Chapter XXI
Well hello to all. Here is the next chapter of Chaos Pawn of the Gremory (CPG). I do want to apologize for the long wait for this chapter. It was not intended but events got...messy. Hopefully those of you who read it liked the last chapter (not that I would be able to tell), and for those of you that did not I hope you went and read something else rather than mutually wasting our time. I would like to thank my coauthor Bakuto Masaki for his help in the story and my secondary author TheLastNanaya for the help he gives. I would also like to mention my newest story, Return of the Chaos King. As you might have imagined from the title it is a continuation of Legends of Chaos series, so I would appreciate it if all of you could give it a quick look and perhaps a review. I suppose it is time to move on to the reviewer responses, hm?
Jose19: Neither do I. I hope it picks up soon.
Yes, I have. I like Tsukihime. Yeah, Arcueid dying sucked.
Yeah, he did. Glad you liked it. Well it should not be since, after that particular section, they will become rare.
I know, but other people sometimes do. Yes, I know that FanFiction has a tendency to bring down the banhammer. I always try and write the best content that I can.
andrew: Thanks for the long review as usual.
1) Yes, Ryuuma knows that Yuko is her mother but she also REALLY likes big breasts. No, she does not know.
2) Yes, he will eventually start to like her. Well...I cannot say here but he has extenuating reasons to like Nel. That is all I can say here.
3) I cannot reveal much about Naoya's character. As for where he is from, his appearance is from the Devil Survivor series. Other than that he is an OC who takes on this form occasionally.
4) I will have to go back and check but I do not think I planned for her to go. She is from Lunar Legend Tuskihime.
5) He does not want her to go to the Soul Society because she is a devil. He is not aware that she is pregnant. It is not alcohol.
6) Tales of Xillia.
They will be, these first few were short, plus Kazuma is insanely powerful so anyone below third or fourth seat might as well be a grunt in a Dynasty Warriors game compared to him. Glad you liked it. I cannot really say on either accounts, but I can definitely say that Kon is not involved and that she is not creating those portals, they're the work of an OC.
I will do my best and you keep up the nice long reviews.
Chayner: Like what? Only long range ability I know of for the Mangekyo is Amaterasu. He does not like to use it because without using Flame Control (which his body cannot handle right now) he really cannot control where the flames go and that is not good.
Yes, that is all true. First, Soul Reapers do not use mortal magic so their magic CAN hurt him.
But yes, that is also part of it. I am already getting people bitching about Kazuma being too overpowered despite the fact he has gotten his ass kicked in all of the major fights so far aside from Nrvnqsr (and he died in that fight). So yes, I do need to meter Kazuma's strength a bit. Eventually when the gods start showing up his power will get more unwound.
How does it feel off? Oh, you explain here, nevermind. I did not realize Kamui was instantaneous activation, oops. I see. I have always believed Kamui to be a bit overpowered, so it is possible I might have nerfed it without realizing it. I cannot be certain if I did but I always believed that its capabilities seemed a little too strong.
Yeah, that probably has something to do with it. Plus, do not forget, Kazuma is still using his original eyes, he has not switched to Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan yet.
Yeah, I know that now. I learned recently that Soul Reapers, and by extension Zanpakutos, work completely different than what I originally thought. But I have made some changes to how they are made and all that to keep this working. So yeah, it is changed a little bit from canon.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.
Well with that I suppose we should get on with the actual chapter. If you guys enjoy it I hope you review it.
Kukaku looked over the group of Kazuma, Ichigo, Uryu, Sado, Orihime, Rias, Akeno, Koneko, Kiba, Kazehana, Hibiki, Hikari, Toyotama, Aoko, Arturia, Aika, Ganju, and Jiao and shouted, "If you're all ready to go, then the final countdown begins now!" She then stomped on the ground, causing a hole to appear in the cannon barrel for the group walk into. "Get inside everyone, we're getting ready to go!"
The group nodded and walked towards the cannon.
"Alright, the sunrise will be the signal to launch." And with that Kukaku closed the cannon.
Inside, Yoruichi looked around the group. "Listen, you should avoid getting involved in unnecessary battles. If you encounter a Captain, do not fight them, run. Our goal here is to rescue Erza, nothing else."
"Alright, begin the launch sequence!" Kukaku ordered loudly.
"Alright everyone," Yoruichi said as the cat jumped on the orb, "Create a cannonball."
Everyone placed their hands on the cannonball and a large shell of blue energy formed around them.
Kukaku finished a long chant as the cannonball launched straight up into the air with incredible force. As it flew away, Kukaku thought, 'Good luck, Ganju, Jiao.'
Inside, Kazuma looked around surprised. "Huh…that was rather painless."
Ichigo nodded in agreement.
"You idiot," Ganju snarled, "This was only the beginning."
As if to confirm his statement, the cannonball suddenly, and roughly, changed direction to begin soaring straight for the Seireitei.
As they flew, Ganju pulled out a long scroll with his free hand. "This thing has the directions for the spell used to activate the cannonball. The first part is only used for the launch and changes in direction. We've also gotta keep the cannonball perfectly stable if we want to enter the Seireitei safely. One mistake and we're all dead."
Jiao chuckled loudly. "What he means to say is that you should keep yourself concentrated on the cannonball and matching everyone else's mana and we'll be just fine."
Ganju twitched an eyebrow in annoyance as he began to read the second set of incantations.
"Kazu, you're using too much mana," Akeno remarked.
Kazuma nodded and began to throttle back on the mana he was releasing.
Uryu turned to Kazuma. "You're still releasing more than anyone else."
Kazuma twitched an eyebrow. "Alright, fine."
Arturia frowned and said, "You need to calm down, your mana output is going to remain too high if you are agitated like that."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Ichigo," Uryu remarked, "Move over, I can't keep my grip on the cannonball."
"Oh shut up!" Ichigo bit back, "If I move anymore my arm's gonna be in Himejima's…uhm…anyway, I don't need Kazuma ripping me in half!"
"Grrr!" the two glared.
Ganju twitched an eyebrow as their arguing continued.
Rias looked to her right with an annoyed expression. "That strange mana of yours is throwing me off-balance."
Hibiki looked at Rias with a matching expression. "Maybe you just suck."
Sado stood between the two sweating heavily.
As further arguments developed Ganju continued reading the incantation but accidentally read a line twice. He turned to Kazuma snarled, "You idiot! You made me repeat myself!"
Kazuma looked at him incredulously. "I wasn't even saying anything Hog Rider."
"Grr…stop calling me that dammit!"
"You ride a hog. Therefore: Hog Rider."
"Hey you bastard! Bonnie is a boar, not a hog!"
"Like there's a difference?"
Inside the Seireitei, Palutena was walking around the corridors as the Soul Reapers were wandering around frantically. She walked by the kitchen and smirked happily. "Since there's no one here, I might as well make myself useful. Everyone seemed to like the other meal." She looked around the kitchen and grabbed ingredients from the various shelves. With a confident fist she smiled. "Right! This will be the best meal I've made in centuries!"
Palutena then blinked curiously before smirking and pulling out a small bottle of purple liquid. "With this the food will taste even better."
She then gathered potatoes and carrots from the area and put them into a pot. "If this is going to feed so many Soul Reapers then I'm going to need to use lots of them." After that she pulled the top out of the bottle she grabbed and poured a small amount of the purple liquid into the food-filled pot.
At that moment, the alarms around the Seireitei sounded loudly.
Palutena looked around curiously at the sound. "I wonder what's going on." Wanting to investigate she set down the now empty bottle on the counter and walked into the hallway.
After several seconds she blinked in confusion. "I guess it was nothing."
With that she turned back to the kitchen but looked up as a shadow loomed overhead and gulped in fear. "Oh dear…I've done it again…"
At the Captain's Meeting, the gathered Captains halted their discussions as the alarms sounded.
