Through Heart and Soul: To Love-Ru (改訂版)

by The Red Infinity

Sainan Town is a small city on the outskirts of Japan which is known to be a peaceful and quiet town. One of the residents, Yuuki Rito lives a quiet life there with living and spiritual alike. That is, until the greater worlds of both the spiritual realms and outer space collide and it falls into Rito's hands to help rework the balance of it all.

14. The Flowers and The Hollows

⦏ Bleach (stylized as BLEACH) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. ⦐
⦏ To LOVE-Ru is a Japanese manga series written by Saki Hisemi and illustrated by Kentaro Yabuki, creator of Black Cat. ⦐
⦏ As shown above, I do not own the characters introduced or alluded to within either series but am simply a writer telling of a fanfiction that's aim is to meld their stories together. . . Possibly. ⦐
⦏ I only own what original characters will be introduced in this story, the first example being Masaki Inoue. ⦐
ー Disclaimer

---

⦏ Wednesday: July 16th, 2008 ⦐

"Hey!"

Yui's finger pointed toward the confused pair of Masaki and Saruyama.

"We've no longer any reason to be on campus anymore. So come on, let's go home!"

From afar, the tentacle slid further. It soon gave visage to a massive figure that had been watching over them from afar.

She was certain they were unaware of her sudden insistence to leave. But of course they were.

After all... She had already come to realize that she was the only one who knew it was there.

While she knew the gravity of Rito's situation... She never considered how terrifying it actually would be to take part.

She could not help that part of her wished that she was unaware again.

In the realization of its futility, her thoughts morphed into another. A desire for escape. Escape from the imminent threat that approached them.

It was just moments ago that she was able to wrap her head around all of it. At the very least, far enough to come to a singular conclusion on the matter...

If she was unable to understand absolutely anything else about what was going on. She did understand that what was looking down at them was dangerous.

Every bone. No. Every cell in her body demanded one thing from her in a trembling buzz.

Hurry and run if you want to survive.

Escape was their only option. They would be torn to shreds otherwise...!

Despite her fears, she knew that they needed to get off the campus before it got any more dangerous. Even if it meant pretending that nothing was wrong. Even if it meant to act as natural as she could.

"Come on!" Yui placed her hands behind her back as she turned back toward them, "Let's go home."

Behind her, Masaki had tilted his head. He stared at Yui for a moment as he walked closer beside Saruyama.

"Wonder what's up with Yui-chan..." Masaki frowned, "She never skips out on cleaning to go home..."

"Hmmm..."

Hearing the hum from Saruyama, Masaki turned his attention toward him.

"Something wrong?"

"Nah..." Saruyama turned away, placing a hand over his face as a lecherous grin appeared on it, "I was just thinking about how I've gotta be lucky as hell to have Kotegawa asking me to come on with her cheeks flushed like that..." He then clutched his fist tightly as he stared forward, "I'm starting to worry if I might get an erection on the way...!"

"—of course you are." Masaki had regretted asking.

"I'm serious, man!" Saruyama snapped back, "Anybody else in our situation, hanging out with one of the school's top hotties would make any real man in our class stiff as a board‼"

"Can't say I relate..."

"You get to hang out with her everyday!" Saruyama growled, "Besides, being a teacher's pet like you gets ya alone time with all kindsa hotties, you lucky prick!"

"I really don't know what you're talking about..."

"Don't think I didn't notice the glances that Ms. Ochi gives you whenever she asks you for favors!" Saruyama glared toward him, "If it weren't for you being the ace of the soccer team, you'd be getting mobbed by everybody in the school‼"

"Like I said..."

Saruyama's voice shot out from his throat as a loud cough as Masaki's fist was buried into his core. The male doubled over from the strike as his eyes snapped wide. He was clearly caught off guard by the strike.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT‼"

"Urgh... That was a..." Saruyama stumbled, holding his stomach tightly, "Nice... punch...line..." Soon enough, he collapsed from the pain.

"That was just a punch..." Masaki deadpanned.

"Masaki-kun! Saruyama!" Yui called out, "We need to get going!"

Yui turned her gaze back toward the building behind them. When she had, she soon noticed that the figure was missing from the spot.

No. That was the most alarming news.

It was in that moment she realized that the creature's location being unknown was far more dangerous than it was before. At least then, she could have some relief in that knowledge.

But now...?

"Oh, wait. Now that you mention it..." Masaki stepped back from Saruyama, a finger placed upon his chin, "I do have to go grab something for Ms. Ochi."

Yui's eyes bulged. Why did he have to try and leave now!?

"Masaki, hold on—"

"Sorry, I'll be a sec!" He called back as he ran back towards the schoolhouse, "Just go on ahead without me!"

That was not an option they could afford to take! The creature had not left! They still needed to get away!

If Yui did not stop him now, it would be too late!

"Masa—"

Yui felt chills run down her spine. A sudden eeriness washed over her as she failed to fully call out for her friend's return.

She did not even have to turn around to realize why she felt such chills...

The Hollow was there. She could simply tell.

But just to confirm her weighing suspicions, she glanced in the corner of her eye.

Sure enough, she saw suspended in the air above her.

A large Hollow whose body was composed of twelve large, lavender tentacles. They all were connected to a large jellyfish looking mask with six appendages at the bottom and three circles of protrusions at the top. The mask had heart shaped openings which gave view to its piercing yellow eyes which stared down at Yui with palpable bloodlust.

She could practically hear her own heartbeat as the tension in the air arose around her.

"You..." A feminine voice emanated from the creature, "...can see me, can't you?"

An audible gasp escaped from Yui's lips when it spoke out to her. They were directly spotted! This was no good!

"So, uh..." Saruyama scratched the back of his head, "Is there somethin' wrong, Kotegawa...? Something up there?"

Immediately, Yui's head would snap in Saruyama's direction, her eyes bulging as she could no longer hide the fear she bottled within.

"RUN, SARUYAMA‼" She bellowed, "HURRY‼!"

"...eh?" Saruyama, unaware of the danger that literally loomed overhead, could only give a puzzled expression to her pleas.

"Run?" The Hollow's eyes narrowed, "What are you talking about?"

---

On the opposite end of the Shopping Mall that Rukia had gone into, the glass ceiling had suddenly shattered. The crash having startled all of the passerbys who were exiting various stores within.

"What's that!?" One cried.

"A tornado!?"

Just as predicted, it would seem like a swirling wind would be rapidly approaching all of a sudden. At first, the crowd could not help but watch in awe of the spectacle happening before them...

...until they realized that it was heading straight for them.

"R-run for it!"

Screams of terror arose from the masses as they all fled in either direction to escape from the path of destruction the deadly winds were creating.

From a balcony, a girl would be watching intently as the chaos began.

It was evident that the girl was in high school, given that she wore a uniform. The most obvious sign of it being another school's uniform would be the M shaped emblem emblazoned over the left breast that were purple akin to purple lining along the trims of her shirt. Her sleeves were additionally fitted with black edges that hugged against her skin comfortably. Her skirt was a red plaid. On her feet were a pair of black ankle-high socks that were contrasted by her white sneakers.

Gazing through her thin, round glasses were a pair of purple eyes that had been focused dead on the center of the supposed tornado.

As if they knew what was truly within.

Well. Today was meant to be her off day. However, if the time called for it, there was no denying her responsibilities.

At least, that was what her role model would say.

Her grip tightened on her bag before she took off to run to the nearest bathroom. When she made it there, she drifted on her heels as she made a sharp turn to beeline straight for the first stall she could get into.

Some ruffling could be heard before the clothes she wore were hung over the side of the stall...

"Did they undermeasure again...? This skirt feels tighter than usual..."

Suddenly, the entire room would burst and every stall came to fly apart. This left the girl in a stupor as she was left to be revealed to be missing a significant amount of clothing save for her underwear and her skirt in the midst of being fastened.

When she slowly turned her head toward the side, she would see that the clothes she discarded were planted on the ground... Under a guy's body.

Wait. Now that she got a closer look at him... That was the boy she saw on the night of the Spirit Hunter live recording...!

He had sprung up from the ground so suddenly, she could not help but jump in surprise. Shaking his head, he raised a hand to the side of it to soothe what looked to be some lingering pain from the crash.

"Okay... Gotta admit, you throw good...!"

He stood up from the ground soon enough, wiping his mouth of the blood that slightly trailed from it.

Following his line of sight, Kyoko would see that there was an object that hovered in the air outside the hole that in the wall. As she looked at it closer, she saw something wedged into the back of it.

Though, she could barely make out what it was thanks to its constant spinning.

After some time, the spinning would cease. The object flipping in mid-air and unfolding into a large bipedal creature.

A green turtle-like monster with large flipper-like arms and stumpy legs. It had six holes in its shell, brown spots on its upper legs, toes, and shoulders, and a hexagonal torso shape.

The head popped out from the shell to reveal a small, white triangular mask over its head with teeth curled into a sickening grin. Its yellow eyes staring toward them with a menacing aura behind them.

"Even so..." The boy raised his finger to point toward the creature, a smirk on his face, "I'll be taking my sword back now!"

The monster snarled in response as it narrowed its eyes toward him. Soon enough, it would retract its limbs into its shell. The shell propelled toward them at rapid speeds. A tornado once again began to build in the room.

In a panic, she quickly finished fastening her skirt. She then grabbed the rest of the clothes that she had yet to put on as she dived to the other side of the room.

"GUH!?"

...straight into the boy's chest. She had no time to comment on it however as the both of them fell through the wall that crumbled at the force of the sudden winds.

Thanks to that, they barely escaped from the direct wrath of the spinning shell.

When she arose from her position, she paused to glance at the boy who was under her. He stared up at her with a dumbfounded expression.

Soon enough, it became completely red as he became aware of the situation at hand.

"W-wait, can you... See me?"

"Well, duh-"

A loud footstep from behind her had cut her words short.

She immediately spun her head around, clutching her clothes over her chest. Placing two fingers around her lips, she blew toward the approaching beast.

From her mouth shot out flames that overtook its entire form.

"Wha...?" She could hear his awe at what she had just done.

As much as she wanted to comment on his expression, she knew that this was not the time.

