Chapter Ten
Naori quietly walked down towards the Tenth Division training area. She had no real administrative job to accomplish at this time. Poor Hitsugaya and Matsumoto were getting that done. Usually, that was the perfect time to pull over Naori from whatever she was doing, sit her at the coffee table, and make her fill out paperwork. But strangely, that did not happen. When Naori stopped by the office today, she was only greeted by Hitsugaya and Matsumoto hurryingly trying to make deadlines. They didn't even take much of a second glance to see if she was there. Either they were too absorbed into work to notice…or they didn't want her to work.
It was probably Hitsugaya's doing. He probably didn't want her to suffer as well.
Naori felt her cheeks redden and she quickly shook away the blush rising up to her cheeks. It was no use. The pink red blush stayed firmly put on her cheeks and the young shinigami sighed in defeat. She pressed her cold hands against her cheeks and found it to be hot. She must be getting a fever! Good thing Hitsugaya was not here to see her. Either he'll make it worse or he'll tease her for it.
Come to think of it. He's been acting weird. Lately, Naori often found herself in awkward silence with her captain. It happened after the many weeks of teasing each other; the times where he almost kissed her, when they encountered each other's reigais, and when Naori woke up in her captain's quarters instead of her barracks. Now, that took some explaining on Hitsugaya's behalf before Naori's hungover thinking almost gave him a black eye. All those times has changed him. And she didn't know how or why. Now, he looked at her differently. Naori second-checked herself, but she was still the same. Nothing changed. But she still always caught him staring at her for some time. It felt…weird…but at the same time, comforting. It made her feel warm inside, knowing he has been worrying about her this whole time. It made her feel valued. But, most importantly, the teasing has stopped completely! If this continues, she wouldn't have to deal with it anymore!
'But still…' Naori suddenly paused and sank down at the training ground entrance. "What if this becomes something else?" She quietly whispered to herself.
What if a captain and subordinate became something more? Was that even possible?
Naori quickly shook her head again. This time, the blush on her face immediately vanished. She didn't need to focus on that right now. She didn't come all the way over to the training grounds to mull over her relationship with him. Naori quickly jumped off the porch and headed to the middle of the training field. She pulled her zanpakuto off from her belt and unsheathed the very weapon.
"Materialize Denbaku-to." Naori commanded.
Just like that, the very spiritual aura that frequently surrounded her sword jumped away and began to take form a couple feet in front of her. Naori was always aware of this spiritual energy that surrounded her zanpakuto. Her zanpakuto belonged only to her so it made sense. It was the zanpakuto's spirit, which only she can see. She could make sense of the spirit's behavior. The color of it was bright yellow, like unnatural yellow lightning, a rarity of the skies. Her spirit was usually dormant, so the bright yellow usually did not show. But when it did, it was usually during times of anger, excitement, or eagerness to fight.
Slowly, Naori felt the power of her zanpakuto grow and she quickly closed her eyes, drifting herself away into her own spiritual world. She entered an empty field with tall grass like those of a prairie and within it, a single watering hole and a nearby tree. Naori had to add those at her zanpakuto's request. For such a shiny, male creature, it sure had feminine tendencies. Speaking of the flying neon sign, where was it?
Naori raised her voice and called, "Denbaku-to! Come out! It's time to train!"
Suddenly, down shot a bolt of lightning from the always dark and stormy skies, and an explosion erupted in front of Naori. Even though winds pierced her skin and her clothes flapped carelessly around her, she was not fazed at all. This was actually a normal occurrence. Her zanpakuto spirit was a flashy one. He always liked to enter with a BANG! The dust soon faded. Naori could finally see her zanpakuto spirit in full view. She once saw this spirit in a different form; a humanoid form. It looked like a Chinese boy, in her opinion. But her zanpakuto's true form was an animal or some sort of creature. Her only spirit flapped its brilliant wings as his form continued to be the only shining light in her dark prairie world. The spirit, in actuality, was a large, yellow bird that radiated electric sparks. It was the result of the occurrence of a bird being struck by lightning. Instead of being fried into chicken wings, this one survived and lived on to retain its powers. It had a long beak, large soft feathers, and a tail that extended a couple feet out and that also fanned out whenever it took flight.
