DISCLAIMER: I will never own bleach even if pigs did fly.
One. Midnight Rain
Across the deserts of hell surrounded by nightfall, there stood a woman with blood covering half of her face, dripping all over her body and her sword, with a red sea of dead hollows laying beneath where she stands.
She was the perfect image of misery, suffering and death, along with her crimson hair that appeared to be fiery flames under the moonlight and with the presence and reiatsu of hers which only meant death.
She was staring at nowhere in particular, for the only thing that mattered for her was the feeling of her heart beating and the gradual pain of her wounds that burnt on her flesh which only reminded her that here she was, alive and continuing what she must do. Other than that, there was another significant thing that assured her that she mustn't die, and that was the presence of her sword within the grasps of her hand, reminding her the principle carved to her soul:
Kill, or be killed.
Seconds, minutes, hours and days have passed as she stood there, waiting for a hollow to come after her and waiting for her to slay it. She never kept in mind how many had she killed, or how long had she have been swinging her sword and spilling blood. She didn't even mind where she was and how she got there especially at this moment where she found herself in the middle of a desert where an endless number of hollows and arrancars appear out of nowhere. This was how her life works, an endless battle of life and death.
But it was what she needed. A place where she could get stronger, and a place that would remind her that if she continued to become the weak person she was before, then she might as well be killed.
She grasped her sword and wiped the blood stain on it with her left hand as she sensed another arrancar coming from behind her.
"Ignite, Amaterasu."
The second her mouth stopped moving, her blade transformed into flames and she flash stepped behind the enemy who was charging to attack behind her back.
"What a coward, planning on attacking a lady unprepared?" She whispered mockingly at the enemy's ear before slashing its back and bursting it into flames.
The arrancar fell on its knees and screamed painfully as the fire slowly swallowed it whole.
"Damn you shinigami! You're gonna pay! And I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" The arrancar shouted, desperately trying to charge towards the woman.
"You're a hundred years too early for someone like you to kill me you lowlife. And by the way, that's EX-shinigami for you." The woman said out of boredom, placing the the tip of her sword, which returned to its original form, on the sand using it for support as she made no move towards the approaching arrancar in flames.
"Bye bye." She waved her hand lazily, expecting the enemy to turn into ashes in any moment. But suddenly she felt something fall on her face coming from the sky.
She scowled, touching something wet on her forehead and by the time she faced heavenward she blinked at the droplets of water touching her face and falling everywhere.
"Shit."
Immediately, she returned her gaze to her opponent, shocked at the turn of events after all it was the first time she experienced rainfall on a desert. The arrancar wasn't in front of her anymore and the rain really wasn't helping her sight the enemy.
Suddenly she felt a disturbance on the rain on her right side, and after a second a deadly punch almost hit her if she hadn't dodged immediately.
"Double shit." She muttered unconsciously at the sight her enemy. The arrancar was now fully healed, the wound on its back has recovered and there wasn't even a trace of burnt on its hideous body because of the sudden rainfall.
"Rain plus regeneration. How lucky." She said sarcastically positioning herself to finish it off when suddenly her hand felt empty.
The arrancar laughed boisterously as he held her zanpakutou, swinging it repeatedly on the rain.
"Looking for this? I didn't know you shinigamis were this stupid! This time I will be the one killing you!"
Triple shit. Way to go, I truly picked the perfect time to be stupid. And now I'm being ridiculed by this idiot. The woman thought grudgingly to herself. She wiped the rain on her face and sighed.
"That's it. Time to finish this off before my zanpakutou kills me for forgetting her. Now, mind if I show you how to kill someone like you bare-handed?"
Before the arrancar even had the chance to answer, the woman disappeared in front of him. He held the sword tightly, anticipating for the shinigami's attack and using the rain to sense her but unfortunately the woman was too fast for his own good.
Her fist came flying in front of him so fast that the only thing the arrancar was able to process was the cracking of his mask at the extreme force that hit him and the red liquid that was falling across his eyes. After half a second another punch hit him on the head and this time he felt its aftershock. He choked his own breath because of the tremendous pain but despite all of that he took the chance to lock in place the shinigami's arm with his left hand.
"Ha! I finally caught you damn shinigami!" He yelled as he pierced the woman's zanpaktou through her body but the sword came to a sudden halt.
The woman held the blade with both of her hands causing it to bleed yet she was unaffected by it.
"I want to thank you for returning my sword." She smiled at the arrancar who was frozen in fear and in the verge of death. "And I truly hope that this is our last farewell.
Ignite, Amaterasu."
In the sight of the arrancar, the last thing that he saw was the perfect image of hell. It burned like hell and it hurt like hell as well. As soon as the woman released her shikai, her copper red hair burned like fire and her eyes were fiery gold. The sight caused him immobility, disabling him to take his hands off the handle of the burning zanpakutou.
And even under the endless rain, her fire burned like hell.
The rain didn't stand a chance against her wrath.
The arrancar could barely speak as the fire enveloped him. He would want to at least know the name of the person who killed him, the person who killed an ex-espada who treated their battle as easy as playing a game.
"What is your name shinigami?"
The woman watched her enemy fall beneath her and for a second, she hesitated if it was right to give her name or not.
Though, after having a debate in her mind, she let her conscience win over her even if it means giving the name she cursed and hated the most. After all, it was that name which caused her to live a miserable life. It was the name that caused her heart to ache every time she remembers it.
"Akane. I am Yamamoto Akane."
With her last words, the ex-espada turned into ashes and it became one with the sands of the desert. The rain showed no sign of stopping, leaving her to suffer in pain that the rain was giving her.
"Forgive me arrancar, I lied. I said I shall kill you without my sword yet in the end, I broke my word. It's all because I hated the rain so much that I let my anger conquer my mind. Forgive me."
She looked heavenwards, feeling the rain kiss her face and making her feel helpless and weak. She despised the rain so much and upon looking at the dark sky, the midnight rain pierced through her heart and she felt her world stop for a second, letting her hand drop her sword.
Suddenly she lost the ability to breath and she felt as if the rain was drowning her with endless pain. She fell on her knees, and she desperately and blindly looked for her zanpakutou and as soon as she got a hold of Amaterasu she clenched its blade with all her might to replace the pain of her heart with the pain of her wound. After that she found herself choking for her life wondering what the hell happened but she herself already knew the answer to her question.
Her grandfather was hurt.
Other than that she knew nothing more, except the fact that the excruciating pain she just felt was the exact pain her grandfather's suffering right now.
Author's note:
AKANE -Japanese name meaning brilliant red.
About akane's zanpakutou:
AMATERASU: Japanese name composed of the elements ama "heaven, sky" and terasu "to shine," hence "shining over heaven." In mythology, this is the name of a sun goddess who rules the heavens.
Hey fanfiction and bleach peeps! Just wanted you to know that if you reached up to here, I truly appreciate and thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my first ever fanfiction. I don't even know if it's worth the read but anyway, please don't be harsh on me and please constructive criticism only. Please Don't break my poor writer's heart! Ahahaha xD I'm too addicted to bleach and I am planning on continuing this whether people are reading this or not because bleach gave me too much of a hangover and I am desperately in need of releasing it all through this fanfic. Again thanks thanks thanks for your time and if it's not much of a bother please review! :)