Soon enough, the creature would emerge from the flames practically unscathed, to her surprise.

It was some kind of monster, for certain. But, at the same time, she did not expect her flames to barely put a scratch on it past the shell.

Now it was charging at her as if nothing had just happened!

"—sorry."

Suddenly, she felt herself be thrown onto her back. When she was about to gasp, she glanced to the corner of her eye as she saw a hand slam down on the ground beside her head.

Could he... Have been...?

She glanced forward to see that the hand was used for the boy as a grounding for the boy to kick up to meet the monster's arm that was thrown down to strike her just seconds before.

She hated to admit that part of her was disappointed, despite the chaos.

---

O-Haruna panted heavily as she was running across road overseeing the riverbank.

It would have been far less exhausting had she been able to float around and search for Rukia. Though, in her current state, she supposed it made sense that she was forced to more conventional means of travel.

Even so, she felt like her legs could give out on her at any moment.

"Where... Could... She... Be...?" She spoke between pants, her breath running through her clenched teeth.

At this point, the sheer will to find Rukia was all that gave her the ability to continue running.

When she had been about to pass the stairway, she finally found herself at her limit. With an exasperated breath, she had dropped to her knees. Her eyes stared down heavily at the radar in her hands.

There was a reading that was approaching her. It was not one that she recognized.

Did that mean it was a Hollow...?

If that were the case, then what would she do? She was not in any condition to flee.

Tears began to well up in her eyes.

She did not want to die for the second time. At the very least, if it had to come to that, she did not want to drag Haruna with her.

But what could she do? She currently lacked the power to fight against any incoming threats. She hated to submit like this, but...

She snapped her eyes shut. At least that way she did not have to burn the image of dying into poor Haruna's eyes...

...or her own.

"It is her!"

They opened again. That was a regular person's voice just now. But that could not be, right...?

She allowed for her eyes to trail over toward where it had originated. It was then she noticed a familiar pair of golden brown eyes staring down at her.

Could it have been...?

"What're you doing out here, Haruna-chan?"

O-Haruna blinked.

She was certain that the person she had locked eyes with was Rito. It was definitely him physically, but...

Her chest felt a bit heavy when he spoke. It was if something about this was wrong...?

Haruna-chan...? Since when did he refer to her by her first name...?

A thought that did not originate from Oshizu. Did that mean...?

---

『 Tʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ Hᴇᴀʀᴛ ᴀɴᴅ Sᴏᴜʟ: To-Love Ru 』
【 Chapter 14 | Crossing Over the Rubicon ~𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬~ 】

---

Kon let out a groan as he ran ahead.

Well, he supposed it was a comforting thought to know that Mikan was safe. He passed by her on the way. She was unharmed, but mentioned something about Tatsuki.

He figured it best to report back to Rito on that, since he was probably worried sick about his sister. While personally, he was worried about his sweet honeys: Rukia and Lala.

The only saving grace was that they were currently on the lookout for one of them. Meanwhile the other, he has not seen at all today! What a bummer.

He hoped that the princess was alright. After all, there were Hollows popping up from all over the place. Even his limited sensory was picking up that much.

Then again, she should be back at the school, right? It was not like anybody saw the little confrontation that Rito had with Ren, right? He did not remember seeing anyone.

Well, whatever the situation, it might be a good idea to head back that way. If any Hollows showed up there, all the hotties would be in danger.

Agh, but he needed to find Rukia, too, did he not?

Kon rubbed his fingers against his temple. Priorities, priorities! He let out a huff and lowered his hands. Finding Rukia took first priority. After all, with her pager, Kon would know more about exactly where the Hollows would be popping up.

—and he would have gotten right to that, if not for having noticed someone he would have least expected to be this far out at the moment.

"Where... Could... She... Be...?"

Kon had to blink to confirm to himself he was not seeing things.

Wait. Now that he thought about it, school had just let out when Rito had that confrontation, did it not...? Dammit! His earlier conclusion was completely wrong.

He cleared his throat, deciding that a calm approach was best. After all, Haruna was not aware of the spiritual and whatnot. So, if he suddenly acted alarmed, then it would probably make no sense to the girl.

He definitely felt that way when she suddenly collapsed to the floor. He hopped up the steps soon afterward with some worry showing in his expression.

"What're you doing out here, Haruna-chan?"

—as far as Kon knew, that was how Rito legitimately referred to her. After all, Rito only called her that when he talked about her at home, so Kon was honestly unaware of her surname.

Well, whatever. He should focus on whether the girl was alright.

Speaking of which, she now stared up at him with wide eyes. Was there something on his face?

"Are you... Really Rito-san?"

Kon blinked.

WHAT!?

How could she have known!?

He was pretty sure he studied Rito's mannerisms to a T! So much so that he should be given an award for his dedication and hard work! He could spend an entire day at school and no one else would know the difference!

How was it it she found him out—

No. No. Kon. Calm yourself. It is probably the shock of her exhaustion.

Play it cool. Play it cool...!

"What're you saying? Of course it's me." Kon waved off her concerns, "I just left early cuz Mikan needed me to pick up some things."

"This is pretty far from any stores, though..."

Kon sweatdropped. Frantically, he darted his eyes around for something else to conversate about. Then, his eyes were drawn to her hands. More specifically, what rested within them.

"Hey, what's that you got in your hands?"

"Oh, this..." Haruna glanced down toward the device, "Lala-san gave it to me to find Rukia-san with."

"Can I see it...?"

Haruna hesitated for a moment, but gave a light nod. She gently raised the device to offer it to Kon, who would take it and examine the radar for himself.

Wait... Was it detecting things via their Spiritual Pressure? His eyes snapped wide at this. Oh, he knew Lala was a genius, but this!?

"I should expect nothing less from my dear Lala-swan~❤!" Kon broke character out of sheer marvel.

Something that earned him a skeptical look from Haruna.

---

"You have got to run, Saruyama! NOW‼"

Saruyama continued to stare at Yui with a puzzled expression, which annoyed the girl to no end.

Could he not see how serious she was being at that moment!?

"GET GOING‼!"

"I won't let you escape!"

While Yui was alarmed by the sudden declaration of the Hollow, she was more alarmed by the sudden rainfall of black cylinders that shot down around her in a sudden storm. She covered herself while screaming in terror as windows shattered all around her.

Splatters of green brushed around her. Even so, Saruyama beside her paid no heed to her sudden outcries.

Instead, he looked out to the shattering windows with a grimace.

"Oh, man, not again!"

Saruyama turned toward the panicked Yui. He tilted his head lightly as he looked at her current posture. With some time, his expression softened.

"So, uh, are you alri—"

His concerns were cut by the sharp scream he let out when his shoulder was struck by one of the objects. A gush of blood waving out as he dropped to the ground from the force of the blow.

Yui, raising her gaze to look on at the destruction that had gone on around her, could only let out a gasp. What was that just now...? This was nothing like the old school building, or even the Spirit Hunter recording!

She felt no pain... She took a moment to check her body with her eyes. Sure enough, there were no wounds to be noted.

Was she not hit by a single one...?

There was no possibility of it being a coincidence. Did it deliberately miss her?

She only felt that the thought brought up more questions. Why would she be the only one spared.

Wait... Spared...

Immediately, her glance moved toward Saruyama. Then she would notice his injury, the black seed that was jerked into it slowly fading into a pollen-like mist.

"Saruyama!" Yui kicked her feet to rush to the boy's aid, "Are you alright!?"

As she examined him, her gaze immediately moved toward the wound on his shoulder. When she looked over his clothes closer, she could see that aside from the blood that oozed from the wound, there was also a green substance.

A substance that would shift to form what looked to be a leaf over it.

She immediately thought about her own insufficiencies. Was there not anything she could do more than just stare at it...?

She was meant to be the one who upheld the morality of the school in order to defend its student body. Sure, Saruyama may have been her archnemesis when it came to that end. Even so, her goal meant that getting him to change his ways was pivotal for the betterment of all the school.

She could not do that if he was dead!

But. What could she do...? If it was already too late, then Yui lacked the strength to do anything about it.

She was not like Masaki or Rito.

She lacked the strength to bite back whenever the goings got tough like this. She climbed to the position she had today as a means of trying to escape from her powerlessness. But even now, she was still the same as ever.

She could now do nothing as those around her suffered.

She had been given by fate all the signs to tell that something was going to happen. But she had failed to make any uses of it.

Every single time—

"Urgh..."

With a groan, Saruyama had slowly recovered.

When she saw that he was alright, Yui could not help but feel her eyes begin to water. Thank goodness...

An unbelievable sense of relief had washed over her right in that moment. She was still unsure of what to do or even say, but the knowledge that he had survived taken some of the weight off her shoulders in that moment.

"What the...?" Saruyama looked up at her with a soft smile, "Are those tears in your eyes... For me...? Damn, I'm flattered...!"

She could only watch with astonishment as Saruyama pushed himself onto his feet with some grunts. He raised a hand gently to hold his shoulder while he gently rolled it.

He winced at that, but still smiled toward her.

"Don't you worry about me, Kotegawa. I'm all good!" He insisted, "I've got no idea what just happened, but what I do know is that I'm bleeding a lot. It doesn't hurt though, so you don't gotta freak out on me."

He even began to wave his hand around to demonstrate his point.

"See!? Old righty works just fine! Even got some of that muscle from late night cardio in the sh- Er, nevermind that one." Saruyama chuckled sheepishly, "The point is that I'm completely fine!"

"Saruyama..."

"Hey, don't give me that look." Saruyama continued to smile while he leaned closer, "The tearful look is cute, but I've gotta say that your smiling face is much better."

The next words that would have escaped from Yui's mouth were cut off.

No.

To the both of their surprises. It was silenced by none other than Saruyama's own hand. The appendage now tightly gripped onto the girl's throat.

"—eh?"

"Sa...ru..." Yui tried to call for his name, but the tightened grip of his hand forced her silence again.

"W-wait a minute. I'm not trying to..." Saruyama shook his head, now visibly panicked, "Wait a minute. I'm... I'm not trying to do this, Kotegawa..."

He tried to pry his fingers off with his other hand, only to be met with complete failure.

