A/N: I know it's been awhile since I've last updated, but midterms and finals and everything in between have been keeping me quite busy. Hope you enjoy this chapter, it's a whole bunch of fighting, so heaven knows how exciting that is.
Disclaimer: Check my pockets and my sleeves, Bleach is not mine.
The Tears You Shed
Chapter 3: The Bloody Princess
-"Stabbing it? Isn't there a better way to do it?"
-"If there is, I invite you to find it." He waved his zanpakuto impatiently.
She sighed, propping a white figure up.
-"Just do it already."
-"Are you sure you don't want to go first?"
-"It's your idea."
-"Oh yeah…"
-"DO IT."
-"Okiro, Benihime." He charged the sword through the doll.
Benihime appeared before the two a pale woman clad in a deep red furisode. Her sleeves almost trailed to the ground, as did her long raven hair. The ends of her train were stained a darker colour. The obi at her waist displayed an intricate pattern embroidered in ebony. She opened her eyes demurely and trained them on Urahara. Her red lips formed into a graceful smile.
The two stared at both her beauty and their success. He was the first to break from his reverie.
-"Benihime." He stated.
-"Kisuke." Her voice was wistful, and gentle.
-"I think it's time."
-"Of course." She opened a fan, which turned out to be a tessen composed of blades. She scattered the blades and they multiplied, landing everywhere.
-"Let us begin."
---
He banked right, avoiding the lady zanpakuto's attack. Too close. He thought to himself and he counterattacked with a blow to her shoulder, which she blocked with ease. He didn't know how much longer he'd last.
She stood on a cliff over looking the fight below. He was getting his ass kicked. How long would he last?
---
Blood. Blood was spilled everywhere. He bled profusely and his hamaka was drenched in it. He spat out blood. The ferric taste stained his mouth.
-"Shit."
She charged him and he barely dodged the attack. He could see his reflection in the shiny blade that shot past him at eye level and then retreated back to her. He used Shunpo to get to the nearest blade. He had been unarmed for a second too long. Pulling it out of the ground, he countered another one of her strokes. His sword shattered the next block.
-"What the hell!" He yelled exasperatedly.
-"You baka! Stop being so chivalrous and hit her already. You're not fighting a REAL person, you know." Yoruichi was getting impatient. And worried. She had not seen him this badly hurt before. For once, maybe he seemed like he was in trouble.
-"It's not as easy as it looks, thanks." Kisuke yelled back.
-"Your fight is with me, Kisuke. Pay attention." Benihime whispered as she dug the tip of her sword into his shoulder. He shuddered, not from her soft lips near his ear, but from the pain as she pulled the sword out.
His hand found another hilt sticking up from the ground and he swung it at her. The blades sparked as they made contact. He pushed forward harder. Both swords shook from the struggle. Slowly, his cut through hers and the shattered pieces fell to the ground. Suddenly, the woman before him disappeared and around him, so did the swords.
He collapsed, blood rising up his throat.
-"Where..?" He could barely speak. His lungs felt crushed by the sheer gravity.
-"The doll only lasts 12 hours at a time. Any more and the zanpakuto risks being fully manifested." Yoruichi came to his side. Let's get you into the spring."
---
-"A hot tub?"
-"No, a spring."
-"Okay, what's it do?"
-"Heal stuff."
-"Heal stuff."
-"Yes."
It had been a sweltering afternoon when he had decided this. A lot of work had been put into this. The spring was of natural water, he had spent days tapping around the underground room, muttering to himself about the 'right spot', and digging like a madman. When she asked him why he didn't just use kidou to do the job, he exclaimed rather fanatically that there was significance to what he was doing. Such was his way when he had been sleepless for a few nights, bent on finishing what fancied him at the moment. She simply sat back and watched his antics bemusedly, and fondly, one might add. There was something refreshing about his frivolity, she never knew how to react to it.
-"MY TOILS WILL NOT BE FOR NAUGHT!" He had yelled.
-"Excuse me?"
-"SIGNIFICANCE"
-"Ah. I'm not going to pretend I understand what you're talking about."
-"You should try, it's much more amusing that way."
-"Yeah, I'll get on that." She watched him pour mixture after mixture of various concoctions into a bowl.
-"What are you doing exactly?"
-Figuring out how the "heal stuff" part of the spring will work."
She watched him for a little while longer.
-"If you want reiatsu, why don't you…" she poured a few of the bottles in.
He stared at her, wondering why he hadn't thought of that.
-"Marry me."
-"Aren't we a little young? I'm so naïve. I mean, I still have so much to learn." She smirked.
-"I can teach you," He grinned back.
