Disclaimer: Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump magazine. This story is being written not for profit, but for pleasure.
Reviews are very welcome, as is constructive criticism (I don't mind if you're blunt, but please don't be abusive); flames will be used to light my youngest sister's candle collection.
A kind and warm welcome to Shadow Zeranion, kiddi, Berserkerofhell, Culebra del Sol, Desmothene, Sr3651, Nasha Rei-Kun, N0body Kn0ws, Miheran, Luthorne, Fangking2, Brisingr Shade, Rinoreiri Murino Hitsuzen, Kinnaq, Umbra 8191, QueenPersephoneofHades and Crazy4Ever. Thank you for putting me on Story Alert/Favorite Story.
Now that the technical stuff is out of the way...
I'm baaaack...
I've had a crazy summer this year. Between that, writer's block and other stuff I've made you people have to wait four and a half months for this update, and I apologize about that.
On the good side, I have the next seven chapters blocked out, so unless something weird happens, you shouldn't have to wait anywhere near as long for another chapter as you have this time.
Anyway, here's the long-awaited next chapter in my story.
(crosses fingers and hopes it doesn't suck...)
Tatsuki wasn't entirely sure why she was doing this.
Maybe it was because Chad was a friend in momentary need, and she always liked to support her friends.
Maybe it was because, despite his height and pro-wrestler build, Chad was something of a softie and she felt the need to help him sometimes.
And maybe it was because, with all the stuff happening with Ichigo and Rukia, she wanted to do something so her life didn't feel like it was totally out of control.
Whatever the reason, here she was out on the streets of Karakura, in the middle of the night with one of her friends when she should logically be at home and studying or sleeping.
And for what? To follow a presumed 'lead' about the transfer student provided by...
She turned her head towards her companion and his new...'pet', and immediately fought back the urge to cover her head with her hoodie so she wouldn't die of embarrassment at following the advice of a parrot.
Chad, of course, had no such problems, just as he had no problems wandering around town dressed in a cheap flower-print t-shirt...
She shook her head at the situation.
"I'm losing my mind, aren't I...?"
Her friend shrugged, even as he continued to hold the parrot cage like some sort of dowsing rod. He looked down for a moment as he swung the metal item to his right.
"This way?"
The bird looked like it was thinking for a moment, and then it nodded its head.
"Yeah...I'm pretty sure it's that way."
Tatsuki just shook her head and sighed, wishing for a moment that she hadn't been doing those 'special exercises' when Chad had interrupted her on the phone. She'd gotten just far enough for her senses to be heightened, and now her nerves were on edge from the input they were getting.
It didn't help that the area they were in wasn't exactly one of Karakura's better neighborhoods; she took another look around and saw only dark alleys and dimly lit streets surrounded by nondescript buildings and the odd store or two. There were a few buildings that had been shuttered up, or that had the glass broken out of them, and the yawning darkness inside of them made her wonder if they shouldn't simply leave and go home.
She got the feeling there was something...bad here, something that had nothing to do with a bunch of punks.
And there was another feeling, at the edge of her mind...something familiar that she instinctively wished wasn't there...
She shook that kind of thinking out of her mind.
Arisawa Tatsuki wasn't the kind of person to be intimidated by bad feelings, even if she wasn't outright dismissing them either. And if something really was going on here like that, then there was nothing a pair of teenagers like them could do about it other than leave.
And she could tell they weren't going to be doing that.
She could also feel...something from the bird, sort of the way she felt something from Feng-sensei, though not as good. The bird didn't feel evil or malicious, just...
Very odd...
"You think we're going to find out anything?"
Chad's comment brought Tatsuki out her thoughts.
"I don't know, we're probably wasting our time..."
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Yuuichi look a little worried; it made her arch an eyebrow and then sigh.
"If there's even a chance of figuring out what the deal is with Rukia and helping Ichigo..."
"You'll do a lot of stupid stuff."
The brunette looked up and saw a genuinely warm smile on her friend's face; despite herself, Tatsuki smiled as well.
"Yeah...I guess I will. I figure I still owe him after..."
She took a moment, wondering if she should say anything to Chad; she was walking into a subject she hated, but...
"Have you heard about what happened to Ichigo's mom? I mean, did he ever tell you about it?"
The man shook his head.
"I know she was killed when he was a child, but he never talked about it."
For just a moment, Tatsuki felt some anger towards Ichigo for being so closed with someone he also considered a friend. But the memory of what happened hurt her too, and she'd only been on the edge of it.
She couldn't imagine what Ichigo probably still went through...
"Masaki wasn't killed, Chad, she was mauled...like some sort of wild animal had gotten to her. Before that..."
Tatsuki looked up now, remembering better times for a moment; she couldn't help smiling wistfully just a little.
"Before that, he was a very different person. Me and him and Uryuu – sometimes Feng-sensei, too – used to get together all the time and-"
Chad made a show of drawing back.
"Uryuu...?"
Tatsuki nodded her head.
"I'll tell you some other time. It's just...it all fell apart after Masaki died..."
Her expression matched her thoughts, and she could feel the fear and shame begin to creep in again.
"Sensei and Ichigo's dad started fighting, Uryuu's dad wouldn't talk to either one of them...the police started saying sensei had committed the crime..."
Chad nodded his head in understanding.
"And you were caught in the middle?"
Tatsuki shook her head and looked down again.
"I wish. I was more the innocent bystander, looking in from the outside, watching as some stranger's actions destroyed my whole world..."
"That's kind of like..."
Tatsuki and Chad both stopped at the sound of Yuuichi's voice, and they turned their attention towards the bird. To her amazement, the white parrot looked both sad and thoughtful at the same time, as though he understood how Tatsuki felt.
The brunette narrowed her eyes in suspicion; the parrot looked like he understood what they had just been talking about...
"What did you just say?"
The parrot paused, and then shook his head.
"Nothing."
Tatsuki wanted to say something, and then decided to let it go.
"Anyway...maybe I'm a little obsessive, but I don't ever want that to happen again. Especially not to Ichigo..."
Again sadness entered her heart, and she could also feel the negative sensation of the area try to enter into her. Why the two should have mixed together Tatsuki didn't know, but it made her look again at Yuuichi.
"I guess I haven't exactly liked strangers coming from nowhere since then."
She shrugged and gave the parrot a lopsided smile.
"Sorry, Yuuichi..."
The bird gazed at her sadly for a moment.
"It's okay."
Tatsuki could still feel it, could still feel something...something human coming from this bird...
But that was-
"Will you be quiet? Nobody's supposed to know we're here..."
The sound of someone practically yelling killed Tatsuki's curiosity about Yuuichi, and turned her attention to why they were there. She looked at Chad, who nodded, and they both went down a side alleyway.
She wasn't sure what was going on, and still wasn't sure she should even be there, but she was here now, so...
After a few minutes of creeping between a pair of brick and concrete buildings, they came to the other end of the alley; she could see a side-street beyond, with more quiet buildings on the other side.
Quietly, she and Chad made their way to the edge of their 'hiding spot' and looked around the corner.
Across the way, a few dozen meters ahead of them, were several young boys...she still had to think of the White Tengu like that...standing around doing an impression of people on guard duty. They looked at turns bored and panicky, and she just knew whatever they were doing was illegal.
Her distaste for coming out here vanished; she didn't like scumbags stinking up her hometown.
But the uneasy feeling from earlier wouldn't go away, even though it seemed to have nothing with what they were watching...
She shook the sensation away and looked up to Chad.
"It looks like the bird was right after all."
Then she saw the shocked look on Yuuichi's face.
"I am?!"
"What do you mean-?"
Chad put his finger to his lips and then pointed it to the group in the street ahead. Tatsuki stopped glaring at the parrot and turned her attention back to the scene in front of her.
There was a commotion among the people there, and soon another biker came out of the building they were standing in front of.
As she watched the proceedings, Tatsuki could make some observations.
