Chapter 23: Eraser Rain

Chapter 23: Eraser Rain

Eraser rain, wash away my pain.

These words flitted across Baiten's mind as he stared at the cold casket wherein Shindou lay. The coffin seemed too low-key for such a noble figure: the wood was cheap pine, there were no designs, and the quality of the paint job was lacking as well.

This is no way to treat a hero.

Tairos was of the same opinion as Baiten, anger welling up inside among the feelings of woe. Shindou had given his all: he'd stood stalwart against villains, and yet now his legacy was nothing more than a plot of dirt.

You bastard, letting someone else kill you.

Jaice gritted his teeth as he watched the coffin sink below the earth, guided by four muscular Shinigami from the 7th Squad who had served alongside the deceased. The full brunt of the truth only hit Jaice when he saw Shindou's body place into the casket; this was no hoax, the lifeless corpse of his rival really was in that box.

My friend I…I should've been there.

Arashi Shinta was the most depressed of all; he had been crying almost nonstop since the pronouncement of his best friend's demise. It didn't seem possible, but he had to face the facts: Shindou was an excellent warrior, but even he was not immortal.

"Shindou was a good man," Captain Komamura began his speech, his massive mask disguising any emotion his face may have expressed. "In fact, I do not think I will ever truly be able to replace him. In some ways, I believed he would one day succeed me as Captain; he had so much potential and so many skills. There was no other like him. He was honorable, loyal, and determined. He will be greatly missed."

The tears of the assembled were masked by the rain that spattered their faces, the water masking the rivers of woe all released.

--

"One confirmed death, excellent work," the man's stern voice echoed across the chamber as he moved his rook. "It's good to see that little excursion accomplished something, especially since it was the strongest of them that was eliminated. Checkmate, by the way."

"Damn, I lose again," Anther cursed, scoffing at his pieces as if they were responsible for his defeat.

"I'd like to commend you, Tyshi, at least you've got some level of skill," the stern man continued as he rearranged the pieces to prepare for another game. The tall Shinigami he addressed had just entered the room, smiling as he heard his congratulations.

I'm glad for once I was called here for something other than insults, Tyshi thought. "Thank you, sir," he noted, bowing slightly. "I'm glad I could be of help."

"Yes, this turn of events is especially useful for the next phase of our operation. I may need to dispatch a few of you again," the leader continued, nonchalantly moving his queen's pawn two spaces forward. "I may need to call out The Second Row."

"I…is that really necessary?" Tyshi stuttered. "I mean, we want to remain covert, at least for the moment."

"I have those devils put aside for a reason," the leader continued. "And I don't recall asking for your opinion on this matter. I make the plans; the decision is mine and mine alone. I also recall using the word may. I'd rather save them for later, but times being what they are I may have no choice. Tyshi, could you do me a favor?"

"What is it, master?"

"I need you to call the rest of The First Row here, including our newest member. I'll need to speak to you all. Be back within two hours if possible."

"As you wish." And with that Tyshi stalked out of the hall, the click of his sandals echoing in unison with the movements of the marble pieces on their board.

--

"Jaice are you coming? Dinner's ready!" Tairos called, shaking the contents of his frying pan onto the first of three ceramic plates.

"It's no use," Baiten mumbled, "he hasn't left the training post or said a word since we got back."

Tairos stuck his head out the door and looked towards the practice dummy the three friends had recently purchased. It wasn't even a month old but Tairos could already see both arms had been hacked off and numerous other sections were in bad shape, scarred by blade-work of cracked by punches and kicks. Meanwhile, Jaice was wildly swinging Sangren, its acid pooling at the foot of the structure. Jaice said nothing as he continued his onslaught, his attention focused completely on the target in front of him.

"Hey! Did you ever hear me?" Tairos asked.

Jaice paused momentarily, turned towards Tairos, raised his middle finger, and then proceeded to continue his attack with renewed fury.

"You bastard! Why I…." Tairos growled, stopping as he felt Baiten's hand on his shoulder.

"Let him be, we all have our own ways of coping with this tragedy."

"I guess you have a point, but it still doesn't mean he has to be so rude."

"Give him time, it will blow over," Baiten said. "Let's just give Jaice his space for now."

