"Your hesitation's sickening!" Kenpachi scoffed as he blocked an attack from Jonouchi with ease. He pushed back the young blonde Captain, who was struggling to catch his breath and fight back. "Come on, you're weak but you aren't this weak!" He swung his blade in Jonouchi's direction, causing him to leap out of the way as the air parted with the swing of the titan's blade. The air around Jonouchi grew ice cold, he could see his breath clearly in the daylight.
"Set upon the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru!" Jonouchi raised his Zanpaku-to just in time, blocking an attack from the 10th Squad Captain, Hitsugaya Toushiro. The ice dragon clashed with Jonouchi's sword, which split the dragon down the center. "How do you plan on fighting against those Arrancar if you're having so many problems with us?"
"Maybe you were right, Hitsugaya. Being framed by Ichimaru and Aizen means his Captain's exam was rigged! Maybe he was never that strong to begin with!" Zaraki called out.
Koukeisha was sitting on the sidelines with Aya, watching this fight unfold. Jonouchi had insisted on going into Hueco Mundo to hunt down the Arrancar that kidnapped his fiance, and upon hearing this both Captains Hitsugaya and Zaraki were set on proving that he was not ready, and doing so would be an idiotic move. "They're being kind of harsh, aren't they?" Koukeisha asked as she noticed Jonouchi's knuckles turn white as he clenched the hilt of his blade tightly.
"Who cares?" Aya frowned. She was still sore that Captain Uchiki had attacked Kaze like he did, causing him to flee the Soul Society.
"You don't mean that." Koukeisha smiled.
Hitsugaya stared down Jonouchi as he placed his feet upon the ground. "Get a hold of yourself. If you think you're going to race into Hueco Mundo alone without your head on straight you're dead wrong. They'll murder you."
"I have to try!" Jonouchi shouted in response. "How do I know if I dont-"
"OPEN YOUR EYES." Hitsugaya wasn't amused or impressed by the 3rd Squad Captains show of brave stupidity. "Your Vice-Captain fled because you made heartless and rude remarks. Kalinda is gone despite the fight she put up to buy herself time for YOU to show up and save her. And you failed. This is not a game, and you're not living in a fantasy world. This is real life, and if you think they're going to let you waltz in there and sweep her off of her feet and just leave you're wrong! So open your eyes and prove to us that you have what it takes to not only do this, but to succeed!" Jonouchi just scowled, clutching his blade even tighter. "So that's how it's going to be?" Hitsugaya asked with another scoff.
"It is..." Jonouchi growled, shooting the white haired boy a death glare.
"Then so be it."
"Bankai." They both spoke in unison, and there was a sudden eruption of spiritual pressure as the entire battlefield coated itself in ice. Koukeisha covered her face with her arm as a freezing wind whipped past them. They had moved in an instant, and in a single swift attack the match was already decided. Jonouchi was too slow, Hitsugaya had his blade to Jonouchi's throat, and O'kami Suishou had been shattered using the tail of the dragon. Jonouchi's eyes were wide, he had barely even seen the Captain move. Jonouchi released his Bankai, falling to his knees.
"I think I proved my point." Hitsugaya stated, releasing his own Bankai and sheathing his blade.
"How... How can I get stronger quickly! I can't just stand by and let her suffer while I could be doing something to help!"
"Figure it out on your own." Hitsugaya walked away, and in a quick flash he was gone.
Koukeisha watched as Jonouchi got to his feet and rushed away quickly. "Jou..." she whispered, when she saw a black figure move from the corner of her eye. A black haired Soul Reaper had began to walk away. She hadn't noticed him there, and was beginning to wonder how long the figure had been watching the battle.
He had to clear his head. He ran and ran, all the way to the Senkaimon that would take him to the living world. The Soul Society was not a place he wanted to be right now, and he knew he had to get away. He had to figure out how to get to Hueco Mundo, regardless of what the other two Captain's opinions were. He had to try.
