Chapter 18: Touché
"You're sure this is the place?" Baiten asked quizzically as he and Jaice sauntered up to the traditional looking house in the 8th Squad's District. The paneling resembled their own quarters with simple screen doors made of pale paper and pine wood. The roof, however, was adorned with yellow tiles instead of the standard azure that was almost identical among buildings in Seireitei.
"You don't trust me?" Jaice asked, sounding a bit hurt, a clear feint.
"No, my sense of direction is pretty bad," Baiten said, rubbing the back of his neck and laughing nervously. "It's just that...I expected a master swordsman to live in something a bit less...mundane."
"The world isn't some romantic story," Jaice replied. "If you haven't learned that by now you'd better start expecting a lot more disappointments in your life.
Baiten sighed as he climbed the short stone steps leading up to the doorway, noting carvings of doves and cherry blossoms on the molding. "I just wish things weren't so damn banal..."
"What do you mean?" Jaice asked, walking up to stand beside his friend.
"I'm not saying I liked the murder mystery but...wasn't life much more fun during that time? So many secrets, so much intrigue!" Baiten exclaimed. "I want an adventure! Lately all we've been doing is the occasional Hollow extermination; it used to be a rush, exciting, terrifying...but now it's just a job. It's like delivering a package: it's just something you do, time and again, varying a bit in the pathway but always with the same destination."
"Damn it, Baiten, don't get so philosophical, especially that way, You'll just end up being bored all the time," Jaice stated. "Anyway, I'm sick of wasting time let's see this supposed 'Prince of Parries.'" Baiten knocked twice on the door and, after getting no answer for two minutes, tried again. Seeing no results, Jaice rapped hard on the door with both fists, before finally succumbing to impatience and kicking the wooden frame.
"Stop that, Jaice! You're going to break it down!" Baiten cried, worry evident in his voice.
"No I won't I've got great self," and at this point the door began to shudder, "control." And with that, the door feel from its frame and slammed into the floor of the house. "Shit."
"You idiot, he's going to kill us for this!" Baiten said, turning to Jaice, who could only point straight ahead.
"Be careful what you wish for, Baiten," Jaice said, indicating four men with drawn swords standing over the corpse of Baiten and Jaice's would-be instructor. "Ready for some excitement?"
The men were clad in standard Shinigami robes but their faces were hidden by white masks with grotesque, yet slightly comical faces, seeming to resemble insane clowns. The masked faces turned to stare at Jaice and Baiten; one of the four men, the tallest, began to shudder slightly.
"Shit, I told you it was too easy! They sent the Assassin Corps, I know it! We're screwed, let's retreat!" The tall one cried, his stance shaky, the tip of his blade resembling an erratic metronome. A figure next to him, shorter and with a fringe of red hair visible behind the mask, nodded in agreement.
"If they only sent two, you know they mean business; it only took one to take down Daria, and she's was..."
"She was a piece of shit compared to the level we're at now," a third interjected, the shortest, piercing yellow eyes visible behind the mask. "If you want to retreat now and face his judgment be my guest, but you've got a better chance of surviving here."
"I agree," the fourth noted, a long blond braid visible behind the mask, the voice androgynous. "We can work together to finish off these intruders; who knows, they might have just stumbled in here at the wrong time, no reason to jump to conclusions."
"And don't forget," the third spoke, "this 'Master Swordsman' here was taken down by the four of us, and not a single one of our group even needed to use his shikai."
"Are you assholes going to stand there talking all day or can I get to slicing you up?" Jaice roared. "I came here to train, only to find the awesome teacher I was promised cut into pieces! I'd like to at least get a bit of training ripping apart some punks!"
"Ooo we've got an eager one," the braided member cooed. "Allow me to oblige!" The masked warrior leaped forward, the clownish face on the mask eternally grinning, wicked curved teeth visible, as the fighter brought its sword around in an arc against Jaice. Meanwhile, the authoritative yellow-eyed member, not to be outdone, was already engaging into a parrying contest with Baiten, each combatant seeming to perfectly counter the other's blows, though now and again the masked man would pierce Baiten's defenses and deliver a niggling wound. The two other members stood briefly, looking nervously at one another, before gathering up their courage and charging into the fray.
