Main POV
I heard that little ringing noise the hell butterflies usually make and nudged Ichigo. He looked up from his spot beside me and shot me a confused glance. Renji smirked.
"So now they show up," Renji said.
"Uo, did you feel their spiritual pressure?" Ichigo asked me once he'd realised. I shook my head.
"Well," said Renji. "We'd better go greet them and let them know what's going on."
"You mean you just wanna sneak off with your girlfriend for one last goodbye," Ichigo snorted. Now he was teasing them as well. I smirked.
"Oh shut up you," Renji rolled his eyes.
"Stay inside Uo," Ichigo said and I nodded. I had no wishes to repeat what happened last time he told me not to do something and I did it. My face was still repairing itself.
The two of them got up and I closed my book. I'm sure I'd meet them when they came inside. I remember specific instructions to the resident orange haired monkey that I was not to leave the shop for any reason, not even outside on the deck. These instructions had come right after last time when I'd nearly died in my own apartment. Surely a peak couldn't hurt? I got up and walked across the backroom floor and out into the shop, I could stand inside the shop and stare out at the dirt field. Then I'd be inside and get to meet them with everyone else.
I pushed myself up off the floor and walked through the back of the shop until I got to the door that would lead me out into the shop. I raised a brow as I took the step down onto the shop floor and saw a black bucket full of fireworks sitting beside the old wooden counter. Why did Kisuke need fireworks? Whatever he was planning seemed ridiculous but did leave me feeling curious, that was an Urahara plan I wanted to be a part of.
I saw Kon running out into the dirt field that was in front of the shop angrily yelling at someone I couldn't see, waving his arms around and squeaking with every step he took, and as usual, being ignored. I smiled softly and looked up from behind the counter, where I'd perched on a chair to watch our guest's arrival. Ichigo talked lightly to the new additions, Hisagi and Kira before reaching down and grabbing the small, yellow stuffy off the ground in a rough swipe.
I watched him dig around in Kon's mouth for the green pill and he popped out of his body moments later after first wiping the round candy on his shirt. I wondered what it was that specifically Captain Hitsugaya and Rukia were needed for back in the Seireitie, it seemed far too early for her to be getting her promotion to Captain, not after it being so close to her canonical promotion to Lieutenant.
I saw Ichigo turn back in fear just off the side of the shop and before I had time to wonder what he was looking at the wall burst open and dust flew everywhere. I let out a scream as parts of the wall flew at me. I threw myself to the floor behind the counter I was sitting behind and tried to make myself as small as possible. There was never a dull day in Karakura.
Ichigo POV
"Yo, Izuru, Shuhei," I put an arm up at the two arriving shinigami.
"What took you guys so long?" asked Renji.
"You know the drill," Shuhei replied. "Important papaerwork."
"You forgot, didn't you?" Renji replied.
Izuru's face flushed. Couldn't rely on any of these chumps. I grumbled. I heard Kon running out onto the deck and jumping off, screaming about how they were late in coming to protect his darling goddess. It was kind of disturbing the infactuation he had with her but at least it meant I could rely on him to protect her where these other guys failed.
"Come on," I sighed, swiping Kon up off the ground and digging around for the soul candy. "I'll show you guys Uo's apartmeant so you can see what we're going to be up against. Urahara is still there. He hasn't much left since the last incident. I think he feels guilty he let her get attacked twice."
"I wanna come too Ichigo," Kon whined.
"No, I need you to stay here with Uo," I ordered. I figured the little runt would adore the extra time with her. He didn't have time to reply before we heard chuckling from the small alley beside Urahara's shop. "Uo.." I whispered. The shop wall they were standing next to exploded in a green blast just like the one that had burned her face. I heard her scream and grabbed my sword, swinging into action.
"Kon, go get her," I yelled. "Protect her."
Main POV
I didn't have time to scream again as Ichigo's body came flying over the side of the shop counter. It grabbed a hold of me and shoved me up against the corner, shielding me from more falling debris.
"Uo," came Kon's signature whine.
