• • •
"ISHIDA!"
Said Quincy blinked, jumping a bit in surprise as Ichigo yelled his name. He lowered his bow, turning to glance at our advancing forms.
Ishida almost face faulted.
Of course, I couldn't really blame him.
As Ichigo and I ran to find the Quincy, we had kind of had a nice collection of Hollows following us. We didn't want to stop and fight them until we found Ishida; if we did, it'd only slow us down. Besides, we didn't know what kind of shape Ishida was even in. He had to have been in pain from shooting off so many arrows; especially if his bloody fingers were any indication.
"Ahh~!" I exclaimed, eyes widening as the Hollows jumped in front of me and Ichigo, cutting us off from Ishida. My eyes narrowed in anger; didn't they know they were going to be sliced in half?
Ichigo and I both withdrew our Zanpakuto, blindly slashing at the numerous Hollows that had appeared around us. It didn't take long until they all fell to the ground in a heap.
"ISHIDA!" Ichigo roared once more, climbing on top of a fallen Hollow before it began to disintegrate. "I heard about your 'reason for fighting!' Whether the Shinigami are right, or the Quincy are right, I don't know about that stuff and I don't plan on saying anything about it! But there is one thing I understand!" Ichigo exclaimed, dramatically raising a finger to point straight at said Quincy boy. "Ishida! Your way of doing things is-"
"Old news." Ishida interrupted.
"Huh?" Strawberry asked, blank look on his face. It was almost as if he didn't believe that Ishida would cut him off mid-rant.
"I'm not interested in the fall of the Quincy two-hundred years ago." Ishida spoke, pushing up his glasses. "I've only heard about that from my Sensei. To me, it's simply an old tale. Sorry, but I'm not the kind of overly sympathetic person who could use that reason to antagonize you Shinigami."
Ishida shot down a Hollow that was approaching him from behind. His eyes caught mine.
"As for the story of their fall, I felt that the Shinigami were probably right. Until my Sensei died right before my eyes. As the last remaining survivor of the Quincy, the Shinigami had Sensei under strict watch. However, Sensei kept appealing to those Shinigami about the necessity of the Quincy. He groped towards working together to fight." Ishida explained, still shooting arrows at the surrounding Hollows while Ichigo and I stood there and listened to the tale. "In peacetime, the Shinigami in Soul Society would be late in dealing with Hollows in this world. He said that it's important to have people like us in this world that can keep an eye out and deal with Hollows quickly. But Shinigami always gave him the same reply: 'Don't interfere with our work.' And then, Sensei died."
Sensei… I thought, frowning.
By Sensei…did he mean Grandfather?
Ishida couldn't mean Grandfather. Grandfather was the one who disowned my own Mother for marrying a Shinigami. Why would he try to appeal to the Shinigami? It just didn't make sense. It couldn't be the same man. Was it his father, then?
"His enemies on that day were five huge Hollows. Without Shinigami to protect him, it was obvious that he couldn't fight them. And, as expected, the Shinigami were late in handling it. When they came to defeat the Hollows, it was two hours after Sensei began fighting. One hour had passed since Sensei's death."
The Shinigami were that late?
For what reason? That wasn't normal. Usually Shinigami responded in a timely manner. At least, that's what I had been told.
"In the end, Sensei's ideals never reached the Shinigami. If Shinigami had acknowledged Sensei's opinion, if they acknowledged the strength of the Quincy, they would have acted faster to come save him." Ishida clutched his fist at his side, "It could have ended without Sensei's death. Do you understand, Kurosaki Ichigo? In front of you, a Shinigami, I must prove the strength of the Quincy!"
"What about Jun, then?" Ichigo questioned, a startled look on his face. "She's a Shinigami, too. Why did you target me?"
"Kokawa Junko is my cousin. We share the same blood. Quincy blood runs throughout her veins." Ishida explained, glasses flashing in my direction. "How she managed to become a Shinigami, I do not know. Kokawa has ties with the Quincy; you, Kurosaki Ichigo, do not."
I sighed, shaking my head.
I got the feeling that it wasn't just because of that; it was probably because I was a female, while Ishida was male. Judging from his personality, Ishida seemed like the type that wouldn't fight a female if his life depended on it.
"In this fight, I do not wish for either of your help." Ishida said, turning away from us as he surveyed the remaining Hollow around us. "You and I are Shinigami and Quincy. And something in-between. I know that our views are polar opposite. If you think my views are wrong, you are welcome to watch from here. I will simply prove my strength."
"…You…" Ichigo seethed, teeth grinding together. "Your story is too long!"
