Chapter IX
It's time for yet another chapter, this story's going along pretty quickly at this point. Hopefully you've all been enjoying the past few chapters and will enjoy this one. As usual I'd like to thank my coauthor Bakuto Masaki and the-person-who's-title-I-still-don't-fucking-know TheLastNanaya. So we'll be moving along a bit more in the story with the big Hollow-killing contest still going on. But for now, it's time for the reviewer responses.
pikechris990: Cool, glad you like it all. I try to meld the worlds together in a believable way, glad the way I did it seems believable to you and others.
Xenoguyver: Glad you liked it. Guess we'll just have to wait and see, but you can be sure Kazuma won't let him go without a few good knocks to the bonce.
correnhimself316: Short? That was one of my longer chapters, they're all around 12,000 words in length. Ah, whatever, not important you seemed to enjoy so I don't even know what I'm on about at this point.
Bakuto Masaki: Spoilers dude. Yeah, I think he didn't think too deeply on that one.
Nightgale912: Backhanded is fine as long as it's not overly insulting. Oh yes is there something, and it will be revealed soon. It could be in this chapter, but it also might not.
TheLastNanaya: Yes, Agria does have a nice sword, too bad she's crazier bag of angry ferrets on speed. Well as Bakuto mentioned, how is Kazuma supposed to do that exactly? It's been a thousand years since he was involved with devil society, and even then he wasn't heavily involved for the last couple of decades, plus all of the devils he had as friends and contacts are dead. So he has no way to contact those within the Underworld nor does he have a way to get there as, right now, he is biologically a regular human.
Well, that should do for the reviewer responses. On with the story now, shall we?
Orihime, Tatsuki, and Aika were with several other students cleaning up the mess from the "explosion" earlier that day.
As she swept up some of the broken glass, Orihime paused when she felt an ominous sensation and looked towards the gymnasium. Her eyes widened as she saw shadowy figure that was staring right back at her.
Meanwhile, Aika and Tatsuki were busy sweeping up pieces of debris themselves.
Aika groaned in annoyance. "Geez, there's so much of this stuff to pick up. What the heck happened anyway?"
Tatsuki shrugged in response. "The teachers say it was an explosion of some sort."
Aika looked at her flatly. "Then why are we picking it up when it could happen again?"
Tatsuki sighed and leaned on her broom responding, "Don't ask me. Though it seems a couple of boys from a different class are responsible for it. They seemed a little odd to me though."
Aika sighed and then noticed Orihime staring off into the distance. Her glasses glinted mischievously as she snuck over with writhing fingers to get her attention. "O-ri-hi-me…"
As she approached the orange-haired girl Tatsuki groaned and grabbed Aika by the shoulders and yanked her away. "That's close enough."
Orihime nodded to herself and then turned to the other girls, pushing them away with a happy smile as she said, "You know, there's a TV show on right now I want to watch and I'd like you guys to stop this silly cleaning and come watch it with me!" As she pushed them on she reinforced energetically, "Hurry, hurry!" She was constantly haunted by the image of the large, cephalopod-like creature on the roof of the gym. Sighing quietly she thought, 'Okay, don't panic. I need to keep calm, and get everyone out of danger.' As she walked away she looked back and noticed the creature was gone.
Tatsuki escaped out of Orihime's pushing and bowed lightly. "Sorry, but I need to go change out of my karate gear." She then ran off to go change.
"Tatsuki!" 'If she goes that way, she might find that thing!' Orihime's senses went stiff as she turned around and saw the beast, a large, purple, octopus-like Hollow with a mask resembling a jellyfish from which eight large tentacles extended.
Orihime's heart pounded in her throat and she swallowed nervously.
The Hollow looked at Orihime intrigued and, with a female voice, spoke to her, "So you can see me, little girl? How intriguing. You will be quite delectable."
One of Kazuma's Thought Projections stood opposite the grey-haired woman as she looked at him in amusement. He clutched his arm as blood dripped down from the slash on his upper right arm.
The woman chuckled amusedly. "I must say, your reaction time is rather swift to have dodged my strike."
Kazuma narrowed his eyes and demanded, "How can you see me or these Hollows?"
"Hollows? Is that what they are called? I honestly don't care. They're slightly more interesting to kill than humans. Though you seem even more interesting than them."
"Okay, if you're going to ignore that, at least tell me who the hell you are."
The woman smirked and answered, "You can call me No. 04, Karasuba."
"Karasuba, hm? Well, if you don't mind, I'm busy stopping these monsters from killing people."
Karasuba frowned in annoyance. "People die all the time, these things merely," she paused as she flipped her sword into a reverse grip and stabbed a Hollow in the head, killing it, before continue, "accelerate the process. So let's ignore the deaths of innocent fools and have a good fun fight." Karasuba leaned forward and rushed at Kazuma.
Kazuma narrowed his eyes and tensed as she approached.
The real Kazuma sighed as he killed two more Hollows with another blast of wind from his Zanpakuto.
Behind him, Akeno raised a hand a magic circle shot jets of water at three Hollows, piercing them through the head. Akeno sighed as she stopped the attack. "My, my, there sure are a lot of them, aren't there?"
Kazuma nodded before turning to attack a Hollow as Koneko jumped down from above and crushed its head. "Well…that was my kill…"
"Slow," Koneko shot back before charging at another nearby Hollow.
Kazuma twitched an eyebrow and watched curiously as Rias fired more blasts of Power of Destruction at the Hollows around her. He narrowed his eyes and then redirected his attention to the Hollows and winced as the memories of a Thought Projection killed by Hollows entered his mind. 'Damn. That's the third one. These Hollows are persistent.'
Uryu sighed as he fired more arrows at more Hollows. Steeling himself he remarked, "At this rate I will win. No doubt." Her fired arrow after arrow, however his attention was drawn elsewhere when he saw the black-clad sword-wielding man.
The man sliced two Hollows in half and back-flipped over a Hollow with bladed arms and sliced down its middle as he descended, splitting it in half down the middle.
Uryu narrowed his eyes at the strange fighter who stopped and looked up at Uryu curiously before moving on. 'Another Soul Reaper?'
Aika noticed Orihime's panic stricken face and looked from her to the focus of her stare and raised an eyebrow. "Uhm…there's nothing there Orihime."
Orihime then suddenly grabbed Aika's shoulders and pleaded, "Please, Aika, get out of here!"
"Wh-what?!"
"Numb Chandelier lets no one escape!" the Hollow shouted as the bumps on its head fired out like bullets, breaking more of the windows and exploding into acidic green liquid as they landed.
One of the bulbs smashed into Aika's left shoulder and exploded, causing her to shout in pain as she fell from both the impact and the pain of the acid.
"Aika!" Orihime shouted frantically as she ran over to Aika's side.
Aika sat up uneasily and sighed. "I'm okay Orihime. Though hearing you shout my name so loudly was nice to listen to."
Orihime looked at her puzzled however both were bewildered as Aika's left arm grasped Orihime's right arm and hoisted it high up, Aika's greater height lifting Orihime slightly off her feet in pain. "A-Aika!" Orihime grunted stressfully.
"Wh-what's going on!?" Aika shouted. "I can't control my arm, Orihime!"
Orihime turned to Numb Chandelier and demanded, "What have you done!?"
Numb Chandelier chuckled and responded, "I don't really like to fight. So instead I take over other humans and use them to take out my opponents."
Orihime then looked around her and Aika as a large number of students hobbled towards them moaning. "No way…you, you…!"
"Yes! Now, why don't you be nice and let me eat your souls!"