Up to this point, Baiten and Jaice had found themselves fairly well matched with their individual adversaries: though the two were taking more wounds than they were dealing, each had yet to sustain a grievous injury. It also seemed, at least to the two of them, that they may be able to win if the enemy revealed an opening. Alas, this mental edge was not to last.
Baiten blocked what seemed like the thousandth blow from his foe's sword, holding his ground despite the onslaught. He's a bit stronger than me, Baiten thought, but his attacks are clumsy and easy to read. If he'd rush less, I'd be dead right now. Luckily for me, he seems too intent on killing that he's lost all sense of strategy. Despite the fact that his opponent was masked, Baiten could swear he sensed a smirk in the other man's expression; the warrior stood stock still, his clown mask mirroring the smile obviously plastering his face. Baiten turned to his right just in time to see his enemy's blade slice the air and tear into his right shoulder blade. Baiten stumbled backwards, but his first foe was ready and kicked him twice in the gut, causing the 9th Squad member to double over in pain.
Jaice had faired slightly better in the initial conflict; while Baiten had only inflicted minor scrapes on his enemy, Jaice had successfully slashed off his enemy's left sleeve. A shame I didn't take his arm off too, Jaice thought. That bastard pulled his limb back too fast, but I feel like I nicked it at the very least. Jaice's suspicions proved true when he say a thin trail a blood drip from his foe's left arm, but neither was able to concentrate on wounds as each had only one thing in mind: kill the man before me.
With renewed vigor, Jaice and his masked opponent lunged forward, their swords extended to stab. As each came within reach of the other, he twisted his body back slightly, allowing the blade to barely miss, taking off only a few scraps of clothing.
"That was quite a showy blow," Jaice's masked foe laughed, "but the show's over for you."
What a lame ass joke, Jaice thought as he felt a sword ram into his lower back, causing pain to shoot up his spine. "Bastards," Jaice rasped, jumping forward so as to physically remove the sword from his body. He turned around to see one of the other masked men, the tallest of the group, standing behind him, blood dripping from his sword.
"See?" The blond member said, turning towards his ally, "You had no reason to worry. These shit bags are barely worth our time."
"If we suck so much," Jaice groaned, "then why the hell did you need your friend to help take me out?"
"I didn't ask him for help," the blond warrior sighed, tossing his braid over his shoulder. "He just made your death come about with less work from me. No need to dirty my blade; I just spent two hours polishing it in anticipation for the fight I just had."
"Don't toy with me you son of a..." but Jaice was unable to finish his sentence as the heavy boot of the tall member slammed into his back, forcing him onto the ground.
"Hey, when Urgeta is speaking don't cut him off, he hates it!" The bass voice of the tall warrior declared.
"He appeared to be done..." Jaice muttered.
"I was taking a dramatic pause you uncultured rubbish heap," the blond one, now identified as Urgeta, declared. "And what did boss say about using our names you idiot? We weren't supposed to reveal ANYTHING with this operation!"
"Sorry," the tall one replied, his voice dutiful. "Don't worry, he'll be dead soon and then it won't matter about our names."
"An excellent point," Urgeta replied, clapping both hands together while retaining a grip on his zanpakuto. "Now, let's take our time! I want to enjoy finishing him off; that last fight was much too short." While the two had entered their exchange, Jaice had take the time to wiggle sideways, allowing the tall one's foot to remain on his back to give the illusion of capture, when in reality Jaice was just waiting for the opportune moment to spring free.
"Let's start by cutting of his limbs, that should prevent any possible problems," the tall one declared, maniacal laughter erupting from his massive throat.
"I like the way you think," Urgeta answered, "you first." The massive warrior raised his sword, the weapon above Jaice right arm which still clutched the handle of his weapon. As the enemy's zanpakuto cleaved downwards, Jaice saw his moment to act; he rolled sideways, causing his foe to lose balance as his foot slipped and his weapon rammed worthlessly into the wooden floor, becoming embedded in the planks. Jaice raised his weapon and swung it at his tall foe, crying out familiar words that caused Baiten and his opponents to freeze in their places as well:
"Bleed, Sangren!"
