Chapter 2
Bits of light danced against her periphery as Orihime slowly registers her surroundings.
"-noue…" A voice whispered from above her.
Orihime struggled to fully open her eyes. Her eyelids refused, and the only thing that she can muster is a half-lidded expression. Nevertheless, she recognized that voice.
"Kuchiki-san," she greeted, with what she can only assume was a smile.
Orihime heard her own voice, and it was hoarse, like she had not drank water for a very long time. A cough escaped her lips, and she could swear that dust appeared.
"You look like a zombie," Kuchiki-san said, her voice carrying that distinct chastising yet teasing tone.
Orihime chuckled despite herself. "I'm sowwy, Kuchiki-chan" she added, trying to appeal to her Shinigami friend's softer side.
Kuchiki-san briefly stiffened, blushed, and then cleared her throat. "Ahem…I like that."
"Hm?" Orihime asked.
Kuchiki-san cleared her throat again, and with the tiniest yet lowest tone, she mumbled, "I said I like it when you called me Kuchiki- chan… Hell, I would even love it if you called me by my name."
Now, Orihime was at full attention. Her head was apparently lovingly cradled upon Kuchiki-san's lap. Her body…that she currently cannot feel as of the moment…is sprawled upon the cold, uneven, hard ground. She opened her eyes wider to observe her friend's face. Upon closer inspection…beneath the cuts, bruises, dirt and dust…she can see the faintest of blush on Kuchiki-san's…Rukia-chan's cheeks.
Orihime felt her heart swell. Rukia-chan is sooo cute! She nodded a bit too enthusiastically, causing a wave of nausea to assault her brain. Nonetheless, Orihime cheered, "Only if you call me by mine!"
"Orihime-chan," Rukia-chan muttered.
Orihime beamed at that before noticing faint laughter from a certain distance. "What's that?"
Rukia-chan looked around before her attention zeroed in one particular direction. Her expression softened again, with her eyebrows relaxing, and a smile forming on her lips. She visibly sighed, and Orihime's heart melted all over again.
"Rukia-chan really becomes a bajillion times more beautiful whenever she smiles," Orihime observed in awe.
Rukia-chan chuckled before looking back at her. "It's our boys being boys."
Orihime nodded with a grin of her own.
"They're teasing Ichigo. Something about his Bankai…I don't know…I can't hear the rest," Rukia-chan elaborated with a shrug.
Thank God that all of their boys are well and even have the time to horseplay. Later…later when Orihime can move her spaghetti and jelly-like limbs, she would join in on their fun. Oooh! On the topic of spaghetti and jelly, she would ask the five of them - them being Kurosaki-kun, Sado-kun, Ishida-kun, Rukia-chan, and Abarai-kun - to eat some with her. Her treat!
(A/N: For a more sensory experience, might I suggest listening to this: https/watch?v=2BbinQxbyI8 =RDMM2BbinQxbyI8 _radio=1)
Prickle. Something stung around her chest.
"Ouch," Orihime squeaked.
"What's wrong, Orihime-chan?" Rukia-chan's eyes were suddenly upon her.
Prickle. This time the pain grew.
"Ngh," Orihime winced.
STING!
"Orihime-chan?" Rukia-chan's voice rose, her hands waving and scrambling about.
"I-It hurts…" Orihime grasped and gripped at her clothes. "Hnghhh!" The pain intensified and spread throughout her body, taking over all of her sensations.
JEQEBVUENGIQQVBIWJC JWENGQEKV JEGN QKEVJWGKE VJNVJ VJD VKS VJDV KD JDS VJNVJD VJD VJSDCNKSFNSVJSLSKNEJVJWBFJEVQVB KBNPQFBIBNDNVKE VKE VD VJ VJV JDVKRMVDSKMVKDBNBKSDMVKDSVMKDVIEVNEBNENVIENVIQENVIENV!
"Orihi…Orihime?" Rukia-chan's voice seemed to have grown quieter. That, or Orihime cannot hear the cries of her friend.