The large number of students approached the two teens prepared to rip them apart.
Several of the students began falling down unconscious.
One reached to choke Orihime but was grabbed by Kazuma who threw her to the side at a wall and knocked her out.
"Kazuma!" Orihime said in surprise.
"Wh-what?! Where?!" Aika shouted in confusion as she couldn't see him.
Kazuma raised an eyebrow as Orihime could see him and then shook his head. "I'll explain later. First we've got to deal with that Hollow and these kids."
"Take this!" a voice shouted. They turned and saw Rin firing shots of mana at the controlled students which knocked them out.
"Tohsaka!" Kazuma shouted.
Rin saw him and winced as a student got close, only for Atalanta to whack him over the head with her bow.
Atalanta turned to Kazuma and smiled happily. "Abra!" She ran over to him and jumped on his shoulders. "Abra! So you're fighting the creepy monsters too!"
Kazuma smirked amusedly and then lightly pushed her off. "It's good seeing you again of course but we've got more important issues, primarily stopping these students running around."
Rin nodded and raised her hands above her as a magic circle around her. "Schlaf, schatten, fallen! Sleep!" The magic circle disappeared as a small burst of energy flowed outward, all of the demented students falling to the ground.
Orihime and Aika looked around and then widened her eyes. "Wh-what is that?" Aika asked terrified.
Orihime looked at her and then up at Chandelier. "You can see it?"
"I don't know what I'm seeing but…I see something…"
Kazuma narrowed his eyes and tensed. "Orihime, you and Kiryu get out of here, if you don't that thing will kill you."
Aika's arm tightened around Orihime's hand as Chandelier mocked, "You think I'm going to just let them go?!" Chandelier then dove from the roof top and fired more bulbs down at the group.
"Damn!" Kazuma jumped between Orihime and Aika and the bulbs. He stomped his foot onto the ground and a slab of stone rose up and absorbed the shots.
Rin pointed her index finger of her left hand at the monster and a series of lines lit up on her left arm and she fired dark, purple-black blasts of mana at the creature, all of which bounced off of its mask harmlessly.
"Heh, heh, heh, too bad…" Chandelier taunted before lunging one of her tentacles at Rin.
The ravenette dove to the side as the purple tendril crashed to the ground.
Aika watched horrified as the image of the beast went from an indistinct blur to a fluctuating visage.
Kazuma's Thought Projection, whose mana was running much lower, grunted as the tendril collided with his reproduced Zanpakuto and slammed him against a wall.
Aika watched as the blurry image of Kazuma fighting the monster also came into focus before both she and Orihime were hit when Kazuma dodged another strike.
"Kiryu! Orihime!" Kazuma shouted angrily. "You bastard!"
Numb Chandelier merely snickered in amusement. "Call me what you like, but those two will die regardless. What little spiritual energy you have left you little faker, will run out very soon."
As the Thought Projection and Rin continued to fight the surprisingly powerful Hollow, Aika and Orihime lied on the ground.
As she laid there, Aika thought, 'This thing…it caused that explosion…it's controlling those people…and it…it's going…it's going to kill us…' Aika's hands twitched as she began to get motion back in her limbs. She slowly sat up and attempted to lift Orihime. "Come on…Orihime…we need to…get out of here…"
Chandelier's eyes widened as it knocked the magus and Thought Projection to the side and rushed over to the two teenagers. "I'm not finished with you yet!"
Aika's eyes widened as the creature stood overhead and swung a tentacle down at her and Orihime. "Get awayyy!" she screamed in fright as she raised her hands, a flash of light and energy appearing.
The Hollow howled angrily as a piece of its tentacle landed on the ground behind Orihime and Aika.
Aika slowly looked up at the severed tendril and then looked down at her hands in shock. She held a sword in each of her hand, both with long blue blades that were gold on the edges and straight on one side and curved on the other with semicircular, sharpened hand guards that faced away from her.
Rin and Orihime looked at her in shock while the Thought Projection narrowed his eyes. "That's…a Sacred Gear…" he muttered.
"You little brat! You'll pay for that!" Chandelier snarled before swinging another tendril at the two.
Aika instinctually swept her right hand sword in front of her, though she did so unconsciously. A crescent blade of fire shot from the blade and sliced the end of the tendril off. Aika smirked proudly at the apparent abilities she had awakened before a tendril she hadn't seen slammed against her and slammed her against a wall unconscious.
Chandelier huffed angrily. "I'll be sure to eat your soul nice and slow, stupid human."
Orihime was in shock at having witnessed her friend use such abilities when she noticed Chandelier refocus on her. She froze in place as she could not decide whether to run or rescue Aika.
However, her thoughts were interrupted when Chandelier swung at her in an attempt to strike her but was interrupted by Kazuma who jumped in the way and slashed at the tendril, however he merely left a gash rather than sever the tendril before sending a blast of air that slammed Chandelier against a far wall. The Thought Projection sighed and then turned to Orihime.
"Kazuma…what's going on…?" Orihime asked distressed.
"It's kind of hard to explain, if you can wait, I'll explain later. More importantly, are you okay?"
Orihime nodded uneasily.
Kazuma smiled in relief. "That's go-!" Kazuma's sentence was interrupted as an intense pain surged through his abdomen.
Orihime's eyes widened in shock as small flecks of blood hit her face.
The Thought Projection had been pierced through the abdomen by one of Chandelier's tendrils. He coughed as blood fell from his mouth when he was thrown to the side by Chandelier.
Orihime tried in vain to grab him as he was callously thrown aside and slammed against a building before sliding down the wall, leaving a trail. Orihime's eyes widened greatly and her whole body froze before she cried out, "Nooo!"
At that moment, memories of when she had met Kazuma three years ago filled her mind.
Orihime sat in class at a different school than Kuoh talking with Tatsuki, whom she had recently become friends with after getting bullied about her bright orange hair. As she sat, she heard murmurs from the other students and watched as a younger looking Kazuma entered the classroom and took a seat near the back corner, looking out the window quietly and not speaking to anyone.
Orihime looked at him puzzled before the teacher entered the room and garnered everyone's attention.
Later during lunch Orihime looked at him thoughtfully again.
"Hey, what's up Orihime?" Tatsuki asked.
Orihime blinked curiously and then pointed at Kazuma. "What's up with that boy?"
Tatsuki looked over to Kazuma and gulped. "Ahhh, why don't you just stay away from him?"
Orihime looked at her confused and then back at Kazuma and asked, "Why should I do that?"
"Well…he's not actually a mean person but he can be rough around the edges. At least that's how it seems, I don't want to have to hurt him if he makes fun of your hair."
Orihime scrunched her brow in thought and then stood up and walked over to Kazuma's seat.
"Ah! O-Orihime!" Tatsuki called out to stop her.
As she approached Kazuma's seat, he glanced up at her from his position of his head leaning against his fist. He looked up towards her with a disinterested expression. "Need something?" he asked bluntly.
Orihime choked slightly, having not previously thought about what she was going to say and blurted out, "Ah, well, you just…looked kinda lonely…"
Kazuma raised an eyebrow bewildered. "That's a very strange thing to say. Besides, why would it matter to you if I was?"
Orihime frowned and then responded, "Well, I know what it's like to be lonely, so I don't want anyone else to be lonely either."
Kazuma looked at her surprised and then sighed. "Okay, we've talked now. Anything else to say?"
Orihime frowned more deeply and shook her head before walking away as Kazuma returned his gaze to the window.
