AN: Hey all, I got bored, so I decided that I'd write another chapter. It's a weekend, so it should be all good. No sleep that is XD…Thank-you to my reviewers! I can't wait till I pass the 200 mark XD! Hmm…maybe this means more fluff :P:P lol, anyway, enough blabber…
Ok, now for a reply to one insightful reviewer. About the issue with Renji knowing Tatsuki. Well, in the manga chapters 195, 197 we see that Renji (along with the others) come to Ichigo's school. Sure, it doesn't give us any details about them specifically meeting, but I'm sure that at one point or another Renji's little gang introduced themselves to the rest of the class. Plus, since this fic takes place at the summer break, it would be presumable that Renji and his gang stayed at the school for quite some time before leaving, therefore opening the chance for them to learn about the people in Ichigo's class. I'm not saying they just suddenly 'know' each other, I'm just saying that he would at least know her name, that's all. Of course, according to the laws of culture, he should call her by her last name, but I'm afraid I'm not too good with those laws of culture, so I just made him say her first name. So, basically, Renji and Tatsuki just know that each other exists. That is all.
Thank-you to that reviewer that asked that question, and I hope this clears things up. And, clears things up for the people that were a bit confused, but didn't ask the question XD.
Oh, and about the people asking if there is going to be a romance thing happening between Renji and Tatsuki…Well, well, you'll just have to keep reading to find out, won't you? Heh heh heh…
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach
A Summer Job: Operation T-A (Part III)
Ha. Ha. Puffs of semi-white clouds rose above the vice-captain's face. In the cool of the early morning, breath actually materialised. Hisagi shook his head, this wasn't the time to be marvelling about things in the human world. Now was the time to be worried about the thing in front of him.
The arrancar eyed his foe. The shinigami seemed to be thinking of other things.
"I'm bored."
The shinigami's face looked up immediately. "What?"
"You are…" the arrancar's voice trailed off, and its head tilted sideways as if trying to smell something.
"Oh? Looks like your friend got his ass handed to him," the shinigami said coolly, noting that the once huge spirit force given out by the other arrancar had diminished to nothing.
The arrancar hid its expression. Crap. I can't believe that he lost.
The arrancar looked back at the shinigami in front of him. "That just means that I need to take care of you faster to kill the person that killed…my fellow arrancar."
"Pfft…" Hisagi reached up to wipe some blood that had found its way down the side of his cheek. "That's fine with me. I'll let you join your friend."
Hisagi rushed at him flash-stepping to bring himself forward with great acceleration.
Sitting in a tree, not far from where the two crossed blades, Hitsugaya was jotting down notes on a piece of paper, occasionally lifting his head up to observe the battle. It was a long winded one, and he definitely had to comment on Hisagi's endurance.
Excels in both endurance and stamina. Skills are still sharp even later in the battle. Displays excellent use of flash-steps, and soul slayer skills.
Hitsugaya looked down at his notes. Blah, blah, blah. No point in writing an extremely detailed report. Everyone knew that Hisagi was going to achieve captaincy anyway. It wasn't like there was anyone better. Except for Renji. But other than that, who else would try out for captain, and actually defeat Hisagi or Renji? His mind flitted across the vice-captains. His own idiot vice-captain could probably fight well with Hisagi, but there was a sheer power gap between her and Renji. Renji had just been too obsessed with beating Byakuya that he left all the other vice-captain's behind. Plus, most vice-captains were reasonably content with their position. He had a sneaky feeling that Hisagi was only trying out for captain, not because he wanted to, but because he felt an obligation to, since his captain was, after all, one of the traitors.
Lost in his train of thought, he nearly fell off his perch when he felt a huge amount of spirit force weigh down on him.
Shit. Who the heck is emitting that?
As he steadied himself he cast his eyes over to where the fight was. It seemed that the arrancar had just let loose his spirit power.
So that arrancar was just hiding it all along, eh? This will go on the reports.
Hisagi looked like he was having trouble, but nothing too serious. The spirit power was huge, but the vice-captain was coping well. However, to counter the hidden spirit force, he put his soul slayer in shikai form.
It was a good choice. Putting the soul slayer in shikai form would help him immensely. Hitsugaya continued to watch the battle, until it was clear that the arrancar was simply toying with him. The arrancar's spirit force had just continued going up. It wasn't reasonable to expect a vice-captain to fight with an arrancar with that massive spirit force. It was almost like asking a vice-captain to fight against a captain.