HNGWE BWJRBEJB WRGMWIRRBMWDKNGWJNWJNGJWNKWRNKWENWNGKWENGK JFEJGWJ JWRNGRWNBWENUEUOEWBTIHNWIEH JEOGNIWEGWIEGWOEG EKGNWIGN KEWNGIENGWIGMW EKGNOENGINGKRGNIRHNIWENIRHNIRHN EKGNNNENG ENQES!
Fright seemed to have seized Rukia-chan's face, her eyes wide in horror, making the dark circles even more pronounced. She was saying something…something that Orihime cannot hear.
SAVJADNGVJ VAKSJGA JSGV JDVAKSJDFMV SJVAJ VJASV JAD V SJV AJSF VJSAV JSA V SJFVSAJV AJSCJSA VJFENGWNBWF GNVVNISAFOEG JNVIQNVSINFVEGBVEQOIV F INVSNIVNINV FVNASNVN IGBEROYGRPHNQPIRNG WOGNQEFN WJFFNWJEGN WJFN!
Orihime felt her body lurch upward in a way that she did not know a human body could…and should ever do. Between how her body contorted, she witnessed how Rukia-chan was restraining her with her own feeble arms, shouting from all directions. Suddenly, Rukia-chan stilled to stare at her, with eyes that betrayed tears.
"Don't cry, Rukia-chan," Orihime said, unsure if the Shinigami can even hear her. Nevertheless, it did not stop Rukia-chan from crying.
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Beneath the incoherent noise that has usurped her mind, she can vaguely sense that her reishi is gathering and condensing where her heart should be, and that such build-up has resulted in her body unknowingly exerting a large amount of Spiritual Pressure. Out of her periphery, light exuded from her body, from miniscule transparent particles until it phases into an opaque, solid-like beam not unlike the appearance of her Shun Shun Rikka's shields.
"Nghhh," Orihime bit her lip and tasted the iron from her blood. Straining to bring the reishi in her control, Orihime held it all back. It feels like her body is constantly leaking the spiritual particles…spiritual particles that are far more than she can handle, not helped by the fact that her mind is a mess, while she is gradually slipping out of control.
Yet amidst the chaos warring inside her mind, Orihime was certain of one thing and one thing only. It is that Rukia-chan must go. "R-Run…" she warned Rukia-chan.
That seemed to have snapped Rukia-chan back into the present.
"R-Run!" She can faintly hear her own voice. She tried again. "Please!"
"But…" Rukia-chan seemed to have protested, based on how Orihime can read from her lips.
"You have to g-go n-now…" Orihime strained.
W VQJG JVQERB SJVJQSV SJVNJV HW VW HAC UV UNIDXIVF NFVGBQIF JVNSDFVV!
The Spiritual Pressure is nearing the brink of spilling out from Orihime's mental grasp, as the noise inside her head pounded louder and louder…stronger and stronger.
"Rukia-chan, please…" Orihime pleaded, tears hot in her eyes. "I can't…I can't hold it anymore."
Thud .
Thud .
Thud .
"No," Rukia-chan refused. "I won't leave you alone."
.
.
.
Orihime whimpered, unable to speak anymore, her throat not responding to her. Her eyes grew heavy.
Thud . Thud.
Thud . Thud.
"Orihime-chan?"
THUD. THUD. THUD.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
.
.
.
Santen Kesshun.
Slip.
CRACKLE!
BOOM!
Spiritual Pressure exploded at a nearby cliff, light shooting upwards in a blinding pillar of golden light. Violent wind lashed from all directions, sending large slabs of debris around them. The turbulent winds continued to push them backwards.
"Arghhh!" Uryuu planted his feet firmly into the ground but it was for naught. He flew backwards, his back hitting solid concrete, its pointed edges burying itself in the small of his waist.
"HELP!" Against the roaring and howling wind, Kuchiki-san's voice seemed like a whisper drowned out by the chaos. "ICHIGO! RENJI! ISHIDA! SADO! HELP US! INOUE…INOUE IS…"
Suddenly, Uryuu was brought down to his knees. It does not make sense. He should not be feeling weak since Haschwalth has basically healed him prior to the battle with Yhwach. He tightened his grip, suddenly finding his fingers trembling and his body shaking. Beads of sweat began gathering at his temples. A lump formed in his throat, suddenly finding that cannot breathe properly. His lips also quivered, dried, cracked and chapped.