Naori reached out and her bird flew out towards her, touching its beak to her outstretched hand. Slowly, her spirit world faded away, revealing the training grounds once again.
"Ready?"
Immediately, both tore away from each other. Naori bore her sword at her spirit creature while the creature bore back its claws. A swift gust of wind swept by the both of them, but it messed with only Naori's hair. She was the only solid thing there.
"Go!"
The bird lifted its head back and a charge of energy appeared at its beak. Rebounding back, it launched a large strike of pure lightning at Naori! Luckily, the young shinigami trained for this. She quickly dodged and flash stepped forward, zanpakuto ready to strike with her own lightning. She stabbed it forward releasing a bit of her own lightning to the head of her spirit.
But it dodged that as well! And it started charging at her head on! Quickly, Naori parried with her sword. It fiercely crossed the beak of the bird. A loud clang rung out through the area with only Naori's ears hearing it. The shinigami girl quickly jumped back and landed nimbly on her feet. She crouched low to the ground and brought up her sword as a shield. Another bolt of lightning shot forward and it was easily blocked by her sword. Then another came, and another, and another. It seemed like her spirit wanted to wear her out.
Fat chance!
Naori quickly flash stepped behind the bird, sword ready to strike. She sped down before her zanpakuto spirit even had time to turn around to recognize her presence. The tip of her released zanpakuto suddenly made its contact with the head of the spirit. A shine of white appeared all over Naori, almost completely blinding her! It engulfed everything! She couldn't see! She couldn't hear! She couldn't even feel! But she always knew what this was…the shining light before a huge explosion.
Boom!
A burning pain shot up from her arms and legs. Naori felt her teeth grind as she launched away and hit a nearby wall. In fact, she hit that wall so hard, it created a crater into the concrete! Naori felt a rise of blood from her lips and painfully, she slid down to the ground. Nursing the wounds on her arm, she glared at the unharmed bird, who was now taking this moment to smirk at her.
"Damn parrot!" Naori groaned and conjured up some healing spells. This happened all the time! She needed to find a way to get around striking her little pet without blowing it up.
Once she was done healing, she looked up. The bird was gone. Well…there goes Bankai training…
Naori sighed in defeat and retrieved her fallen sword. Maybe next time should do the trick? She briefly glanced over the fallen debris of pavement, wall remains, scattered tree branches, a huge crater in the middle of the field, and some tussled bushes. She shrugged. Maybe making some lower seats clean it up should do the trick.
She picked herself up and began the retreat back, but she saw a little head pop up in the door in front of her. That head was orange.
"Masaki?"
The curious little girl peeked out from her hiding place before hopping clearly into the open. She wore a cute blue kimono, reminiscent of the one Naori and Hitsugaya bought for her five years ago. Her chestnut eyes lit up in pure glee and she ran into a huge with Naori.
"Auntie Nao! That was amazing!" Masaki breathed in her giggles. "How did you learn that? I wanna know!"
"Masaki-chan. I was Bankai training. You'll learn all about it when you are older." Naori cooed and bounced the little child up and down.
"Haha! Stop it! Auntie Nao!" Masaki yelped as she felt her world jump up and down. Once she felt everything was steady, she hurriedly started talking to Naori again. "Auntie Nao. Would learning Bankai make you a captain? I know only captains are capable of having Bankai!"
"Lieutenant Renji achieved Bankai and is he a captain?"
"Well…no…" Masaki pouted. "What I'm trying to say is…when you achieve Bankai, are you going to stay under Uncle Shiro?"
Naori blankly stared back at this little one. For such a young child, she had such strong intuition. "I don't know. I think we'll just have to wait and see…"
Masaki pouted again, "Please stay with him!"
"I can't make such promises." Naori sighed.
"But-But! But he likes you so much! I know because Ran-chan told me!"