There seemed to be only four of them, so if there had to be a fight, she and Chad would probably be fine.
As for the building, she didn't see anything special about it...it was just some abandoned warehouse or other building. In fact, now that Tatsuki thought about it, the place looked like it was condemned; she could see broken or missing windows all over the place, and she was sure the inside had probably caved in.
Tatsuki arched an eyebrow at the scene.
"I wonder what they're up to...?"
She could see Chad shake his head.
It looked like a place someone would schedule a secret meeting, and the 'security' fit in with that...
But she got the idea...
"Any luck?"
Apparently the bikers were taking the advice of the first person Tatsuki had heard; she had to strain her ears to hear what they were saying.
The biker who had been inside the building just shook his head.
"Nah...ain't here, either..."
The other boys showed their disappointment and frustration.
"Well where the hell do you think-?"
The one from the building just gained an annoyed look and shrugged.
"How the hell should I know? All I know is nee-san ain't happy with us."
Tatsuki felt a chill run down her spine that had nothing to do with the eerie air about this place.
'Nee-san'...?
Please tell me that's not a title...
Another biker shook his head.
"We better find it. You remember how pissed she was about what happened to Hiroshi..."
The others went wide-eyed and nodded their heads sagely.
Tatsuki could only smile wickedly, even as she tried to figure out what was going on.
These guys weren't here for a meeting, they were searching for something.
Had Hiroshi also been searching for something? She was sure the 'incident' she, Orihime and Rukia had run into was just a chance encounter, a distraction for the evening.
So what were they looking for that would be hidden in a run-down old-?
"Well, well, what do we have here...?"
Tatsuki sighed as she heard a voice from behind her.
"Aw crap..."
Maybe they could-
"Hey boys, we-!"
The Tengu's shout choked out as Chad grabbed him by the throat and hurled him out of the alleyway and into the street. It almost made Tatsuki want to slap her forehead and she glared at her companion.
Chad just shrugged.
"They know we're here, and they've got bikes..."
...So they'd be able to follow us if we just ran...
Tatsuki sighed again and shook her head, and then did the only thing she could...
Walk right out of the alley and into the lights of the street, and then wave at the very surprised bikers.
"Hey guys! I hear you're looking for something?"
Even as she winced at her own lame line, a flash of recognition came over one of the Tengu.
"That's the girl that got Hiroshi's boys busted! Get her!"
The group dropped what they were doing and started charging at her, fists and weapons readied.
Then they stopped as Chad walked out of the alleyway. It took them a moment to size up their new opponent, and for a moment it looked like they might just want to leave. Chad used the time to set Yuuichi's birdcage down on the side of one of the buildings before turning his full attention on them.
Tatsuki smirked at the bikers.
"What's the matter, guys? Numbers aren't good enough for you?"
She readied herself as the bikers managed to screw up their collective courage and charged again at her and Chad.
Well...maybe she could learn something about why they were here. If not from these idiots, then from Yuuichi.
After all, if he hadn't known about the bikers being here, then someone had gotten her and Chad to come to this place.
And that might answer her other question...
"What were you doing out there anyway? Shouldn't you be out making the rounds or something? After all, while you're escorting us home, somebody might be getting attacked by a Hollow right now."
Rukia had an insufferable expression on her face as she walked alongside Shaolin and Ichigo. Apparently she'd gotten over the initial humiliation of just a little while before and seemed to be feeling...argumentative.
Ichigo, who was thankfully back in his own body, seemed a little unsure as he heard his 'partner's' words.
"You know...she does have a point, obasan."
Rukia turned back to face him as they walked.
"Of course I am. And instead your 'obasan' is babysitting the two of us, who don't really need help, thank you very much."
Shaolin could practically feel Hana's indignation.
"Forget having her foot smashed on first contact. If this is what Arisawa-san had to put up with for a week, it is no wonder she does not like this girl."
The assassin had to nod at that, but...
She looked around the street the three of them were traveling on, at the people walking down it and the odd spirit of the dead floating by, and thought about what the coming of the Hollows would mean for them.
How many of them would be around this time next month? Next year?
Part of the answer to those questions, Shaolin knew, would depend on her actions.
But she didn't have just the community to worry about.
She turned her attention to Ichigo and Rukia with worry; the girl in particular was looking expectantly for an answer.
"I needed to see how you two were doing, and-"
For the first time, Ichigo looked mildly insulted; Rukia answered before he could say anything.
"You can see we're doing just fine, Feng-san."
"Yeah, she was trying to train me a little when you showed up."
Shaolin could hear a pause on her phone's earpiece.
"It must have been very hard. After all, I doubt she had time to bring an umpire's helmet..."
The assassin couldn't help herself, and started smiling at the joke. Both teens' eyes widened for a moment at the expression, and then Ichigo's eyes hardened.
"Is there something funny about me wanting to learn about this from Rukia?"
Actually there was, though Shaolin couldn't put her finger on it yet. Rukia wasn't about to give her any time, though, and just turned to Ichigo with a dismissive look on her face.
"Maybe she really just doesn't think you can handle this, Ichigo. After all, you're just a beginner, not a seasoned expert like her. She probably thinks it's a miracle that you haven't gotten yourself killed yet."
Rukia gained an expectant look in her eyes, and for a moment Ichigo hesitated before deciding to join with his companion's opinion.
"Is that true, obasan?"
The very question...coming from Ichigo...
And the fact that it was true...
Shaolin found she couldn't look at him, a feeling of embarrassment and shame flowing through her for a moment. It was enough to confirm his question, as she saw his eyes narrow while Rukia's expression became smug.
"She Ichigo...she may act friendly, but she doesn't think you have what it takes."
He looked unsure for a moment, but to Shaolin's dismay he sighed in seeming agreement; the two teens turned their backs to the assassin in a united front.
The ex-shinigami couldn't believe that had just happened; all she could do in response was back off a little, her eyes wide. This seemed to satisfy the teens, and they all continued their walk in silence.
"Is Ichigo-san still defending that girl, even after what you laid out to him last night?"
Shaolin backed up a little, as much to give her companions space as to talk to Hana alone, and found herself nodding.
"Yeah, I guess so..."
That scared her more than a little.
Shaolin had known Ichigo since he'd been in diapers...had been a hopefully positive presence in his life...
And yet this newcomer was actually able to get him to argue with her, after only a week and a half of contact.
"Hana...have I been too hard or distant with Ichigo...or maybe...?"
The ex-shinigami could hear the unsure tone of her voice even as she said the words, and so could Hana.
"I have no idea Shaolin. Perhaps it is simply that Ichigo-san is a young man now, and Kuchiki-hime is giving him a taste of adventure he thinks he wants."
Shaolin shook her head in worry as she looked at the two teens in front of her.
"What do I do?"
There was a pause.
"Perhaps you should tell him who and what you are."
"But that-"
"Would put you on equal footing with Kuchiki-hime regarding what you could offer him."
Shaolin thought about that for a long minute as they continued walking and then hung her head.
"I can't bring myself to do that, Hana... I'd be betraying Masaki-san..."
"Then what are you going to do?"
The assassin sighed and then raised her head to focus on Ichigo and Rukia. They seemed to be quietly talking...no, bickering was more like it...about something Shaolin didn't care about.
"Have you heard of the Shrieker?"
The words immediately gained the teens' attention and they turned their heads to look at her. Ichigo had an expression that showed he felt he was finally getting somewhere, while Rukia just had a slight curiosity in her eyes.
"Was that what you came to talk to us about?"
Shaolin nodded her head at the Kuchiki heiress, and then turned her full attention to the young man.
"Yes, and...I'm sorry Ichigo about not coming out with it immediately, but..."
"You really don't want me to do this, do you?"
The words stung Shaolin, and she couldn't help but flinch. She calmed down and nodded her head, trying to let some of the shame and worry she felt enter her features.