As she plopped back down on her seat, Tatsuki tussled her hair and rebutted, "Well, what'd I tell ya?"
Orihime frowned in thought and then answered with a small smile, "He's actually not that mean. He didn't say anything mean to me at all."
Tatsuki raised an eyebrow and then laughed in amusement. "Geez, that's just like you, to make friends with the second most infamous jerk in school."
Orihime spent the next few days speaking to Kazuma once during lunch each day, though their conversations were very short with Kazuma cutting her off before she could say or ask anything meaningful.
However, this all changed one day after class during one specific lunch break.
Orihime and Tatsuki were on their way back to the classroom after buying lunch from the cafeteria, seeing as Tatsuki wasn't interested in having another of Orihime's concoctions, but were stopped by several boys from a higher grade who blocked their path.
The boys looked at the two lecherously.
Tatsuki got between them and Orihime and said bluntly, "Why don't you guys get outta here before I have to hurt you?"
The largest of the four smirked and rebutted, "You think some brat like you could hurt us?"
Tatsuki smirked confidently and bit back, "I can hurt your kind pretty easily." Acting instantly she swung her right leg back and then forward, hitting the largest of the four older teens where it hurt before grabbing Orihime's arm and running past them, shouting, "Run, Orihime!"
However, the two didn't get far before the remaining three boys, who were now angry, grabbed Orihime and pulled her away, grabbing Tatsuki as well.
The two girls tumbled roughly into one of the school's small alleys between buildings.
Orihime sat on the ground rubbing her bruised shins while Tatsuki glared at the other teens. "What do you jerks think you're doing? You'll get in trouble if you try anything!"
The leader of the boys, a teen with short black hair that had gray highlights, smirked and rebutted, "That's only if you make any loud sounds, and if you do, you'll get hurt."
Tatsuki's eyes widened as one of the other boys walked over to Orihime and put a hand on her chin. "Heh, for such a young girl, you're pretty well developed!" He then grasped a hand over her swollen chest, still substantially larger than her classmates.
"N-no! Don't touch me!"
The other two boys turned as they heard one of their friends grunt and collapse. They turned and saw Kazuma standing beside him, a foot firmly planted on the boy's head and an unmistakably pissed off expression on his face as only one peered through his bangs.
The leader of the group snarled at Kazuma. "What the hell do you think you're doing, underclassman?"
Kazuma narrowed his visible eye and retorted, "Nothing more than taking out the trash."
The boy who was over top Orihime ran at Kazuma angrily. "You'll pay for that you punk!"
"No! Go!" Tatsuki warned.
Kazuma narrowed his eyes and planted his other foot firmly on the ground and raised his left leg up and slammed his foot against the assaulting teen's side and sent him tumbling to the ground unconscious.
The leader's eyes widened in fear as he realized he was next. He then smirked weakly and rebutted, "Wh-why aren't you using your fists, huh? You could at least try fighting like a man."
Kazuma showed no visible reaction as he responded, "I see no reason to dirty my hands with your filth."
The leader's eyes widened further as Kazuma instantly rushed forward, jumped up into the air and dove down with his right foot extended, plowing him into the ground hard enough to leave a crater.
Standing up from the downed teen Kazuma walked over to Orihime and Tatsuki, extending his hands to help them up.
He braced Orihime, whom was still shaking from the encounter.
She looked up at him and asked, "H-how did you know…we were here?"
"I didn't know you were specifically here, but I knew something was wrong," he answered.
"How…?"
"You hadn't come to talk to me during lunch like normal."
Orihime's eyes widened as her face reddened before she smiled happily.
Orihime looked at Kazuma's downed figure with the hole in his chest as she remembered the time he had helped her, and stood up and glared angrily at the Hollow. 'All this time, you were helping me, Kazuma. Even after Sora died…'
Orihime sat on one of the seats in the hospital waiting room after Sora had been taken in for surgery. Tears fell from her eyes as she waited silently. She glanced up when she noticed someone next to her and saw Kazuma standing beside her, drenched in rain. "Kazu…ma…"
Kazuma sighed and sat down next to her. "Anything yet?" he asked.
Orihime shook her head silently.
Kazuma frowned and narrowed his eyes as he looked towards the flowing mass of people scurrying through the hospital. He glanced to the side and saw Orihime sitting quietly.
Orihime flinched slightly as she felt Kazuma's arm wrap around her shoulders. She looked up at him slightly puzzled.
Kazuma allowed a small, sympathetic smile to cross his face.
Orihime frowned sadly before leaning over against his shoulder.
Sometime later the doctor eventually came out to the waiting room and was about to speak when Kazuma put a finger to his mouth in "Shh" motion before looking at the sleeping form of Orihime next to him. Lightly shaking Orihime's shoulder he said quietly, "Orihime, wake up."
She trembled slightly before waking halfway and looked around. When she saw the doctor she instantly stood up and asked expectantly. "How is he?!"
The doctor frowned and responded, "I am sorry. But his wounds were too severe."
Orihime's eyes widened before she slumped to the floor and passed out.
"Orihime!" Kazuma shouted as he caught her before she hurt herself.
Orihime's memories after that moment were blurry, the only thing consistent between then and Sora's funeral was a sensation of Kazuma's presence next to her. One memory which stuck out in her mind, were her and Kazuma's fingers intertwined.
Clenching her fists, Orihime looked from Kazuma to the Hollow and said, "This time, it's my turn to watch over you." At that moment, the flower hairpins Sora had given Orihime emanated a bright light and burst out, splitting into six separate petals. Large amounts of mana then began to swirl around Orihime in a whirlwind. "Now, it's time for you to leave!"
The Hollow watched puzzled as Orihime was surrounded a ring of wind while multiple small objects swirled around her. Chandelier raised a puzzled eyebrow. "What's this now?"
Orihime looked around and suddenly noticed the small objects whizzing around her.
One of the small objects asked, "So, you finally realized we're here have you?"
Another, female, voice added, "She must've, we've always been close to her."
Orihime noticed how each of the objects looked like silhouettes of birds flying in the sky. However, as one landed on her shoulder, she noticed the bird shape came from folded, paper-like gliders attached to the backs of six miniature people.
The first, the one that landed on her shoulder, an effeminate male with blonde hair that was pulled back in a topknot wearing a red outfit with a light green glider, looked at Orihime and smiled. "Nice to meet you. We are the Shun Shun Rikka. We were born to protect you. My name is Shun'o."
The other gliders stopped and floated in front of Orihime to reveal their true forms.
The second was a timid-looking, black-haired girl wearing a pink Chinese dress larger than her body sheltered underneath a large red glider. She bowed and introduced herself, "Hi, my name's Ayame."
The third was a girl with pink hair tied in three buns with brown eyes behind transparent yellow goggles, a blue bathing suit, and a tattoo on her behind with a pink-patterned glider. The girl saluted and announced, "Hey there! I'm Lily!"
The fourth was a muscular bald man with a metal mask that covered the lower part of his mouth wearing a green shirt and white pants with a grey, patterned glider. "You can call me Baigon."
The fifth was a lanky old man with no hair, a purple, striped bodysuit, and a grey eyepatch that ended in a horn on the back of his head with a blue and yellow polka dotted glider. "I am Hinagiku."
Orihime looked at the small people curiously and asked in thought, "Are you…fairies…?"
Shun'o responded, "No, no, we aren't fairies. Actually, we are the power of your soul, a part of you that only you can see. Although, it's possible someone like your friend would be able to see us, since we were born because of him."
Orihime blinked in thought at her words but shook her head of the strange images.