Running towards the Quincy, Ichigo swiftly landed a nice kick to the back of his head. I laughed as Ishida's head rammed into a nearby Hollow, leaving both of them clutching their heads.
"Wha… W-W-What are you doing!?" Ishida questioned, looking at Ichigo like he had grown a second head.
"Shut up!" Ichigo yelled, kicking the Quincy once more. "It doesn't make any sense! Your story was so long that I forgot the first half! But in fact, your Sensei's greatest wish… It wasn't about the Shinigami acknowledging the strength of the Quincy! It was about working along with the Shinigami, wasn't it!?" Ichigo asked, clutching Ishida by his collar so that they were eye to eye. "So if you won't do that now, when will you!? Shinigami and Quincy are exact opposites! That's just fine! In a fight against a large number of enemies… the best way to go about it is back to back!"
Ichigo let go of Ishida, walking past him to that he was facing the other direction. I sighed, shaking my head. Did they both have to be so dramatic?
"Do you mean form a united front?" Ishida asked, "Quincy and Shinigami?!"
"Would there be any other meaning?" Ichigo asked, rolling his eyes.
"Don't say such nonsense. For a Shinigami and Quincy to work together is-"
"You're still talking about that?!" Ichigo asked, grabbing Ishida's shoulder as he sent a glare towards the Quincy.
The strawberry's cinnamon eyes narrowed as he shoved Ishida down, swiping at a Hollow that had planned a sneak attack on the two of them. A second Hollow appeared behind Ichigo, causing Ishida to summon his bow back and shoot it with an arrow.
"That's right!" Ichigo said, a smirk tugging on his lips.
I rolled my eyes, flash stepping in front of the two as yet another Hollow tried to attack the pair. Swinging down Ankoku-Tatsu with much more force than necessary, I easily split the head in two. "Idiots…"
"You finally joining us then, Jun?" Ichigo asked, shooting his smirk in my direction.
"Don't misunderstand, Kurosaki Ichigo." Ishida spoke up, "If I hadn't shot that Hollow, I would have been killed! It's not like I'm cooperating with the two of you."
"That's good enough!" Ichigo exclaimed, cinnamon eyes scanning the area once more.
"…What…?!" Ishida asked, confused by Ichigo's words. Obviously, he didn't know Ichigo as well as he thought it did. If he did know Ichigo as well as I did, he'd know that he should always expect the unexpected. Ichigo always managed to surprise me.
"It's do or die. But, it's hard to do alone. So we have no choice! We'll all work together!" Ichigo explained. "That should be good enough as a reason to work together..!"
"Even if it is for just this once," I nodded, smirking as well.
Ichigo nodded, shooting me another glimpse of his smirk. Then he turned his gaze towards Ishida, "…I'm originally a human. Honestly, I don't know much about Shinigami. I don't really hold much pride for this job, either. It's just that I want to defeat Hollows, that's all."
"Why?" Ishida asked, looking over his shoulder at Ichigo who had looked away once more.
"My Mother was killed by a Hollow." Ichigo explained, shocking even myself. Did he really just speak of that so freely? "Do I want to defeat Hollows for that reason? If you ask that, it's obviously correct. But it's not just that. What's it called? I…don't want to make more of my kind. Mom was killed by a Hollow, my Dad and sisters went through hard times. I don't think we need that anymore."
Ichigo sliced though a Hollow.
"I don't want to see that anymore. That's what I think." Ichigo stood up straight once more, hand tightening on the hilt of his Zanpakuto. "I'm not Superman, so I can't say anything big like I'll protect everyone on Earth. I'm not a modest guy who will say it's enough if I can protect as many people as my two hands can handle either. I want to protect…a mountain load of people."
Ichigo's eyes darted to my face for a second, before landing on Ishida as his normal scowl returned to his face.
"Ishida, no matter what kind of reason you've got, your approach to this fight is a way which gets that mountain load of people caught up in it. Quit screwing around. I won't forgive you. But this isn't the time to talk about that. There's a lot of the enemy, y'know. It's do or die. I've got no choice! I don't want to partner with you either, but I will! I'll leave punching you for later! How about you?"
Ishida aimed at a Hollow behind Ichigo, firing an arrow. However, it was much too close for my comfort; the arrow grazed Ichigo's cheek and managed to cut him a bit.
"Geeze… Your story is rather long, too. But I understand completely. In brief, if either of us do not survive here… it means we'll lose the one we're going to beat up!"
"Fantastic!" The strawberry exclaimed, smirking once more. "I'll make you cry afterwards!"
"By all means." Ishida said, pulling back his bow once more, "If you survive, that is!"
"What about you, Jun?" Ichigo called over his shoulder; the strawberry had realized that I'd been quiet for way too long.