"So it seems those Ryoka you allowed to escape have shown up Ichimaru," Mayuri chided.
Kenpachi smirked widely. "It's time to find the strongest one."
As Kenpachi ran out of the room, a tiny, pink-haired girl with red eyes wearing a miniaturized version of the Soul Reaper Lieutenant's uniform landed on his shoulder.
"So you're off? To kill?" the girl asked.
"You've certainly got that right, Yachiru. I'm off to battle some strange Ryoka who went up against Ichimaru and somehow survived. Let's get the carving started," Kenpachi said gleefully, licking his lips.
"Always so brash," Ichimaru remarked.
Yamamoto narrowed his eyes and ordered, "This is most unfortunate. But there is little I can do. All Squads, report immediately to your battle stations. We will decide how to deal with Ichimaru's punishment after we handle these Ryoka."
"Sir!" the remaining Captains answered swiftly and left the room.
As the group dispersed, Aizen stopped by Gin momentarily. "Saved by the security alarm, eh, Ichimaru?"
Ichimaru, with his same perpetual smirk, responded, "Why don't you just come out and say it? You're not making much sense."
"…You don't really think you'll get away with this, do you? Just remember, don't underestimate me Ichimaru." Aizen then walked away.
The short, white-haired Captain narrowed his eyes as he walked past the two.
Inside her prison cell, Erza watched as the shimmering light approached the edge of the Seireitei. She narrowed her eyes in frustration.
"Ah crap," Ganju cursed.
"What's wrong?" Jiao asked.
"I think we're in trouble."
"If this keeps up, we're gonna crash!" Uryu shouted.
Yoruichi then instructed, "The only way to survive this is for you to pour in all the spirit energy you've got!"
The others nodded and began flooding their energy.
Kazuma grit his teeth as Boosted Gear lit up and shouted, "Transfer!" Boosted Gear reverted to its basic form as the mana it had built up transferred into the cannonball.
Inside the Seireitei, Soul Reapers all over the area watched as the cannonball approached.
Aizen stood next to Momo, as the latter asked in concern, "What is that Captain?"
Aizen shook his head. "I'm uncertain. But whatever it is the Spirit Membrane should destroy it."
"Even so, we should probably clear the area," Momo recommended with a wave of her hand, causing the other gathered Soul Reapers to scattered.
The cannonball then slammed into the massive dome surrounding the Seireitei, causing energy to spark around it.
Aizen's eyes widened in shock. "It hit the membrane and is just being held there? It would take a body of immense spiritual power to accomplish that."
"Break through dammit!" Kazuma bellowed as the cannonball burst through the membrane and immediately shattered.
However, as it disappeared, leaving mana swirling around the group, they all looked around in confusion.
"Yoruichi, explain this!" Kazuma demanded.
"Don't get separated!" the cat ordered, "The cannonball was destroyed in the impact but its residual energy still remains and will hold us up until it dissolves!"
"Then what?!" Rias shouted.
"It will coalesce into a whirlpool and then explode and vanish."
Aika's eyes widened in shock at the revelation, as did the others'.
"We must stick together because anyone who gets separated will be blown away by the explosion."
At that moment, the mana surrounding the group began to swirl and writhe in a twister.
"We're in the whirlpool!" Yoruichi shouted.
As the group was getting stirred around Ganju growled and attempted to swim through the swirling mana, latching onto the nearest person, Kazuma.
Kazuma twitched an eyebrow. "Lemme go Hog Rider!"
"Not a chance! I'm not about to get blown away!" Ganju argued.
One of Kazuma's tendrils extended out and grabbed Ganju by the ankle, throwing him away, towards Ichigo. "Here! He's yours!"
"You asshole!" Ichigo and Ganju shouted angrily.
"Gah!" Kazuma grunted as something hit him in the back. He turned around and saw Jiao against his back. "Seriously?!"
"Grab the person closest to you and hold on tight! Don't let go, no matter what!" Yoruichi ordered.
Kazuma nodded as he grabbed Jiao's coat.
Meanwhile, Ichigo and Ganju, angrily, grabbed each other's shirts.
Kazuma found himself getting a nosebleed as he saw Rias and Akeno holding onto each other.
"This is hardly the time for that!" Rias chided.
Kazuma merely ignored her.
Sado held onto Orihime and Aika before he saw Uryu falling towards the edge of the whirlpool. He narrowed his eyes and let go of the two girls, and made his way over to Uryu and tossed him towards the girls, but slammed into Toyotama and Yuuto as he did.
"Uh-oh," Sado deadpanned as the three fell from the whirlpool, shooting away from the others.
Hibiki and Hikari locked hands with an electric charge.
Arcueid and Aoko stayed close, Aoko using a small amount of magic to hold Arcueid close to her.
Yoruichi jumped onto Kazehana's back, using mana to stay there.
Kazehana pouted in dismay. "I was hoping Kazuma would grab onto me."
"I don't think now is the time to be picky," Yoruichi chided.
Koneko held "Muffins" tightly to her chest.
As the winds inside the whirlpool strengthened, Arturia attempted to grab Kazuma's hand when the whirlpool suddenly collapsed, sending nine streaks of energy in all directions.
On the ground, Kenpachi watched the collapse in dismay. "Great, now I have to search around and try to find the strongest one."
As the groups plummeted to the ground, they readied their own means of survival.
Sado, with Toyotama and Yuuto hanging onto his back, activated his arm, the large glove appearing as he stretched his arm forward.
Akeno extended a hand forward, causing a small barrier to appear around her and Rias.
Arturia placed her hands in front of her body, using her sword to help with the impact.
Orihime summoned her Shun-Shun Rikka to create a barrier in front of her, Aika, and Uryu.
Kazuma created a small bubble of wind around Jiao and himself as they approached the ground.
Kazehana encased herself and Yoruichi in a small twister to take the impact.
Hibiki and Hikari created a dome of electricity in front of themselves.
Aoko raised a hand as mana began pouring out of her hand for a spell.
Ganju began swirling his hand in the air as he and Ichigo neared the ground, shouting, "Seppa!"
In one area of the Seireitei, a large pile of rubble had formed in one of the courtyards. As the rubble moved, Kazuma and Jiao stood up and looked around.
"Great…so where the hell are we now…?" Kazuma wondered.
"I'm not sure. It's been about four hundred years since I was in the Seireitei," Jiao explained.
Kazuma looked at him curiously. "You've been to the Seireitei?"
Ganju and Ichigo stepped up out of a pit of sand, Ganju coughing up copious amounts of sand.
Ichigo looked around surprised. "That spell saved us."
Ganju, however, continued coughing.
Ichigo kicked him in the head and snarled, "Don't choke on your own spell next time!"
"You gotta a lotta nerve kickin' the guy who just saved your life!"
"Saved my life?! I just said we were saved!"
"Woohoo! What luck!" a new voice shouted.
A large group of Soul Reapers chased after one of the lights falling from the skies, led by a blonde-haired Lieutenant, but stopped in confusion when the light suddenly vanished.
As they looked around for it, they didn't notice Yoruichi sitting atop the wall nearby, Kazehana next to the cat.
"That was a rather abrupt move you made," Kazehana remarked.
"We had to get moving quickly, I wasn't interested in fighting them head-on," Yoruichi responded.
In a small, park-like area of the Seireitei, Toyotama slowly woke up and looked around. "Dammit…where are we…?" She turned to the side and saw Sado lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious. However, she turned slightly blue when she noticed Yuuto trapped under the giant.
His hands twitching weakly, Yuuto begged in gasps, "…Help…me…"
Toyotama lightly poked Sado with her spear.
Sado grunted before standing up, allowing Yuuto to sit up with loud, pained gasps.