"W-why can't I let go...!?" Saruyama's eyes began to bulge, "No, noooo no no no...! Kotegawa, are you okay!? KOTEGAWA?!"

Yui was unable to respond under the force of his hand that choked her. She could physically feel the color begin to drain from her features.

As she looked down to the hand that clutched around her neck, she would notice that the leaf that had been on Saruyama's shoulder... It now had roots that dug into the wound. Roots that showed to pulsate through his arm from that point.

Was this... The Hollow's doing...?

---

Rukia was on the run.

She grit her teeth as she did her best to avoid the blur that rushed around her and caused destruction at various points around her.

She took a glance to the side and immediately saw a hole in the side of the pillar immediately behind her.

A scream let out on her other side. To her dismay, she had watched as a human's top side burst like a grape. This had caused her to grimace as she glanced around in either direction.

Certainly, her rigorous training in both the Kuchiki Household and the Shin'o Academy had prepared her for the possibility of human casualty while out on missions. That did not make it any easier to watch their deaths.

Damn...!

She trusted in Rito, that was without a doubt.

However, there was never a moment that she begrudged her current state. After all, it led to times like this where there was absolutely nothing she could do as this Hollow tore through innocent bystanders around her.

She refused to give up, though.

Even if she did not have it all, she did recover some of her powers.

"Ye lord!"

Rukia raised her fingers in front of her.

All she could do now was focus on her task. She must do what she can to eliminate the Hollows that were terrorizing the town. Even with the speed of this one, she saw it as no different than any other.

"Masks of blood and flesh..."

She swung her body to the left as the blur swung past her head. The wall behind her soon had a new, fist shaped dent in it.

Before it could whip back and strike at her from behind, she had rolled on the ground to the side. Luckily for her, she did it just early enough to narrowly avoid being struck.

She glanced down to see that some of her skirt whisked off in the wind. Just to serve as a reminder for how close she was to being killed just then.

"All creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of man!"

She needed to get her head in the game.

She could not believe that she had allowed for herself to degrade so much in these past two months.

She had taken on this job in the hopes of becoming better. Yet this whole time she was only holding herself back. So she was at a disadvantage. What did that matter?

She was trained for times like these.

"Inferno and pandemonium. The sea barrier surges."

The blur rushed by once more. This time, it headed in a different direction than her.

With a glance to her surroundings, she quickly took note of the sound of slams from the area around her. This all culminated into what sounded like a cracking sound above her head.

Her gaze moved upward to see that a large chunk of the ceiling had now been dropping toward her.

"March on to the south!"

She dropped onto her back as the falling debris made closer to her.

There was no time to hesitate. Lest she be crushed.

Of course, she had recovered enough Reiatsu to keep alive from a blow like this. However, her Gigai was not given the specs to endure a blow like this.

If it had fallen upon her, that would put her out of commission for quite some time.

"Hado #31: Shakkaho!"

With her palm outstretched, she focused forward.

Over her skin emerged a red light that would quickly shape into an orb. This orb coming to light with a radiant flame of similar color that surged around the orb for a brief moment.

In the next instant, the orb would shoot forward in a torrent. The beam piercing through the debris to make a hole wide enough for Rukia to have fit through.

A snarl had let out as the wave had also taken to cover over the form of the Hollow that had attacked her. The creature had been revealed to be standing over the carved piece when the red flames ran through.

Rukia grimaced. The damned thing must have intended to thoroughly crush her...!

She had moved to sit up once the dust had settled. There, she made a glance toward the smoking Hollow that had collapsed over by the side. A crowd gathered around what to them was no doubt merely a sudden crater in the wall.

Was it...?

No. It could not possibly be dead. If it were, it would be dissolving at that very moment.

She had gotten up from the ground with slow, ragged breaths. Her eyes narrowed at the smoking figure that was obscured by the crowd.

"What happened here...?"

"I don't know. I heard some crashing over here and came to check it out."

Rukia ignored the chatter of the crowd. Instead, she pushed through them.

What was most imperative was finishing the Hollow off now while it was still down. She could use the Memory Chikan afterward.

It had not moved at all since it was struck. Which meant she had the perfect opportunity right this moment.

Once she finally pushed to the front of the crowd, she gazed upon the fallen Hollow. The beast that nearly claimed her life just moments prior. Now, it was time to send it off. She lacked a Zanpakuto at the moment, so she unfortunately could not guarantee it would make it to the Soul Society.

Though, she could at least spare it from suffering any longer in that state.

"Hado #1: Sh—"

Rukia's eyes widened.

She stopped herself when she caught onto the Hollow twitching slightly right in that moment. As she watched it for a moment, she began to notice something had been off. Though she had no confirmation of her suspicions while its body was still smoking.

Was there something more to this...?

—she would find her answer once the smoke had finally quelled.

"GET AWAY FROM HERE, NOW‼"

Before the crowd could react to Rukia's cries, the body of the Hollow would suddenly erupt with a surge of black that had consumed the entire populace that crowded around it.

Rukia only barely managed to surf out of it, coughing profusely when she managed to catch her breath.

When she turned around toward the scene again, her eyes snapped wide. What horror arose before her was the surge had dispersed. Now rampantly fluttering around the crowd as they all cried out in pain.

They would all be torn asunder by a threat they did not realize was there.

But Rukia? She saw it all.

The people that had fallen one by one at such a rapid pace... They were all violently consumed.

Eaten whole by a swarm of what looked to be black locusts that emerged from the Hollow's body.

Rukia had arisen from the ground and tried to swat them away. Though, before she could, they would all cluster together and swoop around her. From there, they struck her in the stomach.

This had enough to force to cause Rukia to cough again before she was flung to the other side of the room. Her body flailing as she bounced against the ground when her flight dipped.

As she recovered, she would see the swarm slowly retreat back into the Hollow's body. As they did, the hole that Rukia had shot through it would slowly weave closed from its skin.

When the Hollow fully recovered, it would arise from the ground.

Rukia immediately took to arise from the ground, but was frozen stiff when the Hollow was suddenly towering over her.

Did it... Get faster...?

"You are far stronger than I anticipated you to be, girl..."

The Locust tilted its head a few times, a twitch as its lips let out a ticking sound. Its teeth gnawed, ready at any moment to bite Rukia's head clean off.

"I made a mistake in underestimating you... I won't do that again."

Rukia immediately pushed herself to the wall when the Hollow struck down toward the ground.

She believed she somewhat understood what this Hollow was capable of. Her theories could come to wait, though, given that there was a more dangerous fact to be aware of. The mall was too dangerous a place to fight it in!

Thus, Rukia took off running. She needed to draw it outside. If she could do that, then...!

Her plans were shot by the Hollow that emerged in front of her. The Hollow caved its fist into her stomach, her eyes bulging at the impact.

The attack flung her backward, her head moving backward as she cried out in pain. That was two strikes too many for Rukia to get up from so easily.

As she held her stomach, she struggled to sit up. Staring down the Hollow that was making its approach, she grit her teeth.

Dammit.

She could not afford to die here.

---

「 𝐈𝐧 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞—‼ 」

---

Rito was not entirely sure what to make of his current situation.

He was fighting a Hollow through a mall. That much was pretty understandable for him.

But, at the same time, he was being assisted by some girl he was certain just had to be in cosplay...

Who could spit out fire.

Who even now was doing so at the Hollow who had been trying to swat at her for the past while.

Not that he was ungrateful for the help. He had literally been fighting since school let out, and there was probably only going to be more Hollows where that came from. A helping hand was more than welcome given the circumstances.

However, he could not shake the feeling that there was something familiar about this girl...

"A little help here!?"

That was right. At the moment, he needed to kill the thing.

The first step to that was getting his sword back.

Rito bumped his fist against his forehead. At that moment, he moved his eyes toward the scene.

It was then that he saw that the girl was hopping backward from the Hollow that was spinning after her. Acting as a buzzsaw that cut through the walls beside her as it swerved in either direction the closer it got to her.

It was then that Rito made his move.

He ran past the pyrokinetic and leapt over the Hollow. From there, he would grab onto the hilt of his sword that was wedged into its back. When he had, he immediately pulled back at it while he slammed his feet down into the back of its shell.

The force would immediately throw the Hollow downward to skid against the ground.

"GRRRGHHH‼"

The blew a flame to propel herself farther away. Just enough to avoid her feet being cut clean off.

In the meantime, Rito had pulled back at the handle. As though it were a lever, the turtle below had arched itself backward in response as it began to skid to a halt.

When it finally had, Rito would rotate his hands' positions on the handle of the Zanpakuto. With a powerful upward motion, the blade would soon tear through the shell of the beast and through its back.

The Hollow screamed outward as it outstretched its limbs. When it had, it thrust its body forward to throw Rito off of it. Though the boy would catch onto its head while he stumbled forward. From there, he grabbed onto the thin crease between its mask and face behind it.

The Hollow then began to snarl in pain at the gesture. Rito held onto it though as he raised his sword.

He just needed one clean strike at it!

When he stabbed forward, the swing of the Hollow's head threw him off course. Rather than the mask, he stabbed into the neck of the Hollow, just past his shell.

While it was not ideal. It would certainly prove helpful.

With a grin, he would pull his arm to the side. In turn, the blade would follow his movements, digging yet another gash through the shell. This time at a far more vulnerable spot.

The violent swings the Hollow made in response to its pain were enough to finally make the boy let go. The Surrogate Shinigami was flung backward to land on his back with a grunt as the Hollow cried out in pain.

"Don't move!"

He suddenly heard a call from behind him, prompting him to move his gaze in the direction.

It was there he saw that the girl offering her assistance had thrown her hands out to either side. Her cape flapped in what seemed to be a nonexistent breeze as she took in a deep breath.

Now that he thought about it? She certainly did seem familiar. She almost looked like...

"Magical Girl Kyoko's Special Attack..."

She then exhaled to the best of her ability. This conjured a massive ball of flames that she brought forth her hands to close over tightly. Slowly, she compressed the ball to the point where it fit within the palms of her hands.

When she had, she threw her hands forward. The ball erupted into a curved blast that flung forth and struck at the open hole in the Hollow's shell.

