I'm trying a different hour for my updates. I guess it doesn't matter as long as I update at all, right?
-x-
Tessai? Tessai, why were you wrong?
My thoughts were at best scrambled. Whatever plan I had had come and gone, now. The Soul Society had arrived, taking notice of Rukia's disappearance more than a month before they should have. Something had gone horribly wrong and I had no idea what.
But it had gone wrong in the worst way and I was panicking now.
The confident gait I had started with turned into a quick run to hide behind a vertical I-beam. Someone's feet hit the ground – this was followed by another pair of feet, heavier and less elegant. Byakuya and Renji had come and I had enabled this oh god…
I took deep breaths and forced myself to be calm. If either of them heard me, if either of them detected me, I'd be screwed. So, I waited. No sound escaped my throat; no noise was made as I leaned closer to the thick I-beam to make myself as thin as possible.
"Hey," I went still, "Mind explaining what's so scary about those two?" My eyes slowly drifted to my right. Ichigo was crouching behind several bags of gravel, just out of view from the Captain and his vice.
…Ignoring how impressive it was that he got to me so quickly, "Keep your voice down!" I hissed back, just under my breath, "If either of them notices us, we're screwed!"
Ichigo raised an eyebrow. Where was that lack of confidence? Where was that hesitation? He was not acting the part of someone who went through hell. Everything that he was doing now, every mannerism he exhibited was completely at odds with what I thought of him. Was I… wrong?
…well, when I put it like that, it sounds arrogant. I'd been terribly wrong on multiple occasions, why not now?
"Oh…" a thin, vicious smile crossed his face, "So if I call out to them, what would happen?"
"They'd kill us both."
Aaaand there he was! I wasn't sure if it was a good thing that I was right or not, but all that bravado and cheer vanished. "Seriously?" he whispered, "For what?"
"Bullshit." I murmured back, "They would kill us for bullshit."
His worried scowl deepened, "Why're they here?"
I considered telling the truth for a moment. They're here, Ichigo, to kill you and take Rukia to the Soul Society. But then there was a simple problem to consider. If I told Ichigo that they were here for Rukia, he would assume – reasonably, of course – that I had captured and delivered Rukia to them.
So I could explain that I was kidnapping Rukia to see if he'd save her, which would sound like bullshit because the Shinigami showed up to take her away. Or I could lie.
"I have no idea."
Ichigo exhaled and grasped his sword, "After we fight these guys… We're having a talk."
"…I just kidnapped Rukia and now you want to help me?"
His glare pierced me, "Help you? You kidnapped Rukia. If anything happens to her, if you've done anything to her…" he stopped himself, "But right now? Those guys feel way more dangerous than you."
"……You can't seriously be telling me this." Garbage, bullshit, hogwash, whatever you call it, that is what it was. Ichigo was being an idiot. Let me rephrase that: Ichigo Kurosaki was being a fucking moron. If I was anyone else, if I was serious about what I'd just done, he'd be leaving his back wide open to me and ripe for stabbing.
This was… wrong. Why would Ichigo trust me so easily? What could convince him that I was worth helping?
A beeping noise came from the two figures standing in the center of the construction site. Were they… tracking her? Were they tracking Rukia like some kind of dog?
The I-beam was separated inches above my head and flew, falling in front of me. Wide-eyed, I slowly looked up. Standing in a platform a few feet above me was a fat man with a stupid, purple collar.
Omaeda.
They didn't send Byakuya and Renji. No. They sent someone very different. If Omaeda was here, then the Captain they sent was… My head tilted down to look in front of me. Impossibly fast, impossibly quick, the Captain of the Second Division stood across from Ichigo and me.
Suì-Fēng. Mother fucking Suì-Fēng was here.
"Oh? Looks like a local Shinigami found him before us…" Omaeda trailed, "Uh, Captain, what should we do?"
"Isn't it obvious?" she asked her lieutenant, "Oi, rookie, back off from the Offender. We'll handle it from here."
Oh, good. They weren't here for Ichigo.
…Wait, no, bad. They were here for me.
Also: "Offender?" Thank you for asking the obvious question, Ichigo.