Naori glanced down, partially stunned and partially happy. Her captain acknowledged it? But this was Matsumoto; it could always be a lie. But she doesn't spread untruthful rumors... Besides, it was no secret to either of them that there was something between them now, something more than just subordinates. It never really occurred to her who would admit it first. But she was glad it was him. Naori bent down and carefully picked up the crying child. "And I like him as well. Don't worry. Even if I achieve Bankai, I'll stick with Captain Hitsugaya till the very end."
"Pinky promise?" Masaki held up her pinky.
Naori smiled and latched on her own pinky. "I promise."
"Oh! How sweet!"
Alarmed, the shinigami girl immediately turned around whist hugging the little child safely in her arms. There, right before her, tentacles and all, stood a menacing hollow. To Naori, this thing was second rate. It was an easy thing to take down, no sweat! But Masaki was there! The fact the baby was present increased chances of an accident happening to the kid. Thus, this was a threat! An alarming threat! And the only choice Naori could do was fight with kido or run for it and let other officers handle this. Suddenly, a tentacle shot out for her, prompting Naori to dodge. She ran further and further, noticing this hollow was only following her as they ran further and further into Soul Society! This meant one thing! This monster had only one target and it was either Masaki or Naori.
Naori groaned and spun around as she flash-stepped away. She held one hand out towards the monster while the other was tightly holding Masaki. "Hado 31: Shakkaho!" A burst of brilliant red energy shot from her hand and exploded onto the monster. Whilst the confusion, Naori darted away from the mess she made.
"Masaki! You're going to have to run while I distract this creature!" Naori yelled as she ran around Soul Society. Luckily, as she was flash stepping around; she spotted a nearby pedestrian walking down an alleyway. Naori quickly landed beside this man. "Hey mister!"
"You?" Masaki stared at him with curiosity.
"No time to talk!" Naori placed Masaki beside him. "Get her back to the Fifth Division! Masaki will tell you the way! I need to get rid of this pest!"
"Yu? What are you-?" Masaki tried to speak, but suddenly, something slimy and icky wrapped around her mouth. She screamed, terrified out of her wits, with tears streaming everywhere down her face. She helplessly looked up at her once-friend, now shamefully looking away.
"Masaki! Masaki! You assholes!" Naori's fear soon turned to anger as she drew out her sword. It glistened with a powerful electric glow and she glared at the increasing amount of hollows. "Strike! Denbaku-to!"
"Get her!"
Suddenly, a wisp of golden smoke wafted to Naori's nose. Instinctively, she spat into her own sleeve and covered both her nose and mouth, doing all that was necessary to cover up any chance of inhalation. She shoved her zanpakuto through any hollow, electrocuting them to bits as she moved towards Masaki. She needed to get that child before something bad happened! With winds beating against her soft locks, she blew right by the hordes and hordes of hollows for Masaki.
"Move!" Naori angrily shoved past the man she just met. But, even when she moved past just a foot of him, blood seeped through her abdomen. She glanced down and touched her bloody clothes, staining every bit of her pure hands. Surprised, she turned back, gazing on at this mysterious stranger. "You…you were in on this?"
He said nothing. He merely let her eyes drift to black and caught her when she fell.
"Yu. Yu. Yu." The hollow teased and cackled. "You got your wish! Why the long face? Isn't that woman all you ever wanted? Enough to die into my hands for her?"
"Was it worth it?" Yu solemnly glanced at a knocked out Masaki. "Was this worth having to sacrifice that young child for her?"
"Oh! So you feel like you're being cheated?" The hollow cackled once more before extending a tentacle and wrapping around Yu. "Since you managed to successfully capture her, I'll give you power as a bonus!"
OoOoO
"Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyourinmaru!" Hitsugaya felt his sword pierce through the mask of the hollow. He paid no heed to see if he had finished the job as he backhanded another and sliced upwards to decapitate the monster.
Right now, Soul Society was placed on high alert because armies of these hollow clones began popping up everywhere. Every soldier was on the grounds; doing everything they can to push these hollows back. Hitsugaya had to send out over half of his forces to scour Soul Society with his top seats managing everything. But his fifth seat was mysteriously missing…
"Captain Hitsugaya! This area is clear!" Matsumoto reported in when she landed beside him.
"Any word from Naori?"