"It's selfish, and it's wrong...but..."
She found herself crossing her arms and looking away a little.
"I just don't want anything to happen to you."
There was silence for a few moments, and then Shaolin turned back to the teens and found Rukia looking at her with an expression of determination.
"Ichigo's not going to lose to the Hollows."
The assassin arched an eyebrow at the statement.
"Why do you say that?"
She managed to ignore the insulted look on Ichigo's face as Rukia replied.
"Because I believe in him, that's why. Why don't you?"
It was a good question, but there was a quality in Rukia's voice...
"She truly will fight to the last flunky, will she not?"
Shaolin silently thanked Hana for being so perceptive; the assassin could now see the arrogance in the words, even if Rukia truly meant them.
The ex-shinigami hardened her expression as she continued to hold the teens' attention.
"The two shinigami Shrieker consumed believed in themselves, too, Kuchiki-san."
Now the assassin looked to see what Ichigo's reaction was to that, and saw his eyes widen just a little. But he didn't seem scared, just very thoughtful about what he had heard; Rukia looked a little unsure herself, and a little troubled as well.
"I'm sure that..."
Now Shaolin pinned her with a mild glare.
"Ichigo, how long have you been a shinigami?"
The two teens stopped and stared at her a little at the change in subject.
"A...about a week and a half... Why?"
Shaolin sighed and shook her head a little, and then looked at Rukia as they started walking again.
"And you, Kuchiki-san?"
The girl made a show of thinking about that.
"About fifty years, give or take."
Shaolin looked back to Ichigo while pointing at Rukia.
"In other words, it'll take you most of the rest of your life to reach her level of experience..."
The young man started nodding his head as he began to pick up on what she was saying.
"And two people like that got eaten by this Hollow you're talking about..."
The ex-shinigami smiled sadly and nodded her head; she turned back to Rukia, who had a dismissive look in her eye again.
"Did it ever occur to you what might happen if Ichigo, a highly inexperienced shinigami, loses to one of the Hollows he fights?"
Ichigo looked like he might interrupt, so Shaolin pinned him with another glare.
"You need to think of the possibility, Ichigo. Contrary to what Kuchiki-san might have told you the last week, that's not the same thing as feeling that you will lose."
She turned her attention back to the girl.
"Well...?"
Rukia was just shaking her head in what looked like disgust.
"Talk all you want about that; a warrior thinks of victory not defeat."
Shaolin closed her eyes and sighed at the Gotei 13 mentality Rukia held.
"And a dead man doesn't think of anything but triumphing over his enemy."
Rukia and Ichigo gazed at her quizzically, and Shaolin decided to try a different means of explaining the situation.
"Just imagine if he does lose, Kuchiki-san. Ichigo is an extremely powerful person for his level of training; he'd make a wonderful meal for the Hollows. And if someone like Shrieker were to take Ichigo's soul..."
There was a pause, and she could feel Hana drawing in a non-existent breath.
"Gods, I didn't even think of that..."
Shaolin didn't begrudge her friend the oversight; the assassin made the same oversight herself sometimes.
Rukia simply waved the argument away, an almost airy look on her face.
"He won't lose. Like I said before, I have absolute faith in him..."
"Like your taichou had faith you could complete your assignment without anything going wrong?"
Rukia stared and then started thinking. Ichigo looked at the two women he was with and started shaking his head a little.
"Obasan...maybe you're over-reacting a little..."
Shaolin made a show of sighing in frustration; she let the worry she felt show on her face.
"Ichigo, when a Hollow consumes a person's soul, that's it for them. No more being a part of the cycle of re-incarnation, no going to heaven for your reward, no being punished for your sins..."
She shrugged sadly.
"No nothing. You're just...gone."
Ichigo nodded at that still not looking too upset, but she noticed that his face had a gone a little paler.
"I...see..."
"Those are the stakes you're going up against each time you fight those things."
He turned away from her.
"They're the same ones you have to deal with, too, obasan-"
She closed her eyes and nodded her head.
"But I have a lifetime of training; I have reason not to worry about myself too much."
Then she looked at Rukia and a smile came across her face.
"I'm also worried because you're probably not going to get too much out of your association with Kuchiki-san here."
The girl's eyes widened in outrage.
"What?"
Shaolin let her eyes harden, even as the smile stayed on her lips; she now realized why she felt she had the right side in this argument.
"You have five decades' worth of experience, and yet you have total confidence in a young man who has only been doing this for...a week and a half, maybe...? You feel he is quite capable of handling your job?"
Rukia's jaw dropped as she realized what Shaolin was implying; it took Ichigo just a second longer, but then he stared at Rukia and then smiled with some amount of pride.
Shaolin could feel her mood lightening just a little.
"To tell the truth, he has been able to keep himself alive this whole time, so I guess he is just as good as you are... Maybe Ichigo doesn't need to be trained after all..."
The ex-shinigami could feel her gikongan friend smiling and shaking her non-existent head.
"And maybe Kuchiki-hime is getting paid far too much for her work."
Casting a glance towards Ichigo, Shaolin could see a slight look of arrogance in his eyes; she would have to do something about that part of it, but she began to feel she had just pulled another of Rukia's claws out of the boy.
The look on Rukia's face seemed to confirm this, as she seemed more than a little worried. She looked like she wanted to say something, and then thought better of it.
"What is it?"
Rukia was silent to the ex-shinigami's question for a few moments, and then gained a slightly hateful expression on her face.
"Nothing..."
Shaolin there was going to be more to this later – she was pretty confident of what Rukia was thinking – but it was getting late and they were approaching Furin Hall.
She could fight that battle when she came to it.
The assassin made a show of yawning and stretching her arms a little.
"It's getting late, guys. Never mind dangerous Hollows, I need to get some sleep, and I'm sure the two of you need your beauty rest too."
The other two nodded; though Ichigo was giving her a strange look, both teens appeared like they wanted to start turning in for the night themselves.
Shaolin could understand Ichigo's concerns, but she was still trying to catch up on her rest. If she wasn't in top form, people were definitely going to die and Pluses were going to be consumed.
Like Rin and Akane.
In the mean time, she could only hope Tatsuki and the others she cared for were doing okay.
Tatsuki smiled wickedly as the biker standing in front of her rolled his eyes heavenward and went to the pavement.
She was feeling a little better now, having taken out some of her recent frustrations on these idiots, and the fact that they were something Chad wouldn't care about helped out a lot.
Because right now part of her wanted to give Yuuichi a good plucking for getting them into this mess...
The brunette turned to see how her 'partner' was doing, and almost wanted to either laugh or gasp in shock.
One of the two remaining Tengu was trying to take out the almost-giant with a crowbar they'd somehow found, swinging it at their target with all the force they could muster. Again and again the piece of iron kept hitting Chad, causing some tearing of the man's shirt.
Chad didn't seem to feel a thing; the expression on his face was boredom mixed with 'You've got to be kidding me'.
It took a moment for Tatsuki to realize she was shaking her head at the sight; she knew her friend was durable but...
This was just nuts.
Apparently the biker thought so too as, sweating and huffing from the exertion of swinging the crowbar, he stopped mid-swing to try and catch his breath.
Chad moved against his attacker at this point.
He turned slightly, his expression unchanged, and the biker started to panic. Chad's opponent tried to swing the bar again, but the half-Mexican simply grabbed it mid-swing and held it for a couple of moments; the biker tried as best he could to remove the bar, pulling furiously at the piece of metal to no effect.
Apparently it didn't occur to him to just let go and start running.
Then Chad jerked his arm back, driving the bar into the biker's chest just enough to send him stumbling back in pain. Tatsuki just watched as the boy finally let go of the crowbar, stumbled a little more and then joined his comrades on the pavement.
Chad dropped the weapon he'd been assaulted with, the metal clanking onto the pavement, and then turned to Tatsuki, a slight look of concern on his face.