Shrugging my shoulders, I sighed. I exchanged glances between the strawberry and the archer before rolling my eyes.
"Do I really have to tell a drawn out story like the two of you?" I asked, scoffing and crossing my arms. "You both know about me; I don't see the need to verbally express my alliance. However, I will say that I'll fight with anyone willing to work together. I value teamwork above everything else."
"Che," Ichigo scoffed, rolling his cinnamon eyes. "You always make drawn out stories."
"Do not!" I argued back, glaring at the berry head.
"Do too."
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Guys! Shut up!" Ishida exclaimed, glaring at both of us. "If you'd be quiet you'd notice that there's something strange with the Hollows!"
"Huh? Strange?" Ichigo questioned, "What do you mean, Ishida?"
"They're all looking up at the sky… It's as if they're praying to something." Ishida mused, as we glanced around at the Hollows around us.
Indeed, they were all gazing up at the sky. And the ones with arms had those extended towards it, as well. I had never seen anything like this before, so I was just as puzzled as the others.
CRACK~!
Oooh, cracking cannot be good.
I glanced up towards the sky, wincing as I saw the sky begin to crack. I gasped in horror as fingers ripped through the crack, prying it open.
Long, bony hands forced the large fissure to open further. Its long nails allowed it to pierce through to our world. A huge white mask stared down at us all; or more specifically, at the Hollows around us. Its beady eyes shown down at us, shining past its long and pointed nose.
"Wha… What is that!?" Ichigo asked, looking up at the creature. "It… It's enormous! That's a Hollow, too?!"
"H…How would I know?!" Ishida cried out in surprise, eyes wide.
Both men turned their attention towards me, silently asking if I knew what it was. However, I was too busy staring up at the sky with a horrified look on my face to notice them.
"Jun..?" Ichigo questioned, looking at me.
Still, I gave no response.
"Jun?"
Again, no response.
"Jun!"
This time, the strawberry grabbed a hold of my shoulders and vigorously shook me. I blinked once more, tearing my eyes away from the huge Hollow as I glared at the carrot top in front of me.
"What was that for, you jerk?!" I bellowed, raising my hands up to his shoulders as I shook him back. "That doesn't feel too great now, does it?!"
"Well, I wouldn't have shook you if you would have just answered my question!"
"What question was that?"
Both men both looked at me with incredulous expressions.
"What?" I snapped, placing my hands on my hips. "I was just in shock from seeing this thing! I've only read about Menos Grande from textbooks; I haven't seen one of those things before!"
"Now that we know what it's called, what do we do!?" Ishida asked, "We can't fight that thing while also taking on the Hollows surrounding us!"
"Shut up!" Ichigo yelled, shaking his head. "In any case, that's all we can do!"
"What's up with that?!" Ishida argued, "You were the one who said earlier to think of a strategy!"
"It's surprising how long you hold a grudge! That was then, this is now!"
"We don't have time to worry about that!"
Man, talk about fighting like an old married couple.
"Guys, they're coming!" I said, readying Ankoku-Tatsu as the Hollows around us began to lurch forward.
Ichigo cursed, albeit he readied his Zanpakuto as well. Although it was unnecessary; something else had taken down the Hollow. Something that was like a mix between a cannon and a machine gun shot down the Hollow. I only knew one person who wielded a weapon like that.
"Ururu..?" I questioned, turning around until I caught sight of the small dark haired girl.
"H-Hello." Ururu stuttered, lightly bowing as best as she could as she held onto her smoking weapon.
"Kurosaki-San~! We've come to the rescue!" Urahara chimed in, placing a hand on Ururu's head as he smiled at us all.
"You're… Jun's teacher, the Geta-Boshi guy?!" Ichigo questioned, looking at Urahara with wide eyes.
"Urahara?" I questioned, watching as he dispatched his group to fend of the Hollows.
Jinta smashed them with his strange looking baseball bat.
Ururu continued to shoot them with her strange gun…thing.
Tessai managed to use brute strength to smash their heads in.
All in all, it was quite a sight to see.
"So…strong!" Ishida muttered, watching the destruction take place. "The amount of Hollows is quickly decreasing..!"
"Geta-Boshi..? Why are you here?" Ichigo asked, still not calling Urahara by his name. "Why do you show up wherever I go…?!"
"I told you just now. 'We've come to the rescue~!' I said." Urahara mused, fanning himself as he stood in the middle of the destruction. "We'll take on the surrounding small fry. In order for you, Kurosaki-San, to concentrate on fighting that one. Look. This isn't time for idle chit-chat."
Urahara pointed towards the Menos, making all of us gaze at it in wonder.