Before Orihime could ask what Shun'o meant, another of the fliers that hadn't introduced itself yet smashed into Shun'o and shouted, "You're taking too long!" The flier's black and red glider unfolded and revealed a man with spiky black hair, small black eyes, a tan scarf around his face, and a black and red suit connected to his glider. "I'm Tsubaki, the leader. You need to learn how to control us."
Baigon added, "It requires the intentions of the heart and the magic words."
Numb Chandelier reappeared right next to them angrily.
Shun'o soothed, "Don't worry. Repeat after us: Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily."
Chandelier fired more pods at Orihime.
Timidly, Orihime raised her hands and shouted, "Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily!"
The three "flowers" flew forward and shouted at Orihime, "Santen Kesshun – I REJECT!"
Orihime, with more force, repeated, "Santen Kesshun – I reject!"
The three went into their glider forms and formed a yellow-orange triangle of energy, with each of the gliders acting as a corner of the triangle.
The pods hit the triangle and were destroyed, thus they didn't hit her.
Shun'o then said to Orihime, "Baigon, Hinagiku, and Lily have the power to reject what is outside of the shield. While Ayame and I can reject whatever is inside a shield, healing injuries or damages within to a limited size."
Orihime's eyes widened and she looked over and Kazuma shouted, "Shun'o, Ayame, Soten Kisshun – I reject!"
Ayame and Shun'o flew over to Kazuma and formed a semicircular barrier but after a few seconds they stopped without healing him.
"Wh-what's wrong?! He-he's not-?!"
Shun'o put a hand over Orihime's mouth. "This Kazuma isn't real."
"Wh-what?"
"It's a mana projection, a sort of copy," Hinagiku explained.
Moments later the Thought Projection wavered in light before disappearing.
Orihime's eyes before she smiled with a small amount of tears. "So he's okay…that's good…" Shaking her head she then turned back to Chandelier who was increasingly angry.
Tsubaki lightly kicked the side of Orihime's head and explained, "Don't get complacent. I'm able to reject both side of the shield, so you can fire me at the enemy and using a shield inside their body to split them in half."
Orihime nodded and turned to Numb Chandelier. "Tsubaki, Koten Zanshu – I reject!"
Tsubaki formed his glider and flew straight at Chandelier, piercing her mask and then forming a yellow-orange shield that expanded from within and split her in half. The Hollow then faded away.
Orihime smiled happily at protecting everyone there before passing out on the ground.
Shun'o smiled and remarked, "It must've been a lot for her. Especially since this is the first time she's used her powers."
The six then faded back into being her hairpins.
After a few moments, a pair of sandal-clad feet approached Orihime.
Kisuke, Tessai, and Erza stood over Orihime. "Well, looks like she's awakened her Fullbringer as well," Kisuke remarked.
Tessai, who had Sado slung over his shoulder also flung Orihime over his other shoulder.
Erza looked around and saw Rin nearby and walked over to her. Kneeling down she used a small healing Kido on her. "How are you feeling?" Erza asked.
Rin sat up and shook her head awake. She then looked around and shouted, "Soryu! Where's Soryu!?"
Erza frowned and then explained, "It must have been a Thought Projection." Erza then looked around and remarked sadly, "There are so many injured students."
Rin nodded and added, "I can handle healing them. You three should get going before more of these monsters show up."
Erza raised an eyebrow but nodded in agreement and ran off to join Tessai and Kisuke.
Kazuma slid back from one of Karasuba's strikes and then jumped in the air to avoid a horizontal slash.
Karasuba chuckled again as he jumped back. "You keep running, stop fleeing and fight!"
Kazuma frowned and rebutted, "This is stupid, I've got to deal with these things dammit!"
Karasuba frowned. "Well then how about this, unless you fight me, I'll kill you and you'll never get the chance anyway."
Kazuma grit his teeth angrily and then tensed. 'Dammit, she really wants to fight.' "Fine. If you want to fight so bad then I will."
Karasuba smirked happily. "Good." She rushed forward and swung down diagonally at Kazuma.
He swung his Zanpakuto up and countered her strike, twisted his sword and swung horizontally at her.
Karasuba dashed back out of the way and then rushed forward and slashed at him which he blocked before the two got into a flurry of opposing strikes before their blades locked. Karasuba's smirk widened. "Now this is fun, don't you agree!?"
Kazuma grit his teeth and activated his Sharingan to push her back. 'It'll suck up more of my energy but I should still have enough to get finished with this crap.' He rushed at her and swung several strikes at her which Karasuba managed to block, dodging the final blow.
Catching herself she pulled her sword to her side and rushed forward with great speed.
Kazuma was barely managed to keep up with the speed and dogde, even with his Sharingan active. However he was still left with a cut on his cheek. 'Damn, she's stupidly fast. I'm going to have to risk it.' His Sharingan then morphed into his Mangekyo, allowing him to better keep up with his opponent's speed.
Karasuba rushed forward, slashed at Kazuma, and then circled around and slashed at his back.
Kazuma surged chakra from his feet to lunge forward and dodge the strike, using his tumble to turn and send another blow at Karasuba.
She blocked the strike but stumbled from the force of the blow. "My, my, you are quite strong, aren't you?"
Kazuma sighed and then thought, 'Ddraig, I'm going to need Boosted Gear.'
'Okay, I can only manage up to five copies of it, anymore and one will need to Reset.'
Kazuma nodded in understanding. 'Yeah, I know. How many are you spread across right now?'
'Just the original.'
Kazuma nodded and stabbed his sword into the ground.
Karasuba raised an eyebrow. "Giving up?"
Kazuma slammed his fists together and shouted, "Boosted Gear!"
The Boosted Gear gauntlets appeared on his hands as the voice inside shouted, "Dragon Booster!"
Karasuba raised both eyebrows before smirking. "This should make things interesting. Now…let's have some fun!"
Kazuma and Karasuba rushed at each other, slamming their swords together, however Kazuma was getting pushed back by Karasuba. 'Dammit, she's strong and fast?!'
However, Boosted Gear at that moment shouted, "Boost!"
Kazuma felt his power double and managed to push Karasuba back enough to put distance between himself and the insane woman. "Alright, enough screwing around!" He raised his left hand in front of him, still gripping his sword, and shouted, "Fireball!"
A magic circle appeared above his head and fired three blasts of flame at Karasuba.
Ducking to the side Karasuba dodged the first ball of flame, deflected the second and sliced the third in half.
Kazuma's eyes widened in shock. "Wh-who the hell is this woman?"
Karasuba smirked and commented, "I am surprised. You're a skilled swordsman and you have flame elemental powers. You are an interesting one."
Kazuma clenched his fists and rebutted, "I'm just full of tricks, and I'll be sure to beat you too, just like these monsters."
At that moment, Boosted Gear Boosted once again.
Kazuma leant forward and then vanished in a burst of speed.
Karasuba turned and stretched her leg out in a kick, managing to nail Kazuma in the gut.
Kazuma slammed into a wall roughly.
Karasuba turned and rushed at him with her own blinding speed.
Kazuma snarled and thrust his hand forward, a blast of wind shooting from his hand and impacting Karasuba, putting distance between them.
Karasuba stopped herself with her sword and managed to look up as Kazuma swung his sword forward, shouting, "Demon Fang!"
Karasuba's eyes widened a streak of blue energy charged from the end of the sword and charged towards her like a wave. She dove to the side as the wave struck a Hollow and split it in two, killing it. She turned to Kazuma surprised as Kazuma's gauntlets Boosted again.