-"Of course you can," She said dismissively, "-but I wouldn't trust you THAT much." She added hastily as he opened his mouth to say something. Truth be told, She wasn't sure she could trust herself around him.
---
Day two.
Ow. That scratch kind of hurt. He was doing much better compared to yesterday. The rest had done him well. But he was still nowhere near finding the right sword. Where the hell. He blocked another blow from the princess. When will this end?! The blow sent him sliding on the ground, sending a cloud of dust in the air, but at least he landed on his feet. He was getting used to her strength and agility.
Another sword, another fake. He was getting impatient. He took a stab at Benihime and his sword dug into her arm. It's about time. He threw his sword away. It was still in good condition, but he was beginning to notice that each sword weighed differently. They had a different feeling to them, and on this second day, he could tell that some swords just didn't feel right at all. It may have been a wager, a bit of a risky one, as he may have passed over the sword he was looking for, but it seemed to be a risk he was willing to take. He was tired of this redundancy, and his gut agreed.
She sat on the edge of the cliff, watching him. She was beginning to get a little worried, it was near the end of his second day, she was not sure how long this could last, what the consequences of using this doll were. Suddenly, without warning, the woman in red plunged her sword into his abdomen. He grunted, unable to breathe. As he fell to his knees, Yoruichi moved. In what looked like a blur, she pulled his limp body from the sword and moved toward the spring. A scream of rage came from the princess.
"THIS IS NOT YOUR FIGHT" She shrieked. Yoruichi ignored this and kept moving, the zanpakuto unable to catch up. She dumped Kisuke into the spring, making sure she kept his face out of the water. She counted the seconds it took to heal him.
One…
The water started to sizzle around his wounds.
Two…
Yoruichi used Shunpo again to dodge the blade of the princess.
Three…
He started to sink. Shit.
Four…
She dove towards his head, hoping to grasp it before he breathed in.
Five…
She missed, and the zanpakuto raised her weapon.
Six…
She dove into the spring.
Seven…
He started to convulse, slowly gaining consciousness. He started to kick. He stood up, and jumped out of the spring, ready to fight again. She pulled herself out of the spring.
-"Yoruichi." He said evenly.
-"Yeah?" Trying to catch her breath.
-"Don't ever do that again."
Her eyes narrowed.
-"What?"
-"This is my fight, I'll live or die by my mistakes. Don't interfere." He echoed his zanpakuto.
She opened her mouth angrily to reply, but Benihime had started to attack him. He struck her once and she disappeared. They both stood frozen. Was this it? Did he do it?
-"Time's up."
-"End day two."
They fell silent, not looking at one another.
-"You would have died." His voice suppressed rage.
-"And so would you." She replied matter-of-factly.
-"She wouldn't have come after you if you didn't jump in."
-"I wasn't fearing for my life, Kisuke. You almost died."
-"It would have been weak of me." His eyes narrowed, sarcastically.
-"I wasn't about to let you die just because your masculinity won't let you deal with the fact that I saved your ass."
-"Look, if you wanted to fight so badly maybe you should have gone first."
-"Oh, so this is what I get for caring about you."
-"This was something I had to do, not you, or anyone else. Don't play the guilt card on me."
-"You do it all the goddamn time Kisuke, why can't I when it's something that really matters?! Don't make me out to be the bad guy here."
-"Look, just," He took a deep breath, "don't jump in again, ok?"
-"Fine, I'll just let you die next time, is that what you want? Will that make you happy? Knowing you died because I didn't help you when I could have?"
-"Not when it comes to something like this. Hello, it's my Bankai, my zanpakuto, my pride-"
-"Oh-ho, so it is your pride, you can't let something like that kill you."
-"Yeah, so what if it is, people die because of it all the time, and what's to say I would have died?"
-"You're saying you would have survived a stab like that?"
-"You underestimate me."
She threw up her hands, exasperated.
-"Fine. I won't interfere." She glared at him. "Do what you want. I won't bother with your life ever again." And with that, and a blur, she disappeared.
He sighed, flopping down on the ground, sending a cloud of dust flying. He rubbed his face, tired. He had never seen her pull a stunt that stupid, one so irrational. She was the most levelheaded person he knew. She pulled him back from doing some pretty stupid things himself.
Putting aside his male ego, he knew she did it in his best interest, that he owed her his life, but she could have died in the process. He wasn't sure how he could have dealt with that. He knew, at least, he would have done the same thing, had it been her in his place. He smiled sardonically, looking up at the ceiling of the chamber. It was hard having a friend willing to die for you.
A/N: Well, hoped you liked it. A furisode is a type of kimono usually worn by single women, and a tessen is a type of war-fan. Please feel free and compelled to comment and review. And help me spare the world from this travesty against the english art of writing by improving this story. :)