Lesson 1-2

Storyteller

Storyteller

Familiarity, perhaps, or fate, brought Souta and Saeki back together in the Sixth Division. Souta, his own reasons. Saeki, by orders to aid the Sixth Division however needed. Now, with the Sixth under strict orders to drill, train, and practice until their hands bled and souls ached, he found himself part of that effort. Souta, too, occupied his time in aiding the more Kidō-inclined among them.

Both felt claws scrape up their spines, as if a rusty nail laddered against each vertebra as it climbed. A moment later, a ceramic cup of tea, as Saeki took it into his hands, smelled foul. He looked down and saw it: thick, swirling green with an acrid odor. Poison.

All Divisions had, too, civilians employed in some manner to aid them—especially in these times of few numbers. These aides served the members of the Sixth as well as the guests that helped them practice, incant, and push their bodies and very souls to their limits—and beyond.

They all dropped to the floor around Souta, Saeki, and the other Shinigami of the Sixth, unconscious, a moment later. Stood at the door—passing by, or perhaps about to join Souta and Saeki for reasons of her own—the pink-eyed Rin Ishikawa at the sliding door.

From well above the Seireitei, it could be seen clearly: a towering and jaw-like gap in the air itself, from which Gillian emerged by the half-dozen. Some so tall that they held onto the edges of the gateway and ducked beneath the tooth-shaped top in order to step out into the Seireitei and crush buildings—men and women within—underfoot.

Yet, as they emerged, something else stood before them: a large Hollow, much bigger than a man, yet not nearly as large as a Huge Hollow, with a large pincer arm and the tail of the desert-dwelling scorpion. Nothing obscured it, not by sight nor by the spiritual sense. It pointed straight up.

The Gillian looked in that direction. Their jaws snapped open, as if unhinged, and wind tore across the Division again as swirls of red were drawn in towards their masks. Orbs of red grew and grew, only to suddenly compress with a shrill hum; and then boom with that low and groaning intonation as a series of Cero raced towards the sky.

The Shakonmaku. A spiritual barrier, primarily, protected the Seireitei from direct inter-world travel except via the Senkaimon Gates. It only became visible when it resisted a present, physical incursion; and so the entire Gotei watched as their sky turned liquid crimson. The Shakonmaku, now revealed, struggled as if it were the surface of a viscous ocean resisting the red burn of the unified Cero.

Until an explosion covered the sky in orange fire and black smoke. It cleared, and every Shinigami beneath watched as the Shakonmaku, still visible, lifted away and evaporated into steam like a sheet of water.

Borne of the white walls that surrounded the Seireitei in times of crisis—such as now—its destruction reflected on its sources: those walls now stood deeply cracked, crumbling in some places; broken.

All across the Seireitei, wide-eyed Shinigami grasped at the hilts of their blades as a sound—one they heard only in the World of the Living—echoed throughout the streets: the haunting, almost sad and pitiable, wails of Hollows. Countless appeared through ripples in the air, not just in the Sixth, not just around the Sixth, but throughout the entirety of the Seireitei. Common Hollows ran through the streets like wild animals, joined by the shouts, screams, and commands of all the Gotei.

In the dojo with Souta and Saeki, the ceiling burst into pieces of terracotta tile, stone, and lumber, as a dark-blue fist on a white-furred arm crashed down. The impact threw all the Shinigami off their feet, blew out the walls of the dojo around them, and filled their senses with roaring wind and dust.
 
This time, Souta felt it before he heard it- the shrill, sharp sensation of nails grinding against steel crept up his back while he was instructing some of the Sixth Division’s more magically inclined members on the intricacies of certain Bakudo spells, his entire body going rigid as the sound hit a second later. Roaring, powerful and close, filled his ears, and for a moment the Nakajma wasn’t there at all, but back at the Academy, staring up as crimson death bore down on him from above. He could feel it, feel them, the countless Hollows and Huge Hollows and Menos that thundered out of the breech in the sky… could feel the Shakonmaku shudder, then snap beneath the combined weight of their power.

And just like that, the Seireitei was invaded for the second time in less than a year.

Unfortunately, Souta had no time to process what was happening, as the moment his mind caught back up with reality a fist the size of his entire body slammed through the roof of the dojo, sending debris everywhere and, more importantly, knocking him back a good twenty feet onto his ass. Absently, he noted the collapsed civilians as he tumbled, his mind beginning to process things again even as he landed on the ground, hard and awkward, something in his side protesting heavily with every breath. A cracked rib, maybe, or a deep bruise- he didn’t know, and there was no time for him to try and evaluate what it was.

The blue fist that had sent him flying came up as the beast, a massive ape-like thing bigger than his house, roared in challenge, its arms already raised to crush him and anyone else nearby… and then he felt it, a deep ringing in his ears that seemed to reverberate deep within his head, the sheer sound pounding through his skull over and over. Something in him managed, just barely, to push through, throwing himself up and to the side just as the beast slammed its fists down again, blasting apart the entire right wall of the dojo and sending him tumbling once more across the ground. Somehow, he managed to get off a single spell as he rolled, a white lance of lighting slamming into the Hollow’s chest from a hastily aimed and casted Byakurai.

