That Nostalgic Summer Rain (Bleach/Kara no Kyoukai)

[X] That was the ESP talking. Follow the plan. Get some distance first.

It would be simple, to just start unleashing herself on the Hollows and watch them crumble away. It would be so easy. And it was so tempting, too. So what if Misaya's controlled Hollow had resisted Fujino's force a few times? If she kept trying, she could put it in its place eventually.

But, no, that wasn't the plan. She couldn't just stay here being a beacon for Hollows. Asagami had to get her head straight. She had to think clearly, normally. And right now, that meant retreating.

Deactivating her ESP again, Fujino took a moment to orientate herself. She was leaning against a tree, near Tatsuki, with the rain falling heavier with each passing moment. Neither her umbrella nor her cane was at hand, and Fujino didn't know if she would have time to collect them.

"Tatsuki." Fujino spoke up. "We need to go. Get some distance."

"Alright." Tatsuki replied. "I'll grab your cane."

"I might need your help." Fujino explained. "I can only move so fast, and I want to get as much distance as I can from this place when the Hollows come."

"I got you." Tatsuki's arm suddenly scooped around Asagami's back, and pulled her up. "And here."

Something came into contact with Fujino's hand, and she closed it around what she realised after a moment was her cane.

"Thank you, Tatsuki." Fujino said, as Tatsuki's other hand came under her to secure the hold. Tatsuki started moving, slowly at first, as Fujino continued. "Are you sure this is alright, though? It is raining pretty heavily. If you fall over-"

Tatsuki interrupted her. "And how long is it gonna take you to walk through this area while watching for all the roots and not slipping over and not being able to see? I said I'd carry you or something if we needed t-"

Tatsuki stopped, both movement and speech, before stepping around something.

"I'm just going to focus on this." Tatsuki decided, before falling silent.

A moment passed, as Fujino listened to the falling rain and vague, distant inhuman sounds.The Hollows barely sounded human, but even despite that, Asagami could hear the pain in their screeches.

And as Tatsuki forged on to put distance between the girls and the Hollows, Fujino thought on the target. The unadorned, austere figure that was identical to the other Hollows Misaya had controlled. If it could recover from Fujino's attacks, then how could she kill it?

While her psychic powers were active, and her mind torn away from the clear thought that was linked to her blindness and lack of sensation, Fujino would insist on just trying until it worked. And, perhaps, that could work. It had absorbed the frog-like Hollow when she had twisted it's legs and torso apart, so perhaps it needed to take in the power of other Hollows to heal faster. In that case, if she could just destroy all of it fast enough, or keep up the pressure, then she could kill it.

But Asagami couldn't be absolutely sure that would work. She didn't even know Hollows could heal, before now. For all she knew, the mechanics of it were more complex than she could understand.

An easier path, then, would be to kill the fairy controlling it. That would have to have some impact, considering how it was what allowed Misaya to control the Hollows. All she had to do was find it.

With the last two of Misaya's Hollows that Fujino had encountered, the fairy was rested in the holes on their body. It was something Fujino didn't exactly think about often, but most Hollows seemed to have that. She was fairly sure she had seen similar holes on the beast-like Hollows fighting the more streamlined figure.

So then why didn't she remember seeing a hole on this Hollow?

Had it been covered up? Had the Hollow been able to fill in the hole, or somehow disguise it? If it was capable of healing, something Fujino hadn't observed in any previous Hollows, then perhaps it could do something like that. And in that case, the fairy could be hiding inside the hole which was sealed over, perhaps?

If so, then all Fujino had to do was find it. If she could just tear into the Hollow enough to determine where the fairy was, she could destroy it, and hopefully the issue will have been resolved.

It had been the upper torso of the Hollow that had regenerated after Fujino had torn it in half, so if the fairy was still controlling the Hollow, then it was definitely above the waist. And before that, Fujino had decapitated the Hollow, so it was also below the neck.

So, then, the plan was for Fujino to use her ESP to tear the Hollow apart, as much as she could, except as the first step of the plan instead of the entire plan.

As Fujino finished that thought, Tatsuki stopped moving.

"This should be enough distance, right?" Tatsuki seemed to realise after a moment that the rain was loud enough to make it hard to hear her, and she raised her voice as she continued. "It's around about the entrance again."

"That should be far enough." Fujino replied. Tatsuki shifted her grasp on Fujino for some time, until Fujino felt her feet on the ground again, and she stood on her own power again.

"If we need to run again." Fujino began. "Then we may have some trouble. How much farther can we go before we run into an area where people might find us?"

