Nomura was inside some shrine, playing with his praying beads. He's waiting for someone who has not arrived yet. As the sliding doors open, he quickly grins, gazing at the people who opened the door. "Looks like you geezers are already up on your ass."
3 figures were standing in front of him, one who was much younger around 30s, the third was in his 40s, and the last was looking quite old, was in his 80s. Those individuals entered the shrine. Nomura lights up the room and both are silent for 2 minutes.
"Thank you for returning my replies. I am honoured to speak to all of you once more." Nomura bowed in respect.
"No need for that, little one. I have lived long enough to see so many have bowed before me." the 80-year-old man scoffs and laughs at Nomura doing so. The man has long white hair combed into a ponytail, his face is filled with many scars and yet has a smiling gesture on his face.
"Even so, I have to earn my respect. Mogaki-dono."
Ichiyou Mogaki, the former leader of the Mogaki Clan. As a retired man, his weight of responsibility has been lifted and now living his life in a much brighter view. Once, he was a firm man who used his influence to cultivate strategies and battle tactics. Mogaki Clan used to be subservient to another major power in the Sengoku Period, the Ouchi Clan but changed sides to the Mori after their lord was assassinated. Although his grandson is the one who leads the clan, he still has power in the clan towards relations.
"This city has been going up and down regarding so many incidents after the earthquake. Hollows on our side are going rampant and we are short-handed as it is." The man in the 40s ranted. The long brown-haired man with a scar on his eyes is Kai Shigihara, a well-known strategist of Hiroshima's Cavalieri Branch.
"Not to intrude on such a sensational reunion, I've heard that Quincies are the perpetrator of the earthquake during that time or so I have heard." The sudden voice coming from the 30 year old man made the other three take notice. His name was Kato Kasakura, the head of the Kasakura family.
"Well…well…well. Quincies, eh? It seems to be that our old enemies have done many things to even do that sort of power. I wonder what they have done after Yhwach has been dead for 1.000 years." Kai pondered a little.
"Not that case, I imagined. It seems a lot of the hollows disappeared a couple of years back and it seems that it was caused by the Quincies." Kato added which made the whole room a little sceptical but the activities in the world of the living already stabilized after some years.
"Do you think the cracks that happened during that time were also related towards Quincies as well?" Ichiyome contemplated. The others also saw it as a matter of discussion. The silence goes away as Nomura lets out his voice.
"Gentleman, for now, I think we should focus on the rapidly increasing hollow attack, and it seems that these hollow attacks." Nomura obliged, which made Kato dismissive of the problem. Hollows are particular creatures that attack wildly, so they prioritize it lower.
"These are just coincidences and we should leave it to the regular Cavalieri we have now. It would be just as easy as always."
"No, I don't think this was the case. All of the targets are not random. It was picked from the start."
Ichiyome is intrigued by the wording. Picked, it was stated as if the hollow has a mind of its own. Kato who disagrees seems interested as well as Kai who was absent during the conversation. Nomura gave them a sample of recent murders happening in the city.
The news and scoops around are clamouring for this type of stuff. All of them have seen the news already about this stuff but none of them are surprised. "These are the photos of the victims of these attacks by the hollows."
Kato inspected the photos of the victims. "Now that I've looked more, it seems that a lot of these victims are from poverty and the homeless population here."
"Hollows attack anything or anyone who is in the vicinity of them. Do you mean to tell me someone orchestrated the attack without us knowing?" Ichiyome holding two pictures of the victims.
"A hollow couldn't have done all of these calculated strikes. It must be some sort of an effort of an arrancar to initiate this attack." Kai Shigihara comments but then the intention of this made him deduce a certain aspect of it.
"You think that these attacks are connected to the same hollow?"
Nomura only answered with a nod. The tense nature of the room becomes visible as the four look into the picture. This sudden rise of hollows such as "Bee of Death" startled many of the Cavaleris, even those in the higher-ups. If a sudden rise in more intellectual hollows begins to appear more and more frequently, it will take time for them to create a counter towards the situation at hand. There is only one question that still bogs in their minds.
Why does this happen now?
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Pale or Grey: Bleach Another Story
Chapter 6
Fox Blade: Redux Compilation
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(Elsewhere)
(Abandoned School)
Naruki walked around the hall, searching for the monster. This type likes to play hit and run so vigilance is key to taking the enemy down. Scouring the area and looking out for traps, Naruki decided to walk rather than run. If this hollow likes to play his own game, he'll play along. Several tables launch towards him and he quickly dismantles all of them with his blade.
Naruki continued to stroll around the area and then saw something leap forward in front of his face. Though he thought it was not harmful, the thing that rolled over was the face of a man who he didn't recognize.