"You okay?"
She nodded.
"Yeah I'll be fine; I-"
They were interrupted by the sound of a motorcycle starting up, and before they could do anything, Tatsuki saw the last of the Tengu bursting out of a side-alley. He stopped for a moment, looking at the scene of his comrades strewn across the street where Tatsuki and Chad had left them.
She smirked at the jerk.
Go ahead, run away. Tell your boss-
To her shock, the biker set his face in a determined expression, gunned the engine, and then started racing towards her as fast as his vehicle could go.
And to her horror, Tatsuki found herself freezing.
Part of her wanted to run away; she was brave, but she knew a high-kick wasn't going to do anything to a screaming pile of metal.
But she also didn't want to run away from this idiot; it didn't feel right to her, even as she saw the lights getting closer to her.
Arisawa Tatsuki never-
Before she could continue her thought, Chad's massive form appeared in front of her, blocking the motorcycle's path.
"Chad what are you-?!"
The young man just held up a hand, even as she heard the motorcycle being gunned even further and it sped up.
Her friend's intrusion managed to get Tatsuki's brain going again and, taking the opportunity now offered her, the brunette followed her instincts and turned and dove to the side. She hit the pavement and rolled a little, trying to ignore the pain; she knew the biker probably wouldn't be able to change direction this fast, and she didn't want to be in the path of whatever was going to happen.
Tatsuki had just enough time to see the bike as it careened towards Chad, and she could see the look of malicious glee on its driver's face.
And she could see the determined look on Chad's, as it became clear he wasn't going to move out of the way...
There wasn't enough time to say anything. She could only avert her eyes even as her mind was screaming for her friend to move.
Then she heard the bike crash into Chad, and some part of her flashed a gruesome scene into her eyes of his body being thrown across the street and her being the next victim and...
And she didn't hear anything else, only the bike's motor running on idle.
Tatsuki steeled herself; she had to look and see what had happened to her friend.
She did so, even as her mind kept telling her that she would see...
...that the bike had impacted into what she could only consider six-and-a-half feet of Mexican bronze.
That was the only way she could explain the fact that her friend was seemingly unharmed, while the bike...
It had hit Chad's legs and then stopped cold on its front wheel, causing the rear of the vehicle to pivot upwards and first hurl its occupant into Chad's chest and then pin him there with its mass. Even now, as he seemed to be losing consciousness, the biker had a look of shock and fear plastered on his face as he saw the half-giant's still-impassive expression.
Tatsuki's friend didn't say anything, simply letting the bike fall back to Earth in a heap, and then letting the biker slide off of him like an egg off a windowpane.
As soon as both bike and rider were in a pile on the pavement, Chad took a moment to step back and then look himself over.
Tatsuki, still staring wide-eyed at her friend, took a moment herself to get onto her feet and find her voice.
"A-are you...all right...?"
Chad took another moment to finish examining himself and then shrugged.
"Been better... I'm more worried about him."
He pointed to the Tengu, who now looked a little more than unconscious.
Tatsuki could feel her jaw drop and her eyes bug out as she pointed at the biker herself.
"Him?! You're the one who got hit by a motorcycle!"
He just shrugged.
"Second time this week. It's not a big deal."
Now Tatsuki's brain was beginning to shut down; she started shaking her head in disbelief.
"'Not a big deal' he says..."
She waved a hand at the scene in front of her.
"How do you do that?"
He shrugged again.
"Don't know. I just do."
Even as she was trying to process that, Chad managed to give a sheepish smile.
"I had a steel girder fall on me a couple of nights ago."
The brunette somehow stared even harder at him while he shrugged yet again, the smile still on his face.
"Now you know why I wear the cheap shirts..."
Tatsuki could only shake her head again at the sight; the man was bleeding, now that she was taking a closer look, but...
"And here I thought you were just trash-talking when you went on about stuff like that..."
"Gee, mister...that was amazing...!"
The sound of a young boy's voice brought Tatsuki out of her stupor and back to the real world. She turned and started striding back to where Chad had left Yuuichi's birdcage, her friend following behind.
Yuuichi was looking at the two of them with the hero-worship of a young child, and it suddenly hit her that she really was feeling something she could only describe as 'human' coming from the bird.
The parrot continued to look at them with delight, but then his expression changed to one of uncertainty as she saw the glare Tatsuki was giving him.
"Uhmmm...?"
The brunette squatted, her hands on her knees, and leaned as far as she could towards the cage, never taking her eyes off the bird. For his part, Yuuichi had the good sense to start backing up as far as he could go.
She could feel Chad looking at her with concern.
"Tatsuki..."
She held up a hand to silence him.
"No Chad, this bird owes us some answers..."
If Yuuichi even was a bird...
This was just getting weird, and she wanted to straighten at least some of it out; even more so now that the adrenaline from the fight was beginning to leave her and that earlier creepy feeling was seeping back in.
Tatsuki didn't hear any complaints from Chad, so she lowered her hand and continued to wait until the parrot actually gulped.
"Uhm..."
"You were just as surprised as we were to find the White Tengu snooping around here, weren't you?"
Yuuichi looked like he wanted to protest, but then decided against it and nodded.
Tatsuki ignored Chad's betrayed gasp and closed her eyes in frustration and worry; now she had more questions than when they'd come here.
And the bad feeling was getting stronger, making the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
This was not a good day, and she felt like taking it out on the parrot...
"Then what were you supposed to be doing? Why did you lead us here?"
Now Tatsuki could feel her heart begin to race, even as she looked at Yuuichi...
Her...'special sense' was telling her...something inhuman was-
"He lead you here because I told him to..."
The eerie voice coming out of the air froze Tatsuki's blood, and she had just enough time to turn around to see what was going on before...
She could see...'something' moving behind Chad, like some sort of malevolent heat shimmer. It seemed to raise one arm behind the oblivious young man.
"Chad, watch out!"
Before he could do anything, the haze threw its 'arm' down.
Chad gave a pained sound somewhere between a grunt and a yell as his back exploded in a spray of blood, and his eyes went wide for a moment before he fell to the ground.
Yuuichi started jumping up and down frantically.
"Hey, you said you wouldn't hurt them...!"
The shimmer shrugged.
"Plans change, kid..."
Tatsuki only had a moment to throw a hateful glance at the bird before the haze threw its arm at her. The connection was like getting hit with a hammer, and the brunette felt herself fly through the air before landing on the pavement with a thud.
"And besides, what are you going to do about it?"
Tatsuki struggled to try and get herself righted. She could feel the pain from the impact, and she was sure she was going to have some serious bruises tomorrow, along with a few cuts and scrapes.
That would be fun to explain to the adults...
She took a moment to let her senses get back into order, and then she looked up, trying to figure out what...
Arisawa Tatsuki froze solid on the pavement as she saw a monster 'standing' over Chad.
The mere sight of it sent her mind into a frenzy, but she couldn't do anything other than try to take the thing in while remembered fear flooding through her mixed again with the foul energy she could feel rolling off the thing.
It had the build of a gorilla, walking almost on all fours; its long forelimbs stretched out into what Tatsuki could see were folded bat-like wings. The sickly green of it's skin contrasted with the brown of a mane of...she hesitated to call it hair...that surrounded the base of its neck.
And then it flashed a look in her direction and she couldn't help but cringe.
Where a face should have been there was what looked like a rectangular mask made of white bone, a rictus grin chiseled on it. Beneath a pair of ridges that looked like the start of horns, baleful yellow eyes looked out from the inky blackness of a pair of eye sockets.
And her body still felt like it was made of stone, tendons and muscles at best twitching just a little as she watched the scene unfolding in front of her.
Gods, what's wrong with me...?
She'd never felt this scared before...
The creature spared a glance at Chad, surely to make sure the young man was truly down, and ignored the screaming and wailing of Yuuichi. Tatsuki couldn't make out what the bird was saying, only the general feel that he wasn't happy about what was going on.