"Inferno Fire Blast!"

Unlike before, the Hollow's body had erupted in flames. The creature howled in pain once more as it dropped to a knee.

It was at that moment that Rito had arisen from the ground. He offered no hesitation in slicing through the mask of the creature. The flames splintering into ashes that arose toward the ceiling as it faded from existence.

When the dust settled, he rested his blade upon his shoulder. He glanced in the direction of the girl behind her with a curious expression.

So... That was the magical girl from the television show Lala and Kon loved so much...

"—your special attack needs work."

In response, she stamped her foot with a puffed cheek, "Everyone on set loves it!"

---

Yui grimaced within Saruyama's hold.

She wanted to speak out against her current predicament, but found her voice constrained literally by his fingers. Her teeth clenched as she glanced in the direction of the Hollow, whose teeth curled into a devilish grin.

"HYAHYAHYAHYAHYA‼" The cackling thundered throughout the courtyard, "You have to tell me! Is it painful!? Does it hurt?!"

As if to get a closer look at her suffering, the Hollow would drop down to the ground with a thud against the ground. Its tendrils whipping against the dirt below as it made itself comfortable standing before her.

"What you're seeing is my ability." It began, "I don't like conflicts, so I drive in these seeds..."

One began to form from the top of its mask. With a low whisp of the wind, it would shoot out towards one of the broken window, a low cry ringing out from within.

"Those embedded seeds branch out and control the victim's body!"

Saruyama winced as he looked toward his shoulder, where he would see his wound beginning to pulsate with blood.

"W-what...? It... Hurts..."

To Yui's horror, the bulging in his arm would soon extend to overtake his entire arm. At that moment, she had felt him let go of her throat, allowing the breath she held the whole time to finally escape along with some coughs.

Though, there was no time for her to make any real comment before that same hand would strike her as a punch.

"That way... I can have you all kill each other‼" The Hollow cried out, "Rather than I, who dislikes conflict..."

Yui's eyes snapped wide as she felt the punch leave its imprint on her face. She let out ragged breaths as she moved her gaze to the side.

It was then that she saw a more horrific sight.

There were students.

Several of them.

All infected by various seeds that struck through them at various points. Those seeds took root inside their skin to the point of bulging to ridiculous levels.

"Now... Let's begin the show, shall we!?" The Hollow's wide grin remained intact, "It's been quite some time since I've seen the marvelous sight of a beautiful girl such as you..."

...and one by one, they were all marching toward her. Her eyes snapped wide as she felt their hands grapple onto her body from every direction. The weight having quickly proved too much and thrown her to the ground.

"...be helplessly killed by her own classmates!"

"NO‼" Yui cried out desperately, "STOP‼"

The amount surrounding her had only come to increase. She heard Saruyama cry out in protest of his uncontrollable actions, but what he was saying was lost to her now.

The faces that glared down at her were completely indistinguishable from her point of view now.

She did not want to be trapped like this any longer. But even so, what could she do besides scream out at the top of her lungs?

Their numbers only increased as time went by.

"—HANDS OFF‼"

A leg swept past Yui, striking at the student's core to throw them away from her. This was followed by an uppercut that slammed into the others' jaw.

When Yui found herself free thanks to this, she looked up to see who had come to her aid. To her delight, it had been her best friend.

"Masaki-kun!"

The boy in question pulled his fists back as he glared at the brainwashed students around him.

"My bad, Yui-chan..." Masaki spoke up, "I wish I realized sooner that this thing was here."

"No, it's fine..." Yui placed a hand over her chest with a smile, "I'm just glad you're here now!"

"Yeah. It's all gonna turn out alright..."

A wide grin came over his face as he nudged a finger toward the Hollow. The creature's face curled in disgust toward his actions.

"Anybody whose makin' Yui-chan cry... Won't get any forgiveness from me!"

"Bold words coming from a mere human."

The Hollow nudged its head forward.

It was then the students under its control charged forward. All made to move to attack Masaki, who stood in front of Yui with his eyes narrowed.

He gripped at the arm of the first who came after him. Pulling it forward, he used the student as a bat to knock the next few who rushed toward him.

Strong.

She always remembered that being Masaki's greatest trait.

He was always hopelessly durable. Even when a car hit him, the most reaction he would give were a few ouches. How he managed to completely ignore how his head bled out every time astonished her every time.

Hell, he was almost late to the entrance ceremony because he carried the person who crashed into him to the hospital.

She remembered at the start of the year when Motemitsu begged him to be part of the baseball club. Sometimes Yui herself figured he would be a better fit there. Though, he stuck with soccer and nothing else despite that.

Right now? That strength was being presented by his fists punching the wave of students before her down.

"COME ON‼" Masaki roared out, bumping his fist against his chest, "IF YOU'RE GONNA COME AT ME, GIVE IT YOUR ALL‼"

—was he treating this as some kind of competition...?

"Ma-Masaki-kun...!" She whined, hoping the gravity of the situation would deflate the adrenaline in his brain soon.

"Well, well... I would have preferred if another pretty girl had joined the fray..." The Hollow's frown remained stern, a shadow overcasting its mask, "But it's fine this way... After all, any face works... Watching them turn from lively to tearful..."

While Masaki had been fighting off the students that surrounded him, Yui's eyes moved back toward the Hollow. Her eyes snapped wide as she noticed another seed forming from its mask.

"MASAKI-KUN, LOOK OUT—"

"—IS A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT OF ITS OWN CALIBER‼"

The seed whizzed through the air far too fast for either of the two to properly react.

Masaki stood silent afterward. His expression was a complete mystery to Yui as she only had his backside to gaze upon. When she brought her gaze downward...

She would see blood begin to drop from him.

Oh no... Did that mean...?

"Hoho... How are you feeling now...?" The Hollow inquired with a devilish grin, "Those seeds driven into you take root in your body and control it."

She stared at Masaki's frozen form with shock.

This situation was only becoming worse...

"MASAKI-KU-"

She felt a hand wrap around her mouth before she could finish. When she looked into the corner of her eye, she would see that it had been a teary eyed Saruyama, who was still completely unaware of what was going on.

"I'm... So sorry, Kotegawa...!"

"Soon enough, the right of control to your body will transfer from you to me." The Hollow raised a tendril, as if to rub its nonexistent chin, "Let's see... What shall I have you do... Perhaps I should have you hang yourself after forcing you to rape that friend you so desperately tried to rescue...? Or have you cut the rope after you're beaten and stripped down to hang from the school roof..."

"Mmmf—‼"

"Both are rather fitting punishments for interrupting this dance of mine... A third option does not seem to be coming to mind at the moment..."

"MMPH‼"

As more students grabbed onto her, Yui relied on a strength she was unaware she had to pull from their grasps.

Neither of those were going to happen. Not if Yui had anything to say about it. She refused to allow such a fate when there was still any strength left in her body!

"MMMMMMMF—‼"

"—WILL YOU SHUT UP‼"

Yui's attempts were quickly put in vain when one of her captors slammed her head into the dirt below.

The Hollow lowered its tendril, its tongue slowly rolling out from behind its teeth to lick at them. The lack of lips left the saliva that washed over the appendage to trace the edges of its mask.

"My... It seems no more ideas are coming to me." The Hollow then glanced in Masaki's direction, "Hmm, I know! Why don't you tell me the way you want to die?"

"...shu...p..."

The Hollow's eyes narrowed, "...what?"

"I said..."

Masaki clutched his fists. His body began to emit what looked to be a low haze as he glared up at the monster threatening their lives. To both the shock of Yui and the beast, the seed that was drilled into his chest would drop to the ground. It immediately withered away once it had, smoking from what seemed to be Masaki's own aura.

"SHUT UP‼" Masaki then swung around and punched the student next to him before glaring back at the beast, "Quit babbling and let Yui-chan go!"

The Hollow immediately leaned closer to Masaki, examining him closer as it saw the seed wither away.

"Your Spiritual Pressure is far higher than I gave you credit for..."

"I don't really get it, but..." Masaki rubbed his finger over his lip that dripped with some blood, "...what I do get is that your seeds won't work on me!"

Masaki arched his fist back, ready to punch at the Hollow directly. However, he stopped when he saw that it had prepared another seed.

Aimed directly for Yui, who was held to the ground even still.

"That may be the case for you... But it wouldn't be for her, now would it...?"

Yui tried to scream for him to disregard her, but her face was smushed against the ground further.

She could hear Masaki grit his teeth as he lowered his fists, to her utter dismay.

"...fine. Do what you want with me, but let Yui-chan go!"

"Foolish human... Do you really think you're in the position to make such demands!?"

"You—"

Before Masaki could retaliate, a ridiculous number of students would grab at him from either side. They held him in place before the Hollow who had madly cackled at the sight.

Damn it...! Was there really nothing she could do in this moment but watch as her best friend be killed by this monster...!?

"TCH! FIGHT ME ONE ON ONE, YOU BASTARD—"

Masaki's eyes snapped wide as another seed was shot into his leg. The force of the blow caused him to wobble somewhat as he stared down in astonishment.

"Enough out of you, human..."

Another shot. This time to the abdomen.

"For there to be someone who can resist my control..."

Masaki cried out in pain when two more shots hit at either of his shoulders. His head leaned back as he felt his footing falter slightly. He took another step to widen his stance in order to keep himself standing.

"It's utterly unforgivable! DIE WHERE YOU STAND‼!"

Yui watched in horror, screaming into Saruyama's palm as she watched as Masaki's entire frame was being shot by the seeds. Green splatters mixed in with the boy's blood rained down over the ground below as he let out a cry of pain for every one.

Yui fought with every ounce of her strength to break free. To where finally she could pull her face from Saruyama.

"MASAKI-KUN, NOOOOOOOO‼!"

"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIIIIIIEEEEEEE‼!"

The horrific sight had given Yui the strength to wrestle for her freedom. When she had successfully done so, she immediately made to rush toward her friend.

This could not be the end.

She refused for it to be.

There was too much. Way too much that they were still supposed to do.

They were still in high school, no? They had too much of their lives ahead of them for this! To die right in the courtyard to some monster...!