This time, he felt his rib crack as he came to a stop, pain lancing up along his right side as he forced himself to his feet, eyes wild as he glanced everywhere, looking for someone, anyone nearby- and caught sight of that skinny medic from the Eleventh, her outfit a mess but otherwise unharmed. Good. With two of us here maybe we can-

Instinct was the only thing that kept him from being crushed, his body moving before he had even properly registered that the monster was attacking again, its fist crashing into the ground where he had been a second before. He wasn’t fast enough though, his right side flaring in excruciating pain as he slammed into the ground in a tumble of limbs, his consciousness fading at the sheer, overwhelming damage he’d taken. He could barely breathe, could barely think, couldn’t even tell where the beast was, let alone where that pink-eyed bitch had gone.

Then, he felt it. A shift in his pain, a lessening of the agony as something- or, rather, someone- knit his broken ribcage back together with furious speed, the light returning to his eyes just enough for him to see his savior: Ishikawa Rin… and behind her, the Hollow. Wounded from his Hado but not enough, rearing its fists up to smash into the both of them, the Seireitei behind him, lit up with hundreds of battles as Hollows charged in from all sides like an invading army, at last ready to conquer its ancient foe.

Over a handful of Academy Students.
 
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Seeing it from a distance was one thing, but being this close? Ishikawa's legs nearly gave out from underneath her. The almost smothering feel of the air turning into what felt like molasses, every movement was dragging and exaggerated the pain in her shoulder. She didn't realize she made it to the door before noticing everyone had collapsed. Barely propped up in the frame as the shattering was felt in her bones.

How? Why? To what End? The door slid open as she saw clearly one man standing, no rolling as the ceiling collapsed in with the weight of this Blue beast. They locked eyes for a moment before the man jumped away, and from how he landed Rin could see the pain of what was surely rib damage. Willing herself to move from this spot as an entire wall was torn asunder, Ishikawa didn't move fast enough and brought her blade up and let the Hollow's hand sweep across her and push her in the direction of the only other standing Shinigami. Her blade cutting into the palm of the Beast

Her left shoulder burned as the wound split open and she felt the collarbone crack. Twisting hard to let the arm nearly freely swing as the Jade glow coated her hand. Flinging more than throwing concentrated Kaidou magic into the chest of the man behind her Rin prepared for the next swing. The hand came down and this time she stepped into the attack, Letting the brunt of it slam against her back as she pushed in close. The crackle of her bones fracturing under the pressure, gritting her teeth the Jade glow this time eminating from inside her wounds trying to hold herself together with the healing energies while driving her blade forward.

No contact, but the man behind them used Bakudo so this was going to be little more than her trying to keep this thing still long enough for whomever that was to get his shit back together. "Fucking hit it!" the words tore from her throat and barely audible over the sound of what seemed to be the ending of a world outside. Then she felt the air change, familiar weight as some binding spell slammed into their foe nearly knocking Rin to the ground. Albeit was limply, her left hand gripped her blade to support her right as she attempted once more to drive her blade into the Hollow, its flailing smashing the floorboards beneath her feet as her attack fell short.

Then the crack in the air as magic ripped through the Ape and left it scattering to the wind. Turning to face the white haired man who looked almost more fed up than she did with life. Ishikawa sheathed her blade for a moment as she concentrated another dose of Kaidou into her good arm and threw it with the ferocity of someone trying to hurt another. The energy scattered and mended him up as she yelled, "Why didn't you do that from the Start!?"

Pain, Frustration in tandem overwriting her fear as she pulled her limp arm from its sleeve to nestle in a make shift sling in her Haori. Tying the sleeve off and not even giving Souta a chance to react before moving to try and drag the rest of the people who collapsed from the pressure into someplace less wrecked. Shaking one awake, "Hey get up and get the rest to shelter, and tell any Shinigami to secure the civilians before joining the fray."
 
The world came into focus at a snail's pace, everything around him moving in slow motion as he felt air surge into his lungs, the freshness of it, even polluted by dust and smoke as it was, jolting him upright, Pain, sharp and still decidedly fresh, spiked through his body as he looked up, watching the slight frame of Ishikawa as she fought against the Hollow in a brave but utterly foolish measure to hold it back. Still, the girl’s idiocy had bought him time, time enough to get his bearings as the glowing green energy faded from his system, leaving him wounded but not dying. It wasn’t the kind of patch job he would have wanted, but it would have to do.

“Bakudo Sixty-Three: Sajō Sabaku.” Souta muttered, left hand rising to grasp at the air before he rose to his feet, unsteady; the blue ape roared, fists raised in defiance, only for his spell to take root, a rope of golden light wrapping around its chest and legs, pinning it down while Rin engaged it up close. A part of him tucked away the woman’s words for later, whispering of the disrespect, the gall of this unseated trollop to order him about so- but that part gave way to the simmering fury of the moment, a sudden rage over taking his thought as he opened his left hand, palm facing the beast, and began to chant.

