Aveleria: Previously on "Mine"…
Ichigo: Aveleria finally got some training thanks to yours truly… *smirks*
Rukia: But because of his lazy attitude, he decided to continue it tomorrow, idiot.
Ichigo: Shut the hell up, you-!
Rukia: *smacks Ichigo's head* Quiet! We're about to continue where we left off…
Aveleria: And, begin~!
Mine
Chapter 3:
Wayward Souls
Aveleria awoke as the sun's rays hit her face. The soothing glow of sunshine was enough to stir her from her sleep. Rubbing her eyes gently, she slowly sat up from her bed and stretched her arms. With a satisfied hum, she clapped her hands to her cheeks and ran to the kitchen. She was quick to go to the fridge to take two slices of bread, and put them on the toaster by the counter. She went back to the fridge and took one egg and a carton of orange juice.
The blonde placed the carton of the juice by the table and grabbed a frying pan. She went to the stove, located between the sink and some of the cutlery, and started to cook the egg sunny-side up style. Once finished, she also heard the toaster ding, signaling her that her toast was ready. Quick to work, she turned off the stove and walked over to the toasts, grabbed them and placed them on the table over a small plate. She took the pan and using a fork, she put the finished egg on top of the bread slices. She went to the cabinet to get a glass and poured her juice. Once that was done, she took a glance at the clock that was hanging from the living room. It was visible from where she was standing in the kitchen.
'I still have an hour before school starts…' she thought to herself. 'I'd better go take a shower first.' With that, she chugged down the flavored liquid and ate her egg sandwich before walking to the bathroom. She took all of her clothes off and stepped in the shower, turned it on, and sighed as the warm water hit her body. Her habit of always having to be clean gave her that flawless skin of hers, but sometimes it gets too far gone. She slid her hands onto her hair, letting the water run through it. She then moved her hands to cover her face before wiping the water that slips in her eyes. Her thoughts wandered outward, thinking of Ichigo's stories about his and Rukia's adventures with their friends. Her mind kept going back to the story about the Arrancar. How they transcended from being mere Hollows and attaining a human form was interesting.
'I wonder if I could see one...' Aveleria thought. 'Kurosaki-sensei told me that there were a few survivors, but they never leave Hueco Mundo at all.' With an exasperated sigh, she continued her morning bathroom rituals. Afterwards, she stepped out and grabbed a towel, this time a light-blue color. She went over to the sink, and there was a mirror cabinet on top. She opened it and took her toothbrush. As she brushed, her mind wondered again to the Arrancar.
'I wish I could see one of them. It would certainly be an interesting encounter, that's for sure.' After brushing her teeth, she went back to her room to change into her uniform. The standard uniform that consists of a grey-colored polo with long sleeves that reaches down to the hands and a grey mini-skirt that's slightly above the knee. She wore white socks that reached a little above her ankles, and low-heel black shoes.
After looking at herself from a whole-body mirror, she smiled and bounced out of her apartment. She locked the door and put the key in her pocket before going down and exiting the building. The walk from there to the school was about 20 minutes, and Aveleria certainly didn't mind the walk. It always gave her time to refresh her thoughts as she adjusts to living as a normal human.
It also gave her time to sort out her thoughts. All she was thinking about since yesterday were Arrancar. Arrancar this, Arrancar that… She almost forgot to wash the dishes because of that. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair then tucking the strands behind her ear. Really, she should just be focusing on blending in with the humans and completing her training, even though she started yesterday and it lasted a few minutes. Still, she shivered at the fact that Ichigo's spiritual pressure was greater than she imagined. If not for her curiosity she wouldn't have found out about it. Who knew that her mentor was hiding power like that? And just to train her?
Smiling to herself, she let the early morning breeze pass her face and hair, gently blowing against her blond strands.
"Kurosaki-sensei sure is nice…" she said to herself.
"Damn right I am," A voice answered from behind. Aveleria squeaked and jumped from her spot. She turned around to see a smirking Ichigo and Rukia leaning against the ever-common white wall. She waved a hand at her junior, who waved back after regaining her composure from that little fright.
"W-what are you guys doing here?" she asked in general. Truly, she wasn't expecting an early visit in the middle of the street from these two. They lived at opposite sides of the school, so she was curious as to why she was being bathed in their presence.
"I was thinking," Ichigo began. "Since you're already a Soul Reaper, you should know all the basics by now, right?" A nod from the blonde was a silent moment before he continued. "Then tonight we'll be Hollow-hunting. Tomorrow's a weekend anyway, so we can stay up all night! How's that sound?" he suggested.