It was just far too much!

She knew she was not the most honest in life. But even so... There was one thing she could never lie about.

She could not imagine her life without her best friend.

---

Saido let out a yawn as he had awoken from his nap. Ah.

What a great time to be alive. Well, he supposed he was dead in the eyes of any human. Oh whatever, he would not bother sweating the small stuff.

Only those of the special grade could see him anyhow.

As he had gotten up from the ground, he readjusted his hat to better fit over his head. Everything was on his person just right...

Well then, he expected for her to at least try and snag his Zanpakuto off of him if she was going to run off and fight. After all, there was no way he was going to miss the Spiritual Pressure of the two Hollows he had just awoken to.

From the looks of it, it would seem that poor Rukia was left all by her lonesome to face off against one of them.

Well, then. He supposed he had better head off and find them before she got herself killed. After all, he would rather not have to report that Rukia carelessly died in battle. He would probably end up facing Captain Kuchiki's blade were that to be the case.

With that, he stepped into the mall. He walked inside with a confident stride.

He certainly was confident that he would be able to handle it without an issue. Especially given that the boy was able to defeat the other one just a few seconds ago.

After a few minutes of walking, he would soon arrive to witness the moment that Rukia had fired off her Shakkaho. It did not surprise him at all that she was capable of firing it to the point it could damage Hollows, even in her weakened state.

After all, she was of the Kuchiki name. She had to at least make her worth somewhere.

That being said... She was no match for it in terms of speed. With that gigai, she was barely better than a human.

There was no possible chance for her to have matched up. It was almost sad to see.

But what intrigued Saido most about it was its ability to summon those locusts out of its body. Perhaps its body was a mere shell...? That would make it a bit more difficult to fight.

...he would never turn down the challenge, though.

Just as the Hollow moved forward to strike at the downed Rukia, its fist would be stopped by Saido. The Shinigami having been proven to be the faster of the two, as he had a hold of its wrist.

"My. It seems like you two are enjoying yourselves quite a bit."

Rukia looked up at him with a genuine surprise at his presence. He could not have been asleep that long, could he...?

Meanwhile, the Hollow snapped its gaze in his direction. Its eyes bulged out of its mask as a venom filled them.

"SHINIGAMI‼"

A punch was thrown in Saido's direction, but the figure seemed to have vanished before it struck. The Hollow's surprise at the sudden disappearance of the new approach was converted quickly into the dismay that its arm was cut clean off. The appendage dropping to the ground while it stared down in awe.

"You can rest easy now..."

Saido spun around behind the Hollow. With this strike, he aimed to cut clean through the body of the Hollow with one fell swoop.

To his dismay, though, the Hollow would not dissolve. As it seemed to cock its head sideways just in time to avoid it being slashed through. Before he could make a second attack, the Hollows body once again erupted in the swarm of black locusts.

This time, they all shot directly toward Saido. The man would guard against the onslaught with his blade, but they proved too mighty.

The cluster swiftly picked him up off of the ground and pushed him back through the window of a clothing shop on the other side. As he stumbled, he felt the insects biting against his skin. He flailed his body as best he could, but he could not fend them all of.

In various cries of pain, he would feel various holes tear in his arms, legs, and torso. All consumed by the locusts who would quickly retreat back into the body of the Hollow.

When they had, the Hollow's wounds had closed up quickly. The creature then let out a bloodcurdling howl.

One that grinded Saido's gears as he got up.

"Sorry, I'm fresh off a nap, so could you keep it down...!?"

Damn, those bugs could bite! As the blood dripped down from his wounds, he found himself staring down at the droplets hitting the floor for a moment.

He went in a bit too cocky for his own good. He supposed that was fine.

It was times like these that he referred to his training. The bare basics. Taking in a deep breath, he slowly brandished his weapon.

When the Hollow vanished in a blur, so too did Saido.

At that moment, the pair seemed like blurs that passed through the winds to Rukia. But to Saido, it was the rest of the world that was slowed to a snail's pace.

Saido swiped his head to the side to dodge a punch, countering with a slash toward his head. Narrowly avoided by a weave, Saido clicked his teeth before he hopped back to evade a sweep kick.

How was it possible that Saido had been moving like this? It was rather simple, really.

Shinigami had four fundamental elements they have to rely on in battle. Some are proficient in some, some are talentless in others.

The first, and foremost, would be Zanjutsu. Otherwise known as the sword technique a Shinigami employs in battle. It was shameful not to be capable of wielding a sword competently in combat. After all, the Zanpakuto through which they fought represented their honor in and of themselves.

The second would be Kido. The spells that most Shinigami are capable of using to a fair degree. Rukia herself had this element tightly secured in her own arsenal. While Saido personally chose against using it himself for most confrontations, he could admit that he knew his fair share as well.

Third was Hakuda. In other words, hand-to-hand combat. Saido was not the best when it came to this skill, but he could definitely hold his own if it ever came down to it.

Though, none of those explained what he was doing now.

Saido was punched in the face, his hat top lifting to show an X. As if the world was signaling him that his thoughts were off track.

Ahem. Right. Back to the point.

The technique that he was employing was a part of the fourth element. To most, this would be the secondmost crucial to any Shinigami's arsenal. Hoho, or the coordination of foot movement in the heat of battle.

Specifically, he was using the signature technique of the element: Shunpo. It had gotten its name due to the fact that, to those who could not keep up, it appeared that the user had vanished in a literal flash.

In truth, Shinigami merely apply their Spiritual Pressure to their bodies. This allows for their next step to be greatly increased depending on the control and proportion applied to the technique. While Saido could not boast himself to the level of anyone who was considered a master of such a technique: He liked to imagine that he at least had some notable level of skill in it.

For now, it would likely be best he stopped with the mental expositions and return his focus to his fight...

That thought was proven to be right when Saido, in his train of thought, slashed through the Hollow against whilst going through the motions.

"YOU FOOL! YOU CUT TOO SHALLOW!"

True enough, while the cut had struck toward the mask, it was so late into the upward curve that it did little more than leave a thin cut straight across.

This time, Saido was adequately prepared and flashed out of the way before the swarm could fling at him.

"Bakudo #4: Hainawa!"

Rukia suddenly called out. With a whip of her hand, a yellow coil of electricity would lasso around the cluster and Hollow body. The tightening of the coil shocked the locusts back into place within the Hollow, which was unable to regenerate due to the lack of sustenance.

"NOW, SAIDO!"

"You ain't gotta tell me twice!"

It was then that Saido had swung forth his blade to cut clean through the head of the Hollow.

Finally, it dissolved before their eyes.

Both of the actual Shinigami let out sighs of relief. Rukia dropped onto her back with ragged breaths while Saido sheathed his sword.

"Rukia!"

They both looked up to see Rito drop down from the second floor, a girl shouting at him from the upper floor but they did not process what she said.

"Well, look who showed up." Saido crossed his arms with a grin.

Rito stopped as he noticed Saido, a glare directed toward him, "So that fancy trick of yours was how you beat me before, huh?"

"Oho~? So you noticed? Well, then, you're correct!" Saido pulled his hat to show a green circle, "But don't regard it as cheating, even Rukia here knew the skill before you took her powers. You should blame her for not knowing."

Rito looked toward Rukia with a skeptical glance, which had annoyed Saido somewhat. Was it that hard to give him the benefit of the doubt?

Well, he supposed that was a bit much to ask when his first impression of him was when Saido stabbed him. More than once. With full intention for him to not survive any of them.

Nonetheless, Rukia gave Rito a shrug. It seemed that was enough to redirect the boy's fury to her neglection to teach him rather than Saido's superiority.

He would take something over nothing, he supposed.

---

「 𝐀 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧!? 」

---

Tatsuki was completely unsure of where exactly it was that she was at now.

It was definitely not the school. Too small. Not to mention, too old school Japanese. She swore she only saw rooms like these in shrines, but no, there they were.

But even so... She was content with her mysterious new whereabouts.

Why?

Because she was able to eat.

Right now, that was what she needed more than anything. After that big fight of hers, every single feeling she may have had. Pain. Anger. Confusion. All of it paled in comparison to just how hungry she was.

So now, she was feasting on the feast that was waiting for her when she awoke on a table in the middle of the room. There was ridiculous amounts of food sitting there. Was it even all for her?

She did not care at the moment, honestly. It was now. Too much of it was already making way to her stomach to give up now.

Before she would have worried about getting fat. But honestly? Since she began to eat, her worries about anything fizzled out.

At least... That was until she finished her last bite.

Wiping her mouth with her wrist slowly, she then directed her attention to her next largest concern. The dragon that was still staring her down, and had been since her fight.

She slapped her hand against the knee of her crossed legs as she leaned forward somewhat, a brow cocked toward the ethereal beast.

"So what even are you, anyway?"

No response beyond a mere snort. Great, even the haze that came out of its nose was something only she could see. She groaned at that.

"So you don't feel like answering, huh...?" Tatsuki clicked her teeth in annoyance, "Just my luck. Another mystery pops up just when I thought I found some peace with all this crap."

"Oh my," Both dragon and human had their attentions captivated by a new arrival, "It looks like you've finally woken up. Did you enjoy your meal?"

She examined the features of the man for a moment. His getup was pretty retro. Felt like something a samurai would wear as pajamas.

But even so... She had the innate feeling that her current security was thanks to this man.

"...yeah." She nodded lightly.

Her dragon pulling back its head to rest it against her shoulder, to her annoyance. Oh at least this thing got to get all cozy... She jabbed her thumb toward the dragon while looking up at the man.

"Hey, Bucket Hat. Can you see this thing?"

"Hm...?" He stopped for a moment, his arms crossed. Then, after a moment's time, his hat lifted somewhat to reveal one of his eyes that were widened in surprise, "It's been quite some time... Since I've seen one of you around..."

"One of me...? Then, you know what these powers I've suddenly gained are?" Tatsuki lowered her hand, this newfound curiosity eating up at her.

"Yes. But I'll keep the explanation brief. After all, there's somewhere else you ought to be right now."

"Somewhere else...?" Tatsuki cocked her brow again.