“Seeping crest of turbidity. Arrogant crest of lunacy. Boil forth and deny!” Instantly, he felt his body shudder, an orb of burning yellow Reiryoku flickering to life in his outstretched palm, even as lines of dark purple Reiryoku began to seep through the ground towards the ape. He had never tried something this complex before, twin-casting two high level Hado while pinning his foe down with Bakudo, and he had never managed to successfully cast the spell he was chanting… but in the midst of his pain-addled mind, he saw the thread, felt the world warp and shift around him as he dragged forth every scrap of power and energy he could muster, all for this singular, impossible attack.

“Grow numb and flicker. Disrupt sleep. Crawling queen of iron. Eternally self-destructing doll of mud. Unite! Repulse!” His Raikoho flared to life with those words, the blast empowered by his chant and the sheer madness of what he was attempting- but the Hollow, too, was blessed by that madness, sensing its own death in the heat of his spell. It roared, straining against the golden chain that bound it, pushing against his will… and in that moment, he knew it wouldn’t work. His focus was too divided, his power spread too thin. His casting would fail, his binding would break, and the ape would crush him underneath those giant fists, this time for good.

So he let go.

Instantly, the golden rope binding the Hollow shattered, his will no longer contesting its attempts to break free as he unleashed the first of his two spells.

“Raikoho!” His voice echoed across the wrecked dojo, Ishikawa rolling out of the way just in time- but so too did the ape, its legs free enough to let it leap up and over the blast, yellow lighting slamming into the last remaining wall and blasting it to pieces in a shower of debris. And yet, he didn’t stop chanting.

“Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness!” The ape moved, its massive frame charging forwards towards him with a fury that made its previous efforts seem like child’s play; it knew, as he did, that this would be decided by whoever could hit the other first. Souta felt his spell form a second faster, the sheer force of it slamming across the Hollow’s body as gravity itself turned against the beast, lines of black energy pooling up out to form a massive cage of force that enveloped its entire frame. Everything coalesced then, the box collapsing inwards as spears of pure energy pierced the beast from every side, its pained roars muffled by the coffin of Reiryoku that had engulfed it.

“Hado Ninety: Kurohitsugi.”

And then, without a single ounce of fanfare, it died, his spell breaking apart into motes of black dust that mingled with the remains of the rapidly vanishing Hollow. He had a single moment to appreciate the sight, a smile of pure, unfiltered satisfaction spreading across his face before his body gave out and he fell to his knees, utterly drained.
 
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Rin Ishikawa​

She didn't realize how close she had come to being caught in that black boxing structure of the Spell. Most of her focus had turned to check on the others that seemingly just collapsed and send them off to seek shelter and rouse the Shinigami to rally to arms. The pain in her back from that last hit she took ached as she struggled to twist. Though it took away from the Ache in her shoulder and where her collarbone had cracked. Having adjusted herself into a makeshift sling before opening her medicine satchel to applying first aid to the white haired man.No asking, just simply pressing at his ribs to feel where is tender and start wrapping him in bandages. "This'll keep you together until proper treatment." Her words came out low but with an authority of an older sibling, moving slow as her left arm struggled to keep up with the actions.

[Souta]​

Souta blinked, the ache in his limbs rising and falling with with every breath he took, the world somehow sliding back into focus as he heard Ishikawa's voice echo off in the distance. Objectively, his eyes told him the woman was close- close enough to press her hand into his side, eliciting a hiss of pain no matter where she touched. It seemed every single rib was either broken or fractured, a fact that made breathing... difficult, let alone speaking. He found the strength anyway."You really... should learn... how to talk... to your superiors." The words came out in wheezing gasps, his consciousness simply refusing to fade despite how much everything hurt. The adrenaline from his Kurohitsugi was fading, the rush of the fight and nearly dying giving way to a cold calculus of odds, one that let him know just how unlikely it was he would survive another fight like that. Or any fight, for that matter."We need... to run. I'm... tapped out."

Rin Ishikawa​

That wasn't good. The wheezing made her think partial lung collapse, maybe even a puncture. Either way he was hardly in a condition to fight. Wait...Rin took a closer look at the Man and his uniform. Definitely an officers badge she must have missed during the panic."Give me an arm I'll support you so you save some energy in case something else comes at us." She moved to get under his left arm so he could at least wield a sword if it came to it."Superior or not, there are Gillian out there. So forgive my tone and let me get us out of here."She was careful as she helped him to his feet, taking as much weight as she could bear despite her left arm being nearly useless. The weight shifting the broken ends of bone to grind painfully, echoing in her head as each shift and sharp hot pain.