She shook her head. "No. Nothing. In fact, none of our division members have seen her since the attack started."
He groaned and flash stepped up towards the skies. "Where the hell can that girl be at a time like this?"
Hitsugaya veered left and right, flash stepping to random places in Seireitei. Matsumoto was not kidding! Naori's spiritual pressure, her energy, her essence; all was absent from the area. She was essentially not even there. The worried captain cursed under his breath and continued searching for more hordes of these hollows. What happened to her? Did someone take her away? Or did she run off?
As Hitsugaya scoured neared the upper divisions, he bumped into a familiar captain who seemed to also be doing the same thing. "Captain Kuchiki?" Hitsugaya landed beside him. "What are you doing up here? Who's manning your troops?"
"I already gave Lieutenant Abarai orders to take over for me. There's a larger issue at hand." Byakuya calmly replied. "Masaki Kurosaki's spiritual pressure has disappeared."
"Nii-sama!" Rukia quickly appeared beside him. "I can't find her at all!"
"We searched everywhere." Ichigo was also growing urgent.
"That's weird." Hitsugaya mused. "My subordinate went missing as well. Do you think Naori's been protecting Masaki all this time?"
"How can you be so sure?" Rukia tearfully cried back. "What makes you so sure my Masaki is safe? She could be kidnapped! Or she could be eaten already! Or-"
"Or she could be right here…" A sudden voice cackled from behind. A hollow had strayed up to the group, presenting a holographic image of a sleeping Masaki curled up with a monster surrounding her. Instinctively, everybody drew up their swords, waiting for the attack to happen. But the hollow quickly raised its arms, prompting all to stop. "Hold on! I'm only here with a message! My creator has your little girl and he wants the entire family to come visit her."
This hollow can clone into more hollows? Hitsugaya was puzzled just like everyone else. "You! Are you the hollow that's been attacking Rukongai villages recently?"
"Maybe…come and see…" The hollow cackled once again before disappearing off into the woods.
"Follow him." Byakuya strictly ordered before heading there himself, abandoning everyone else in midair. They quickly followed suit as well, wanting to find this monster and destroy it.
OoOoO
Naori blinked once and twice as she began to regain her sight. Her head throbbed as if she was hit in the head with a hard object or something. She still felt groggy and everywhere on her body hurt like hell. Especially her abdomen… Soon Naori's eyes widened in shock and every bit of her senses finally woke right back up. She tried to move her arms and legs, but both were bound to each other. She began to struggle, willing to pull out some kido if needed, but a strange voice caused her to suddenly stop.
"Don't do that!"
Naori whipped her head around, finding a strange boy looking at her. He had unruly dark hair and piercing eyes. He was a regular looking guy, in her opinion, maybe a little familiar in her eyes. But she had encountered many, many boys back in the World of the Living. Ever since that experience, boys never really had much of a bouncy, light-hearted effect on her at first sight. And so, when she met this kid in front of her, she felt nothing but nostalgia at the best. And at the worst…she felt extreme anger and hatred.
"Who the hell are you?" She snarled.
"Do you not remember me?" He honestly seemed hurt.
Naori struggled to find her footing. "I remember you as that kid who stabbed me!"
"Nothing else!" He grabbed her shoulders and wildly shook her. "Tell me! You don't remember me?"
"Get your hands off me!" Naori yelled, thrashing around equally as wildly to shake him off.
But he firmly planted both hands onto her cheeks and pulled her close to him, making sure they looked eye to eye. He intently asked once again, "Do you remember me?"
"No! I don't!"
"Look at me!" He demanded, staring directly into her ember eyes. "Do you remember me?"
At that time, she did look back. And at that moment, her ember eyes finally flickered with remembrance. Now that she looked closely, this person looked familiar…eerily familiar…like he came from a former life. She had only lived two lives till now; one in Soul Society and five years in the World of the Living.
"You… Yu…" Naori finally calmed down. "You're that crazy stalker I had back in the World of the Living!"
Yu frowned, "Don't out me as your only stalker. You had a bunch of guys admiring you and following you around."