"Yes..." The bucket hatted man now revealed both eyes, which threatened to stare into Tatsuki's very soul, "That is, if you want Yukki Rito to come out of this alive."

---

Lala flew forth at the highest speeds she could set her wings to. Her eyes moved in either direction as she scanned over the streets below her. It seemed as though whatever Hollows were popping up were migrating somewhere.

Was there something going on...?

Well, anyway, if she followed them, she may find wherever Rukia could be. Oshizu still needed her help, despite everything.

She opened up her D-Dial. Soon enough, she did in fact pick up on Rukia's signal. Oh, and to her delight, she also picked up on Rito's signal at the same place!

Yippee!

She continued to fly off in the direction in the distance.

Unbeknownst to her though, there was another figure who had been watching her fly closer from the roof of the very building she was headed toward.

A pair of binoculars were held up to her eyes, the girl having a blank expression cross her features. When it lowered, it would seem that the binoculars themselves were attached to her hair.

The reason for that was quickly revealed when the binoculars soon unraveled to actually be just a conjuration of her golden locks weaved together into the shape.

Those very same locks were only one of many that existed within her hair that overtook nearly the entirety of her backside. She was certainly on the shorter side compared to the princess, standing at a height of 153cm.

Though, her figure was cloaked in an all-black Gothic-esque leather uniform which notably had a silver star emblem on the chest which offered a small glimpse of the skin on her chest. The uniform was separated by two waist belts, five-leg belts on both of her legs, and two sleeves that attach to her upper arm via belt.

Her crimson eyes had stared off into the distance for a moment's time, as a crow behind her had looked off in another direction.

"So, that was the first princess of Deviluke... It appears that information was correct."

She spoke in a monotone voice, her eyes giving a disinterested look to the world around her. Slowly, she turned to head for the stairway down.

"Further investigations should be made."

When she had stepped into the building, immediately she noticed what looked to be a leech attempting to approach her. When it leapt toward her, she raised her hand slowly.

The appendage would soon unravel and mold itself into that of a blade. One swing of her arm proved more than sufficient in cleaving the leech in two.

Her eyes moved to the wall where a slime-like substance burned onto it.

"...I hate slimes."

---

⦗ BGM Cue ー Tokinohana -solo version- ⦅ Tomomi Jiena Sumi ⦆ ⦘

Yui felt a lot of things at that moment.

The fear of death was certainly a major one. After all, it was not only for her own, but fear for her best friend's as well. There was not much more they could do but dance in the palm of its hands at that moment.

A prideful rage that began to well up deep within her. As the defender of this school's morals, for some monster to weaponize its students and use them as tools for its method of torture...? It was infuriating!

However, neither of those feelings could be voiced by her at the moment.

The reason? Saruyama's foot was buried in her core at that moment.

Right when she believed she was going to reach Masaki, a single strike had put her back down. Now she felt her lunch come back up and out of her as vomit that stained the floor below her.

She stared down at the pool of it in her hand that she tried to stop to no avail.

She herself wanted to stop all of this mess...?

Who was she kidding?

She was unable to even stop herself from hurling at the behest of this monster. Not even directly, no less.

She was not like them.

It was not hard for her to imagine either of those she immediately thought up of being stronger than her in this situation.

The first was Rito. Who stood in front of her. Shielded her from whatever danger was in her way. Be it human or literal monster.

No. Masaki was the same. After all, he literally stood and took the heat of what torture was meant for her to suffer.

Both of them carried a strength that Yui could never say she ever had herself.

As far back as she could remember, she had always been met with futility in times like these. Always the one who needed to be shielded.

She could never find herself able to fight back when the time was right...

Instead, she had to watch as people took all the pain on her behalf. Then smile about it as if it never hurt them in the first place.

She knew those smiles were for her sake. To try and cheer her up about it. But they never had.

Instead. They served as the reminder of how much of a coward she really was.

That thought made her want to vomit again.

Her hand hit the ground. Slowly, she wiped the bile that covered over it off. Her eyes were covered by her rattled hair that hung over her features.

It made her disgusted with herself that out of all those closest to her, she was the only one who could not possibly do a damned thing when things became dire.

Lala Satalin Deviluke had her gadgets.

Yukki Rito and Inoue Masaki could both hold their own against the best fighters she had ever seen in real life.

Hell, she has even caught Momioka Risa throw down rather well before!

She was nothing like them... And it made her sick.

Was there really nothing she could possibly do except watch as they continued to get hurt for her sake? Beg and cry in vain as her best friend literally died before her eyes in the name of protecting her?

"No..."

Yui grit her teeth.

Slowly, she took to stand from the ground. Her eyes moved over to Masaki, who had soon fallen over from the injuries that covered his entire form.

"Yu...i...cha..." Slowly, his gaze moved toward her. She could see the light in his eyes beginning to fade, "Have...to...ru...n..."

Run? That was certainly the best option. It guaranteed she would live at least a short while longer.

Even so... She refused to do so if she could not take him with her.

"Masaki-kun... We've spent every day of our lives together for the past four years... And there's no one in the world I'm more grateful to have in my life..." Yui stepped to stand over him, the two now making eye contact, "I know I don't say it as often as I should... But you're the greatest friend a girl could ask for..."

"Yui...chan..."

Yui slowly smiled. She saw tears begin to stream down his eyes.

Admittedly, she felt the need to tear up herself. After all, this could very well spell the end for both of them. Yet somehow, they managed to be in each other's company to that very end.

Almost poetic, really.

However...

"Masaki-kun... You don't have to worry anymore..." Slowly, a determination came to fire within her eyes as the wind started to pick up, "...because I'm going to protect you this time."

「 [Guitar starts here] 」

Unbeknownst to either of them, Yui's hairpins would shine. An orange light radiating from the both of them.

The Hollow may have been the one to plant seeds to their dastardly plot, but it would seem that a different flower had come to bloom in spite of it.

A vicious wind would soon overtake the both of them as it swirled around the both of them.

The winds proved to be so devastatingly powerful that all of the students that the Hollow had taken control of were subsequently blown away in the wake of its emergence.

As for the creature themselves, they struggled to remain on the ground as they were directly being blown at. Its top flapped in the current like it were a balloon tethered to a pole.

"IMPOSSIBLEEEEE‼!"

When the winds would finally settle, a foot would step out from the haze.

"Normally, I would reprimand problem factors on school grounds as a representative of the morals committee. But that's not the case today..."

Yui stared down the Hollow.

Her clothes may have been torn. Her body may have been bruised.

...but her spirit had never felt more rejuvenated in her life.

"...today, I declare to you that as Kotegawa Yui, I will make sure you pay for hurting Masaki-kun!"

「 Ka~n~ga~e temo wakara nakatta kotae ga... 」

"Make me pay, you say...? Well, now, you've certainly gotten confident, haven't you...?" The Hollow scoffed as it glared toward her, "I must wonder where all of it had even come from..."

Yui narrowed her eyes.

There was nothing that this thing could say to save it now. Yui was unsure as to the reason why. But she was more than confident that it would soon die by her hand.

"What the hell is that look in your eye...?" The Hollow scowled, "And those... Things flying around you...?"

Things? Yui almost blinked at the mention.

Soon enough, she lifted her gaze up toward the cuts of wind that passed overhead. After some time, she would come to notice that there indeed were what looked to be strange objects flying through the skies around her at that moment.

"What... Are these...?"

"You... You weren't even aware of them!?"

"No. She most certainly is aware."

Yui's attention was brought upward. There, she would see that one of the birds overhead would slow its flight to seemingly peer down at the Hollow.

"It would be more appropriate to say she must be. Of our existence, that is."

...it was talking?

"After all, we are the ones... Who stay nearest to her."

Soon enough, the six would float down to Yui's level, one landing on her shoulder. When it raised up, it would unfold to reveal that it was... A person? No. A pixie?

"Nice to meet you, Orihime!" He looked up at her with a wide grin on his face while his hands were placed onto his hips.

The others would unfold as well, revealing themselves to all be pixies of different figures and sizes. Yui was almost fixated on denying their existence until she remembered that she was fighting a literal undead monster at the moment.

"We are the Shun Shun Rikka! Born to protect you, we are your power!"

「 Da~re~ka ni kizutsukerarete mietarishite... 」

Yui was honestly speechless at that. In any other situation, she would be convinced she needed a mental ward.

...no, the undead monster excuse was still not helping her get past it. She immediately jumped back, her arms raised over her head as she looked at them in fright.

"I-it's a... M-midget! A flying midget! Flying midgets suddenly appeared and are talking to me!?"

"Oh my. That's a pretty good reaction there." The pixie laughed, "But... There's one correction needed there. We're not flying midgets. We're your power."

"My... Power?"

"That's right." The pixie leaned alarmingly close, his closed eyes seemed to stare up at her, "We are your own spiritual power. We've been dormant for so long, but thanks to outside influences, we're finally able to assist you." He then raised a finger toward himself, "In other words, we are your other self!"

Yui gave a deadpan expression as she clapped her hands together over the pixie.

"H-HEY! DON'T TRY AND CAPTURE ME JUST BECAUSE YOU DON'T LIKE THE EXPLANATION‼" He squirmed in her grasp, "B-Besides! Even if you captured me, nobody could see us except you!"

"...really?" It was then that Yui had let go of the pixie.

"Well, I see except you, but there are other people who could... Yukki Rito for example."

Yui was about to dumbly echo the name, but refrained. That honestly made some sense. If that were the case, then it must have meant that Masaki would be able to see them, too...

Wait, Masaki—

「 Ma~yo~ttemo ugoki tsuzukeru nara dokoka de... 」

"THIS AIN'T THE TIME FOR EASYGOING INTRODUCTIONS, TOP-KNOT‼"

Suddenly, another pixie would dropkick the first. The other raising a hand to their kicked head with a sheepish smile as they looked back at their attacker.

This one had worn what looked to be a skin-tight suit with a scarf.

"Ow... That hurt, Tsubaki!"

"Of course, idiot! It was a painful kick! Don't be timid with your words!" Tsubaki would then turn his gaze toward Yui, "HEY! Woman!"

Yui could already tell she was not going to get along with this one. Her brow twitched at the rude way of greeting from the creature.

