• • •
"Jun..! It's a trap! Get out of there!"
Rukia's warning came a spit second too late.
I focused some of my reiatsu to my feet and tried to flash step out of the way, but I still managed to come into contact with the ball of leeches. They clamped onto my left arm and I lost my focus and began to fall through the air as I tried tugging on the leeches.
Luckily, Chad managed to dive and catch me before I hit the street.
"Wha…What happened..?" He asked, full of concern as he saw me tugging at invisible air and wincing a bit.
"Um, sorry. I was just taken by surprise." I spoke and then winced. "Damn it..! These…leeches! Come off, you!"
Rukia ran over to my side, kneeling down next to me. She also began trying to tug on the leeches, eyebrows furrowing when she found that they wouldn't come off no matter how much we tugged.
"Heh, heh, heh!" The Hollow laughed, landing on the street once more. "That's right! Those are leeches! Once they're sucking onto you, they're hard to get off! Besides, they're just not ordinary leeches..! Those are my…targets!"
The Hollow stuck its tongue out, which looked like the two horns on top of a beetle's head. A high pitched whistle sounded throughout the area, causing me to wince. I'd always had sensitive ears; I could usually hear small sounds that other people had to strain to hear. I covered my ears with my hands, only to be shocked as I heard an explosion and felt a wave of searing pain throughout my left arm. I fell back, shocked by the pain from the explosion.
"Transfer student Kokawa..!" Chad's voice was faster; his speech wasn't as slow as it usually was. "Wha…What happened..?"
"Ehehe, surprised little Shinigami's?" The Hollow asked, laughing. "Those leeches are miniature bombs! They explode only in reaction to the sound from my tongue! It was careless to think that flying was my only ability! Geez, you Shinigami's..! Ehehe!"
"Ku…" I grunted as my right hand gripped onto my left arm to try and staunch the bleeding as Chad stood up and faced the Hollow. "…Chad..!"
"You're back, big guy! For you, how about this…?" The Hollow asked as one of his minions came from behind his back, carrying the parakeet's birdcage..!
"Shibata's birdcage..?" Chad asked as he saw the birdcage seem to move on its own. "Why is it here?"
"…Sorry, Mister…" The spirit of Shibata Yuuichi, which resided inside of parakeet the birdcage, replied. "I've been captured."
Chad's eyes widened as he stiffened.
"Looks like you understand! Ehehe! Pretty smart, big guy!" The Hollow laughed, stroking one of its minions as it roared with laughter. "Well! Next is your turn to be smart, Shinigami! Run around, so I can have fun hunting down the two of you..!"
I glared, wincing as I forced myself to stand up. "Don't move from here, Chad! He intends to blow up Shibata's birdcage immediately; if you take a single step..!"
"But, transfer students…" Chad spoke as he turned to look at me and Rukia. Rukia was helping me stand up, supporting my weaker side. "Kokawa, you…"
"Heh, you don't have to worry about me." I smirked. "Rukia and I promised that we wouldn't mess up..!"
Rukia and I met each other's gaze, nodding. We then took off running, hoping that the Hollow would be true to its word and chase us instead of going after Chad and the parakeet.
As we ran, the Hollows minions easily caught up to us. Rukia and I dodged the leeches that it spit out, continuing to run. However, Rukia wasn't as quick as I was, and her right side got covered.
"There, you're covered!"
I gasped, covering my ears from the high pitched whistling noise again. I watched as Rukia's right arm was injured, blood spewing out.
"Rukia..!" I yelled, running to her side. We started running again, although this time I was literally dragging her behind me.
Still, even more leeches were spit out at us. I couldn't take it anymore.
"Rukia, it's time to Shinigami me." I stated, looking back to meet her violet gaze. "Chad is no longer around and it's just us. Shinigami me, take my body, and go heal yourself."
"Jun, I can't! I have to prove that I can do this..!"
"Rukia! Don't be stupid!" I roared, narrowing my eyes until they looked like two ice cold slits. "You are in no condition to fight any further. What are you trying to prove? I know that you're a great Shinigami. You just need to wait a bit longer until more of your power returns."
