. Yeah, she doubted she was looking forward to it nearly as much as Madarame, but a fight was still a fight, and she'd face this one whole heartedly.
She got into position, fingers tightening around Sode no Shirayuki's cool hilt. She waited.
Part II
Renji and Ishida were just starting the feel the beginnings of hunger when they reached the edge of…whatever Division they were in. They hadn't figured it out yet. Pretty much all the buildings looked the same, but they were starting to reach an archway in a tall wall surrounding them. If they could reach it, they could get just a little closer to their destination, but first they had to go through a wide-open street.
Neither of them was very excited for this.
It had been smooth sailing so far. They had gotten into a few minor fights, but nothing to write home about. Almost every single time Ishida would pull out his bow and get the enemy before anyone could cause a scene. It was actually kind of scary how efficiently Ishida took care of those guys, but hey, Renji wasn't complaining. Well, he was, but not much.
"Come on," Renji whined. "You could at least leave one or two of them for me!"
"And why on Earth would I do that?" Ishida asked in a bored tone.
"Well, for starters…" Renji started confidently, but quickly trailed off. He didn't have much of an answer, really. He didn't want to say it was because they were partners, because that definitely wasn't true, not even now, but…he was just so bored!
"Exactly," Ishida scoffed. "Now, can we finally move on from this?"
Renji was about to give Ishida a piece of his mind, tell him exactly where he could stick that shitty attitude of his, when suddenly the other boy's hand went over Renji's mouth, silencing him. At first, Renji cursed under his hand, ready to slap it away and ask him what the hell his problem was, but Ishida drew his hand away all by himself.
He also drew his bow, aiming at someone that was just barely in the corner of Renji's eye. The archer stayed still after that, waiting for a reason to shoot. Then, the person's eyes met with theirs.
Ishida fired in an instant, but for the very first time, the person on the other end dodged. The arrow missed, and pieces of burnt paper went flying out of the Shinigami's hand.
"What the–?" the man bit out. He didn't have time to say anything else. All he could do was draw his Zanpakuto and dodge another one of Ishida's arrows.
Finally, a chance for Renji to fight! With a grin he activated his Fullbring powers and went charging in.
The Shinigami was a pretty big guy, kinda intimidating looking, too. He had dark curly hair, dark skin, and looked about their age. He was light on his feet, despite his size, and dodged Renji's kicks and strikes well, backing away any time he tried to get in close. All the while, he kept an eye on Ishida, ducking out of the way whenever he could. He only got grazed once or twice.
The guy was amazing! Still, he wouldn't last long. Renji could tell from here that he was already tiring.
Renji had to quickly rethink this when the guy said in a quiet voice, "Rise, Fuerza de Gigante."
Shit, the guy had a Shikai.
Renji had no choice but to back off for a moment as the Shinigami's Zanpakuto changed. Even Ishida stopped firing for a moment, wary of the change and unsure of where to go from here. He actually looked like he was considering running for a second, eyes darting around before the finally settled back on the big guy.
His Zanpakuto didn't turn into another weapon like Renji was expecting, not exactly, anyway. It almost looked like armor, black and red covering his right arm and radiating power that even Renji could feel.
Renji immediately went on the defensive, dodging his opponent's measured swings. He could somewhat block it with his spikes, but the guy's strength was enough that he felt the blows anyway. Add that with how his armor seemed to more or less deflect Ishida's arrows, and suddenly they were losing.
"Haven't lost yet," Renji whispered to himself. This guy wasn't using any special techniques. He was basically just boxing, and Renji could deal with that.
The guy was in a classic guarding stance, fists close to his body, waiting for the next strike. When he raised an arm to block another arrow from Ishida aimed at his head, Renji crouched down, ready to slam the spike on his shoulder into the guy's stomach. The Shinigami's eyes widened, noticing the move, and he jumped back, ducking against an arrow and swinging a leg in Renji's direction. He caught Renji right in the chest.