"I used this old school environment as a way of hunting game. Those I found most enjoyable to hunt are placed here and hunt as a sport. Those who I found distasteful, I kill with painless aggression. Those who interest me are subject for my own entertainment."
Naruki and the Cavalieri's seem to always find themselves against the Hollows that are like this. Their hollow hole was created through either greed or satiated hunger for the next fix of killing. It is not a rare sight of hollow being derivative of killers but there are also others who are lost souls of women and men who lived decent ventures.
Naruki remains composed, not showing any outburst towards the hollow. The hollow then tries to attack with its claws but it is Naruki sword skills that quickly dispatch the hollow's claws and arm. The hollow winces in pain as he looks at his arm. Naruki kicks the hollow towards another wall.
"Strike Two."
"?"
"Next strike, You're dead."
The hollow quickly uses his chance to flee again using his mimicry while holding the severed arm. Naruki continued his walk, he saw a couple of stains of blood in the lower side of the wall, it was a print of human hands. Naruki still slowly contemplated but he couldn't. He must exterminate this Hollow at all cost.
Naruki quickly follows up as he pursues the Hollow as fast as possible. The hollow quickly ran away from Naruki who was lashing out, spitting acids from his mouth to slow down Naruki.
Naruki simply dodges the acid and sends a pressurized energy slash from his blade, cutting off the tail of the hollow who quickly goes up towards the stairs which his enemy followed him. Naruki proved his agility to even greater extent, catching up to the hollow and slamming the hollows body to the ground.
The slam destroys the floor and towards the ground, Naruki pins his enemy's tail to the ground but the hollow cuts his own tail which regenerates immediately. The hollow retreats back, he is panting when trying to run but Naruki still stands there, not moving whatsoever.
Naruki continues to walk but he then finally finds quite a horrifying sight, the hall of the school was filled with memorabilia of the victims that the Hollow used for hunting. Pasmo Cards, phones, suitcases, and even bags full of belongings on display. Naruki stayed silent as he walked through the hall, seeing how many victims that he had killed or the hunting games that he conducted in the place like this.
"Welcome to the piece of my museum. Oh, how wonderful that my victims gave their donation to be embroiled into my collection." Naruki continues to walk, ignoring the voices of the hollow. "This memo of mine is decorated with many favorites I've killed so far. A family of three, a young girl with a dream of being ice skater, and an old lady who is already asking to die. It is my pledge to ascend them to their measly dull existence."
"I see, so that is what type of hollow you are…" Naruki chuckled.
Inside of his heart, blazing inferno envelopes his soul. Ready to lash out and ready to put this hollow out of its misery. Naruki unleashed the spiritual pressure, incinerating the entire killing memorabilia of the victims. The hollow grew frustrated, his collections were getting destroyed by this invader so he moved quickly and delivered a strike to the stomach.
"My my. Such tough words coming from a runt. Now let me feast upon your flesh." The hollow suddenly noticed that his foe was still standing. What the monster saw was a piece of armor protecting the abdomen of Naruki while Naruki just gazed at the hollow without any such indifference. The hollow noticed that he was not fighting some ordinary soul reaper. No, this is different.
His prey continues to walk, the hollow casted another attack and another. Nothing was working, Naruki slowly walks as his armor continues to form after the attacks from the hollow.
The pauldron plated with iconography of his clan crest, the sleeker armor of Naruki made it more flexible and nimble. The helmet was ordained by the red gems which have motives of that of a fox, the part around the eyes has several scars which indicates battle damage that he has but he didn't repair that spot.
"You're not a Soul Reaper, aren't you?" the hollow asked the now armored Naruki.
"No, I'm not. I'm a person that will send you to hell. Strike three." The hollow tries to block the incoming strike. Naruki slashed the hollow, it cut off the hand of the hollow and his face but the hollow wouldn't give up easily. He uses his tail to swipe Naruki but he catches it and swings the lizard towards the building.
"Zenko, reporting in." Naruki referred to himself as such. Zenko then rushed towards the hollow while the hollow threw chairs at Zenko but Zenko faced it head on while slashing every single one of them, Zenko plunges his sword towards the face of the hollow, it ended the battle so fast. That the hollow couldn't even react to it fast enough.
"What….What just…happened?"
"The sound of your departure has rung."
"Arghhhhh"
The hollow wails in screams, landing a hook on Zenko who took the hit. Zenko didn't flinch nor did he care of dodging the attack. Zenko threw a chunk of the building towards the Hollow and the impact quickly recovered from Zenko. Sudden blast then crashes into Zenko, the hollow fires Cero continuously towards the armored warrior.