Rukia sighed, looking down at the trail of blood that she was leaving behind her. She blinked before meeting my gaze. "Alright. I understand."
In a swift motion, the red glove was tugged onto her good hand. With a nicely aimed shove, Rukia pushed against my back and I felt my spirit leave my body. She caught my body before it hit the ground and I stepped behind her and blocked her from the Hollow. Rukia met my gaze, nodding once more and running off.
"Ah… So, you've finally left that pathetic human shell! Ehehe, things are finally about to become interesting..!"
I withdrew Ankoku-Tatsu and took off running once more.
The creatures continued to try and spit those leeches at me, but I was easily able to dodge them with my flash steps. The Hollow couldn't even keep track of my movements.
"Hey, hey, hey! Where are you trying to go?! You don't have to run off. It's okay to retaliate! Little Shinigami!"
I came to a stop, finally sensing Kurosaki's reiatsu close by.
"Huh? What, you're giving up? How boring. It's a rare opportunity to chase around a Shinigami."
"I'm not giving up." I said, with my back still facing the Hollow. My grip on Ankoku-Tatsu tightened. "There's just no need to run away anymore."
"Ah, what'd you say?"
"You that that it would be alright if I retaliate, right?" I asked, angling my head so that I was glaring at the Hollow. "In that case, I'll take your advice!"
"What do you-" The Hollow asked only to be cut off by a kick from behind his head, "mean?!"
"Right, Kurosaki?" I asked, spotting the strawberry. He had his hands in his pockets, his foot still on top of the Hollows head.
"What's with this 'Right, Kurosaki?' crap?!" Kurosaki asked. "Don't try to be cool when you're all beaten up! Didn't you say you wouldn't mess up and cause me to worry?!"
"Idiot," I breathed out, smirking. "Only someone who's at least a little worried would say something like that..!"
"Heh, that's true too."
"Ugh..! How long are you gonna stand on my head?!" The Hollow bellowed. Kurosaki looked down at it, before jumping off and landing in front of the Hollow.
"Kurosaki Ichigo, age fifteen! Presently, the Substitute Shinigami for Kuchiki Rukia!" Kurosaki stated, as he tilted his head to stare at the Hollow. "And if you wanna chase around a Shinigami, shouldn't you pick on ones that are your own size?"
"What'd you say, Kurosaki?!" I yelled, seething. I was sensitive about my height; he had no right to say something like that!
"I'm only stating the facts. You are kinda short." Kurosaki stated, smirking.
My left eye began twitching as I growled.
"Damn," The Hollow seethed. "I made a mistake. When all of you split up earlier… I should have targeted you from the beginning!"
I quickly shoved my hand down the front of my kimono top, causing Kurosaki's eyes to widen as he blushed. I withdrew a matching red glove just like Rukia's; Urahara told me that it'd come in handy. I shoved it on my hand, "Kurosaki! Quickly..!"
Using my flash step, I appeared right in front of him, causing his eyes to widen. I couldn't reach his forehead, which was the optimum spot to hit, so I settled for smacking him dead center in the chest. His spirit tumbled out of his body, which I caught when it went limp.
The Hollow tried shooting leeches at us during that moment, which we both saw. I flash stepped and landed on top of a nearby fence post, while Kurosaki had jumped into the air.
After all of the leeches settled, the Hollow didn't see any of us nearby. However, it was right then that Kurosaki landed on top of the Hollows head once more.
"You're slow."
Before the Hollow could even look back, Kurosaki had sliced down the Hollows arm, causing it to laugh out in its own pain.
"Heh, heh, heh! So the Shinigami's true form has revealed itself!" As the Hollow spoke, I quickly ran off to hide Kurosaki's body somewhere where it would be safe. I stashed it in an alley way, away from all of the fighting. Still using Shunpo, I appeared next to Kurosaki, only to find that he was surrounded by the Hollows minions.
"On my way here, those small things were carrying Chad's birdcage… So they were this guy's friends. It's a good thing I took care of them." Kurosaki stated as his grip on his Zanpakuto tightened.