For a while, Renji was on the ground, ears still ringing from the blow, and unsure if he managed to hit anything with his move. A smile crawled on his face when a Hakama clad leg came in to view with a large gash down the side.
Renji swung his legs up, aiming for the new weak spot and with a cry, the giant came crashing down, an arrow getting past his defenses moments before he reached it. He didn't get back up.
Wiping the dirt from his face, Renji brought himself back to his feet, swaying for a moment and then steadying. He deactivated his spikes and looked down at their fallen opponent.
"You kill him?" Renji called back to Ishida.
"I don't think so," he answered, deactivating his bow. "It wasn't a direct hit."
Sparing one last look at the guy, Renji thought that was probably for the best. The Shinigami was actually pretty good, and they weren't murders, anyway. As long as he wouldn't be able to follow them when they ran off, it was good enough.
"Our destination is still very far away," Ishida said, regaining Renji's attention. "We shouldn't be dawdling, not while we still have a mission to complete."
"Yeah, yeah, you don't have to remind me. I want to rescue Ichigo just as bad as you, four-eyes." He's pretty sure he heard Ishida say something under his breath at that, but just this once he let it slide.
He turned away from the fallen Shinigami and followed Ishida out of the street and through the archway.
In the meantime, Chad lay on the ground, dazed, but still hearing every word the Ryoka said. If they really were here to rescue Ichigo…
He would find them again, no matter what.
Part III
Madarame was the first to attack.
He came in close, striking with the sword in his left hand, following through with the sheath in his right. It almost made Rukia feel like she was fighting two people instead of one. Each strike had just as much power as the last, and that made deflecting two in quick succession rather difficult.
Only when she literally hit a wall, back first, did she remember that she was stuck in a narrow alleyway. She knew that if she had any hope of wining it lied in getting to more open space.
Or at least higher ground.
Dodging right and ducking down she slipped past Madarame, and using the close walls as leverage, she jumped to the roof top. She stood there brandishing her Zanpakuto, a silent challenge. He followed quickly.
This time, she attacked first, meeting his crossed weapons and going at him calculatedly. He had already gotten a hit to his left arm, so she knew it would be weaker. If she pressed him on that side, eventually she'd get somewhere.
"You're not bad for a rookie," he commented, dodging another one of her blows.
"How do you know I'm a rookie?" she asked, pausing. He attacked in that moment, stabbing at her and pushing her off the rooftop they were on and onto the next one. She landed shakily on her feet.
"Because!" he answered, striking at her again, "not only did you just stop attacking with an enemy right in front of you, earlier you took a hand off your weapon to wipe blood off your face. That's a rookie move if I've ever heard one."
Rukia pushed back against him, going low and getting him off balance, almost off balance enough to fall off the roof, but he steadied himself before he could fall, spinning around to face her. Slightly self-conscious, she wiped the blood off her chin again, this time using her shoulder.
"You shouldn't be constantly swiping the blood off," Madarame scolded. He then turned his sword, hilt up, holding it out in front of him. "What you should be doing is finding a way to get the bleeding to stop!"
With his thumb he "uncapped" the pommel of his sword, and with a finger took out a generous glob of what looked like ointment. He slathered it over the wound on his arm, one that she personally knew was quite deep, but the second he applied it the bleeding stopped.
"You just carry that around in your Zanpakuto?" Rukia asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey, don't say it like that! I'm just thinking ahead, is all! It's how I got this far in the first place!" he defended. Then, with grit teeth he asked, "What about you, anyway?"
"About me?"
"Yeah, how'd you get this far?"
Honestly, Rukia had no idea.
Madarame continued for her, "I doubt it was just by instinct, that doesn't seem to be your thing." Rukia frowned. He almost sounded like he was insulting her, but at the look he just scoffed. "I can see it on your face, you're always thinking about everything. So, how'd you get this far? You got a teacher or something?"
