The blades clashed in the dark of the night.
She was struggling against him. She already had a slash on her back for being careless, a stupid mistake really, she should have been more careful. It was painful and almost distracting if it were not for the adrenaline coursing through her.
Earlier, he had caught up to her almost too easily even when she ran like her life depended on it (it kinda did) to hide in the darkness. When he caught up, he was able to nick her on the cheek when she turned to check behind her.
Katsuko side stepped and avoided the blade, it was so close from slashing her side. He retracted his sword and swung it at her again. She blocked his blade at the last second and winced at the strength behind it. His strength was much more than what she faced so far.
This was the strength of a Lieutenant.
And she knew that this was only the surface of it since he didn't even use his Shikai on her.
She needed to adjust.
Hisagi narrowed his eyes and swung again. She backed off with a back step and then lunged, dodging another swing, swinging her blade at him fast. The blade slashed his bare left shoulder, nearly cutting off the arm band attached to it. The way she fought had hints of novicey, and yet, she still made it work.
She made another attempt to cut him but he brought his blade towards him and stopped hers. Her head was kept low to watch his blade, not his face. He still had yet to clearly see her face since she was always standing away from the moonlight. Even when he found her, she wasn't standing in the light. Her bangs didn't help, they created more darkness on her face.
"What is your objective here?" he might as well try and get some information for his side.
If she fought against him for too long then other Soul Reapers might come to check out the noise.
With an aggressive shout, she kicked his shin while she pretended to move away her blade, a risky move, causing him to falter a little since he wasn't expecting it. She couldn't spend so much time fighting against someone stronger than her. She swiveled around him to land a kick on his back, shoving him against the wall she was previously standing in front of.
Winning was a must, yes, but she was also aware that she needed to know how to pick her battles.
But escaping from him won't be an option for me!
Quickly, she darted around a corner, ignoring the shout from the Lieutenant.
"You're not getting away!"
Hisagi ran after her and was about to turn around the corner until he saw her waiting there for him, like a lion watching its prey. He gritted his teeth and backed away, but her blade was still able to make deep a cut across his chest, but not fatally, fortunately or unfortunately. Even he can't dodge an attack if he can't see it coming.
He leaped back and pointed his hand at her.
Katsuko's eyes widened when he recited a Kido spell that shot out a glowing yellow rope. Every single fiber of her being was screaming at her to use her Shikai now since she had yet to use it to avoid having her spiritual pressure detected and traced.
She called out her Zanpakuto while she ducked and dashed forward, narrowly avoiding the combat spell. She used her Zanpkuto's wind to push her forward, denting the floor when she pushed against it, increasing the speed to close to distance between them. When he touched the ground, she was already in front of him, she slammed her swords into his.
He winced at the impact, the force behind it was unexpected. The swords pushed against his and then suddenly stopped, making him slightly lurch, when she swiveled around to his side and swung her left blade which he blocked with a grunt. He shoved her sword upwards and swung at her which she narrowly avoided again by back stepping. Once her feet were both on the ground, she quickly ducked and closed in on him, cringing when she found an opening for her right side, then she thrusted her sword into his left side, piercing him.
Hisagi swung his sword down on her while she was still in position of thrusting. This time, he sliced the side of her left arm. It hurt. She created some distance by leaping back as he swung again. He chased after her and started attacking her again, swinging his blade without rest. He kept swinging at her so fast that she was having a hard time finding an opening, so instead of looking for one, she went ahead and attacked him to try create one.
It was hard.
Don't kill him.
She was about to cut him again until he harshly slammed his sword against hers to parry.
And most importantly, don't let him kill you!
With her two swords, she rapidly started slashing after him, forcing him on the defensive. Hisagi wasn't expecting her to come at him so aggressively, and with dual swords being a rarity, he had keep track of all her movements
Their swords collided several times.
Her shoulder and right arm got cut. She was bleeding more.
She shallowly cut him below his collarbones and his nicked his cheek.