"I…thought…I was…going…to die…" Yuuto gasped.
Toyotama narrowed her eyes as she looked to the side.
A group of Soul Reapers approached the spot where the three had landed and looked around.
"That's one hell of a hole," one of the Soul Reapers remarked.
"Yeah, and there's not a body in there," another remarked, "Which means whoever landed there is still alive. Find him!"
"Yes, sir!" the other Soul Reapers answered promptly as they spread out.
In one of the trees in the small park area, Yuuto, Sado, and Toyotama sat silently.
Sado then turned to Toyotama and asked, "Okay…so what now…?"
Toyotama twitched an eyebrow. "Why are you asking me?"
In another area of the Seireitei, Uryu and Aika sat over the unconscious Orihime, who was talking in her sleep.
"No Kazuma, that's no good…" Orihime mumbled in her sleep.
Aika gained a wide, perverted smirk. 'That naughty girl…is she really-?'
"It's not Ru-san, it's Pi-tan silly…"
Aika grumbled in defeat. 'Dammit…and here I was hoping Orihime's inner pervert finally woke up.'
Uryu leaned over to wake Orihime when suddenly the orangette sat up, smacking his head into her chin.
"Huh…?" Orihime mumbled as she looked around.
Aika lightly poked Uryu as he sat on the ground with his chin steaming.
"Uryu! What happened to you?!"
Aika looked at her in disbelief as Uryu sat up with a groan.
"Fortunately, it seems we've landed in an unpopulated area," Uryu explained.
"How lucky! Ow!" Orihime celebrated with a light clap before cringing as she noticed her bandaged arm.
"Be careful Orihime. You might've hurt your arm during the landing." Uryu then began explaining, "Once I realized you were hurt I administered first aid with a bandages I had but unfortunately I didn't have any painkillers with me."
"I see…so you did this…?" Orihime asked curiously at his longwinded explanation.
Uryu nodded in response. "I did."
"Well…thank you, Uryu. I'm feeling fine now."
"I'm sorry."
Orihime looked at him curiously.
"You got hurt trying to protect me, and if I hadn't been here you would've made it out unscathed."
Aika then slapped him on the back of the head. "Did you forget about me? So don't try and be so heroic. Besides, Orihime's such a dunce she'd still have gotten hurt and then bled out."
"Aika…" Orihime moaned.
Uryu then adjusted his glasses. "Be that as it may, we should get going, we made quite a lot of noise when we landed, so it's doubtless that someone will come."
The girls nodded as all three ran off.
As soon as they began running a figure turned the corner but did not pursue them.
"Woohoo! What luck!" a tall, muscular, bald man with small black eyes and red markings on the sides of his eyes wearing the standard Soul Reaper uniform minus the socks shouted ecstatically as he stood across from Ichigo and Ganju, dancing in place and singing happily.
Reaper uniform minus the socks shouted ecstatically as he stood across from Ichigo and Ganju, dancing in place and singing happily.
Ichigo looked at the bald-headed man in confusion. "What the…hell…?" He then looked to the side and noticed a man with short, jaw-length black hair in a bob cut, pale, luminescent skin, and bright purple eyes with feathers on his right eyebrow and right eyelashes wearing a shihakusho with a striped, orange piece of clothing that covered his neck and shoulders, along with most of his chest, which would be exposed by his uniform, that is connected to a matching, detached sleeve underneath the baggy sleeve of his uniform.
Ganju and Ichigo then turned as the bald-headed man finished his extravagant dance with a flip over his Zanpakuto. The man stopped and looked at them curiously. "Why haven't you two run off while I was doing my Happy Dance?" he asked in confusion.
Ganju and Ichigo merely looked at him bored.
Ganju then turned to Ichigo and said quietly, "We should get out of here."
"Not a chance," Ichigo argued.
"You idiot, these two Soul Reapers have Spiritual Pressure unlike any normal grunt."
"Hey!" the bald man shouted, "Don't ignore us!"
The effeminate man smirked proudly. "They must be too scared to speak to us directly."
"If you really want to waste your time arguing at least stop pretending we're not here."
"But if we wait too long, Ikkaku, others might come and steal our prize."
The bald man, Ikkaku, nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I know Yumichika." He then turned to Ichigo and Ganju. "Alright, I'll give you a little bonus. I'll do one more dance to give you some time to decide what you're going to do."
Ichigo and Ganju growled in annoyance.
Elsewhere in the Seireitei, Arcueid and Aoko looked around them.
"How come, of all the places for us to land, we landed in a giant pit?" Arcueid asked in annoyance.
Aoko lightly poked the black, rock-lined wall in front of her. "Don't know. But whatever this stone is it absorbs mana. So it'd probably be a good idea to get out of here."
Arcueid turned to her in curiousity. "Suggestions?"
Aoko smiled playfully.
Two Soul Reapers walked through one of the streets looking for intruders when an object shot up out of a trench nearby and landed in front of them.
"Wh-what the…!?" one of the Soul Reapers shouted in confusion.
"Ryoka!" the other shouted as he charged.
Aoko looked up as she and Arcueid landed and saw the Soul Reapers approaching. She smirked and raised a hand.
Nearby a group of Soul Reapers ran through the streets when they saw a bright flash of light over a nearby wall.
"Let's go!" the blonde man leading them ordered.
They rounded the corner and saw the two Soul Reapers that had attacked Aoko and Arcueid unconscious on the ground. The two women themselves were nowhere to be seen.
In a different area of the Seireitei, a large group of Soul Reapers led by a man with spiky black hair ran through the many winding hallways and streets of the Seireitei.
They took a moment to look down a dead-end corridor.
After a few short seconds the group ran off.
Several seconds after they ran off a spot on the wall began to shimmer as Arturia appeared. "I am glad they ran off when they did, Excalibur's cloak does not last as long as it used to." She then looked around the area she was in. "I need to try and regroup with the others. This place is massive and moving on my own will provide a minor disadvantage."
Hibiki and Hikari sighed as they glanced around them. "So…how did we get into this situation again? Wasn't it because you decided to punch that Soul Reaper instead of hiding?" Hibiki asked snidely.
Hikari twitched an eyebrow. "Sh-shut the hell up…besides, we can't change that now."
Around the two was a large group of Soul Reapers.
"Might as well finish this quick, right?" Hibiki asked.
Hikari nodded in response.
The Soul Reapers began to charge as the girls raised their hands, causing all twelve Soul Reapers to get zapped by lightning.
After a moment the slightly scorched men fell to the ground.
"We should probably run now, right?" Hikari questioned.
Hibiki nodded as the two immediately began running.
A Soul Reaper suddenly slammed into a wall, hard, as Koneko stood with an annoyed expression. "Where are the others?" she asked herself.
"Muffins" responded with a happy meow.
Koneko nodded, despite not understanding the sound, and ran off to the left, down a different corridor.
At that moment one of the walls exploded as Kenpachi burst through. He looked around and noticed the numerous Soul Reapers on the ground. He grinned happily. "Alright…we seem to be on the right path."
"See, I told ya Kenny," Yachiru remarked.
"So where is he now?" Kenpachi asked.
"Hmm…that way!" Yachiru exclaimed, pointing down the right side of the corridor.
"Right!" Kenpachi responded as he ran off in the direction she pointed.
Kazuma and Jiao looked around as they hit a four-way intersection.
Kazuma looked around and asked, "So, where do we go?"
Jiao looked down the different pathways around them. He was about to answer when Kazuma tugged on his sleeve. "What is it?"
Kazuma pointed ahead of them and asked, "Am I high or is that what I think it is…?"
Jiao looked at him curiously and then gaped slightly when he looked ahead and saw giant potatoes with limbs running towards them. "I…I think it is…"
"So…at the very least we can rule out that hallway…right…?"
