Chapter 15

"Damn that Kagine!"

It was hard enough to get past that stupid mountain, and now the pavement of the city was roasting me. Of all the days, the sun was shining brightly through the clouds.

I peeked from under my blindfold occasionally; it might be called cheating, but at that point, I didn't give a damn anyway.

One of the buildings was in my view; after I touched it, it would probably take me even longer to get back home.

"Home. Did I just consider this place home? Maybe its Stockholm Syndrome."

"It probably is."

"Oh shut up Jikan, the place here is not that bad."

"Not that bad? Have you gone insane? You are living inside a cave! You're taking orders from a crazy stranger who just basically sent you to Hollow Land wearing a blindfold. Not to mention that its freezing in that cave. Have you given any thought to what it will be like when winter comes?

"Hmm, true, I hadn't thought about winter."

"Stop joking around! We need to go back "home" as soon as possible. I hate to see what will happen when the Hollow Lord finds out about Soul Sanctuary."

"He won't," I assured him.

"Why not?"

"He'll have to kill me before that happens."

Jikan was silenced for a moment, comprehending that we might die here.

"Let's just move."

Walking toward the building, I noticed that Jikan was incredibly worried. Couldn't blame him, I was in the same boat. I thought of a way to cheer him up.

"What else do you hate about this place Jikan?"

"I hate those damn Arrancar! So sneaky and cocky, always seem to stab you in the-"

"Hello there, Soul Reaper!"

The dark voice came from right behind me. I instantly unsheathed Jikan and repelled the sneak attack. Kagine's training taught me that move.

"See what I mean!" yelled Jikan.

"Impressive, that reaction. No wonder you managed to beat Sentaro. You're far too powerful for him."

I saw that my opponent was an arrancar, wearing a decorated bull's skull as a mask. It was easy to tell that he wasn't anything like that arrancar from before. His eyes were pitch black instead of white, and his irises were glowing yellow. His reiatsu at the moment seemed to match Kagine's.

"Thanks for the compliment. Now who are you and who is this Sentaro?"

The arrancar started to laugh.

"Sentaro was the one you dropped a building on."

"Oh, him! Great, so he's alive. I bet he can't wait for a rematch," I thought to myself.

"Our time is short..." He said in a voice that sounded as old and dark as night itself. "...and I have no patience. Come at me."

"And if I refuse?"

"You won't."

He then roared so loudly that I thought my ear drums were going to burst. Behind me emerged several Hollows, including Arrancars and Gillians.

In the middle was Sentaro, who looked like he was itching for a fight.

"Don't interfere! This is my fight alone." The mysterious Arrancar said.

Then they all backed away, including Sentaro. "Whoever this guy is, he must have a lot of power," I said to Jikan.

"Now let's fight!" He leapt at me with incredible speed.

"Well you heard the geezer Jikan! Let's kick his ass!"

He and I crossed swords; I barely managed to hold him.

With a burst of adrenaline, I repelled him into a building.

As I waited, I was secretly pleading with Jikan. "Come on Jikan, let me have another vision."

"No."

"What? Why?"

"It's far too dangerous!"

"You already gave me a vision when fighting with Kagine the first time."

"I was foolish at the time! I now know the price."

"The price? What the hell are you talkin-"

The ground began to shake. The arrancar emerged from the building without a scratch.

"Amazing! I never knew you were this strong."

His hand started to glow crimson.

"He's going to fire a cero!"

I leaped back, trying to avoid him. I ran inside the dark building, hoping that it was vacant.

"Jikan. It very likely that we'll die here. I mean, the arrancar hasn't released his zanpakutō yet, and if it's true about what they say, he might be twice as powerful when he does."

"So? What do you want me to do about it?"

I heard a voice outside screaming a name. He must have released his zanpakutō!

"Just give me a freakin' vision!"

"Don't you have any self confidence Saidō?"

For once, my zanpakutō shocked me. I had never heard it talk this seriously before.

"You never used me when you fought hollows in the past! Even when you dealt with Sentaro I didn't help you. So why do you want to use me in every single fight! There are some battles that you can win by yourself."

I saw the point Jikan was making.

"I've become too dependent on him, after all its not the sword tha- Oh crap!"

I realized what the arrancar was planning. I jumped out of a window in the nick of time.

The entire building was engulfed in a crimson blast.

I looked up to see the arrancar in its true form.

He looked a hell of a lot bigger: his body was nearly three times his original size. Spikes grew around his shoulders and horns around his mask. No wonder the building was destroyed, since his hands were almost the size of my body.

"Damn! Look what you made me do". The arrancar said, laughing.