Her twin swords shot up and formed an X to block his blade, he was adding more strength to push against her blades. It wasn't helping that he was much taller than her. Damn giant. With a grit of her teeth, she forcefully pushed his blade towards the right while keeping her right blade against it, creating an opening, it was reckless, but her opening was covered by the left blade that slashed his side.
He grunted and rammed his foot into her gut after destabilizing her when he shoved away her right arm, she was too slow to move out of the way and he sent her tumbling and rolling over backwards away from him. Clicking her tongue, she forced herself to stop rolling when her feet were flat on the ground, and then instantly pointed her left blade at him when she noticed him coming. Condensed wind formed at the tip before blasting towards him. He skidded to a stop and leaped to the side, avoiding it enough to only receive a graze on his wrist. A wall ended up with a nice big hole in the middle. He could sense how potentially dangerous that attack was from that small cut alone.
Katsuko's eyes watched him like a hawk when she saw him run to the side, dashing out of the smoke caused by the rubble. The wind blasted another hole into the wall. She stood back up on her feet and watched carefully.
All of a sudden, he appeared in front of her in a flash.
What?
She had no time to registered what had just happened.
He was already in the process of swinging at her.
A second ago he was several feet away and now he's—
With a startled cry, she used her wind to shove her away from him just in time to avoid him slashing her horizontally on her center. How the hell did he just appear in front of her like that?!
He disappeared again. Uneasiness spiked up inside of her as she felt a sinking feeling inside of her, warning her of the incoming danger. She was in danger; she knew that without a doubt because she couldn't keep track of her opponent!
She heard footsteps behind her. Rapidly, she spun around her heel and slashed with her left sword, throwing a giant wind slice at him in a desperate attempt to keep him away from her. He side stepped away from the attack, and when he landed it felt like time had slowed down a little, she watched him disappear and then reappear in front of her.
Her eyes widened in shock.
The lieutenant slashed downward across her and then slashed upward as the final blow, carving a V on her. Her eyes just stared down at the ground; the ground that was being painted in her own blood. How terrifying. In that instant, her hold on her swords weakened and her knees buckled under her own weight. All it took was two strikes and she was rendered utterly weak.
No! No! No!
How did it end up like this so fast?!
He saw her tighten her hold on her left sword so he knocked it away. Her body, no longer able to stand, fell while she still lightly held onto her right sword. She landed right on her wounds too, the pain was intense.
Damn it! He figured it out too!
Conjuring up wind as her weapon only worked with her left blade. Her right side never once produced even a single breeze when she trained back at Urahara's place no matter how hard she tried. Without the left blade, she couldn't even use her Zanpakuto's abilities.
"With those injuries, you're going to bleed to death." He said in a blasé manner. "You might as well just spill what your objective is."
She clenched her hand tightly and hid her face in the ground. What are my options here? I can't run away, I can't fight, and begging for my life won't work either!
Damn it!
I refuse to die here!
Hisagi frowned deeply and narrowed his eyes at her lack of response. After Abarai Renji fell at the hands of the Ryoka, the Head Captain called an emergency meeting and issued the order that all higher officials, including the Lieutenants, must have their Zanpakuto with them at all times to fight with everything they got against the intruders. If it weren't for that order, he would surely would have had rely mostly on Kido to stop her.
He pointed the tip of his blade at her head. Even if she couldn't see it, she knew it was right there. It made her stiffen, she didn't like this at all. With fear pounding in her ears, she slowly turned and raise her head to look up warily. At the same time, the clouds blocking the moonlight began to shine down on them enough for her face to be clearly seen for once, like as if it bringing to light a revelation.
Hisagi went rigid and his eyes grew wide.
"Wait, no… you're…"
It didn't make sense.
"Who are you really?!" he shouted.
Katsuko narrowed her eyes. "Huh?" what the hell was wrong with him?
"Alright, that's enough."
Her eyes widened, the masculine voice whispering in her ear made her stiffen. There was no one behind her, and even if there was then the Lieutenant should have noticed it. She felt a cold hand hold her right hand, it gripped hers tightly but not enough to cause her pain. It almost felt... reassuring. Then, the presence faded and she felt a spark run throughout her arm. In a beat, chaotic lightning shot out from her right Zanpakuto, lightning up the area in flashes of light.
