Chapter Three: Lithium
Mizuiru gasped and clutched at his side as he struggled to move to a sitting position. He grimaced slightly when a coughing fit had blood trickling down his chin. As he was doing this Yoroichi went over and knelt down beside him. She propped him up against a boulder and checked him for injuries. While she was dressing his wounds she asked him about his fight with Byakuya.
"How exactly did you defeat him? I never really got the details."
Mizuiru winced as he attempted to shift into a more comfortable position. "It wasn't easy, let me tell you. I thought I would die at one point…."
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Right after Soi had been defeated by Yoroichi.
Mizuiru smirked at the noble. "Is that all you can do?" he asked. "I thought you could do better. How bout you show me your Bankai already. This is starting to get boring."
Byakuya's eyes narrowed at the substitute Shinigami. "You are unworthy of my Bankai. Chire, Senbonzakura."
A thousand cherry blossoms made of steel flew towards Mizuiru. Mizuiru made no attempt to dodge them whatsoever. He simply narrowed his eyes at Byakuya and said, "Freeze him, Ashi Aisu."
Blue energy blasts emerged from all over the place, defeating each and every one of the noble's blades. Byakuya's eyes widened as he gazed at the defeated blossoms. Each and every single blade was coated in a layer of ice. He turned towards Mizuiru and said, "It appears that I will have to turn you to dust." His reiatsu flared as he grabbed his reformed sword in one hand. His gaze became almost malicious as he dropped his sword with the air of one who was indifferent to the situation. "Bankai."
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Yoroichi looked annoyed at him, "Would you just get on with it already? I already know the nature of his Bankai you idiot."
Mizuiru chuckled lightly at her expression, "So sorry about that Yoroichi-san. I promise to get on with it. Now where should I start?"
"How bout when you unleashed your Bankai? Then you can just go over the highlights."
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Ichigo and Grimmjow still seemed to have their swords locked together, as if in a constant struggle for dominance. In reality, they were putting on a show for the non-Vaizard's sake. For Grimmjow was in fact Ichigo's informant in the Espada's ranks. While Mizuiru was giving out his life's story, Ichigo and Grimmjow were engaging in some light hearted banter.
Ichigo flared his reiatsu and asked, "So, Grimmjow, did you catch that Chiefs vs. Raiders game last week?"
Grimmjow glared at him, "Shut up," he said.
Ichigo laughed at him, "You're a Raiders fan, aren't you?"
Grimmjow growled and flung Ichigo away from him, "I said shut the hell up!"
Ichigo chuckled again and said, "Go Chiefs, baby. Go Chiefs."
They then both launched themselves back at one another.
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Back in time…past…whatever.
"I guess I shouldn't have tried to beat your Bankai without bringing out mine."
Byakuya's glare intensified. "Be careful, boy. It sounds like you have already achieved Bankai."
Mizuiru lifted up his head and grinned like a maniac, "That's exactly what I'm saying, Byakuya Kuchiki!"
Byakuya's eyes widened at this statement. It was impossible. Bankai was the ultimate form of the Zanpakutoh Arcanum, often needing ten years simply to master all of the possible moves. Even for the four great families, who are born with spiritual pressure beyond anybody else's, Bankai happened only once every few generations. Yet this boy, this human, who wasn't even a proper Shinigami in the first place, was claiming to have achieved it. Why was the temperature decreasing that much? It was almost as if …
Mizuiru got a firm grip on his sword, before throwing it up into the air. As it came back down towards his own head, Mizuiru got into an even more relaxed position, with his hands at his sides. The sword then hit his heads with extreme force, but instead of slicing through his head, it did something else. It melted over him, forming itself into samurai like armor.
This armor was sky blue in color, making it look as if he had been covered in armor made of ice. Spikes rose from his open faced helmet, his shoulder pads, and even a couple from his breastplate. His face was covered in markings similar to tribal tattoos. His eyes, however, changed the most. They glowed an eerie red, seeming to pierce the very soul.
He snapped and two blades formed out of the very air. He then grabbed both of them, crossing both of them in front of his chest before slicing them through air, and taking a stance very similar to Shunsui's Shikai stance. His eyes narrowed.
"Bankai," he said in a voice that would chill the devil himself. "Ashi Aisu, Oni Oumono." (Evil Ice: Demon King.)
He flash stepped behind Byakuya and unleashed a devastating attack that was alike to two ceros being fired from the two swords. Byakuya barely avoided the blasts, and retaliated in kind. But when it seemed that he had Mizuiru cornered, Mizuiru unleashed an ice blast that knocked away every single one of the blades. He then disappeared and reappeared behind Byakuya, stabbing him with both of his blades.
Byakuya then activated his Senkei, and Mizuiru was starting to wear down. He could no longer keep up with the Captain any longer. As Byakuya raised his blade for a killing strike, Mizuiru mentally screamed at his body to move.
Just as the sword was about to kill him, his hand shot out and caught the blade. "Che.' He said. "It seems I got to do everything for ya, Oumono." He disappeared and reappeared behind Byakuya and slashed him in the back. "Kieseru!" (Die!)
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As Mizuiru was giving his narrative, he suddenly passed out from his injuries. Yoroichi sighed as she laid him down gently on the ground. Hopefully Inoue would be able to heal his injuries. She sighed as she looked over to the standoff between the Vaizard and Arrancar. She was about to lend assistance when the Arrancar suddenly pushed himself away from the Vaizard. He was then enveloped in the blinding light of Negacion before disappearing.
The Vaizard then slowly levitated back down to Earth. He walked over to Mizuiru and kicked him in the chest. Needless to say, this woke up the substitute Shinigami. He glared at his fellow Vaizard before grinning.
The black clad Vaizard shook his head and said exasperatingly, "What am I going to do with you, idiot?"
Mizuiru coughed a little and smiled, "Let me have the week off from training?"
The other simply glared at him, "You have the day off. I don't want you to try to fight an Arrancar after nearly four straight days of training again, ya hear?"
Mizuiru started to chuckle, and the Vaizard started to laugh as well. Yoroichi just sighed and thought she would never understand men.
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:"Hirako-san, I have a message for you sir." said a secret remote squad officer.
Hirako took the message from the Shinigami and dismissed him. He read over the information before calling for Ichigo. When Ichigo got near him Hirako said, "We just got some information about the situation in Soul Society. It appears that they are really nervous about this whole Aizen thing. It also seems that they are willing to accept help from any source. This could be useful after the war is over. They may be inclined not to hunt us anymore if we helped them with their little Arrancar problem."
Ichigo crossed his arms and thought awhile before replying, "That is really good news. You can always count on Shaolin to provide good information."
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TBC
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