Valentina stood in the doorway of the Urahara Shop, staring with her mouth agape as Renji Abarai, one of her cousin's friends, jumped towards the sky and stood there like it was solid ground. To say she was shocked was an understatement.
'This is so weird. What's happening? What the hell is Renji doing, and… hold up, who's that?', Valentina asked herself as she realized there was another figure standing in the sky. Around dozen yards from where Renji stood was a young man around her age. He had long, loose blonde hair, dark red eyes, and what appeared to be a bone-white helmet-like piece of headgear with a small set of bull-like horns on top of it. In stark contrast to what Renji was wearing, the other man was wearing all white, and he had a vicious grin on his face. But the oddest thing about him was the fist-sized hole he had in the center of his chest made visible because of his open jacket, which he by all means shouldn't have had if he was alive. Valentina was frozen in place. She couldn't move, all she could do was watch.
At first, Renji and the other man just exchanged insults, ones that Valentina couldn't understand because they were so far away. Then Renji yelled something and whipped some sort of long, serrated weapon at the blonde that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Valentina thought the blonde man was going to be killed, but then he shocked her by blocking the weapon with his katana. Then the fight really began. Renji kept whipping his weapon at the blonde man, and the blonde man blocked his every attack like it was nothing. Valentina would have been impressed if she wasn't still in shock from the strange, almost supernatural situation she had found herself in. The dance of attacking and blocking between Renji and his opponent went on for a while, before Renji got frustrated and screamed.
" -ENOUGH! BANKAI, HIHIO ZABIMARU!", Renji yelled loud enough for Valentina to hear, and suddenly Renji was wielding a much larger, more snake-like version of his earlier weapon with a beast's head attached to the end. This new weapon should have given Renji the advantage, but it didn't. Instead, it just made his attacks slower and made it easier for his opponent to dodge them. Said opponent cackled loudly enough for Valentina to hear as he side-stepped another one of Renji's attacks.
"IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?!", he cried. Renji screamed at him and continued sending the beast's head after the man, but nothing worked. Valentina could still hardly believe her eyes. Two men, fighting in the sky as one dodged a sword with the head of a beast on the end and the other became frustrated with himself… the scene felt so surreal.
"What the hell is going on… ?", she muttered. She felt a hand rest on her shoulder, and looked behind her to see Urahara staring at her with his gray eyes.
"You should get back inside. It's not safe.", Urahara insisted, trying to usher the woman back into the building, but Valentina wasn't budging.
"You know what's going on, don't you?", Valentina asked. When Urahara didn't respond, she knew she had the answer to her question, and she didn't like it one bit.
"Then why aren't you helping him?! Can't you see he's getting his ass kicked up there?!", she asked desperately as Renji and his opponent continued to clash in the sky. She may not know Renji well, but that didn't mean she wanted to see him get beaten up by some weirdo in white.
'Or worse.', her mind supplied darkly. Urahara shook his head.
"It isn't my place to interfere.", Urahara said cryptically. Valentina snarled at him.
"That's a load of bullshit and you know it!", she accused, but Urahara just gave her a hard look.
"Regardless of whether or not your assumption is correct, you getting angry with me won't help Renji. The best thing you can do is go back inside and wait until your escort arrives to take you- ", Urahara started to say, but he was cut off when someone jetted off the roof of the building and started flying towards Renji's opponent at lighting speed. Urahara's eyes widened as he realized who it was; it was the little girl Valentina had seen at the door when she first arrived at the shop.
"Ururu, no!", he yelled, but the girl wasn't listening. She flew over to Renji's opponent, who yelled something at her Valentina couldn't hear, before he was silenced when the little girl began to choke him. Shortly afterwards, the little girl began to punch him as well, blood spraying onto her as she did so. Valentina, like when Renji had been the one fighting the blonde, could only stand there and watch. Suddenly, the man in the little girl's hold managed to throw her off and send her flying back into a nearby building, knocking her unconscious. Renji called out for her, but he was prevented from going to check if she was okay when his opponent managed to get the drop on him and stab him in the back. He moved so fast that Valentina didn't even have a chance to warn Renji. The man went clattering to the ground in a spray of blood as his opponent cackled, and Valentina saw red.
"Is still not your place to interfere now?! That guy just stabbed Renji and knocked out a literal child that's in your care! Are you gonna take that son of a bitch down or what?!", Valentina asked Urahara angrily. Urahara seemed very surprised by the recent turn of events, but tried to regain his composure as he shook his head.
"I thought that Renji would be able to take him, and Ururu wasn't supposed to get involved. I may have miscalculated slightly but- ", Urahara tried to say in defense of himself, but Valentina just scoffed and glared up at the still cackling blonde man in the sky.