"What the—?!" Hisagi held up his Zanpakuto to protect himself, but he found himself getting blown away by the intensity of the spiritual pressure that was released.
Katsuko's eyes widened at that, her eyes darted to look at her sword. The wild lightning was whipping around, but it never once dared to scratch her, not even a tickle.
This was her chance to stand up again. She needed to move now. Almost like a puppet, her body was getting back up in an unsteady manner as fast as she could in her state, wincing from the rush of pain with every movement she took. She was holding onto the sword that was emitting lightning all of a sudden, her renewed hope. Her eyes squinted from the bright light it emitted. The lightning was whipping around dangerously as if to warn Hisagi to stay away, and it caused her Shihakusho to flap and her hair to fly everywhere.
She stared at the lightning around her sword, watching as the blade began to tremble, like as if it was all charged up, and ready to go but simply awaiting for her command.
Right.
I still need to save Rukia!
She gripped the hilt tighter.
I have to win!
Her eyes narrowed in focus.
I have to get home!
She refused to die in a place like this.
Turn and slash.
She shot her head up and breathed, staring at the Lieutenant with a dangerous glint in her eyes.
With a cry, she gripped the sword even tighter and then spun around her heel to swing her blade so aggressively towards the floor of Seireitei. There was a pause. The ground then exploded when a powerful lightning ray traveled across to reach Hisagi who tried to escape, but even when he used flash step to move away, the lightning darted after him like as if he was a magnet. The sound probably echoed throughout the entire Seireitei. The attack hit him so hard that it sent him crashing into two walls. There was also damage to his body from when the lightning violently whiplashed him.
Now, he was the one on the floor, bleeding, struggling to stand. Sparks of lightning danced around his skin while he remained still, numb, unable to move.
Just like as he did to her, she rendered him weak on the floor in an instant.
Blinking, she stared down at the right sword. "What did I just do…?" she muttered to herself. The lightning from her sword relaxed just enough for smaller flickers of light to dance around the blade. She seriously had this in her arsenal this whole time? Why did she never feel it before?
She loosened her hold on the sword and then tightened, causing the sparks to flare for a second. It seemed antsy to strike again, perhaps?
I hope I didn't kill him.
Katsuko did her best to hurry on over to him after picking up her other sword.
Even though she knew it would have been better to run away now, she needed to see if he was still alive. The noise from her attack most definitely caught the Soul Reapers' attention, they were going to come running any time now to inspect the area. If he was still alive, then he could be taken care of.
She didn't want him dead.
And if she did kill him, she had the responsibility to confirm it, to be aware of the life she took even though blissful ignorance would be much better. It must be stupid, but she just had to.
Hisagi inhaled sharply when she finally appeared above him while he struggled to sit up against the rubble. He grinded his teeth and gripped his sword tighter only for her foot to stomp on his wrist, forcing him to let go. He knew he should be using Kido as his last line of defense if he couldn't use his Zanpakuto, but he found himself in some sort of trance the longer he stared at her face. She was heaving from her wounds, bleeding out, yet still moving, she looked a little dazed.
Okay… at least he's alive.
Pathetically, she kicked his sword away from his hand and then lifted her left blade, pointing towards the east, wind carried the lieutenant's Zanpakuto and pitched it somewhere into the darkness.
"Hngh…!" Katsuko winced, staggered two steps back, and fell on one knee, trying to support herself with her two blades when she felt herself losing strength. She was still very much a stranger to the pain that came with these sorts of injuries. She'd have to build up her pain tolerance with this experience.
The girl lifted her head and found him staring at her, pure shock and disbelief showcasing on his face. Her eyes drifted to his number tattoo on his cheek, one of the most obvious features on his face.
And for some reason, the longer she kept her eyes on it, the more she felt herself become overcome with great sadness. It was squeezing her heart painfully.
Why?
Why am I hurting?
Whatever was displaying on her face, she didn't know, but it made his features soften and he looked at her in an almost pitiful manner. His mouth opened a little, he was hesitating to say something. It didn't come out.
