Disclaimer: I don't own BLEACH.
A/N: I know I'm late and I'm really sorry :( I've been busy lately with school, but I've rewritten chapter 1! and to be honest, I'm having some problem with the fighting parts... That is all. ) Oh, and I'm REALLY REALLY sorry about being a review whore lately. I'm kinda unmotivated. SORRY!!
To...
JaelyWuvHanatoro: -grins- I couldn't help but put some IshiHime here. I hope you don't mind... Do you?
Anonymous: I hope the link is useful... Maybe it wasn't... If it wasn't, sorry!
I'm sorry in advance for any spelling/grammar mistakes. Enjoy!
Oh, and BTW, since I couldn't really PM the 50th reviewer (s/he didn't have/use her/his account), I'll just reveal Guy Y's name in this chapter. Is that okay? (You: NOO!!) No? Oh, well. But I'll still reveal his name XP (You: NUUUUU!!)
Edit: I'm sorry! I have to rewrite this, since auburn-haired-sadist-XD pointed out the errors that I made. Not good, Moonlight! Not Good! SOOO SOORRRYYY!! TTTT But, thanks to you, I've rewritten it, and it somehow got better! Yay!
P.S: My Fanfiction thing isn't working right, so I'm sorry if I can't repliy to one of your awesome review!
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Perfection
Chapter Seventeen
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CLANG!
Renji grimaced as Zabimaru's sharp edge collided with Alerta's katana.
'Damn it. I shouldn't have pick this path!'
Flashback...
Renji quickened his pace as he strode along the pale white hallway, feeling slightly more excited than usual. His crimson red hair swayed ever so slightly with each long steps that he took. He stopped for awhile and squinted his eyes at the end of the hallway, his tattooed eyebrows furrowing together at the center.
He couldn't see the end of this hallway.
Renji halted. His eyes narrowed into thin lines and he quickly hide behind a corner, his back to the wall as he listened carefully to the footsteps echoing inside the plain hall. He gulped, anticipating the enemy he's going to face—or should I say, enemies? His teeth made a small clinking sound as he gritted them together gently. His enemies-he figured that there was two of them since there was two voices- chatting quite animatedly, not noticing his quickly fading reiatsu a single bit.
Renji took a stance, his hand ready on Zabimaru's handle, prepared to unsheathe it when needed.
"Ara, and who do we have here?"
Renji's eyes widened as he turned around and realized that his enemies was standing right behind him. He quick pulled Zabimaru out and gave his enemies a swing, but missed. He realized that his enemies—weren't his enemies, just enemy.
A female. Not short, not tall, hourglass figure, with flowing golden hair and mesmerizing green eyes that bares holes into Renji's shocked face. Renji grimaced. Does he has to fight a woman? This is not the gentleman's way. Although, he had to admit, he was never the gentleman type himself.
The female enemy smirked, her small lips curving upwards gently.
"Ara? It's not polite to swing your blade down at someone you barely know, stranger," she said.
"Che, I don't need manners when I got the attitudes," Renji replied.
She popped an eyebrow. "It sure doesn't seem like it, honey."
Renji gaped slightly. "Honey? Since when am I--"
He never did get to finish his sentence. His female enemy had swung her blade down on him. Well, she tried to, but failed. Renji had jumped out of the way before the small tip of the blade even touch as much as a single strand of his crimson hair. He readied Zabimaru as he landed and moved to one of his battle stances.
"You got a pretty good reflex there, darling," her smirk got even higher.
"And you said I'm impolite," Renji commented.
"I never said I wasn't."
She leaps up and grins when she pulled her right arm back, bringing her sword with her and swung it down once again, colliding it with Zabimaru.
End of Flashback...
"By the way, I'm Alerta, one of the las incógnitas," she smiled as Renji pushed Zabimaru harder, pressuring her to go back.
"And I'm Abarai Renji, the 6th squad lieutenant. Nice to meet'cha!" he pushed Alerta away with Zabimaru and yelled, "Howl, Zabimaru!"
Zabimaru changed its shape into a long-ranged sword with teeth baring at Alerta and Renji thrusts it forward. Alerta slashed it away just in time.
"Lieutenant, huh? You sure don't look like one," she smiled.
"Why don't you just shut your mouth and do the ressureccíon already?" Renji asked roughly as Zabimaru returned to its normal state.
Alerta giggled.
"What's so funny?"
"You sweet, naïve little boy. Didn't you know why we're here?" Alerta dived down at Renji with super speed, her sword ready by her side. Renji grimaced and brought Zabimaru in front of his face, preparing for the attack she's going to deliver.
CLANG!
"We're here because we're failures. Meaning that we're imperfect. Perfection is something that we strife for, but cannot achieve," Alerta said between the clashes of her sword and Renji's zanpakuto. "But, we're not that bad of a failure that Aizen-sama need to get rid of us," her dainty feet made frictions as she slides back from the last clash.