He came to the Karakura Town, it was already dark in the world of the living, the street lights were the only thing illuminating the quiet was a heavy scent of wet soil, and it was obvious that it had recently rained pretty strongly. This road was familiar to him, it was the first place he had arrived when he brought Kalinda to see the movie. Memories flooded his mind, and he clutched his forehead tightly. He had a severe headache, and his chest was in a lot of pain. He leaned against the window of a nearby shop, staring at his reflection in the puddle at his feet. He was disgusted with what he saw. Disgusted with the memories and thoughts that kept pushing themselves to the front of his mind, shoving one another aside and screaming for his attention. Finally his aggravation got the best of him, he let out a shout of anger as he slammed his foot into the puddle. He panted heavily as he watched his distorted features ripple, as if hoping they would reassemble and give him some sort of sign or answer. For a moment he thought he caught a glimpse of something in the puddle, which immediately got his attention. He thought he saw something on the rooftop behind him, stalking him as he stared at his own reflection. He turned in panic, but there was nothing there. His imagination was getting to him, and he told himself to stop being so paranoid.
Just as soon as he had turned around there was a sudden burst of Spiritual Pressure. His eyes widdened, he instantly recognized it as a Hollow. He could tell it wasn't an Arrancar, but a Hollow would at least give him something to do. He raced off in the direction he felt the presence, clutching his Zanpaku-to firmly. He stopped after a few blocks, however, once he recognized a face. He was staring face to face with himself, who just stared back with the same surprise. His mind flickered to the Hollow within him, then back to reality as he stared back at his Gigai with shock. It took him a moment to notice the lights from the ambulance flickering, and another moment to notice that they were outside the appartment he had almost stayed at recently. He remembered the man's name was Rajin, and he felt his heart plummet greatly when he saw that it was Rajin that the medics were there for. The man had been placed on his back by the paramedics, but even Jonouchi could tell that it was too late. He felt no life force from the man. "What happened?" Jonouchi turned to his Gigai, confused by what was going on.
"I don't know..." he replied in the same voice. "I heard a loud crack of lightning outside the appartment and when I got out here, he was..."
"You've already informed us. Please sit down sir, you're in shock and we need you to stand out of the way." One of the paramedics responded to the Gigai's sudden explanation, Jonouchi taking note that none of them could see him so it looked as though his Gigai were talking to itself. They had helped Rajin onto the stretcher and were now placing his body in the ambulance. Jonouchi knew it was no use, he was not coming back.
"Sorry..." Jonouchi spoke to his Gigai. He had an odd feeling. He looked up to the sky, the stars slightly visible through the cloud cover. The world was still turning, and life was still moving on around them. Both of them had lost people extremely close to them in an instant. To him it was as if the world had stopped in its tracks, and he was sure it felt the same to his Gigai. But the world hadn't stopped, and sitting around doing nothing and feeling sorry for himself wasn't going to bring anybody back. He still had a chance, his friends were still alive. He began to walk away, nodding to his Gigai and letting him know that he had something to take care of.
There was a loud roar as the Hollow's spiritual pressure erupted once more. Jonouchi turned just in time to knock his Gigai off of his feet, just as the Hollow had pounced and nearly grabbed him in his teeth. Jonouchi rolled as a strong wind rushed past them, rocking the ambulance. "There you are." Jonouchi spoke as he drew his Zanpaku-to. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say you're the Hollow that killed that man... How disgusting..." The Hollow circled around the street, slowly, resembling a very large muscular cat. It charged at Jonouchi, who easily defended against the Hollow and pushed it back. The hair on his arms stood on end and he rolled to the side, a loud crack of thunder sounded as he was almost struck by lightning himself. The Hollow had began to run, and he started to chase after it. "Get back here! You're going to pay for what you did back there!"
Something heavy caught him between his shoulders, slamming him into the ground hard. He slid several feet before he stopped, dazed. He got to a single knee, grasping his Zanpaku-to painfully in his hand. He shook off the water from his face, and wipped some mud on the side of his sleeve so that he could see properly.