"Y-yes…shall we split up…?"
"Yes," Kazuma agreed as the two ran down the flanking pathways, the giant killer potatoes continuing straight past the walkways.
Kazuma stopped after he ran for several minutes. He looked back and sighed in relief. "Glad those things are gone." He then looked around him and scratched his head. "Damn…where the hell am I now?"
Ddraig interjected, 'We both know there's no point in you asking that. You might as well just start running randomly.'
Kazuma twitched an eyebrow. 'My sense of direction isn't that bad.'
'You had to place markers inside the apartment complex to find your way to your apartment for the first three months.'
'Sh-shut up…' Kazuma groaned and saw the four pathways in front of him. He picked the one furthest to the left and, after a short walk noticed a corner.
He looked down the corner and twitched an eyebrow again. "…Shit…"
Looking at him from across the path were almost a dozen Soul Reapers.
The head of the group looked at him and thought out loud, "A Soul Reaper with a sword as long as his body…and dark brown hair…"
Kazuma sighed and immediately ran off.
"After him!" the head of the group shouted as they all chased after him.
Kazuma ran down the road swiftly, seeing the Soul Reapers behind him. "Son of a bitch. For grunts these guys are pretty fast." As the group began to catch up Kazuma hissed. "Guess there's no choice." He vanished in a blur of white.
After a few seconds Kazuma reappeared in another blur of white and heard the sounds of Soul Reapers gathering nearby.
"Aw crap," he snarled before he noticed the nearby building and ducked inside.
He stayed near the door as the rumbling of multiple Soul Reapers running past heightened and then subsided. After they vanished he sighed and then looked ahead. "…Ah…" he grunted as he realized he'd wandered into a bathhouse.
As the steam in front of him cleared he saw an unexpected sight, Rangiku bathing in the water in front of him.
She looked at him curiously before her eyes widened.
Kazuma also looked at her surprised. "N-no…way…" Kazuma was about to speak again when he heard rumbling outside. "Shit, they're coming back."
Several Soul Reapers burst into the bathhouse and the leader of the group shouted, "Come out you damned Ryoka!"
"Do you mind?" Rangiku's annoyed voice challenged.
The men all saw her as their noses began bleeding.
She looked at them irritated and grabbed the hilt of her Zanpakuto.
"Sorry Lieutenant Rangiku!" they shouted as they slammed the door shut.
She narrowed her eyes and then released her grip on her Zanpakuto. "It's alright, they're gone."
Kazuma then burst out from the water, coughing lightly as he stood up on the walkway. He surged a small amount of mana around his body to push the water away.
Rangiku looked at him curiously. "What are you doing here? How are you here?"
Kazuma sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "That's…a lot harder to explain than you think."
Rangiku narrowed her eyes as she stood up. "Well, knowing you, it's something that's going to cause trouble." Making no attempt to hide her body from his sight she swiftly stepped out of the bath, dried off, and clothed herself. "So I guess this means I'll be following you around, picking up your messes again."
Kazuma smirked in amusement. "Come now, I wasn't that bad."
Rangiku returned with a sickeningly sweet smile. "I still remember Lady Yatsune devouring twelve Kikimora in one night. That was quite a mess."
Kazuma looked off to the side weakly. "Ah…well…that was her doing…not mine…" he defended pathetically.
Rangiku merely sighed heavily. "Regardless, we should get going."
Kazuma blinked curiously. "You're actually going to help me? Don't your allegiances lie with this place?"
"In a manner of speaking." She then turned to him with a smile. "But I ally myself with you first. I'd rather be on your good side than your bad."
"…Right…"
Rangiku poked her head out of the door to the bathhouse and looked around before turning back and nodding.
As she stepped out, Kazuma walked out behind her.
"You know, it'll be rather difficult to explain that giant Zanpakuto of yours," Rangiku mentioned in annoyance.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I really don't know why the thing is so damn big. I'd hide it if I could but I'm not really sure how this thing would react to Requip since it seems I can only use it in this form," Kazuma explained.
Rangiku sighed in exasperation. "Well, I'll think of something. So think you could at least tell me why you're here, causing all this trouble?"
Kazuma looked off to the side in response and then answered, "…I'm here to rescue a friend."
Rangiku raised an eyebrow. "Someone apprehended by the Seireitei?"
"Sort of. Her name's Erza Scarlet."
Rangiku stopped and widened her eyes and then sighed heavily as she put a hand over her face. She then moved her hand to her hip. "So that's what's going on."
Kazuma blinked curiously. "What are you talking about…?"
"Don't worry about it. Just know you owe me big time for this."
Kazuma nodded in response. "Believe me, I owe you in more ways than one."
Rangiku smirked in response as she lightly poked his chest. "And I expect you to repay me in full."
Kazuma nodded with a smirk.
"Our first action should be to head to the prison and see if she's still there."
Kazuma nodded as he and Rangiku headed that way.
Ganju and Ichigo were still in the sand pit in front of Yumichika and Ikkaku.
"Look, we should get the hell out of here," Ganju argued.
"If you want to run, do it yourself," Ichigo responded.
Ganju snarled and jumped out of the pit, running off.
Ikkaku stopped and asked curiously, "So, does this mean you've split up?"
Ichigo stepped out of the sand pit and dusted himself off. "Seems that way."
Ikkaku nodded towards Ganju and Yumichika took off after the man, faster than Ichigo expected.
As Ganju ran he looked back and growled. "Damn, I knew one of them was going to follow me."
Yumichika smirked as he continued to chase him.
Ichigo turned his attention away from Ganju and Yumichika and back to Ikkaku.
Ikkaku tapped his sheathed sword on his shoulder and asked curiously, "So, why didn't you run off with your friend? It's obvious he sensed that our Spiritual Pressure is greater than yours."
"Because," Ichigo began, "if you're spiritual power is really greater than mine, running is pointless. I'd be caught for sure. On the other hand, if mine is greater, then I just need to kick your ass and move on."
Ikkaku smirked in amusement. "Well, well, so you aren't stupid. That's good."
The two remained silently staring at each other for several minutes before Ikkaku charged and drew his sword with amazing speed.
Ichigo barely dodged to the side as Ikkaku slammed his sword into the ground. He pulled his pendant as it lit up and became twin swords in his hands.
Ikkaku hopped back as Ichigo charged with his dual blades. "Heh, you handle yourself pretty well."
Ichigo hissed and swung with his right sword but Ikkaku blocked with his scabbard.
Ikkaku immediately retaliated with his other hand, which held his blade.
Ichigo responded by using his other sword to block the strike.
"Not bad," Ikkaku remarked before jumping back.
Ichigo widened his eyes as he tumbled forward, Ikkaku immediately taking the chance. "Tch!" he snarled as he planted his longer sword on the ground and, using his momentum, hopped up and over Ikkaku. Ichigo landed and spun, swinging his longer sword at Ikkaku.
Ikkaku reversed the grip on his scabbard and deflected Ichigo's swing before coming back with his Zanpakuto.
Ichigo swung down to the side with his other sword before thrusting with the one in his left hand.
Ikkaku thrust up in kind and their swords deflected off of each other, the tips of their blades striking the other in the forehead.
They each jumped back and put distance between them.
Ikkaku smirked in amusement. "You're pretty good. What's your name?"
Ichigo raised an eyebrow and answered, "Ichigo Kurosaki."
Ikkaku smirked again. "Men with 'ichi' in their name are said to be handsome and bursting with talent." He then stood up straight and introduced himself. "I am the Eleventh Squad's Third Seat, Ikkaku Madarame. Since we're both 'ichi' men we should be friends."
Ichigo looked at him in disbelief. 'Seriously…?' "Yeah…no thanks…"
At the same time, Ganju continued running through the winding pathways of the Seireitei, Yumichika chasing close behind him.