Or something, Rukia thought with a sardonic smile. Seriously, though, she wasn't sure if she was allowed to answer. Then again, she didn't remember that being against the rules, and this guy didn't seem like the blabbing type.
"It wasn't for long," she started, "but I was taught by Kukaku Shiba."
Madarame seemed to contemplate this for a second, testing the name on his tongue.
"Huh, I don't know a Kukaku," he finally said, "but I know the name Shiba. If your teacher was a Shiba than that's reason enough."
As he said this, he held his sword and his sheath in front of him. He held them together end by end.
"It's reason enough to go all out! Grow, Hozukimaru!"
Rukia didn't pay much attention to the transformation. She was too busy worrying about what it could mean for her that this man had a Shikai. Almost automatically, she activated her own with a cry of "Dance! Sode no Shirayuki!" The power that flooded through gave her some assurance.
Madarame didn't look surprised when he saw her Shikai. If anything, he looked as though he were expecting it. Seeing his, she felt weary. It was a long spear with a red horse hair tassel. Sure, it was simple looking, but considering the last Shikai she had come into contact with could spit fire, she wasn't dumb enough to underestimate it.
When Madarame attacked with the spear, his fighting style suddenly made a lot more sense. He was a deft hand with it, striking with the blade and following through with the staff, occasionally spinning it overhead with a flourish, all to keep an unpredictable rhythm.
Still, it wasn't perfect, and Rukia could see the cracks. His attacks were slower in this form, and his windup just a half second longer due to the larger size of the weapon. In that half second, she was sure that she could freeze him and end it.
She struck down, aiming right at his shoulder, and watched as he brought up the spear to block. She had the command on her lips at that moment, readying a White Ripple when the spear suddenly did the most absurd thing. It broke.
"Heh, you thought my Hozukimaru was a spear, didn't you?" Madarame said with a laugh. He held up the two broken pieces of the spear, far too clean to be coincidence. "Nope! It's actually a Sensetsukon, a three-piece Nunchaku."
With a gulp, Rukia realized that she was right in the middle of that three-pieced Nunchaku. The two outer pieces were around her, boxing her in, and coming closer. She went the only direction she could, back, and wasn't too surprised when the business end of the not-spear sliced her upper arm open.
She hissed, resisting the urge to clamp a hand over the wound as she moved back to another rooftop. This was bad. She was losing ground, here.
Maybe I can use that to my advantage.
While Madarame began to approach, she readied her attack, getting into position and ignoring the burning pain in her shoulder as she maneuvered her arm.
She yelled out, "Second Dance! White Ripple!" and aimed right where Madarame was, midair. He bolted right at the last moment, the very second his foot touched the roof. His eyes widened.
The horsehair end of the spear was frozen solid, and shock was plain on his face as it begun to crumble before his very eyes.
"So, that's what you are," he said, "a Kidō-type."
Rukia wasn't quite sure what he meant by that, but she wouldn't say as much. She still had a fight to win. There was time to ask questions later.
As it turned out, firing her attacks from close range was near impossible, and Madarame was very much a close-range fighter, and a relentless one at that. Even with a piece of his Shikai cracked and missing, he was still going. She tried trapping him in a "First Dance, White Moon" a few times, but not only was he moving too quickly for her to catch him anywhere, she just couldn't make a circle big enough in time. Still, being pushed back so close to the edge of the roof and trying to stay alive under his volley, she felt like she had made some progress.
His Zanpakuto wasn't perfect. It was actually pretty fragile, from what she could tell. She was able to freeze one part of it, so how could she take care of the rest? As she was dodging, she tried to think of the answer to this question. She knew there had to be a way.
She blocked once more and watched as her blade caught against the chain that connected the broken end of the spear to the middle. She tumbled out of the way before the blade end could take her head off and walked away with a shallow cut to the side of her neck. Not bad, but far too close.
At least she had a plan, now.