"It ain't necessary for you to know what we are or where we came from!"

Big talk from someone literally the same of her hand. She felt the nerve to swat it out of the air, but chose against it.

"What you do have to know is how to handle us, and that's all!"

"Handle...?"

"That's right!"

Another pixie crossed his hands over one another as he proudly stood in front of two other pixies. A larger, bulky male, and a female with a visor over her eyes and a bang that covered her left.

"Our power is the ability to build a shield and repel it!" He declared, "What we need to do it is your mind and the incantation!"

"Incantation!?" Was she expected to do witchcraft now!?

"Hey." Tsubaki calmly spoke, "It's coming."

"You...!" The Hollow seemed to have lost its patience at being ignored, as its tendrils began to curl in its anger, "What are you up to, little girl!?"

「 E~ga~i~teta risou to kibou ga deau hazu... 」

"KIEEEEEE‼" Yui jumped when the impish pixie suddenly screamed, "Let's go, Yui-san! Call out our names! I am Hinagiku!"

"I am Baigon!" Spoke the titan.

"I'm Lily!"

Any understanding of the situation Yui believed she had was thrown right out the window. Why the hell were they suddenly shouting their names at her!?

"It's okay, calm down. It's part of the incantation." Top-Knot explained, "Now, repeat after me..."

Yui really hoped this actually worked. Because otherwise? Well, all she had to say she contributed with was she added six pixies to the death toll.

"Hinagiku! Baigon! Lily!"

Yui called out alongside Top-Knot, the three named all preparing to make their move.

The Hollow fired forth three seeds at Yui. All of them flying forward with the precision of a bullet. The three pixies took to fold back into their wings and soar above before taking a triangular position in front of them.

"Santen Kesshun: I REJECT‼"

Yui immediately braced herself as the seeds nearly struck at her. Though, to her pleasant surprise, none of them made their mark.

As she looked to the result, she saw that instead, an orange barrier that was projected from the three pixies had kept the attack from directly striking at her.

It was... Incredible. Maybe she really should not have underestimated the little guys...

"Their ability is to repel the outer shield." Top-Knot raised a finger, "A shield is raised between you and your enemy, and they repel whatever attack you receive."

「 So~no— tame nara inochi mo... 」

"Wha... Who... Is that!?" The Hollow did not seem to have any more a grasp of what was going on than Yui herself.

Top-Knot's finger had then moved toward the unconscious Masaki, who was still bleeding out on the ground before her. When Yui gazed at his condition, she felt a bitter taste brew in her mouth.

"Both of our abilities is to repel the inner shield." He began to float down toward the injured boy, alongside another pixie who looked almost like a shrine maiden. "The shield placed inside means that we repel the damage within that limited area. In other words, we can return a subject covered by the shield to the state they were in before taking damage."

Yui's eyes widened at this. That meant... She could save him!

As if already aware of what her thoughts were, Top-Knot gave a nod. "Now, call our names! I am Shono, and she is Ayame!"

Right.

"Shono! Ayame!"

"Now, for the incantation!"

She clutched at her chest. Please, let this work...! "Souten Kishun: I REJECT‼"

「 Na~ge~dasu kachi ga aru... 」

She watched as the pair floated to reach above and below Masaki's form. Then, they had projected a barrier that had covered over him in his entirety.

Sure enough, its radiant light had washed over him. She watched with a teary eye as the copious injuries had begun to fade away from his body.

"Masaki-kun...!" A sigh of relief that escaped from the depths of her heart.

All this time she clung to what political power school committees and class presidency could offer her as some distraction from her powerlessness. But now? She could actually say she had the power to do something...!

She saved someone.

Whatever reason she had this strength now, she was grateful. It allowed for her to have this memory to cherish for the rest of her life. She was now capable of making a difference in her own life now.

「 Shi~n~jitai mono no ta~me~ni hi~to wa tatakau no sa...! 」

"Hey. No time for tears, woman." To her side, Tsubaki would be rolling his shoulder, "It's my turn next!"

He leaned back toward her with what clearly looked as though he were smirking under his mask. Even so, Yui herself could never confirm. She had no real grasp of this pixie's character.

"My ability is to repel both sides of the shield! I break through the enemy, put up a shield inside, and repel the combined substance." Tsubaki explained himself, "Basically, I split the enemy in two!"

That was one crazy power he had...

Though she supposed if that were true, then it had made sense that he was so standoffish. Now that she thought about it... Yui came to realize that Tsubaki was the only one who mentioned anything about actually damaging the enemy.

Did that mean she only had one means of attack...?

Perhaps this really was a power that reflected herself. Even with her bolstered courage, she could not consider herself a fighter on the same caliber as those two.

Even, so... She intended to make good on her word.

「 To~ki no ha~na ga hi~rari, hirari naga~rete yuku yo, koyoi tsuki... 」

The Hollow glared at Yui's form.

Where did it all go wrong? The Hollow was sure that it planned this hunt perfectly.

This school had plenty of subjects to take control of. Ones that swiftly danced in the palm of her metaphorical hands. The only exceptions were two.

The two that ruined everything.

That boy that could somehow resist the control of her seeds. She was more than sure that she had shot him dead. That body should be nothing but a husk now. But, to her utter dismay, it would seem that somehow...

That little girl healed him. Rescued him from the brink of death... That should not have been possible!

It was wrong to have attempted torture on her. The Hollow now understood that refraining from killing her immediately was her greatest mistake in this situation.

A mistake she was going to rectify at this very moment.

"Damn you, little girl...! You've ruined everything! Ruined it all, I say!" The Hollow cried out in frustration, "But that doesn't matter... Because you and those strange powers... Will BOTH DIE HERE‼"

A seed. No. A hundred seeds. Death by all of the seeds she could possibly conjure at once. That was the most fitting end to someone like her.

The monster decided that it would leave nothing left of her except a fountain of blood. It would be satisfied with nothing less!

「 Kaeri mi~chi wo terasu hi~ka~ri na~do naito... 」

"Now say it, woman!" The pixie leapt forward at the Hollow, "MY NAME IS TSUBAKI‼"

The Hollow absolutely would not allow for that to happen! Whatever the girl was scheming next, it would end before it could ever hope to come to fruition!

The Hollow fired forth its seeds. A wide grin coming over its face as it saw the destruction that beautifully unfolded before its eyes. What glass remained of the building behind the girl was now all falling upon them like rainfall.

It had no need to peer into the smoke that erupted from its onslaught. It knew well that the two perished at her hand.

After all, her defense against one of its attacks? Merely a fluke. There was no way a mere human like her, who had been beaten down at the hands of some high school children could ever hope to challenge her.

"O~HOHOHOOOO‼" The Hollow raised its tendrils to the air, as if praising itself for its efforts, "DO YOU SEE NOW, LITTLE GIRL!? THIS IS THE REALITY OF YOUR SITUATION, A DEATH THAT BEFITS NOTHING BUT DESPAIR‼"

Yes. This was the perfect end to the melancholic play that it sought to witness. The heroine meeting her tragic end despite all of the odds she fought against. Despite the glimmer of hope she had believed herself to achieve!

What a marvelous sto—

「 Yo~ko~ga~o mise to~ki no ha~na ga hi~rari, hirari ta~bi~bito, izanau yo... 」

Where did the border in its vision come from? It was certain that just moments prior, there was nothing wrong. Victory had been assured. It was absolutely certain of that!

As if some sick joke was being pulled on it by the world, the smoke came to clear.

In its center stood that blasted little girl, unharmed in the midst of the gleaming showers that surrounded her.

But how!? It was more than certain that it fired enough seeds to eliminate an army of humans! So how was it that one little girl managed to not be hit by a single one!?

It was impossible. This must have been some illusion it was trapped in.

That was it!

That girl must have had the ability to conjure illusions!

There was no way it could accept a reality where it was met with complete and utter defeat like this!

But alas, its heart shaped eyes gave a tired glance as it finally gazed forward. There, the reality of the situation would be reflected within the glass.

Orange... Was a color that it had begun to hate in its final moments.

「 Ka~nata mi, mieru se~kai, irodo~tte miseru yo~‼ 」

Tsubaki flew forth with an intense vigor despite the seeds that approached him. His body swiftly folded into the protective cover of its wings.

The seeds may have flown toward them fast, but Tsubaki proved to be both faster and stronger. His body alone proved enough to tear through whatever ones blocked his path to his target.

Before long, he would tear through the onslaught and in a flash, he had torn straight through the Hollow that stood in his master's way.

Chaos and destruction surrounded her. That was for certain. If this were mere moments before, Yui herself knew full well that she would have been dead already. A mere corpse that bled out on the ground despite all of Masaki's best efforts to defend her.

But now...?

Now Yui was in control of this situation. She would be damned if her story ended here.

She would raise her arm slowly as the smoke began to die down around her. As if compelled by the dramatics of the moment, she had thrown her hand to the side in an exaggerated manner.

This gesture seemed to have impacted even nature itself as the smoke would rapidly blow away in a current that followed the same motion her arm had.

Now she could see clearly. The monster that floated just beyond her reach. No. It was no longer beyond her anymore.

It would be more appropriate to say that it was behind her now. Since it had already met its end.

"TSUBAKI‼"

「 (Instrumental) 」

Glitters of orange light had pulsated from the thin wound in the head of the Hollow. Ones that gleamed not only in the scrap remains of the windows that fell around her, but also in Yui's eyes.

The brilliant orange light that had represented Yui's personal strength. The power she alone had the power to command.

"Koten Zanshun..."

The light would soon explode into a massive barrier that had, true to Tsubaki's word, run right down the Hollow's center. The orange shield cutiing the beast neatly into two halves that both looked on in astonishment at what she had done to it.

She could tell that it could no longer speak. No longer spit out those condescending lines it had about what vile things it had in mind for the both of them.

"I, Reject."

A final burst of orange light as the shield dispersed into particles that flowed through the air like flickers after a firework.

Yui watched with her eyes still aflame as the Hollow dissolved before her. Right until the moment the last black speck had fluttered off into the blue sky above.