"Aww crap, doesn't this guy every give up?!" Ganju growled in annoyance.
Yumichika remarked with a smirk, "Your running style is so very ugly. Oh, and you might want to look ahead."
Ganju raised an eyebrow and gaped. Ahead of him he saw a stone wall. He then smirked as he raised a hand. "Like a little wall will stop me." He swirled his hand in the air and then shouted, "Seppa!" As he hit the wall a hole formed as a circular section of the wall turned to sand. He jumped through the wall and Yumichika followed after, annoyed.
"You use a very strange ability. I assume that it was you who created that sandpit from before."
"Yeah, so what?!" Ganju shouted. He noticed another wall and used Seppa to smash through it once more and jump through.
Yumichika stopped short of the hole with a smirk. "How ugly. I have no reason to continue this chase. That fool didn't even realize what is on the other side, did he?"
As Ganju jumped through the hole he looked down and gaped. "Aw craaap!"
A Soul Reaper smashed into a wall as another Soul Reaper slammed into him as well.
Back where they were thrown from, Aoko stood with a hand extended.
Aoko smirked in amusement. "These Soul Reapers really aren't up to much. I'd heard they were pretty tough, but I've fought demons…er, devils, that put up more of a fight than this."
Arcueid sighed in exasperation. "I'd be careful with that confidence of yours."
Aoko waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah."
Both Aoko and Arcueid tensed as they felt a strong pressure around them. They turned to the side and saw Tousen walking towards them.
Aoko narrowed her eyes as the dark-skinned man approached them and then stopped near them.
"Aoko, he's," Arcueid began.
"I know," Aoko interrupted. Aoko then smirked and asked, "So, I would assume you're one of the Captains I've heard so much about?"
"Kaname Tousen, Captain of Squad Nine," Tousen answered in an even tone of voice. He then reached for his Zanpakuto and unsheathed it, causing the two women to tense once more. He extended the blade forward and said calmly, "Cry, Suzumushi."
Aoko widened her eyes and extended her arms outward instantly, creating a barrier of blue energy around both her and Arcueid. She flinched lightly as the barrier vibrated intensely.
Arcueid looked around in confusion and then turned to Aoko. "What just happened?"
Aoko sighed as the barrier lowered. "That sword of his, it just vibrated intensely and sent a high-pitched shockwave at us. If I hadn't blocked it, it probably would've knocked us both unconscious."
Arcueid looked at her shocked and then turned to Tousen.
Aoko narrowed her eyes. "This isn't good."
"Why?" Arcueid asked.
"The swords of Soul Reapers are able to transform into more powerful states. And if what we were just hit by was the first form of his sword, the second one is probably not something we want to get hit with."
Arcueid nodded in agreement.
Aoko narrowed her eyes and then turned to Arcueid. "Arcueid, why don't you get going?"
"What?" Arcueid asked in surprise.
"I'll deal with this guy, you hurry and get going to find the others."
Arcueid remained silent for a moment but then nodded and jumped away from the area, Tousen not making a move to pursue her.
Aoko narrowed her eyes as she raised her hands to prepare to fight.
"I do not wish to fight you. Come quietly and I will make this as painless as possible," Tousen requested in the same even tone.
Aoko smirked defiantly. "Sorry, I can't do that."
"That's disappointing. So be it." Tousen reached for his sword and pulled it from the sheath. "It seems combat is unavoidable."
Kazuma and Rangiku made their way around the streets of the Seireitei as the sounds of different commotions and battles erupted all around them.
"It sounds like the group you arrived here with are rather destructive," Rangiku remarked.
Kazuma nodded in response. "Yes, they are. So where is Erza? Do you know?"
"Our best bet is to start with the cell block."
Kazuma nodded in understanding.
After a moment they turned a corner and Kazuma twitched an eyebrow while Rangiku sighed.
Directly in front of them was a large group of Soul Reapers.
The men looked at the two curiously and then looked at the nearby wall.
Kazuma raised an eyebrow and looked to the side as well. "Crap." Next to him was a very poorly drawn wanted poster. "Glad to see that fool from Vanaheim is still getting work."
"Get'im!" one of the men shouted.
Kazuma glanced to the side and saw someone approaching and instantly grabbed them, pulled the person close and put his blade up to the person's throat. "Back off, or I'll kill'em!"
The men stopped and looked at him curiously.
Kazuma blinked in thought and looked down.
The person he had grabbed was a young-looking, petite girl with short, chin-length white hair and blue eyes wearing a standard shihakusho with a strange sack slung over her shoulder held by a green strap that sunk between her sizable bust.
The men then laughed loudly. "So what?! She's just a Squad Four idiot!"
Kazuma twitched an eyebrow. "Fuck."
The large group of men then charged at the group.
The group ran off in response to the charging men and ran around a corner to escape.
After several moments of running they finally stopped to catch their breath.
"Damn, those guys are persistent," Kazuma snarled.
"They're from Squad Eleven, what they lack in brain power they make up for with tenacity and brute strength," Rangiku answered. She then turned to Kazuma and flinched.
"What?" he asked in confusion.
She pointed beside him weakly.
Kazuma turned and saw that he had, accidentally, dragged his would-be captive behind him, though she now had swirls in her eyes and was too disoriented to do anything but moan incoherently.
"Well…that wasn't supposed to happen," Kazuma said, perplexed.
"I can't believe you didn't just leave her there," Rangiku replied in annoyance.
"I didn't even realize I still had ahold of her. Oops is about all I can say there."
Rangiku sighed in exasperation. "Well if you just leave her there we should be able to get going to the cell block."
Kazuma folded his arms in thought as he looked at the white-haired girl.
"What?"
"I can't just leave her there."
Rangiku looked at him puzzled and then sighed. "Of course, you never change," she responded with a defeated smirk.
"Any idea who she is?" Kazuma asked, pointing to the girl in question.
Rangiku shook her head in response. "No, I've never seen her before. However I can tell by her attire that she's from Squad Four."
Kazuma folded his arms in thought.
After a moment their attention was diverted when they heard the white-haired girl moan slightly before waking up.
She groaned before opening her eyes fully and turned to see Kazuma and Rangiku standing next to her. "Ah!" she shouted curtly, causing Kazuma and Rangiku to flinch slightly.
"Well that was more truncated than I expected," Kazuma mentioned.
"Uhm…what's going on here?" the girl asked in confusion.
"It's a bit of a long story," Rangiku answered. "So, if you don't mind, what's your name?"
The girl stood up and nodded. "I'm Lisanna Strauss, with Squad Four."
Kazuma narrowed his eyes as she said her name.
"I'm Rangiku Matsumoto, Lieutenant of Squad Ten."
"Lieutenant Matsumoto? Who is this man?" Lisanna asked slightly perplexed.
"This is Kazuma Soryu. He's a trainee with Squad Ten."
Lisanna frowned in disappointment. "I'm not that gullible."
Rangiku sighed in response. "I was afraid of that."
"So who is he really?"
"I'm one of the people invading your little Seireitei," Kazuma said bluntly.
"Wh-what!?" Lisanna responded in shock.
Rangiku looked at him annoyed. "You should've been a little more careful with how you said that."
"There's no point in beating around the bush," he responded plainly.
Rangiku put a hand over her face in frustration. "Yes, but even then…"
"Lieutenant Matsumoto, why are you helping this Ryoka?" Lisanna asked in bewilderment.
Once again Kazuma answered before Rangiku could. "I'm here to rescue someone who is being punished for my mistakes."
Lisanna looked at him in thought. "Someone who…wait, you don't mean Erza Scarlet do you?!"
Kazuma nodded. "I do. You know her?"
