Rina was gathering a few apples and oranges for their voyage to the next island when suddenly she had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had just enough time to drop down a branch before her prior location was damaged by what appeared to be nothing more than shadow. Her eyes narrowed as she stated, "I thought so. You've been following me for a while."
She evaluated the environment, taking note of each shadow, its size and location. Aizen's ability of complete hypnosis was bad enough, but this guy was a completely different kind of nightmare on the same level as that treacherous slime bucket. She could hear him laugh as a shadow seemed to expand then bubble up into a humanoid entity. The darkness receded from it and she was left staring into the callous blue eyes of the man she had suspected of following her for months. The man towered a foot over her, and had jet black hair, an angular jaw and a hooked nose. But those eyes- those eyes were like looking to the dark abyss of the deep sea.
He gained a sinister smirk as he posed, "you seem to have gotten pretty close to that flaming fist boy. You trying to replace your lost 'friend'?"
She kept her expression stoic and didn't move for a while before replying with, "still slithering around on your belly trying to earn his approval? You know you'll never get it. As far as he's concerned since you don't look like him, you're defective."
"You don't know what you're talking about," he countered. Rina's smirk grew as she countered, "oh but I do. You may be the Shadow King, but you're not the only one who earned a moniker for their abilities—mine just has a few hidden perks most don't think of."
He gave a slight laugh as he replied, "sounds like you'll have to show me what you mean, Rukon brat."
"That can be arranged," she agreed. She looked off to the distance before stating, "If you want to truly see who'd come out on top between us, meet me at the top of the highest mountain in one hour. I have something I have to do first."
"Yes. You wouldn't want another death without a chance to say goodbye," the man sneered before melding into the shadows again. Rina's breath hitched in her lungs. Her heart began racing while she made a conscious effort to keep herself calm. No, she didn't have time for this now. She took off at her highest speed towards where she knew he would be.
Ace was on the ground, taking inventory to be certain they had the supplies they'd need for their journey to the next location. It had been three months since they entered the Grand Line, and already they were getting ready to enter the new world. There had been a few close calls with other pirates, and even the Marines. One in particular, Isuka, seemed keenly interested in apprehending Ace. However, Ace was able to handle her with ease. Rina was forever treating injuries or ensuring that nobody got out of their heads with worry over him. Over the last six months she'd gotten to know him fairly well, and had trained with him a few times. His Devil Fruit abilities giving her a chance to shake the dust off her kido skills, and she in turn had helped him unlock a few of new ways to utilize his powers.
After a while she approached him when the others were out of ear shot. He was starting to carry items onto the Piece of Spadille but stopped when he saw her expression. He sat the barrel down and turned his full attention to her, "you look gloomier than when we met. What's up?"
He went to meet her grey eyes with a smile on his lips, but the smile soon faded. She was usually pretty relaxed around him recent times, laughing, smiling, her eyes sparkling. She'd punch his arm whenever she called him "hotshot" lately. They were definitely growing closer, and he didn't mind at all. It had been his birthday last month, right at the start of the year and her own birthday was coming up in a few days. He was trying to keep a planned surprise hidden from her, but feared that the amount of strawberries that were coming on board may have been a giveaway that he was up to something.
She hadn't answered him, she wouldn't meet his gaze. She wasn't laughing, smiling, or teasing him. Instead of her arms being crossed over her chest, or on her hips, her one hand grasped the hem of her shirt, so tightly that her knuckles shone white, her other hand was rubbing the arm that belonged to the hand grasping her shirt. She was closed off again. What he couldn't understand was why.
As soon as she did look up he felt as if someone had ripped his heart out. She was crying. He moved to squeeze her shoulder reassuringly, but she moved away from him. He barely heard his own voice as he asked, "Rina?"
"I'm sorry," she managed before turning and taking off. He stood, his mouth gaping for a bit before he shouted to Banshee to finish with the inventory and took off after the light haired shinigami. This didn't make any sense. Everything was going well with her, they always laughed and had fun just sitting around talking. What had changed? Did something happen? Was someone threatening her? He soon became aware of someone running alongside him. Glancing over he saw the Lynx continuing to run with him. The animal didn't glance over, but Ace knew beyond any doubt that he felt the same as he did. Something was wrong. Unmistakably, horribly wrong, and while he may not be able to fight the battle for her, he could hype her up. If he could do nothing else, he could at least manage that. He wasn't even sure where she was going and looked to the Lynx in confusion after a while. At this the wild cat turned pet took the lead, and Ace continued to run close behind him.
He couldn't imagine what had happened all he knew was that he hadn't seen that type of look in her eyes since she woke up after being tattooed. It was the same pained look. He'd assumed it was a nightmare, but she had said it was a good dream, but painful memories. In all of their conversing, she'd never elaborated on that, not once. Maybe that was a wound that was still too fresh to remove the bandage just yet. Or maybe that cut ran too deep, either way she'd assured him in her own way countless times that he is his own person. The trees were blurring together and he realized where they were heading, the highest mountain on the island. A horrible thought crossed his mind but he quickly pushed it to the darker recesses of his imagination. There was no way she would even try that! She wasn't even really human. He blinked a little, the reality seeming to sink in for the first time. She wasn't really human. She was born a spirit, she lives in her natural state as a spirit. Was it even possible for her to die? Yes, she'd mentioned fallen shinigami. Retsu Unohana, Jushiro Ukitake, Setsuna Shimizu, Genryusai Yamamoto, the founding Captain-Commander, and those were the names of Shinigami she knew of that had died in combat.
No, she could die. She could, she was just more resilient than a human. He hesitated at that point, should he even try to get close to her fight if she's facing against another Shinigami? He thought back to her facial expression and body language during their short exchange. He clenched his fists, flames rippling over his arms, hands, and even his back. He looked up at the top of the mountain, and decided she had to be up there. He'd have to figure out some way to get up to her. The mental state she was in right now worried him. He may not be able to fight for her, but he could be there as her friend.