Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach
Rating T (I guess, I'm never good at determining this stuff…
Mini author note:
"Hollow" – normal talking in the outside world (anywhere other than Isshin's inner world) and Isshin talking inside the his inner world
'Hollow' – thinking
'Hollow'– Zanpakutou talking to shinigami while the shinigami is in the outside world. Zanpakutou thinking in the inner world.
"Hollow" –Zanpakutou talking.
(Hope this wasn't too confusing, roll for it!)
Chapter two – Mean-man
The shockwaves ripped the small shop to shreds, scattering large chunks of walls in all directions, and lifting up a huge cloud of dust.
Isshin gripped Engetsu with both his hands, waiting for his opponent to give herself away.
It happened in a flash – one moment, he was standing concealed in the cloud of dust, the second, he was blasted away by an intense flow of reiatsu – its push rivaling the one he put in the Getsuga that blew apart the shop. The blast sent him flying a good hundred feet through the air. As he landed on his feet, he saw that the dust cloud – and the charred ground they were standing a moment ago – were sliced.
Through the gap in the cloud, like looking through a tear, Isshin saw Saeko's frowning face, and her always beautiful figure in a battle-ready stance. Her Shihakushō was opened slightly, and as such, was quite revealing. The shadows surrounding her moved like a wild tide, surging forward, pitch black – like the color of her hair – to the point where Isshin couldn't even see the ground where the shadow fell. Should he be unfortunate enough to step on one of those, he would experience a whole other world of nasty, Isshin knew.
But the risks did nothing to quell his reckless nature, as he grinned in joy, as he held his Engetsu up to his eyes, parodying the European En Garde. He kissed the broad side of the blade, despite hearing Engetsu's protests.
"You know, sweetheart, you're really pushing it here. See, I ain't really into fighting girls." With a deadpan expression, she simply noted.
"Tell that to that hollow you killed yesterday."
"Hey, I resent that! If there's a mask on their face, they don't qualify – besides, how did you know it was me?"
"We checked the location of all Zero's in Japan. When the search came out negative, someone remembered a stolen pendulant. Add two and two together…"
The shadows at her feet burst outwards, devouring everything that they fell on. Isshin jumped into air, out of their reach.
"So it only got me a day at most?"
She shunpo-ed after him.
"What, you have to get on top of me to use shadows in midair?" Isshin commented. "If getting on top was all that you wanted, all you had to do was ask." Ha added with a sly smirk.
She sheathed her zanpakutou.
"What, giving up on using Kagemaru?"
Her left hand grasped the sheath. Her right hand firmly held the hilt of the sheathed Kagemaru. Just as Isshin was about to taunt her, he felt searing pain across his chest.
Blood gushed through the huge gash that opened across his chest. He pressed his hand on the wound, in a futile attempt to stem the flow of the precious life fluid that rapidly escaped him.
He bent over and plummeted to the ground.
The woman, Busujima Saeko walked up to him. Her blade was still sheathed.
"Fuck…" Isshin cursed as he coughed blood. "Bitch, that was Iai no jutsu, wasn't it? A special…" he paused to cough, "one of the special battle styles the Zeroes employ…" He tried to stand up. His Shihakushō was soaked with blood. Finally he succeeded his attempts, rising to his knees, using Engetsu for support.
"The truth was, Zero Squad's Second already knew you were somewhere in this city. Don't ask me how."
Isshin frowned.
'Engetsu… can you do me a favor? Put a bit more juice into the next Getsuga.' He could feel the zanpakutou silently agreeing. A small tug inside of his soul signaled that the blade has began the process.
Now he had to bide for time.
"So that's what made you the Fourteenth?" He asked through his bloody grin. Isshin could still feel intense pain in his chest, which skyrocketed every time he would breathe in, as the cut-through ribs moved. "I figured that reiatsu alone wouldn't be enough to be the leader of the Guardsmen."
Her usually beautiful face twisted into a mask of rage.
"Fuck the Guardsmen! I will become a Zero one day!" She took a deep breath, regaining her composure. "A deserter like yourself wouldn't understand… But look at it this way. I bring them either you or your head, and my record list will be perfect! As soon as one of the Zeroes would kick the bucket, I, I would become the Thirteenth!" Her eyes seamed to glimmer from her fanaticism. "I will serve the ultimate being, The Soul King!" Her mouth stretched, revealing her white teeth, as the corners of her lips twisted upward into a grizzly grin.