She wasn't going to sit and wait for him to talk, he was alive so she was going to leave now. She breathed in and made a move to get up until she heard him speak.
"Is that you, senpai?"
Stiffening, stupidly, she blinked and tipped her head.
What did he just call me?
He paused, observing the shocked look that gradually came on her face, he inhaled sharply before suddenly asked in an almost angry manner, "What happened to you?! Did you really do it?!"
Do what?
She blinked. Stinging. Her hand flew up to her face to feel her cheek, and the wetness she felt made her fingers flinch. Tears. She was crying in front of her enemy. Embarrassment and shame mixed inside of her, giving her enough strength to push herself up. She wanted to run away from him. He was making her feel incredibly sick.
"Wait!" Hisagi groaned when he tried to move, a hand shooting up to his shoulder where he bled.
She was gone.
…
…
…
Katsuko didn't want to stay there another second longer, she used her Zanpakuto's wind to escape, doing her best to ignore the pressure of the air against her eyes that only created more reason for her eyes to leak tears.
For the first time since she arrived in the Soul Society, familiarity was guiding her through the streets of the Seireitei. She was going at full speed to avoid leaving a trail of blood in her path. Another warehouse was her destination. With quickness, she went inside and barricaded the door again. Warehouses were seriously her only solace in this lion den.
But that was it. Her strength was gone. She dropped on the floor and her Zanpakuto was already reverting back to its sealed state. There was so many questions going through her mind but she couldn't even think about them for too long when she was literally bleeding out on the floor.
"Fuck, no…!" She heaved. "Don't pass out… I can't…!" she grimaced. Even in the darkness that was barely light up thanks to moonlight, she could tell her vision was going dark. Her hand was gripping the one with the ring as if it had the power to stop the coming blackness that would most likely help kill her. She was shutting down.
Was this even a warehouse that kept medical supplies too?
"I can't… die here…!" she forced herself up to try and look around. "I… I need…!"
She slipped and fell on her side, a painful hissing passing her lips.
So much blood.
…
…
…
She was sitting in the break room with some tea while she kept her head propped up, lazily staring out the window with her mouth slightly agape.
"What are you staring at~?
She let out a soft 'oof' when a certain bubbly short green haired Lieutenant suddenly dropped her weight on her from behind and wrapped her arms around her, sporting a curious look on her face.
"Oh, uh… nothing just wondering about something I saw earlier." She replied slowly, still thinking about it even while the person still hung on her, unbothered by her presence as she was already used to her antics unlike a certain captain.
"About what?"
She was about to space out again. "Captain Muguruma's tattoo."
"Kensei's weird tattoo?"
"Yup."
"Mashiro!" a booming voice snapped.
The two women shifted to look behind them. Mashiro had to shuffled her feet a little just to stay hooked on the seated Soul Reaper. Approaching them was a stern looking man with silver hair whose bangs hung mostly over the middle of his face. He was wearing a sleeveless Shihakusho underneath a Captain's haori. He looked irritated, not a new sight.
"Boo~ It's Kensei."
"How many times do I have to tell you to do your damn paperwork and stop dumping it on my desk?!"
"Paperwork is boring." Mashiro whined, swaying around herself and the person she was latched onto. "I don't wanna do it!"
"Well, you have to! That's your freaking job!"
The silent party just heaved out a sigh at the familiar scene. He was going to keep yelling at her. Mashiro was going to keep whining. He'll get so pissed and will try to get her while Mashiro uses her as a human shield. She was already predicting the scene.
"Uh, Captain Muguruma?" she lifted her hand lazily. "How about I do it? I don't mind doing it again."
He did a double take. "Again?!" he whipped his head towards Mashiro who just smiled and praised her for being so nice.
"Don't give her your job!" he yelled at his Lieutenant, and then snapped his head towards the one just sitting there, watching. "And you, stop being a pushover!" he pointed at her while she just sheepishly averted her gaze away.
