Ichigo swung his blade at Tsukishima, but
the Fullbringer blocked the attack. Ichigo gritted his teeth and turned around
to run, but hollows blocked him, and when he cut them down, Tsukishima used his
high-speed movement to catch Ichigo from behind.
Ichigo sensed the attack and leapt sideways,
dodging it. "Damn it, out of my way, Tsukishima!" He shouted out, angry; his
expression was mixed with fear and worry for his siblings.
"I told you someone already filled that
role," Tsukishima said. He chuckled, seeing Ichigo's impatient face. "Why are you insisting on going to your
house? Not trusting my words?" he asked with amusement.
"Shut
up!!" Ichigo swung his blade again aggressively. "Anything you say is a lie!"
Tsukishima dodged it easily. "You are wrong
about that. I can alter memories of others and insert myself in them, or did
you forget?" With high speed, he stood in front of Ichigo. "Ichigo, I never lied
to you. Nor to your friends. I just merely misled you."
Ichigo stepped back, startled by Tsukishima's
speed. 'How did he do that? He wasn't that fast.'
"I'm not fast, Ichigo. I know you are startled
by it, but the reason is simple. You are not focused on the battle." Tsukishima
said coldly with a smirk on his face.
Suddenly, a figure appeared from behind Tsukishima
and shot at the Fullbringer with high speed and precision. Tsukishima dodged
the attack, but got two arrows on his back. When he turned, he saw Ishida with
his bow aiming at him.
"That was a good move. Pulling Reichi
around your feet and then launching out, giving you high speed. What is it
called?" Ishida asked with a cold tone.
"Bringer light." Tsukishima looked around
and saw that some of the hollows were dead, and Chad and Orihime were dealing
with them. "I'm impressed; you all grew stronger than the last time."
"We were stronger than you, but you played
tricks on us; because of that, we couldn't show our strength," Ishida said
calmly and then shot at Tsukishima. The Fullbringer dodged the attack and
blocked what he couldn't dodge.
"Go,
Ichigo. We will take care of him. You have things you need to do, right?" the
Quincy said in a calm voice without turning to Ichigo.
Ichigo nodded, then rushed home with a
worried expression. Tsukishima looked at the substitute Shinigami and smirked
for a moment. Then he turned his attention towards Quincy. "I guess a sub fight
with you three would be good before the main fight." He then launched at Quincy.
***
# Minamikawase/ Kurosaki's Clinic #
Karin was playing her game when she heard
the door ringing. She approached the door and opened it.
"Who is there?" she asked, and answered
with a blade thrust right through her chest. "Wha—" Her eyes widened; she
turned her head towards the person outside the door. It was a lean teenage boy.
His skin was starkly pale; his face featured
high, sharp cheekbones. His hair was pure black; it had a clean feature, but it
was ragged and chaotic, and his eyes were aqua blue. He wore an oversized
cloak, and underneath it was a torn trench coat in a western military style. "Who
the hell—?!" She asked when her soul separated from her body.
Then a gust of wind surrounded her; she
covered her face defensively. "Damn it! I won't take it down that easily!" she
shouted as her fist rose and she threw it at the boy. He blocked her fist with
ease.
The boy looked at her with a stoic
expression. "I apologize for scaring you, Kurosaki Karin." Karin's eyes widened
when he said her name. "You may think of me as an enemy, but I did that because
there is an emergency." He pointed behind him, and there was a huge number of
hollows standing outside the house.
Karin was shocked to see that. She froze;
she turned back toward the boy. "You can call me V, and I need your help to
hold them off until Kurosaki Ichigo arrives." He said in a calm tone.
Karin opened her mouth, but then the
hollows began to attack. They attacked in sync, but V created his bow fast and
shot them. "A lady is fighting those monsters outside near this place; go and ask
her to give you her blade," he asked as he jumped out to fight the
hollows.
Karin couldn't process what was going on,
but she understood what the boy was telling her to do. She ran outside and
searched for the lady, and just like he said, there was a woman near the house
fighting the monsters.
"Hheeyy!" Karin shouted as she ran towards
her. The woman turned to her and was shocked to see her. "Miss! Can you please
give me your blade?!"
The woman killed the hollows around her
with the swiftness of her hands. She looked at the young girl in disbelief.
"Karin, you…"
The young girl was puzzled, and she lowered
her head, noticing her clothes were changed to the same black kimono her
brother wore. 'Huh? When did this happen?' She stopped in front of the woman.
"Umm… there was a teenage boy who stabbed and a gust of wind happened and—"
"I know. He was the one who gave you this
power, and the one who asked you to come to me." She took out her zanpakuto and
gave it to Karin. "I'm Yoruichi Shihoin. I trained your brother when he was a
Shinigami."
"You trained Ichi-Nii?!" she shouted,
surprised by this information. "Does that mean you are strong?"
Yoruichi smirked confidently. "Of course, I
am. Now stay near me; There are many hollows, and you may get hurt while
fighting them." She stepped forward, facing the hollows.
"Yes, ma'am!" Karin then drew out the blade
and took her stance.
***
Back at Kurosaki's clinic, Yuzu was
watching Don Kanjonji's show. She was enjoying the show that she didn't notice
the young man standing behind her. When she sensed his presence, she turned her
head slowly. "Karin-Chan?"
Yuzu's eyes widened as she looked at the
young man carrying her twin sister's body on his shoulder. "Karin-Chan!!" The
young man shut her mouth with his hand. "Be quiet; we need to get you out here
before that evil spirit arrives." The young man said.
He then took her hand and ran outside. "I'm
sorry, but there are evil spirits that might kill you, so I need you to go with
me," he said calmly.
"Wait, Why? Are those evil spirits dangerous?"
she asked in concern. "And what's with Karin-Chan?"
"I knocked her out because she was
stubborn, and I'm sorry for that." He said without turning back.
"…Ahh! I forgot about my mom's lucky
Charm!" She shouted. "I have to go back to retrieve it!"
"Lucky Charm? We don't have time for that."
V said. But Karin shook her head. "I can't leave it because my mom said it can protect
us from evil spirits."
"What did you say? Does that thing look like a cross?" he asked,
and Yuzu nodded. 'That's probably Kurosaki Masaki's Quincy cross. Good, this
might give us a chance.' He stopped and turned to the girl. "Alright, go and
get it before they—"
"Before what exactly?"
A sinister voice cut V off. The Quincy turned
and found a man standing in the air. The man wore half a lower mask, a white
jacket, black sashes, and white hakama. His feet were black boots. His face was
skinny, his hair was red, and his eyes were hazel.
'Damn it. The arrancar arrived. I have no
choice but to fight him.' V took out his Quincy cross and formed a bow.
"Hey! My boss told me to watch those kids.
Why did you take one of them with you and send the other to your friend?!" the
arrancar asked with a disappointed tone. "Lie. You were planning to kill these
two for your amusement. You didn't care about your boss's order." V called back
at him.
The arranacar was surprised; he chuckled
and smiled sadistically. "Wow, you saw through me, didn't you?" he drew out his
sword and pointed at the Quincy. "You are right. I didn't like watching those human
kids, so I decided to kill them, and since you came to interfere, I will kill
you too."
"Try, and you will fail." The Quincy pulled
his bow and aimed directly at the arrancar.