Keeping the Light Chapter 5: Promises Not Kept: Part Two, a bleach fanfic

If you haven't yet, check out my friend VanityIre's Harry Potter fanfic! I am extremely positive that her fanfic is worth reading, because she is a very good writer!

I do not own Bleach or its canon, only the non-canon in the fanfiction.

A/N: I do NOT edit this for the fact that this is for NANOWRIMO - editing is pretty much a taboo for NaNoWriMo participants. I admit that I rushed the ending part of this chapter. Because NaNoWriMo is more about quantity than quality, I am trying to find a way to have quality without dragging the story on. Thank yo for the reviews, everyone!

This entry has 2,251 words.

Chapter Five: Promises Not Kept: Part Two

Her research came up short of anything relating to information about the Quincy, but she did find some things about spirit energy. A few articles idolized Don Kanonji. She took the time to read them. None of them were as specific as she wanted them to be about spirit energy. They were, for the most part, praise for Don Kanonji's show and his techniques. She found a less idol-centric website. It helped a lot: telling about what spirit energy is and what kind. There were links leading to sites about spiritual rituals and items. She was drawn to one of these sites. The author wrote instructions on proper meditation techniques, but what caught her interest was a section about harnessing spirit energy. Ayame tried to connect what she read with what she saw in Ishida's hand. She looked down at her cross. One thought lead to another, and she believed she understood what kind of power she had.

After clearing the center of her room, Ayame stood quietly at the center. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths to clear her mind. Breathing deeply did help, and she opened her eyes when she felt her mind was free of any disrupting thoughts. Clearing her mind would turn out to be the easiest part of the practice. Next came focusing on the spirit energy around her. Ayame concentrated on the energy she could read, and formed the image of a bow in her left hand. She waivered her concentration when she noticed the cross hanging from her wrist take a mind of its own. It swayed and then froze in a position parallel to her wrist. In seconds, a blue light in the shape of a bow appeared in her hand. Ayame was mesmerized by it. Her concentration broke as she gaped at the sight. Wavering thoughts caused the bow to disappear. She cleared her throat and tried again. This time, she was able to hold the spirit energy in the bow form.

An animalistic shriek came from outside. A giant crash followed soon after. The bow in Ayame's hand disappeared and she ran to her window. She opened the window then stuck her head out to look around the block. Not too far away was a damaged building. Ayame looked down at the ground. It was only the second story. She put on a brave face and then jumped from the ledge of her window. The landing was rough because she fell back on a hip despite hitting the ground feet-first. "Itai!" She made a pained face as she rubbed her sore hip. The animalistic shriek sounded again. Whatever it was was still in the area. Suddenly, Ayame felt an impending doom. There were many different sources of spirit energy emerging from the sky - and they were not the good kind. "What's going on?"

Ayame sharply turned around to come face to face with a masked being nearly four times her size. She screamed at the top of her lungs, and then bolted around. There was no doubt that the creature would catch up to her easily but she still ran as fast as she could away from it. She turned one corner and it followed. It demolished the side of a building as it chased after her, laughing all the way. "Run, little rabbit, run!" it cackled. Ayame panted more the further she ran. She found a quick place to stop and catch her breath. Then, without putting much thought into her actions, walked out of her hiding spot brandishing the glowing bow she successfully conjured back in her room.

"Come at me!" she shouted. The masked beast chortled and then jumped toward her. All she had to do next was compress spirit energy into the form of an arrow, and launch it. She did just that before the thing landed on top of her. Ayame gazed with wide eyes as it dissolved into particles and vanished. "I… Oh my God." Her heart was pounding a mile a minute. The legs beneath her grew weak. She fell to her knees, shaking from the encounter. Her panic was cut short when she sensed another dark source of spirit energy. How many more were out there? It was not hard to imagine the numbers, but she masked her fear with hope that whatever was happening would end soon without tragedy.

A recognizable energy signature caught her attention. She ran toward it, and discovered the person just as he sliced one of the things cleanly in half. "Kurosaki-kun!" His attention was drawn to her. The expression on his face was one of surprise. He did not appear to understand what she was doing outside at a time like this.

"Where did you come from? It's not safe out here!"

She ran up to him before he could run off. "I was at home when of those things attacked a neighbor's house." Ayame did not hesitate to follow behind him to his next destination. "What are these things, anyways?"

"They're Hollows – souls that have only basic instinct left."

"What are they doing here?"

"They feast on souls that haven't moved on, and occasionally someone with a high level of spirit energy." He stopped when a Hollow emerged from the next street. Without thinking twice, Kurosaki jumped forward and sliced the arm off. Ayame shot an arrow straight at its mask. "What the hell was that?" He turned around and glared at her. The look turned to shock when he saw the weapon she held.

She gasped sharply. "I-I-I-I panicked!"

"You're just like him." He dropped the blade of his sword to the ground. A snarl distorted his face for a moment. "Whatever, just stay out of my way and leave the Hollows to me. I'm going to show him who's stronger!" Ayame nodded, understanding his ambition. Another Hollow cried out on another block not too far away. "Damn it!" Kurosaki looked to be in a hurry to get somewhere. She could only guess he had his reasons to reluctantly fight the Hollows other than merely to show who is stronger. Ayame followed Kurosaki down the sidewalk to an open street. They encountered three huge Hollows, bigger than the ones she had seen before. She separated from him after he escaped two of them and gave the third a major injury.

