Chapter 7

Day 5
"Bankai? Are you serious? That would take years to achieve, and even longer to learn to control it properly. I don't even know where to begin."

"Well, for starters, why don't you call me by my full name?"

I laughed a bit at that.

"Now that would take even longer. Can't you just settle for 'Jikan'?" I said sarcastically.

"I'm serious Saidō! Why aren't you being serious?"

I laid back against a wall and tried to relax a little in this hellhole.

"Don't worry Jikan, we're not going anywhere and we have all the time in-"

"Wrong."

That scared me. I instantly jumped to my feet to face whoever it was this new voice had come from. It was strange; I didn't even sense any spiritual pressure.

Then I spotted him.

On top of a hill, there he was; a soul reaper by the looks of it. He wore a cloak which must have somehow hidden his spiritual pressure. He wore a hood that covered his face. Even though I didn't feel his presence, my instincts told me that he was most likely an enemy.

"Who are you?"

"It's doesn't matter."

Looking more and more like an enemy.

"I'm assuming you know why I'm here."

I noticed he was about to reach for his zanpakutō. Strike two.

"Yes, you're here to lend me a hand, ain't that right?" I said sarcastically, grasping the hilt of Jikan.

"Ah, we have a comedian here. Well that's too bad. I wish your friends were comedians too, then killing them

would have been a lot more funny." He ended it with a twisted grin.

I fell to my knees. From the way he spoke, I didn't think he was bluffing. Aiko, Orihime, Chad, everyone, dead.

I couldn't believe they were all killed by this mysterious stranger.

He will pay for this.

I rushed at him head on with flash step and drew out Jikan. I swung out full force against the soul reaper, but to no avail; he easily countered it with his own zanpakutō.

We both exchanged swing for swing, with his growing stronger with each strike. We locked swords for a few
seconds, but he repelled me several yards with ease.

As I tried to catch my breath and prepare for the next strike, I realized that he was no doubt stronger than me in zanjutsu. He could probably even take on a captain of Soul Society. But it was possible that I might have the advantage when it came to Kidō.

I put several yards between us to get out of his range and quickly prepared a chant before he could respond. "Bakudō #61, Rikujōkōrō!" At first, the stranger was immediately paralyzed by my spirit energy.

However, his next reaction was not what expected. At first, it looked as if he was struggling out of my kido. I moved in for the kill. As I came towards him, I saw that his face seemed to lack any real concern. Puzzling.

When I got close enough, I raised Jikan high to strike, and there I saw it. He yawned and cracked his neck, taunting me!

It was a trick after all, now I'm too close to-

He planted his foot in my stomach with incredible force and sent me sailing into a building. As I coughed up blood, I realized that my opponent surpassed me in every respect.

"You give up?" he asked.

"Hell no..." I struggled to get up. "I can't afford to give up, especially after what you've done, you sick son of a bitch." More and more blood poured out of my mouth.

"Well, when you're done playing, attack me with all you got."
I gave him my best defiant grin.

"Go to hell."

I surprised him by shooting off a shakkahō before he could react. The blast left a smoking crater.

"Did I kill him?"

Then, I noticed a figure in the smoke: "Its him! Dammit!" I jumped back.

"Pathetic!" I heard him growl. With a quick incantation and a flick of the wrist, yellow petals of light captured me, pinning me to the ground with intense pain.

My blast didn't even damage his cloak, much less him.

"I admit! You surprise me." He whispered another incantation. The yellow petals began to give off electric jolts that intensified the pain.

"If you don't fight me with your shikai, the death you'll have will be five times as painful as this."

The pain felt like a consuming fire that never stopped burning. In the end, I had to give in.

"F...fine..." I screamed in pain. "...I'll do it ...you sadistic bastard!"

The stranger then withdrew his kidō and let me go, leaving me gasping for air, trying to stay conscious.

"What is he?" I thought.

"Jikan, you ready for this?"

"Yes, Saidō, lets give him everything we've got."

With the last of my strength, I stood to my feet and held my stance. He wasn't impressed, looked more bored than anything else.

"NOW SHATTER! DOROBŌ NO JIKAN!"

As I released him, I looked at the man and noticed that he looked happy.

"About time. What took you so long to release your zanpakutō?"

"Shut up! It doesn't make a difference. He's released now, that's all that matters."

In truth, I could usually fight better if Jikan wasn't released; he was a bit heavier in his released form. The only
difference between his released and unreleased states is the clear orb in the middle of his hilt.

At that moment, Jikan and I pooled all of our spirit energy together for one final attack. The stranger merely observed the show.

It was time to strike.

As I ran towards him using flash step, I saw a brief glimpse into the future, just a couple of seconds, and saw what was waiting to happen.

During my charge, he will use flash step and attack me from behind using senka.

However, now that I had seen his plan, I snapped back into reality. I continued my charge, but halfway through, I jumped back and and raised Jikan into the air, catching him by surprise.

"Take this! For all the people you killed! DIE!"
I then brought Jikan down across the stranger's back, slicing skin and bone; his blood sprayed across my face.
The man fell down to his knees. He turned his head towards me and spoke: "Impressive". He then fell down

on his face and disappeared into dark fragments.

"Hmm, a weird way to die, well at I- what!"

As I turned around, I saw that the man was still alive!

I raised Jikan-What? I can't... believe...it... Jikan broken...in half... by his zanpakutō...

My world faded to black.