Against better judgment, his head swung to the side. It was Kurosaki. Dangerous amounts of Spiritual Pressure are condensing across his whole body. His eyes were bloodshot, staring at the far distance, towards the source of the explosion. The way he stood was tense yet calm…just like…just like that time he transformed into a Hollow intent on murdering Ulquiorra atop Las Noches.
No. Uryuu must do something before Kurosaki does something that he would regret.
"KUROSAKI!" Uryuu yelled at the top of his lungs, finding his voice lost in the violent and turbulent vortex. "SNAP OUT OF IT!"
The orange-haired teen did not budge. He stood unresponsively. Uryuu tried again. "KUROSAKI! THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO GAPE LIKE A DEAD FISH! INOUE NEEDS US!"
Kurosaki's eyes snapped towards him. Squinting and covering his face with his hand, Uryuu cannot be certain if what he saw was the expression of a boy about to cry or it was just a figment of his imagination. "GO!"
"INOUE!" Kurosaki sprang into action, flying and soaring amidst the thrashing cyclones that had resulted from the burst of Spiritual Pressure.
Clang! A stone hit Uryuu in his cheek, drawing blood. "Ugh." A few more pieces hit him. He then covered his face with his arms, bracing himself from the rain of rubble as he closed his eyes.
The wind suddenly grew weaker. With optimism, he opened his eyes to reveal that the wind did not slow down. It was that Sado was in front of him, using the shield form of his Brazo Derecha de Gigante to block out the majority of debris befalling them. Noticeably, the shield was larger and wider than what Uryuu remembered it to be.
"It must be because Sado has gained more mastery over his Fullbring," he observed. Sado had knelt down, his left knee on the ground, whereas his other leg was propped up to support his stance. Near his left foot rests Kurosaki's Zanpakutou.
"Kurosaki's Zanpakutou," Uryuu exclaimed, addressing the sword. "I need to deliver you towards Kurosaki to help save Inoue-san. Please work with me." He did not know whether the sword had acknowledged him or whether it would cooperate without Kurosaki's order, but, damn it, this is an emergency. "Please," he repeated before he grasped the hilt.
"It's light…weightless, even," Uryuu was shocked. The sword has actually responded. He coated it with his Spiritual Pressure, turning the entire blade into one large arrowhead, with the rest of the shaft made from his reishi. He then summoned his bow, and began drawing the makeshift arrow.
Uryuu then strained to see where Kurosaki was, but the violent winds had already transformed into a bonafide tornado, making it impossible for him to properly aim where.
He looked to the right.
Then left
There! Kurosaki was but a speck. Uryuu is not confident that the arrow will reach Kurosaki, or the wind would change the trajectory of this shot.
"Do it, Ishida!" He heard Abarai from a few red-head flew midair, following Kurosaki. Uryuu released the arrow and it surged in a blast of reishi. It followed Abarai towards Kurosaki. Suddenly, the wind knocked the Zanpakutou off course but Abarai released his Shikai.
"HOERU! ZABIMARU" Abarai's own Zanpakutou split into a segmented blade. Using the side of its blade, Abarai hit the base of the arrow in a similar manner as that of a baseball batter. The arrow resumed its proper course until it reached Kurosaki.
"Thank God," Uryuu exhaled a sigh of relief as he sat down momentarily. He took out a single piece of Seele Schneider hidden at his back. He activated it, and a blue glow emanated from the piece of silver metal. He then exerted more of his reishi, and a dome of transparent blue reishi erupted, creating a barrier that protected them from the dangerous winds.
"Thanks," Sado sat down next to him, deactivating his Fullbring.
Uryuu nodded. "No worries. Let's breathe for a moment before we catch up to them."
Sado made an affirmative sound, inching closer to him.