"Be careful," I warned him, as I withdrew my Zanpakuto again. "Those leeches that the small things spit out are bombs."
"Bombs… I see. So that's what made Chad stop like that." Kurosaki spoke, as if it all made sense. His cinnamon brown eyes traveled from my face to my injured arm. "And that's also the reason why you're running around by yourself and your wounds. I guess that Rukia got hit, too?"
"Yeah, but she wasn't hurt as badly. She was in pain because she was stuck in that gigai and she couldn't handle it. I managed to convince her to run off somewhere and heal her wounds." I explained the situation this far. "Chad had shown up, so it wasn't smart for Rukia to Shinigami me until we got away from him. So not that much has happened."
"Damn… You made Karin cry, took hostages, attacked a woman without any powers without hesitation, and injured another Substitute Shinigami…" Kurosaki spoke, glaring at the Hollow. "You're a complete bastard, huh?"
"Well, yeah." The Hollow replied. "But it's going to be this bastard that will eat you!"
The Hollow sent his minions towards us.
My eyes narrowed as I instantly slashed through the ones that it sent towards me. Kurosaki had done the same and we were both surrounded by the split halves of the Hollow and leeches from their insides.
"Ehehe, you both move really well..!" The Hollow complimented our speed, as we ran around and sliced up his lackeys. "If the leeches are bombs, then you'll just cut the creatures before they spit, eh? But it seems you've both misunderstood one thing..! From the cuts, the leeches are still spilling out… It doesn't change the fact that they are still bombs!"
Sticking its tongue out once more, the horrible high pitched whistling noise occurred again. Wincing, I covered my ears, still holding onto my Zanpakuto. All around us the leeches exploded, triggering a massive single explosion.
I felt hands wrap around my waist as I was pulled under someone's arms. I couldn't see through the smoke, it was thick and obscured my vision. Just then, the person jumped through the smoke. We were soaring through the sky and I began coughing and taking in clean air.
In a flash, Kurosaki had set me back on my feet and had his Zanpakuto at the base of the Hollows mask. "There's one thing I want to ask you. The one who killed the parents of the boy inside the parakeet… Was that you?!"
"Wha…what are you talking about?" I mumbled to myself, eyes wide.
"Boy, what did you just say?" Rukia's voice asked, causing me to snap my attention towards the sound. She was standing on the sidelines, right beside the parakeet and Chad.
"I said, everything is my fault… Because of me that everyone got hurt…" Shibata spoke, sadly looking down.
"Shibata…" Chad murmured, looking down at the parakeet.
"It's because I wanted to bring my Mommy back to life… I'm sorry…. I'm sorry..! I want to bring my Mommy back to life, but… But I…" Shibata spoke, trailing off only to be interrupted.
"Wait." Rukia interrupted, gaining the parakeet's attention. "Bring your mother back to life? Who…told you that? Did someone tell you that there was a way?!"
"That's right." The Hollow spoke up, gaining everyone's attention once more. "I was the one who killed that brat's mother! It was four or five years ago, back when I was still alive. At that time, I was a so called serial killer. I roamed to various places and killed seven or eight people. There was quite a racket about me on TV… I was famous..!" The Hollow spoke, its voice soaked in pride. "That brat's mother was my last one! It sure was fun. No matter how many times I stabbed her, she kept on running. She was trying to protect that brat. It was fantastic! This was the best part of killing! I savored it!"
"Bastard..!" Kurosaki grunted, his knuckles beginning to turn white from his tight grip on his Zanpakuto's hilt.
"But then it went bad… I followed her out to the veranda to give her the final stab. It was then that the brat grabbed my shoelaces! Because of that, I lost my balance! What a shame! I killed the parent, but I didn't get to kill the brat… Above all, it was that brat's fault that I died!" The Hollow bellowed, before calming down again. "So, I decided to play a game to punish the damn brat! I took the damn brat's soul, and forced him inside a parakeet in a cage, and gave him a mission! He has to run away from me in my current form for three months! If he does that, I'll return his mom to life!"