Kazuma assumed a sword stance and narrowed his eyes. "I'm done playing around."
"It's about time," Karasuba remarked happily. Her eyes narrowed angrily as she and Kazuma looked around as more and more Hollows gathered around them.
A long, snake-like Hollow with a humanoid upper body charged at Karasuba spitting acid.
Karasuba dove to the side and slashed up at the Hollow, killing it.
Kazuma dove as a rotund Hollow with bladed arms swung at him, before jumping into the air, pulled his sword back and thrust forward, his sword and body becoming enveloped in a cone of mana as he shot at the Hollow's head shouting, "Sonic Thrust!"
The Hollow's head exploded as he killed it before back up from another Hollow and stopped when he backed into something. He turned back and raised an eyebrow as he saw he and Karasuba were back to back. Tensing, he asked, "Mind postponing our fight a bit?"
Karasuba smirked in annoyance. "I'd rather not but it seems these beasts are testing our patience."
Over twenty Hollows surrounded the two of them.
Two Hollows charged at Kazuma who vanished in a burst of speed, appeared above the Hollows and swept his sword in front of him, beheading them.
One Hollow charged for Karasuba who ducked under its punch, swung up and severed its arm before jumping with a twirling slice, eliminating the beast.
Kazuma and Karasuba charged and continued going after the large number of monsters around them.
In another area of the city, Karin, Yuzu, and Isshin arrived at the soccer field where Sado had fought the strange Hollow.
However, Sado wasn't there.
Isshin raised an eyebrow and asked with his hands on his hips, "You sure you saw what you saw? Or were you just trying to spend time with your daddy? If so you don't have to make things up."
Karin twitched an eyebrow, trying to prevent herself from decking her father.
At the Urahara Shop, Orihime slowly awoke and looked around before sitting up swiftly and seeing Sado in the room with her along with Aika.
The three looked around puzzled.
Aika asked, "Where are we?"
Orihime shook her head in response.
Aika grinned and then rushed over to Orihime and grasped her hands around Orihime's breasts. "Well at least I'll always have these!"
"Ah! A-Aika!" Orihime rebutted.
"Hurk!" a voice grunted as Kisuke fell through the door. Wiping blood from his nose he looked at the three teens. "Ah, well, now that you're awake…"
The real Kazuma slashed another Hollow apart as his gauntlets Boosted once more. "Damn, there are so many of these damn things."
Rias blasted two more Hollows and sighed.
Kazuma sighed and turned to Rias and the others and then raised an eyebrow. 'Saving to memory…'
Unfortunately for the girls, their clothes had gotten mangled in the battle. Though Kazuma was still unable to see anything important their school uniforms were slowly vanishing from their person.
Koneko noticed this and punched a Hollow in the head and threw it at Kazuma, slamming him on the head and against the ground. Covering her exposed bra she muttered, "Pervert."
Kazuma twitched limply on the ground. "Worth it…"
Uryu killed yet more Hollows and sighed. He looked around and thought, 'There are too many Hollows here. Even for Hollow Bait. It's almost like…there's something else attracting them.'
At the Urahara Shop, Kisuke had just finished explaining the truth behind Kazuma, Erza, Rukia, and Ichigo. As well as their own powers.
Aika, Orihime, and Sado looked at him in disbelief.
"That seems…impossible," Aika remarked.
Orihime nodded in agreement. "Yes, we have powers because of being attacked by those monsters called Hollows?"
Sado then added, "And that Kazuma is one of those Soul Reaper people?"
Kisuke nodded. "Yes, essentially. Now it's up to you whether you can take on the responsibilities and changes in lifestyles that I'm talking about."
Their conversation was ended abruptly when Tessai entered the room. "Boss, the Sky Crests are converging."
Kisuke nodded in understanding.
Karasuba and Kazuma turned to find one last Hollow between them. Smirking the two lunged forward and thrust forward, piercing the Hollow's head and killing it simultaneously.
The two landed and both Kazuma and Karasuba breathed heavily.
Karasuba smirked as she looked at Kazuma. "Your skill with a sword is rather impressive. Possibly rivaling my own."
Kazuma grinned and responded, "Well I'll take that as the compliment it is. Unfortunately, I'm out of time." The Thought Projection then faded away in a shimmer of light.
Smirking, Karasuba thought, 'I wonder…could he be…?'
The real Kazuma stood looking around the area. He looked left, then right, then left again and sighed. "Dammit…where the hell am I?"
"Did you get lost again?" Akeno asked as she ran up to him.
Kazuma turned and nodded. "Ah…yeah. And strangely enough there aren't any Hollows in this area. I can't figure out why." Kazuma smirked to himself at the rather ropey condition of Akeno's uniform as well as the others as they approached.
Rias sighed and asked, "So just how many of these things are there anyway?"
Kazuma shook his head. "I can't say for certain. However…now that we have a moment of peace, I want an explanation. Who are you and how do you have the Power of Destruction?"
Rias frowned and asked in return, "Why do you wish to know so badly, and how do you even know about it?"
Kazuma narrowed his eyes and responded, "I'm the one who created it."
Rias' eyes widened. "That's impossible. The one who created the Power of Destruction was the founder of the Bael clan who died one thousand years ago."
"I see…well perhaps you're a little mistaken on that part." Kazuma then raised an eyebrow. 'Did she say, Bael Clan? So that means…' Shaking his head, Kazuma pushed, "But you don't seem quite like a Bael, and that's also not your name."
Rias folded her arms in thought. 'He knows quite a bit about devils, though he doesn't seem to know anything about what's happening right now.' After a moment she answered, "That is quite simple really. My father is from the Gremory Clan, and my mother from the Bael."
Kazuma narrowed his eyes and then nodded. "So you inherited it from the Bael clan who mixed with the Gremory clan, then?"
Rias nodded in agreement. "Now I'd like to ask you a question, how do you know so much about devils, hm?"
Kazuma was about answer when a loud roar echoed through the air. He turned and saw more Hollows converging nearby. Narrowing his eyes, he thought, 'This is insane. This is no longer about Hollows. The only way I'll be able to put a stop to this is by defeating Uryu. At the very least, if the one who threw the bait disappears it might send a few of them away.' He then jumped off to more buildings nearby.
"Hey! Wait!" Rias shouted, however Kazuma didn't hear her. Sighing, she turned to Akeno and asked, "Did you know about how much he knew about devils?"
Akeno thought for a moment and then shook her head. "No, I'm afraid not."
As Kazuma made his way towards the convergence of Hollows, he narrowed his eyes as more and more of his Thought Projections began returning to him. However, his thoughts were focused on Rias. "None of this makes any sense. That girl looks just like Chiaki, and then there's the information that our kids somehow created a clan. Damn it all, this wouldn't be so confusing if any of my contacts in Niffleheim were still alive or I could use the Temporal Crossroads to get there. But as I am now none of that will work."
Ddraig chimed in, 'We can worry about that stuff later. For now we need to take care of these things, based on your Thought Projections' memories, there have already been five people killed by those Hollows and numerous pluses devoured by them.'
"Yeah, I know! What I don't know is why I'm having so much damn trouble!"
Soon enough Kazuma saw his target, Uryu, standing below him on the ground, redirecting off a building he made his way down there.
At the same time, Uryu was busy fighting more Hollows when a large, primate-like Hollow appeared behind him. He turned to shoot it but Kazuma descended from above and split it in two.
Kazuma ran over and grabbed Uryu by the lapels, snarling, "Listen you blue-haired bastard! This isn't a Hollow-killing competition anymore! Now it's a personal fight between us!"