[Souta]​

I'm going to kill her before this is over. Souta thought, wincing as the woman helped him to his feet, clearly in no condition to fight herself in spite of her tone. Anger, sharp enough to overcome the pain for the briefest of moment, flared at in him at the disrespect- but only for a moment, his breathing becoming sharp for a single second before he hissed, his rib protesting the motion."I can walk." He muttered, pushing himself off Ishikawa now that he was on his feet. It hurt to move, to breath, but he could feel his spiritual energy forcing him to remain up, pushing him forward in spite of the pain. He wouldn't be fast, wouldn't be able to do much of anything in a fight,but he was up. It would have to do. Without thought, Souta reached out with his mind, focusing his senses through the shroud of pain as best he could.What he found... "There's... no substantial groups close." He whispered. wincing as he rolled his shoulders, forcing himself to work through the pain, to stay upright and conscious. He raised a hand, slow and careful, finger pointing in the direction Saeki had been thrown when the ape had blasted the dojo apart. "Our closest backup is that way, but they're fighting too, just like... everyone."

Rin Ishikawa​

She sighed in relief as he stood up on his own, the burden would have kept her from being effective, as if she's ever been such since these invasions. Still she drew her blade once more and looked at the direction indicated. "I'd say let's move quickly but that would be too detrimental to both our conditions, and give us away." Wincing hard with a gasp of pain as the adrenaline started to fade."Shall I take point? Or would you rather me watch the rear?" The 11th always took point and rushed in. Though this circumstances may be forgiving if caution was taken first. Either way she moved out to the doorway first and peered through. Zanpakuto at the ready.

[Souta]​

Souta nodded once, shambling behind her at a slow pace- slower, in truth, than he could have gone, now that he was up and focused on something other than the pain. He had an idea of who it was that was nearby, their Reiatsu feeling familiar enough that he could almost place the name, but if he was wrong, or they died while he and Ishikawa were approaching, he would need an edge. Not to fight, but to run... and perhaps leave a tasty morsel behind for any Hollows that might think about giving chase."You first. I'll... watch our rear." He wheezed, voice only half as he felt another, sharp bite of pain lance through his side; he really needed to brush up on his Shunpo skills, if a simple Hollow was all it took to nearly put him down. Would have put him down, had it not been for Rin. Maybe he wouldn't kill her just yet. Maybe.

Rin Ishikawa​

Taking point Rin pushed through the doorway blade first. Scanning the area for a few moments before stepping through, waiting for Souta to follow behind and looking for a path towards the initial indicated direction, pausing at each branching hallway or alley to let the man guide them. Every body they passed would make Rin clench her teeth and take a deep breath."If your breathing gets worse, let me know. I may have to drain fluid so you don't suffocate from possible internal bleeding"
 
As Rin exited, carefully, sword-first, she saw the state of the rest of the Sixth Division: Hollows everywhere, Shinigami fighting back, the sounds of battle—screams, spell, and steel—all around. In the far distance, guarded by towers of black Hollow-flesh, the sight of what appeared to be a rip in the air itself.

But as she watched, she saw something else, as well: a Hollow dragging a still-living Shinigami in its jaws, along the ground, back towards that very distant gate.

“Ishikawa?” A familiar voice, if only just barely, interrupted as Rin emerged from the dojo where she and Souta had mere minutes ago fought for their very lives.

She looked to and saw him: long, grey-silver hair, with sweat streaks down the side of his head, flanked by two more of himself and then two other Fourth Division Shinigami. The Thousand-Year Lieutenant, Kizuki Sakurai of the Fourth.

“I heard you, Mibuchi, and Hattori were here. My thanks to the Reiō,” he breathed and hung his head.

Then, his eyes flicked up and down her.

“It seems we may be just in time,” he answered. “Please: back inside, quickly. Allow us to aid you.”
 
Souta followed behind Ishikawa with clenched teeth, his breathing labored but no longer quite as painful as before- the adrenaline, maybe, or perhaps his body shutting down to avoid going into shock. It didn’t take long, however, before his efforts proved futile, a voice echoing over the din of battle as none other than Kizuki Sakurai, the Thousand Year Lieutenant, poked his head into the room. A frown, small but not subtle, spread across his face at the man’s words, his legs shaking as he shuffled, carefully, over to what remained of a nearby wall and slumped against it.

Oh no, don’t worry about me Lieutenant, I’m just half dead over here, you have time to fix the useless bitch’s arm. He thought, closing his eyes, as he waited for whatever fresh hell was to visit itself upon them; with a Lieutenant here, it was surely to be something spectacular. Absently, a part of him noted the shifting waves of the battle around them, his senses reaching out as best they could to see how things fared- it would be such a horrible turn of events for him to survive the ape only to be eaten by some other monster.

“Gods today is horrible…”
 
Everything was in such a disarray that Rin barely registered details, just sounds of battle and vague moving shapes in the distance. Trying desperately to focus on things in her immediate area, and too far away someone being dragged off. Her body started to move that direction until she heard a familiar voice. Torn between responding either the danger of someone being dragged off or addressing the man.