"Sure," Aveleria answered. "But, couldn't this wait at school?" she asked him. At that, she heard Rukia sigh. She looked at her and she was walking to them, her expression amused.
"Ichigo is always childish like this," Rukia began. "But he was just making sure you're doing fine on your own."
"Yeah," the orange-haired teen continued. "I was a little worried that you might bump into trouble so I wanted to make sure nothin' was wrong." He said, making the girl blush a bit.
"Y-you were worried, about me?" she asked, her voice coming out a little quieter than it should. Ichigo nodded, and it caused her blush to be almost visible. "T-thank you…"
"Nah, don't worry about it…" he said. "I'm your mentor, aren't I? It's only natural that I should worry about you." The blush left her face when she heard this. She hadn't known Ichigo at all, only yesterday and for a few minutes, so it was to be expected. Plus having a crush on your mentor might make things more… awkward. Lots of physical contact, alone time, and even personal secrets that can be shared. She wouldn't feel comfortable enough to train at all if that were to happen.
"Well," they heard Rukia's voice from behind. "We should go to school now. No use standing around here." She walked passed them, making them follow her lead. The orange-haired teen went beside the raven-haired petite, allowing Aveleria to get a good view of their backs, which wasn't that great for the blonde if you asked her.
The walk to school was quiet, except for the two Soul Reapers in front of Aveleria talking, and her humming a little song that she had picked up at the Academy back in Soul Society. It's usually just to keep her calm, but the atmosphere itself was very calm that she only felt like humming it. Watching her two superiors in front of her, walking and talking to each other casually with occasional cursing and beatings, each just seemed so natural. Yet the way they do it was something in the boundaries of friendship to much like a married couple.
'I wonder if there's something happening between these two…?" Aveleria asked herself as she watched her mentor grab her Lieutenant in a head lock.
"Give up, midget!" he laughed as the petite woman failed to get out of his grip. Laughing a little more, he tightened his hold and she quickly moved her hands to try and pry those arms trapping her. Irritated, she took the chance while Ichigo was distracted and kneed him in his crotch again, successfully getting her out of his grip.
Lucky for Ichigo Rukia didn't apply too much force on his private areas, or he would be incapable of producing children. He slumped to the ground when Rukia got out of the way, his body rolling on the ground. It only took a second for him to regain feeling back in his legs and he sat on the street cross-legged, debating whether or not to smack the midget in the head for pulling another dirty trick like that.
"You still have a long way to go, strawberry," Rukia teased. "I'm just that-"
Her gloating was interrupted when all three of them sensed a familiar spiritual pressure. Immediately, Rukia pulled out her Divine Messenger Machine and flipped it open to reveal the screen. It showed their location, represented by three yellow dots, and the Hollow's as well. There were five red dots, each larger than the other.
"This is bad…" Rukia muttered. "Ichigo!" She didn't need to say it to him; it was just a habit of hers to warn the orange-haired teen about Hollow attacks.
"I know." He answered. "How many…?"
"There are five; and each more powerful than the other." Rukia answered. "Two are by the park, one is just a block away from Aveleria's house," she looked back at the direction from where they went. Then, she looked at the direction of the school. "The other two are near the school…"
"What?!" Ichigo shouted. With a confirming nod from the raven-haired petite, Ichigo was quick to move and took out his soul badge. In an instant, his soul left his body and he was rushing for the school.
"I'm going to school!" he yelled, the figures of the two girls disappearing from view. He turned his head back to focus on the two Hollows near his school. Meanwhile, Rukia took out Chappy from her pocket and swallowed the pill. She also reverted to her Soul Reaper form, urging Aveleria to follow the same steps.
"I'll go to the park," the Lieutenant said. "You go back to your house and eliminate that Hollow before anything disastrous happens."
"Yes ma'am," she answered before the petite raven leapt into the air and landed on the roof, proceeding to run towards the location of the two Hollows.
Nodding to herself, Aveleria ran as fast she can back to her home. It wasn't that long since she left her apartment, so it was strange that she didn't sense the Hollow until now. She shrugged the thought away and focused on finding and defeating the evil soul before it could hurt anyone in the vicinity. Skidding to a stop at a corner, she caught her breath slightly before running again. When she saw the roof of her apartment, she leapt into the air, overshadowing the structure as she cast her pink gaze towards it.