Kon ran up to the two to interrupt and them and pointed to the sky. "Look! Up there!"
Kazuma and Uryu looked up and paled as they saw multiple, massive, black cracks in the sky.
Kazuma massaged the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Is it just me or is there a big fracking crack in the sky?"
Uryu and Kon shook their heads. "No, it's there."
Kazuma then turned to Uryu and pointed to the cracks. "You see, Ishida!? This is what you did! You caused this because you're simply too fucking arrogant!"
Uryu clenched his fists and then adjusted his glasses and redirected, "There are Hollows gathering there. As the Last Quincy, I'll deal with them myself." He then ran off towards the crack.
"Hey! Gah, dammit!" Kazuma cursed before chasing after him as Boosted Gear doubled his power once more, the gauntlets then increasing in size to cover his entire forearms. Kazuma narrowed his eyes as he remembered the information his Thought Projection had gained about the Quincies. 'Damn, at this rate, he'll kill even more of them. And knowing how the universe works with balance, I'm sure destroying souls like that would send that balance to hell.'
"Kazuma!" Erza shouted as she got his attention.
Stopping, he jumped down to where she was. "What is it? I'm kind of on a time crunch."
"Listen, there's one more thing Urahara didn't tell you, or rather, your Thought Projection, about the Quincies."
Kazuma raised an eyebrow but nodded in understanding.
"The Quincies were all but wiped out by us, the Soul Reapers."
"What?" Kazuma asked in shock.
"The Quincies upset the balance of souls in the world by destroying Hollows rather than purifying them, and that causes all sorts of problems. So groups of Soul Reapers called Balancers were sent out to deal with them, exterminating any and all Quincies on sight to maintain the balance of spirits."
Kazuma narrowed his eyes and then watched as Uryu continued fighting. "I see…so that's why…that's why he hates Soul Reapers so much, they wiped out his entire race save for himself." Kazuma narrowed his eyes and ran ahead to find Uryu.
Uryu turned to him and asked, "What? You look like you have something to say."
Kazuma sighed and asked, "Tell me, is the reason you're fighting because of what the Soul Reapers did to your people?"
Uryu turned away sourly and shook his head. "No, that's not the reason. I fight because of my sensei, my grandfather. He wanted nothing more than to work alongside the Soul Reapers, for peaceful and mutually beneficial coexistence between Quincies and Soul Reapers. But each time he attempted this he was rejected. He died one day while fighting five massive Hollows, he died because the Soul Reapers didn't show up on the scene until it was too late. I fight to prove to the Soul Reapers the power we Quincies have."
Kazuma sighed and punched Uryu in the jaw, hard.
Uryu stumbled to the ground clutching his bruised jaw and shouted, "What the hell was that for!?"
"Because you're being an idiot," Kazuma said plainly.
"What…?" Uryu growled.
"What your grandfather would want you to do is not to prove how powerful Quincies are in a vain ego-stroking contest, but to combine the power of Quincies and Soul Reapers together. That's how you would be carrying on his memory and ideals. Not this foolish endeavor that's killing people left and right. You really think he'd like this?!"
Uryu clenched his fists and then demanded, "Then why do you fight?! What reason do you have to fight Hollows?!"
Kazuma narrowed his eyes and answered, "I don't have a reason to fight Hollows specifically. I merely fight because I must."
Uryu raised an eyebrow and then hissed. "You have no connection to Hollows, you didn't see them rip your grandfather apart."
Kazuma folded his arms and answered, "You're right, I haven't seen that caused by Hollows. But I have seen friends killed by monsters many times before. So, how about we put an end to this stupidity? I'll beat the stuffing out of you later."
Uryu sighed and grabbed Kazuma's outstretched hand and stood up. "Fine, but you are the one who will be defeated."
Kazuma nodded and the two turned to fight the rest of the Hollows but they noticed the Hollows in the area converging on the cracks in the sky, the cracks forming a hole that grew larger and larger until a large, white hand with elongated nails reached out and grabbed the edge of the hole.
Kazuma and Uryu's eyes widened as a second hand reached out and began stretching the hole to incredible heights before a large, pointed foot stepped on the bottom edge of the hole and allowed a massive Hollow more than sixty feet in height to step out. The Hollow was humanoid with a body covered by a black cloak, with the hands and feet that had come through the hole, a row of thin, white spikes around its neck, its Hollow hole in its chest, and a Hollow mask in a humanoid shape with an elongated nose.
Erza's eyes were widened to incredible size in shock and fear. "Th-this can't be…"
Kazuma turned to her and demanded, "Erza! What is that thing?!"
"It…it is a Menos Grande, one of the strongest types of Hollows born when hundreds of smaller Hollows pile on top of each other and converge."
Kazuma grit his teeth and then raised an eyebrow. "Hey! What's that!?"
Everyone looked at saw a tall, female Hollow with long, scruffy white hair that jutted out in many rounded tufts, with a small part near its forehead tied up with a band, its torso and part of its lower body were covered by a blue overcoat with light edges, which is torn at the edges, with the sections covering its sizable chest being linked with a high, wide collar, with spiky shoulders that looked like pauldrons, a waist cape held by a simple belt, a large cape on its back, wide, golden horns on the sides of its head, and spiked gauntlets, with an extravagant, white Hollow mask with multiple blue markings.
Erza's eyes widened and she dropped to her knees.
"Erza! What's wrong?!" Kazuma demanded.
"Kazuma…" Erza said lowly. "Do you remember I told you there was a different reason for me to coming to the human world?"
Kazuma nodded. "Yeah, why?"
Erza looked up at the female Hollow with tears in her eyes. "She is the reason. That Hollow is…was…a friend of mine…Mirajane Strauss. I came here to try and find her so I could purify her and send her to the Soul Society. But she's eluded me every time I've tried to catch her. Kazuma! Please…you have to help her…"
Kazuma looked at Erza was perplexed and surprised to see Erza's tear filled eyes. Tightening his fists he nodded. "I will. I don't know if I will be able to…but I'll do what I can."
"You've got a fight ahead of you then," Kisuke added.
Uryu and the others turned to him surprised.
"What do you mean?" Kazuma asked.
"That Hollow isn't some regular type. It's a Vasto Lorde. The single most powerful type of Hollow. If you want to fight it you'll need some serious power."
Kazuma was about to retort when they noticed the Hollow Erza was talking about get close to the Menos Grande before raising its hand above its head and then swept it down, a blade of energy flying out toward the Grande and slicing it in half from head to toe.
The Menos howled before disintegrating as its ambient energy was absorbed by the smaller Hollow.
Kazuma gulped in response. "This…is bad…"
The Hollow turned to Kazuma and the others and descended to them.
"Mira!" Erza called frantically.
The Hollow narrowed its eyes before howling loudly, raising a hand, and tossing a black and green ball of energy at them.
"A Cero! Move!" Kisuke ordered.
The ball of energy crashed and released a massive explosion where the group had previously stood.
Uryu snarled and fired his bow at the Hollow several times, however it merely raised a hand and the shot evaporated before striking it. It then rushed forward with speed Uryu couldn't match.
"Shit!" Kazuma cursed and charged forward, clashing his Zanpakuto with the Hollow's claws. However, he was unprepared for the sheer brute force the Hollow had and it sent him and Uryu flying back. "Ow…dammit that hurt."
Kazuma and Uryu stood up to face the Hollow, who merely stood across from them motionless.
After a moment the Hollow roared and charged forward, preparing to swipe its claws at the two.