"Whatever. I'll handle this.", Valentina said abruptly, before shrugging off Urahara's hand that was still on her shoulder, and dashing out of the shop at top speed. Urahara immediately called out for her.
"Valentina, no!", he yelled, but Valentina wasn't listening.
'Really, is that all he can do? Just scream 'no' after someone's name like its gonna stop them from doing anything?', Valentina thought as she came to a skidding stop on the ground under the mysterious man clad in all white, kicking up dust as she did so.
"HEY, PUTA!", Valentina yelled, slipping into Spanish in her anger. The man in the sky stopped his mad laughter and diverted his gaze to the human that had interrupted his post-battle high.
"Oh? A human?", he said to himself. He had known there was a human in the area, but before now the presence of a human near his fight hadn't been important. Valentina couldn't hear him, so she assumed he was ignoring her and kept yelling at him so he would acknowledge her.
"Don't ignore me, you desperdicio de espacio vestido de blanco (white-clad waste of space)! Get your ass down here and face me like a man!", Valentina demanded, even more enraged than before. More intrigued than insulted, the man in the sky disappeared for a moment, before suddenly reappearing closer to the ground.
"Wait, you mean you can actually see me?", he asked, actually curious about her answer, because she really shouldn't have been able to see him. He hadn't sensed any spiritual pressure from her earlier, but now that he was focusing on her, he could sense something there. It was like her spiritual pressure had grown in the hour or so since he had last sensed it. Valentina glared up at him defiantly.
"Of course I can see you, you hijo de puta sin valor (worthless son of a bitch)! Who wouldn't be able to see a man in the gaudiest white outfit I have ever seen, with a gaping hole in the middle of his chest, attacking a man in black robes and a little girl in the goddamn air!", Valentina demanded to know, pissed off on said little girl's behalf. The blonde man frowned at her.
"Hey, they both attacked me first. I was just defending myself.", he claimed, an action which confused himself because why the hell was he defending himself to a human woman? One he was probably going to end up killing because of his King's orders, since she had noticeable spiritual pressure and could easily see him. Valentina thought about his claims for a moment before conceding.
"Alright I will admit, they did attack you first. But you were still too harsh on them both, especially the little girl!", Valentina claimed fiercely. The blonde man opened his mouth, but couldn't think of a counter argument. In the background, Urahara laughed nervously. He was going to have to intervene soon if Valentina didn't develop self-preservation instincts and get the fuck away from the very dangerous threat right the fuck now.
"Valentina, now's not the time to be casually conversing with the highly dangerous Arrancar! I'll ask you again, please come back inside!", the shopkeeper said in a voice high with concern. He had not anticipated this at all. Valentina looked at him over her shoulder and gave him a dry look.
"Arrancar? 'The tear'? I mean, he does have that hole in his chest, but referring to him as a tear is a bit odd, don't you think?", Valentina questioned, completely unaware of what he actually meant by 'Arrancar' and trying to figure out what he meant by using the exact Spanish meaning of the word. Urahara blinked at her in bewilderment.
"What? No! That's not what I- !", Urahara tried to say, but Valentina had already stopped listening and was back to focusing on the stranger in white when he started speaking.
"Look, as amusing as this conversation is, I have a job to do. I have strict orders from the man I call king to kill anyone in this town that meets a certain criteria, and since you and everyone at this shop meets that criteria… Well, I'm sure you can guess what's gonna happen.", the blonde man said with a malicious grin as he slung his sword over his shoulders. Valentina, however, was unmoved.
"How quaint. You really think I'd let you do that? I may not like the one in the tacky hat- ",Valentina started to say. She was briefly interrupted by an indignant 'hey!' from Urahara, but she ignored it.
" -but I'm not about to let you kill an innocent child and my newest drinking buddy, so you better take off those kid gloves I know you were using with Renji, because he may have started this, but I'm gonna finish it.", Valentina declared as she got into a fighting stance. The stranger laughed at her.
"You, fight me?! That's-oh-that's priceless! Funniest thing I've heard all century! And tell me human, how exactly are you going to 'finish this' as you put it?", the stranger asked with dark curiosity once he got over his hysterical laughter. Valentina grinned.
"Why don't I show you instead?", she asked, the that earned her a grin from the stranger. Urahara's blood pressure was rising with every provocative word that came out of Valentina's mouth. The shopkeeper steeled his expression and looked directly at Valentina.
"Valentina, that's enough. Come back inside, now.", Urahara demanded, trying to get the girl away from the danger she didn't seem to realize she was in. But much to his continued horror, Valentina rolled her eyes and sneered at him.