The action seemed to occur in a flash, and the next time the tall warrior looked down he saw a sword coated in acid inches from his face. He shuddered, realizing he'd surely be dead if the weapon hadn't miraculously stopped. He looked to see the weapon of the second member stopping the attack, the metal slowly beginning to corrode as Sangren's acid ran down its length.
"Nice move, Jaice!" Baiten called out. "You relieved me!"
"Don't leave me hanging!" Jaice yelled back. "You ready to try out our combo?"
"I guess it's finally time to put all that practice to good use," Baiten said, regaining his composure after his injuries and rushing to stand aside Jaice, dodging several sword strokes as he moved from one side of the room to the other. The two stood together, surrounded by their four foes. The clown masks grinned wickedly, anticipating the prey before them. Jaice and Baiten looked at one another and prepared for the worst.
"If we die now, I want you to know that of all the people I hate in this world, I hate you a lot less," Jaice said.
"How comforting," Baiten sighed, "and thoughtful. All we can do is fight to the very last!"
Together, the two friends and long-time Cell mates opened their mouths and let their words fly, the sounds seeming to crash around them like boulders from a trebuchet. "Fang combo!"
"Judge, Justare!" Baiten declared, his zanpakuto transforming into its shikai, rays of light radiating from the blade. The men's masks, though covering the majority of their faces, had wide eye holes, and each cried out as he was temporarily blinded. We're inside a building, there isn't much light here, Baiten thought. They won't be out for more than a minute or so, Jaice and I had better work quickly. The two stood back to back and held their swords at 90 degree angles to the right of their bodies and parallel with the floor. Each one grabbed the other's left arm and they spun rapidly for several seconds, slashing the nearest foes, before releasing their grips, sending each Shinigami plunging with great momentum into his foes.
The yellow eyed member cringed as he felt gashes rent in his chest. These bastards have some skills, but it's mostly reliant on luck and trickery. If we can draw them into prolonged combat, they've got no chance, especially if even one of us releases his shikai. Though he felt the occasional strike, he came to realize that they came rather infrequently. When he finally regained his vision a few seconds later, his enemies were gone and he saw the red-headed member on the ground, blood pouring from the multitude of wounds he had suffered.
"Find those bastards, they can't have gone far. If word of our activities gets out the boss will be angry, not to mention our plan will be delayed even further," the yellow-eyed member roared.
"What about Jax?" The tall member asked, indicating their wounded friend.
"Don't you have eyes?" Urgeta groaned. "He's dead. His body is covered with deep wounds and several of them have been worsened by acid. Judging from the strikes, I'd say he's had at least one of his lungs punctured. We don't have time to heal him, we have to find those bastards." Grudgingly, the tall member rose and rushed after his colleagues as they left the building.
--
"You don't need to apologize," Jaice said, his teeth gritted. "I like a good fight as much as the next guy but I realize it isn't worth it if you will just die miserably."
"I know," Baiten replied, "I just hated to have to pull you out so suddenly." The event being discussed occurred shortly after Jaice and Baiten's combo began. The two realized their efforts were best spent taking down the weakest looking member, one who would most likely not be able to survive their brief onslaught, and so Jax, the quietest and least active one, seemed the best target. After cutting his up and leaving several wounds to slow the others down, the two retreated, Baiten noting that there was little chance Justare's blinding ability would last much longer. The two raced out of the building and, unfamiliar with the area, ran in an arbitrary direction, hoping they would lose their pursuers or, better yet, find some way to defeat them.
"I haven't seen anyone in this area," Jaice muttered, "the 8th Squad must be out doing drills. Even so, I wonder why there aren't any guards around."
"Those assassins sure picked a good time to attack," Baiten said. "If we hadn't been there, they probably would have escaped without anyone noticing and it would just become another mysterious murder case. I wonder if this one is connected to the last string of assassinations?"