"Sounds like…" Isshin coughed blood "…like you have yourself quite a plan there."
She crouched down, then with her left hand grasped Engetsu's hilt, her hand over Isshin's. Deep inside of Isshin's mind, Engetsu grumbled, annoyed with this, but continued to do as Isshin had told him earlier.
With her right hand, she cupped his chin, and leaned forward, kissing him on the lips. As she pulled away, Isshin closed his eyes.
"I believe that we should end this here and now. That little stunt of yours with blowing up the shop got my hair all messy… and I also need a shower."
Without opening his eyes, Isshin grinned.
"I agree – and I accept your surrender."
She tried to slap him, but he caught her hand.
"Your Iai wasn't that sharp, girlie. If it was, there'd be two Isshins here now instead of one."
She went for her sword, grabbing the hilt. Her eyes finally noticed the change in Engetsu's blade texture – were it was once metallic, it was now starting to glow in a scorching white light.
She tried to pull away, but Isshin held her firmly.
'How could I not notice something like that?' she thought to herself, somewhat panicky.
Isshin seemed to have read her thoughts.
"That's because you were too busy making out!" he swung his blade upwards, out of the ground that it's tip was embedded in. "Getsuga Tenshou!"
O-O-O
(Roughly fifteen minutes later)
Saeko was lying on the ground. Both of her hands were scorched and bloody. Her zanpakutou, Kagemaru, was lying next to her. Already, police and firefighters were at the scene, but since they possessed no reiatsu, they couldn't see her there.
She bit her lip, remembering how the fight ended.
'That shithead… He was weaker than me, and he used that to get the upper hand. Fuck…' she felt tears of humiliation roll down her cheeks. 'How could I have been so stupid, oh Lord?' She asked herself. Her 'Lord', or Soul King, would surely reject her for her failure now. She picked up her zanpakutou, Kagemaru, and resealed it.
'He didn't even aim at me… not for one second.' The scorching of her hands was resulted by the superheating of the atmosphere as the crescent moon-like blast moved through it. 'You got me good, asshole, but letting me live will come back and bite you… I promise…'
As she finally managed to stand up, she stumbled away from the battlefield, unaware of the black cat that observed her with those piercing yellow eyes. Once the woman of the Royal Guard had disappeared from view, the cat waved its tail, than sniffed the air. Picking up the scent it was interested in, the cat jumped into the air, at breakneck speeds.
Several firefighters that were searching through the rubble for survivors shouted in surprise.
…
In a day or to, the city of Karakura had a new urban legend – the flying cats. Some even speculated that, since according to unofficial reports, the authorities that were at the scene failed to acquire any concrete evidence of what caused the explosion, that the cat was actually an emissary of destruction, sent from the other side of life by the gods – or God, depending on the personal beliefs of people telling those stories – to forewarn and/or cause the disaster, as a punishment of the divine.
O-O-O
(Tomorrow, noon, in a motel)
"YOU…!" Urahara exclaimed, "YOU OWE ME A NEW SHOP!"
However, if he had expected Isshin to pay up, or anything, he was gravely mistaking. The Royal Guard renegade in question wasn't even interested in showing an ounce of regret, and was currently engaged in tuning out the shopkeeper, as he lay on Urahara's couch. Finally, realizing that his date with miss beautiful in dreamland would have to be postponed, Isshin lifted himself in a seated position and lit his cigarette. After a moment, he looked up back at Urahara, who was now coughing from the stench of the cigarette.
"It's your own fault, Geta-bōshi." He let out another puff of smoke. "You're the one that let that woman into your shop."
"Did not!"
"Anyway…" He stopped to take another strong puff at his cigarette than, after he tossed the used-up cigarette butt out the window – an act Urahara strongly protested – Isshin lit a second – an act Urahara protested to even harder, to the same result. "Besides, don't you have somewhere to be?"
To this Urahara face-palmed.
"This is my apartment." He stated with a deadpan expression.
To this, Isshin quickly stood up.
"That's my que to leave!" he said, quickly proceeding to the window and jumping out.
Urahara went after him, but when he got to the window, he just shouted after him.
