A few days later, Sairen sat next to Kagura in a classroom. He was in a gigai so now everyone could see him. It was lunchtime and everybody in the room was sitting with their friends. Some of Kagura's friends had come over to join them. They were intrigued by the new comer.
"So Kagura, who's this new guy? We saw you two walking to school together." One of them said.
Kagura blushed. "Well…uh…he moved in next door."
"You two would look good together."
Now both of them were blushing and looking away. At that moment the building shook. Things fell off walls and people fell of their feet. A teacher appeared in the doorway.
"The building is collapsing. Everyone evacuate."
The students ran out of the classroom into a crowded hallway. Sairen stood in the hallway making sure that others were getting out. Kagura also stayed behind.
"Kagura, you need to get out of here."
"No, I won't leave you." She said "I don't want to lose my hero again."
Sairen looked back down the hall to see one more student running their way. Then without warning, the ceiling collapsed in on them. Kagura shut her eyes tightly and held her hands above her head in a futile attempt to save herself. She then felt her body being pulled. She then opened her eyes to see Sairen in his Shinigami form holding her and the other student. They were outside. Kagura looked back to the school to see it fall in on itself. Kagura saw the other student was unconscious. Sairen set down his passengers.
"What caused that?" Kagura asked.
"A hollow probably."
A hollow emerged from above them.
"I bet it was that bastard right there." Sairen said.
"Or it could've been those over there." Kagura said pointing to the left.
Sairen looked over and saw three more hollows appear out of no where. Hollows began to appear all around them. Kagura unbuttoned the cuffs on her uniform and rolled up her sleeves, revealing her arm guards. Sairen unsheathed his Zanpakuto. The two of them stood back to back and stared down the hollows that surrounded them.
"Let's get 'em." Sairen said.
Kagura rubbed her forearms together. The friction between them caused a spark and she then threw a handsized blue energy ball at a hollow. The ball hit the hollow in the face and phased it but it wasn't enough to defeat it. She threw more at it. After being hit a few times the hollow finally evaporated. Sairen ran his hand down the side of his Zanpakuto.
"Transform, Kiroimaru."
The blade of his Zanpakuto turned yellow and acted like a whip. It wildly flew through the air, striking the masks of Hollows, dissipating them. The two of them were going through the hollows very well.
"This is unprecedented." Sairen said. "Why are there so many hollows here?"
The two of them continued to fight off the remaining hollows. Sairen sliced through them while Kagura shot through them. Sairen sliced through the mask of one. He landed on his feet but unknown to him a hollow appeared behind him and was about to make the kill. The hollow's mask suddenly exploded. The explosion startled Sairen and he turned around to see a big hole in the hollow's mask. The hollow fell over and he saw Kagura through the hole in the mask. She smiled. Sairen smiled back but his smile quickly faded when he saw a huge hollow appear behind Kagura. Kagura turned around and didn't have time to react.
"Destructive Art 33: Sokatsui." (Blue Fire, Crash Down)
A burst of blue spiritual energy fired from Sairen's palm and took out the hollow. Kagura returned her gaze to Sairen.
"So, if we get out of this alive, do you think we could go have dinner?" Sairen asked.
Kagura blushed but almost immediately answered. "Definitely."
More buildings began to collapse all around them. The two of them could hear the cries of hollows. They ran in the direction of the howling. They ran through the hollow infested streets of the city doing what they could to take them out. Sairen saw a huge hollow fly in towards a couple who had wrecked their car and were stuck in it. Sairen raised his Zanpakuto and brought it down through the hollow's head. Kagura came running over to help the couple get out of the car. Above them the sky began to rip open and two beings emerged from the tear in the sky. Sairen looked up and was in complete shock.
"Menos Grande." He said.
He looked back to Kagura, who was still trying to get the couple out of the car. Kagura finally looked up and was completely frozen with fear.
"Wh..what are those?"
"Menos Grande. They are a lot stronger than the hollows we've been fighting."
Sairen pulled out an ear piece and attached it to the side of his head.
"Soul Society, this is Ukiha Sairen, third seat of the tenth squad. Two Menos Grande have appeared. Requesting limiter release."
Moments later a voice replied.
"Ukiha Sairen, you are authorized to use full force."
"What was that about?" Kagura asked.
"So that we don't disrupt the balance of the living world our power is greatly reduced by 80 percent. But since I'm going up against a Menos, I've been authorized to use full force."
He pulled at his uniform revealing the tenth squad emblem on his chest. Spiritual energy erupted from all around him.
"Now I have a better chance at taking one of those bastards out."
Sairen looked up to see red energy form around one of the Menos's mouth.
"A Cero?!" He said. "That beast is going to fire one of those here?"
He noticed it was aimed right at his position. He turned back to Kagura.
"KAGURA! GET OUT OF THERE!" He yelled.
She looked up to see the Menos fire a Cero at them. Sairen was thrown back by the explosion. Kagura landed a few feet away from her previous position. Sairen recovered from the blast and ran to her side. Blood leaked out of the corner of Kagura's mouth. Kagura's body was in bad shape. It was practically torn in half. Sairen held Kagura's hand; he knew she wouldn't make it. She knew it too.
"I'm sorry….that we…couldn't get to have…dinner."
"Everything is going to be ok." Sairen said petting the top of Kagura's head.
Kagura slowly closed her eyes for the final time. Sairen lowered his head then slowly turned around and stared down the Menos that fired the Cero. Huge hollows appeared in various spots between them. Sairen stood up and ran his hand down the side of his blade.
"Transform, Kiroimaru."
His Zanpakuto transformed once again. Sairen leapt into the air towards the Menos. He sliced through the masks of the hollows that got in his way.
"You'll pay for what you did." Sairen said with absolute fury in his voice.
He swung his Zanpakuto in a circular motion above his head. He then pointed it at the Menos Grande.
"BAN…"
Before he could finish, he was hit with a Cero by the other Menos Grande. Sairen slammed into ground hard. He couldn't move his body. He took the full blast of the Cero. He was lucky to be alive. Buildings crumbled at the hands of the two Menos Grandes that roamed freely. Sairen couldn't do anything to stop them. He his vision went in and out of focus and he was disoriented. Agonizing pain shot all through his body.
"I'm sorry. I've failed." He said softly.
Moments later, the attack stopped and the city was left in ruins. All of the hollows had disappeared, including the two Menos Grandes. Sairen closed his eyes. He could still see Kagura's face.
"He's over here." He heard voices. He thought he was going crazy but it was a voice he recognized.
He slowly opened his eyes to see Lieutenant Matsumoto above him. His vision was still blurry and he was still in pain. Matsumoto reached down and picked him up. Sairen closed his eyes again.
"Kagura." He said before he passed out.