"Ugh…I've been feeling a bit down myself," Tairos sighed. "I wasn't even there to help you guys when any of this happened. I feel like I could've prevented it."

"There was no way you could've known what was going to happen."

"Yeah, but I still wish I had helped…"

"There was nothing you could've done," Baiten said. "We can speculate forever without solving anything. Who knows? Maybe if you had shown up you'd be the one dead right now."

"At least then I wouldn't have to watch my friends suffer," Tairos sighed. "No, you're right, I should be glad that I'm alive."

"Yeah, don't feel bad, we've got to concentrate on the future. I've heard we're back on Hollow eradication duty, not to mention this whole Scaramouche mystery."

Tairos nodded. "Yeah, let's eat for now; we'll worry about all the complexities later."

--

"Tairos, wake up this is urgent!" Baiten yelled, shaking his friend's slumbering form.

"Wha…? Five more minutes…" Tairos muttered, turning over to the other side of his pillow.

"This can't wait, damn it! We've got emergency orders to suppress a Hollow attack!" Jaice roared. "The report just came in: all available Shinigami from the 9th Squad are being dispatched to Rio di Janero where a massive Hollow invasion is underway!"

Tairos instantly shot bolt upright, grabbed his kimono, and changed rapidly. "We can't waste time then. No one else is going to die because I'm busy with my own self-centered activities." He strapped his katana to his belt and rushed towards the door. "No time to waste!"

The battle was already well under way by the time Jaice, Tairos, and Baiten arrived at the scene. Already, the corpses of numerous Shinigami, Hollow, and even humans littered the landscape. The three watched in horror as a massive bear-like Hollow swallowed two entire Cells whole, the screams of the dying Shinigami seeming to echo across the landscape. The once beautiful beach was now a scene of carnage, the waves occasionally depositing another corpse on the sand. Out the sea, the three noticed a large Hollow resembling a shark was doing battle with two Shinigami who seemed to have fought it to a standstill.

There was little time to take in the sights, however, for almost instantly a Hollow assaulted the group. The creature resembled a crab: two massive, bony white claws protruded from a carapace supported by eight clacking legs. Tairos dodged the initial claw sweep, while Baiten and Jaice stood side by side, blocking the blow together to prevent the monster from leveling a nearby house. Distracted, the beast did not hear Tairos's chanting or see the blast of Blue Fire until it had already begun incinerating the creature's body. Jaice and Baiten jumped onto its back, hacking at its shell with their katanas; the monster tried to attack them, but its body shape, like that of all crabs, prevented its claws from reaching them. It could only flail about randomly as it was slowly, but surely, brought down by the effort of the trio of warriors.

Suddenly, a crash of thunder was heard in the distance. Jaice, Baiten, and Tairos looked out to sea and noticed a cadre of storm clouds rolling in on the horizon.

"Damn it, once that rain hits things are only going to get worse," Tairos declared. "We'd better hope no more Hollow show up…"

As if in response to Tairos's statement, a mighty roar erupted over the landscape, attracting the attention of Shinigami and Hollow alike. All turned their heads towards a massive tear in the fabric of space through which a massive Hollow mask emerged. Its face was blank, with a long, conical nose covered with holes acting as the only distinguishing mark on its body. The rest of its form was merely a long black robe and, as the creature rose to its full height all were astounded at the massive size.

"A Menos Grande? It c…can't be!" Someone cried out.

"We're doomed, we're fucking doomed!" Another voice yelled.

Bodies ran every which way, some to escape, some to get closer in hopes of defeating the creature. Jaice smiled wickedly.

"Finally, things start getting interesting. Nice to know there are Hollows out there with some level of power."

Tairos and Baiten, however, were speechless, and could only watch in horror at Jaice and a group of other Shinigami raced towards the abomination.

Suddenly, the tip of the Hollow's nose began to glow red, power gathering in a crimson sphere the pulsed viciously. The ball increased in size until, after several seconds, the Hollow released it in a massive blast. Dozens of Shinigami were decimated while others towards the back of the group, like Jaice, were merely thrown high into the air, some of them unlucky enough to be blasted into rocks or solid walls, crushing their bones and placing them among the dead.