"You're the only one who managed to get killed! I warned you to not to follow me even when I was sending you here!" Naori exclaimed and finally released the bonds on her arms. "Hado 31: Shakkaho!"
A burst of red energy shot through her palms, aiming directly at her target. But still, she missed completely, having the shot uselessly blow a hole through a wall opposite of her. He swiftly dodged back and with a snap of his fingers, her arms suddenly pulled themselves back and rebounded.
"You shouldn't have done that."
She gasped, heart and lungs heavily beating and breathing. "What the hell are you? Why are you doing this?"
He momentarily stared back in their mutual silence. "Power", he finally replied, "I needed power to bring you away, Hibana-san. After I saw your unhappiness every day, I wanted nothing more than to rescue you."
"You're not doing a good job!"
"But I realized, from my friend who gave me these powers, he told me that a young boy was giving you trouble. So, I thought, why not lure him in and finish him off?" He began to cackle wildly, stirring up Naori's fear.
This boy was definitely not himself. And from his immense yet dark spiritual pressure, he was being corrupted by another being!
She growled, "Who is this boy? Do I know him?"
Yu merely smirked back and he promptly blew up the wall opposite to them even further. Naori quickly shut her eyes to avoid any dust and debris. But when she opened them again, she was faced with the "boy" that Yu alleged to have tormented him. Her golden eyes widened as they connected with orbs of turquoise. She clearly felt the room temperature drop a couple of degrees and a previous sunny day turning dark. Her captain was angry-no-he was pissed.
"Naori…" His focus shifted to her captor. "You…you're that boy from before!"
"Captain Hitsugaya! He has powers from that hollow-", Naori screamed, but a sudden hand glued her mouth shut.
The young captain's rage flared once again and he immediately drew out his sword. "Don't touch her!"
But the boy merely grinned even more and he maniacally laughed before launching both him and his kidnapped love to the skies. He stared back down to the captain, confident and ready. He challenged, "Try and follow after me!"
"That bastard!" Hitsugaya growled.
"Go after them." Byakuya immediately spoke as he approached the monster they were facing before. "I'll deal with him." His eyes narrowed past the monstrous hollow and at the little girl nestled asleep behind it.
Hitsugaya didn't need such approval. The minute he saw his subordinate being mistreated by that monster boy, he was more than ready to violently hack him to pieces. And thus, he was already gone from the scene, leaving Rukia, Ichigo, and Byakuya to deal with the hollow monster that has been plaguing the villages.
"Oh…that's one less captain…" The hollow whipped out its tentacles, slamming it onto the ground hoping to crush one of his opponents. "Oh well, I guess you three are good enough to eat!"
While Ichigo and Byakuya were determined to turn this hollow into dust, Rukia was mostly focused on finding her child and protecting Masaki at all costs. Thus, while her husband and brother drew up their swords, she stood back; waiting for the right moment to strike…which was hard considering this thing had tentacles.
But she and everyone in this family will stop at nothing to get their child back.
Like Hitsugaya will stop at nothing to get Naori back.
Shinigami Cup!
Naori was minding her own business when a sudden chill ran down her back. She quickly turned around, noticing a particular rustle of bushes…and a sweat dripped down her face.
"It's that guy again…when is he ever going to give up?" Naori sighed.
She walked up the block and he walked up the block. She crossed the street. He crossed the street. She leaped over a large river. He swam across. She parkour'd over three stories of different buildings. He followed her from the ground level.
"I've had it with him! Why can't he drop dead?" Naori fumed and she stopped halfway in the road.
He did the same.
A car ran him over.
When Yu Honda came to, he was met by an angel of his girl draped in black clothing. She seemed to glare at him and butted his forehead with the end of her sword.
"When I get back there, don't you ever follow me again!"
And finally, I have another chapter out after a six month hiatus! I'm so sorry for putting this story on hiatus, but you can blame school and life and so on for this! But I also feel guilty because I was updating and working on another story and left this one even though it was close to finish. I was already planning for this story to end soon before the hiatus anyway and as you can see, it is coming close to its end. I wonder how badly these villains are going to be epically defeated.
This was part of a triple release! Please review if you can!