DUN-DUN-DUN!!! Are you ready for the "Big" thing? *grins* I had this part of the plot in my head many, many chapters ago... And I'm proud of it XD
I hope you like it~!
cheeky half-demon: Lol okay. . I didn't get a chance to watch the vid yet. When I'm home, my net is reduced to crappy dial up, so it's a no go on vids... But school is a diff story. I'll try and check it out manana.
Grimmjow J. the 6th Espada: It'll be a little while before you probably get to this chap, but thank you for the comments!
Grinja: Lol if not Orihime then probably Izuru or Shuhei, those two plus Rangiku...*shakes head* And yeah poor Hara never gets a break, 'cept for when she's with Grimm. Oh and in answer to your question...XD i'm not tellin'! :p I don't like to spoil things
***Chapter 36
"Holy crap…how the hell did this…?" muttered Grimmjow as he stared at the training room from the stairs.
"Pretty cool, ne?" asked Hara as she stood next to him. Suddenly there was an explosion of debris followed by a strange roar and a blast of light.
"What the…?"
"What's wrong?!" yelled a familiar voice. "Already done, Sado Yasutora?!"
"Not done yet!" replied Chad.
"Of course not!"
Hara turned to Grimmjow, "Looks like they're having fun… let's go play too!"
Before he could answer she had dropped her gigai and was racing across the dirt towards the sound of Renji's voice.
Grimmjow struggled out of his gigai, before chasing after her, a battle grin spreading over his face.
Urahara watched Chad and Renji fighting from the safety of a hill, his eyes distant as he thought deeply.
Hara skidded to a stop beside him, "What's up? They trainin'?"
Urahara nodded and Hara grinned, "S'alright if we join them?"
"Sure," said Urahara as he smiled under his hat, "They could use another hand-" Hara was already gone, leaping down the hill and pulling out her zanpakuto. Without a word they split into shikai, her silver reitsu flaming.
Renji thrust Zabimaru towards Chad, his bankai gleaming with his own red reitsu. Suddenly before Chad could block it, Zabimaru crashed into something, sending a wave of dust backwards.
"Nani?!" cried Renji. As the dust cleared he saw a familiar face.
"Oi Renji," called Hara, "Mind if I play too?"
Renji grinned.
"This isn't a game!" the pulled back Zabimaru before throwing it forwards. Hara was about to block it with Lucien, but a hand thrust the skeletal snake backwards.
"Hey!" cried Hara, "I was gonna fight 'im!" Grimmjow grinned.
"Sorry… how bout we trade off 'tween 'em?"
Hara growled disappointedly, "Fine…"
She stalked over to Chad who had a surprised expression. Smiling she said, "Now I can already tell that because I'm a girl you're going to hold back on me, right?" Chad opened his mouth to speak, but Hara flash stepped behind him, pressing one of her blades to his neck, "That'll be your downfall!" She nicked his neck lightly before sidestepping his attack; it was enough to ruffle her hair and make her grin wider, "Ah, much better!" she began some complex steps mixed with shunpo, "You need to work on your speed!" she called, "And the timing between your attacks are too slow!"
Right when he let loose another energy blast, she leapt up and over it, before coming down on his head and landing on his chest. Chad made an "OOF!" noise and stared up at her, both her blades crossed over his neck.
She smiled and sat on him, "You're giving too much of an opening to the enemy. When an opponent attacks you, they are going to go straight for your openings and weaknesses…" She glanced at Renji and Grimmjow, "Strong as you are, it all comes down to skill and luck-"
Suddenly Chad threw her off of him and punched the ground, sending up a blast that she barely dodged,
"Like that?!" he panted. Hara laughed and did a zigzag flashstep, her blades ready before she suddenly pulled back and knocked his feet out from under him.
"Exactamente!"
Grimmjow smirked as he watched Hara dance around Chad, laughing and teasing.
"Oi, pay attention!" yelled Renji, sending Zabimaru at him.
"Tch, why?" asked Grimmjow, leaping upwards and landing on its head. "You're so slow I could fight you with my eyes closed."
"TEME!" snarled Renji before he loosed Hikotsu Taiho. Grimmjow smirked and tried to stop it with his bare hands, only to end up slamming into a rock.
"Did you think you could stop that?! I'm not Ichigo!" laughed Renji, pulling back, "Come on Grimmjow, show me what you got!"
"Baka," he spat, wiping blood from his lip, "Don't push me!" He used sonido and ended up behind him, before punching him squarly in the jaw. Renji staggered forwards, now sporting a bloody lip as well.