"Return to life..?" Kurosaki asked, eyes wide. "You can do…?"
"Moron! Of course I can't! I was giving him lip-service so that he'd go along with it! But it was completely effective! The highlight of this punishment game was that I, of course, killed the humans trying to protect him one after the other… Every time I killed one of them, that brat would whine about it! 'Stop already! I don't like this! Don't kill anymore!' But, that's when I'd say this! 'Your mom is waiting to be rescued!' It's fun, you know?! With that line alone, that brat would soon perk up! He'd wail 'Mommy! Mommy!'" Kurosaki's grip tightened even further, gaining the Hollows attention. "Don't be so disturbed, Shinigami! Your stance is unguarded!"
The Hollow grabbed onto Kurosaki's large Zanpakuto and threw one of his minions right at him because his guard was down. He caught one, which then burst into leeches with the impact.
"See?! They hit you! This time it's over! Ehehe!" The Hollow laughed, sticking out its tongue once more. However, Kurosaki had crashed his fist through the Hollow's mouth.
"Hey, I'm returning these bombs..!" He darkly spoke. Shivers were sent down my spine as I stood there helplessly.
"Ah," The Hollow moaned, not too sure what to do.
"What..? You'd set off the bombs with that tongue, right? Let's hear you make that high pitched sound with that tongue!" Kurosaki baited the Hollow, his voice still dark and taunting. "You won't do it, huh? So then I'll just take your tongue!"
I gasped, watching as Kurosaki literally ripped the Hollows tongue from its own mouth.
The Hollow was cursing Kurosaki for ripping out its tongue, but it was a bit more difficult to understand because it now had a huge lisp. It flew towards Kurosaki, about to attack him.
Flash stepping towards him, I pinned down one of its legs. I smirked as I heard it scream out in horror.
"Leg… The leg is… My leg!" The Hollow cried out in horror, causing Kurosaki to smirk.
"Thanks to Jun, now you can't move. Now that I have your tongue, you can't use your weapon to fight. How's that feel?" Kurosaki asked, his eyes literally smoldering. "Can you savor it a little?! How's it like to be one of the murdered?!"
Growling, the Hollow used its claw to chop off its own leg. It flew up into the air, trying to escape. I withdrew Ankoku-Tatsu from its flesh, watching as Kurosaki jumped up into the air to hunt the Hollow down.
"That's right… You're scared, right?" Kurosaki asked. "So much that you'd rip off your own leg just to escape..! Never forget that terror! Hammer it into your mind and disappear!"
Kurosaki brought back his Zanpakuto and released a slash straight across the Hollows mask. However, instead of just decaying like they usually do, something different happened.
Behind the Hollow appeared a huge gate. On each door was the torso of a skeleton, which seemed to be leaning out towards us. Around the skull were binding wraps, with spell tags handing off of their arms. Chains interweaved through their ribs, keeping them stuck to the two huge doors.
"Wha…What in the world is that?!" Kurosaki asked, looking back at me and Rukia.
"It's Hell." Rukia answered as she pushed her flying hair back behind her ear as she walked over towards us to begin her explanation. "I told you that the Zanpakuto cleanses sin with a slash and that's how Hollows go to Soul Society. But not every Hollow is able to go to Soul Society. This is because the Zanpakuto can cleanse only the sins committed after the spirit has become a Hollow! Hollows who have committed terrible sins during life are doomed to be yielded up unto Hell's lot."
Kurosaki and I were distracted from Rukia's speech by the sounds of chains stretching and breaking open.
"Look there! The gates of Hell are opening!" Rukia commanded, as we watched the skeleton's slowly move their bony phalanges into the opening of the doors. Their bones clenched and they forced the door open.
A huge gust of wind aided in pushing the doors open. My hair and Shihakusho sleeves were wildly flapping in the wind, so I had to bring my injured arm up to cover my face from the harsh gales. Looking up from behind my arm, I saw the Hollow impaled with a huge axe, as its screams of pain echoed around the entire area, quite possibly the entire town. Twisted laughter came from deep within the gates and I felt like I couldn't breathe anymore. I felt the color drain from my face.
