Yay 2000+ words! I hope to create more chapters as long as this from now on.

Episode 6: Enemy

The man that rejected me as a soul stares at my figure. He gives me a filthy look – the feeling's mutual.

"How has life been as a hollow?" He asks casually.

"If I told you how truly horrible it was you would only feel better with yourself, so I won't grant you such a response."

He scoffs. "I'm surprised how intelligent you are. Usually hollows end up as smart as a beast. Your brain seems to have remained."

"Hah! If only I'd lost my mind, then you might come across someone smarter than yourself." I'm not particularly proud about the childish taunts either but if I give my opponent a false sense of security he may falter.

The Shinigami's eyes are lowered. "I knew there was something unique about you, but it irritated me how I couldn't quite explain it to myself..." He now stares into his sword. "Perhaps through battle I will find out what it is that made me shudder when I first met you."

I smile when he utters the 'B' word. "Well then we better get this started! I'm kinda itching' for a fight with a strong opponent."

He disappears from my sight, making a whooshing noise. His voice creeps up behind me again. "I have to warn you..." I barely manage to block the potentially fatal blow to my neck. "I won't go easy..."

"Shit." I curse as I'm pushed back deep into the concrete. This relatively small Shinigami threw such a force in his last attack.

"HYAH!" I push him off me but he flips in the air, smoothly landing on his feet as if he was doing some sort of acrobat routine. He slips from my vision again. He is astoundingly fast – like a bullet. I only have fractions of a second to react and block his incoming attacks.

I have to focus. Where does he go for the most...Assess his patterns and movements...Got it!

I catch him mid-motion with my giant hand. He seems surprised too. I can see some beads of sweat. Now's the time to show him my power.

I press the tips of my claws against his back ready to extend them using my special ability. He whispers something but I ignore it.

Suddenly I am stunned by a blast of red colour. Smoke fills the air and I let go of my opponent. I curse and slam my fist against the ground. He appears as a silhouette in the dirty smoke. I reach out for the shadow with my extended claws but he dodges.

Dammit, he's too fast.

"Are you only good at dodging my attacks?" I taunt to the smokescreen before me. Finally it fades but he is gone. "Where did he-?"

"HYAH!" He drives his sword into my left shoulder blade. I arch back and scream in agony as the pain is injected into my body. He drives the blade further down until it reaches my lower back. He lets go – the momentum making me fall forward. My body is paralysed by the rush of pain which enters my nerves.

Dammit...I can't move...I don't want this to end now...I can't die yet...

My own blood is flickered onto my face as the Shinigami stands in front of me. His sword drips of my life fluid. "Normally I would finish you off with my sword but that would only purify your soul and grant you citizenship in Soul Society. No instead I'm going to allow this girl to finish you off so your soul will simply fade away into the infinite stream of reishi."

Fuck...this man's seriously messed up...and I still can't move...

He drags the girl from before over towards my position. She begins sobbing for some reason. Her captor is about to be slain...she should be happy.

I don't get it...Why is she crying over a monster like me?

"Hurry little girl...this thing will eat you if you don't kill him." He tries to place his katana in her hands but she refuses to perform his bidding. The frustrated Shinigami ends up grappling with her and now I'm mortified at this Shinigami's manipulative tactics.

Somehow I find an ounce of energy and project one of my appendages. I manage to strike him in the ankle. He yelps in pain, dropping his sword in the process

"NOW CHILD!" I call out. For the first time I'm actually trying to save the soul...how ironic?

She responds and rushes to pick up the fallen blade. The Shinigami tries to reach for it but it's too late. The girl manages a weak swing but it's enough to slice off his outstretched hand.

"GAAAAGGHH!" The Shinigami screams at the stump that was once his dominant hand.

"NOW RUN CHILD! RUN AWAY!" I plead with her but she is dazed by the melee. "RUUUUUNN!"

She finally darts away but the Shinigami reappears in front of her using his flash manoeuvre. "What you did little girl was unforgivable...I try to save you and this is how you repay me..." Waving his handless limb.

"Please sir...I was just-" She's cut off by the enraged man.

"You were trying to save the hollow were you eh? Then you're as worthless as them now..." He kicks the girl with violent force, sending her plummeting through the air towards me. She does not respond, blood pools around her head. At that point, something snapped in my head.

