I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.
Back Again
Kurai groaned, looking around. They were there. The forest. Massive stone trees surrounded them, spreading as far as they could see, and Kurai's body was tense and wouldn't relax.
"The Menos Forest," Kurai growled. "Get up guys."
The others pushed themselves up, looking around.
"This the place?" Ichigo asked.
"Yeah," Kurai nodded before his head snapped around.
His shoulders slumped and he began walking forward. There was a massive crater in the tree in front of him. He rested his hand on it for a moment before turning directly away from it then slowly to the left. When he stopped, his eyes widened.
"What?" Renji asked.
"This is where we fought Halibel," Kurai stated walking forward to a crater in the ground. "This is where my lieutenant died. She was among the best people I knew."
"Did you..." Uryu began but trailed off.
"I did love her, but not the way you mean," Kurai snorted. "She was my sister. The only family I can remember after so long in the Soul Society. I'm told that my mother was single and died shortly after me and my sister's birth but that no one knew who was the father. Anyway, I took care of my sister for years before we died and the next thing we knew we were in the Soul Society."
"I see," Uryu nodded. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Kurai stated sliding down into the crater.
A moment later, he climbed back out holding a Zanpakuto. It was a short katana with a six sided tsuba with the two sides parallel to the blunt sides of the blade being a bit longer than the others. The grip was blue, and the buttcap was silver. The Zanpakuto had no sheath with it, likely from the sheath having been lost during the battle.
"Can you use its Shikai and Bankai forms?" Ichigo asked.
"No," Kurai said. "Her Zanpakuto was never fond of me. It decided that I was too angry all the time. I suppose it was right."
Ichigo nodded then looked around.
"Where's Rukia?" Ichigo asked.
"Good question," Kurai nodded looking around as well. "Which way would she have been thrown?"
"How should I know?" Ichigo asked.
Kurai sighed, looking around just before Haruko stirred, just barely, and he felt her pull to his left, almost unnoticeably.
"This way," Kurai spoke up beginning to run that way. "Haruko is reacting to Sode no Shirayuki."
The others followed and after a few minutes Haruko stopped pulling. They soon came across a massive group of hollows and a massive spire of ice on one side.
"This way," Kurai said, running past the ice while Ichigo blasted the hollows with a Getsuga Tensho.
They followed a straight line in that direction and soon came to a wide open area with a crater in front of them and nothing else. They all stopped at the crater and Kurai knelt, examining the crater.
"Cero," Kurai reported. "Didn't hit her. Unfortunately, we have no way of finding her."
"Where are the hollows that fired it?" Ichigo asked.
"Probably destroyed," Kurai stated looking around. "Any ideas how to find her?"
Bawabawa said something in gibberish for a moment and Nel reported he was going to climb a tree.
"Hold on, I want to see what this forest area looks like as a whole," Uryu stated. "Let me climb on and I'll look for myself."
"I'll go too," Chad spoke up as the two of them jumped onto Bawabawa's back as he climbed a tree to one of its branches, several hundred feet up.
"You know, there are at the very least Gillians near here," Kurai stated looking around.
"Yeah so?" Renji asked.
"So, why aren't they attacking the three Soul Reapers, Quincy, and powerful human that are standing well within range of them?" Kurai asked.
"Bec..." Renji trailed off before looking around. "Because they were ordered not to."
"Ordered?" Ichigo asked. "By who?"
"Adjucha," Kurai grinned. "Adjuchas are the next step up from Gillian. And they control Gillians."
"Oh wonderful," Ichigo sighed. "Wait, didn't you say that your group, the Captain Guardians or whoever, were specifically assigned to kill Adjuchas?"
"You were a Captain Guard?" Renji gaped. "But I heard from Captain Kuchiki that they were all wiped out."
"Technically they were," Kurai nodded. "You can't have an order of Captain Guards with only one member. I was the sole survivor, and that only because the Vasto Lorde that wiped out everyone else took a liking to me and wanted to fight me again someday."
"I see," Renji nodded. "Well, that should be fun. So, about the Adjucha, any idea where it is?"
"It'll turn up," Kurai smiled. "See anything guys?"
"No, it's no good!" Uryu shouted back.
"Damn," Ichigo sighed. "Do we-"
"Hollows," Kurai reported, raising his sister's Zanpakuto.
Ichigo turned to look and growled in frustration, drawing his Zanpakuto as Renji did the same. Dozens of hollows began to stream out of the trees along the ground, all different from each other. Kurai glanced up to see a large group of bat-like hollows flying toward Uryu and Chad. He sighed then sprinted forward, slashing two hollows before jumping over another which Renji killed. Kurai landed on the next and spun, stabbing a gorilla hollow as it leapt at him. Then, he leapt into the air and slashed two that leapt at him. Ichigo and Renji killed several more and Kurai landed in a small group, quickly killing them before he tensed even further.
"Menos," He breathed as three Gillians appeared from behind the trees in front of him.
"Kurai!" Renji shouted.
"I know," Kurai yelled. "You guys handle the lesser hollows. I'll get the Gillians!"
Just then, one reached toward Bawabawa. Kurai sprinted up the side of the tree, leaping at the Gillian's hand and cutting it in half just above the thumb. Then, he jumped off of what was left and bisected the Gillian's head. He jumped sideways off of the severed portion to the next and drove the Zanpakuto into its mask, shattering it. Then, he turned, leaping off and switched the Zanpakuto to his other hand, holding out one finger.
"Hado Four, Byakurai!" Kurai shouted, firing the bolt of lightning straight through the Gillian's mask.
It leaned back, roaring then raised it hand, swiping at him. He slashed the hand then fired a Bala, blasting the Gillian's mask wide open, killing it. He landed beside Renji, slashed two hollows as they leapt at him then switched the Zanpakuto back to his right hand and looked around quickly.
"There's a lot left," Kurai stated. "Reinforcements?"
"Probably," Renji nodded.
"Ichigo!" Nel suddenly screamed.
They all turned and saw a bat hollow carrying her, Dondochakka, and Pesche away.
"Nel!" Ichigo shouted, slashing a pair of hollows and moving to chase the bat hollow just as five more Gillians stepped out of the trees as the bat passed.
"Ichigo!" Nel screamed again before the bat vanished from view.
"Damn," Kurai growled. "Ichigo, blast them."
"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo shouted blasting all five at once.
Five more came forward, these five firing Ceros.
"Scatter!" Kurai shouted.
They did so and the ceros blasted the area they had been. Kurai leapt at the Gillians and slashed one's head in half then stepped off of one side at the next. It spun, firing a Cero at point blank range. Kurai used Flash Step to escape the blast, landing beside Ichigo as more Gillians began to arrive. Renji slashed two Gillians across the mask, killing them, then landed beside Kurai and Ichigo as Bawabawa arrived, depositing Uryu and Chad before climbing back up the tree where it was safe, since the lesser hollows had fled.
"We're a shining beacon," Kurai stated. "The more we fight, the more will show up. We have to get out of here."
"Bawabawa!" Ichigo shouted. "Can you get us to Nel?"
Bawabawa said something and returned, everyone climbing on. Kurai turned backward and when the Gillians grouped together to attack, he fired a Soren Sokatsui, blasting them all and killing them. More arrived in the open area but they had already slipped into the trees.
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