"Technically?" Tatsuki asked. "If it wasn't raining so much, I'd say we'd risk running into people here. Considering the weather, I'd say we'll be fine unless we have to run back to the road. People might drive past us there. That's fairly close, but we have room to run still."

"Good." Fujino replied, as she spun to face back the way she and Tatsuki had come from. "If the Hollows from there approach us, I will let you know. Could you watch my back, Tatsuki? In case any more Hollows arrive."

"I got you." Tatsuki replied.

Taking a breath, Fujino focused, and once again activated her ESP.

As the ability to feel sensations returned to Fujino, the girl suddenly realised how cold it was. The rain was pouring heavily enough that her clothes had been soaked, and a light breeze was enough to make Fujino shudder from the chill.

But Fujino didn't have time to savour the rain. Not right now. Who knows how long she had until the Hollow came for her again.

Casting her sight back where she had come from, Fujino noted her umbrella on the ground amongst the trees and roots, and before much longer, found her target.

The featureless Hollow had turned towards Asagami again, but then turned back briefly. Expanding the scope of her gaze slightly, Fujino saw one Hollow behind it, the bat-like one from earlier. It had been injured, its wings removed, and yet it prowled closer to the taller Hollow regardless. It's mask moved as if it was speaking, and then it lunged.

Misaya's Hollow extended a hand, catching the bat-like Hollow by the neck, and the wingless bat tried to gnaw its way free. But then, it froze suddenly, and stared at the nondescript Hollow.

From the black-coloured void of the Hollow's chest. A face began to form. Phantasmal and barely there, but a face nonetheless, resembling an old man. It seemed somewhat sorrowful, as it met eyes with the bat.

The natural Hollow recoiled from the face, and from what little of its face was visible from beyond its mask, Fujino could see a shocked expression.

It took a moment for Fujino to think about what could be happening. She had forgotten, with her focus on finding Ouji, what exactly Hollows were. They were people, tormented by their inability to move on, driven to monstrosity. So what had Misaya's Hollow done here? Who's face was that?

Misaya's fairies could take memories, Fujino remembered. Had it looked into the Hollow's mind to find a face that would provoke that kind of reaction?

Misaya's Hollow crushed the remains of the bat, which didn't resist as it was killed, and Fujino realised she had been distracted.

Repeat the phrase enough, and it becomes a curse.

"Bend."

The Hollow's arm strained as Fujino twisted its shoulder, watching it crumble like a bent spoon at a cheap magician's show, After a moment of strain, it burst apart, and the faceless Hollow dropped the remains of the bestial Hollow.

Misaya's Hollow turned in Fujino's direction, as Fujino lined up her gaze over the Hollow's chest.

Repeat the phrase enough, and-

The Hollow vanished, and Fujino's eyes widened as she rapidly widened her gaze.

It had gotten faster. Not to the point of being beyond comprehension, but she had been looking too closely, and the sudden movement had caught her off-guard. She couldn't focus that much if she wanted to be able to destroy it.

It would be harder, then, to accurately target its vulnerability. But regardless, Fujino believed she could do this. Tracking the Hollow as it came closer, Asagami repeated her own personal mantra again.

Repeat the phrase enough, and it becomes a curse.

"Bend."

The Hollow's other arm stopped and twisted, and as the rest of the Hollow continued to charge forward, Fujino's psychic force held the limb in place. The Hollow tore its own arm off, in truth. But it was already healing by the time Fujino refocused her gaze.

It was approaching far too fast for Asagami's liking. She needed to slow it down.

Repeat the phrase enough, and it becomes a curse.

"Bend."

The Hollow collapsed as it's leg was ripped away, but in a heartbeat, it was crawling. One arm already completely regenerated, one leg untouched, and a third limb almost completely formed, it was enough that the loss of speed only lasted a heartbeat.

Repeat the phrase enough, and it becomes a curse.

"Bend."

Finally, Fujino was able to unleash her psychic power across the Hollow's chest. If the Hollow's internal structure was anything like a humans, then the point that Fujino tore apart would be the centre of the ribcage, halfway through the torso. The body was torn asunder, and for a moment, the Hollow stopped moving.

"Fujino!" Tatsuki called suddenly. "Behind you!"

Once again shifting her vision, Fujino left behind the faceless Hollow and looked behind her back. The Hollow was some distance away, but still far closer than Fujino would have liked.

Repeat the phrase enough, and it becomes a curse.

"Bend."