The hollow laughs but quickly falls down to his knees once more. The hollow's confusion rattled him as he gazed at the top. The armored figure does not show any interest in him or her cares, finding him boring. This infuriates the hollow who started to fire up his cero but then a sudden cube encapsulated the area of the hollow, trapping him inside. Zenko strikes down on the top of the cube and turns the sword like inserting a key.
"Terreno avvelenata (Poisoned Ground)" he declared. The ground inside the cube then strikes down as spikes from the cubes launch towards the hollow. As the hollow was pinned down, the cube opened up huge amounts of poison needles approaching each side but the hollows swatted them off, the cube was destroyed instantly.
"Not so tough, aren't you? You fought against someone stronger and you cower." Zenko moves in again and the hollow tries once more to deflect the attack coming. Zenko dodged the strike and plunged the blade to the arm of the monster which then followed by him dragging the blade with him, slashing the upper part of arm and the shoulder.
The growl of pain exhibiting the air, Zenko only then thrust his blade to the upper skull of the hollow and it exited toward the right eye. The hollow screeching in pain once more as Zenko grabs the tip of his blade and yanks out the sword from the outside. Zenko swipes the blood from his blade effortlessly and chuckles.
"Arghhhh ...my right eye….." the hollow squirmed.
Hollow tried to attack once more but the hollow quickly dismantled as his face was slashed instantly. The hollow was quickly dumbfounded, he had no time to react to the speed and his face already split apart. The hollow looked behind and saw a giant gate, skulls originated on the door, bandages covering the skull's head as the door slowly opened. The boy could only scoff from seeing the gate or it was inevitable that a gate like that would appear before this hollow.
"Arghhhhh….what is that? A door? Tell me, what is that door?"
"That door is the place where suckers like you will end up. Welcome to your new hospitable apartment, the gates of Hellville or gate of hell for short."
The doors open wide, featuring so much unknown energy starting to destroy the hollows body but the hollows desperation was unmatched as he grabs Zenko which Zenko didn't put much resistance after being grabbed.
"Got you now..prepared being dragged down to…" suddenly before finishing his sentence, a giant blade thrust behind the hollow. The giant arm that was residing inside the gate shot out and stabbed the Hollow. The tip of the blade almost hits Zenko's forehead. The impaled hollow then was retracted by the arm as the grip on Zenko started to sway.
Zenko observes that the hollow was taken inside the hell door and it closed but an eye on the skulls gazed at Zenko which made him shocked. He quickly brushes his eyes to see if it was just an illusion of his and he saw that the eye didn't move an inch. The hell door closes as the extermination of the hollow has ended.
"That was scary as hell…Is that door even alive"
Zenko calls his armor back. Naruki looks around the school as the wreckage and the noises may be heard from the others. He quickly fled the scene before the police could get into the commotion. As he fled, he stumbled to a wallet that he didn't recognize but he knew what that meant if it was here. The man had died in the hollow then. A life he couldn't save, Naruki grabs the wallet and runs towards the dazzling lights of the city.
Unbeknownst to him, a shadow lurking on top of the school. This shadow shapes like a creature but he does not move from its spot. Arms are disfigured, filled with many faces as the legs are drilled like building blocks. The body is like a cocoon-like state and drips blood from the abdomen. It wrappings shreds, revealing an eye which gaze at Naruki but ignores the Cavalieri.
it then quickly goes down and quickly moves like a slithering snake and enters the sewer tunnels, phasing through the tunnels. Although in some sort of cocoon, it has some sort of an intelligence. The cocoon then continues moving through the sewer system while consuming anything of its path for nourishment.
XXX
Naruki sitting on the bench at a nearby park. Tired and a bit disinterested, he drank a hot can of tea to soothe against the cold of night. Coming out from the police box while bringing in a belonging of someone else was common citizens do in these parts but knowing how the person died or may have died to a hollow is hard to explain to people who can't see them.
Naruki always wondered. What would happen if they found his body? Will it give them closure or pain? When they find the wallet, will they also want to know how it got there in the first place? It always circles around in his mind. "This is never going to be easy."
"That is true but compared to the person who I met all those years ago, it is a step up." a voice quickly made him turn and saw Kazuhira walking towards Naruki. Kazuhira smiled and sat beside him. Naruki continues to sip his coffee.
"You know, we didn't get off the same footing. We used to argue a lot more and even fights always breakout between us during the academy. Teachers always make an example of me being the bad student while you're the good one." Kazuhira reminisced about their training days in their academy.
"Even with your good grades on fighting in class, you are always at the bottom rank due to you being insufferable to teach. Always late, making up excuses, even pranking instructors that you dislike. I say, truly unbefitting of being a Cavalieri."
"Hey! You don't need to say that now. I'm already a Cavalieri, same as you. I think arguing helps us understand that our point of views are not the same but we can be allies as well. It is quite fortunate for me to meet a guy like you. I can share my views and talk with another person."