"Lieutenant Sakurai...Hollows are taking prisoners?" Still posed to dash off but the realization of how far she'd have to travel, she'd be even more exhausted by the time she reached them. If she even reached them before they got into the gate. She was sure to point her Zanpakuto to the direction of the sight before responding a bit more properly.

"Yeah...Hattori and Mibuchi went to check on the student survivors." slowly a thought scattered, brought itself together. Was he here already? Surely Akiyama would have reached them first as they asked for him specifically to check on Ishikawa's injuries.

"Uh, okay." she turned and looked to Souta. "Officer...? I didn't get your name" She directly addressed him before turning back to the Fourth squad, "Needs attention first. Broken ribs and chance of punctured lung or fluid buildup. I just need my clavicle mended and I can press on. Need every 11th's sword right now..."

Rin lowered her blade and stepped back inside the dojo. Hattori mentioned him, when discussing potential traitors. It finally clicked that thought that nearly escaped her. No other options but to just watch and wait.
 
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When Kizuki, his two duplicates, and the other two members of Fourth stepped back in with Rin, the Lieutenant’s eyes widened at the sight of Souta. While their wounds were of similar severity, he seemed much more encumbered by them. He took two hurried steps forward and kneeled at the man’s side.

Both of his hands lifted and a green shell, perfectly rounded, appeared around Souta. Tiny threads appeared in the air between the shell and Souta’s body, existing only briefly as they seemed to stitch him back together without needle or thread. Those wounds closed quickly, rapidly, and even as Souta looked at the Lieutenant, he could see no signs of struggle or serious exertion.

“Hold still, Nakajima,” he spoke warmly, reassuringly, and even chuckled. “We may yet be able to salvage your day.”

Next to him, the other two members of the Fourth guided Rin to sit down with her back to one of the dojo walls. Together, they raised their hands, and a rectangular prism surrounded her. Unlike the silvery, thin flashes within Lieutenant Sakurai’s spell, theirs simply had a warm glow that seemed to soothe away Rin’s wounds.

And sweat beaded across their foreheads as they worked with a deadly-serious focus.

“Are they? We arrived shortly after the Hollows appeared, but we haven’t noticed that yet,” the Lieutenant, on the other hand, engaged in conversation with ease and the quality of his spell never faltered.

Souta felt not even the slightest twinge of pain as his wounds, even deep within, closed and vanished entirely. Only relief.

“Hattori and Mibuchi are here as well? That’s a relief. I hope they’re doing well,” he added. “I am not familiar enough with their souls that I can find them myself: Ishikawa, are you able to pick out their presence? The more we can group with others, the better we’ll fare.”
 
Souta gave a single, mirthless laugh, his breathing growing stronger and more steady as he felt the healing energy envelope him, his wounds stitching themselves together, enough so that he could focus his thought and senses on the larger battle going on around them and search, however briefly, for the pair of 11th Divisioners Kizuki had mentioned. He was acquainted with both of them, knew their signatures well enough that he could pick them out of a crowd if he was focused- but despite the chaos going on all across the Seireitei, it didn’t take him long to find their presence.

“They’re alive.” He said, his voice growing stronger as he opened his eyes, looking up at the ancient Lieutenant with something that might have been approaching respect. “Though Hattori’s signature is weak and fading.” He stopped, blinking slowly as he felt it happen- one moment, he could feel Hattori’s Reiatsu, weak but still there, fighting to live, and the next… gone. Snuffed out like a candle in the wind, swallowed up by the monstrous Gllian he could sense directly nearby.

“...I stand corrected. Only Mibuchi lives now.” Souta said, voice flat as he kept his focus on the pink-haired woman’s Reiatsu, her signature wavering as she engaged with the beast. He couldn’t narrate their fight- his senses weren’t attuned enough to give such details, but he could get a feel for how the woman was doing, if she was close to victory or not. A few seconds later, he knew, his tone remaining neutral in spite of the clear relief his news would bring to the others.

“She killed whatever was attacking them.”
 
Only Mibuchi lives now. Those words hit Ishikawa like a punch to the gut, suddenly there was no air and the clatter of her blade hitting the ground filled her ears with a ringing. Seemingly her grip had failed but all Rin could focus on was the sound of Hattori Suzume saying. "Thank you. For coming back alive."

To herself in a barely audible whisper. "You couldn't do the same?" The words almost lost on the soft choking of emotion causing turmoil in her chest before she swallowed it down. Wiping at her eyes before the tears had a chance to fall. If I survive this... The thought ended as Rin slowly crouched down and picked up her Zanpakuto once more. White knuckles clearly visible as she brought herself back to some bearing.

"Nakajima, was leading us to someone nearby. They likely need assistance as well." She vaguely recalled seeing someone else just prior to Blue smashing down on Souta.
 
When the immense hollow made its entrance into the dojo, Saeki was far too distracted by the shattering of the Shakonmaku to notice its immense arm crashing down. It was by a degree of raw luck that he was flung backwards instead of crushed, and a second stroke of luck that saw his eventual landing cushioned as his body slammed into a winged hollow. His streak ended, however, as he ended up disoriented in a tangle of lumber after failing to right himself in the tumble. An overwhelming sense of vertigo came over him when talons gripped his ankle as the winged hollow began to drag, and then lift, him from the rubble. Saeki spent all of his mental faculties to overcome nausea and reach for a blade that was no longer there.