"Yes, for a long time. Are you here to stop her execution?"
Kazuma nodded once more.
Lisanna tensed for a moment and then nodded to herself with a stern expression. "I'll help you. I don't want to see Erza killed."
Kazuma nodded in agreement and then narrowed her eyes. "Lisanna, was it?"
She nodded.
"You said your last name was Strauss?"
"Yes…" Lisanna responded in thought.
"Like Mirajane Strauss?"
Lisanna looked at him shocked and gasped. "Y-you know Mira!?" she asked excitedly.
Kazuma backed away slightly at her excitement. "Guess that answers that question. Ahem, yeah, I do."
"Where is she? Is she okay? What's she doing? Is she-?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Kazuma interjected, putting up a hand. "Slow down. Before that I want to ask you a couple other questions."
Lisanna nodded assuredly.
Yumichika stood near the hole Ganju had run through and walked up to it with a smirk. "So how's the view?" Yumichika taunted.
Ganju hung off a ledge that sat above an extremely deep hole. "Holy crap, that was close. What even is this pit?"
"It's actually the old execution grounds," Yumichika explained as he stood above the suspended Ganju. "They used to release Hollows that were captured alive along with prisoners to fight to the death. The rest of us used to watch from the platforms on either side."
"Heh, you Soul Reapers sure have disgusting habits."
"Hmph, none as disgusting as that face of yours," Yumichika responded with a smirk.
"Che, you Soul Reapers sure are a pity."
Yumichika brushed some of his hair to the side haughtily. "Yes, I know that I am very pretty."
"I said pity you idiot!"
"I know that you oaf. It was a joke, full of humor and wit. Qualities which you obviously lack. In any case, that disgusting practice is no longer practiced, but the Seki-Seki rock of these walls prevent any who fall in from escaping."
Ganju gulped in response.
Yumichika smirked and drew his blade. "Here, I'll be magnanimous and give you a choice. Die here and now at the end of my blade, or drop into the pit and die like a dog," Ganju sneered as he continued, "But if you're going to vacillate, please turn this way. I simply can't resist faces inundated with this kind of life-or-death decision."
Ganju turned away angrily. "You really do have disgusting habits."
Aoko and Tousen stood across from each other as they prepared to fight.
"I offer you the chance to surrender peacefully once more," Tousen stated.
"And once more I refuse. So are we just going to stand here talking or are you going to use that pointy stick of yours?" Aoko responded crassly.
Tousen huffed and swept his sword in front of him several time, sending multiple blades of sound flying at Aoko.
Aoko smirked and clenched her fists, causing a wavy blue aura to encase them and then swung her fists at the incoming blades, causing them to vanish.
"What?" Tousen asked in shock.
Aoko smirked once more and then rushed towards Tousen, practically vanishing with her speed.
Tousen turned to strike behind him but a punch from Aoko sent him flying into and through a nearby wall.
Aoko sped towards him and did not even let him impact the ground before punching him again, sending him flying down a long hallway into another wall, crashing through it before slamming into a wall on the other side.
Tousen coughed as Aoko sped toward him again. "Cry, Suzumushi." Once again a burst of sound rocked through the area but Aoko stopped mid-charge and raised another barrier, causing the sound blast to harmlessly warp around her, before continuing her charge. "Damn," Tousen cursed before dashing away with great speed as well.
Aoko stopped and turned sharply before continuing her pursuit.
Tousen stopped atop one of the walls going throughout the Seireitei only to have Aoko appear next to him once again.
She smiled sweetly as he widened his eyes before slamming a foot down at him, which he barely blocked with broadside of his blade, sending him crashing into the ground below. She extended a hand out and shouted, "Missiles: Deploy!" A magic circle appeared in front of her hand that suddenly sent a barrage of powerful bolts of raw mana shooting down in a heavy volley at Tousen.
Tousen sighed as a small, grey wall of energy, which had been almost completely shredded by Aoko's attack, floated above him before flickering away.
Aoko dropped down to in front of Tousen and chuckled. "Wow, that's pretty good. Most people drop dead after that one."
Tousen huffed in irritation. "Suzumushi Nishiki: Benihiko." The blade of his Zanpakuto then began vibrating as he moved the blade in a semi-circular path around him.
"That doesn't look good," Aoko remarked as she prepared for an attack.
A trail of illusory blades appeared as Tousen moved his blade, following its path. After a moment the trail then solidified into hundreds of individual blades.
"Oh crap," Aoko deadpanned.
The multitude of blades then began firing upon Aoko, kicking up large amounts of dust and debris, causing massive amounts of damage to the area where she stood.
Ichigo and Ikkaku stood opposite each other, still in the midst of their battle.
Ichigo flinched as some of the blood dripping from the cut on his forehead came towards his eyes. He raised his right hand, wiping the blood away.
Ikkaku huffed in irritation. "You don't get it, do you?"
"Get what?" Ichigo asked curiously.
"There might be a large distance between us but moving a hand out of its proper stance during a face-off is amateurish."
"Hey, I was just wiping some of the blood away from my eye! It's making it hard to see."
"Hmph, you really are an amateur. Forehead wounds bleed quite a lot, even shallow ones." Ikkaku stopped momentarily and pulled the cap off the end of his Zanpakuto's handle.
Ichigo watched curiously, flinching as more blood poured from his forehead wound, which he promptly wiped away.
Ikkaku then wiped his finger over the exposed end of the handle, which contained an ointment that he then wiped on his own forehead injury. "Hmph, if you're not going to stop the bleeding there's no point in wiping it."
Ichigo glared at the bald-headed man. "Hey that's cheating you jerk!"
"No, I'm simply being prepared and you ought to be more impressed. But, I will give you this. You act like a total amateur and that outfit of yours certainly isn't one a self-respecting fighter would wear."
Ichigo looked at him irritated. "Come on, it's a cool show."
"I don't even know what that means. Ahem, as I was saying, you act like a fool and look one too, but you're reaction time is definitely top-notch, your hits, when they land, are violently strong, you're about as agile as myself. So, who's your master?"
Ichigo folded his arms in thought. "I'm…not really sure. I guess…it'd be Kazuma and Yoruichi."
Ikkaku raised an eyebrow. "Yoruichi?" The image of a dark-skinned woman entered his mind. "Heh, if that's the case. Then killing you without going all-out would be an insult." Ikkaku then flipped his blade into a reverse grip, pulled the sheath from his waist, and then slammed the end of the handle and the closed end of the sheath together. "Extend, Hozukimaru!"
Ichigo watched as Ikkaku's blade was enveloped in light before transforming into a long spear with a red, horsehair tassel on the end of the pommel, a slightly curved blade with an extra, jutting point on the opposite end.
Ikkaku then charged at Ichigo with several swings and strikes, all of which Ichigo managed to block with one sword or the other.
Ichigo smirked confidently as Ikkaku's barrage ended. "Hmph, as if I'm going to misjudge that a spear's reach is longer than a sword."
"That's not quite it," Ikkaku rebutted with a grin before spinning it dramatically.
Ichigo seized the chance and charged at Ikkaku.
"Got you!" Ikkaku shouted victoriously as Hozukimaru split into three separate pieces attached by chains, which then coiled themselves around Ichigo.
"Wh-what the hell?!"
Kazuma narrowed his eyes. "I see…"
Rangiku sighed. "So they've moved Erza to the Repentance Cell?"
Lisanna nodded in agreement. "Yes. It happened only a short time ago."
"So where is this Repentance Cell?" Kazuma asked.
Lisanna pointed off in the distance. "It's that tall white tower."
Kazuma narrowed his eyes in thought.
Rangiku then lightly chopped him on the back of the head.
"Ow! What the hell?!" he shouted in irritation.