Naruki stares back at Kazuhira who smiles in response. He scoffs and just drinks the coffee in delight.
" I heard you took down an Arrancar, eh? Tough time?" Naruki spoke curiously.
"It was a no-brainer but it was tough. I wonder if our ancestors fought like this against hollows or any arrancars?" Kazuhira gives a perspective which Naruki scoffs at, indulging the person beside him with his delusion.
"We did before. We cleanse hollows using our blades and let spirits go to rest using their chains as a way to create our keys while the spirit goes to the afterlife above. We used to be on the same standings but now, I think being simple or at the middle of the cycle of things ain't that bad." Naruki smiles. Maybe knowing new things about other races could prove interesting but for now, they are still hiding so it would not raise any suspicious movement from their foes.
"Too bad. I think coexistence with other races seems possible. It is not like we have a "fight first then ask questions later" type of deal." Kazuhira protested. Naruki suddenly felt a vibration from his pants which was his phone. He looks at the message through which Kazuhira grew interested in what his friend was reading.
"Who is it? Is it a girl?"
"Shut up. It is not, just my coach. Our club activities are on holiday for thursday." Naruki shushed the silver haired boy in which the boy just chuckled.
"Really? I heard you got a love letter from a girl in another school. And then, you got another letter from a girl who is 2 grades lower in our school. Are you sure you're not building a harem?"
"No! I'm fucking not. Do you ever get embarrassed about the things you said out loud? Naruki was stunned by how Kazuhira so casually said those things without any hit of shame on his voice.
"I mean, not really." the silver haired boy just shrugs it off.
"Whatever. Your smooth brain probably won't stop for speaking like that"
Naruki's words quickly made Kazuhira just grins and drank the tea and put it back in the recycling bin. Naruki did the same as the two began stretching for a minute or two. The two faced one another as if they were preparing to fight.
"I want to see if your skill is still sharp as usual. You are usually lazy and yet you are still a formidable opponent for most of the people in this city. Better not make this easy for me."
"Man, fighting you everyday is tiring. You sure don't want to get something to eat or just play at some arcades?"
Even in this situation, a guy like him always chooses other things than fighting. Baffled and scoffed from the lack of preparedness, Naruki blitzed with a high speed of his feet, swift sveltezza movement and thought cutting him off guard would startle him. But the man in front of him was not a man that you can judge through the first lens.
The silver haired boy is aware of the blatant shrewdness that his friend pulled and kicks him to the side. Naruki manages to block the forward kick, trying to regain balance but he felt that the impact of Kazuhira's strike was able to make both of his hands numb and shake profusely. Naruki manages to form a fist despite this and strikes a mean look towards Kazuhira.
His reaction? Amusement and also scoffs. He knew Naruki was on his level but it did not mean that he can have fun once in a while with his comrades. Kazuhira claps and then motions his hand to Naruki to bring it on. This action quickly made Naruki also smirks as the two prepared their stances.
As the moonlight reflected towards them, both of them blitzed towards one another. They both brawled out as the two fights are only echoes in the cities where the bustling voices are mostly heard than the two fighting on the other side of the city.
XXX
"Throughout the roads of the new world...Chaos foster and uproars are common among the land. As the turmoil, a man arrived to inquire not salvation only wisdom. Ascendency over the people across his realm created a society of warriors and intellectuals that cultivate culture, teachings, and infrastructure. This race prospered and started to come up with the name befitting of them. The armor they wore in battle became a moniker of their strength and power, thus the name of this race is named…Cavalieri."
Prologue Arc:
The Will of the Cavalieri Arc
Start
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Next Chapter:
Sleeping Giant
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Cavalieri's Profile Notebook
Kazuhira Shinemon (晋衛門 一衡)
Age: 18
Hair: Grey
Eye Color: Brown
Height: 174 cm
Birthday: 10 September
Occupation: 2nd year Hogumura High School
Armor: King (2nd Generation Armor)
Likes Arcade games
Slick Back hair that he has is to emulate one of the Time Crisis Character: Alan Dunaway Or Tekken's Steve Fox
Likes spicy or salty food
Favorite celebrities: Sean Connery and Al Pacino
Has Low Alcohol Tolerance (Min: 1, Max:2)
Naruki Shima (志摩 成希)
Age:18
Hair: Black
Eye color: Blue
Height: 174 cm
Birthday: 10 July
Occupation: 2nd year Hogumura High School
Armor: Noboshi (2nd Generation Armor)
Favourite sports: Badminton
Working diligently with his parents in their Cafe
Listen to Noir Jazz
Played Mahjong once and decided not to play it ever again.
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