I took a moment to break down the word that was being used here. 'Offender' was what they were calling me. But, thinking past my automatic translation, it came out as something a little different. 'Togabito'.
…They thought I was from hell – no, they thought I was from capital 'H', Hell.
"It's below your pay grade, brat," Omaeda explained to Ichigo. "We don't know how he avoided Kushanada, but somehow he's found his way back to the world of the living. So, uh, back off." He pointed at me, "That guy's dangerous."
…what… what was happening here?
First off, they thought I was from Hell. Why did they think I was from Hell? Did I give off some kind of aura? The Visored couldn't detect me, so I must assume that I exude a different kind of power. Do the Togabito operate on such a different level that Shinji's group wouldn't be able to detect me?
…Wait, no. Not me. The Ghost Rider. The Spirit of Vengeance. A being that manipulated fire – hellfire… shit. Tessai might have tricked the Soul Society into thinking that Hollow activity had dipped in Karakura, but he didn't do anything to block any signature that the Ghost Rider's powers might have set off.
And hellfire? Fire directly from the pit of Hell itself? Yeah. That would do it. That would probably make them think something very different than what happened. A lot of people died and Hollow activity suddenly dipped at the same time that fires from the pit of Hell appeared in that area?
Of course they'd respond to it. Hell, of course they'd respond to it as quickly as they could with the best available to them. They wouldn't send someone powerful, they'd send someone fast to deal with this issue as quickly and efficiently as possible. Byakuya and Renji would be a terrible choice for dealing with a Togabito. But what if it was Suì-Fēng? The head of the Stealth Corp? The lead assassin in the Soul Society? Hoh, yeah. Now it was making sense.
I barely glanced at Ichigo, "Run, boy." And I pulled out my sword. I could feel Omaeda smirk behind me. I pulled out my sword and, at about that moment, Yoruichi appeared on the scene to push Suì-Fēng out of the area.
-x-
There was a time to make a comment about a cat fight and there was a time to pull out your sword and fight someone above your weight class in every way. This was a time for the latter.
Omaeda was a very large, wide man. But most of that size was not just fat; there was very real muscle under that. It didn't matter much since he had the power of a Vice Captain, but there was a definite weight to his strikes. My Asauchi could only block these hits so long before he overwhelmed me.
Sure enough, he lifted his leg and kicked me in the gut. I was launched back into a roll, but tumbled to my feet and stood to meet him. And Ichigo, that magnificent son of a bitch, burst in and attacked Omaeda with his impossibly large sword.
It should not be said that Omaeda was weak. It shouldn't and indeed mustn't be said. Because Omaeda was not weak… in canon, he was a joke, but here? To us? He'd might as well have been some kind of unstoppable juggernaut.
"You're helping that thing?" Omaeda called out in surprise, "Wait… Wait a second…" he connected the dots remarkably fast, "Your powers… they aren't yours, are they?" Ichigo's sword came down, but Omaeda stepped to the left and punched him in the face.
"Ichigo!" Oh goddamnit, Rukia. Why aren't you in the fucking van?
"Sting all enemies to death, Suzumebachi!" Suì-Fēng's voice cried out.
Oh right. Yoruichi was supposed to be guarding Rukia. But now, she was fighting Suì-Fēng, so Rukia probably got out of her bindings, and… Well. "Bloody bumfudge!" I charged Omaeda as he looked away and tried knocking him down.
It was like smacking into a goddamn rock. He looked down in disdain, "Disgusting." He kneed me in the gut and I doubled over, hugging myself. Ichigo was getting up again, readying himself for another charge. "A traitor," he looked at Rukia, "An abomination," he glanced at Ichigo. Omaeda lifted me up and tore the bag off my head. "And a Togabito. Got anything to say for yourself before I cut off your head? I'll let you beg."
I did have something to say, in fact! I looked him in the eye, opened my mouth, and explained to him with spectacular liquidity the wonder of three 'shiny deluxe specials'. My abused gut sang in relief even as my throat burned. He dropped me and backed away, coughing, spurting, and frantically trying to wipe it all off his face.
"Yeah…" I coughed, "Have a shiny day." And then he kicked me in the side of the head.