Man, I just wanted to drink my tea in peace, she thought lazily as she watched the two bickering, it looked more like a one-sided bicker though with how Lieutenant Kuna was just making fun of him like a little kid. Before he could pulverize her, she bounced away from the break room to who knows where.
With the way he was grinding his teeth, she could have sworn sparks were going to appear.
Kensei, who was looking like he was about to pop a blood vessel, calmed down and then turned to look at the one just sipping her tea. She was staring at him thoughtfully.
"What is it?"
She lowered her cup from her lips and soundlessly set it on the table, the manner too drilled into her to forget. "Nothing, really. I was just wondering about the tattoo on your chest, Captain." She pointed at her abdomen. "I saw it during today's training, it was the first time I've seen it."
Kensei grunted and crossed his arms. "I don't go showing it off."
She tipped her head curiously. "What's the meaning behind it? Is it because your name has the kanji for six and also because you lead Squad 9?"
"You basically just answered your own question."
Head perked up, she blinked in surprise at his nonchalant tone. "Oh, really?" she said with a laugh in her voice, amused and impressed by her own deductive skills. A cheerful smile appeared on her face as she thought of one simple way to describe the tattoo and the man who carried it.
The man who leads and carries Squad 9 wherever he goes.
"It's a stuuupid tattoo!" Lieutenant Kuna drawled after poking her head back inside the break room. Their captain whipped his head towards her, teeth gritting and a vein popping on his temple, his annoyance flaring up once more.
"GET TO WORK!"
She was walking side by side with a young boy from the Rukongai, she offered to walk him back to where he lived since he was still pretty shaken up. The poor kid got attacked by a Hollow in the outskirts of the populated area. At wrong place at the wrong time as they say.
Yes, she was peeved that she was being sent back to the Seireitei, but what can she do? Orders were orders, no matter how much she protested.
Curiously, she looked at her side and found him still wiping his eyes with his sleeve, trying his best to stop himself from crying, a difficult task for someone so young who just had a near death experience. She couldn't blame him. She just wished her Captain wasn't so pushy in trying to stop him from crying. His method just made him cry even more.
Gently, she placed a hand on his head and crouched down in front of him, it took him by surprise by how quickly she settled down to his level. He took a step back and stared at her, his arm now below his chin, while she beamed a smile at him.
She rested her arms on her knees. "You're okay now, there's no need to cry anymore."
The boy jutted out his lip and tried his best to will himself to stop crying, his gaze looked to the side as his bottom lip trembled. "I know that… But I just can't stop crying… it was so scary."
"Yeah, it was, wasn't it?" she sighed sympathetically, she lifted her right arm and placed her hand on her nape. "But you were also very brave."
He looked back at her, confusion on his face. "… I was?"
She nodded, tipping her head. "I saw you when you tried to help your friends escape. Pretty brave stuff, if you ask me, a little reckless, but still brave."
"But I was still scared…"
She put down her arm and lightly poked his chest. "Don't you know? Fear makes you strong and brave, too."
He held her gaze, watching as she then grinned at him. The boy lowered his arm at his side and looked like he was contemplating something. She tipped her head the other way curiously, wondering what was on his mind. He was no longer crying but only sniffling as proof of his breakdown.
"Do you think I can be strong like that guy? The one with the numbers on his chest?"
"Ooh? You wanna be tough like my captain?" she grinned, suddenly interested in this boy's newfound inspiration. It was somehow riveting to see that someone who did nothing but make a little kid cry suddenly leave such an impact on them. "Who knows? Anything is possible."
When she found an opening, she aggressively swung her wooden sword and effectively sent a wooden sword flying out of her opponent's hands. When she stepped forward and pointed her weapon at them, they let out a gasp and tripped over their own feet as they backed away, falling flat on their rear with a grunt.
Odd.
She frowned and her eyebrows knitted in concern.
"Hey, Shuuhei." She crouched on the ground and peered at him as he looked at the ground with a confliction showcasing on his face. "What's the matter?" she gently asked.
The dark haired Soul Reaper looked up at her.