The duo jumped back just in time to not be bisected, however Kazuma received a slash down the side of his arm.
Clutching the injury, Kazuma narrowed his eyes and thought, 'I'll have to transfer Boosted Gear's power to Susano'o. God Armor is the only way I'm going to beat this thing.'
Ddraig rebutted, 'You know what that will do to you. Transferring my power to another person is fine but transferring it to your own powers can result in severe damages.'
'Yeah, I'm aware of that, but tell me, do you have any better ideas?'
'…No…'
'Then do it.' Kazuma activated his Mangekyo and shouted, "Susano'o!" A wavering black aura formed around his body before Boosted Gear shouted, "Transfer!" Kazuma winced as he felt the stored power from Boosted Gear shift into his Susano'o. The Susano'o then began increasing in size, with first a spinal cord and half a ribcage forming around Kazuma, then the other half, then an oversized right arm, then a left arm, then a humanoid skull with large horns on the forehead and deep red eyes before Kazuma jumped into the air as the lower portion of the spinal column, a pelvis, and legs formed from the ethereal skeleton as well.
The Hollow stopped moving and stared at Kazuma puzzled.
Kazuma sighed and clutched his side momentarily before slapping his hands together and concentrating before shouting, "God Armor!" Kazuma then dropped to the ground as his Susano'o began shrinking and compressing around his body, until an ethereal black armor with a horned helmet that had vertical eye slits, large, bulky pauldrons, spiked gauntlets, a waist-cape fused with the simplistic torso armor, pointed greaves, and a pair of large, wide, wings on his back that resembled a dragon's. Kazuma sighed and then looked at the Hollow across from him. "Alright…this should at least give me a fighting chance."
The Hollow merely stared at him a moment before growling lowly and charging towards him with its claws.
Kazuma gripped his Zanpakuto and charged in kind.
The Hollow swept its right claw up at Kazuma, however he punched down with his left hand and knocked its claw out of the way and swung his sword up at the Hollow's neck. However, the Hollow wouldn't let itself be defeated so easily and intercepted his blade inches away from its neck, blocking the blade with its clawed hand and gripping it tightly.
Kazuma grunted as he attempted to free his blade from its grasp to no avail. 'Sh-shit…this thing's got one hell of a grip.'
The Hollow reared up its right leg and slammed it into Kazuma stomach, sending him flying back, without his sword.
Kazuma stopped when he bashed into a tree hard enough to break it before slumping to his knees. "Damn…that really hurt…if it weren't for my Armor that thing might've gone through me."
The Hollow inspected his Zanpakuto curiously, seeing it caused it to clutch its head in pain and throw the weapon away.
Kazuma gulped as the sword flew straight at him, though he managed to clasp his hands against the sides of the blade to prevent it from skewering him. Reaffirming a proper grip on the sword he sighed and prepared to fight the Hollow once more but watched as Erza walked towards the monster. "Erza! Wait! What are you doing?!"
Erza walked near to the Hollow with a saddened expression. "Mira…you should still be in there somewhere…right…?"
The Hollow looked at Erza thought fully for a moment before howling and pulling back a hand as a Cero formed before it launched the ball of caustic energy straight for Erza.
"No! Erza!" Kazuma shouted before jumping in front of Erza as the blast struck him.
The blast caused a large explosion that covered the area in dust.
After a moment the dust cleared and Erza sat on the ground puzzled and look up to see Kazuma standing in front of her before her eyes widened.
Most of his God Armor had been destroyed, the left arm, left wing, helmet, and most of the torso and chunks from the rest of the armor, his Shihakusho also getting damaged with the left sleeved torn off completely and his arm covered in several burns.
Erza stood up puzzled and shouted, "What's wrong with you?! That blast could have killed you!"
Kazuma grabbed the collar of her shirt and shouted back, "Yeah! And it would've killed you too! And I would never let my friends get hurt if I can protect them, you should know that by now. If I did, I might as well be worse than scum."
The Hollow's eyes widened before it howled louder than ever before.
Kazuma and the others covered their ears as the Hollow howled, almost in agony before their eyes widened as it did something bizarre.
It started clawing at its mask before grabbing a corner of the mask and tearing before the mask shattered off of its face completely. The Hollow then lit up in a bright show of light before the light seemed to explode and released smoke over the entire area.
Kazuma tensed as he had no idea what was about to happen, nor did the others.
However, they looked at the spot where the Hollow once stood bewildered as what they saw instead was young woman with long white hair, which curled at the ends with a large strand covering her forehead, and two long bangs framing her face, a rather impressively large bust, and blue eyes with small, white, bony earrings standing in the middle of the dust cloud with a half-awake, tired expression.
As the woman stood there, Erza's eyes widened greatly in shock and joy.
Although the others had a slightly different reaction, with Uryu covering his eyes and both Kisuke and Kazuma standing with nosebleeds due to the fact the beautiful woman was completely nude.
However, Erza either did not notice or did not care, as she immediately rushed forward to the woman and embraced her as she collapsed unconscious. "Mira!"
Kazuma managed to plug his nose and asked Kisuke, "Uhm, Hat-n-Clogs, what the hell just happened?"
After a moment, Kisuke answered, "That Hollow just became an Arrancar."
Above the area on a bridge, Orihime, Sado, and Aika watched the battle and its finale intently.
Orihime was particularly amazed. "I…I can't believe what we just saw."
Sado merely nodded.
Aika gaped and remarked, "I don't know what to think anymore. Until today we were just normal high school students."
Orihime asked lowly, "What are we supposed to do now? What path should we take?"
Kazuma sighed and then turned to Uryu, "So, you still want to take me on?"
Uryu stood up weakly, wiping the blood from his nose, and merely huffed before walking away. However, he stopped and glanced back at Kazuma, remarking, "I acknowledge that you are strong. But do not think this changes my opinion of Soul Reapers."
"You can think whatever you like. But just know that if you cause problems for me or my friends again I will kill you. What you did today was monumentally stupid, and several people are dead because of it. How about next time, you just challenge me directly."
Uryu raised an eyebrow in confusion.
Kazuma smirked and added, "Because anytime you feel like giving fighting me a go, I'll be waiting."
Uryu looked at him puzzled and huffed before walking off, though his face twisted into a smirk as he left.
Kazuma sighed and then turned back to see Erza hugging the naked white-haired woman. Sighing Kazuma rummaged through his collection of seals and eventually pulled out a sheet. "Here, wrap her in this," Kazuma suggested as he handed Erza the sheet.
"Eh?" Erza mumbled in confusion. She then looked down and finally realized her friend's state of undress. "Don't look!" Erza shouted as she uppercut Kazuma into the air.
Kazuma landed some feet away and grumbled, "Why'd you hit me?"
Erza stood up, holding Mira in her hands and then turned to Kazuma. Lowly she asked, "Would you mind if she stayed at the apartment for a while?"
Kazuma stood up with a sigh and stretched his neck. "Well, as long as you can guarantee she won't try to eat me again."
Erza frowned angrily. "I can guarantee that for certain."
Kazuma shrugged in response. "Fine by me then." He then sighed heavily. "Geez, my apartment is getting fuller and fuller by the day."
Kazuma, Erza, and Mira arrived back home with the others shortly thereafter, though Kazuma had a tough time explaining the situation about Mira to the other girls. He did eventually sort things out, however.
Unfortunately he didn't get the chance to get a further explanation on the situation from Rias or the others, though he knew he'd get the chance later.
Kazuma was not as pleased when the city seemed to cover up the situation surrounding the day's events as a large series of gas leaks, however he knew the reason for it.