"What are you, my papi? I said I'm gonna finish this, so I'm gonna finish this. While I do that, take care of Renji and… Ururu, was it? Yeah, her. Make sure she and Renji don't bleed out.", Valentina commanded, and Urahara's scowl deepened.
"Valentina- ", he started to say, getting ready to throw being civil to the wind and just shunp over to her so he could pick her up and carry her to safety against her will, but a hand on his shoulder prevented him from doing so.
"Don't.", Tessai's voice told him. Urahara looked over his shoulder to his serious looking friend in surprise.
"Tessai… ", Urahara trailed off uncertainly. It wasn't like his friend to go against him or protest his wishes like this, but Tessai gave him a serious look.
"Think this through, Kisuke. Intervening now may put you back on the Soul Society's radar. And since we can't risk that, I think it's best to just sit back and watch this time.", Tessai advised, but Urahara still looked apprehensive.
"But Valentina doesn't have any powers. She isn't like Chad or Orihime. She can't fight or go up against an Arrancar.", Urahara said, trying to defend his decision, but Tessai didn't concede.
"No, she doesn't have any powers yet. But like her cousin and Orihime before her, her spiritual pressure has been growing at a rapid rate. How much would you say it's grown since you met her?", Tessai asked. It felt odd being the one asking these sorts of questions, since that was usually Kisuke's job, but it had to be done. Urahara frowned thoughtfully.
"I'd say it's three times the size it was when we met.", the shop owner answered. It was why he was so analytical of Valentina. That, and the fact that her spiritual pressure felt similar to Chad's; Hollow-like, but unlike Chad's, it also felt Shinigami like. It was an enigma, one he had yet to figure out. Tessai nodded.
"Exactly. It's growing at an exponential rate, and like with Chad and Orihime, I believe it's growth was triggered by all the intense spiritual pressure in Karakura as a result of it's most spiritually empowered resident, i.e Ichigo. And it's developing even faster than Chad's was, so while Valentina doesn't have powers now… ", Tessai trailed off, knowing his old friend would pick up on his train of thought.
"She'll likely develop them soon, if not tonight than before she returns to Mexico. And a fight might be what's necessary to trigger the awakening of her powers.", Urahara finished. Tessai nodded again.
"Exactly, so we can't intervene now, not when she's on the cusp of awakening something that might be useful in the fight against Aizen. We can provide support and make sure she doesn't get grievously injured, which will allow her to awaken her powers in a semi-controlled environment. It's not a perfect plan, but if we play our cards right… ", Tessai trailed off. Urahara fanned himself intensely and grinned.
"Then we'll end up getting another ally for Ichigo and another soldier to fight in the Winter War. And I must admit, the scientist in me is far from adverse to running a field test on this delightful new anomoly.", Urahara picked up, essentially confirming his agreement with Tessai's idea. Tessai smiled.
"I'll put up a barrier to hide us from Ayesegawa-san then, since I'm assuming you've already called him to be the girl's escort to safety. And we can't have any unknowns in the experiment, can we?", Tessai asked. Urahara smirked at him.
"No we cannot, Tessai. No we cannot."
Meanwhile, with Valentina and the stranger, their banter had entered a lull as they realized Urahara and Tessai were having a conversation while looking directly at them. And since they were so far away and speaking so quietly, neither Valentina nor the stranger knew what they were saying. The pair looked at the two men weirdly.
"What the hell are they talking about?", the man with long blonde hair asked. Valentina shrugged.
"Hell if I know. So, are we doing this or are you going to be a little puta and run away with your tail between your legs?", Valentina taunted with a smirk. The blonde stranger laughed.
"I like you, human. You've got spunk. Because of that, I'll give you the honor of being killed by me in my released form!", the stranger announced. Valentina raised an eyebrow at that.
"Released form? What on earth are you talking about?", she asked. The stranger's grin widened, and a maliciously gleeful glint appeared in his blood red eyes.
"You really don't know what I am, do you? You truly don't know anything about what's going on around you?", the stranger asked, something akin to wonder in his voice. Valentina glared at him, not liking the mind games he was trying to play.
"I know that you're an asshole, and I know that we're about to fight! Now face me like a man!", Valentina demanded. The stranger chuckled darkly.
"Oh, I'll face you, just not as a man. Impale, Del Toro!", the stranger yelled, and Valentina was about to ask what the hell he was talking about when the stranger was enveloped in a yellow light that forced Valentina to close her eyes because of the sheer brightness of it. It only lasted a few seconds, but when Valentina opened her eyes, she was greeted by a shocking sight,
Where the stranger had stood, there was a large, white bull-like creature five times the size of an actual bull. Valentina was about to ask what had happened to the stranger, when she saw the long mane of blonde hair the bull creature had, and got a good look at his eyes; red, just like the stranger's eyes. The creature scraped his foot against the ground and kicked up dust.