…
…
…
Hisagi was located not too far from the Squad 4 barracks, so he was easily brought in for treatment once he was found. Obviously, with the wounds he had, he was going to have to withdraw from the frontlines for now. The numbness from her attack already began to fade and he could no longer sense her spiritual pressure, it was gone, as if she never existed in the first place.
A member of Squad 4 dropped by his room to deliver his Zanpakuto that someone had retrieved for him. They bowed curtly before leaving his room to go attend to other matters, leaving him with only food for thought.
It wasn't his first time seeing a dual-type Zanpakuto. There were two captains in the Soul Society who wielded two swords, but this was the first time he was seeing a Zanpakuto that was carrying more than one element.
And was it truly the same person?
The way she fought was not the same, she fought like a different person.
And yet, she seemed to have reacted when he asked her the questions that he had always wanted the answers to.
…
…
…
Hisagi's eyes widened in horrified disbelief when the news reached his squad. He nearly dropped the papers he was carrying to the office; he was shaking.
No, that couldn't be. She wasn't that type of person, never would she commit such a crime. There was just no way. No matter how much he tried to paint her in such a light, it was just impossible.
He inhaled shakily.
And yet, traces of her spiritual pressure that was left behind at the scene as proof. That was it.
There was no way to prove her innocence either because she was gone. She disappeared without a trace, as if she never existed in the first place.
She was gone.
…
…
…
He breathed through his nose and lifted his hand to cover his face, mentally reprimanding himself for his lack of action and his hesitation, he should know better. He shouldn't mix personal feelings with his job, it was stupid. He couldn't truly verify if it was her because the present pieces didn't align with his memories. If the information didn't align with the obvious conclusion, then there was really only one way to face this situation.
"That's not her." He decided. "She is a Ryoka, an enemy to the Soul Society."
She might not even be alive by dawn with how heavily she was bleeding.
It wouldn't be long until his captain dropped by to personally receive his report.
…
…
…
With a gasp, Katsuko jolted awake, sitting up rapidly, her heart beating noticeably fast, every beat swayed her. It felt like waking up so suddenly, awaking from a dream that usually went with her falling down and ending before she could hit the ground, it spooked her awake. Her throat was dry and she started coughing until she remembered where she was. Her hand slapped over her mouth to muffle her coughs that was basically an alert for anyone passing by.
I thought I felt Ichigo's spiritual pressure just now…
It was clearly not nighttime anymore, it was morning, maybe, but there were no birds chirping outside to remind her of the times when she would wake up to the ungodly sound of birds making a cacophony when all she wanted was to sleep in on a weekend. She looked properly at the skies behind the window and saw how it had a slight tint of yellow in the far back.
Oh my god... it's the afternoon.
The girl stiffened.
How am I not dead?!
She noted how she didn't feel any pain, what with how fast she sat up and what she clearly remembered what happened to her. The fatal slashes on her body, the bleeding out, the lightning from her Zanpakuto, she remembered it all.
So why was she okay?
Hastily, she shuffled away from the window and sat underneath it to pry open her Shihakusho and look at her bare chest.
Nothing. Not a single scratch.
The wounds she even bandaged were healed as well.
"What…? Why?"
Her Shihakusho was also repaired, something she noticed would happen when she stayed put to rest and wait after her fight with that one Soul Reaper that tried sealing her powers.
She looked at the doors, it was still well barricaded with no sign of the boxes being misplaced if someone had snuck in and somehow tried to make it look like no one ever entered. Her Zanpakuto was still abandoned on the floor. But then again, who would bother to come and heal her in this place? Why would they heal the enemy? If it was Inoue, then she wouldn't just up and leave.
So, what the hell happened?
I'm alive and fully healed…
Her eyes looked at the floor and saw her dried blood just sitting there, like a scene from a crime.
Katsuko checked around her body, patting around where she could reach, twisting around to test the feeling, checking for any sharp pain, but there was still nothing, it was like nothing happened to her, the fight against that Lieutenant never happened.
Lieutenant… huh?
Her mouth tugged to the left. She couldn't deny the familiarity nor the vivid recall of the dream she just had, if she could even call it that.
