Welcome back for another chapter of BotS! Thank you all for reading and reviewing and I want to make something clear for my readers. This is really AU and I am taking liberties with the series so characters may grow in power quicker or it may not fit your head-canon scaling but I have these characters fighting and acting this way for a reason, granted I can't keep track of every single character I write but I have about 5 hours a day to work on this and that includes writing time so I do what I can and I rely on your guys for the rest.
Thank you for those who comment and I hope that I can make the edits to grammar and spelling in a timely manner, as I said I don't have long to work on this.
Excuses I know but it's all I got, this is a longer chapter for you all and I hope you enjoy, please let me know if oyu enjoyed it and what parts you hated, I read all reviews not just the ones I like. Anyways, I give you the feature presentation.
"If you want to know so bad." She held her blade out in front of her and slammed it into the ground. "Let me show you my resolve." Locking eyes with Renji she twisted the blade in the ground. "Let the ground swallow you whole." She whispered the last part as the ground started to tremble. "Chikyū no haha."
Renji stared as her blade dissolved and gloves of dust covered her hands. It was an odd Shikai to say the least but something stuck him as odd now that he had the time to think clearly.
"How did you gain your powers?" Tatsuki tilted her head in thought at the question before anger flared, accented by the explosion of red reiatsu around her.
"Why should I tell you!" Renji shrugged and got into a ready stance.
"I was wondering because Rukia gave hers to Ichigo but we have no record of another shinigami that could have aided you." Rushing her, Renji decided to end this quickly and aimed to cut her in half, This didn't go over too well for him. Catching the blade with her dust covered hand, she tried to pull the zanpakuto away from him. "Hey! That's mine!"
"That didn't stop you from taking what was ours you bastard! You killed him!" She swung her fist and it connected with Renji's face as he finally managed to rip his blade out of her hands, a thin sheet of blood coating the blade. She hissed in pain before resetting her position and raised twin walls of the ground around Renji and slammed her hands together but Renji lept back before she could crush him, infuriating her further.
"Why won't you lay down and die already!" Renji was starting to get tired of this exchange, it was going nowhere. Especially when she wouldn't answer his questions and just kept attacking him. He was a Lieutenant and he was having trouble against a human shinigami for crying out loud! Rushing at her again he swung his blade as the segments separated and moved around Tatsuki but the attack was blocked by a hastily raised wall of rock. She was gone as the wall was smashed and she was in his face as he was forced to use his blade to attack and block with his other arm.
"Why are you even here? Why do you fight against the odds to invade? What is your drive!" He could feel it, even if he didn't want to, he could feel the determination and hate, how could he not? Her blade was screaming at him to die and move out of her way, to let her pass and do what she needed to do. Suddenly there was a lull in the fight. Neither of them eased up on their zanpakuto or whatever you could call Tatsuki's gauntlets. The silence was deafening for the two but neither felt ready to break it, the wind howled as the sounds of fighting could be heard throughout the Seireitei. Tatsuki looked down, not wanting to meet the eyes of Renji as he analyzed her.
"I'm not going to lie and say that I don't have a selfish reason for being here. You helped rip him from us and for that you will pay. I'm also here to save the girl. She meant a lot to him, he sacrificed his sanity to save her, he sacrificed his soul in the hopes that it would help bring her back." Tatsuki was split in her mind as her reiatsu shot into the air in a churning vortex or red and black. It oppressive feel marked by the winds that ripped around the pillar of anguish that reflected her soul more than she was willing to admit.
"The kid, Kurosaki?" Tatsuki could only afford a nod as she tried to hold back the feelings that came with hearing his name spoken by the enemy. She may have wanted him dead right there but his questions had brought her out of her rage for the moment and cleared her head, even if it muddied her intentions. Was she really her to get revenge for him, he wasn't even fully gone but she acted like it. How could she be so childish? She scoffed and it seemed to make the shinigami tense.
"Yeah, Kurosaki." It rolled off her tongue like a hot press. She felt selfish but she couldn't stop to care. She smiled as she leveled a glare at the shinigami. "You know, he hated you, you took one of his friends away. The lengths he was going through to get her back and to beat you. You were his goal, his rival and he said he almost beat you. I came here to finish the job he started. We will save Rukia and if you continue to stand in the way then you will die and I'll get my revenge for what you did to him. Win win so please don't stop fighting me but I believe we should start this fight anew. My name is Arisawa, Tatsuki."