"We're not done here, you and I!" The moment Isshin turned around and gave him a thumbs up, Urahara slumped down to the ground, leaning on the wall.
"I just had to jinx it… haven't I…?" he whispered out.
O-O-O
(Meanwhile, at the edge of town, at the bank of the river)
Busujima Saeko finally managed to get to the water's edge, beneath the large bridge. Pulling out her zanakutou, she walked into the river, until she was waist deep.
She stabbed the water.
"Kurozumu… Kagemaru." Saeko sent her shadows onto the river.
Seconds passed, but then, finally, the waters of the river began to bubble and hiss, as a figure emerged in a cloud of steam, as the waters parted. Despite being in pain, she got down on her knee.
"Aivas Tlamunus… It's an honor to work with you, Ajax-sama." The man wore a standard Shihakushō, but over it, he had a white, sleeveless haori with the kanji symbol 'zero' on his back. In body, he was truly enormous – a giant among men, towering over the rest of his comrades of Zero Squad, a seven feet tall monster that could easily overpower lesser foes with his shear bodily strength alone, never mind reiatsu. On his back, he carried a large black spear, too heavy to be lifted by normal people. Seeing his subordinate and temporary partner wounded, he frowned, as a dissatisfied look crept into his eyes.
"To think that a Fourteenth could lose to a Fifteenth, no matter how crafty he is, is truly disappointing." Saeko couldn't make herself look him in the eyes. Here, standing before her was one of the legendary Zeroes – and until now has regarded her for a partner – and was now looking at her in disappointment. She cringed, expecting a punishment of the divine to descent on her.
It never came.
As she looked up, she noticed that Ajax has taken his massive black spear in hand.
"Let's go, Poseidon no yari." Her eyes widened, as she realized that he just spoke the name of the holly zanpakutou that was the weapon of the Thirteenth – one of the champions of the Holly Zero Squad, whom answered to the Soul King and Soul King alone. She began to tremble, as religious zeal overtook her.
"Take my blood, should you please so, holly Zero…" She could feel his gaze on her, as she fell on her arms and knees, holding her head mere inches from the muddy riverbed. As seconds passed, she awaited her sentence.
To her surprise, she felt the butt end of the spear on her burnt arm. As the weapon made contact with her skin, it coated her arm in water, which in turn glowed faintly, than evaporated, leaving behind her arm unscathed, and her skin completely recovered. As soon as the process was complete, Aivas Tlamunus, or Ajax, as he was more commonly known – and demanded to be addressed as such – quickly proceeded to rejuvenate her other arm.
"Can't have a wounded… only slow me down that way…" she heard him mutter.
"Stand up." This was no request – this was an order. She stood up, while avoiding eye contact.
'Fanatics… You'll be hearing from me about this… Royal Sōtaicho-sama…' Ajax thought to himself, thoroughly annoyed by his partner's behavior. 'This has your name written all over it, Achilles… you asshole.'
He turned around and, with a swing of his arm, sealed his zanpakutou. The now sheathed blade resembled a regular katana, but its guard was decorated like a flower – to Ajax's great dismay. He stabbed the air, and waited for five seconds before taking off his silver pendulant and pressing it into the zanpakutou's hilt, while sending his reiatsu in bursts of varying strength, thus creating an encrypted password only the Zeroes knew – ordinary Guardsmen would have to wait until the engineers of the Royal Palace open it's gates to allow them in. Saeko silently gasped, as the air parted, revealing blinding orange light, bathing them both in its glow. Once Ajax stepped inside, she quickly followed, not wanting to be left behind.
Unbeknown to both of them, however, was that on the other side of the river, concealed by the shadow of an old oak, one man observed them the whole time. As he stepped outside of the shadow, his uniform, as white as the snows of the Himalayas peeks, glimmered in the midday sun, putting to shame his equally white hair.
A black cat walked up to his feet.
Ishida Sōken reached down and petted it. The cat growled in discomfort, than tried to bite the man's fingers.
"I'm sorry my tiny friend, but you know me, I can't resist small and furry animals."
The cat growled again.
"Pet me again, and I swear I'll bite off your finger, ol' man." The cat replied, not pleased at all. "Enough with your shenanigans geezer, we got bigger problems to deal with."
Sōken nodded, he has seen the symbol on that giant's back.