"It's…It's coming out!" Ichigo exclaimed, watching in horror as it began to force its way through into our world.
At his words, the Hollows around us jumped into the air. However, they weren't trying to attack us or evade our attacks; they were headed towards the Menos!
A creaking sound reverberated through the air as the Menos unhinged its jaw. In a flash, its tongue darted out and pierced though all of the Hollows in the air. Reeling in its catch, the Menos crunched down on all of the remaining Hollows; blood spurt out from its mouth, as well as a few spare arms and legs.
"Wha…" Ishida stuttered, eyes wide. "It's eating… its fellow Hollows!"
Ichigo began to laugh, causing me to look over at the strawberry with worry. That was a mistake on my part.
I lowered my guard.
I didn't feel Urahara sneak up.
I certainly didn't expect him to place such a high level binding spell on me, either. Before I could cripple to the ground, Urahara caught me in his arms. He smiled down at me, flash stepping us in front of Rukia.
I wanted to warn her, to tell her to immediately run and help Ichigo, but I couldn't utter a single syllable. It took her too long to realize that I was captured in a binding spell; he soon placed her under one as well.
"Please watch quietly. This battle is a crucial battle." Urahara explained, placing me down on the ground beside Rukia. I could only stare at her from the corner of my eyes. "As crucial to you, Kuchiki-San, as it will be for him."
I wanted to scream so badly. I wanted to beat Urahara to a bloody pulp; even if that was almost impossible. Even if I hadn't been placed under his binding spell, I still wouldn't come close to injuring him.
Urahara was on a completely different level.
Needless to say, I was forced to sit and watch Ichigo battle the Menos. My eyes were trained straight ahead; I couldn't blink or move them. It was useless to even try.
I watched as Ichigo carelessly ran in and tried to cut the Menos' leg. He was sent flying back, cracking open his head.
I watched as Ishida put his hand on Ichigo's Zanpakuto and his bow grew at least ten times bigger.
I wanted to laugh when Ishida had somehow convinced Ichigo to tie his Zanpakuto to his head; only to want to scream in frustration as Ichigo ripped his Zanpakuto back and ran towards the Menos Grande by himself.
By himself!
I wanted to cry out in desperation as I felt the Menos Grande's reiatsu spike; cero! I wanted to scream out to him to run, but I couldn't. There was no way that Ichigo could survive a head on cero attack… So why was he still running straight towards the Menos?!
It was just pure luck that he managed to repel the cero. Right? It was just luck that Ichigo's reiatsu managed to spike so he could counter the attack. It was just luck that allowed him to wound a Menos Grande.
After all, even Taicho's had trouble dispelling Menos Grande.
Rukia and I couldn't even brace ourselves as the wind picked up from Ichigo's attack. We both watched in amazement as the Menos retreated.
Everything seemed fine; the Menos retreated and the sky began trying to repair from the cracks. I could feel my muscles wanting to relax in relief, but they were bound in their position.
Ichigo fell. His reiatsu spiked and became unstable.
I felt like I couldn't breathe. I swore my heart was about to pound out of my chest. This wasn't funny..! Urahara! He needs to do something! …Anything!
Ishida stepped up, rapidly firing off arrows. After a while, it seemed as if it was actually working. I could feel the unstable reiatsu diminish; however, it wasn't without its consequences. Ishida's arms were being battered by the reiatsu, seeming to rip away his flesh on his arms. Luckily, he managed to stabilize Ichigo's reiatsu.
I felt the binding spell dissipate. Why now?
"The Hollow appeared…then got defeated…" Rukia muttered, still seated on the ground next to me. "This news… It must already be at Soul Society… Ichigo…"
"C'mon, let's follow them!" Tessai ordered, as he ran off. Ururu and Jinta followed him.
"I'll leave that crack in the sky for you to fix!" Urahara called to Tessai.
"No problem!" The giant called over his shoulder, running straight towards Ichigo and Ishida.
We had to be on guard.
Soul Society would know about this soon.
We were in trouble.
"Junko," Urahara spoke, catching my attention as Rukia and I began to run towards Ichigo and Ishida. "Please stop by the shoten later on tonight."
"Is there any particular reason why I should stop by?" I asked, stopping and looking at Urahara from across my shoulder.
Urahara hid his face behind his fan, causing me to roll my eyes.
"You'll see then, Jun-Kun~!"
"Yeah, yeah." I nodded, waving as I took off.
It was suspicious, but Urahara himself is suspicious.
Urahara has never given me a reason to doubt him. I trust him with my life. So, I guess this would be no different.
Shrugging to myself as I cast of my suspicions, I grinned as I ran to the group of people waiting for me.