I rolled. But this time, I didn't get to my feet as quickly. I crawled as Ichigo fought Omaeda. "Rukia! Run!" Ichigo called to her, "I'll hold him off!"
…Oh, Ichigo, no. No, you don't get to have a heroic sacrifice. Not this soon, not for something as bullcrap as this. And you are not sacrificing yourself to Omaeda, of all people. It's not happening.
Ichigo's showing against Renji was deceptively positive. After over two months of experience as a Shinigami, Ichigo did a good job of fighting Renji despite not even knowing the name of his Zanpakuto. But after a week of experience, Ichigo's fight against Omaeda was dissolving into a brawl.
Ichigo's arms were wrapped around Omaeda's neck in a futile attempt to choke him out. Omaeda would have none of it. He heaved his shoulders and tossed Ichigo forwards into the bags of gravel before stomping on him. I heard something snap. "Let's see you try that with a broken arm…" Omaeda growled.
Filthy, distressed, and bothered in every way, Omaeda turned his attention to Rukia. "While the Captain is dealing with that other person… You're coming with me. I hear your brother's been looking for you."
I turned my gaze every direction, everywhere I could. My sword would not be enough, here. I needed something more, I needed a better tool, I needed a… an advantage to fight this guy.
Wait, stop.
Where was I? Looking around me, I assessed the situation. Was this something I could come back from? Sure. Would I have to do it quickly? Oh yes I would. But was it possible?
…Did I even need to ask?
-x-
In a large enough construction site, say the site of a future office complex, no amount of people would be able to do what was necessary without the proper tools. To every nail, a hammer – to every screw, a screwdriver – tools were necessary for each individual job.
And this was a construction site literally littered with I-beams. And to lift an I-beam you would need more than just human effort. You would need a machine. Preferably a mobile machine – and professionals of the trade would call a mobile machine something very specific.
To move around such heavy loads in a construction site, be it I-beams or gravel, you needed construction vehicles.
And as I felt the power of the rider seep out of me and into the vehicle I rode in, I grinned. Omaeda was opening a Senkaimon to take Rukia away? Maybe his Captain wouldn't approve, but since she was occupied at the moment and he apparently defeated us, there would be little backlash – that was probably his reasoning, if I had to guess.
Being occupied with getting back to the Soul Society, he only noticed when it was too late to respond that I was about to literally bulldoze him away. Dropping Rukia, Omaeda spun to meet the blade of the bulldozer with his sword. I can't imagine much further reasoning from him as he was preoccupied trying to slow me down.
Unfortunately for Omaeda, this thing would not be stopping for him. I bailed the bulldozer and left it to barrel him down into the main structure of the incomplete building. The sound of an I-beam being struck resonated as the vehicle, still aflame, continued to press into Omaeda. Finally, the beam snapped.
And with that beam, half of the structure of steel and iron feel atop him. The bulldozer crumbled beneath the weight of it all, but beneath that battered dozer, beneath those I-beams, Omaeda–
"Crush!" No. There was no way… "Gogetsuburi!"
He came in like a wrecking ball, throwing off the I-beams covering his body and walking past the cooling inferno of what was once my bulldozer of 'getouttahere' – the name needed work, but I'm sure that with time and effort – NO. How was he moving? How was he still going?!
Of course he was injured. From what I could see, his body was covered in bruises, some vomit stained his collar, and he was bleeding from the nose – it was broken, probably. His hair was frazzled, his uniform torn and ripped, but I couldn't see anything that would stop him… He lifted his spherical Zanpakuto wrapped in silver spikes and spoke to me, "I'm sorry."
It may have been the most foolish thing to do at that moment, but I let my guard down for the briefest second. "…hah?" I stared at him.
"I underestimated you." He explained to me, even as every step took him further away from the wreck of a building, "You didn't look or feel very strong, so I held back. And as someone who tells others not to underestimate someone for how they look…" he popped his neck and shifted his shoulders, lifting his Zanpakuto higher. It was only now that I could see the expression of incandescent rage on his face, "It was wrong of me to do it. So, for you, I'll stop holding back."
And he threw his Zanpakuto right at me.
-x-
One Foot on the Platform
OR: One Foot on the Train
End-10