"My sensei spoke of Zeroes, as he had learned from his sensei, and his sensei learned it from his sensei… but never had I dreamed I would live to see one up close."
"You call that up close?" The cat teased.
"Closer that I would ever like…" The Quincy replied with a chuckle. He knew that the moment an unknown shinigami had appeared in town that something like this would happen, that Soul Society would send its troops after the deserter – and that both he and his unruly son would have to go into hiding, but… Should the legendary champions that surpass even the captains of Gotei 13 decide to do battle in the city, odds were that both Karakura and Tokyo would end up whipped out from the face of the Earth, along with a good portion of everything in the surrounding area of Japan's capitol.
"I don't like where this is heading, my furry companion. I have to talk some sense into that son of mine."
The cat gave him a puzzled look.
"He's hell-bent on tracking down the deserter, for what purpose I don't know. But if he continues, he will undoubtedly run into those monsters."
The cat nodded, then jumped into the air, instantly flying across the width of the river, effortlessly.
Sōken looked in the direction his tiny friend had gone.
"And there you go again, dropping by without a word's notice, than disappearing into nowhere, never bothering to even say goodbye…" he took off his glasses and wiped them with a handkerchief. "Such an unreliable cat, he is… I'll make sure I let him know that the next time I see him." He said with a smile.
O-O-O
During all that time, Isshin was wasting time in a local bar, drinking his seventeenth beer that day, the cute looking waitress was sitting next to him, every now and then giving nervous glances to the counter, where her boss was. Despite her uneasiness, she had nothing to worry about – Isshin was the bar's most profitable customer, and he would always drink more when there were ladies with him. The boss was undoubtedly already trying to guess the final number that would be on Isshin's bill, barely resisting the urge to rub his palms together, as nonexistent dollar signs filled his entire vision.
There was singing. There was joy. There was vomit, but let's forget that.
All in all, a fine three-hour pastime in the life of one Kurosaki Isshin. He was going through the eighteenth bottle, when he saw someone stand in front of him.
"Buddy… Ya'r standin' in ma sun… Move it." Ishin said, earning himself a raised eyebrow of the person that stood in next to the table. Isshin squinted his eyes to better see the person's face through his drunken haze.
"You're in a bar. There's no sun in this corner."
A woman.
That alone beckoned a second attempt.
She had wavy, neck long orange hair, and striking brown eyes. She seemed to be frowning.
"Hey, hey… babe, wadya say you sit by good ol'Issh*hick*, eh?" He moved aside on the bench and patted on it, calling for her to sit down.
A second later, he found that his drunken haze had lifted, along with the fact that he was now staring at the ceiling, in a somewhat unnatural angle, and that his cheek was burning.
"Wasit*hick* was it some'ing I sai*hick* - I need a glass of wat*hick*er – something I said?"
Somehow managing to understand his drunken speech, the woman next to him handed him a glass of water, though not entirely sure it would do him much good.
Isshin spilled the cold water on his head.
"Now… What was that all about?"
So, the woman next to him started explaining.
O-O-O
"I don't believe it!" The girl muttered in anger, as she walked outside the bar and further down the street. "Are all of them such jerks? This is the last time I bothered with those asses that call themselves shinigami." She knew a gigai when she saw one.
This guy was even worse than the local shinigami in charge of defending Karakura. The local shinigami would always go and say something along the line of "don't tell me how to do my job, go play with your dolls, girlie". Jerks, all of them.
But, that did leave her with the problem. And the problem's name was Hollow – five Hollows, to be precise. She had to guess the later since, though her abilities to see the spiritual were strong, seeing both Hollows and shinigami was out of her visual spectrum.
'Those things are just hovering above…' She thought to herself, fighting the instinct that overtook her every cell, making every fiber of her being scream to stay still, to show no sign that she can sense the Hollows presence.
'If I just pretend, I'll live, but whose life will be traded for mine?' She wouldn't allow that to happen. Pushing aside all of her worries, she looked up in the direction of the Hollows, without trying to hide what she was doing. Seconds later, the monsters plummeted from the air like dive-bombers.