Renji smirked as he hefted his blade over his shoulder. He was pretty beat up but not enough to call it an actual fight, Tatsuki on the other hand had blood running off of her back from his last strike and all along her gauntlets from where she grabbed his blade.
"Abari, Renji. Fukutaichou of the 6th Division. I hope you win this battle." He spoke with a soft tone and what Tatsuki could akin to sorrow in his eyes. A sadness that followed grief and powerlessness. She probably had that look in her own eyes when she had to be saved by Orihime of all people. She smiled at the fond thought. She was proud of Orihime and knew that she was training to be able to help them later if needed. Shaking those thoughts out of her head she focused on what the man had said.
"Why do you want me to win?" Renji sent a longing look behind him at the tower that Chad and Hanataro were on their way to and sighed. A deep heavy sigh. Turning back to his opponent he jerked his thumb towards the tower.
"If you win, I'll let you know about her. Okay?" Tatsuki nodded and their energy started to pick up around them.
"Just don't hold back okay pineapple?" Renji grinned, a feral thing it was. Teeth shining behind his lips as they curled up.
"Wouldn't have it any other way." They began their fight with renewed vigor as their reiatsu swirled around them in a storm that could be felt across the Seireitei. A deadly exchange of punches and sword strikes. Tatsuki had summoned her blade of earth and was using it to push Renji to his limits but neither wanted to deal the finishing blow. Excitement clear on both their features as Tatsuki used this time to fully learn how to wield her power and Renji excited to fight someone on his level to help push him to the point he had been seeking for decades. Pushing away from each other. Blood from numerous cuts and the brown stains of bruises covering either of their bodies. Neither cared though, it was the thrill of a challenge that kept them going. At some point, Renji's hair had been pulled from its confines to rest at his shoulder like waterfalls of blood that flowed but never fell.
"I believe it's time to finish this." Tatsuki shared the sentiment, she did have places to be and she could feel Chad a fair distance away. Raising her blade up into the air she grinned.
"About damn time." Renji and Tatsuki charged at each other and used the last of their reiatsu as they pumped their blades to the brim and the some before striking each other with an explosion of energy that encompassed the both of them in its radiance. Both shinigami flew from the cloud of dust that had been disturbed from their attack. Renji had slammed into a slab of stone that Tatsuki had thrown up some time ago and Tatsuki tumbled before sliding to a halt on the ground directly across from the Lieutenant.
He had lost, it hurt more than he thought it would but it was also satisfying to know that the girl may actually be able to save Rukia where he hadn't. It was a comforting thought, that he had less to worry about. Through blurry eyes he could see Tatsuki slowly getting to her feet, blotches of red covering her body as she stumbled over to his position. He didn't feel much better, blood loss had numbed his body and he didn't think he could move his arms if he tried. He was done and he could already feel some punks from 4th on their way over.
Tatsuki slammed a hand against the stone slab that Renji was propped against for balance. She heaved, slow, heavy breaths. It was different from her fight with Ikkaku, she could at least walk away from that without too much trouble but this was a whole other level. She felt something inside her working as her body felt warm but she wasn't worried about it right now, right now she needed answers. She coughed up a glob of blood that splattered against the ground as she locked Renji with a pointed stare.
"You promised answers, spill asshole." Renji grinned through bloody teeth as he narrowed his eyes in her direction.
"I..did." He started to hack up some blood himself as he rested a hand at his side before bringing it up to his face, frowning at the tan and red splotch that filled his vision. He was pretty banged up and he hated it. The weakness but he would deal. This was a means to an end after all. "I used...to know Ru…" Tatsuki didn't need him to finish as he broke into another fit of coughs, wiping a stream of blood from his lips. Her own right eye was blinded by the blood dripping into it but she could bring herself to care about it.
"I get it, I'll save but once I'm done, you will answer for what you did to Ichigo." Renji looked from the blood on the ground to where he thought she might be and his grin widened impossibly.
"Just go you idiot. They're on their way." She could feel it too and so she nodded to Renji before stumbling over to the grate and slowly climbing down into it. Pulling the cover over the entryway to the sewer before the healers arrived.
Renji let himself fall to the ground as the last of his energy left him. Good luck Tatsuki. You're gonna need it to defeat Byakuya. He grit his teeth as he started hacking up more blood. Damn, she did a number on him. He hated himself for losing but he hated himself more for failing to save his friend. To do that he would need to defeat Byakuya and he couldn't unless he had bankai. Damn his own inability. Sighing in resignation he let the darkness take him. He would have more time to dwell on his failures in the 4th. God forbid they let him leave early and that woman scared the shit out of him.