For the Bleach Romance Fanfiction Contest here is my YoroichixNeliel entry! This is written in a rush of insanity. Please enjoy!
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Yoroichi Shihoin raced through a long crumbling hallway. Light protruded from few places, leaving her path dark and ominous. Ahead she could hear the screams of zanpaktos in a blood feud. Beyond that she could feel Ichigo's reaitsu falter and disappear. It was a harrowing moment. A sense of unbelief surged through her; after all that work to come this close and fall so far? There was no reset button here. She hurried on into the brightness at the end of the hallway. Then there was another scream. As her eyes adjusted to the light she recognized the two fighters.
"Nnoitra Jiruga! You will die for your treachery!" Neliel's zanpakto was stained with her opponent's blood, likewise was his. There was a sort of rage that seemed to power the female arrancar; something that seemed to keep the fight in her favor. Neither had strength to achieve bankai any longer, yet their souls continued to scream for the others blood. Yoroichi remembered when they had all split up after entering Hueco Mundo. Ichigo had left with Neliel and a few others to find Aizen. Neliel would be the best person to ask about Ichigo's whereabouts.
Nnoitra defended against another frontal attack from Neliel. It sent him to his knees. He countered with a shove that sent her back. It worked, he was able to stand and a shout from Yoroichi added another minute to his life.
"Hey! Neliel, where's Ichigo?"
Neliel had been fully intent on killing Nnoitra. Exhaustion made her concentration heavy, but Yoroichi's voice broke through after few shouts. "HEY, NELIEL!"
The energy dissipated as Neliel absently looked over at Yoroichi on her right. With the Shinigami there the three formed a triangle.
"Yoroichi, you're alive!" the arrancar replied.
"Of course, definitely not going to die here, where's Ichigo?"
"Oh right, he…"
Neliel's eyes widened as a new realization came upon her. There was a dull throbbing pain from her stomach and feeling left her legs as she fell to her knees. Her eyes locked with Nnoitra's as the madness and irony passed away. Neliel's hands reached for the hilt of the zanpakto that pierced through her. Her own zanpakto clattered to the floor. At the hilt, pressing further into her cooling body, Neliel felt Nnoitra's hands.
They were cold. Calloused but mostly smooth. Despite the reality of death, they made her hands feel warm. Suddenly the sword was pulled from her. Neliel watched the blade exit with her own blood clinging to it. Her eyes rose upwards to see the annoyance on Nnoitra's face, just before Yoroichi sliced the thin vulnerable flesh of his neck.
The male arrancar fell facing Neliel. His zanpakto clattered dully on the floor. The last sound he would ever make. Neliel watched his eyes cloud over and a small smile lit a corner of her face. There was a sort of peace and then she lost whatever balance she had. Yoroichi caught Neliel carefully and let the young woman rest in her lap.
"I'm sorry," Yoroichi's voice whispered.
Neliel nodded, "I dropped my guard. Just glad he's gone now."
Blood expelled through a set of coughs Neliel tried to stop. Yoroichi sat the arrancar up and a wave of helplessness swept over her. Out of all her abilities that earned her the title of goddess, Yoroichi found herself lacking the ability to save a life. What a shame for a goddess. After Neliel had stopped coughing Yoroichi brought her face closer to the arrancar's and softly posed her question again, "Where is Ichigo?"
Neliel's eyes fluttered as her breath became shallow. "Of the three doors, the left-most one; Aizen is at the end… and Ichigo."
"Thank you."
The arrancar's last breath was short and less labored. Her eyes dulled as she lay in the shinigami's arms. Yoroichi closed Neliel's eyelids and laid her on the ground; another life for the greed of one man. Yet even as the shinigami stood, a warm breeze died across the body and a flicker of reaitsu seemed to appear. A bright light burst from the body and Yoroichi shielded her eyes. Suddenly there was laughter. Neliel's body was gone and in its place a child.
"Neliel," Yoroichi asked.
The child smiled, "Yes."
"Well, talk about a reset button," the shinigami shook her head. "Come on kid let's find Ichigo."
"Ichyigo," Neliel said as Yoroichi hoisted the child onto her hip.
"No, Ichigo, we have to find and help him."
"Blurrigo? He went that way, towards the Hogyoku," spit spewed from the child's mouth.
Yoroichi's eyes widened and she cringed. Her voice almost cracked as she commanded the small child, "Don't spit when you talk."
"Oh, sorry."
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Thanks for reading!
Sincerely,
Anynymys1