“Fuck.”

At some point his blade had freed itself: leaving him without the reach to slash at the hollow’s talon and free himself. It took every ounce of effort he had left to remember what little of his Hadou training hadn’t bounced off him during his Academy days. I’ll have to ask Nakajima for some pointers if we both survive this.

“Hadou #1, Sho!” he yelled as a wave of kinetic force leapt from his finger aimed at the hollow’s talon. Unfortunately, lack of skill in the Shinigami spirit arts meant his own ankle took the brunt of the force, still doing the job but twisting it to the point of injury in the process. He tumbled, once again, through the air and landed on his back with a slight thud. This time, he managed to do a kip up that brought him quickly to his feet, carefully avoiding putting too much weight on his lightly wounded ankle, just in time to dodge away from the hollow’s second attempt to grapple him. It was his turn, in fact, as he grabbed the grasping talon and used the hollow’s own momentum to fling it into a beam. Its head took the full force of the impact with its neck snapping back at a right angle as the rest of its body went limp.

Saeki quickly surveyed the scene with his sixth sense to find the location of his Zanpakuto. Another small hollow had found the blade where it dropped and was in the process of trying to pick it up. Saeki gingerly tested the hurt ankle and found he could still use it despite the pain. He flew forward with shunpo to ambush the distracted hollow. As he arrived, his good foot was used as a strong base to launch a spear knee into the hollows floating rib where it howled in pain at the cracking of its rib cage. The sword tumbled from its grasp where Saeki grabbed it and sent the corroded spike upward. The tip met resistance and, with a secondary push, found purchase in the soft fleshy region between the hollows throat and its chin. With a wet *schlick* it skewered up into the hollow’s mouth, pinning the unnaturally long tongue to the roof of its mouth, before exiting just above the nose cavity.

He pulled his blade free before flinging off the dripping blood, wiping it mostly clean, and returning it to its sheath with a slight flourish. Saeki finished his fight just in time to see the towering outline of an almost primordial Kurohitsugi, and detected Souta Nakajima as the source of it. He stood aghast a moment that a fourth seat was even capable of such a feat; however, he shook himself of the shock as he realized they may still need help. Besides, he was a bit of a sitting duck by himself even if he managed to escape with relatively light injuries. He was some distance away by this point, and he still had to take care not to overstress his ankle, so even with shunpo it took him some time to arrive where Nakajima and Ishikawa had defeated Blue. He arrived just in time to hear Ishikawa say,

"Nakajima, was leading us to someone nearby. They likely need assistance as well."

He smiled, trying to shake off some of the embarrassment of the circumstances that led to his late arrival, before responding,

“I believe *Seated Officer* Nakajima may have been referring to me.”

Saeki sized up the new person’s Reiatsu before continuing.

“And, unless you two are as related as your appearance suggests, I recommend that you do not continue to disrespect the one who just saved your life with such casual disregard for their rank.”
 
As Souta’s eyes stared off and watched a sight with senses beyond the physical, Kizuki, his two duplicates, and the two other members of Fourth turned to listen. Their spells never faltered, except for the Unseated Shinigami who healed Rin when they heard Souta so plainly announce that Hattori died mere moments after he found her.

Even Kizuki’s face darkened.

A relieved breath left him when Souta mentioned that Mibuchi, mere seconds later, managed to bring an end to that very Hollow.

“One of the Gillians, it must have been,” he added, solemnly. “The Soul Society will forever remember her bravery in challenging such a demon.”

Then, Rin brought up another presence, one they had been searching for after their own battle with a “Huge”-class Hollow.

“I believe he or she may have just found us.”

All five Fourth Division heads turned as Saeki, little worse for his absence, stepped back in through the still-intact sliding door of the dojo—politely not using the new hole in the ceiling.

“I appreciate your attention to protocol and standards, but I beg courtesy for her,” Kizuki added with a warm smile. He took one of his hands away form Souta’s spell, yet it still did not falter, and gestured to Rin. “They have both been in quite considerable pain.”

His eyes quickly scanned Saeki.

“You have faced trials of your own, it seems. You’ve done exceedingly well to return in such condition, considering the class of Hollows present,” he complimented the Seated Officer.

Then, his second hand returned to the spell that tended to Souta’s remaining wounds. He glanced at it for a moment, nodded shallowly, and added: “We should be done shortly.”

He quickly cut back in, and spoke more loudly, as he addressed the room: “What Ishikawa has described as Hollows dragging still-living Shinigami away disturbs me greatly. We’ve never seen such behavior before—words we have been speaking far too often of late.

“We are nearly done with this treatment. I am going to need all of you to accompany us. Let’s find as many survivors as we can, regroup with them, and pursue any Shinigami we find in the clutches of the Hollows.”