She knew his name too.
It was on the tip of her tongue.
"Hisagi Shuuhei…" she breathed, hands lifting up to hold her head as she lowered it. God, why were things getting weird now? She always disliked complications.
…
…
…
"But anyway, if that's really the case, maybe something might happen once we enter the Seireitei." Ishida said thoughtfully.
Katsuko shrugged. "Maybe."
…
…
…
Not only did her powers come from the error of her soul, but was her face also influenced by it since she looked like someone? Perhaps, because that guy was speaking to her like he knew her. He even called her his senior. God, how complicated.
Honestly, she was expecting something like this to happen, that's why, despite Ichigo's advice on pinning her bangs to the side, to keep her hair out of her face during a fight, she kept her long bangs shadowing over her left side to avoid that exact scenario. She did listen to him though because a bobby pin was clipped on the sleeve of her Shihakusho.
"No point anymore. It didn't help." She ripped off the bobby pin and pinned her hair to the left side. If hiding part of her face didn't contribute to hiding it, then there was no point.
I need to keep moving. Ichigo is still out there doing his best.
I can't keep still right now.
I literally don't have time to crack a mystery.
She fixed herself up and picked up her sword from the floor, she felt much safer after sheathing it at her side. Deciding on being quiet instead of risking noise, she hopped onto a box and reached for the window, pushing it open, grabbing onto the ledge and quickly escaped through the window with almost no trouble at all. She landed quietly and looked around, there was no one around. Perfect.
She peered up at the sky to look for the white tower, and she easily spotted it, it was surprisingly rather close compared to when she last saw it. How far did she travel when she took down that Lieutenant? Was it a coincidence that she was close?
"Probably not." Katsuko muttered and began moving forward.
Apparently, she slept through the night and woke up in late mid-afternoon.
In other words, she wasted time snoozing away. Wonderful (sarcasm).
Like last time, she blended with the Soul Reapers who were going around, already aware that running away or showing even the slightest surprise might give her away. She would even ask about the situation while sporting a stern face to show how serious she was about her 'job'.
Recently, two lieutenants were reported to be withdrawing from the front lines after encountering a Ryoka, one of them being the one she defeated last night and another one that belonged to Squad 6. They had found the former near the stairs that led to the white tower. Subtly, she was able to get clearer directions to the tower and descriptions of the surrounding area with roundabout questions such as who found him? Was the enemy still there? How much damage was done to the area?
She still couldn't believe how it easy it was to blend in with the chaos. During her little recon, something unsettling also reached her ears. Apparently, they were seeking to capture one of the Ryoka because one of them had committed a crime in the Soul Society. Therefore, capture was now a priority instead of killing.
No one was around when the stairs to the white tower came into view. It was probably already the beginning of the evening with how long it took to get there. Goddamn Seireitei was huge.
Fucking stairs. I hate stairs.
Katsuko looked around discreetly, hoping that someone wasn't around to see her make a mad dash towards the stairs. There was literally nowhere to hide in such an open space.
If someone catches me… I'll try to make up a lie on the spot.
She clutched her hand with the ring on it.
Okay. I made it this far.
And I know it might just get worse before I even reach the freaking tower.
But I have to move!
And move she did, her legs brought her straight to the stairs and she started going up. And dear god, she wanted to just use her Zanpakuto to fly or something by the time she reached the 25th step, but that was not an option because that basically meant she would be ringing a bell to catch their attention with the spiritual pressure she would exert.
There was probably a thousand more steps waiting for her with how tall that damn tower was, who knows? She cursed the Soul Society for being so extra in their designs, cursing it with every foul word she could think of, and before she knew it, she finally reached the top. To her immense relief, there was no one there, it made her sigh when her nerves eased. However, she would not allow herself to grow lax anymore than that even after she made it to the top. The only time she would will be when she gets Rukia from that stupid tower and regroup with the others, that would truly be the only time when she could drop her guard for a while. And that time was still far from now.
As she sped off, she noticed how a nearby building had been sliced most likely during a battle. She couldn't imagine what kind of chaos happened here.