"We have to get out of here," I told him and he nodded. I just wish I knew how.
I felt something tight grip the back of my head and without having time to grab onto Kon I let out another scream. Someone had wrapped their hand in my hair and was yanking me up over the counter. Kon screamed my name and grabbed my legs, trying to yank me back out of the offender's grip. I could hear Ichigo screaming out to me from the battle, being distracted as usual by my inability to fucking stay out of the way. He warned me, he told me to stay in the back room.
"Hey, let her go!" Kon screamed.
I reached back behind me trying to free my hair from his grip. Another hand came round in front of me to grab at me and pull me out of Kon's hold. I screamed louder and saw my chance. The hand crossed in front of my face and I threw my head forward despite the tug to my hair. I sunk my teeth into the old and wrinkly hand and refused to let go. I heard screaming behind me and the hand in my hair let go. Kon yanked me towards him and the subsequent pull ripped my teeth along with the flesh of the guy's other hand with me. I choked, spitting out the skin and blood and threw myself back at the wall behind Kon.
"You bitch!" The bad old dude screamed at me.
"Yep," I shrugged throwing a punch over the counter just like Ikkaku had taught me. I bent down to grab the black bucket I'd spied earlier and charged around the counter and back into the house part of the shop. Kon followed immediately behind me occasionally turning back to kick at the old guy. We just had to find a spot to hide in until this all blew over. I'm not exactly sure why I brought the fireworks with me, they just seemed important at the time. I mean, what was I going to do? Use explosive and incredibly dangerous goods inside a confined space?
I grabbed Kon's hand with my free one and dragged him into a closet by the stairs. We hid there and pulled the door shut. I shushed him when he tried to speak and covered my own mouth when I couldn't control my own breathing. I remembered breifly when I was following a rabbit hole down on Reddit that if you're ever playing hide and seak you can tilt your head upwards and part your lips slightly, that way your breathing would be much quieter. Hopefully this trick applied in situations where you were about to get murdered as well as fun childhood games.
With the noise of the battle outside, it was probably a moot point, no one could hear us over that, but it still made me feel like I was doing something. Hopefully we won this time too otherwise I'm not sure what I'd do if I became Orehime's replacement as the most useless character in Bleach. At least she could heal people. All I could do was run away and regularly get hit in the face.
"You can't hide, girl," the guy I'd bit, called.
I leaned as quietly as I could over to the closet door to stare through the crack. He was pacing around the hallway, looking for us everywhere he could think of. It would be only a matter of time before he found us. I gripped Kon's hand tight, he gave it a squeeze back. I could tell he was as scared as I was. I took slow, shallow breaths, trying to calm myself down so i could think of something. I patted my pockets down, I knew I didn't carry a knife or anything useful, I was just irrationally hoping if I did the pat down one would mysteriously appear. Instead I found a lighter I'd found of Kisuke's I'd been playing with absentmindedly earlier.
Fireworks
Lighter
Fireworks + Lighter
Plan
I reached quietly into the bucket and got out what felt like a decent sized tube and flicked the lighter open. I handed Kon the bucket so we could take it with us to our next hiding space if we were discovered before the others could get to us. If? I mean when. I gave his hand a final squeeze and looked through the crakc again. The guy was coming over. I flicked the wheels of the lighter and he made his way over faster. I put the flame to the fuze just as the door burst open and I thrust it forward into the grip of the old guy.
"Here, a gift!" I cried out and shoved him forward. I grabbed Kon's hand and dragged him out of the closet, running up the stairs and away from this guy. He hurried after me while the guy looked down at the firework I'd put in his hand. He seemed to realise what it was and then saw that the fuze was lit. I frantically tried blowing on it like it was some kind of cartoon and then seemed to realise what he was doing.
"FUCK!" He screamed as he tossed the firework away from him and it lit, launching it around the hallway with a whistle. He dove out of the way for cover before it exploded in a burst of molten metal. Kon and I ran through the upstairs corridor before finding a room to duck into. It was a bedroom. We closed the door behind us and I took the bucket of fireworks from Kon's grasp and stuffed the two of us into another closet.