The gates slowly creaked closed, then vanished in black wisps.
"He's fallen into Hell, huh?" Kurosaki asked, still staring into the space where the Hollow had vanished.
"Yes," Rukia nodded. "Well, you and Jun handled that better than I thought you two would. Although, Jun, you look a little bit pale."
"Are you serious?! That was terrifying! I don't think I've ever seen something that scary in my entire life!" I spoke, my eyes still wide.
"You mean you'd never seen that before?" Kurosaki asked.
"No, I've never sent a Hollow to Hell." I murmured, crossing my arms over my chest as I shivered. "And I wouldn't like to see that ever again."
"Who knew that Jun was afraid of skeletons..?" Rukia teased, lightly laughing.
I could feel my face heating up; I was embarrassed. "S-Shut up! It's perfectly natural to be afraid of something!" I angrily crossed my arms, only to wince once I felt the wound on my left arm reopen.
"Oops, I'm sorry! I forgot to heal your wound!" Rukia spoke, instantly coming over to my side and performing the Kido spell.
"What? You can't heal it yourself? I thought that you were good at stuff like that, Jun?" Kurosaki asked, looking confused.
"I am. It's just… I find it difficult to heal myself. I don't know why, but I've never been able to do it." I explained, now rotating my freshly healed shoulder and saying a quick thanks to Rukia. "Now let's go and check out that parakeet."
• • •
"How is it?" Kurosaki asked, lightly leaning over Rukia as she examined Shibata.
"It's a shame, but… The Chain of Fate was already disconnected. No traces of it are left. Too much time has passed. It's impossible to return to your body anymore."
"No way," Shibata murmured, looking as sad as a parakeet could.
"Shibata…" Chad murmured, feeling sorry for the parakeet that he had grown quite attached to throughout these few days.
"Ah, don't worry!" Rukia quickly spoke, pointing in the air with a finger. "Soul Society is a place where you have nothing to be afraid of…" However, Shibata didn't look too enthused with her words. So, she continued. "Such as never being hungry, your body feels light, and it's nine times out of ten better than this world!"
"Hm, you don't say…" Kurosaki muttered, still bent over Rukia.
"Besides, aren't you a freeloader here anyway?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow towards the violet eyed girl. Rukia looked shocked.
"…But, well, that might be so." Kurosaki continued, placing his hand to his chin in deep thought. "At least, if you go to the other world, you can see your Mom. It's not possible for her to return to life here but… if you were to go over there… This time, your mom really will be waiting for you!"
I blinked in surprise. Could Kurosaki really be this kind and thoughtful? This seemed like a new side of him; a side that I had never seen before..! Even Rukia looked surprised.
"Well, then…" Kurosaki said, putting his hand behind his back on the hilt of his Zanpakuto. "Shall we send your soul off now?"
"Y-Yeah..!" Shibata answered happily. However, he soon turned his feathered head towards Chad, who was leaning on a nearby wall. "Mister… Thank you… For everything!"
"Mm." Chad hummed in acknowledgement. "…It was nothing…"
"Because you carried me around, I didn't get hurt at all."
"Mm." Chad responded yet again, "…It was nothing…"
"Well, I should go now. Thank you very much." Shibata responded, then looking away as his soul became visible outside of the bird.
"Yuuichi… When I die and go over there… Is it alright if I carry you around one more time..?" Chad asked, looking at the boy's spirit. I didn't know if he could actually see him this time, but I liked thinking that he finally could.
"…Sure!" Shibata happily responded, cheekily grinning. I thought that I saw a few tears swell up in the corners of his eyes.
"Well, it's about time to go. You ready?" Kurosaki asked.
"Mhm!" Shibata happily hummed, seeming to pick up the trait from Chad himself.
I couldn't fight off the serene smile once I saw Kurosaki softly bring the hilt of his Zanpakuto to Shibata's forehead. My eyes followed the path of the jigokucho as it flew off into the sky.
"Stay safe… Yuuichi Shibata." I murmured, praying for the boy's soul.