"Why do you care about what Aizen-taich—Aizen said? He's dead. And he's a traitor. There's no use mourning over it now," Renji swung Zabimaru to Alerta's side. She realized it a little bit too late and Zabimaru ripped her white uniform sleeve and slashed her upper part of the arm. Unfortunately, she was quick enough not to let it go any further than it already has and leaped up.
"Looks like this all is taking a toll on you," Renji commented when he saw Alerta gasping for air. His eyes narrowed once again as he noticed a sudden change in her reiatsu.
"HOW DARE YOU TALK THAT WAY ABOUT AIZEN-SAMA!"
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"Uryuu... Do you know where we are?"
"I'm sorry, but I don't Hime... I believe this one path hallway is leading us to a single chamber, based on my assumptions on these symbols," Ishida gestured with his hands the symbols that were drawn on the wall.
"What do you think ours would lead to?" Orihime asked.
"I believe it would be..." Ishida paused for awhile to analyzed the strange symbols while Orihime made small circles with the tip of her brown shoe. "This hallway will end... with a chamber... a cell to be more accurate..." Ishida held his chin with his index finger and thumb, looking all detective-like.
Orihime beamed. "Do you think it's Kuchiki-san's chamber?"
"It could be, but I don't--"
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" she grabbed his hand and started skipping along the hallway, pulling Ishida along, obviously oblivious of the blush that had bloomed on the either side of Ishida's cheeks.
"Aah! Look at this cool-looking symbol I found!" Orihime pulled Ishida beside her, who is all ready to inspect the said symbol.
The blue-haired boy hmm-ed and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, deep in thought. Orihime hummed happily as she semi-circled him, glad to find a clue to their whereabouts.
"Hime... Can you come here for a moment?"
Orihime skipped over to Ishida's right side. "Hai, Uryuu?"
"I can pretty much know what this means," he pointed to a swirling graphic on the bottom corners of the symbol, "But, I am quite confused as of what to do with the rest of the graphics. It has no references to any legends or myth, as the other symbols I had found. What do you think?" he looked over to Orihime, who was deeply in thought, softly rubbing her chin with her index finger.
"I think..." she begin, "That this," she pointed out to one figure in the symbol, "Looks like a rabbit! Don't you think so, Uryuu?" she grinned.
"Uh... Er... Yes... But--"
"Ooh! And what's more, the rabbit looked as if it was being carried away by... wait what's that? A... tanuki...? Oh, it is a tanuki! Yeah, a tanuki!"
"But... but...!"
"And it looks like one of Kuchiki-san's wonderful drawings!" Orihime clasped her hands together. "Ne, Ishida-kun? Am I right?"
Ishida stood frozen in the middle of the hallway, not believing that the symbol that he thought was impossible to decipher, being easily deciphered by the bubbly girl with a heckuva' lot of imaginations beside him. Said bubbly girl beamed at him warmly, and he responded with a small smile.
"Whatever you say, O' Hime-sama," Ishida bows politely to Orihime.
"Mou, Uryu...! I told you not to--! Mou!" Orihime pouted in frustration.
Ishida chuckled. "Okay then, O' Hime-sama, shall we go?" he offered her his hand.
Orihime looked up to his smiling face and her pout disappeared. Instead, she smiled prettily and took his hand.
"Un!"
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"When the hell does this freakin' hallway ends!" Ichigo mumbled to himself, tired of shunpo-ing to the end of this hallway, which he did not accomplish. He placed his hands on his knees and doubled over, trying to gather some more of his reiatsu.
'Oi, King, are you sure you're going the right way?' his hollow asked mockingly.
"Of course I'm sure!" he replied.
'Yes, yes. You're sure. Of course! But with your absolutely preposterous sense of direction I doubt--'
"I do not have a preposterous sense of direction! Just shut up and let me be, okay?!" Ichigo started shunpo-ing again.
'Sure, King. But let me tell you one thing. Your Queen--'
"She's not my Queen!"
'As if I care, she's with another guy right now.'
Ichigo halted.
"Huh?"
His hollow sighed. His King could be so stupid sometimes. 'Yes, King. She... is... with... a... no... ther... guy... right... now... Do... you... un... der... stand...?' it said the words very very slowly, as if it's talking to a 4 year-old boy.
"N-No, she ain't," Ichigo decided to ignore his hollow little comment and continued on shunpo-ing.
'Yes, she is.'
"No, she's not!"
'Yes, she is!'
Ichigo sighed. His hollow could be so stupid sometimes. "No, she's not! Why would she be? She's a hostage for goodness' sake. Why the hell would a guy—scratch that, anyone be with her? Unless he's her guard or something, which I'm sure she has no--"
'He is her guard. And he's getting closer to her. Mentally, I mean.'