Tatsuki couldn't focus on that, though; she just wanted to get out of there.
But she still couldn't get her body to move, even as the monster turned its attention back to her and started slowly moving in her direction.
C'mon Tatsuki...!
The thing's mask wasn't able to move, but she could tell it was smiling...
She tried her best to get her brain to work right, get her limbs to pick her up off the ground.
C'mon...!
Tatsuki didn't want to be here. She wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere else.
She wanted to be in her room sleeping in her bed, or at Furin Hall training with sensei...
Not here with a thing that had the look of a man that got off on making sure young women appeared in the local obituaries.
C'MON, BODY...MOVE!
Somehow, something seemed to answer her prayers. Tatsuki could feel her legs and arms start shifting, and somehow she found herself standing shakily.
The monster stopped for a moment, and seemed to arch an eyebrow in interest.
"Oh, so you're still alive? That's good; I didn't want to kill you... At least, not right now..."
And then it laughed a little, and Tatsuki knew she was dealing with some kind of creature from Hell.
Whatever part of her was keeping her in a fixed location disappeared, and she suddenly found the scene changing.
She was running in an alleyway, trying her best not to trip on any of the trash on the ground...
She had tripped, going to her knees while she looked behind her to see if anything was following...
She was back on her feet, running down another deserted street, trying her best to find any sign of someone who could help her...
Tatsuki didn't know how she went from place to place, only that she needed to get out of there, to get to someplace safe, to-
A massive shadow flew over her, causing her to stop in renewed fear. Then the monster was in front of her, the pavement cracking under its feet as it impacted as much as landed.
The pressure increased, the remembrance of something foul resting on her body. Something like this thing that was in front of her, smiling at her...
And she found herself rooted again, the image of her face in the newspaper appearing in her mind.
I'm not going to make it, am I...?
There was a part of her that didn't think that, a part screaming at her not to be afraid.
But it didn't seem to understand what the situation was.
The creature before her was almost certainly stronger than her...
It was faster than her...
And she was somehow sure she couldn't do anything to it...
No, that can't be true...
It came up to Tatsuki, looked down at her with eyes that seemed to be sizing her up for a moment.
"I'll be damned... You can see me now, can't you?"
Somehow, Tatsuki nodded her head.
"Pretty scary, ain't I?"
There was a part of her that wanted to come up with some witty comeback, but it was still buried.
All Tatsuki could manage was another weak nod, something which seemed to please the beast.
"Well, you ain't seen nothin' yet..."
I need to get out of here. I need to-
"We're going on a little trip, so your precious sensei will come looking for you..."
That thing's after sensei...?!
It reached out to take hold of her, and lifted her until her feet were dangling in the air.
"And then I can take her soul."
The very words made Tatsuki go completely numb.
Her...soul...? Is he going to...?
Then it looked at her another moment, and a thought seemed to occur to it.
As she watched, a small creature popped its head out of the monster's mane of hair; it was a disgusting thing, some kind of mutant, polka-dot amphibian that took one look at her and smiled.
"I think I'll have 'my associate' here make sure you can't get away. 'Course it'll probably mess you up, but there isn't that much to screw up to begin with..."
The insult only barely managed to break through the terror Tatsuki was feeling; the little creature's long head split open lengthwise, and she could see something like leeches squirming inside.
Oh gods, what is that?!
The sight and her reaction to it completely disgusted Tatsuki, and her body finally began to move as she tried to squirm out of the way. But the monster's grip was like iron and no matter how had she tried she couldn't slip out of her clothes or break out of the grip.
No...I don't want to... Please, somebody...
The little creature backed up, as though it were going to hurl the leeches on her, while the larger monster opened its mouth and stuck out a tongue with a vibrating tuning fork on the end...
Help me...!
Suddenly the monster jolted forward and let Tatsuki go as it cried out in pain and surprise. As she fell to the pavement, she could see the leech-creature go flying some distance away, hit the pavement hard-
A bright flash and boom roared through the street as the thing exploded, some pieces of asphalt pelting Tatsuki as she watched.
That was almost me, wasn't it...?
The thought immediately got her body working again; she got up again as fast as she could and started running from the monster.
Thank you gods, thank-
After a few meters, Tatsuki's mind calmed down just enough for her to hear the monster shouting and cursing, and make out the sound of something hard and metallic hitting bone. She stopped and turned to see what had...
"Leave my friend alone, you jerk!"
"Ahh...gods...you...!"
Latched onto the monster's back, her ginger hair whipping around as she rode the thing like a cowgirl riding a bronco was Orihime.
Somehow Tatsuki's voice-box was able to start working a little.
"Orihime, what the hell-"
Damn it, that's that other energy I felt earlier! She was following us, wasn't she?!
And now...
"Leave her alone! Leave her alone! Leave her alone!"
Each time she said the words, Orihime brought the crowbar down on the monster's head again and again. The beast could only flail its arms and stumble around wildly as the ginger-haired student kept riding its back, her legs keeping her clamped onto it in almost piggy-back fashion.
"Oww, oww...gods-damn it, you bitch! Get off of me! Get off of me!"
For a few moments, Tatsuki couldn't bring herself to do anything other than look upon the scene utterly dumbfounded. Then enough of her mind managed to pull itself together to start talking like a human being.
"Orihime, what the hell are you doing?!"
The ginger-haired girl took a moment to look back at Tatsuki and smile.
"Just trying to help a friend...!"
Then a strange look crossed Orihime's face, as though she realized something wasn't right. She paused and pointed with her free hand to the thing below her.
"That monster is here, isn't he?"
Even as some part of Tatsuki wanted to slap her palm on her forehead, she could see the beast's eyes look upward at Orihime.
"You betcha 'I'm here', sweetie..."
"Orihime, watch out!"
The pause had given the monster enough time to shrug off the effects of the crowbar, and now it went on the offensive.
Orihime gave a squeak as the beast reached up behind itself with a massive arm, and backhanded her with a wing. She tried her best to hold on, but she was just a young woman against a beast that was fully capable of flying under its own power.
Tatsuki could only watch in horror as another friend went sailing through the air to land on the pavement several meters away.
Just like Chad had a little while before...
"Orihime!"
The monster looked at Orihime with anger and disgust.
"You think you can pull something like that on me and get away with it?!"
Then it smiled.
"Let's see how bad I can mess up that pretty face of yours..."
Tatsuki felt the fear tear through her again, and it made her feel something...
This was happening again, wasn't it? Even if she couldn't remember, it was happening again.
I have to do something...
The thought calmed her a little, and for some reason she felt a small part of her beginning to fight back against the energy and fear she was feeling.
But it wasn't enough, and she could only stand by as she saw more of the leech-creatures emerge from the monster's mane.
The monster spared a glance at Tatsuki and then dismissed her.
She tried to get her body to move, tried to will it to move.
She had to save her friend, but she couldn't get herself to do anything again...
She could only feel tears streaming down her eyes.
Gods...this is my best friend... I can't let her...
But she...it was the pressure she was feeling...she could understand now what was doing this to her, the creature's very force of will...
But understanding wasn't enough; she still couldn't move, even as the monster stuck it's tongue out and...
Tatsuki heard a crash, and the monster almost bowed as it was hit from behind by something again.
Something a lot heavier than a crowbar.
It stumbled and Tatsuki found herself beginning to move as the fear lifted a little. The creature rubbed its head and growled as it turned around to face whatever had attacked it.
"Not again?! What the hell is thi-?!"
The bat-monster found itself being hit again, this time in the face, with the back end of a motorcycle; the blow sent the monster crashing back into the side of a building, even as Tatsuki felt her jaw drop at who had landed the blow.
Somehow Chad had managed to get back on his feet and had made it to where Tatsuki and Orihime were; a grim and determined look was on the young man's face as he stood facing the monster, which looked like it was still trying to comprehend what was going on.