He looked around.

“The Ninth and the Twelfth have different methods, but if we can capture some of the common Hollows, still capable of speech and reason—albeit impaired—we may learn more of what’s going on here,” he explained to everyone as his eyes scanned the room and those of everyone within.

“But taking Hollows alive is no small task. I will need all of you to make it possible.”

Not even one got captured during the assault on the Academy. It was common knowledge: they often killed themselves fighting to the death in a hopeless situation, rather than get taken alive by the Shinigami.

Many, too, objected to the practice of taking advantage of the cursed and innocent souls within by using such methods.

Then, slowly, his attention returned to one man present in particular: Souta.

“But it is our good fortune that we have someone with that very expertise among us.”
 
Souta felt Saeki approach perhaps half a second before the man made his presence known, his head turning to face the familiar man as he spoke, a soft smile tugging at the corner of his lips, unbidden but far more genuine than anything the others had likely seen out of him before. Still, the smile faded quickly, his face once more taking on a cold, neutral expression as he listened to the back and forth- and, more importantly, to the words of Lieutenant Kizuki. Though his expression remained unchanging, the more he heard from the Gotei’s longest serving Lieutenant, the more he wanted to haul himself up and run, as far and as fast as possible.

Is he fucking insane? The thought echoed through Souta’s head as he slowly rose to his feet, his legs shaky, though not now from pain. Casting that Kurohitsugi had taken nearly every ounce of Reiryoku he had, and what little remained was barely enough to keep him conscious- he was in no condition to fight, let alone try and capture a Hollow, no matter how weak it was. And yet…

“...I understand, Lieutenant Kizuki.” Souta said as he brushed some of the dust off of his Shihakusho, meeting the older man’s gaze with a look of flat, almost apathetic acceptance. “I will need one of your subordinates to help replenish some of my Reiryoku. I am… running rather low, after the Kurohitsugi.” An understatement, perhaps, of just how close he had come to passing out from sheer exhaustion, nevermind the pain.

“I assume you have a plan in mind already? He asked, glancing towards the others as he rolled his shoulders. Or are you going to make me come up with that on top of relying on me to bind a wild animal in chains?
 
Related? Not what she was expecting to hear. Looking back to Officer Nakajima to study his features for a moment. Do we actually look alike? A distraction mostly as Kizuki brought everyone's attention to the matter of Shinigami being taken. As she felt the lingering pain in her shoulder fading, the rest of the injuries seemed to ache that much more.

Her eyes moved over to the White haired man who joined the group last. He must have been the other person present when Blue came down on the Dojo. Besides his ankle, they seemed to be mostly unscathed.

With her arm usable again, She pulled it back into its sleeve before one of these two made yet another comment about her being improper. The Lieutenant had asked them all for assistance in this securement, of lives and Hollows.

"I can be pretty convincing, play myself as a prime target for abduction?" Why're you giving them ideas? You're going to make yourself end up like Hattori. She almost instantly regretted the suggestion as it came from her lips. Words still a bit wavering as she hadn't quite composed herself.

"I've been mistaken for a student once already, so if we play off that, maybe we attract one with actual information." She watched everyone but Nakajima after that last comment. She had no idea if anyone knew of her abduction, or hell, maybe they all suspected her as a traitor for being gone for so many days just before the invasion. "None of you happen to have an Asauchi to help sell this deception would you?"
 
Kizuki’s warm smile and kindness weren’t enough to remove the sting of embarrassment from his predicament getting here, but they were enough to remind him the importance of maintaining kindness even under difficult circumstances.

“Lieutenant Sakurai, it is I who should be begging courtesy. It was wrong of me to let my frustrations at not having arrived in time bleed into how I treated them.”

Saeki changed orientation to a point between Kizuki and Rin before performing a bow.

“I hope you will both forgive this lapse.”

It wasn’t a fully genuine apology, but the depth of the bow let him hide his face from scrutiny by everyone except, perhaps, Souta himself. Saeki returned to a standing position and listened as Kizuki apparently complimented him, before showing surprise that Kizuki had not heard of hollows abducting living Shinigami.

“If I may interject, I reported the abduction of Shinigami during the Academy invasion to the 6th division. I realize this information may not have had time to spread, but this is not the first occurrence of the behavior.”

Saeki remained silent for most of the rest of the conversation allowing Kizuki to discuss his plan, and for Souta and Rin to make their comments.

“I apologize, I never caught your name, but are you sure playing the role of bait is the best way to move forward? We’ve seen these hollows hide their true power before, so there is a very real chance that we underestimate them in the process of an ambush putting you in excessive danger.”

He paused to let his words sink in before continuing,

“Besides, we have no lack of hollows to target, and they’ve shown a habit of chasing after any weaker target with zeal. I don’t deny the wisdom of an ambush to make it easier on Seated Officer Nakajima given his exhaustion; however, I am the least injured and likely the best close-range fighter of our group. I think it may make the most sense for me to harass a nearby hollow while hiding my reiatsu, and then draw them into our ambush.”
 