"Che, I thought you were a lot more bad-ass than this, Grimmjow!" he roared, slamming Zabimaru on him. Grimmjow held it up with one hand.
"Urusai! You haven't seen anything!" With his free hand he formed a small cero and let it shoot off towards Renji. Renji dodged it as a large rock exploded into sand.
"You're right," he said grinning, "Release your sword and show me!"
"Why the hell would I do that? I can beat the crap outta you just like this!" Grimmjow snapped, laughing all the while. "No one here can go up against me at full force-" Suddenly he went rolling head over heels, "What the-"
Hara stood over him grinning. "I bet I can."
Grimmjow got to his feet.
"You challenging me?"
She nodded, "Hell yeah," she turned to Renji, "Let's do a tag team!"
"Alright," he said, grinning as he wiped the sweat from his brow. Hara looked at Grimmjow,
"'Kay Grimm, show us what ya got!"
Grimmjow unsheathed his sword and scratched down the blade, "Grind…Pantera!"
~~~About an hour or so later~~
Renji and Chad continued to fight in the distance while Hara and Grimmjow took a break to have some lunch that Urahara provided.
"Che, that was pretty fun," sighed Hara as she sipped her soda. Grimmjow nodded and took a bite of rice.
"You fought pretty damn well…" he grinned, "It'll be good to have you at my back in a fight."
She tossed him a soda, "Same to you," she laughed.
Grimmjow stared at the soda, "How do you open this?"
Hara looked up over her bowl of rice, "Oh uh, pull the clip."
Grimmjow did and it came off in his hand, "Uh, like this?"
Hara laughed, "No," she laughed, "You're supposed to pull it up so it pops the little tabby thing."
She got up, "Here let me see, I can probably fix it." Grimmjow shook his head and poked his finger through it, breaking the seal.
"I got it-ow." He held up his now bleeding finger; "Damn, why do they make these so annoying?!"
Hara laughed at him, her eyes warm. She went and sat beside him, "Let me see," she said, pulling his hand towards her. Grimmjow complied and she saw that it wasn't too deep, but was bleeding a bit. Concentrating she used hado and healed it, leaving a faint line.
Grimmjow stared at it, "Huh, not bad… thanks."
Hara shrugged; "Sure." She leaned against his side and watched Renji and Chad in the distance as she sipped her drink and took a few bites of rice. "Hey Grimm?" she asked after a few minutes.
"Hmm?" He glanced down at her, seeing her toothy grin.
"Wanna know a secret?"
He shrugged.
"Alright," he laughed, before sipping his drink.
"Your released form…" a slight tinge flashed in her cheeks, "it's…sexy." Grimmjow's eyes widened and he choked on his drink; Hara laughed at him, before her eyes widened.
"You…you're blushing!" she accused, seeing the pink color on his cheeks. Grimmjow glared at her.
"I am not," he growled.
She grinned, "Yeah, sure…. Then why are your cheeks red?"
"Uh, the soda's spicy," he growled even more quietly, looking away.
Hara let out a loud guffaw, "Peach soda?"
"Damare…" he still refused to look at her, his cheeks still pink.
This guy… thought Hara smirking; she reached out and tugged at his chin so he would look at her before she kissed his cheek. When she did he chuckled, and leaned in to kiss her on the lips, but at the same moment Zabimaru crashed into the rock, causing them to fall over.
Grimmjow shot to his feet.
"You did that on purpose, teme!"
Renji grinned.
"No I didn't…" his grin widened, "Why, was I interrupting something?"
"Teme!" growled Grimmjow, shooting off towards him, fist raised. Suddenly everyone froze, feeling a strong blast of reitsu.
"Oh crap," said Hara, standing up and looking up at the ceiling.
Four reitsus seemed to scratch at the air, each of which was easily recognizable as arrancar.
Hara flash stepped down the rock so she was next to Grimmjow, Renji, and Chad. Her eyes and Grimmjow's met for a second.
"They're…espada?!" snarled Renji, his teeth bared.
Grimmjow closed his eyes, "Yami…Luppi…and…"
"One is Zuro," whispered Hara, her complexion paling. Silence followed as the four stared up at the ceiling. Suddenly four more reitsus appeared.
"It's Ikkaku, Yumichika, Rangiku and Toshiro!" said Renji, before taking a few steps forwards, "I'm going to go help them-"
"Me too," said Hara, following. Grimmjow walked beside her, hands shoved in his pockets. Chad began to follow, but Renji stopped him.