Ichigo raised an eyebrow. Is his hollow actually making a point without mocking him? What in all Seiretei just happened?
"Yeah? Well, I don't believe you."
'You should, because she ain't pushing him back.'
"Still don't believe you..."
'He's eventually going to be closer to her than we are, you know.'
"Not... Listening..."
'You can say that all you want, but the fact that you actually lo--'
"I do NOT love her!"
'... I never said that... King, King, King... Why would you ever assume that I was going to say something like that?' Ichigo felt his hollow raised its eyebrow inside him.
"Uhm... because... Eto..." Ichigo searched for comeback and found none.
'Because it's true?'
"NO!"
'Liar.'
"I am not a liar!"
'Liar, liar, pants on fire.'
"I am not a liar, and my pants are NOT on fire! I'm not even wearing pants right now! It is called, haori, in fact, and--"
'Liar, liar, haori pants on fire.'
"Okay, you're getting annoying now. Shut up."
'Nah. A horse never shut up when its master told it to.'
"Listen here you--"
"EEEEK!!" a scream—shriek—filled the hallway.
Ichigo stopped his conversation with his hollow upon realizing whose the scream—shriek belongs to.
"Rukia!"
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"Abu... elo...?" Sado stepped slowly towards his Abuelo, who stood still in the middle of rays of sunshine passing through the leaf of the green swamp. A wind blew by, gently rustling Sado's dark brown hair into tangles. He kept on walking towards his Abuelo steadily, not wavering a single bit. His mouth formed a thin, firm line as took another step forward.
"Abuelo... Is that really... you?"
His Abuelo stood still, his back facing the curious and astonished Sado, who kept on walking forward.
"Abuelo--"
Sado didn't get to finish his sentence. Maybe it's because his Abuelo had just disappeared form his sight. Sado's brown orbed widened as he turned around swiftly to catch any signs of Abuelo. Assured that that wasn't his Abuelo, he slowly activate Brazo Derecha de Gigante, his eyes still shifting form one side to another.
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Abrumadora smirked from a top of a tree branch. He has successfully fooled that human with the unusual right arm by his illusion. He stood up, carefully examining the process of Sado's reiatsu enveloping his right arm, slowly forming a black and red armor around it.
Abrumadora's smirk widened.
'This is gonna be fun.'
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"EEEK!" Rukia screeched.
"SHUT UP, WOMAN!" Guy Y seethed.
"I WILL NOT! Now put me down!" she ordered him.
"I CANNOT! My lord had given me his very order to examine the power if Hougyoku inside you once again!" Guy Y tightened his grip on Rukia's shoulder as he carried her on his arms. His long awaited destination is the laboratory, which seemed so far away because of the small midget in his arms.
"I refuse to be carried by someone that I don't even know the name of! Now let me go! Let me go, you mustard!" Rukia pounded his chest.
"Mustard?"
"Yes, you're a mustard. Got a problem with that, mustard?"
"Why a mustard?"
"Because you're a stupid bastard who won't tell me your name!" Rukia pound harder.
"If I tell you my name, would you quit pounding my chest?!"
"Maybe," Rukia slowed down her pounding.
Guy Y sighed. "It's--"
"Yes...?" Rukia raised an eyebrow. Guy Y sighed.
"Look, do I really have to tell my name?"
"Yes."
"Fine, then. But don't laugh," Guy Y warned.
Rukia bursts out laughing, making a vein popped on Guy Y's head.
"You--!"
"Ha ha! Sorry, sorry... Kinda got out of control there. But seriously, what is it?" Rukia wiped a small tear that formed at the corner of her eye.
"It's..." Guy Y took a deep breath, "Entendimiento."
Silence enveloped the room.
"Why would I laugh at that name?" Rukia inquired.
"Because... Well, just because," Guy Y--Entendimiento answered.
"I don't think it's a funny name... It means understanding, right?"
He nodded.
"Well then, I have absolutely no idea how did that meaningful name got to be your name, but, I like it," Rukia hmm-ed, watching Guy Y--Entendimiento's face lighted up.
"Thanks," he smiled.
Rukia smirked and as she had considered before, stopped her pounding.
"No problem... Now get me DOWN!"
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"Uryuu, what was that?" Orihime stopped.
"It sounded like..." Ishida left the sentence hanging.
"Kuchiki-san's scream?" Orihime finished the sentence for him, worried painted on her pretty face.
Ishida quickly tugged Orihime's hand. "Lets' go, Orihime."
Orihime nodded and quickly ran to the near end of the hallway with him.
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A/N: Short chapter, I know, and I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Writer's block invaded me, and IF you're reading this A/N right now, you would know that I am making an IchiRuki Doujin! Yay! So I'm very very SORRY!! Honto ni GOMENASAIIIII!! TT-TT