She knew it wouldn't be too hard once she got everything in place. She'd gotten pretty good at controlling her own Reiatsu and power, after all. She punctured the ground in front of her, preparing an attack while retreating. Now, all she had to do was wait.
Madarame was unpredictable and creative, but his attacks all had more or less the same idea behind them, so it was more fate than luck when she was forced to block again, her blade wedged between the spear end and middle section of his Nunchaku. The next part required precision.
"White Ripple!" she called out before he had the chance to move back. Before the attack could launch, he managed to move back some distance, but she knew that wouldn't be enough.
The attack hit its mark, breaking right through the chain, breaking that blade piece of the Zanpakuto off entirely. The man looked shocked for a moment, holding the quickly freezing pieces in his hands. The shock turned to pain when the attack continued right into his stomach. He landed on the ground below, stumbling, though staying on his feet.
She landed down near him. With one look, she lowered her Zanpkuto.
"What, you think you've won?" he asked with a chattering grin
"You can barely stand, much less attack. The fight's over."
"That's what you think!" Madarame yelled, suddenly coming at her with all his remaining strength, wielding the broken pieces of his Zanpakuto.
With a scowl, she waited for him, and with a cry she met his strike at full force, breaking through the blade end of his Zanpakuto. It crumbled in his hands. He collapsed on the ground soon after.
"See," she said to him, though she wasn't sure if he could hear her, "the fight's over."
She sheathed her Zanpakuto, considering going off to help Ganju. If his opponent was even half as strong as hers, he just might need it.
Then again, she did trust that he could take care of himself. Besides, she wasn't in the greatest condition to be helping someone right now, even if "the other guy looked worse."
She looked back down at Madarame. He was clearly unconscious, though he did seem to be breathing. His Zanpakuto was back to its original form, perfectly whole again, and she couldn't help but think that it was fitting for a guy like this to have a weapon so resilient.
Yeah, a guy like this.
He was a dancing weirdo, a fighting nut, and he wanted to kill her, but somehow, she felt bad just leaving him here. It would probably kill him. Sode's ice was dangerous, after all, even in small amounts. With a sigh, Rukia decided she'd at least see what she could do for him.
She kneeled down by him, and with a heave begun to turn him over onto his back. She was forced to stop the moment her shoulder cried out in protest, nearly dropping him. Letting him down slowly, she thought that maybe this would be harder than she thought.
Madarame's Zanpakuto caught her eye in that moment, and she suddenly thought that maybe there was a way after all.
It wasn't too hard wrestling the cap off the end of the hilt, and once she rolled up her sleeve an applied a good amount of the ointment, she almost sighed in relief. Apparently, it did a lot more than stop bleeding. It was a pain reliever, too. She quickly applied some on her cheek and neck, as well, and after that there wasn't much of it left, but she figured she could take the rest from here.
This time, Rukia had much more success in turning him over. He wasn't small by any means, so there was still some effort involved, but it was a little easier this time. Once he was on his back, she was able to get a better look at him.
He didn't look too bad, at least not at first. The only wounds he had were ones that he had already taken care of, and the wound on his stomach, which wasn't bleeding at all. Over a superficial looking wound was ice and frost, slowly spreading, and laying a hand over him she could tell his temperature was much lower than it should have been, and rapidly dropping.
She knew how to make things cold, but she didn't know how to reverse it. All she knew was that she didn't want to kill this guy.
"Right now, the center of that wound is below zero."
Rukia's eyes snapped up from Madarame. Right across from her was Sode no Shirayuki, and in an instant she relaxed, though she didn't let her guard down completely.
"Are you going to help him?" asked Rukia carefully.
"I don't really care about helping that," she said snidely, "but this is a good opportunity for a lesson." Whatever justification her Zanpakuto gave, Rukia would take it.
Sode continued, "My attacks can often cause issues. When you attack in quick succession the air around can become too cold, and with that my power becomes a double-edged sword, in a sense. You must learn to reverse these effects."