Above the brick-layered roof, a Hollow of what seemed to looked like a mixture of a dog and a lizard. Its mask is elongated to the shape of dog's muzzle and its body appears more canine; big and brawny, dark red fur covering its entire body. The legs are covered with white Hollow bones, and aside from the webbed feet, they still looked like regular paws. Its reptilian tail swatted impatiently on the roof, as if waiting for something to happen. The narrow-slit eyes of the Hollow caught her midair as she lands a few feet from it, hissing out an angry tone with its reptilian tongue.
The blonde examined the Hollow firmly before pulling out her zanpakuto with her right hand. She outstretched her left hand behind her, bending her knees slightly as she prepared to fight. The two stared down at each other for a while, analyzing each movement and breathing. The Hollow seemed to be the impatient one in their little eye-to-eye contact because seconds later, it disappeared, surprising the blonde Soul Reaper.
'It's fast...!' Aveleria gasped inwardly. Then, she was surprised again by the short gust of wind as a large shadow cast before her. She turned to see the Hollow, one reptilian claw outstretched and ready to attack her. Quick on her feet, she reeled back her left hand and flipped back a few feet to avoid the claw of her attacker. The beast growled in frustration as it misses its target, then disappears once again. Getting back to her battle stance, she readies herself for the attack. Pulling her sword up and swinging it to her side, she manages to block the Hollow's claw. She smirked at the angry growl she elicited from the Hollow before they both disappeared, reappearing in an instant a few feet above the house, floating in midair like it's no one's business.
"You may be fast," Aveleria said to the beast. "But you are still no match for me…" she placed her right foot forward, her hand and sword following suite, while her left remained still beside her hip, hand slightly bent sideways.
"Now," she swung her sword to her side. "…To show you what real speed is about."
Meanwhile, Ichigo was racing towards the school; the establishment almost within reach. His hazel eyes determined to protect his friends from those who try to hurt them. He jumped over a fence from a random house and saw two Hollows nearing the school. They stopped, however, when they felt a much more satisfying meal behind them. They turned around to see Ichigo standing, holding Zangetsu and ready to fight.
The Hollow that looked like a cross of a zebra and a cougar huffed, air leaving its horse-like nose and face. Its body was more lean and cougar-looking, but the hooves tell otherwise. The other, however, didn't look like any sort of mixture or combination. It was more lean and a little humanoid in shape, green skin and was standing, albeit sluggish, upright. The massive difference of spiritual pressure caught Ichigo's attention as he stared down at the humanoid Hollow whose mask covered not only its face, but a portion of its neck and shoulder blades as well.
"Well, well," the Hollow said, its voice sounding like two people talking at the same time. "Looks like we found ourselves a Soul Reaper! We're gonna have the time of our lives eating this pathetic looking thing, aren't we Zorco?" It turned to the other Hollow, who shook his head violently while tapping its hoof on the ground, digging the dirt below it.
"Alright," the other said. "You can go take him down on your own." With this, Ichigo's glare intensified. He saw the horse-like Hollow charge at him with full speed. Bringing the flat end of Zangetsu in front of him, he blocked the charge only to be pushed back a couple of feet.
'Damn it!' Ichigo thought to himself. 'Looks like this could take a whole lot longer than I expected. Bastards...'
Rukia jumped down the stairs and ran to the open ground of the park. She was sure that those two Hollows were there, but she saw no signs of them. Slowly, she walked further in, looking for any signs that could tell her where the Hollows were hiding.
It didn't take her long to find out, though. A maniacal laughter rang through her ear from behind. She quickly turned to see a humanoid Hollow with bluish-white skin with sharp pointed spear tips for hands. Its Hollow mask was long and shaped like a native's mask. It was ready to spear Rukia's back when another Hollow pushed it away. Its hands were like normal human hands, only larger and had sharp nails. Its Hollow mask covered the entirety of his head and had orange skin. They both stumbled away from Rukia before standing and glaring at each other.
"What the hell was that for?!" the bluish Hollow cried out.
"I told you I was the one to kill first, didn't I?!" the other one spoke.
"No! I'm the one who should kill because I'm better than you!" the other one replied smugly. The two Hollows were both humanoid in form and this piqued Rukia about something.
'Are they…?' Rukia thought to herself. She examined the two arguing Hollows closely. 'Ability to speak, more advanced and lean-built bodies…?'
"Just because you became Adjhucas-class before me doesn't mean you're stronger!" the orange one spoke. At that, Rukia's eyes widened at the realization and confirmation of her guess.