However, against all odds, Hisagi looked like he was coping. Hitsugaya raised his pen, ready to write down that Hisagi coped extremely well in hopeless positions, when the arrancar disappeared from sight. This wasn't good. Without thinking, Hitsugaya flash-stepped towards the battle, breaking the branch he had been perched on in the process.
"I've got you."
Shit.
Hisagi turned around, knowing that the arrancar was behind him. He saw the blade come down, but funnily enough it never connected. Instead, he heard the sound of a book closing.
"Hitsugaya-taichou…"
The young captain had stepped in between them, and had caught the sword in his notebook.
Hitsugaya looked up at the vice-captain. "Protocol demands that I come in now. This guy," he gestured at the arrancar, "Is actually of captain level."
The arrancar looked down in disbelief at the short guy that had managed to catch his sword swing in midair, and with a book of all things. He jumped back, eyeing the newcomer arrogantly.
Short, whitish hair, and wearing a white cloak. He fit the description. "Captain of the 10th division, Hitsugaya Toushirou. Also known as 'Genius'"
The person looked up at the sound of his name. "I'm honoured that you know the name of your killer."
"Don't be an arrogant little brat," the arrancar replied smoothly.
The 'brat' fixed him with an icy glare. "You will die."
"You seem very sure of that."
"Its true. We outnumber you."
"Oh, so the proud captain will use a dirty method, will he? Or am I just too strong for you?"
The white haired genius didn't answer, but tucked the notebook away, and drew his sword.
The arrancar's eyes narrowed. He had heard about this captain. His soul slayer was the most powerful ice-type soul slayer in the whole of soul society. He was no easy foe. The person he had been fighting with, Hisagi, wasn't that easy either. The guy was too persistent, and had made him lose too much stamina. He wasn't in the best mood to fight, so…
"Look, I'm in a hurry. Watch carefully, for this is what you will die by."
With that, he concentrated all his spirit power into his soul slayer, while the two shinigamis watched. His soul slayer slowly expanded to reveal a large sabre like sword. The two shinigamis looked bored. The arrancar grinned to itself. The next thing that happened would surely shock them.
The metal from the sword worked its way down and almost slid past the hilt. It rolled over his hands and then onto his arms. Before their very eyes the metal hardened into blades on his hands, but it didn't stop there. The metal continued to engulf every portion of the arrancar's body. Finally, when it had covered every single inch, the rest of the metal hardened, making the arrancar glint in the early morning sun.
"This isn't just armour. This is a weapon." The arrancar looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers. "My shikai provides me with a sword that can be connected to my body. It also provides armour that is as sharp as any sword. Touch it, and you'll find out."
Hitsugaya didn't doubt the words of the arrancar. His armour certainly did look sharp. If he threw himself carelessly at the arrancar, he would have definitely cut. He threw a sideways glance to Hisagi. Good. The guy was unperturbed. That would have to go down in the report. But later. Then he noticed the expression of the vice-captain change, and suddenly Hitsugaya knew why. Renji's spirit force. It had just gone. Just disappeared.
The arrancar noticed their expressions, and then laughed in an oddly metallic way.
"I see. Your friend's spirit force has disappeared. Do you know why?"
The two shinigamis focused back on him. "Because, that guy he fought, he was known as the 'Polluter'. The poison he manufactured was deadly, so deadly that he thought it was boring. So, he made a poison that would surely kill, but it would torment the person for weeks before killing them. Looks like your friend missed out on the 'weeks' bit."
The shorter, and obviously stronger shinigami growled. "Enough talk."
The arrancar's eyes narrowed. "I agree."
The arrancar let out another harsh laugh. "Don't be in a hurry to die." And with that, he sped towards them so fast that he became a streak of silver. Hisagi barely had time deflect the blow.
"Faster than usual, tattoo boy."
Hisagi struck back with a vehemence that startled his captain counterpart. The arrancar was sent flying back a few metres, but unhurt, Hitsugaya noted. It was like fighting a sword.
Hitsugaya just grinned. "We don't have much time. We need to find Renji."
"He's dead," the silver arrancar said flatly.
The white haired genius promptly ignored him. "Radio back to Soul Society, and ask for back-up for Renji. I'll take care of this guy while your radioing." He paused, looking at the worried look on the vice-captain's face. "Don't worry, I've already written down all the battle details."
The shinigami disappeared.
"Yes, that's it. We have lost sense of Renji's spirit force, and Hitsugaya is now currently battling the second arrancar."
"Is the second arrancar…difficult?"
"It was hiding its spirit force."
A short pause.