"How do I do that?" Rukia asked. Sode came closer to her, leaning over Ikkaku. She grabbed Rukia's hand in her icy grip and placed it over the wound.
"Draw your Reiatsu out from the wound and back into me."
Okay, that sounded simple enough. With a deep breath, Rukia closed her eyes, and pushed her senses down into Madarame. She found little pieces of Reiatsu that felt out of place, that felt more like hers than his, and dragged them out, going slowly and carefully. She must have been going too slowly because after a while Sode was letting out impatient little sighs and mutterings next to her.
"That's enough," her Zanpakuto eventually said. "His body can probably take care of the rest."
"Wait," Rukia urged, "what if…" She trailed off. Sode had already vanished, the feeling of her hand gone.
That left Rukia alone with an unconscious man, one who had just tried to kill her, one who's life she had hopefully just saved…probably. Even when she was being helpful, Sode no Shirayuki still managed to be a bitch somehow, didn't she?
Honestly, Rukia wasn't sure what she could do, here, if there was even anything left for her to do. Sure, she wanted to ask him some questions, but she had no idea when he'd wake up, if he'd wake up.
The answer to the latter question ended up being yes. The answer to the former ended up being now.
Madarame's eyes blearily opened in that moment. He didn't seem entirely aware at first, foggy eyes darting around as he started coughing heavily.
When his eyes cleared, he looked right down at his mostly-healed wound and then at her.
"How the…what the hell?" he asked weakly to no one in particular.
"I froze your core," Rukia explained. "You'll be a bit groggy for a while."
"That's not what I mean," he said with an eyeroll. "I'm asking how the hell I'm still alive. I thought you killed me." He said this with a certain insistence in his voice, one that made Rukia a bit frustrated.
"I didn't really want you dead. You were the one that attacked me, remember," she pointed out.
"That still doesn't explain it!"
With a huff, Rukia said, "I unfroze your wound. That was it. Happy?" At that, Madarame let out a loud groan of frustration.
"Seriously!" he cried. "Saved by the enemy! Me!" Rukia just rolled her eyes. "I swear if I could move right now…" He didn't finish the threat. He just let out a long sigh of defeat and slumped back against the ground, staring up at the sky.
Rukia stayed right next to him with a scowl refusing to move. He looked back at her with a glare.
"Fuck off already," he said with a wave of his hand. "You beat me, 'remember?''
"Oh what, you think I'm staying here for your glowing conversational skills?" Rukia asked, arms crossed. "I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions, that's all."
Madarame leveled an incredulous stare at her. He sighed, throwing up his hands and saying, "Ask away girlie."
She scowled, sitting back on her heels, though it may have looked more like a pout.
"To start off," she said, "you should know that I'm here on a rescue mission. I'm here for Ichigo Shiba."
Madarame choked.
"Are you serious?" He asked this with a laugh so hard he started coughing again. Once it calmed down, he continued, "You're here for Shiba? You and that big guy that was with you?"
"Yes," Rukia said carefully, "him and a few others. Why is that so funny?"
"Trust me," Madarame said, still suppressing giggles. "If you knew what you were getting yourself into, you'd be laughing, too. All of you dragged your asses here just for some doomed Shinigami. It's so admirable it's stupid. Do you even know where he is?"
"Well, not exactly," Rukia admitted.
He laughed even harder, and Rukia was currently considering the merits of punching the wounded in the nose.
"Listen," he finally said, "I don't really care who you're looking for or why, but since you beat me, I'll at least tell you where to look for Shiba."
Rukia's ears perked up at this. They were finally getting somewhere!
He continued, "Right now, he's probably holed up in some Tenth Squad holding cell but going there's a waste of time. You wanna head to the center of the Seireitei. You'll find a huge white tower there called the Repentance Cell. They'll be dropping him off there any day now, and it'll take you a couple of days at least to get there. You get all that?"