The Hollow's head twisted and ripped, and the force of the spiraling power popped off its head in a few seconds. The Hollow died, and Fujino took a moment to linger in the feeling of the kill.

Instantly, Fujino regretted that. First of all, she was lingering in her own sinful excesses. Even if a Hollow dying was a mercy to the human soul, she was ultimately still enjoying a human's death.

But, more importantly, she had been distracted. Where was Misaya's Hollow now?

Shifting her gaze back, Fujino saw it almost immediately. It had healed, it was fast, and it was too close for Fujino to run away.

Before Fujino could even shout a warning, she heard Tatsuki make an alarmed sound, and the Hollow burst out from the trees and into the open.

There wasn't time to run anymore, but at this stage, Fujino could guess where the fairy was. It was either in the stomach of the Hollow, or in line with the heart, roughly. If she unleashed her power on the second target, then if she was wrong, the Hollow would be separated from its arms.

The Hollow charged at Fujino, and the girl reflected that, if she was wrong, and the fairy could control the Hollow's legs without it's upper torso, then it simply running into her could injure her severely.

But there was no time to think about that.

Repeat the phrase enough, and it becomes a curse.

"Bend."

The Hollow's body began to twist, and it took Fujino a moment to realise she had miscalculated. The Hollow was going to reach her before she could destroy its upper body. Trying to put more force into her ESP in the hopes that perhaps she could destroy it sooner, Fujino ignored the impending threat in favour of hurting it as much as she could.

Just as the Hollows fist descended upon Fujino, Tatsuki moved. As distracted as she had been, Fujino hadn't even seen the other girl approach. She stood between Fujino and the Hollow, her forearms crossed above her as she stopped the Hollow's fist, and as Tatsuki cried out in pain, she slid back, almost colliding with Fujino as the force of the blow pushed her away.

The Hollow was still charging, but it had slowed, and that split second delay had given Fujino time. It's upper body was torn asunder, and as the remains of its lower half kept moving on, Tatsuki suddenly turned and shoved Fujino to the side.

The pain Asagami felt as she hit the dirt wasn't the worst she had felt, but it was still distracting. Despite herself, Fujino couldn't help but savour the sensation for a second. The sudden pain had been unexpected and as she was now, Fujino couldn't help but endure the sensation. She would rarely have the chance to feel something similar, after all.

But that moment of distraction was too much. If Fujino hadn't gotten the fairy, and she gave it time to regenerate, that would be a problem. Especially since Tatsuki was still in its path.

Refocusing her gaze to look at the world around her again, Fujino saw Tatsuki get up off the floor herself, where she had thrown herself down to avoid the remains of the Hollow. She was holding her arm strangely, and as the rain poured upon her, she approached the Hollow's lower body slowly.

The remains of the Hollow weren't moving, and if it was healing, Fujino couldn't see it. But, as Tatsuki stepped closer, she saw something shifting over the stomach of the Hollow.

Similar to what had happened just a few moments ago, with the batlike Hollow, a face formed on the Hollow's body. Ghostlike and vague, but a replica of Tatsuki's own.

"I just didn't want to be left out again." The fake face on the Hollow spoke with Tatsuki's voice, before shifting, losing shape for a second before taking form again. "I like you, and even if you say you've killed people, I've only heard about it. So I want to keep liking you."

Tatsuki stopped moving, and the Hollow started to regrow an upper body. Fujino, still on the ground, focused her vision on the face on the Hollow.

She didn't know what the Hollow was doing, beyond it mimicking things Tatsuki had said before, but she had had enough of it.

Repeat the phrase enough, and it becomes a curse.

"Bend."

The Hollow's ghostly body buckled under the pressure of the deadly force. For a brief second, Fujino saw the face, and the Hollow's body around it, shrink and shift, leaving a hole behind as the fairy took form and tried to escape.

But too little, too late. Fujino watched as the Hollow died, and the force of the body crushing inwards killed the fairy before it could move.

The legs collapsed, and the remnants of the Hollow faded away. And then, there was only the rain.

Turning off her ESP, Fujino let herself fall back into darkness and numbness, and pushed herself off the ground. Her hand slipped in a puddle briefly, but it only took a second to get back to her feet.

"Tatsuki?" Fujino asked, over the rain. "Are you alright?"

Behind her, Fujino heard what sounded like Tatsuki's voice, but it was too quiet to hear over the rain. Fujino turned towards the sound, and Tatsuki spoke up. "I'm fine. Arm hurts. Doesn't feel broken, though."

"You froze up for a moment there." Asagami pointed out. "What happened?"

