Chapter 6 Ichigo, The Second Time
(Seen from Ichigo's perspective) I and Rukia rushed towards the centre of explosion. There was miasma all over the place with boulders scattered randomly as the result of the explosion. The sky, which was once clear and blue, was then crimson and dark, the miasma had blocked the sunlight from passing through. The place was a mess and the ambience was very odd and enigmatic.
Then, I suddenly remembered the girl's house. It was just a few metres from my current location; just few steps forward would make my way there. I once again wondered of her condition whether she was really safe knowing the fact that the coincidental events was so ominous. Just as I began to think about the matter further, I abruptly heard a sudden shriek of a girl. Yes, it was hers.
Without any hesitation, Rukia and I entered the house. It was pitch black inside. The house surely was huge but it was a bit too huge for us to find her location. We could not locate her reatsu also. The only glimpse of hope we had was only her recent scream which came from the second floor. After a quite long search, we could finally be able to locate the stairs, only the stairs. The second floor was also dark, but not as dark as the first floor. Sunlight could barely enter the windows, enabling us to see vaguely. Nonetheless, it was too late. We found nothing but an opened window with wind blowing in, waving the curtain as if it was a flag.
"Rukia, can you see the dark shadow over there?" I shouted while trying to chase it.
"Yes, barely." She answered, the fog was so thick that the black shadow could only be barely seen. The fog also had the reatsu that disturb our ability to locate the shadow. Just in seconds, the shadow was out of sight. The only thing we could do was to chase it without any definite direction. We entered the fog and tried as fast as we could to chase the shadow.
Just then, I felt a huge thing moving somewhere nearby. Its stomp made the earth tremble. Just then, I realized that we had been trapped inside the fog. The fog was full of hollows.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" I launched my deadly attack towards the huge hollow in front of me. It hit its body perfectly, yet its body only moved a little. How could a hollow endure the power of my attack in such a near range? Its body must have been devastated to pieces if it was a normal hollow. With the hollows blocking the way, our distance with the girl became even farther.
After that, zangetsu, my sword, seized my mind and I was soon talking to him.
"Old man, why the hack do you call me in this point of time?" I groaned.
"Ichigo, don't you feel these hollows are so strong?"
"Yeah.. Certainly. How could they even survive in that nearness of combat of our attack? It was so strange. Are they becoming stronger?"
"No, it was neither the hollow getting stronger nor you attack getting weaker. It was the fog which strengthened their power and at the same time diminished our power."
"What? How could this bare miasma do something like that?"
"It was unimportant for now. Use your bankai, defeat the hollows, and chase the girl."
"Yeah.. Alright, I almost forgot her dangerous condition now."
"Go now Ichigo! You do not want to lose her for the second time, do you?"
"What? What do you mean by the second time? We had just recently met!"
"Go! Now!"
He did not answer my question. I was taken back to reality and directly used my bankai. My attack really worked. It could devastate a row of hollows in only one blow. After that, leaving no time to waste, I chase the shadow with full speed. Its reatsu was now clear.