Ichigo POV
"What was that explosion?!" Renji yelled and I looked back at the house for a moment.
'Uo.' I thought.
There was what sounded like a firework inside and some masculine screaming, at least it wasn't hers. No idea where she'd gotten the explosives from. I turned away from the house, despite going against every fibre of my being and went back to the battle at hand. I couldn't save her if I didn't protect her from this guy first. Here's to hoping Kon does his job and keeps her safe while they wait for me.
"I'll be there soon," I growled as I charged at the guy.
Main POV
"Where are you hiding you bitch!" The guy screamed at the top of the stairs.
I gripped Kon's hand as we both stayed quiet. I didn't think I could use the same trick twice. I just hoped I'd bought the others enough time. Because I didn't know what else I could do. If he could do the green fire thing like the guy who'd burned me could, which was most likely, I was absolutely no match for him. And I didn't want to damage Ichigo's body either. I had another idea on how to use these fireworks, but it was also incredibly dangerous and Kisuke would be really mad at me.
I pulled out two tubes from the bucket and stabbed the wooden sticks into the carpet of the cupboard. I pulled the lighter out and flicked the wheels. I could hear him outside the door of the room we were in and I exchanged a look with Kon before I did the stupid thing. He wore a look of complete confusion and fear and I could honestly understand why. I was about to get us killed. I lit the two fuses and counted for a few moments. The counting did nothing but give me something to do, there was no planning for this, nothing happening in a set time, or not exactly.
The bedroom door burst open and I threw the sliding door to the closet open and he saw us instantly and started coming towards us. The fuses burned out and the fireworks ignited and launched themselves into the room. I threw the door closed and held Kon tightly, cowering in his arms as he did in mine. There was more screaming from the guy and the sound of running, frantic footsteps as he tried to avoid the circling and exploding fireworks. Once the popping had stopped I tore the door open again and threw myself at the unsuspecting guy.
Ikkaku had made it pretty clear that since I lacked skill, my best fighting techniques would be speed and using the element of surprise. And boy was this guy surprised. I leapt on him, wrapping my legs around his waist as I threw out punches like a machine gun offloading rounds. I leapt back and Kon kicked out a leg, sending him flying into the wall. I ran over to the window and threw it open, grabbing the bucket of fireworks and hoisting myself up onto the roof. Kon quickly followed though not before shutting the window behind him.
My plan, not that I really had one, was to find another window and slip back inside before the guy got up to the roof. He'd follow us up there and be unable to find us. We could then run safely down the stairs again while he figured out where we'd gone. It wouldn't be much of a head start, but it was worth trying. Anything was.
I stumbled around on the roof, trying to move quickly and keep my footing. Kon came over to help me as I wobbled with the bucket. I looked around, trying to find a good spot to climb back down at but I was cut short when i heard chuckling. I felt Kon squeeze my hand as my head rose and I looked around for the sound.
"There she is," said a different old man as he leapt up to the roof to join us. I screamed out as he did and stumbled back a bit. I dropped the bucket and launched myself forward, swinging a punch right to his face. He shoved me back with a block but i moved forward again. I wasn't going to let myself down. i wasn't going to give in. I had to fight. I had to win.
I roared out angrily as I kept hitting and hitting and hitting. I was so tired of being weak. I was more than that. I am strong. I could hold my own. I'd show them just who Hikaru Uotani was and why they shouldn't mess with her. He hit me hand in the jaw and I was knocked back a few paces.
"All this fight, and for what? You're just going to tire yourself out uselessly, we'll still win," he told me.
"FUCK OFF!" I roared out. Just as I did I lifted my leg and kicked as hard I could, I put all of my strength, all of my muster and gumption into it. He was sent sailing, he flew over the edge of the rooftop and onto the ground below. I swayed at the top of the roof as I brought my leg back down, I screamed a little as Kon surged forward and grabbed hold of me, pulling me back out of the way.