"I know that look in your eyes," Rangiku remarked. "You had that same look when you heard my parents offered my sister to Susanoo."
Kazuma remained silent.
"Last time you had that look an entire village was razed to the ground, minus two survivors. I don't know how much of your original power you have now, but I don't think it'd be good for you to flatten the Seireitei."
Kazuma remained silent for a moment before sighing. "So be it." He clenched a fist in thought.
"Something wrong?"
"Hm? No, Boosted Gear Reset a little while ago so I'm still feeling a little uneasy. That bastard always does that at the most inopportune times."
Lisanna then walked over to the two of them. "Excuse me, I don't know what any of what you two just said means, but if you're going to rescue Erza then I want to help. She's an old friend of mine."
Kazuma folded his arms in thought. 'Well?'
Ddraig answered, 'We can trust her. Out of anybody in this world I trust Lisanna most of all. Well…maybe I trust Happy a little more.'
Kazuma nodded.
"Hold on," Rangiku interrupted. "Do you really want to get involved in this? On the off-chance we fail, you know what will happen to you, right?"
"How about you?" Lisanna asked. "You face the same thing."
"Well…" Rangiku responded with slightly reddened cheeks, "that's a little different."
Lisanna looked at her curiously and then smiled.
"I suppose we should get moving then if we're going to reach this Repentance Cell place," Kazuma stated.
"Right!" the two women responded in unison.
Yumichika narrowed his eyes as he looked at Ganju. "I'll say it again, look at me. I want to see your ugly face in its final moments, since my beauty becomes more polished every time I see a face like it." Yumichika raised an eyebrow as he noticed sand dribbling out of Ganju's clenched fist. "Hey, what are you-gah!?" Yumichika asked but did not have time to react as Ganju flung sand in his eyes.
"Seppa!" Ganju shouted as he slammed a hand down on the ground, turning the area of the floor the two were supported on into sand.
Yumichika reacted instantly, despite his hampered vision, and jumped to one of the side platforms.
Ganju however, did not react as fast and fell into the pit below.
Yumichika laughed proudly and dropped back down to the floor and watched as Ganju fell into the darkness. "Hmph, how unsightly. I didn't think there would ever be validity to the phrase 'digging your own grave'." His vision was then filled with a blue light, blinding him. Yumichika slowly opened his eyes and was shocked to see Ganju in front of him, suspended in the air with a mana cannonball. "What is that?!" Yumichika snarled and attempted to slash at the cannonball, but his blade was repelled.
Ganju chuckled proudly. "It sure is lucky that I stashed an extra orb with me." Ganju then directed his attention at Yumichika. "This is a special cannonball, and it can't be broken by any Zanpakuto with only a tap or two."
Yumichika smirked irritably. "You've seriously underestimated me you ugly fool. I am the Fifth Seat of Squad Eleven, the strongest of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. I'll break that fancy spirit barrier in one strike!" He then placed his hand in front of the blade and swept his hand in front of the blade as it lit up a bright white, exclaiming, "Bloom for me, Fuji Kujaku!" The blade of his Zanpakuto then morphed from a standard katana to a sickle-shaped blade, with the cutting edge on the inside of the curve. However, the single blade then expanded out to the sides, revealing it to truly have four identical blades that fanned out. Yumichika then reared back and stabbed at the cannonball, piercing it instantly.
Ganju laughed loudly. "You idiot! If the cannonball is broken it'll explode!"
True to his words, the cannonball then cracked before violently exploding.
The explosion was powerful enough to send Ganju to the opposite side of the pit.
Yumichika stood up and dusted his clothes in irritation. "There's no way something like that could beat me. It almost seems like you're trying to anger me."
"What'd you say?!" Ganju goaded. "Can't hear you!" He then turned the wall in front of him to sand and walked through it.
Yumichika narrowed his eyes angrily. "You are ugly. Too ugly."
Tousen stood calmly, taking a moment to catch his breath as the dust from his attack cleared. His breath halted in shock, however, when the dust lifted to reveal Aoko standing before him, completely unharmed by his attack.
Aoko looked around herself and whistled in surprise. "Not bad. If any of those things had actually hit me it'd probably have hurt. But, they didn't. Better luck next time I suppose."
Sweat began running down Tousen's face in shock. 'What is she? She has effortlessly deflected or dodged all of my attacks. I feel that using that may be unavoidable.'
Aoko stretched lightly before sighing lightly. "So, if you're ready," she then raised her fists to fight, "I'd say we get back to it."
Tousen narrowed his eyes before vanishing in a blur of speed.
"Too slow!"
Aoko then appeared in front of Tousen, despite the speed he was moving.
Tousen took advantage of this by pointing his blade forward, hoping to use his momentum.
Aoko smirked at the attempt and effortlessly maneuvered out of the way of the split-second attack and then elbowed Tousen on the back of the head as mana burst from the point of contact, causing a crater when Tousen slammed into the ground. Aoko landed on the nearby roof, ducking swiftly as a piece of wall flew right over her head. She lightly knocked herself on the head and stuck her tongue out. "Oopsie, that almost hit me."
On the ground, Tousen moaned before standing up, his shihakusho and haori being heavily tattered from Aoko's constant onslaught. He vanished in a burst of speed and reappeared beside Aoko. He swung his blade at her but she bent out of the way and sent a punch at his gut.
Tousen managed to dodge the attack but cringed and slid across the roofing tiles. "…What…?"
"Oh, did I forget to mention that part?" Aoko taunted. "My attacks don't actually have to hit you for it to hurt like a beast."
Tousen tensed before clenching his fist around his blade. "You leave me with no choice. You have only yourself to blame."
"Huh?"
Tousen pressed his hand against the ring on his blade, causing it to spin and gather energy, slowly getting larger and larger. "Bankai, Suzumushi Tsuishiki: Enma Korogi." The ring then multiplied into a total ten rings that floated around him. He then swept his sword in front of his body and the rings spread out around himself and Aoko.
Aoko looked around in confusion. "I'm not liking this."
After the rings formed a circle around Tousen and Aoko, a black void appeared in the center of each ring before expanding outwards, encompassing both Aoko and Tousen in a large black dome, which was centered around Tousen's body and, from the outside, anchored by the ten rings.
"What is this?" Aoko looked around confused.
"My Bankai," Tousen explained flatly. "This entire space is now my Bankai." Tousen then slowly walked up to Aoko and walked past her.
Aoko's eyes widened as she looked around. 'Wh-what is this…? I can't see anything. Wait…I can't hear anything either.' Aoko tried pulsing a small amount of energy and her eyes widened further. 'I can't sense anything either.'
Ichigo stood opposite from Ikkaku, his arm bleeding heavily.
Ikkaku withdraw his blade and then slung its sections over his shoulders lazily. "That is what I meant by 'don't misjudge'. So, are you hurt? You'll probably be unable to hold at least one of those swords of yours. You know, I'm actually a pretty kind-hearted guy. I would've captured you alive at this point but, you see, there's a reward in it for killing you."
Ichigo managed to use some of the bandage from his swords to bind up the injury on his arm. He sneered at Ikkaku and lunged, Ikkaku stepping lazily to the side, causing the wall behind him to get destroyed in Ichigo's attack. "Don't talk like this is over. I haven't even shown off my true skills yet. This is just the beginning."
Ikkaku raised an eyebrow before smirking in amusement.
In another area of the Seireitei, a gong was being rung loudly as orders to different Squads were being relayed through the area.
As groups of Soul Reapers ran through the streets and corridors below, Yoruichi and Kazehana watched silently from the rooftops.
"They seem pretty scattered in their search," Kazehana remarked.
"So you would think," Yoruichi answered.
Kazehana looked at the cat curiously. "Oh? What's that supposed to mean?"
Kazuma, Rangiku, and Lisanna ran down a series of corridors before taking a right turn down a long street.