Later that night, Mira eventually awoke.
Erza ran out of the spare room she was keeping Mira in and got Kazuma's attention.
Kazuma followed her back in and saw the white-haired woman sitting up groggily in the bed. He propped himself in the doorway as Erza went up to her.
"How are you feeling, Mira?" Erza asked.
Mira looked around groggy and puzzled before she seemed to fully awake. "E-Erza…"
Erza smiled happily. "Yes, we finally got you back, Mira."
Mira and Erza embraced in an affectionate hug, tears falling from both their eyes.
Kazuma smirked happily and then asked, "So, you mind introducing me?"
The two pulled apart and Mira looked at Kazuma puzzled. "Erza, who is he?"
Erza nodded and explained, "He's a friend of mine. It is a…long story. Much has happened since the battle with Kaguya."
Mira's eyes widened. "Naruto! Where's Naruto?!"
Erza frowned and shook her head. "That's part of what I need to explain. In the end, though Kaguya was defeated, we all perished in the battle."
Mira raised an eyebrow. "But…how is that possible…? I'm here….so are you…"
Erza nodded in agreement. "Well, most of us, our souls went to a place called the Soul Society, and much happened after that time. Unfortunately…you were not with us."
Frowning, Mira asked, "Was it…because of Satan Soul?"
Erza nodded. "I believe so. It's likely that…it turned you into what you had become after your death."
"I became? What happened…please, don't lie to make me feel better."
Erza tightened her fists and answered, "You became a spiritual monster called a Hollow. A being that devours souls to survive."
Mira's eyes widened immensely before she slapped her hands over her mouth.
"Mira! You can't blame yourself, you had no control over what you did in that state."
Mira nodded and after taking a moment to collect herself she asked, "So then, what has happened since then? How long has it been? Where's Naruto?!"
Erza frowned pained and explained, "Naruto, myself, and several of our comrades became Soul Reapers, people who hunt Hollows. I did it partially to find you, hoping I could turn you back to normal. Naruto he…" Erza smiled lightly and remarked, "for a time, he became the Captain of the First Squad, the leader of all of the Soul Reapers."
Mira giggled lightly in amusement. "For some reason, that doesn't surprise me. That always seemed like the kind of thing he'd do. How is he now?"
"He…after we all became Soul Reapers, he ended up…his soul was destroyed in combat a long time ago."
Mira's eyes widened. "You mean he's…he's…?"
Erza nodded as she tightened her hands. "Yes, Naruto is gone, completely. It has been four thousand years since the fight with Kaguya, and one thousand years since he died for the last time. I'm sorry, this isn't the kind of thing I wanted to be what you first heard after returning to yourself."
Mira tightened her grip on the sheets and asked, "Please, I want to be alone for a bit."
Erza nodded and left the room, signaling Kazuma to come with her.
Closing the door behind them, Erza tensed as she heard Mira begin to cry.
Kazuma asked, "You think she'll be okay?"
Erza nodded slowly. "Eventually. It will take some time though. She's a strong person, though I'm certain she loved him as much as I did."
Folding his arms, Kazuma sighed and commented, "I see. So, if you don't mind me asking, what was this Naruto, Naruto…what was his last name?"
"Uzumaki. Naruto Uzumaki."
"Yeah, him. What was he like?"
Erza put a hand to her chin in thought. "Well, he was impulsive, brash, didn't know when to shut up, and nosy."
Kazuma twitched an eyebrow. 'He sounds like a peach.'
'Oy, watch it.'
'You knew him?'
'Knew him? He and I were best friends.'
'Oh, I didn't know.'
However, after a moment's thought Erza's face turned into a nostalgic smile. "But he, was also kind and passionate, willing to do anything to do what he thought was right, even if it meant he himself was likely to die. And by the time we all ended up in the Soul Society, he was amazingly powerful as well."
Kazuma nodded in understanding. "Sounds like a pretty good guy. Ddraig likes him too."
Erza looked at Kazuma in surprise. "D-did you say Ddraig?"
Kazuma nodded plainly. "Yeah. I didn't tell you? He lives inside my Sacred Gear. Huh, oh, I forgot, you weren't there when I used it."
Erza sighed and put a hand against her forehead. "I see. It all makes sense now."
Kazuma blinked curiously. "Uhm…what does?"
"Your particular skill with fire magic and your ability to use Fire Dragon Slayer Magic."
Kazuma scratched the back of his head in confusion. "I still don't get it."
"'Ddraig' isn't his real name."
Kazuma raised an eyebrow. "That so? I was unaware. Then what is his real name?"
"Natsu Dragneel. He was one of my friends as well and one of the few who managed to survive the battle with Kaguya. His body eventually mutated into that of a dragon, it happens to all Dragon Slayers after they've achieved a certain level of power. So it seems when he interfered with the Great War he was sealed in that Sacred Gear."
Kazuma looked at his left hand curiously. "Oh, so he was. He told me about getting sealed inside the Sacred Gear, but never anything about the rest of that stuff."
Erza smirked in response. "That's not too surprising. Even when he became one of the Two Heavenly Dragons his personality didn't change, his absurd levels of personal pride were still in place. He'd probably never tell you he got himself locked in a situation like that."
Kazuma nodded and then added with a smirk, "Looks like a bunch of your old friends are gathering, huh? That Mira woman, Mavis, and Ddraig, or, Natsu, did you call him?"
Erza nodded in agreement. "Yes, I suppose it does look like that." Sighing, Erza added, "It's been a long day. If you don't mind, I wish to go to bed and just get it over with."
Kazuma stretched with a sigh and agreed. "Sounds good to me. My body's still aching after Mira hit me with that blast."
Erza frowned and shouted, "No! That wasn't Mira! That was a Hollow!"
Kazuma looked at her surprised and then nodded plainly. "Right, my mistake." He then walked past her and made his way to his room where he promptly fell over and passed out.
Unfortunately, his sleep was not an easy one as the moment he fell asleep he found himself in a familiar place. Looking around he saw a world bathed in flames around him, with a sky colored molten red, chains seemingly extending infinitely into the sky from wherever the bottom of the inferno was. The only usable ground was a single stone pathway that went on seemingly forever in both directions, though he could see an end to one side off in the distance.
Making his way there he found a large, stepped pedestal with chains extending from the sky which surrounded and wrapped within themselves a large, red dragon with yellow horns and a wide wingspan.
Kazuma smirked and folded his arms. "Well, well, haven't seen you personally for a while, Ddraig. Or, should I call you Natsu?"
The large red dragon huffed and looked off to the side. "Call me whatever you wish."
Shrugging, Kazuma replied, "In that case I'll stick with Ddraig, it's what I'm used to. Anyway, I assume you called me here for a reason?"
Nodding, Ddraig responded, "I suggest you watch yourself. With everything that's been going on, especially with this recent fiasco, the Soul Society is likely to act. And knowing them, even you can figure that their response will be swift and all-encompassing."
Kazuma sighed and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know. Believe me, I still remember fighting Kenpachi and those two buddies of hers, Ukitake and Kyoraku or whatever. I'd never forget fighting them. It took me a week to heal from the injuries. All I know at this point is if more people I know start showing things will get frustrating."
Ddraig nodded in silent agreement.
And there you have it, the end of this chapter. Hopefully you guys all enjoyed the surprises and events of this chapter, and if you did leave a review, if not, leave a review if you care to propose ways to improve but if you just want to complain about it go do something you actually enjoy. Either way, that's the end of this one so see you next time.