'Run Masaki, run!' She thought to herself jokingly, as she darted through a narrow alley that lead between the buildings. The first Hollow, the one that looked like a big flying bat with a head in the shape of a pterodactyl's, only with horns, tried to follow her, but judging from the dust cloud that was just created and the big chipping on the sides of the buildings, the Hollow was too big to fit in, and was now hopelessly stuck, at least for the time being, screaming at the top of its lungs.
Masaki let out a victorious laugh, only to jump out of the way instinctively, as a winged cheetah-like, tailless Hollow spat a foul fluid that instantly burned through the ground where she stood not a second ago.
'I do NOT want that in my hair, damn it!' She continued to run, past the garbage container, past the fire escape of one of the buildings… Her heart was pounding, as the adrenaline coursed through her oxygen-enriched bloodstream. Not even trying to look at what was behind her, she ran for the opening between the two buildings that lead to the street that ran parallel to the one she escaped from.
A murky shadow that seemed to be suspended in midair blocked the exit.
Masaki jumped, and dived through a small gap of clear air that was close to the ground – right between the Hollow's legs. Not even a half a second later, she heard the sound of concrete shattering, as the Hollow's fist slammed into the ground.
"Damn, that was close!" 'Why don't I ever think these things through?'
Suddenly, the clear air that was around her darkened to a murky shade of grayish brown – she was surrounded. Like a cornered animal, Masaki was franticly looking for an exit.
The shadowy figures moved closer.
She could smell the stench of their foul breath.
In her ears, she could hear their cries for flesh.
THERE!
She quickly noticed a small gap between the two shadows, one that resembled the cheetah-like creature from before, the other resembling a towering gorilla/alligator hybrid.
'JUMP NOW!'
She jumped.
Her vision turned dark, as one of the monster's fist hit her across the back, slamming her against the pavement.
She somehow managed to get back on her knees. A hand big enough to wrap around her whole torso grabbed her and picked her up.
"Playing with me, aren't you?" She muttered out. "Fine, but this mouse can bite back!"
And bite she did.
Sinking her teeth into the murky air that surrounded her, she heard the satisfying yell of the monster that thought she would make an easy meal.
The monster started to shake his hand violently, trying to make her let go. Once it realized she was only biting harder, the monster swung its arm, throwing her against a wall.
Masaki let out a yelp of pain, as her body collided with the solid surface of the wall.
She tried to get up, but her vision was still dark, her breathing heavy, and from the pain in the chest that she felt with every breath she took, some of her ribs were broken too. Blood was trickling down her face.
"Hummie still moving?" with a deep voice, one of the Hollows spoke. He looked like a bipedal gecko.
"It twitches! It twitches!" the other one spoke in excitement. It was the one that reminded her of a cheetah with wings.
"Where Bigga?" the third asked. This one looked like someone crossbreed a dodo bird with a lemur.
"Wall stuck." The fourth one answered. That was the gorilla-gator.
'Ah, that's just great… Can't believe I'm gonna die to a bunch of braindeads.' Again she tried to get back up to her knees.
"We eat? We eat?" The cheetah asked.
"Rip limbs off. Than eat. She no run." The gorilla-gator answered.
"No! No! Take too long! Eat now!"
"It take not too long! We rip!"
The gecko slapped them both.
"It moving away! You stupid. Kill now!" he said pointing at Masaki, who was now doing her best to crawl way while the Hollows were bickering.
The other Hollows nodded.
"Kill."
"Kill!"
"Kill! Kill!"
The Dodo-lemur grabbed her by the legs, pulling her up and looked her in the eyes.
"Pretty… Pretty lady…" The beak of its mask opened, as its head moved forward, in an attempt to bite her head off.
…
The hollow suddenly started coughing. As its whole body started to violently shake, the creature dropped Masaki, who fell to the ground.
"What wrong?" Asked the gorilla-gator, eying Masaki, wondering whether or not to grab her immediately or help his friend.
The dodo-lemur's eyes were tearing, as the monster struggled for breath.
"What wrong you?" The gecko asked impatiently.
Suddenly, instinctively, they felt someone watching them.
"Who there?" The gorilla-gator yelled. Its eyes widened, as Isshin stepped out of the shadows.
"Shinigami! Shinigami!" The cheetah squealed.
"Just one though." The gecko commented. "You do that?" It said, pointing at the dodo-lemur, who by now was on his knees, both hands gripping the neck, as it violently shook, now desperate for oxygen.