He turned us round and then we were greeted with the site of the other guy climbing out onto the roof. He was burned, angry and covered in blood. I couldn't really blame him for feeling this way, but, what I'd done wasn't any different to what they'd done to me. They had burned me, they had destroyed my home. They'd covered me in my own blood. This was payback, this was what they deserved. I would not be weak. I am strong.
"Kon," I said. "You think you can hold this guy off for a minute or two?"
"Yeah..." he said, not sounding as sure as I wanted.
"Great, I have a plan," I replied.
I leapt forwards and kicked the guy back a bit. He stumbled, throwing his arms out for balance as he tried not to fall off the roof and I pivoted away, like I was playing soccer with Karen and started my way over to the fireworks. I grabbed hold of the bucket and got to work. Not knowing a thing about pyrotechnics, I hoped this worked. I looked up to see the guy pull a large knife and start to swing for Kon and that's when I put the pieces together in my head. Yes, I knew what to do. Taking a page out of Mulan's book, I covered an area with fireworks and found the firework with the longest fuse.
"Kon, bring him here!" I cried out and he launched the guy towards me with an overpowered kick. I bit the wrist of the guy's knife hand and the dagger dropped. I used it to stab through his dirty cloak into the roof and lit the fuse while Kon launched punches into the guy's face to stop him from getting free of our incredibly flimsy, cartoon style trap.
"Time to go," I told Kon as I saw the fuse burning down to almost nothing.
I grabbed his hand and ran with him off towards the edge of the roof and I leapt without thinking about the ground below. The ground below and how much it was going to hurt when I inevitably hit it. I let myself scream out loudly, bracing for impact, feeling a tear of fear drip out the side of my eye. The fireworks started to go off behind me and I tried not to look back behind me to witness the site. Cool guys don't look at explosions. I silently prayed neither I nor Kon got hit with the shards of hot metal as the fireworks went off. I then went on to pray we didn't die on impact when we hit the ground.
My body made contact with strong arms, it hurt, but not as much as the ground would have. I opened my eyes and looked up at my saviour. Hisagi was holding me in his arms as Kon landed with catlike prowess on the ground.
"Thanks," I gasped.
"No problem," he replied and leapt down to the ground, setting me down before someone swung a sword at us. Hisagi threw me towards Kon again and stepped into the fight.
"Okay, so we're out. Kisuke's gonna be really mad about his house but we're alive," I said to Kon awkwardly. He nodded frantically as he grasped my hand and we looked around for a place to hide.
"You!" Someone yelled, pointing at me. How many of them were there? Fucking old men. He lunged at us and I screamed, yanking Kon out of the way as I leapt back.
"Is today just the day where everyone is gonna try and kill me?" I yelled out in frustration. Before the old guy had a chance to say anything I felt prickling and swore. The sound of a hollow screaming had everyone's heads lifting up to the sky as a huge monster burst through into this world and stomped towards me.
"You shouldn't have opened your mouth," said Kon and I punched him in the arm.
"I know," I sighed as the ground shook around us. An idea popped into my head and for the second time today I could feel the comical cartoon lightbulb pop up above my head. I looked at Kon and grinned. "You with me?"
"What are we doing?" he asked, looking a little scared.
I stepped back towards the Hollow that was running at us. The guy in green started to chase us as it got closer. I took a deep breath and readied myself to run. I squeezed Kon's hand before letting it go and ducking under the old guy's swing. I concentrated really hard on my spiritual energy praying to whatever god there was that this worked. I slammed my leg into the guy's stomach and if my plan worked, he'd be flying backwards into the path of the Hollow that as trying to eat me. I opened my eyes that I'd had tightly squeezed shut this whole time. The hollow had caught and grabbed hold of the old guy and was screaming at him. I looked at Kon who was staring horrified and I grabbed his hand again, yanking him away and down the street, far from the dusty little alley.
"Come on!" I yelled behind me.
"It's alright, the hollow is distracted by that guy," Kon told me.
"Yeah but sooner or later one of them is going to die and the other is coming after us!" I yelled back and started round a random corner.