Oohh I din't, I didn't, I... did. Whoops.
I'll understand if you want to stop reading after this chapter, as I'm well aware she has a lot of haters. But, well... she always strikes me as having had potential that was never developed. Not that I'm sure I'll do a sterling job of it, but what-everrrrrr
Anyway, enough defending my choice; if you don't like it, there are better Gin fics out there than this one.
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The Striking Snake
ch6
...you most deeply Desire?
X-X-X
"Neh! If I'd known I was gonna be forced to clean up, I wouldn't have come to see," Chizuru grumbled.
Tatsuki swept another pile of broken glass into the dustpan. She had been paired in the cleaning with Chizuru Honshõ, one of her least favorite students in her class. "It's to be expected," she said shortly. "Especially when the glass broke from a judo club brawl - students break the glass, students clean it up."
"Yeah." Chizuru paused, her brow furrowing. "Say... Tatsuki..."
"What?" Tatsuki looked up, annoyed that Chizuru had stopped working.
"The... judo club broke the windows?" She frowned, her lavender eyes meeting Tatsuki's dark hazel ones. "You're in the judo club, right?"
"Yes...?"
"Weren't..." she blinked. "Weren't you all training out on the field?"
Tatsuki blinked in response. They had... what had the judo club been doing? She didn't remember meeting near the school... "well, I - "
Tatsuki cursed as Chizuru's eyes took on a slightly glazed look. She knew better than anyone what that meant.
"Hime-channnnn!" Chizuru sang, skipping over to the object of her perpetual and unrequited affection. "Let's walk home together and - "
The maroon-haired girl paused. Orihime hadn't even twitched - not acknowledging her presence at all. "Hime-chan? What's wrong?" She said. "You're spacing out more than usual..."
Still getting no response, Chizuru's face split into a creepy grin, almost half as creepy as Gin Ichimaru's. "I know, Hime! Wh- gack!"
Tatsuki yanked Chizuru's collar back, momentarily choking her. Happenings of this nature were so common that it had become accepted fact that Chizuru was slightly mentally unstable, and the sight of Orihime was what seemed to send her into temporary psychosis.
Abruptly, Orihime turned back to her two companions. "Can you feel that?"
Tatsuki raised an eyebrow. "Feel wha - "
A crushing, black feeling of despair rolled over them, and for a moment, the sun seemed to darken.
The three girls staggered. Orihime recovered quickest, but froze as soon as she looked upwards. The other two girls did the same as soon as they recovered.
"Am... am I the only one who's seeing this?" Stuttered Tatsuki.
"If by 'this' you mean the tentacled monstrosity on the school building... I don't think so," whispered Chizuru.
The monster laughed, deep and raucous. "Ooh? The prey can see me after all!" Its voice echoed and grated, as if it was speaking down a long hallway. "I should have expected as much, from such delicious-smelling souls! Your power will be a tasty addition to my own!"
The creature raised its head and unleashed a strange, terrifying howl. And from the building and behind the fences came... students.
But they didn't look like the normal students of Karakura high. Their eyes were dull, and they moved like zombies, lurching uncoordinatedly, with slack faces and pale skin.
Each seemed to have a green stain on their skin or clothing.
The hollow grinned, aiming three tentacles. "Duck!" Screamed Orihime.
The other two followed on blind reflex, and three blobs of green slime narrowly missed their targets.
What is it...
The 'zombie' students lurched forward, doubtless intending to grab and hold the girls. The hollow itself floated forward, apparently capable of flight as well as slime-based mind control. The three girls turned and ran.
... that you most deeply...
Orihime skidded to a halt as she found the corner of the schoolyard wall in her way. It was far too tall to jump or climb. They were trapped.
... desire?
Tatsuki roared, and there was a flash of violet light.
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As the dust cleared, Chizuru and Orihime finally got a glimpse of Tatsuki. However, she looked a little different from before.
Her school uniform seemed to have been replaced with a heavy black kimono. Around each foot was a strange boot that looked like some kind of metal suspended over a bright white field of energy, formed into the shape of a predator's paw. Around her hands, gauntlets of the same kind had formed - but instead of mimicking paws, the metal shaped itself into the heads of two snarling wolves.
As the zombies descended, Tatsuki moved.