"Still wanna fight me now, human?", he asked. His voice was like the stranger's, only distorted slightly. Valentina quickly got over her shock when she heard his question and grinned.
"Are you kidding? Like I'd ever back down from a challenge! Though, it won't be much of a challenge, 'cause you just made beating you way the hell easier!", Valentina claimed.
"Wait, what are you talking about?", the bull-thing asked, but Valentina wasn't paying attention anymore. Instead, she was running towards a nearby set of clothing lines.
"Fun fact; most people don't know this, but my mother's maiden name was Sanchez.", Valentina said as she started searching the clothing lines for something. The stranger, curious about what she was trying to do, didn't attack her while she was doing this.
"And? What does that have to do with anything?", the stranger asked. Valentina grinned as she found what she was looking for.
"A lot. Because while the Sanchez name isn't well-known here in Japan, it is well-known back in Mexico. Because the Sanchez bloodline isn't just made up of any old people, oh no. The Sanchez family… is made up of a long line of bullfighters!", Valentina declared dramatically as she yanked the red blanket she had found off the clothing line and held it on her arm proudly like a matador's cape.
'Not a traditional muleta, but it'll do. Chad's not the only one that got back in touch with his roots after leaving home!', Valentina thought triumphantly as she stared down her opponent. She had managed to get some training in the art of killing angry thousand-pound beasts from a matador in Mexico City once she name dropped her mother's maiden name, and while she was barely scraping by with a year of training, her trainer had called her a once-in-century prodigy and still wouldn't stop bugging her to give up dance and become a matador, so Valentina thinks she's set.
"Well this just got interesting.", a little red haired boy said with a grin as he watched Valentina from the door of the shop. Urahara, who was busy carrying Renji and Ururu inside to be treated while Tessai created a barrier, looked at the boy with surprise.
"Ah, Jinta. I didn't know you were awake. How much did you see?", Urahara asked, not seeming particularly concerned by the child's sudden appearance. The boy, now revealed to be named Jinta, scoffed at Urahara.
"Long enough to know that you're a total wuss and that girl's got more balls than you'll ever have. A human fighting an Arrancar, without any spiritual powers? That takes guts… or a butt-ton of crazy.", Jinta observed. Urahara chuckled.
"Yeah, I'll say."
"You think you can fight me like a bull? Just because I look like a bull doesn't mean I am a bull, you know!", Valentina's opponent pointed out. Valentina shrugged.
"That may be so, but I've gotta work with what I've got if I wanna beat you. I've got the muleta, so now I just need a sword!", Valentina declared, and in a stroke of good fortune, an old Spanish style rapier that had been on sale in Urahara's shop was thrown before her and pierced the ground with a twang. Looking in the direction of where the sword came from, Valentina saw a grinning Jinta giving her a thumbs up.
"Kick his ass, moocher! You gotta pay us back for drinking our alcohol somehow!", Jinta encouraged, and Valentina shot him a grin of her own.
"Thank you, random ginger child! I'll be sure to do that!", Valentina yelled back, before plucking the rapier out of the ground and smirking at her opponent.
"Now, before we get started, I think it's only fair you know the name of the person you're fighting. My name is Valentina de la Rosa!", Valentina declared proudly. Her opponents eyes crinkled, and Valentina was pretty sure if he could smile in that state, he would have been doing it.
"And I'm Arrancar number fifteen, Yylfordt Granz! Also known as your killer!", Valentina's opponent, finally revealed to be named Yylfordt declared just as proudly. Valentina ignored his killer comment and focused on the first thing he said. She could tell that his title of Arrancar number fifteen was supposed to mean something, but to her it was still just a weird thing to call someone. But this time she didn't comment on it as she got into a battle stance, cape and sword at the ready.
"Good to know, even if I don't understand what that title of yours is supposed to mean. Now Yylfordt… let's dance!", Valentina declared, and with that the battle began.
I tried to put the entire Valentina vs. Yylfordt fight into one chapter, but it didn't work. So I split the fight into two chapters, and in what'll likely be a few days, you guys will be able to read the complete fight. I think it's safe to say Yylfordt will be coming out of this alive. Also Urahara fans, don't me if I do something with your boy that you don't like. I personally don't like Urahara that much (he gives me Dumbledore vibes), and while I do understand that he did a lot of good for a lot of good characters... he was also willing to sacrifice Rukia to get rid of his stupid magic rock and made some objectively horrible decisions Valentina will likely call him out for later. He's not gonna be bashed, far from it, he's just not gonna be portrayed as the most trustworthy guy. Next time, Yylfordt gets a thrashing and Valentina's powers are unleashed!
So long and goodnight, Thackery Binx.