"Get on your feet." A mans voice commanded him in an irritated voice. Jonouchi snapped to attention, head turning in the direction the voice carried from. There was a man dressed as a Soul Reaper standing about 20 feet away from him. He was about half a foot taller than Jonouchi, and had black hair a little bit longer than his own. His hand moved quickly to the Zanpaku-to at his side, drawing it and moving into a Flash Step. Jonouchi blocked it quickly, but was surprised by the sudden attack. "Quick reflex, not too bad..." The man said as he planted his foot into Jonouchi's side and kicked him hard. Jonouchi grunted from the splitting pain, but he got to his feet and recovered just in time to parry the mans next attack.
"What do you want!" Jonouchi called to his attacker, but he was already on the move and not letting up. A swirling fire wrapped itself around the blade of the man's sword, and as he swung it the fire rushed Jonouchi as if it were a dragon wanting to devour him. Jonouchi jumped into the air and dodged it, releasing his own Zanpaku-to. He shot several icicles at his attacker, who merely ran along the side of a nearby wall to dodge the attack. "What did I do to you to cause you to attack me!"
The man ignored Jonouchi's second question, sending three more waves of fire straight for him. He dodged them both, but didn't expect the man to hit him in the shoulder with an axe kick. Jonouchi fell to the hard ground, and the man picked him up by his collar and blasted him right in the face with his fist. Jonouchi stumbled backwards and fell flat on his stomach. The pain in his nose was intense, he could already feel a lot of warm blood pooling into his hand. Jonouchi clenched his fist tightly, growling. He got to his feet, hearing the mans footsteps slowly getting closer as they moved along the wet pavement.
"Who are you..." Jonouchi growled, splashing the blood on his hand into the ground.
"So many questions, and you expect all of the answers to just be handed to you on a silver platter. Never though you'd actually have to work for anything? Never thought you'd have to prove yourself?" Another wave of fire flew past Jonouchi, who merely sidestepped it. "I'm one of few that was NOT impressed that you rose to Captain so quickly. I'm one of few that know's it was rigged, that you haven't got the right to call yourself a Captain. There are others who deserve that rank over you. Take me for example. My name is Kronin Hisoka. I don't have a Squad of my own, yet I follow every order given to me by the higher ups. I'm stronger than you in every way. How does that make you feel, 'Captain'?"
Jonouchi could feel his blood boil. This guy he didn't even know just kept spitting out insult after insult in his face. "If what you say is true, then know your place. Attacking a Captain is way out of line." Crack. A fist to the gut. Jonouchi lurched forward, sick to his stomach.
"I'm not attacking a Captain. I'm attacking a child who can't even walk on his own without help. By some standards that's worse, I suppose." he laughed. "Now tell me, 'Captain'! Who the hell do you think YOU are!" He roared, and it was as if Jonouchi could feel the mans anger within his spiritual pressure."You said you were going to bring judgement to a creature that was only doing the only thing it has a drive to do. You blame that Hollow for your friends death, but it was merely doing what it's instinctively programed to do. It's a law of nature, shouldn't YOU of all people know that? Have you really fallen so low?" Jonouchi stared at the man. For some odd reason, a part of him actually wanted to listen. The other part was screaming to put his attacker in his place, but the other side of him kept control for now. "And your friend you call Kaze! You even know what happened to him? Have you even BOTHERED to look for him? HE did the right thing, he fought for a righteous cause, and YOU shot him down for that! How do you think that feels? You're too wrapped up in your own realm of whats 'right and wrong', or whats 'good and evil'. And those two things, those aren't even your worst crimes... You have the NERVE to treat your own woman like shit just because you find your own battles more important than she is! 'We have to stop Aizen' and 'The arrancar could attack at any time, we have to be ready!"
"And I was right!" Jonouchi responded. "An arrancar took her away from me because we weren't prepared!"
"You're wrong..." Kronin chuckled sadistically. "You're dead wrong if you believe that... An arrancar took her away because SHE was doubting how YOU felt! She returned to that spot to grieve, to hope for your relationship! If you had focused more on her instead of your knew obsession for Aizen she would have never left your house! She would have never doubted you! You know what else? Kalinda isn't weak. She could have taken that arrancar with EASE if you hadn't made her doubt! She couldn't focus because she was afraid she was losing YOU!"