She had never imagined such strength, despite being easily the strongest member of each of her multiple martial arts clubs. A simple uppercut with the flash-gauntlets was enough to launch a possessed student more than ten feet into the air, while a kick... she was afraid to use a kick. It didn't take Karate training to know that kicks were always substantially more powerful than punches, and she didn't want the students to regain their minds only to find large chunks of their ribs and intestines mashed to jelly.
It hardly seemed to matter; all it took were punches. Each time the wolf heads met flesh, the victim was sent sailing away. There were a frighteningly large number of the 'zombies', but she could keep them at bay easily at this rate -
The masked octopus-like monster fired another blob of goo.
Tatsuki brought up her right arm, and the goo splashed harmlessly on the metal. It seemed that -
Then a possessed student grabbed her left arm. She shook him off - and two more grabbed her legs. She was surrounded and, in seconds, pulled under.
"TATSUKI!" Orihime fought back tears.
What is it...
Chizuru gritted her teeth, fighting the urge to scream. Her soul was overwhelmed - with horror at Tatsuki's plight, grief that Orihime was so distraught, and bitter despair at the certainty that Orihime - sweet, beautiful Orihime - would never show the same concern for her.
... that you most deeply desire?
Chizuru blinked, and when her eyes opened, their whites weren't. Golden irises gazed out from two inky black pools.
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The hollow looked, inasmuch as its mask bore any expression, taken aback.
The red-haired girl had removed her glasses, and the white bone of a hollow mask had materialized over her face. The mask looked like a skeletal dog, a jackal even, with teeth like a mouthful of spears.
"Céro," said Chizuru softly, her voice resonating with the same deep, scraping echo as the hollow's.
A deep-red ball of energy materialized between the mask's teeth, before discharging in a wide cone of destructive force. The possessed students were blasted away from Tatsuki, although none looked seriously injured.
"Céro?" Howled the monster, clearly displeased. "How?! It was weak, but that should have been impossible! Only Menos can use Céro!"
"Weak?" Retorted Chizuru, her distorted voice lending a creepy edge. "It worked well enough for what I wanted. I'd say it's not bad, for a first try."
The freakish monster smirked. "A Gillian's Céro would have liquified those humans," it spat. "And a more powerful Menos' wouldn't even have left a streak of ash. Despite your strange mask, you are no match for me."
Chizuru cracked her knuckles. "We'll see about that."
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Orihime scurried over to Tatsuki's prone form. The strange armor had disappeared, revealing a great many bruises, though none of the stereotypical bites; one of her arms had been twisted in a way arms certainly weren't meant to twist. She was deathly pale, and breathing shallowly... there was fresh, bright blood bubbling from her mouth. Her ribs looked broken.
Orihime fought a surge of panic. She must have a punctured lung... Chizuru's newfound speed and strength was holding off the zombified students, and even seemed to be vexing the hollow that commanded them, but she didn't seem to be making headway on an escape route. They were still trapped, and noticeably lacking in first aid supplies.
Orihime, unlike her crush Gin, wasn't trained in emergency medical response. But she knew a punctured lung needed immediate treatment, and broken ribs likely meant there would be other internal injuries. Tatsuki was dying and there was nothing she could do about it.
She could call Gin, or even Dr. Ichimaru himself, but the Ichimaru Clinic was halfway across town. Karakura General Hospital was slightly closer, but... while she trusted Gin would have little trouble with a hollow smaller than her late brother had been, she doubted an average E.M.T. would be capable of reaching them through the mass of zombie students.
What is it...
Tatsuki was dying and there was nothing she could do...
... that you most deeply desire?
Orihime felt a tingling in her... hair-pins?
Before her eyes, six strange fairies materialized. Each one was dressed differently.
"Your friend is hurt," said one of them - she was dressed in a pink kimono, with what appeared to be a ridiculously large red... um, garment over her head, almost like a tiny, portable tent. She almost seemed to be peeking out timidly.
"She is indeed," said another, this one sporting blonde hair in a topknot. "Perhaps we should forgo formal introductions."