"You can't, you've used up too much of your power! We're going to go so just stay here and rest!"
"But-"
"Abarai-san is right," said Urahara as he appeared out of nowhere, "But the same goes for the four of you-"
"WHAT!?" roared Hara, Grimmjow and Renji.
"You can't-"
"I'm-"
"But-"
A powerful gleam in his eye stopped them in their tracks. Urahara released his zanpakuto and stared at them over his shoulder.
"Stay here." He began to walk away, "In exchange…I will go."
"That's not fair!" cried Hara, "We can still fight…" she sighed, her eyes following the man as he leapt up the stairs and out of sight.
Renji sighed too, "There any sodas left?" he asked sadly.
Hara nodded and he went to get one.
Hara sat beside Grimmjow and Renji as they followed the battle with their senses.
"No fair…" muttered Hara, "I bet Ikkaku's having fun too…"
"Tch, stop whining," growled Grimmjow as he poked her side; he was just as disappointed as she was.
Renji grinned.
"She always whines when she doesn't get her way…"
Hara whacked him in the chest, "I do not!"
Grimmjow grinned as well, "Sure," he laughed, before getting whacked too.
"You're such a child!" snarled Renji as he rubbed the bruise that was already forming, "And you hit too hard, geez-OW!" he cried as she tackled him.
"Now who's whining?" she laughed, pinning him down. He stared up at her with a warm grin, while signaling Grimmjow when she wasn't looking.
"Alright, alright, you win," he laughed.
Hara grinned, "I know-oof!"
Grimmjow tackled her and sent her rolling into the dirt, before pinning her down. "HEY!" she yelled, "That's not cool! Cheaters!"
"Tickle her sides," chuckled Renji as he stood up, "She's very ticklish."
"That so?" asked Grimmjow, an evil grin on his face. Hara stared up at him with wide eyes.
"No," she commanded, "Don't you dare-AGGHH AHAHAHAHA!!!" she began to thrash as Grimmjow laughed and continued the assault.
Hara used her knees to shove him backwards, giving herself time to escape. She flash stepped behind a rock where she stopped to catch her breath, before plotting revenge.
"Hara, where are you~?!" sang Renji as he and Grimmjow began to walk around looking for her, similar devious expressions on their faces.
Damn them… she thought, teaming up and attacking me like that…
Renji moved closer towards the rock, and Hara prepared to spring, her leg muscles tensing.
Suddenly she froze and stood up straight, her eyes on the ceiling. It wasn't the nearby battle that caught her attention, but a strange reitsu that seemed vaguely familiar. Who…? She thought, her heartbeat quickening, no…not so much who…but what?
She didn't even flinch when Grimmjow wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered "Gotcha," into her ear.
He noticed immediately and let go, following her eyes. "What is it?" he asked, not sensing anything. Renji came around the rock and found them.
"What's the matter, Hara?" he asked, not sensing anyone's presence either. She walked towards the doorway, pulling out her zanpakuto.
"Someone…something…is coming," she half muttered and half stated. Both men stood beside her, hands on the hilts of their own swords.
Boom…Boom…Boom…
It sounded like giant footsteps, footsteps big enough to make the room vibrate and dust to fall from the high ceiling.
"What the hell?!" cried Renji, looking around. Hara kept her eyes on the doorway, her muscles tensing and her breath catching in her throat. I don't know what's happening…but I don't like it…
The vibrations stopped and an eerie silence followed. Minutes passed without anything happening; Hara remained in the same position, unable to relax from her tense pose.
Suddenly the room shook with more force than before, and a crack appeared in the ceiling. Hara, Grimmjow and Renji all stared upwards as the crack widened.
Boom…Boom…Bo-
The ceiling exploded with smoke, dust, and debris as something large crashed through it. Hara didn't move, her eyes fixed on the thing that just broke through the ceiling.
"What the?!" muttered Grimmjow as he saw what was emerging from the cloud of dust.
A large snake like hollow towered over them, its eyes a strong green.
That's an adjucha, thought Grimmjow as he had a quick flash of memory of when he himself had been one.
Hara felt Grimmjow and Renji step forwards, as if they were shielding her, psh, silly guys, I can take care of myself, she thought, smiling anyway.
The hollow let its tongue flicker out to taste the air, before it lowered its head and stared at them with its green eyes and let out a roar.
Grimmjow and Hara put their hands over their ears in pain, while Renji leapt forwards with Zabimaru to strike. The hollow reeled backwards, easily dodging the attack while striking with its tail which missed Renji by mere inches.