All of a sudden, someone appeared three meters in front of her. Her body went rigid, her body lurched when she suddenly glued her feet to the ground when she saw the trademark captain's haori. This was bad. It was a man, tall, long white hair, olive eyes, he was looking at her with wide eyes, like as if he was looking for something. She could see him clearly with the good eyesight she had been granted as a soul.
His face.
Kindness. Laughter. Warmth. Comfort. Those four nostalgic feelings came rushing to her as she stared at the captain who merely stood there with the same kind of face that Hisagi had when took a good look at her face: shock with disbelief.
For the first time since after the Ryoka broke through the barrier, Ukitake felt her presence again, it was fluctuating, appearing and disappearing, and this time he didn't simply sit there and wait for it to vanish completely. He left his quarters and chased after it before it could completely disappear, grasping onto the hope that he would see her again, to see her safe, and he finally did.
"I knew I wasn't imagining things when I felt you come back." He finally spoke, tone coloured in relief. "But the descriptions didn't match—"
Static in her mind as her hands trembled.
The dream she couldn't remember back in the Rukongai came rushing back to her, it was all clear. Two men. Brown hair. White hair. The one standing in front of her matched the person from her dream. The sudden rush of emotions that bloomed in her chest felt foreign yet all her own at the same time, it made her hunch and grasp the front of her Shihakusho with a choked sob, instantly stopping whatever he was saying.
"Juushiro-san…!" she managed to speak between hiccups, shaking.
Ukitake was crossing the floor rapidly at the sight of her tears, wanting nothing more than to pull her into a hug, that is until she cried out in pain and fell on her knees.
"What's wrong?!" he dropped down on his knee at her side while her hand reached for her back, grasping the fabric. "Are you hurt?!" he glanced around to check if anyone was watching.
"I..."
Katsuko blinked several times as the emotions began to fade.
What?
Her tears stopped.
What was that?!
The emotions were gone.
She stiffened, her eyes shifting to look at the hand on her shoulder.
Fear.
Katsuko lifted her head and met his worried olive eyes. No! Quickly, she scampered away from the captain and stumbled as she got up to her feet. She didn't like this at all, the feeling of temporarily forgetting who she was all of a sudden rattled her, the equilibrium of her mind was off. She didn't even spare him another glance before making a mad dash towards where the tower was located, ignoring the stinging on her back. She could hear him calling her but her heart was pounding in her ears and she couldn't hear anything but her panting.
Then a sharp pain in her head blurred her sight, her body felt heavy, she was slowing her down.
Stop it! Don't mess with me!
"Wait! It's alright! You don't need to run from me!" Ukitake grabbed her elbow only for her to rip it out of his hold immediately. She didn't want anything to do with this captain. From what she understood, captains were not to be reckoned with.
"Don't touch me!" Katsuko shouted and stumbled away from him, her hand flying to her sword at her hip, startling the captain, she was still not registering the words he was saying when the pounding in her head amplified by the second. The worse it got, the more she became light headed, and she knew what was going to happen to her.
I can't pass out!
She gripped the hilt tightly, making a move to pull it out.
Not in front of an enemy like this! If I pass out…! It's all over for me!
No matter how much she tried clinging onto the surface of consciousness, chains latched onto her ankles and yanked her violently into the dark pool of oblivion.
The last thing she felt were arms around her.
Don't worry, I'm not dead! This story is still continuing! Like I said in the last chapter, I was just having trouble writing chapters. But then inspiration slapped me out of nowhere, and then this chapter was born. I even redrew the cover of this story.
Anyway, Katsuko was looking like she was bipolar for a second there, huh? Up until now, I've been trying to keep stuff a mystery while also dropping some hints so that you guys can try and guess. I guess now you have some answers (and maybe some new questions...). Hisagi got her by using flash step which is a skill that Katsuko has yet to learn. I had to rewrite the fight between them several times because I was never satisfied, geez.
Before anyone tries to point it out, yes, I do my research, I know a Zanpakuto can't attack with more than one element.
Thanks for reading! See you in the next chapter!