Jaice, however, was lucky, coming to a soft landing on the beach's sand. He rose quickly, dusted himself off, surveyed the damage, and narrowed his eyes. "This looks like it will be more fun than I thought." As he readied to run, he felt something tugging on his arms, preventing him from moving forward. He turned back to see Baiten and Tairos, each holding one of his arms.

"You can't go alone, it's suicide!" Tairos declared.

"Well, you bastards aren't stopping me! I want to fight that thing!"

"We aren't here to stop you; we're offering our assistance." Baiten said. The three friends looked at one another and smiled. "It will take at least another thirty seconds before it can charge another Cero, so we'd best give it our all now. I suggest we try The Combo."

"We haven't practiced it enough," Tairos said, "our chance of success is slim."

"Yeah, but if we don't try it we don't stand a chance against that thing." Jaice noted. "I'm in."

Tairos sighed. "Fine, I guess I've got no choice in the matter. Let's do it."

The three friends stood side by side and simultaneously released their zanpakutos.

"Balance, Librar!"

"Judge, Justare!"

"Bleed, Sangren!"

"STATUE OF JUSTICE COMBO!"

As the three voices chorused together, each member of the team began his respective duty. Tairos, to the left, focused all his reiatsu and drew energy from the Hollow, halving its massive store of reiatsu and giving a great deal to himself; as he began chanting in preparation for a kidou strike, Baiten, to the right, focused what light energy was available to blind the beast, causing it to roar in agony. In the middle, Jaice began racing towards the creature, acid flying from his blade. As he neared the base of the creature's body, Tairos aimed a blast of kidou at his feet, propelling Jaice upward in front of the creature's face. It began charging a Cero but, in its blinded state, the Hollow could not discern where its attacker was coming from, turning to the right and firing, missing Jaice and firing worthlessly into the middle of the ocean.

"See you in hell," Jaice roared, raising Sangren in preparation for the final blow. As Jaice brought his weapon down on the rear of the Hollow's mask, Baiten and Tairos set about peppering the creature with blasts of reiatsu, moving in closer to deliver simultaneous slashes so that the final strike of each blade coincided with the death of the Hollow. As its body dissipated, the other Hollows in the area began to flee, rushing back to Hueco Mundo as fast as possible. The victorious surviving members of the 9th Squad did not merely let them escape; the Shinigami attacked the slower Hollows, dispatching them with blade and kidou, eliminating as many of the corrupted spirits as possible.

Just as the final Hollow dissipated from the area, the storm clouds reached the beach and rain began to fall in heavy sheets. The precipitation coursed over the Shinigami, the water cooling their heated bodies which were recovering from the battle. Tairos, Baiten, and Jaice smiled as the droplets of rainwater slithered across their skin and clothing. They were alive; they had defeated one of the mightiest types of Hollows. They had saved lives.

When they returned to Soul Society, Tairos produced a bottle of sake and poured his two best friends a glass. As their raised their cups, they simultaneously proclaimed: "To Shindou!"

--

"Ha, those idiots are getting drunk, this will be even easier than I thought," Tyshi declared as he stood on the roof of the building adjacent to his targets' house.

"Don't get overconfident just because you killed a 4th Seat, at least two of them proved some trouble for Urgeta and, if the stories are true, you as well," a female voice spoke from behind Tyshi, her face obscured by a clown mask.

"Hey! He would've died if he hadn't been found by the damn 12th Squad!" Urgeta grunted.

"Keep your voices down you idiots," Anther stated, "we can't afford to fail this phase. If we do, things are going to get messy very quickly. Don't play around: kill the targets and leave, those are your orders. If things go badly, we are to withdraw ASAP keeping casualties to a minimum."

"Hm…sounds like your father's really starting to rub off on you, eh?" Urgeta joked.

"I may be the King's Pawn but that doesn't mean I'm anything like him," Anther snorted. "Anyway, we'll wait until the other four give us the signal; once they start their end of the plan we can proceed to ours. For now, keep your heads down and stay quiet."

HES: Hey all! Once again, I apologize for the slow pace of updates. As you can imagine, college continues to be very, very busy! As usual, I will try to keep my promise of one update a month, but I will do my best to post new chapters sooner if I am able. I hope you're all enjoying the story; things are only going to get crazier from here on out! Please review, I always like to hear what my readers think of my work!