"Howl, Zabimaru!" he called, as his sword burst into shikai. Before he could strike, Grimmjow leapt forwards and punched the hollow in the chest, sending it backwards where it crashed into a wall.
"Oi, that was mine!" called Renji with annoyance.
Grimmjow rolled his eyes, "Shut up teme, it's mine."
He turned to deliver a finishing blow to the dazed hollow, but suddenly an explosion followed by what seemed to be a mini tornado threw him backwards.
"What the hell?!" he snarled as he skidded backwards. The dusty wind stopped and a figure was left standing in front of the hollow.
Hara narrowed her eyes as she took in his appearance; a guy with medium length messy silver hair and red-brown eyes grinned toothily at her, wearing a red sleeveless sweater with a hood and a hand on a sheathed sword. What made him almost comical was the fact that the hood had little cat ears on it, as well as him having cat stripe tattoos all over his body.
"Who are you?" called Renji, coming to stand in front. The guy tilted his head at him,
"What did you say?" he asked in English.
Hara came forwards, "Who are you?" she asked in English.
He winked at her, "Ah, aren't I lucky? A cute girl that speaks English…" He chuckled, "I'm Cyan," he said in a flirty, punkish voice.
The hollow behind him rose and slid towards them, its eyes glinting angrily.
Renji lifted his zanpakuto and was about to hit the hollow, but the stranger suddenly used shunpo and blocked him with his sword,
"Un-uh, you ain't messin' with Drake. Let's play instead." Cyan slammed against him, before rolling backwards, "Dice, Felix!"
A zanpakuto?! Thought Hara, this guy doesn't look like a shinigami, so who or what is he?! She watched as his sword melted and became steel claws.
Renji grinned.
"Pretty cool zanpakuto, but it's going down!" He thrusted Zabimaru forwards and Cyan barely blocked it in time, a cut appearing on his chin.
The snake like hollow roared and joined in, ramming Renji backwards and almost taking his arm in the process.
Hara ran towards the fight, ready to join in with Grimmjow tailing her, but something whizzed past her ear and landed at Grimmjow's feet. They both turned to see an arrow sticking out of the ground, before it suddenly exploded in a huge cloud of dirt, smoke and dust.
"Crap!" coughed Hara as she leapt backwards, her eyes stinging from the smoke. Grimmjow appeared out of the smoke.
"Y'all right?" he asked, his eyes searching the area for the owner of the arrow. Hara nodded and looked around. She could hear Renji fighting in the distance, but because of the smoke she couldn't see him.
"Who shot at us?" asked Hara as she turned to Grimmjow. He didn't answer right away, but his eyes seemed to lock on something above them. A battle grin spread over his face as he shot after it, leaving Hara standing there. But she wasn't going to let him have all the fun, so she tore after him, a grin matching his on her face.
Hara skidded to a stop suddenly, her blade bouncing against the blade of another.
"Oi," said a voice, "Where ya think you're going?"
A woman stood before her, holding a scythe like weapon. She was taller than Hara, with blue hair and eyes, a bandana, and strange horizontal stripe tattoos across her upper torso which was nearly bare except for a bra like shirt she wore.
"Who the hell are you?" snapped Hara, annoyed. The woman grinned.
"Raeyah Erantine, nice to meet ya," she pulled her scythe backwards and charged again. The two women met in a shower of sparks, "So, you are?" asked Raeyah.
Hara grinned.
"Hara Ayumi." She then leapt forwards and clashed blades.
"You the one shootin' at us?!" yelled Grimmjow. He stared up at the odd looking guy above him.
"...I can't speak Japanese," replied the guy. He had long black hair with a feather tied to one lock, dark eyes, and a reddish mask painted on his face. Grimmjow stared up at him, his face made him think of Ulquiorra, but only slightly.
"Sorry guy," said Grimmjow, flexing his fingers, "But I'm going to have ta punch a hole through you!" he flew towards him, fist raised, but the guy had disappeared. "Wha-" Grimmjow barely had time to dodge the sudden blast of light that whizzed past his head. The guy was floating in mid air, a blue-white bow in his hands that he shot again; Grimmjow twisted and dodged it, but barely. He could feel the power of it brush his skin; it stung.
"The hell?!" he snarled, before rushing at him and planting a punch in his back. The guy grunted as he fell to the ground, before pointing his bow upwards and shooting again.
"Why the hell are you attacking us?!" snarled Hara, pivoting on her palm and aiming a kick at Raeyah's head. The blue haired woman dodged and flipped backwards; Hara slammed into her, nicking her neck with her zanpakuto.