"I just popped a stone down his throat, that's all."
"Liear! Liear!"
"You mean liar? That's not very polite you know."
"When? When?"
"While he was commenting on the beauty of this girl – when else?" Isshin said, shrugging. "Oh, and by the way, your buddy that was stuck? He won't be joining us. I think he lost his head along the way."
Isshin drew his zanpakutou.
"Kill?" Asked the gecko.
"Kill! Kill!" Said the cheetah, as acid began dripping from the corners of its mouth, burning into the concrete pavement that it stood on.
"Kill." Answered the gorilla-gator, then grabbed the dodo-lemur and applied a Heimlich Maneuver. The dodo-lemur spat out the rock.
The dodo-lemur gave Isshin a look full of malice.
"We kill."
Isshin smirked, and lifted Engetsu in front of his face.
"En garde…" he said, assuming a parody of a proper fencer.
That was when the Hollows noticed his shoulder protector. Somewhere deep inside their underdeveloped peanut-sized brains, it sparked a response. A second later, they recognized it.
"Guard?"
"Guard."
"Guard! Guard!"
"Aaaahhh… Shit."
In a burst of reiatsu, it was all over.
O-O-O
She was coming to.
"Easy there beautiful. You got hit pretty badly by that truck."
She tried to sit up, but the pain coursing through her body made her lie back down.
"Where am I?" She looked around the room. All clean and white.
"Where would you be? It's a hospital." The man replied.
She tried to take a good look at him. He was tall, taller than her, and had spiky jet-black hair. Once he turned around, she noticed his cleanly shaved face, and a pair of dark brown eyes that looked back at her. There was something menacing about them, those eyes of his. 'Hey, Mean-man…' she remembered him.
"I remember you… You're that drunken shinigami at the bar, right?"
Isshin's eyebrows rose up.
"A Shinigami? That truck must've hit you harder that the good doc thought."
"But there where there creatures, Hollows…!"
"Hollo- what? Why do you say that word as if you're describing something alive? Look, I'm calling the doc. Wait here."
Masaki looked at him surprised. Was he serious? And then it all clicked in.
"You aren't here on Soul Society business, are you? You're not supposed to be in this town, am I right?"
Isshin looked over his shoulder.
Masaki swallowed down hard. She knew the only thing that that look could mean – he was debating with himself whether or not to kill her right there. Just as soon as it came, the killing intent in his eyes disappeared. As he turned to leave, Isshin shrugged and pulled out his pack of cigarettes, and lit one of the cigarettes. After taking in a deep breath, he started walking towards the door of the room.
"Thank, Mean-man." He looked over his shoulder again. This time, his eyes reflected mirth, as his newfound nickname amused him.
"What did you call me?" He asked, raising his eyebrow.
"I can tell… you know… what a person's like."
He reached for the doorknob.
"And I'm the mean boogeyman, right?" He opened the door and steeped out. As he looked back inside, he gave her a smile. "You're welcome, beautiful." With a smirk, he closed the door and headed down the hallway.
"Hey mister!" one of the hospital employees called out to him. "You're not allowed to smoke in a hospit-" he yelped, as Isshin just pushed him to the side as he walked past him.
"Bite me."
O-O-O
(Meanwhile, back inside the hospital room)
Masaki blushed slightly, once the door closed. Only then did she remember she had forgotten to ask for his name.
'Thanks… Mean-man. I know what you are. I know what kind of a man you are.' She thought to herself, as she looked down on the cast around her right arm. In all the excitement, she didn't even notice that she had broken it. 'I know you'd kill a man for wronging you in an instant. But you have your good points, too. Take care, okay?'
She smiled as she looked at the window, and enjoyed the rays of sun that bathed her, enjoyed the fact that she lived to see another day.
Masaki wondered if she'd ever get a chance to meet him again.
'See ya around… Mean-man.'
O-O-O
A/N: Hey! It's done! Hope you enjoyed it.
Explanations:
Kurozumu, Kagemaru – Darken, Shadow Ring
Iai no jutsu – Quick-draw technique
Poseidon no yari – Poseidon's spear
Till next time! Yours truly:
~KuroiTori-sama
PS: Reviews are nice. They don't take more than a minute or two to write, but have the power to brighten up the writer's day tenfold. So, please review.