'So they are Adjhucas!' she exclaimed inwardly. The two seemed too busy that they weren't even acknowledging their enemy, a sign that they must be the newbie or beginner class of Adjhucas. Thinking that this must be the easiest fight she had entered yet, Rukia pulled out her sword. She stretched it forward and rotated it counter-clockwise.
"Mae," she uttered. "Sode no Shirayuki." The normal-looking sword transformed, turning pure white from sword tip to hilt, and the white tail flowed elegantly as snow danced around the raven head. Bringing the tip of her sword to the ground, she poked the land, infusing it with her spiritual pressure. She did this about four times, each at least a few inches away from the other, before bending her knees slightly, her hands holding her sword and facing it towards the enemy.
"Tsugi no mai," she recited. "Hakuren!" The instant she released the command, a compressed form of a blizzard gathered round her sword, and within seconds, it shot out and flowed directly towards her enemies.
"Why you…! Huh?" The bluish Hollow was about to strike the orange one for it said something insulting before it noticed the temperature dropped dangerously low, at freezing temperature, in fact. The two turned their heads to see the cold front of the blizzard heading for them. They yelped before running away, trying to escape their early deaths. But it was too late. The snow completely covered them, freezing them and suspending them in a block of ice.
Returning to her normal stance, she held her zanpakuto straight up. She swept the air with it as she turned around, the ice beginning to crack along with the gesture. When she was fully turned back, the ice shattered, shattering the two Adjhucas-class Hollows. Smirking to herself, she returned her zanpakuto to its original state before reaching for the Divine Messenger Machine she took from her faux body. There were still two Hollows present on the screen; each for Aveleria and Ichigo. But then as she was about to close the device, a signal made it beep causing her to open it again.
There was another Hollow found within the vicinity where Aveleria was. It was more powerful than the one she was fighting against.
"This is bad…" she muttered to herself. She turned to the direction where her blonde subordinate was before using Flash Step to try and come to her aid.
Ichigo panted a bit before pulling Zangetsu and swinging it towards the enemy. The horse-like Hollow wasn't that hard to beat, but it was fast. It tired Ichigo out trying to swing at least a lethal blow on it. Lucky for him, he hit it right before it was about to dash again, killing it instantly. Now, he was tired and fighting against what he guessed was an Adjhucas-class Hollow. It reminded him that time when they were trapped in the Forest of Menos while trying to rescue Orihime. The Adjhucas looked a lot like this one, and the same power too.
"Damn you, Soul Reaper!" the green-skinned Hollow hissed. "You're going to pay for killing Zorco!" Ichigo only looked at him with determination in his eyes, and that caused the Hollow to growl out in anger. It lunged forward, clenching its fist to try and punch Ichigo. But, as what he did during the other times this Hollow tried to punch him, he faced its fist with the flat of his sword, easily overpowering it with his spiritual pressure. This time, he threw the Hollow upward. It flew a few feet from the ground and was completely open. Ichigo took this chance to finish off the Hollow completely. He gathered spiritual pressure into Zangetsu and it started to glow white.
"Getsuga Tensho!" He swung his sword upwards and released the energy he stored in a form of a white slash. It engulfed the Hollow who tried to resist the impact. The Hollow cried out in pain as it started to vanish along with the strike. The screaming faded and the Hollow was finally gone.
"Finally…" Ichigo muttered, swinging Zangetsu over his shoulder. With a sigh, he jumped and used Flash Step, aiming to look for Rukia and Aveleria.
'Guess no school for the three of us today…' He thought to himself.
Sword and claw clashed, the speed of both the blonde and the Hollow were impressive, but it seemed like the Hollow was the one losing. They disappeared again after striking and defending against their attacks. A second later, the Hollow appeared, clueless as to where Aveleria was, before the latter appeared behind it and swung her sword down, causing a long cut to appear on the beast's back before it plummeted down to the roof, landing with a thud and smoke.
As the smoke cleared, the Hollow was seen barely standing, its knees quivering from fatigue and head trying to lift and glare at the Soul Reaper. But it was too tired out and injured to even move. Aveleria felt a little unnecessary pity for it, and thought that she should end it. But before she could go down and strike the Hollow, a figure shot out and grabbed the beast, it yelping as it struggled against its captor.
Aveleria's eyes widened and saw a humanoid-like Hollow with grey skin and large, pincer-like hands holding down the now helpless Hollow. Within a second, it split the other in half, shocking the girl. Not only that, its mask with two large horns on either side of its head opened up and with its pincers, it ate both parts of the previous Hollow, shocking Aveleria even more.