Such hypocrisy...this man is more of a monster than I will ever be...

I can't quite make out what exactly happened in the next few seconds but suddenly I felt a surge in power. A yellow aura enveloped my body and my opponent was drenched in blood and barely standing. He loosely held his sword in his other hand.

"I WON'T ALLOW YOU TO HURT THIS GIRL ANYMORE!" My words were loud and stern. The Shinigami seemed terrified now, nothing like his previously overconfident self.

"I understand now...why I couldn't bring myself to perform Konso on you..." His mouth quivered as he eyed me from top to bottom. "You're not like the other hollows...you're...you're..." He collapsed before he could finish his revelation. Now was the chance to finish off the pathetic worm.

Slowly I paced towards his idle body. I began to feel a sense of happiness and satisfaction knowing I had won this battle. "Shame...you never told me your name...Mine's Steven Benson...oh well..." My claws aimed for the final blow.

My claws extended, someone bumps into me and alters my aim. "Dammit what was that?" I curse to myself.

Amazingly it the enchanting girl, blood lines the side of her face and stains her hair. Her eyes water and she wails into my freakish body.

"DON'T KILL HIM PLEASE! I KNOW HE'S A BAD MAN BUT YOU MUSTN'T...PLEASE!"

This girl...she's so strange...

Some one I would have originally regarded as an insignificant child...she has shaped my character in more ways than anyone else in my life until now. Were we destined to cross paths?

I try and smile (I'm not sure how ugly that would look on a hollow like me) and she smiles back hugging me tightly till it chokes my airways.

This wonderful moment between human and hollow was to be brief. I pull her away when I spot the persistent Shinigami limping over my vision. Time seems slower now as I fight now, not for the thrill of it – but to protect something important in my life. I'm not sure why, but this girl may be the important link to reuniting myself with my brother.

The Shingami senses my change of... and stabs me in the chest. I wrench out his sword and throw him in the air, slamming him into the ground. He coughs blood and returns to his fighting stance. I'm not sure which one of us has the desire to kill more now...

"PLEASE...YOU MUSTN'T."

My lapse in concentration costed me when he slashes across my mid-section. I fall to one knee as I shield the child from the monstrous Shinigami. However in quick succession he cuts at the nerve endings on both my arms. Finally I fall to the ground and accept the inevitable defeat.

However I'm surprised at what he says next. "I will not take this as a victory...It was anything but that for me...This girl has been brainwashed by you so I will fix her in Soul Society...in the meantime..." He pops open a small vial, releasing droplets of shiny liquid. "...This here's hollow bait...soon your boy will be festered by scavenging beasts..." I want to reach out my hand for the girl but I can't move it.

She looks at me with sad eyes. "Please remember me...my name's Kyoyu Unomei...please live for me…" Her last words will forever remain etched into my mind.

Kyoyu Unomei...such a beautiful name for a beautiful girl

The Shinigami bashes the hilt of his sword onto her forehead and so she sinks into the ground, a blue glow around her signifying her crossing over into the heavens.

All that remains is me and my sworn enemy who wants to leave me for hollow scraps. "Even I – a 'lowly hollow' showed enough mercy not to kill you, where's yours?"

He scoffs. "Humph, you don't get it, we Shinigami are responsible for not only guiding souls like that girl to Soul Society, we're also responsible for keeping creatures like you at bay...we would never show mercy towards a hollow...you are our number one enemy."

"I see..." I sigh deeply.

The man turns his back and performs a strange motion with his sword, as if he were using it as a key. A set of wooden doors appear from a portal to which he steps into. "If you do manage to survive...you may come across me again...don't forget the name...Mitzuki Sheehari...I will make sure you never reach your full power for the sake of mankind." He finishes as the doors slide shut and he exits into another world I have not yet been granted the privilege to see.

Alone and waiting for the vultures to pick at my flesh, I throw my head into the hard ground. I feel like I'm at my lowest point...perhaps my one lifeline to finding my brother has been taken away into the realm of souls whilst my defeated body oppresses me with a new kind of pain...sadness...

The screeching growls of several monsters surround me. I may die...but at least I do so knowing I'm not truly one of them.

It seems I'm close to death - the second kind of death...It can't end now, surely...Right? Don't miss the next chapter!