That made two of them, as Tatsuki's shaken mind still couldn't quite wrap itself around the fact that Chad was using a Tengu motorcycle as a weapon.
"Gods-damn it, what the hell is this?! Can everybody around here see me?!"
I don't know...but I definitely can...
And she really wished she couldn't as she saw the thing get up and shake itself back into some semblance of fighting form. It didn't seem to want to immediately attack, just study its opponent to see what he would do next.
Chad took a quick look at Orihime, still laying in a heap on the ground, and then looked back at the monster and-
The half-Mexican student held the motorcycle by one tire and then made a show of twirling the thing around and around for a moment. Then he swung it over his shoulders, grabbed it by the other tire in his other hand, and started doing the same thing.
Tatsuki could feel her jaw drop as she realized her friend was treating the bike like it was a nunchaku...or something like that.
The monster seemed to be equally stupefied at the display of 'bike-fu', and then he looked disgusted.
"You gotta be..."
The beast's expression changed as Chad took advantage of its attitude and swung the bike at it; the vehicle hit the thing clear across the mask and sent it back into the building, this time sending a rain of debris crashing on its head.
Chad stood impassively as the creature again shook its senses back and scrambled to one side, its eyes wide with a note of panic.
The sight invigorated Tatsuki; maybe they could get out of here alive, maybe...
Chad looked to her, his expression holding some pain even as he tried not to show anything.
"I'm pretty sure I've been hitting something..."
Now the monster's jaw dropped, even as Tatsuki's own heart crashed, and she could hear disbelief as much as anger in its voice.
"What do you mean...? Oh gods, this is ridiculous..."
Tatsuki agreed with that sentiment.
Chad was hitting the thing through blind luck?
I can see that thing, though... I can tell him where to hit it... I can help...
But the fear was still there, still strong, and still keeping her from doing much; she cast a glance at the thing Chad was facing and she saw it looking back at her for a moment. The malice in those eyes...
It was worse than last time...when there was only mindless hatred...
Last time?
She couldn't help last time, couldn't do anything...
Just like she couldn't do anything here...
"Tatsuki...Tatsuki, are you okay...? Where is-"
Chad grunted as the monster went around and then attacked him from another side, swiping at him with its wing. It grinned as it passed him...
"There! That's for-!"
Now it grunted in pain as Chad swung the bike around with what looked like all his strength and hit the monster on the back of its head. The force of impact drove the thing's face into the pavement, smashing the asphalt, while Chad let the bike go flying out of his hands and then landed on his hands and knees. The vehicle-cum-weapon crashed and skidded to a stop several meters away from the two, the sound making Tatsuki jump a little.
Chad was in bad shape, but the monster was only fazed for a moment. It picked itself up yet again, holding the side of its head as it shook itself back to reality.
"Gods-damnit, it's not supposed to be this difficult!"
He turned and looked at Chad, who was still struggling to get himself back onto his feet; there was now only rage in the thing's eyes, and it seemed to fixate on the young man in front of it as the only thing worth dealing with.
"Stupid jerk! Take that!"
The monster raised an arm and swiped it across Chad's back; the young man cried out as a spray of blood went out over a new section of pavement.
No...
"And take this, you bastard!"
The monster used one of its hind legs to kick Chad from below; the young man, massive as he was, was lifted into the air then hit the street with a thud.
And Tatsuki couldn't get herself to do anything other than try to find an avenue of retreat-
What the hell am I thinking...?
She looked over and saw Orihime, just starting to stir on the street, and then back to Chad.
I screwed up...didn't help him. And now there's no one else...
Even as the fear continued to tear through her...the fear of these things...she could begin to feel another emotion welling up in her.
She was disgusted with herself, ashamed of herself.
I met one of these things before, and couldn't do anything about it...didn't I?
"Take this!"
Now the creature threw both 'hands' locked together down on Chad's back. She was sure she heard bones cracking, if not breaking.
It leered at Chad.
"Not so hot now, are ya?"
Why am I feeling like this...? Why am I being such a coward?
She was scared...so scared...even if she was beginning to feel something in her begin to stabilize.
If you don't help them, they'll both die...you'll die...
The voice was small but steady.
But she knew she'd die without any good coming of it if she just tried to attack the thing.
The monster kicked Chad again, waited a moment to make sure the young man really wasn't getting back up, and then looked towards Orihime for a moment.
Arisawa Tatsuki doesn't let her friends die, does she?
The thought or voice or...whatever it was rang through her, and suddenly she could feel the fear begin to dissolve.
She could feel herself finally, finally beginning to move and think as she felt the pressure on her lessen for some strange reason.
The brunette didn't know why this was only happening now, and it wasn't happening quickly, but she was glad it was happening.
She just wished it would happen faster.
Tatsuki watched as the monster began to cross the distance to Orihime again, who was just beginning to get on her knees; the girl threw a panicked look at the thing approaching her.
Tatsuki saw her friend's face, and suddenly the last of the fear melted away as she began to remember herself.
What have I been...? I won't let anything happen to Orihime!
She couldn't feel the monster's power in her anymore, only her own self, and she no longer felt fear, only disgust and a rising anger from the deepest part of her soul.
I'm not going to let anything else happen to my friends!
Tatsuki knew she wasn't at full strength; she felt like she was recovering from a disease, with her body somewhat weakened from a hard-fought struggle. But she could also feel a slight rush of new-found energy, the righteous outrage helping to buoy her up.
Even as the creature came up to Orihime and prepared to do whatever it wanted with her, Tatsuki realized she could do this now, even if she didn't know why, and set herself to fight.
She would save her friends...because she had to.
Tatsuki turned her attention to the monster, and poured all the negative feelings she could into her voice.
"LEAVE HER ALONE!"
The creature turned at Tatsuki's scream.
"Huh?"
Having gained its attention, Tatsuki started running towards the beast; she let her body move automatically while she let her mind focus on continuing to summon up all the rage she could find in herself.
Rage at this thing for having harmed her friends.
Rage at the world for having let itself be pulled out from under her.
Rage at Chad's feather-duster for getting her friends into this.
Rage at Rukia...Tatsuki knew the newcomer was responsible for this somehow...
And rage at herself for having just stood by while her friends were mauled...
She channeled all that rage into her herself, all the power and training she had over the years, and threw it into her attack as she ran up to the monster that had hurt her friends.
Even as the beast looked blankly at Tatsuki, she jumped up and twirled her right leg around in a roundhouse kick to the mask on the thing's face. She only felt more rage at the look on the thing's face, a look that dared her to do anything to it before it destroyed her.
As her foot approached the bone mask, Tatsuki summoned her energy as well, and willed it to destroy the thing in front of her.
Die you son of a bitch!
She felt her energy push back against the creature's, negate it somehow...
DIE!
Her foot impacted with the mask...
And the monster's eager expression vanished as the mask chipped.
His eyes widened and he raised a hand to the spot, even as Tatsuki readied another kick.
"What the-?"
Before he could finish, Tatsuki kicked him again...
And then again...
And again.
Each time she didn't feel like it would do anything, but she wanted it to. She wanted to hurt this son of a bitch for hurting her friends, and wanted to do it even more because she'd let them get hurt.
"You bitch! Stop that!"
Tatsuki had no intention of doing any such thing, and put her whole body into her next kick. As she did so, for just a moment, she could swear that her foot was covered in some sort of white fire...
A loud cracking sound echoed through the street as she hit the monster again; hairline fissures went up through a good portion of the its mask, a few chips flaking off along the way.
It wasn't much damage as far as Tatsuki was concerned, but the thing seemed to freak out; it threw a wing up to shield the damaged area and looked at her with terror for the first time.
"You bitch! Oh my gods, you-!"
Tatsuki smiled.