"Yeah, I got it," was what she said, though she felt a little breathless. She finally knew where Ichigo was, or at least where he would be. They could actually say they were headed somewhere, for once. They could find him. "Thank you," she said with a bow.
Madarame looked away with a huff, though he did seem to be blushing a bit.
"Just get going," he said. "Now that the fight's died down this place'll be crawling with Shinigami pretty soon. Go find the big guy and save the princess or whatever."
She had a few more questions to ask, really. She wanted to ask about different types of Zanpakuto, about why he didn't know who Kukaku Shiba was, but she didn't have that kind of time. She could already hear the murmurs of an approaching crowd.
"I really don't know how to repay you," she said quickly. Madarame waved her off, though.
"Eh, I tried to kill you, you save my life, I give you information to save your boyfriend. We're probably even, now."
Rukia wanted to make a very firm comment about how, no, Ichigo wasn't her boyfriend, but she was interrupted by a group of people she saw just barely peeling around the corner. Her time was up.
She bolted, running away from the squadron and to the streets as quickly as she could. She didn't know if she was spotted and she certainly didn't want to wait to find out. All she had time to think about was how she was going to find Ganju and how she was going to tell him all she had just learned. Things were finally changing for the better.
Part IV
A while back it had been decided that the best way to sneak around the Seireitei was to stay in the alleyways of the tightly packed buildings, to avoid major roads, and to stay under the cover of shadow for as long as possible. This ended up being a fair plan. With this place being as sparsely populated as it was, encounters were not common, though they did occasionally happen.
Or at least, they were supposed to happen, Uryuu thought.
Something was off, had been off ever since they entered this new Division. It was as if all signs of life had disappeared. Where searchers, paper pushers, and even those just going about their day could be found before, there was now nothing. It put the archer on edge.
"You'd think this place would be crawling with 'em," commented Abarai.
"You'd think," agreed Uryuu. "The Shinigami have just been invaded. One would expect to see at least a squadron or two."
"Guess it's our lucky day, then, huh?" Abarai said with a grin. Uryuu didn't quite agree, though he didn't say as much.
"Over there," he said instead, pointing to a signpost just a block ahead. It was just a hunch, but… "We may be nearing the next Division." From here he could barely make out the Kanji for the number two at the top of a banner near the signpost. Was that the Division they were in now?
"We're making good time, then," Abarai said, looking over Uryuu's shoulder. "We might even be able to beat Yorui–!"
He was cut off from breathing another word by a blade pressed against his throat. The second Uryuu moved to activate his bow, he was met with the same.
Apparently, the Shinigami did not rely solely on their Samurai motif. They employed goddamn ninjas, too. At least, that's what the person holding Renji hostage looked like.
They were covered head to toe in black, leaving only their eyes visible, and strangely enough, Uryuu couldn't sense even an ounce of spiritual pressure from them. It was as if they weren't even there.
It made him wonder how long they were really being followed.
Uryuu was silently urged forward by the person at his back by another small blade at the base of his spine. He had no choice but to move forward into the wide-open street that they had been trying so hard to avoid.
Abarai was being a little more resistant than he was, having to be pushed and pulled into the street, cursing and struggling. Uryuu had no idea what he was trying to prove. He did realize that there was a blade at his throat, right?
They were led out to a small group of similarly clad Shinigami, and every single eye was on them, gazing with an intensity that made Uryuu incredibly uncomfortable, though he refused to show it. They were stopped in front of one person that didn't quite look like the others.
She didn't wear a mask. Uryuu could clearly see her scowling face and her dark hair that closely framed it, save for the long wrapped braids that trailed behind her. Her most striking feature, however, was her white Haori.
"Captain Suì-Fēng, what should we do with the Ryoka?" the Shinigami holding Uryuu asked.
She looked at them carefully, somehow managing to look down at them despite being a head or so shorter than them both. She studied them for a moment as if they were particularly interesting rats.