As it was eating the bottom half of its morsel, the new Hollow's energy began to increase alarmingly. This troubled Aveleria to no end, and held her sword tightly as the new enemy glanced at her.
"Why did you eat that other Hollow?" she asked, even though it was unnecessary and not worth asking.
"It was weak," the Hollow answered, surprising the blonde before it continued. "Although he did consume a lot of souls before, so I didn't want to waste it. You noticed how my power increased, right?" It smirked as Aveleria looked at it with disgust.
"You disgust me," she said. "What kind of Hollow are you? Relying on others' powers like that so you can obtain it? That's unforgivable.
"It is survival," the Hollow answered. "We do this all the time, and you Soul Reapers have no right to question our ways. Now, let's say we get this over with?" It snapped its claw and Aveleria swept her sword to the side.
"Let's…" she answered. "But unlike the last one, I'll end this quickly to honor his death. Even the evil deserved to die in an honorable death, and you ruined that for him!"
"Ha!" the Hollow laughed. "You speak of honor when you were about to strike down a helpless enemy, you worthless piece of trash!"
"He didn't lose his will to fight," Aveleria said back, bringing her sword in front of her before disappearing. The Hollow was surprised and didn't have enough time to react as the blonde appeared in front of it. "And that is something you will not have after I'm done with you…"
Before the Hollow could swing, Aveleria jumped and thrust her hand near the Hollow's face. Focusing a small amount of spiritual pressure to her palm, she pushed her hand to the enemy's face.
"Kage!" she exclaimed, the energy flowing out from her palm to the Hollow's eyes. It cried out and shook Aveleria away, causing her to flip backwards and land safely in the air again. The Hollow glared at her and growled. It was about to move when the corner of its vision started to turn black. It started to panic as its entire vision disappeared, eliciting a smirk to form on Aveleria's lips.
"What happened… to my eyes…?" The Hollow yelled. "Damn you, bitch! What have you done?!" Aveleria scoffed lightly at the insult before using Flash Step to appear in front of the Hollow.
"What I did to you just now is a technique called, Kage," Aveleria explained, disappearing as the Hollow heard her voice and tried to attack her and reappearing to its right. "It's a Kido I developed myself at times like these…" She flashed again and reappeared to its left.
"It'll rob you of your sight until I say otherwise," she giggled, noticing the anger building up in the Hollow. "It'll also cause you to get hazy and dizzy, so I'd stay calm if I were you."
"Damn you!" the Hollow sneered. "Get lost!" It opened its pincer and started to charge red spiritual energy. Aveleria's eyes widened a bit before using Flash Step to escape release of the Cero. Once it fired, the wide ranged shocked the girl for a moment. Then, noticing that it tired the Hollow out quite quickly, it must mean that her spell was working already. She decided that it was finally time to end it.
"You know," Aveleria called to the Hollow, who turned and looked around furiously, the confusion sinking in as it tried to locate her by sound. "You're easy prey when you stand around like that." This must have angered the Hollow because it opened its pincer again to fire a Cero randomly in the air.
"Goodbye, Hollow…" she muttered. She started to rush down on the Hollow, spinning as she did so. Spiritual pressure started to gather on her sword as she kept on spinning. As she was a few meters from her enemy, she smirked to herself.
"Ken Hyoji: Kyufurasshu!" she uttered as she released her sword, cutting vertically and horizontally at the Hollow with the spiritual pressure she had gathered. In the Hollow's eyes, it seemed like two bright flashes of light, and before it could react, the darkness and haze disappeared. It started to laugh as it turned to see Aveleria kneeling, her back facing it.
"Now you-!" The Hollow was about to speak when a cut suddenly appeared on its face. Another second passed, and it cried out in pain before it split into four and dissipated in dark smoke. Aveleria spun her sword before sheathing it, smiling to herself as she stood up.
"It's finally over…" she muttered to herself. But when she took a step forward, she was shocked by seeing a Garganta opening in the air above her, and inside, it revealed to be a Menos Grande.
"W-what the…?" she muttered to herself. The howls of the Menos bellowed throughout the city, warning anyone else who is spiritually aware of its presence.
A/N: Another chapter finished! Thank you for those who viewed my story and put them on their "Favorites" and "Alerts"! I appreciate it a lot! So here is a battle scene for you guys~! :D
Ja Ne~