Fujino had heard what the Hollow had said, and she had a vague idea of why. Earlier, the Hollow had done the same thing to the bat-creature Hollow to make it stop fighting. So had it tried to do something similar with Tatsuki?

Tatsuki had been taking those pills to make sure the fairies couldn't steal her memories, but Tsukabishi had said that Fujino was likely to be immune because of how much power she had, and the Hollow was controlled by the fairy to gather more power. Perhaps it had been able to brute force past Tatsuki's resistance?

"...I think it was trying to mess with me." Tatsuki answered, as she approached Fujino. "It had my face for a moment, and it was talking. Stuff I've said before. Not sure what it-"

Tatsuki stopped, suddenly.

"...Didn't want to be left out…" She muttered to herself, hard to hear over the rain, but still audible now that she had come closer. "...Want to keep liking you…"

"Tatsuki?"

"Is that what it was trying to imply?" Tatsuki's voice was suddenly more audible, easier to hear. "That the only reason I brushed over all that stuff earlier was because I didn't want to stop being involved?"

"What stuff?"

"You know, Fujino." Tatsuki sighed. "The murder stuff."

Oh.

Fujino didn't know how to react to that, so she stayed quiet, and hoped that Tatsuki would talk some more.

"I just…" Tatsuki floundered verbally for a moment. "Is that right? Would I react differently if Orihime and Ichigo told me about the whole supernatural thing, if I didn't feel like I needed to be more reliable? Am I only really trusting you because I want you to trust me?"

Stepping closer to Tatsuki, Fujino said the first thing that came to mind.

"Does it matter?"

Tatsuki didn't respond right away, and so Fujino continued.

"I mean, you can't control the reason behind your thoughts." Fujino said. "So what if the reason you were willing to trust me was selfish deep down? You've helped me a lot, Tatsuki, and you've been a good friend. Even if it's only because you wanted to be trusted, even if it's only because you wanted to be included, that doesn't change anything."

"...You really think so?" Tatsuki asked.

"I do." Fujino replied. "And even if it wasn't just your subconscious thoughts, even if you had intended to ignore my sins to feel better about yourself, you said something earlier today that I feel holds true. 'I like you, so I want to keep liking you.'"

"...Heh." Tatsuki eventually responded. "That's the most inspirational thing that I've ever seen someone covered in mud say."

Wait, hold on.

"Excuse me?" Fujino asked. "What did you just say?"

"...Did you not notice?" Tatsuki asked. "I did kinda push you into dirt to get you out of the way of the Hollow, and it's raining pretty badly. There's mud all over your clothes."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Fujino asked. "I can't be seen like this."

"Are you actually panicking over this?" Tatsuki asked. "I… It's not that bad, the rain's already gotten most of it gone, and your clothes are damp enough already that nobody's gonna notice anything off about them beyond that. Nobody's going to notice."

"You thought it was acceptable to not tell me I was covered in mud for so long." Fujino complained. "Your opinion is clearly invalid."

"Okay, how about this." Tatsuki suggested. "We can't exactly do anything about that now. So let's head back to the Urahara store so you can try to talk to Ouji and maybe you can get more clothes there. It's a bit of a walk but we can probably stick to alleys and nobody will see you."

"Thank you." Fujino replied.

Honestly, she was being a bit childish, but she had already had a stressful few days. She didn't need people thinking she was some ruffian who played around in the mud on top of that.

"I'll just go get our umbrellas real fast." Tatsuki said. "I mean, not much point now, but maybe we'll get a chance to dry up."

"Don't go off alone." Fujino said. "We don't know for sure all the Hollows are gone."

"Alright, then." Tatsuki's hand met Fujino's. "Here, hold on."

Fujino nodded, and as Tatsuki pulled her back towards the forest, the black-haired girl started talking again.

"So, you were going to talk to Ouji at Urahara's store, try to convince her to go back home?" Tatsuki checked.

"That was the plan." Fujino confirmed.

"So what's the plan for that?" Tatsuki asked. "Try to get the guys in charge of the store to help explain why her plan won't work? Or did you want to keep things personal."

"She might not open up as easily if there are strangers there." Fujino mused. "But on the other hand, I'm not sure I could convince her to come home myself. The logic behind her goal being impossible would seem less convincing coming from me, and an emotional argument would be pointless."

"You never know." Tatsuki replied. "What're you thinking?"

[X] When Fujino talks to Misaya, she should be on her own.
[X] Perhaps it would help if someone else was there to talk to Ouji as well.