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The conspiring Shinigami were interrupted when Souta received a Hell Butterfly from Ayane. In the message, Ayane explained that she had encountered what seemed to be infected, but still living, Shinigami, and that she believed she had traced the hollow responsible for their current state. She then elaborated her current predicament; she was holed up in the Dojo with the surviving students and some low-ranking Shinigami of the 6th and would be unable to risk her charges to engage the hollow. Saeki spoke once Souta had finished sharing the message,

“That… Complicates things. I believe we will need to eliminate this hollow first to hopefully free the Shinigami it is possessing.”

It was Rin who came up with another idea, what if the group targeted the peculiar hollow for abduction?

“Interesting, that would be a way of ‘killing both tigers at once’, a twofold advantage. Still, I think the risks are too great, I am confident I could lead this hollow to our group if we could isolate it, but the area is swarmed with hollows and its minions.” Saeki replied.

Souta interjected to mention the risk of infection if something went wrong, to which Saeki nodded in agreement. The group let these points hang in the air for a moment as they considered them before Lieutenant Sakurai suggested that his Shikai would be able to handle the diversion without putting himself into danger. With the key points addressed, and after some additional discussion and tweaking, the group finalized a plan.

First, Souta, Rin, and Nakajima found one of the infected Shinigami, using their sixth sense to investigate the foreign reiatsu signature and trace it back to the peculiar hollow. With their target located, the splinter group returned to Lieutenant Sakurai to begin the next phase. Kizuki sent his clones out, projecting his reiatsu through them as needed to get the attention of nearby hollows, and drew them away. The Shinigami then moved together as close as they could without giving away their position and then Rin and Saeki made a stealthy approach. While Rin was able to maintain her cover, Saeki cursed that trying to hide his Reiatsu caused him to lose focus on keeping his actual presence hidden from the hollow.

Realizing his mistake, he kept laser focused on the peculiar hollow; however, he was surprised to find the hollow made no sign of attempting to flee. He had assumed by its nature that it may try to escape at the first hint of danger. His instincts immediately went into overdrive, his senses scanning the area for other hollows or traces of the peculiar hollow’s reiatsu that might indicate an ambush. Saeki engaged it the moment he confirmed there was nothing.

The hollow pounced immediately, its talons grasping for Saeki while the distinctly unnatural signature of sonido propelled it forward. Had the Shinigami not already been on high alert, primed to get out at a moment’s notice, he may not have been able to escape its reach. Every ounce of body and mind was consumed by one singular task: stay out of range long enough to lead this thing to the group. The effort worked flawlessly, the peculiar hollow found itself quickly overwhelmed by the ambush, and Souta wove a bakudo of such exquisite power that Saeki felt a pang of fear. A fourth seat capable of this after having managed a kurohitsugi not even that long ago? He shuddered at the thought of how powerful Nakajima might become should they all live long enough to grow.
 
The relief of not being taken up on the offer of being bait was expressed with a sigh. Quickly they moved and set up the ambush. Always a student Rin was left if awe when the kido trapped thier quarry. The source of the infection.
This thing had taken over and violated who knows how many fellow Shinigami, and now came the time to interrogate it. Shoyu taking lead in this moment made a simple offer. A bargain to the monster. "Answer our four questions honestly, and I swear on my Honor, I will let you live."
The moment hung as the beast considered. They had compiled an idea before the plan was executed but to genuinely make the offer still felt odd. Mercy to the enemy after all of this felt like a wound of its own. Rin watched carefully between the display and the Lieutenant.
When the thing said "Deal". Ishikawa felt sickened, but they needed that information. And as Souta lifted the bindings and the Hollow followed Shoyu away. She could all but barely hear the questions.
"What are you doing with the Shinigami you have captured?"
"I make them my servants, as you all should be"
"Why you and yours targeting the Asauchi?"
"We have been commanded to by our master"
A master? News to us that will need to be investigated further.
"Who is working with you inside the Gotei?"
"I do not know anything about that."
Souta seemed to shift as if readying for the end of the questions.
"Where do your gates lead to?"
"Home"
"One more if you dont...nevermind." shoyu's words seemed to trail off as soon as the obligation was met. The beast taking no time ran. Rin flinched as Lieutenant Sakurai moved with such speed and unleashed a Byakurai that weaved through the ruins and eliminated the beast mid stride.
Outclassed by leagues. Rin thought to herself, 'If he's the traitor I stand no chance.'
Saeki turned to see the source with a face of betrayal. Honor bound him to his word and that word was shaken. Rage was in his face when he returned to view to the rest of the group. "Nakajima, we agreed to let it live!" Though his eyes seemed to focus on Souta before Sakurai said "I apologize, but that needed to be done"

Now filled in with the answers provided. Scarce as the details are. Now it came down to. Who do we trust enough to tell? Ishikawa could only assume Hazuki and Ayane. She waited for the rest to make thier minds up on the next steps as she awaited orders.
 
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