Ayame stopped in an open area. There no Hollows around, but she suddenly felt one of the most horrifying energy signatures she had ever felt. She looked up at the sky toward the biggest black rift. Roars, shrieks, and all sorts of beast-like cries rang out over Karakura Town. Her trance was cut short by the appearance of several Hollows. Two walked in front of the others. Their masks smiling as they chuckled. "S-stay away!" Ayame drew up her bow and shot an arrow at one of the Hollows. The others were brave enough to leap forward and run toward her. Her heart pounded against her ribs, but she continued to shot one arrow after another at each individual Hollow. When one went done, another appeared. "What's going on?" She continued attacking the Hollows. The exertion of her untrained stamina began taking its toll on her physically: her fingers began bleeding from thin cuts forming an the pads.

She decided to turn and run from the scene. The Hollows followed her until she turned a corner and bumped into Ishida. "I-Ishida-kun!" she gasped. Her bow was gone, but the fingers of her right hand were still bleeding. She used her right arm to brush the sweat off her brow. Ishida looked surprised at the sight; he did not expect her to have managed enough arrows to protect herself long enough from the number of Hollows that followed her. "The Hollows... they're spawning everywhere!"

"I know," he replied. "Stand back." Ishida stepped forward, drew up his bow, and started picking off the Hollows one-by-one. By the time he finished, his Hollow death count was twenty-two. He turned around and asked Ayame if she knew where Kurosaki was. She replied that he was on his way toward the park. Ayame followed Ishida and made sure to stay behind by a couple of feet. There was no doubt that she felt an awkward silence was wedged between them. When they got to the park, Kurosaki was by himself surrounded by Hollows. Ishida cleared himself a path toward the Soul Reaper with a barrage of arrows. Scared, Ayame stayed back and tried to hide her spirit energy to not draw attention to herself. Close by, she saw Kuchiki Rukia, a student her transferred to the school before Ayame did. She was kneeling with a look of panic plastered to her face. Next to her was a man in a robe and hat, and he had a cane in his hand.

"Kuchiki-san! Kuchiki-san!" Ayame ran toward her classmate. The girl shouted back to Ayame; however, Ayame continued to run toward her.

"Kawano-san! Stay back! It's dangerous!"

Ayame stopped a foot or so away from Kuchiki and the man with the hat and cane. "Kuchiki-san, what's wrong?" She finally noticed why Kuchiki was kneeling, and she looked to be in pain as well as shock.

"I'm fine, but I should be asking what you're doing here."

The cane-and-hat man spoke up but kept his gaze forward. "Don't tell me you didn't notice." Kuchiki gave him an annoyed and confused look. He did not flinch to look back or point out what he knew.

"Kuchiki-san, Kurosaki-kun and Ishida-kun... they're fighting Hollows. And Ishida-kun's bleeding!" Ayame did notice that Ishida's fingers were bleeding, too. She could tell from reading his spirit energy that he was getting weaker. His stamina seemed to be greater than hers, however, because he proved to hold out longer than she could. The Hollows swarmed around one area - two people at the center of the park - and Ayame stayed back at a safe distance with Kuchiki and the man with the cane and hat. Hollows on the ground and in the air looked upward to the sky. Ayame followed their gazes, and found the biggest rift in the sky getting bigger. She heard Ishida and Kurosaki shout at each other. There was something about Ishida's reasons for doing all of this, but she could not make out anything clearly. The Hollow numbers continued to grow as Ishida and Kurosaki continued eliminating individual ones.

A heavy spiritual pressure crushed the surrounding area. Everyone turned their eyes up to the rift. A bony hand emerged from the black void. "It can't be!" Rukia sounded out of breath. "A Menos Grande? I've never seen one outside textbooks before…." The smaller Hollows scattered when the Menos Grande reached down for a handful of Hollows. It ate what Hollows it got its hands on. Ayame watched as Kurosaki ran forward and slashed at its giant foot, but he was kicked aside like a rag. She gasped and put her hands over her mouth when she saw how Ishida's summoned bow takes on gigantic proportions. It almost dwarfed him and Ichigo. Suddenly, the Menos Grande blasted a ray of red energy toward Ishida and Kurosaki. Kurosaki reacted quickly, shielding the blast with his giant katana.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Ayame cried out to him, but no one could hear her.

The blast was disrupted and vanished. Kurosaki growled and slashed his sword vertically down. This caused a huge cut to appear down half the Menos Grande's body. The Menos Grande retreated, and the Hollows in the area followed. Kurosaki collapsed after shouting "Victory!" at the top of his lungs. Suddenly, his katana began to vibrate and warp. The only thing Ayame could see now was Ishida's bow, now even larger than before, being used to shoot gigantic arrows into the sky. The more arrows let loose into the sky, the less spirit energy Ayame felt coming from Kurosaki. When everything seemed safe, Ishida picked Kurosaki up and brought him over to the Ayame, Kuchiki, and the cane and hat man. Ayame looked at Kurosaki then Ishida with worry in her eyes. She was still upset at Ishida, but what just happened brought on a quiet sadness inside and the realization that she still had some feelings for Ishida; she wanted to help tend to his wounds seeing as they were worse than before and stretched up his entire arm. They all, however, went their separate ways back home.