"…Ok, for now, keep fighting the arrancar. After Hitsugaya finishes the arrancar, see if you can look around for Renji. If you can't find him by the day ends, come back. We'll send a proper search team…if he is…"
The voice on the other line trailed off.
Hisagi swallowed. "Yes sir."
"Good, that gets rid of the trash."
Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. "Actually, I would have done it myself, except I'm not fond of the technological stuff." He eyed the arrancar. "Aren't you going to tell me your name?"
"You won't need my name where you're going."
"I don't think you understand, arrancar." The boy genius grinned. "I need to know the name of the person I killed." Hitsugaya flash-stepped towards the arrancar. He brought his sword down on the body of the arrancar, intending to sever him from the waist down.
CHING!
Hitsugaya frowned from his position behind the arrancar. There was no way that the arrancar had blocked his blow. Up to the last millisecond he was sure that he had seen the arrancar's sabre sword still pointing towards the ground.
He felt the arrancar's gaze shift to him, and then heard him laugh.
"Oh, that was quite a vicious slicing attack. Look what it did. Nothing." The last few words came out as a sneer.
The young captain straightened up and looked at the sliver arrancar behind him.
Crap. That was a slicing attack with such sharpened spiritual energy that it would have cut Zaraki. Yet this…arrancar stands here with not even a scratch.
The arrancar grinned his metallic grin. "Surprised? Don't worry, you aren't weak – that slice would have cut a building in half." The arrancar drew his sword up in front of him. "However, the armour on my body is basically a sword. You want to know my name? I'll tell you. I am known as 'The Sabre.'"
The shinigami in front of him didn't say anything. Then, he straightened up, and looked the arrancar in the eye. "I'll just have to break 'The Sabre' won't I?"
The arrancar grinned cruelly. "I can't break. No normal sword will be able to beat me."
Hitsugaya uttered a sharp laugh. "I don't have a normal sword."With that, he placed his sword in front of him. He muttered something incomprehensible to the arrancar, but suddenly the sun seemed to disappear. The arrancar watched with interest as a huge dragon appeared from the shinigami's sword.
"So this is your shikai?"
The boy said nothing, but swung his sword in a downwards motion. The silver arrancar just stood there as the huge blue ice dragon pummelled into him. 'The Sabre' lived up to his name; the blue dragon split into two as it hit him.
As the last inch of the dragon exploded, the arrancar grinned, water dripping off his silver armour. "Looks like my sabre cut down your dragon. Easily."
Hitsugaya just grinned. "Know what happens when metal gets super-cooled?"
The arrancar looked puzzled for a moment, and then deciding it was some jest, tried to put his hands back to attack position. But it wouldn't budge. His whole body wouldn't budge. He looked down in horror, at the splashed water that had suddenly become ice. And not normal ice either. It was rock-solid ice. The mixed in spiritual energy added a density to the frozen water that made it almost impossible to break.
Shit. What kind of ability is this?
"Since you don't know, I'll tell you. The atoms in the metal slow down to almost a complete standstill. Since no atoms are moving, the metal looses its flexibility. In other words…super-cooled metal… "
SLICK.
"…is easy to break."
Hitsugaya now stood behind the arrancar, who looked as if it was unaffected. Damn this kid, giving me a freakin science lesson. Once I...
Slowly but surely the top half of the silvered body began to slide off.
Hitsugaya sheathed his sword, as the figure behind him slowly drifted off into the air. He wasn't nicknamed 'Genius' for nothing.
"Hitsugaya-taichou!"
The white haired genius turned around to see Hisagi run up to him.
"Hisagi. What did Soul Society say?"
"Um…" the vice-captain looked around. "Now that the arrancar is defeated, we have permission to look for Renji…but only till it gets dark. After that…they'll send in another team…"
The captain nodded. Typical. He brushed himself off, and then started walking.
"Well, we better get searching then."
"Yes, Hitsugaya-taichou. Hey, was he hard?"
"Hmm? Oh, he was a bit irritating."
AN: Ohohoho, crap…its 3 AM…hehehe but I love writing about how Hitsugaya kicks ass! Anyway, please review! I know its action, and most people would rather be interested in reviewing for fluff, but, come on. It's Bleach we're talking about here :P They HAVE to have fights. So, please keep reviewing, even if you don't feel like it – cuz you want more IchiRuki, but if you don't review…there might not be anymore IchiRuki…-evil grin-
Anyway, as I was saying I can't wait till I hit the 200 mark. (Hint, hint) cough200reviewsandI'llupdatecough :P:P:P uhh...seem to have a little cold...
Ok, working on next chapter after study. Bye!