⦗ BGM End ⦘

"You weren't half bad, woman." Tsubaki crossed his arms as he floated on the other side of the courtyard.

"I have a name, you know." Yui pointed her finger toward the pixie with a frown, "And you would do well to refer to me by it!"

"I'll call you by your name when your fighting spirit raises." Tsubaki then popped his neck with a groan, "I could barely let loose back there. If that Hollow wasn't so weak, I mighta actually had some trouble!"

"And how is that my fault!?"

"Didn't I tell you there's no reason to tell you everything?"

"Okay, okay. There's no reason for you two to fight now..." Shono acted as the mediator between them, floating into the slowly shortening gap between them. "We saved the day together, no? Let's be happy about that!"

"While I am glad that you all helped me defeat that Hollow..."

Yui grimaced as her gaze turned toward all of the downed students. It was a relief to see all of the seeds embedded into their bodies vanish. However, it also came with the condolence that the wounds beneath them were far more evident.

"I'm not sure I have the stamina to heal all of them... It took so much just to heal Masaki-kun and fight that Hollow at once..."

"...true. This many is certainly beyond our current limits..." Shono frowned as he rubbed his chin softly, "For now, I believe it best to preserve our strength."

"Preserve?"

"It means we're going back to where we came from, woman." Tsubaki rolled his eyes, "Learn to take a hint."

Yui immediately wanted to bark back at the snarky pixie, but refrained when she noticed the six all be consumed by orange light that would shoot at her head. More specifically, the sides of her head.

In an instant, they had formed into the blue hairpins she had become accustomed to wearing. Her hand followed where the lights went and pressed gently against them.

She could not help but smile as she came to realize the implications.

Rito... She could not thank him enough for allowing her to borrow a little of his strength back there.

"Oh my, I knew things got rough out here, but this is still quite the shock."

She almost jumped when a new voice had popped up, but maintained her composure when she realized it was Mikado. It seemed logical that the school nurse would be the first responder to an incident such as this.

Yui lowered her hands gently as she approached the nurse with a frown, "Mikado-sensei, we sh—"

"It's alright, Kotegawa-san. I'll handle this, okay?"

The woman gave a light smile as she brought her hand toward her coat.

All on her own? But. There was an astounding number of patients to be dealt with. For a school nurse to take on that challenge so confidently... It was asinine!

"But Sensei, I-"

"Kotegawa-san. Isn't there somewhere else you should probably be right now?"

Yui paused at that. Somewhere else...?

It was then that it had hit her.

Surely, Rito and Rukia would have arrived on the scene in any other situation. So why were neither of them present despite it all? It must have meant there were other Hollows.

Other Hollows that had been keeping them busy all this time.

She gave a nod toward Mikado and took off towards the distance.

She swore she always had to keep an eye on that boy, lest he get himself into more trouble...

---

「 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧? 」

---

Rito was now running through the hallway of the second floor of the mall.

There was some strange feeling that he could not shake. One that told him he was not quite done with this mall yet.

Now, he would normally pick up his pace in situations like this...

But he had a companion in this situation that he personally was reluctant to accept as such.

"Ichi-kun, why are we still running around?" Kyoko asked him, "We beat the monster, didn't we? I like the costume, sure, but I might get paparazzi if I'm in it too long."

"This isn't some hero show. There are monsters like that everywhere right now."

"Wait, what!?" Kyoko shouted in surprise, "They're everywhere? How did that happen!? I thought only monster shows up per week!"

What part of this was not a hero show did he not make clear to her...? A sigh jumped out of his throat as he faced forward.

"Some jerk set em loose on everybody." Rito narrowed his eyes, "So I'll pummel every single one that shows up and then I'll beat the hell out of him for doing this."

"Wow..." Kyoko clasped her hands together, "That's pretty heroic of you, Ichi-kun!"

"By the way..." Rito turned his head back toward her, "Why do you keep calling me that?"

"Because you're the Number One Pupil!"

Number One Pupil...? Where did he hear that befo—

Rito's face immediately cringed when he recalled that there was only one person who referred to him as that. So regularly that it made him sick to his stomach to hear it.

"You... Wouldn't happen to be familiar with Don Kanonji, would you...?"

Rito turned back toward her with what best he could manage as a smile.

It only became harder to hold together when she returned his fake one with one so genuine it practically glew.

"Yes! He taught me all about heroics!"

"He did, huh...?"

"Mhm! He visited my house the day he first saw the set!"

No doubt about it. That bastard certainly was a pervert.

Now he had two reasons he wanted to imprint his fist over his stupid hat. But, then again, it made him feel better that his house was not the only one that Don randomly visited. Not enough to make his anger about it subside, though.

Luckily for him, when he approached the balcony, he found something else to focus on.

Down below... Was that Rukia? She was fighting a Hollow alright.

Damn it. She was down! It was too fast for her to get out of its way... Rito grasped at the hilt of his sword, he needed to get in there!

But, the last person he expected to show had beaten him to the punch.

The Shinigami that took him down before now stood as the Hollow's new opponent. Before long, the two would vanish into two blurs.

"W-woah! Did they both just disappear!?" Kyoko, having been watching too, had gasped.

Disappear? No. They were just moving fast. So fast that Rito came to realize it made sense she thought they teleported or something of the like.

But he could see the truth. While he had to admit his surprise in being able to, he was glad he could. It made him understand why he lost before.

Soon enough, the battle had come to an end.

Rito clutched onto the edge of the railing with a frown. Though he refrained when he realized that Kyoko had turned her gaze toward him, deciding to meet hers with his own.

"What's with the look?"

"Say, your getup is kinda similar to that guy's? Are you part of some team or something?"

"As if." Rito pulled his hand back to cross his arms, "He's probably only here cuz this whole mess is a problem for him, too."

"So, then, should we meet up with him?"

Rito hesitated. He was honestly unsure if trying to work with the guy who almost killed him was the best idea.

But... Help was help.

"Yeah..." He decided to steel his resolve, "Rukia!"

"Okay, then. I think there's an elevator pretty close by! Or we could do the stairs if that's more your style." Kyoko placed a finger on her chin, "On second thought, I dunno. I don't want the costume to get too sweaty. This is the only extra they let me have..."

Had she turned around any sooner, she might have been able to stop Rito before he had already jumped down to approach the two Shinigami.

"H-HEY! ICHI-KUN!?" She leaned over the railing and stared down at him in disbelief, "I can't jump down like that, what am I supposed to do!?"

"Go down the stairs or something!"

"Wha— What part of I don't wanna sweat on the costume did you not get!?"

Rito gave a deadpan expression back to her.

This was the Magical Kyoko that Lala watched every day? She was honestly pretty normal in comparison to Don Kanonji. But then again, she considered that guy a mentor. And she talked about how he went to her house like it was nothing...

There had to be some wires that were crossed over up top.

"Well, look who showed up."

Oh, right. There was this asshole.

Rito frowned as he glared daggers at the man. There was absolutely no way he could trust the guy considering their last encounter. Though, for now, he knew accepting his help was the best option.

With that in mind, though...

"So that fancy trick of yours was how you beat me before, huh?"

"Oho~? So you noticed? Well, then, you're correct!" Saido pulled his hat to show a green circle, "But don't regard it as cheating, even Rukia here knew the skill before you took her powers. You should blame her for not knowing."

Rito moved his glance to Rukia. He stared at the girl for a moment with a brow quipped. Rather than actually explaining herself, the girl merely gave a shrug. A gesture that caused a tick mark to appear on his forehead.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" Rito shook a fist toward the girl, "ALL THAT TRAINING OF ME RUNNING AROUND THE RIVER WHILE DRAGGING YOU AROUND, AND YOU WERE HIDING SOME SPEED TECHNIQUE FROM ME⁇‼"

"I was never expecting you to need it." Rukia crossed her arms.

"Not even after being attacked by a Shinigami!?"

"...it's a technique that's easier learned from visually seeing it?"

Rito groaned as he rubbed his forehead. Well, they had better go find some more Hollows before something else could ha-

"Three Shinigami all gathered up in one place... How delightful~"

The three all froze as they suddenly felt the air around them thicken.

Another one was here. Rito did not have to look at Rukia's beating pager to know that. The fact practically bled out into the atmosphere that surrounded them.

Whatever this one was, it was far stronger than any other Hollow he had encountered by this point. He could tell that much from the fact that even the hatted Shinigami was breaking into a sweat over the presence.

"No... To say that there's three would be wrong, wouldn't it...?"

Rito slowly raised his hand. Then it grasped onto the hilt of his sword.

He needed to ready his guard. That was what every cell in his body was telling him.

As he glanced into the corner of his eye, a head would peer out from the shadows to meet his gaze.

Over the face of was a white mask that was vertically long and narrow, with thick and exposed teeth framed by black, flame-like markings, a skull-like nose, a large and circular chin, and a half-circle indent on its forehead.

"...you smell different."

Rito drew his blade and went to swing toward the beast.

Unfortunately for him, the Hollow struck first. Its fist proving enough to propel Rito across the mall. His eyes snapped wide as he crashed into a closed store, his flight stopped only by the metal door pulled over the closed establishment.

His body now sat in a bloody crater that was formed from his body.

Blood...?

Yes. He was bleeding.

Rito grunted as he drooped soon after. Blood ran from his head.

...that punch really hurt.

The last thought Rito had before his consciousness faded.

---

⦓ THS #14 ⦔
❱ END ❰

---

⦏ You've hit the end of Issue 14. Damn, this was later than intended! As usual, thanks for your time. I sincerely hope you enjoyed. ⦐
⦏ With that, we have our major players for the mini-arc assembled! It was a long time coming, but we have the Shun Shun Rikka. ⦐
⦏ I definitely wanted the highlight of the chapter to be Yui's awakening, while also hint at a few things that will impact the story later on down the line. I was honestly expecting this Chapter to be shorter than the last, but I put in a little more writing than even I expected. ⦐
⦏ As for Masaki? He definitely will have importance later on down the line, but this was Yui's moment. So I refrained from going beyond hinting at the sheer amount of Spiritual Pressure he has. ⦐
⦏ Next time, Rito wins the day for Sainan Town? Don't miss it! ⦐
ー Red