"You didn't like that, did you? I guess your face must really be ugly for you to get that freaked. Let's see if I can take the rest off-"
She hardly noticed the monster thrusting its free 'hand' at her, and then she saw one of the smaller creatures bounding towards her, a look of subservient glee on its face.
Her eyes went wide as she waited for the thing's head to split open like the others had, but it just kept coming.
She could see the monster behind her leering at her, a hateful 'smile' on it's face.
"Take this, bitch!"
The small creature jumped up into the air, arms stretched forward as it intended to grab Tatsuki while its master stuck its tuning-fork tongue out...
Even as she felt revulsion at the idea of the smaller monster touching her, the brunette student dodged and then hurled out an arm to clothesline the thing. It went down, smacking on the pavement but not exploding like the last one.
Then Tatsuki got soccer into her mind; before the leech-creature could recover she ran behind the little thing and kicked it towards its master.
The larger monster had apparently already started what it was doing, because its eyes went wide as its 'drone' came flying back into its face.
And promptly exploded.
"Ahh...! You...!"
Even as he was flailing around, the monster took a moment to hurl a 'finger' at her.
"You people aren't supposed to be able to do that! You're supposed to just run like you were doing and-"
Tatsuki just shrugged wearily and tried to keep the tension out of her voice as she cut the monster off.
"Well tough luck for you! Now get out of here before I really mess with you!"
She didn't feel any of the bravado in those words, but it couldn't hurt to put on a brave face.
Although she had no idea how she was going to get out of...
"Tatsuki...?"
Even as she watched the monster trying desperately to cover his 'face' with his hands, Tatsuki cast a glance at Orihime. The ginger-haired student didn't look all that good, but she was managing to get onto her feet.
"Orihime...I won't ask if you're all right. Can you start getting Chad out of here?"
A hint of movement turned Tatsuki's attention back to the monster. He looked like he'd recovered a little and was seriously thinking about going after his former quarry again.
The brunette gave a feral smile and readied herself. She just wanted to get the hell out of here and back to...
Gods, she didn't know who to turn to, did she...?
She'd managed to hurt it, but this thing now flinching at Tatsuki's display would just follow them around and get her, Orihime and Chad later.
They'd never be safe...
What were they going to-?
The ground nearby exploded, pieces of asphalt and underlying dirt being thrown everywhere.
Everyone conscious – monster, Tatsuki and Orihime – yelled and jumped away as the pavement erupted in a straight line, like some weird lava fountain, starting from one of the nearby buildings and...
Leading straight for the monster, who suddenly had very round eyes as he realized he was the intended target. He tried to evade, jumping up into the air and flapping his wings furiously to gain altitude.
It almost worked, but then what caused the 'eruption' emerged from the cloud of debris.
Tatsuki stood transfixed as she saw something that looked like a rope of water emerge from the asphalt and dirt and hurl itself at the the monster. The creature's face gained a look of horror as the spray, flashing like polished silver in the moonlight, reached it.
And then like some sort of knife, the...whatever it was...slashed through the creature's left membrane before coming back down in a splatter on the ground.
"Tatsuki...!"
Even as the monster fell to the ground right after the silver water, Tatsuki turned to see that Orihime had managed to reach Chad and was trying to drag him away from the area.
"A...a little help...please...?"
A wave of self-revulsion tore through Tatsuki at the sight, and she hurried over to her friends, hoping the monster was going to be in too much pain right now to do anything.
She made it over to the limp form of her larger friend, swung his free arm over her shoulders and then started hauling him in such a way as to take the load off the other girl. A quick scan of Orihime saw her scraped and a little bloody, and the brunette couldn't help but sigh.
"Orihime, I'm sorry, I..."
The other girl shook her head, even as she panted and stumbled with her still-heavy load.
"Don't...worry about it, Tatsuki-chan... I'm the one...who came here...remember...?"
Tatsuki couldn't keep the depression out of her heart, though.
She should have been more careful, should have...
A thought came to her. She looked over to where the monster had been...
And saw nothing.
Ice went down her spine as she wondered whether she could see the thing anymore...if it had gone invisible again and was just about to attack them like it had done to Chad...
No...no, she suddenly knew that wasn't the case. She couldn't feel it in the area anymore.
The beast was gone...just gone.
Back to wherever it had come from.
The realization caused Tatsuki to almost collapse from exhaustion and relief; she only just righted herself in time to hear a pained grunt from Orihime.
"Tatsuki...?!"
"Sorry...sorry...I just..."
The ginger-haired girl gave a smile both pained and tired.
"I know...you just want to...get the heck out of here..."
Tatsuki nodded, thanking...whatever it was that had helped drive that creature off...
As if the fact that something like that was completely unnatural wasn't enough...Tatsuki had felt something coming from that event.
Someone had saved them...
And then she remembered that someone else had gotten them into-
Tatsuki quickly shook her head and decided to forget about Yuuichi. She knew it was a cold thought to have, but the parrot was almost certainly working with that thing that had just attacked them.
It could roast in hell for all she now cared about it.
And he could explain to the police why the general area looked like a war-zone.
"Let's not worry about him now, Orihime."
She took a quick look at Chad; he seemed to be alive, but she couldn't believe that even he was in anything other than serious condition.
"Let's worry about Chad; we need to get the hell out of here and someplace we can get bandaged up."
Orihime nodded her head.
"Right..."
As they continued to carry Chad's body between them, Tatsuki promised herself that she'd find out what was going on.
She couldn't let this happen again if she could help it.
And she needed to know who had helped them just now.
Feng Mei Xing stood on the building's roof a moment longer as she sealed her zanpaktou, wondering why she had done that.
It hadn't been a loss of control, just a change in plans; Ginmizu was like that all the time, leaving her poor wielder to figure out the why of an action after it was done.
In this instance, it was a little easier to tell. The human teenagers had put up a much better fight against the Shrieker than Mei Xing had expected; people who should have been captured or dead were now making their way to safety.
All she had done was guarantee their 'victory'.
Still, as the 4th Seat of 2-Bantai made her way off the building and onto the the now-quiet streets, she had to wonder what lay under her zanpaktou's 'random' decision.
Mei Xing shrugged; the answer would come to her at some point, and she had long since come to trust Ginmizu's actions, even if it drove her to distraction sometimes.
Besides, there was a mess to have cleaned up...
As Mei Xing made her way to where her own motorcycle was located, some distance from the battle zone, she had to suppress a sigh.
She'd have to call someone in to clean up the worst of the mess in this area; the authorities could take care of the White Tengu. They deserved their fate after having been defeated by a group of people they badly outnumbered.
And then it came to her, as it usually did after a while, what Ginmizu had figured out.
The young man she knew would still be after Shrieker, now for the mauling of his friends.
The group of young humans with high reiatsu.
As she got on her motorcycle and started to head back to her base, Mei Xing began to realize what was probably going on...what Yoruichi was up to, or at least the generalities.
And if the 4th and her zanpaktou were right...
A smile crossed her face and her heart began to race as she thought about what this would mean to the Taichou and Soul Society.
The chirping sound of a phone made Shaolin almost explode out of bed.
Once again she found herself struggling against the pillows and blankets, though this time it was because of an external rather than internal problem.
Even so, she hated the idea that she was getting this paranoid this quickly.
She calmed down, even as the phone's chirping died and she was left alone in silence.
Of course they stopped calling...right after waking me up...
She lay there in her bed, thinking hard about whether to try going back to sleep or dealing with whoever had tried to call her.
Gods help her, she really did want to go back to sleep. She was even more tired that she'd been the last few days, and the idea of pulling the blanket over her head, drifting off and forgetting the outside world existed seemed so appealing right now...
But after a moment she sighed, realizing she probably wasn't going to get any more sleep for a while, whether she wanted to or not. And the world didn't care if she ignored it, it was going to have its way with her whether she liked it or not.
So she might as well get up and deal with it...
A small corner of Shaolin's mind momentarily wondered what time it was, and then she pushed the impulse down and decided not to bother before getting up and trying to look around for her phone.