"It's possible, but let's not jump to conclusions," Jaice panted. "Let's quit talking and focus our energy on getting the hell away from those murderers."
As the two Shinigami rounded a corner, they were met with a most unpleasant sight: standing before them were three of the four enemies they had just rushed away from.
"Well, well, well," Urgeta said, clapping his hands sarcastically. "Quite the vanishing act you've got there."
"Can the shit and let's kill them," the yellow-eyed warrior said. "We've already let them live for too long." He advanced and drew his katana. "As we discussed: we two will handle the black haired guy," he indicted himself and the tall member using his pointer finger, "and you take care of the brown haired warrior," he finished by pointing to Urgeta.
"What fun, I can't wait to have a one-on-one match with this guy!" Urgeta said gleefully as he drew his zanpakuto.
"You can't just choose how to fight us," Jaice said. "We'll work as a team; Baiten's no good when he's outnumbered."
"No, we're in control, we will not let you go," the tall member said as he raced forward with lightning speed, grabbed Baiten around the waist, and carried him off with the yellow-eyed fighter at his side.
"Fuck! No!" Jaice roared, rushing at Urgeta. "I'll make this quick so I can help my friend!"
"Oh don't worry," Urgeta said calmly, easily sidestepping the blow. "My allies will make it a fair fight. Well, fair in a manner of speaking. Anyway, you'd better worry about yourself first anyway."
"Fine then, let's hurry this up! Bleed, Sangren!" Acid coated Jaice's machete as he entered a ready position. Urgeta smiled.
"What a wondrous shikai!" Urgeta cheered, raising his hands comically above his head, his weapon still in his right hand. "I want to make this interesting, so how about I show you mine?" Urgeta lowered his hands and gripped his sword tightly. "Watch closely: Sweep, Balaive!"
Horrid, yet amused, laughter erupted from the area as the two Shinigami readied for combat.
--
Baiten grunted as the tall Shinigami threw him to the ground. Baiten pushed himself up, spitting out dirt and blood which congealed in a disgusting pool at the yellow-eyed Shinigami's feet.
"Why not just kill me quickly? You obviously would have no trouble," Baiten said, malice in his voice.
"Where's the fun in using dynamite to kill a rat?" The yellow-eyed Shinigami said. "You and I both know you cannot win against both of us, especially in your current condition. This will instead be the perfect chance for my associate and I to practice allied combat which you and your friend demonstrated so exceptionally earlier."
"Then so be it, I'll take at least one of you with me," Baiten declared, drawing his zanpakuto while watching his foes do the same. As the warriors readied for their conflict, a cold wind began to blow, sending dust clouds spiraling through the air in cinnabar wisps. Baiten realized he was in an alley: there was no escape, but at least he could use the dead end to protect his back from attack. His foes edged forward, slowly but surely gaining upon the cornered warrior, their speed increasing with each new step taken. In seconds, they would be upon him. Despite his earlier pronouncement, Baiten doubted he'd survive their attack. They had seen his shikai's ability and so it would not work as well as it had before. Baiten gripped his weapon tighter and thought back over the course of his life: he hadn't been perfect, but he'd done his best to help others. And, even if he were to die now, his friends would surely avenge him: Jaice would not lose and Tairos, with new abilities mastered, would crush these rogues. As soon as Baiten's reminiscing had concluded, his opponent's were within striking range. There was nothing he could do but raise his sword to block the oncoming blows.
They never connected. Baiten looked to see a figure standing in front of him, a longsword in one hand blocking both strokes.
"Nice of you to have a party and not invite me," the figure said. "I'm a bit insulted. Don't worry, I'll help you clean up this mess."
"Who the hell are you?" The tall member asked, pushing with all his might against this behemoth who, though not overly tall, was fairly muscular.
"The name's Shindou, it's best to know the name of the man who's about to kill you."
HES: Well everyone, this week's chapter, as promised! As I said, I plan to try to update one to two times a week every week for the rest of the summer; there's a possibility of another chapter release this weekend, but no promises (though I will do my best to finish the chapter). I hope you all liked this chapter, please review, as always I highly value reader input!
