Sorry for the late update. I was out of town for a week and unable to get to a computer long enough to update. But, I hope you will enjoy this chapter. It is the second to last chapter in the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or its characters. I only have my OCs.
Renji's eyes widened in pure, unrestrained shock at the sight before him. His mind still hadn't fully registered what had happened yet. He had seen Tousen swing the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. He had heard Kagami scream his name. Renji remembered feeling Kagami shove him to the right, using every ounce of her strength to move him. There had been the clattering sound of metal as her zanpakuto fell to the ground. Now, Kagami was on the ground, her blood drenching the soil beneath her body. She had been cut nearly in half by Tousen's attack. Renji knelt beside her and lifted her upper body, his hand supporting her head.
"What the hell, Kagami?" Renji demanded angrily. He'd wanted to keep her from dying in this battle, not be the cause of her death!
"I already lost Shuhei. I couldn't let him kill you too," she answered, her voice considerably weaker. She gripped the fabric of Renji's kosode tightly, as though unwilling to leave this world yet. Her blood was quickly seeping into his shihakusho and Renji could see tears forming in her eyes.
"You're an idiot! What about Kira and Hinamori?"
"I said my goodbyes and apologies."
"I'm getting you to the Fourth Division," Renji insisted with a scowl. Inside, he could feel an empty hole forming in the pit of his stomach. It pained him to see Kagami in this state. She chuckled weakly in response to his statement.
"You know it's too late for that. I've got minutes, at best. Renji, listen to me."
"If this is a dying wish-"
"It is, so shut up and listen. You have to kill Tousen, and make sure you don't die in the process. I poisoned him, but it won't be enough to kill him, just slow him down. Use that to your advantage. If you can't do that, I will find you when we are born in the Mortal World and kick your ass," she answered.
"You're just going to give up like this?" Renji yelled.
"I don't have much choice." Kagami's eyes drifted to stare over Renji's shoulder and a weak smile crossed pulled at her pale lips. "I can see Shuhei…" Renji watched as the light left her eyes and her grip loosened on his kosode. Kagami's hand fell listlessly to her body.
"Kagami!" Renji scowled, his body trembling in anger. The Bankai form of Zabimaru was winding around the two Soul Reapers, as though it was just waiting to attack the one who had angered its master. "Dammit! You idiot. Why didn't you let me save you for once?" Renji carefully set Kagami's body on the ground and shut her eyes with his hand. As he stood, gripping the hilt of Zabimaru tightly, her body began to disintegrate into pale blue particles of spiritual energy.
"It looks like you were very fortunate, Lieutenant Abarai," Tousen said, a kind of smugness in his tone.
"You bastard," Renji hissed and lifted Zabimaru's hilt. As he brought it back down, the snake lurched forward at a faster speed than usual. Tousen disappeared from sight, easily evading the attack. Renji glanced around in search of the former captain, his mind running a mile a minute. He glanced back down at Kagami's broken sword and he felt like an unbearable weight had been placed on his chest.
"Kagami wouldn't have had to die in such a degrading fashion if she had just followed in the path of justice."
Renji attacked again, furious at Tousen's words. Kagami would have been disgraced to be thrown into the world her treacherous captain had walked amidst. His rage was fueling him and he wasn't thinking quite as clearly as she should have been. Tousen had always found a way to avoid his attacks. This time, he had disappeared and Renji couldn't see where the traitor had gone. From behind, he heard a crazed battle cry and turned just as a bloodied spear head struck the hair beside him. The wielder was none other than Ikkaku Madarame, Third Seat of the Eleventh Division. He was a bald man who was always ready for a fight.
"You're losing it, Abarai," he said with a smirk. "He was right behind you." Renji looked forward again to see Tousen, now sporting a bloodied shoulder from Ikkaku's attack. He could also see a thin slice on Tousen's cheek, along with a trail of blood, and briefly wondered if that was also Ikkaku's doing or Kagami's.
"You're one to talk," the red-haired Soul Reaper retorted. Ikkaku glanced at the ground beneath Renji's feet and saw the blood-stained earth and broken sword. He also noticed the blood that soaked the front of Renji's shihakusho.
"He already hit you?"
"No." Ikkaku simply shrugged, not caring to hear the full story. He could get it later. Now was the time to fight.
"Let's go after him before our captains show up," he suggested with an excited grin.
"Watch out for that sword. It'll cut you in half," Renji warned. All he could think of was Kagami's death. She'd saved his life at the cost of her own, just as Hisagi had done for her.
Ikkaku grinned. "I like a challenge."
He was the first to move, running straight for Tousen. The dark-skinned man raised his sword, but missed the Soul Reaper as he used shunpo. When Tousen turned around, he could hear the spear tip of Hozukimaru swiping through the air. With a simple step back, he easily evaded the attack, but heard another attack approaching. Renji had unleashed the wrath of Zabimaru on the blind warrior. Tousen disappeared from sight to avoid the attack.
"Your combined power cannot stop me, cannot stand in the way of justice," Tousen said, reappearing behind Ikkaku. The bald Soul Reaper slashed at him, but narrowly missed again.
"Why don't you stop running like a coward and we'll se?"
Renji watched as Tousen reappeared, this time farther away. The red-haired Soul Reaper knew brute strength alone wouldn't defeat Tousen. They would either need a plan, or an inescapable attack. Ideally, Renji could have used Kagami to hold Tousen in place while he attacked. Even then, defeating the traitor would be difficult. Now, it was that much harder. Renji knew he would need to back Tousen into a corner if he wanted any chance at killing Tousen and fulfilling Kagami's dying wish.
"I'm not running. You're simply too slow." Renji's eyes widened as he saw Tousen raise the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.
"Move, Madarame!" he yelled. Ikkaku leapt into the air as Tousen swung the blade, barely evading the gust of wind that cleanly sliced a piece of fabric from his sleeve. Ikkaku stared down at the cut sleeve, obviously surprised by the power of that strike.
"You weren't kidding," he muttered as he moved to stand beside Renji. "What the hell kind of sword is that?"
"A legendary one. We need to slow him down."
"Any ideas how?"
"Not yet."
"Then my way will work for now!" Ikkaku yelled as he ran forward, Hozukimaru's spear tip thirsting for Tousen's blood.
To Renji's surprise, Tousen moved a second too late and his other shoulder was sliced by Ikkaku's attack. I couldn't have been a fluke, Renji reasoned. Tousen didn't make careless mistakes like that. Renji swung his zanpakuto and Zabimaru's skeletal head dove for Tousen. Again, he was barely grazed by the attack. Kagami's poison must have started working and was gradually slowing Tousen's movements.
Tousen swung the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi again, but now Renji knew what was coming. He easily leapt out of the way of the deadly gust and brought Zabimaru down on Tousen again. The traitor was able to escape unscathed this time and reappeared a good distance away from the Renji and Ikkaku. Tousen began raising the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.
"It's time to end this," a deep, authoritative voice answered and Renji whirled around to see his captain, Byakuya Kuchiki. "Bankai."
Next Monday will bring the final chapter in "A Rose That Won't Bloom". Please R&R and let me know what you think of it all. :)