Jonouchi froze. Kronin was right. He remembered how she acted that night, before she was taken from him. He hated that he was wrong, he looked for any shred of information to use to prove that he was right. "That arrancar was strong..." he choked. "There was no way she could have-"
"No way? NO WAY?" Kronin tightened his grip on his sword, ready to kill. "Now you insult her? You call your fiance weak? A Vice-Captain?" Fire sprung up from the ground around Kronin as his spiritual pressure sky rocketed. "You're calling MY sister WEAK?" Jonouchi felt all hope drain from his body. "Do you think I'm making shit up? Everything I just told you is what SHE told ME. And now she's gone. She's not coming back. You lost her. You lost her for you, for me, and for everyone else in her life. You threw her away without a second god damn thought!"
"Bankai!" Jonouchi's anger snapped. He rushed forward, furious that this man would accuse him of throwing someone away that was so dear to him. That he would hurt so many people just to chase down a single person who had wronged him in the past. He knew Kronin was right, and he hated to admit it. Jonouchi rushed Kronin, who easily side stepped the attack. The wolf followed directly after, and Kronin easily kicked it aside.
"Bankai." He spoke with a quick twirl of his blade. His spiritual pressure rose even higher as he was devoured by his own flames, as if a flaming dragon had swallowed him whole. The flames filled the allyway where they fought, it was as if he came to the living world without any limiters placed on him. When he emerged he was coated in thick black armour, A flaming cape flowing from the shoulder-piece. There was a turbine in the center of his chest, slowly turning in a clockwise motion. "It's the end for you. You won't hurt anyone ever again." The turbine on his chest began to spin rapidly as Kronin placed his hands in front of his chest. A large fireball formed almost instantaneously between his palms, and he thrust his palms forward and hurled it at Jonouchi. "Goodbye, 'Captain'."
There was a bright orange light and everything grew quiet.
"We can still fix things. It's not too late, despite his reasoning." O'kamitoku's voice echoed in his mind.
"You're right." Jonouchi spoke. "We can do this. I'll bring her back. Not just for me, but for everyone I've hurt. I'll set things right, I promise!" With a single movement Jonouchi had split the mass of fire in half instinctively. He was clutching a Naginata that was about the same height as himself, it appeared as if the blade was made out of ice. "I'm going to set things right!" Jonouchi called to him. "Just you watch!"
"Quit dreaming!" Kronin called dodging Jonouchi's attacks and shooting fireball after fireball, which Jonouchi would either dodge or split. "It's a lost cause with you handling it!"
"I never meant to hurt your sister!" Jonouchi swung his blade, shooting a wave of ice to cancel out a fireball, causing an explosion of steam to fill the area. "But I will bring her back, I promise!" Kronin, in a furious rage, threw himself forward at Jonouchi, using his fire to propel himself forward. Jonouchi acted instinctively once again, as if signaled by his new weapon. He took an offensive stance, and when Kronin arrived he dodged his attack and had his blade placed against the turbine, the source of his fire attacks. Jonouchi smiled to himself, he had done it. He knew he was ready to do this. He just had to find a way to get there.
Something caught him in the side of the head hard and he smashed into a brick wall. He stood up, and Kronin had already grabbed him by the front of his robe. "Bout time you got your head on straight." his glare had turned into almost a grin. Not quite, but almost. He forcefully released Jonouchi, turning his back to the Captain and beginning to walk away. "I know someone who can get us there. Follow me."
"Us?" Jonouchi asked as his Bankai faded and resealed itself.
"I'm going with you. To make sure you don't fuck this up." Kronin responded. "I really don't know what the hell she sees in you..." he mumbled, but Jonouchi was just in range to catch it. He smiled, following Kronin. He was certain he could do this. He would bring her home. He would not fail. Failure... Dying... Neither were an option any longer. He would succeed, and that was that.