Fencing hurts. Only an hour and 15 minutes and now I've got 3 bruises just on my arm. Good times, good times.
Also, Happy Halloween everyone~! ^^
Hitsugaya watched the fifth year with a concerned gaze. Harry was… thinking. And in the middle of the Third Task, that wasn't a good sign. He continued tailing the Boy-Who-Lived, making sure to stay out of sight. The look on the boy's face had changed—had become determined, set. Obviously, something had happened in that head of his that had changed his mind set about… something.
The Captain suddenly wished he was better at reading people. Or, perhaps, that he could read minds. It would make his job that much easier. But, of course, this wasn't the time to wish for things he couldn't have. The brat was extremely hard to follow at times.
Hermione had read through the book again and again, front to back and back to front. But there wasn't anything. Nothing to indicate that he'd been alive. She'd looked through the police files and records on the nature of his death; the time; the when, where and how; she'd even researched the killer and the details about him.
Honestly, she'd done more than a police detective, and yet, there was nothing. Shouta Izukai should be dead. He has to be. With the amount of blood he lost, it would be impossible for him to be alive now, no matter the doctor. And yet, there he was, sitting only a few feet in front of her. She couldn't understand it.
Even if he had died, shouldn't he be a ghost? But he didn't look anything like Nearly Headless Nick or the Bloody Baron or the other Hogwarts Ghosts. Then again, all the Ghosts avoid him, so perhaps it's something else?
Werewolf? No, definitely not.
Vampire? It didn't match up with what she knew about him.
Zombie? Possibly, but weren't zombies supposed to be rotting creatures of the night that eat other people?
The brunette shook her head, eyes narrowing at the head a few rows below. Beside her, Ron roared along with the rest of the crowd. She glanced up, seeing Harry escape some sort of danger. While she wanted to support him, she was honestly completely distracted by this… infuriating person.
She continued flipping the pages, hardly paying attention anymore. Then there was a flicker of something, a word. She stopped, frantically searching through the pages again to find it. "There it is!" She murmured to herself breathlessly. "Death without moving on… Living undead… Spirits within living bodies… afterlife… Soul reapers…?"
Take a rest. Get some sleep. Let me watch over things for you.
No. No, he wouldn't do that. He couldn't. Not again.
Things won't turn out the way they did last time. After all, that was an accident, wasn't it?
No, don't listen. After that Incident, he swore he wouldn't let it happen again. He swore.
Brat. Don't think this is over yet. I will destroy you, and everything will turn to ash in our hands.
"Oi, Izukai." Rukia's gaze did not stray from the tournament, but her firm voice was clear, a cautionary tone in her voice. "Get ready. Someone's coming." Shouta, Rukia, and Matsumoto lifted themselves a few millimeters above the seats, poised to spring at any moment necessary.
"…After this, we won't be coming back, will we." It wasn't a question. And while neither shinigami answered, there was a solemnness about the way their expressions shifted that answered the question for him.
The tracking device on Fleur activated, and Shouta and Matsumoto nodded to each other.
"See ya later, Kuchiki."
A tall, monstrous creature towered before her, ash-gray body lined with blood red lines. Two thick arms like trunks stood perpendicular to the ground, the surrounding hedges crushed and bent under the stout legs and stunted torso. A bone-white mask surveyed her face with a gleeful expression, mouth without lips stretching into a grin. Watching just that made her nauseous, and a cold spell washed over her, traveling down her spine.
"Hello there~!" Its voice grated against her ears, beady, glowing red eyes pulsing with an unquenched thirst. She wanted to scream, to shout for help, but when she opened her mouth, the sound stuck in her throat.
A thick, meaty hand lifted from the ground, leaving behind an unnatural crater, and reaches towards her. Fleur watched, unable to find the strength to cast a spell, to run, to do anything.
Schlick.
The hand dropped, fell from its point above the earth, crashing to the ground in an unnatural way. The creature screamed, its shriek causing the very ground to shudder. Its arms wailed, a hand grasping the stump left behind.
Fleur collapsed, gagging at the growing pool of blood before her, feeling the sticky substance splattered on her face. Before her now stood two familiar people, hands gripping muggle weapons.
"I thought this was something stronger than a hollow." The woman muttered, silver blade resting comfortably in her hand as her long strawberry blonde hair rustled along with the rumbling thunder of the masked creature's roars. Her clothes were reminiscent of the Hogwarts uniform, a black robe, though it seemed more of an Asian origin.
"The signal is the same regardless of the opponent's strength." The brunette replied, head inclined slightly towards the other as he spoke. A gun twirled in his hand casually, a much thinner, Japanese robe covering his body. A yukata, Fleur realized, the familiar blue cloth coming back to mind. Something she had seen upon visiting Japan so many years back.
The creature, by now, had come around, its remaining hand lunging at the overly calm duo.
"Ladies first," The young man mock-bowed, receiving a playful shove as the woman raised her sword almost casually, and with a barely visible swing the giant was dispatched, turning to dust that quickly faded into nothing.
Fleur's voice, stuck like an apple in her throat, escaped at last, though in stuttering gasps. "Wh-Wha… What…" The duo before her turned so that they were face-to-face with her.
"If you feel like you won't be able to handle another one of those, I suggest you forfeit."