"You sure this is the right way?" Kazuma asked.
Lisanna nodded. "Yes. This is the shortest path to the Repentance Cell."
Kazuma sighed weakly as they approached a four-way intersection.
"We keep going straight here."
However, as they approached the intersection, Kazuma was suddenly and violently thrown to the side as something slammed into him.
"Kazuma!" Rangiku shouted in concern before looking at him flatly and then sighing heavily.
Kazuma grumbled slightly before he saw what had smashed into him, Palutena.
She stood up slowly and moaned in irritation. "Oh, are you alright?" she asked as Kazuma stood up as well.
Kazuma nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. How 'bout you?"
Palutena nodded and looked around. "Uhm…what's going on here?"
"It's a long story," Rangiku answered.
Suddenly the area began rumbling as Palutena paled.
Kazuma looked past her and twitched an eyebrow. "Again?!"
Behind Palutena, seemingly pursuing her, was a vast cavalcade of giant vegetables with limbs, the middle of the odd collection of killer food being a massive beast made almost entirely of potatoes.
"What the hell is that?" Rangiku asked in bewilderment.
Kazuma raised a hand towards the charging line of vegetables. "I'm not sure but I'm not in the mood for this crap." A ball of red and black energy condensed in Kazuma's hand before surging and blasting forward, completely annihilating the charging group of monstrous ingredients as well as carving a long trench through a portion of the Seireitei.
"That was a little much…don'tcha think?" Lisanna asked weakly.
"I wanted to make sure there wasn't a single one left," Kazuma answered flatly. He then turned to Palutena. "So, you think you can explain what that was?"
Palutena laughed weakly.
Inside the massive white tower she was being held in, Erza looked out of one of the tall, thin windows in thought, seeing a massive spear on the edge of a cliff just within her view. She narrowed her eyes as she looked up towards the small portion of the sky she could see. 'I wonder…what was that light before? Because of the walls of this tower, I cannot sense the world outside…was that really Kazuma…?'
Ikkaku turned to Ichigo with a smirk. "You really are brazenly overconfident, aren't you?"
"Don't worry," Ichigo rebutted, "This time, it'll be you who has trouble holding onto your weapon."
"We'll see about that. I wonder where that bravado of yours is coming from!" Ikkaku snarled as he slung Hozukimaru at Ichigo, but he effortlessly blocked it with the longer sword in his left hand.
"Too easy," Ichigo remarked confidently.
Ikkaku smirked and then disappeared from Ichigo's view.
"What?!" Ichigo snarled. He turned and managed to just barely block an attack from Ikkaku that came from an entirely different direction. However, he was knocked off balance and almost fell as a result of his haphazard block. He then lunged forward and attacked Ikkaku, slamming his left blade at Ikkaku, catching it on the chain between two sections of Hozukimaru.
Ikkaku rejoined the two pieces, holding Ichigo's blade in place, and then used the free end section to attack.
Ichigo managed to evade the attack by swinging the blade in his right hand at it. Ichigo pulled his left sword free as Ikkaku reformed Hozukimaru into a full spear.
Ikkaku then proceeded to send a flurry of strikes at Ichigo, with each strike followed by a successive one with a section of Hozukimaru detaching to add another strike that Ichigo barely managed to dodge.
As Ichigo continued backing away from the onslaught, Ikkaku chortled, "What was that you said about me not being able to hold my weapon? I seem to be doing pretty damn well! So it'll be you unable to hold your weapons!"
At that moment, Hozukimaru wrapped around Ichigo's blades, pulling them close to each other, giving Ikkaku the opportunity to pull Ichigo to ground and kick him in the face.
Hozukimaru then reared down towards Ichigo.
Ichigo hissed as he pulled the shorter sword from Ikkaku's grasp and knocked the encroaching blade away.
Ikkaku backed up, shocked at Ichigo's movement.
"Hmph, guess that's what you get for calling me slow," Ichigo mocked.
"Except you are slow," Ikkaku rebutted, "that was just dumb luck."
"Alright then Baldy, let me show you something that isn't luck!"
Ikkaku then instantly jumped onto the nearby roof before Ichigo can do anything. "I told you that you were too slow!"
Ichigo then stuck his longer blade into the wall and slid it across in front of him, knocking the wall down and taking away Ikkaku's footing. He then jumped up at the off-kilter Ikkaku, but the latter jumped away too fast.
Ichigo then saw Hozukimaru soaring towards him, too fast and too close to evade. He barely managed to knock it away with his short, right blade, but still got caught on the side of the hand.
Ikkaku chuckled confidently as he swung the end segment of Hozukimaru above his head like a helicopter. "Heh, is that mouth of yours the only part that works? Because you should know that Hozukimaru's attacks can change in an instant and an amateur like you simply can't keep up.
Ichigo stood up with a smirk. "Not so fast. My eyes are finally used to seeing those attacks of yours."
"Huh?"
Ichigo then dropped a small piece of red cloth.
Ikkaku looked at the end of Hozukimaru in shock and then to Ichigo in frustration.
Rias and Akeno looked around the area they were walking in when they heard the sound of footsteps approaching.
"Get ready Akeno," Rias ordered as red energy started collecting in her hands.
Akeno nodded as electricity started sparking at her fingertips.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" a new voice asked as a figure walked around the corner.
Rias raised an eyebrow as a tall man with long, mid-back length grey hair that was pulled back in a long ponytail and brown eyes with significant wrinkles around them, along with a thin beard and mustache wearing a pair of thin, black-framed glasses, and a Soul Reaper Lieutenant uniform walked around the corner.
Rias saw the badge on his shoulder and narrowed her eyes. "He's a Lieutenant, this isn't good."
The man laughed lightly. "Yes. I am Rowen Ilbert, Lieutenant of Squad One of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads." He adjusted his glasses with a smirk. "I did not expect the invading Ryoka to be such beautiful young women."
Rias smirked lightly in response. "Your flattery is appreciated but unneeded. We have no intention of simply leaving or letting you take us down."
"Oh, you misunderstand me. I could never harm such pretty faces. On the contrary, I'd like to invite you for some tea," Rowen responded with a bow.
Rias and Akeno looked at him bewildered and then to each other.
In another area of the Seireitei, Kenpachi charged through the streets with Yachiru on his shoulder.
Kenpachi groaned in irritation. "This is getting boring. I've been running for a long time and I haven't seen anyone yet."
"Don't you worry Kenny," Yachiru reassured, "My instincts are really sharp! Take a right up here!"
Kenpachi nodded and turned but stopped and frowned in irritation. "You idiot, this is a dead end."
"Oops, my bad. Okay, turn back and go the other way!"
Kenpachi groaned and did so. "I wonder if I can really trust those instincts of yours."
Kazuma sighed as he scratched his head. "Okay, so you're telling me you're here to meet up with the head Captain of the Seireitei and you were making food for everyone. And then when you added some kind of spice the food came alive?"
Palutena nodded in agreement with tears streaming from her eyes like waterfalls. "Yes. I really enjoy cooking but it always seems to go bad."
'Geez, she sounds as bad as Luna.' Kazuma then folded his arms.
"Although, I do have a question for you now."
Kazuma raised an eyebrow.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Palutena asked bluntly.
"Huh?"
"I may not know every aspect of the universe, but I know this much, you're a Campione. So I have to wonder, what's a Campione doing in the Seireitei?"
Kazuma narrowed his eyes in annoyance.
And that is that. Hopefully you guys enjoyed it. If you did I hope that you post a review, if you did not I hope you go spend your time productively doing something you actually enjoy, and if you were confused by anything leave a review and I will be sure to answer your questions (unless of course what you are confused about was done to purposefully befuddle you). With that said, I will leave you until the next chapter.