"Take them to the holding cells," she eventually said. "I want to know who they are, what they are, and why they're here by tomorrow."
Uryuu saw the person holding Abarai salute. He assumed his own captor did the same.
"Understood, Captain."
Their chances were not good, not good at all, but it was possible that they could escape. If they could take down their escorts while they were alone, ambush them suddenly–
He felt two fingers at press in at the base of his skull, heard the quiet mutterings of a Kidō spell, and soon after he was slumping back into the arms of the Shinigami behind him, vision darkening. The last thing he heard was the voice of the Captain.
"The rest of you will continue to search. If any other Ryoka so much as breathe in the direction of our Division, I want to know."
He fell unconscious after that.
…
For a while, waking up was like wading through mud. Uryuu opened his eyes feeling groggy and off balance who knows how long later, face flat against a stone floor.
With a quiet groan he pushed himself up on his hands and knees. Damn, he could already feel the bruises forming. Trust Shinigami to not know the meaning of the word "gentle." He took his time in righting himself, sitting back on his heels, finally able to get his bearings.
He was in a cell of some sort, that much was obvious, but there were no bars. It was just smooth concrete and a locked stone door. There wasn't even a window, but a single electrical light dangling from the ceiling and a tiny vent in the corner, probably only there to keep him from suffocating. There was a matt in the near, and no other furniture to speak of.
If he were the joking type, he'd take the time to say something about these were amazing accommodations, but he wasn't, so he didn't.
Instead, he set his sights first on the door, and then on his glove, the Raidenhanto, something that the Shinigami apparently didn't think of taking, something that didn't seem quite right considering how paranoid these people were. They wouldn't even let their "defenseless" prisoner stay conscious on the way to his cell.
Uryuu stood up fully, knowing he had to try. He didn't think they were watching now, though he couldn't be sure. Stepping back, he summoned his bow, and aimed for a specific part of the door, right where he imagined the lock would be on the other side.
His aim wasn't as steady as he would have liked it. He was exhausted, hungry, and still off balance from whatever they did to him, but he didn't need perfect aim or overwhelming power for this. His target was right in front of him.
He fired, and quickly found that to be a mistake.
The second he released the bowstring, the world pitched left, and he went with it. He didn't feel the impact, but he did feel cool stone floor beneath him after he landed and wondered vaguely if he was going to vomit all over it. It took a long moment of just breathing to prevent that.
"That was a bad idea," he told himself. A very bad idea.
Either something was wrong with the cell or something was wrong with him, but after that he felt like a towel that had just been wrung out. He looked up at the door, to at least see what damage he had done.
It was perfectly intact, he saw, face falling. There wasn't even a scratch on it. It was like he hadn't even fired that arrow, and maybe he hadn't. Putting his head in his hands, he stared at the floor, and only now, being this close to it, did he realize something about it was off.
He was pretty sure he was staring at the same mineral that the walls of the Seireitei were made of, a stone that his Teacher had told him about a long time ago.
Sekkiseki
It's a special rock, only found in the Soul Society as far as he knew. It can create barriers and drain the Reiryoku of those in contact with it. He would have said that he hadn't been in contact with it long enough to cause this strong of an effect, but really, he had no idea how long he'd been here.
Uryuu turned over, laying flat on his back and staring up at the ceiling. He brought his hand in front of him, just to get another good look at the glove.
He could always try that. He could just take off the Raidenhanto, unleash hell onto these Shinigami…and then lose everything after.
No, it was only a last resort, one that he had been planning on going the whole mission without ever using. However, if doing nothing meant…
Uryuu didn't want to think about it, not tonight. All he could do was get some rest, try and close his eyes and conserve some energy until they came for him. After he got some rest, he could go back to thinking.
Maybe then, he wouldn't be so damn tired.
Yasutora "Chad" Sado: Fifth Seat - Seventh Division.
(If anyone wants to nerd out about Shōnen Style battles feel free to message me or leave a review because, ya know, they give me life.)