She was going to be cranky enough without finding out just how sleep-deprived she really was.
Eventually she found the device, turned it on and put it to her ear.
"Hana?"
"You sound especially tired."
The assassin nodded her head at that.
"Thanks for stating the obvious. Who tried to call just now?"
There was a long pause as the gikongan made a quick trace.
"It was the Kurosaki Clinic..."
Shaolin arched a bleary eyebrow.
"What did Isshin-san want?"
"How about you find out for yourself; I am placing a call as we speak-"
Hana's voice died out as a dial tone came on the receiver. A moment later and-
"Kurosaki Clinic. This is the resident practi-"
"Isshin-san, what did you want to call me about at this hour?"
Some part of Shaolin was sorry about her tone of voice, but she was tired and she didn't want to have to-
"Oh, thank the gods. Shaolin, it's about-"
The assassin couldn't quite get her brain to function, but she could hear the note of concern in her friend's voice.
And then she heard a scuffle in the background...
"What's going on there?"
"And do we really want to know?"
The assassin ignored her friend's comment and tried to concentrate more on what was going on at the other end of the line. Apparently Isshin was getting into a fight with...
"Give me the phone you idiot!"
...a very upset Ichigo.
"This is my practice, boy! And don't you call your old man an idiot...!"
Shaolin sighed wearily as she heard the incipient comedy routine on the other end.
"Would you like me to hang up so you call back later when you are not 'occupied' with family matters?"
Shaolin couldn't help but smirk at her friend's annoyed voice, as well as at Isshin's response.
"No...no...It'll just take a... Would you stop that...?!"
"No way, let me talk to her!"
As the ex-shinigami waited, she heard movement on the other side of her door, only to see Rukia open it and peek her head into the room to see what was going on. Even though she was a little upset about the snooping, Shaolin's attention was fixed enough on the phone that she simply shrugged at the intrusion.
Somehow, Isshin got control of the phone for a couple of moments.
"Arisawa and Inoue arrived not too long ago and-"
At the mention of their names, Shaolin's mind became far more alert while her heart began to go numb.
"Oh gods, what happened to those poor girls this time?"
The assassin ignored her friend's comment and focused on Isshin.
"What about them, are they-?"
"They're fine, Shaolin-"
There was more scuffling for the phone.
"Fine?! You've got be kidding me?! They had-!"
"That's enough out of you boy!"
There was a pause, even as Shaolin massaged the bridge of her nose; Rukia arched an eyebrow at the scene.
"Kurosaki Style: Malpractice Lawyer Suppression Technique!"
Even as she heard a massive blow being landed and the thump of what was likely Ichigo's body hitting the floor, Shaolin thought about hanging up the phone and walking over there herself.
It would probably be quicker, and she could properly smack Isshin for waking her up and keeping her up all this time.
And she really wanted to hear what had happened while she was with Ichigo; some part of her cursed Rukia for being right about caring about Ichigo to the exclusion of the rest of the community.
Hana, for her part, seemed to be more level-headed on the matter. Or perhaps she was simply trying to break a little of the tension.
"Malpractice...? Do I want to know...?"
Shaolin shrugged wearily.
"Everyone I ever saw walk in to that place came out looking just fine..."
After another moment of delay, Isshin's voice came back on the line.
"Sorry about that, but Ichigo's been a little upset and-"
"Shaolin is getting upset, Isshin-san, so you had better-"
"Right, right. Look, Arisawa and Inoue are fine, Shaolin-san; a little beaten up, but otherwise okay. But they brought in a young man – some friend of Ichigo's – and..."
The ex-shinigami nodded her head, even as she started heading for the lights and Rukia left the door. Almost certainly the younger shinigami was coming along, and for once the assassin wouldn't begrudge her.
"Which one?"
"Some guy named Yasutora Sado."
A thought occurred to Shaolin, something that made her feel even more tired than she had before.
She had met the man before, and knew enough about him to know that if he needed medical assistance, it had to be something serious.
"He's been attacked by a Hollow, hasn't he?"
She could almost see Isshin nodding sadly.
"I had to send him to the hospital, his wounds were so severe..."
There was another pause, and the ex-shinigami felt herself go cold.
"Shaolin...it's just like Masaki..."
Author's Notes: I hope the Shrieker battle wasn't too bad. I was going to have Tatsuki get kidnapped by him and then sweat for a while, to be dramatically freed by 'Ichigo and Co.' before joining in the big battle.
Then I remembered who I was writing about. Still, I hope she didn't seem too much of a coward; my reasoning...well, how would the majority of people feel about facing something like the Shrieker? Especially if they'd just recently dealt with another Hollow.
And the Tengu are searching for what...? Well, it'll be a little while, but I'll let you know that it's something canon, but not what you might at first think...
And here are my (very tardy) responses to the reviews from the last chapter...
Ability King KK: Thanks for commenting on the last chapter! Shaolin's involvement with the Quincy was something I thought of a while ago, and it does connect with what's going on later. In a couple of chapters I'll be showing more on the subject (and I have gotten my act together...I think; you shouldn't have to wait until 2014 to see it :).
As for Yoruichi, I'm glad you said 'pseudo-antagonist'; she isn't really a villain, but she's just showing a side of herself to Shaolin (and the audience) that she possesses but doesn't show very often. If you doubt me, take a look at the early scenes of the canon Soul Society arc – as long as everyone follows 'The Plan', Yoruichi is friendly and polite; the minute Ichigo tries to go against said Plan, out come the claws. And Shaolin, in this timeline, went very much against 'The Plan'...
And then with Mei Xing...she's more taking advantage of a situation and watching things unfold, as opposed to actively manipulating them. For now...
Furionknight: Thanks for commenting! I hope you liked this chapter, and there will be more coming soon.
Love Psycho: Thanks for the comment (and the truffles)! Well, the next few chapters are going to provide the kick Shaolin needs to train him. Though she does have a little bit of an excuse considering the lack of time she has available (after all, she's from a culture where you go through years of training before you enter the field).
HedonismBot: Thanks for the review! Check my answer to Ability King KK for Yoruichi's behavior, and I'm glad you liked her getting hauled off from the party (after all, nobody's perfect). And as for Karl, we'll be seeing more of him in a couple of chapters.
EVA-Saiyajin: Thank you for the praise. I'm trying to keep up the good work, and I'll definitely be trying to go faster.
Kinnaq: Thanks for the lengthy review! It's not necessary to do so, but it makes me feel great to know that the reviews I am getting show that people like the story enough to be commenting in depth.
To begin with, this portion of the story is taking place over the course of several days. The reason for this is, if you take a minute to look at it, the Acidwire/Shrieker/Kon section of Bleach covers just a few days' worth of time; that's one reason for the compressed timeline. This story will probably wind up covering a couple of months worth of time all together (though I am going to speed up the time-frame later; I have no intention of going day after day for that much time).
Originally I had only meant for Shaolin to be the POV, with maybe a scene or two here and there for Tatsuki to 'fill in the blanks'. But I think it's turning out well; I wanted to do something other than a 'AU that re-tells the Bleach story with one or two minor alterations', and having an odd viewpoint was one thing I did for that. I'm very glad people like it.
I'm also glad you liked the characterizations in the story. One of my personal pet peeves in fanfic is characters who are out of character without reason (with the exception of 'crack-fic', where just about anything goes), and so I try to do my best to keep my characters realistic and true to themselves. Any failures in this are due to my lack of experience and skill, rather than intent.
And finally, with regards to Rukia, her blackmailing him only came to light in my mind as I was writing the chapter, and I'm glad people liked it. Just that alone is going to have ramifications later on down the road. (After all, when he went to Soul Society for the first time, what was Ichigo's motivation to rescue Rukia...?)
Anyway, thanks for wishing me luck, and hopefully you liked this chapter and will like the ones to come!