"Hey that hurt!" she growled, swinging her scythe and knocking Hara back.
"Are you with Aizen?!" yelled Hara, before letting lose a Ginkiba Hikari. Raeyah barely blocked it with her blade; she peered around it and whistled.
"Phew, you're pretty strong, girly. No, we're not with Aizen…" Hara slammed against her again.
"If you're not, then why are you attacking us?!"
"I'm testing you," chuckled Raeyah, before leaping backwards and onto a high rock. She let out a high pitched whistle, and something rumbled across the ceiling, before crashing through the hole and landing beside her.
"What?!" Hara stared at the large hollow beside her; it was a wolf-like.
Grimmjow watched as the guy tried to get to his feet, clutching a hole in his stomach.
"Tch, can't shoot at me now, can you, teme?!" The guy coughed up some blood, before he reached out his hand towards the hole in the ceiling.
" Eros!" There was a screech as something flashed through the hole in the ceiling and came straight at Grimmjow. He leapt upwards just in time, and turned to see a bird like adjucha dive towards the guy who leapt on its back.
"Oi, get back here!" yelled Grimmjow as the hollow flew away towards the center of the room. He chased after it, only to find Hara standing there staring up at a tall rock. He looked up as well to see a blue haired woman standing on top staring down at them, a wolf like adjucha at her side. The bird adjucha circled above them as the guy slid off and landed heavily beside Raeyah.
A moment later Renji appeared beside them, while Cyan and his adjucha moved to Raeyah's other side.
"Alright," declared Raeyah, "We'll tell ya'll who we are." She grinned and placed a hand on the wolf adjucha's head, "Firstly, let us re-introduce ourselves." She pointed to herself, "I am Raeyah 'Okami' Erantine. This," she patted the wolf's head, "Is my partner, Nuada." She titled her head towards Cyan, who grinned, "Cyan "Rai-neko" Erantine," he said then pointed to the snake hollow, "Drake." He and Raeyah shared last names, meaning they were probably related, or so thought Hara, even though they didn't look very much like each other.
Lastly she nodded towards the strange dark haired guy with a stomach wound, "Raven…Raven 'Tsubasa' Nightwing." He gestured to the bird hollow above, "Eros."
"Now introduce yourselves!" cried Raeyah. Grimmjow and Hara exchanged glances.
"Renji Abarai," said Renji.
"Hara Ayumi," said Hara.
"Grimmjow Jaegerjaques."
Raeyah smiled,
"Well met, fellow shinigami."
"What?!" exclaimed Hara and Renji, "Are you saying you guys are shinigami?!"
Raeyah grinned wider.
"Ain't it obvious? We've got zanpakutos same as you guys…"
"I'm not a shinigami…" growled Grimmjow, scowling. Raeyah's eyes move to him.
"Oh?" in a flash she was in front of him, "Then…would you be…an arrancar?" He didn't answer, but she smiled nonetheless. "Very interesting, ne Cy?" she turned to her brother who stared at her.
"Dummy I don't know what the hell you're saying!" Raeyah laughed and turned around to eye Hara and Renji who were staring at her.
"If you are a shinigami, what squad would you be from?" asked Renji suspiciously. Raeyah pulled a strange badge from the pocket of her pants; it had a fang and lightning bolt on it.
"Squad 14 of course,"
"Squad 14?" said Hara and Renji in unison, "There's no such thing,"
Raeyah chuckled. "Yes there is. Just not with your S.S,"
"S.S?"
Raeyah slapped her forehead, and let out a growl. Her hollow took a step forward, its blue eyes cautious and concerned. "Don't tell me…" she glanced at Renji and then Hara, "You guys don't know about the N.A.S.S?" before they could open their mouths she put up her hand, "Don't answer that, it's obvious…" she turned on her heel, her arms crossed over her chest. "So it's true then… Yamamoto really didn't…Damn him!" she sat down, her legs crossed beneath her. "Alright, I'll explain."
Raeyah waved for Raven and Cyan to come down from the rock, which they did; Cyan had to support Raven who was sporting the wound from Grimmjow, but they came down quickly.
Renji, Hara, and Grimmjow exchanged a glance before they sat down as well; keeping a good distance in case they began to fight again.
"Alright, so your General Commander… What he failed to tell you is…" said Raeyah, patting the wolf hollow, Nuada, who had settled down beside her, his eyes locked on Grimmjow. "There's more than one Soul Society."