"Very well," replied the first's soft voice. "Orihime Inoue, we are called Shun Shun Rikka. We are manifestations of your power - "
"Yeah, yeah," cut in her impatient companion, while the other fairies remained silent. "Long and short. I'm Shun'õ, she's Ayame - we are the power to heal. Do you wish to heal your friend?"
Orihime blinked. Having confirmed that she wasn't hallucinating, she nodded. "Yes... yes, please..."
Ayame nodded. "Then repeat after me..."
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"Ayame, Shun'õ. Sõten Kisshun..."
Tatsuki's eyes cracked open. Everything that could hurt, did hurt. She felt like she'd been ripped into pieces and stitched together again. Breathing was difficult... like there was water in her lungs...
"I reject it..."
Her blurry vision filled with orange light, and suddenly, the shards of agony seemed to withdraw.
One by one, the aching bruises faded. She felt several grinding pops as her ribs snapped back into place. The gurgling liquid receded from her lungs.
With a final crunch, her shoulder re-aligned itself. She shut her eyes, breathing heavily.
Tatsuki mentally went over the facts. A minute ago, she had been in what had to have been terminal condition. She didn't exactly have a clear view of the damage, but she had been practically breathing blood - rarely a good sign.
And then, assuming she wasn't trapped in some kind of sick fever dream, the injuries had just... undone themselves.
She opened her eyes, this time surveying her surroundings.
She was still in the schoolyard. Unlike before, however, she was underneath an oval dome of orange light. Beside the dome was a worried-looking Orihime, who was biting her lip with nervousness.
The bubble vanished, dissipating into two streaks of light that flew into the star-shaped pins on Orihime's hair.
"What was - "
"I think it's a healing technique. Don't worry about it now!" Orihime sounded almost pleading. "We need to kill the squid-thing!"
Tatsuki nodded, clenching her fists.
The monster was now hiding behind a wall of puppet students. It seemed that the green slime also gave them superhuman stamina - Tatsuki knew she'd made a few strikes that would knock your average kid out for hours, yet none of her original victims were on the ground.
At the forefront of the stalemate was Chizuru, growling faintly. Every time a student stepped forward, she would match its movement - if they actually came forward, she would beat them back forcibly.
But what truly drew Tatsuki's attention was the fact that Chizuru was wearing a terrifying bone mask. What had once only covered the face seemed to have extended across her shoulders and down her arms; her hands sported bone gauntlets which terminated in cruel claws.
The claws were dripping red. Tatsuki realized that some sidelined students were reduced to crawling instead of lurching - while it didn't look like there were any fatalities, Chizuru didn't seem to be above crippling her fellow students.
Tatsuki jumped to her feet, the wolf-like armor reappearing on her hands and feet. She strode forward.
"Yo, Honshõ," she called. "Though I've seen worse from beginners, your stance is sloppy."
"I haven't been mobbed down yet," replied Chizuru's scraping, hollow voice.
"Hah, I suppose you've got that over me." Tatsuki stepped up beside Chizuru, taking a fighting position. "One vanguard, one distraction. Who do you think would be best at smashing that freak?"
"Given its size?" Chizuru momentarily regarded her new utility-knife fingernails. "I'm thinking blood loss will kill it faster than blunt force."
"Gotcha." Tatsuki got ready to charge. "I'll go left and start knocking heads. Assuming they dogpile me, you go right and carve us some calamari."
Without further ado, the two girls sprang into action.
Chizuru spared a glance at Tatsuki. Sure enough, the minions were surging towards her, leaving a few meters of empty ground between the school building and the squid-hollow.
She charged, feeling herself move faster than a human should be able to. Something about the mask seemed to amplify her physical abilities - something to think about. Later, when she wasn't on a mission.
In the blink of an eye, she was in front of the monster.
"Well, the strange demi-hollow approaches at last!" The thing raved. "Perhaps you've realized you should just give up and die quickly!"
It raised a tentacle to spray Chizuru... and howled in pain as the appendage was roughly sliced off.
"Why, you - I'll kill you!" It howled.
Chizuru's black and yellow eyes narrowed. "You attacked Orihime," she growled. "If anyone's getting killed, it's you."
The monster's tentacles, dozens of them, shot towards Chizuru as one unified mass of slimy gripping limbs.
There was a sound of ripping flesh.
And then, blood sprayed in every direction as if shot from a fire hose.
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