BLEACH: Imbalance

[Doctor Jax]

The Kids Are(n't) Alright​

The voices she heard were obviously those of children, and she caught fleeting glimpses through the crack between door and jamb of little bodies scrambling for cover like mice. That is, all but one, and she put a single hand on Kuzue-biko's hilt as she walked out into the doorway. She must seem a fright, her hair completely in disarray and face tacky with blood, but that would work to her advantage.

She had a feeling the children were somehow related, and if they saw her as a possible threat, they may think twice about trying anything. She was far from naive. Children could be cruel in their own right, provided incentive.

"Hello. Would you mind telling me what exactly I happen to be doing here? And who are you?" she asked with unnerving calm, though her heart thudded in her chest. She seemed to be in some sort of warehouse or storage space, given the 'furniture'.

The nine year old puffed out his chest, brow furrowed and mouth downturned in what he clearly thought to be an intimidating glare. But the furrow was a bit too deep, and the frown too exaggerated, and the effect was more comical than frightening.

"That's none of your damn business who I am, ya old lady!" His face began to turn red from the effort of appearing intimidating. "I'm the boss, that's what I am! And you better beg my forgiveness for-"

"She isn't no kid, though!" The whisper, hushed though it was, broke the redhead's train of thought, interrupting him. "Be careful, Renji!"

"You idiot!"

The redhead, Renji, spun around and hurled a small stone in the direction of one of the boxes. It clattered against it, leaving a fairly impressive dent in the wood before it fell to the floor. A whimper trailed out from the box, and about the room came a mix of consolations and admonitions. Grunting, Renji turned to glare at Minori.

"So you know who I am. But that's your only freebie. You have to earn information, old lady. And so far, you ain't done shit."

Minori, to her credit, didn't move, besides a twitch of the cheek as he dubbed her "old lady." I'm a spring chicken, thanks a lot, you little…

"Ah, I forget - that's right. I've been rude. Why don't you all come out? You've already given up your numbers. How about this - a trade. I tell you something… and you tell me something," she said, slowly squatting down to their level.

I might still be in Rukongai. These kids are all orphans, I would bet my best shoes on it. But what are they doing with kids out here…?

Renji's face paled, then his brow furrowed.

"What would you know that we wanna know, huh?"

"Yes, but you wanted to know what was going on, same as her, when you got here."

Renji shot a glare over his shoulder at the figure of a smaller, if not much younger, boy who now stood from behind a box. Long gray hair draped down across his eyes, though their shining points could be seen peering out, oddly piercing. He gave a small wave and a smile.

"I'm Doreen, ma'am. You hungry? Tell you what: we'll trade you something to eat for your name."

Renji's nose wrinkled, and he scoffed. The others, emboldened by the smaller boy, came out of hiding themselves, though they made no move to approach the stranger.

They were all an odd bunch. A couple of vagabond kids and a single noblewoman with another person's blood on her literal hands. She nodded along to their suggestion. If they were hungry… they were children with high reiatsu. Important in their world, yet somehow still urchins, unnoticed - and presumably kidnapped, like her.

"Sure thing. My name is Nori. It's nice to meet you, Doreen. And you too, Renji. What do we have to eat?" she asked sprightly.

"Not much!" Doreen teetered over to the small pile of food, eyeing it pensively before reaching for a largish bit of jerky. Giving it a pensive sniff, he waved it in Nori's direction. "Not much variety, anyway. How do ya feel about pork jerky?"

Clearly feeling more at ease, the crowd of children streamed out with the laughter and released tension. Clearly, if Doreen was offering the strange woman food, she must be alright.

Rather, most of them did. Renji hadn't moved, and his arms were still folded in frustration. He glared at the piece of jerky that Doreen now offered, scowling.

"I still don't like it," he muttered, and he skulked to the main door to sit in a huff on one of the boxes.

"Oh, I can hardly turn it down, can I? I get hungry too… And beggars can't be choosers," Nori said, taking a seat on a box and looking about at the children around her. They did not seem dangerous, but nevertheless she remained on guard.

"Now, what are you willing to tell me? Or want to know about who I am? I'm trading, remember?" she asked, taking a chunk out of the jerky with her fingers and giving back half.

 

[Red Thunder]

Edo

the World of the Living​

A figure, a living human in a western style uniform, seemed to gaze at the battle that commenced between the Hollow Steel Horn and Yuki, emotionless and studious. Perhaps not fully emotionless: eyebrows raised minutely as Sydney and Sumiko arrived on scene.

"Three," he muttered to no one before glancing down to a letter he'd extracted from a breast pocket. So few were left, it notified him. With weakened opposition, they might yet act. Yet here were reinforcements. "De Jaeger must have been neglectful."

Carefully, the letter was refolded and replaced. A charm glinted in the moonlight, hanging from his wrist: a silver cross.

At the battle, Sydney and Sumiko's sudden appearance was perhaps none too late; with a stone rending scream, Steel Horn ripped itself fully free of its restraints. Its tail lashed in agitation, striking deep trenches in the cobblestone, and pillars of reishi fell in pieces around him. He crouched, ready to spring.

Sumiko's fire caught him unawares. Throwing dim radiance about the surroundings that outshone the moonlight for the briefest moment, the flames contacted the Hollow's hide. It roared in pain, seizing before turning to face this new threat. One Shinigami had its blade drawn, yet this had been no sword that bit him. There: a female, palm raised to face him. She has caused him the pain.

It ate into his hide, the fire, and it continued to do so. There would be retribution for that offense. Green light encompassed his horn, coalescing in a uncharacteristically small sphere of energy that blasted forth relentlessly. Toward Sydney. Then Steel Horn shot forward, bearing down on Sumiko. Maw wide, he took her forcibly in his mouth.

Some blocks away, a desperate No! rent the routine quiet of the neighborhood that the battle had already disturbed. Even as Steel Horn leapt, a shining blue arrow made apparently of flame split the air, seeking purchase. It found none save the wind; Steel Horn was gone, having fled to Hueco Mundo, and he'd taken Sumiko with him.

A string of curses filtered through the now violently still night, but all was otherwise quiet once again.

Some Blocks from the Red Gate

Soul Society​

Damn Shinigami. Why couldn't it just die in piece? Why did it have to make such a fuss? Didn't even get a snack for all the trouble.

Pain lanced up from the wound on his side, and he pushed his hand against it the harder. Hollow though he was, this still hurt. He'd have to remember to keep an eye out for wayward gestures and finger points; evidently an unarmed Shinigami was not a weak one.

Survive was now the order of the day, as it had been since he escaped to this wretched place. Now an even taller order: this Shinigami who'd arrived would almost certainly be pursuing him for vergence, and he was in no condition to fight.

He coughed violently, spewing blood against a wall and on the cobblestones. Back to his hideout, then.

"Feeling a bit under the weather, Hollow?"

There was a frustrating amount of condescension in that question, and when he turned to face the newcomer, he felt his rage building. Yet it was instantly replaced by terror. De Jaeger the Quincy stood shadowed in an adjacent alley, predatory smile glistening.

"He got you good, I'd say. Or did you lose out to a few low ranked officers?"

"You're banter is unnecessary, Quincy. Are you to tell me that you followed me here just to kill me?"

"Not exclusively, Avispa. This is just the icing on the cake."

De Jaeger extended a hand, and a blue bow sprung into him grasp. Avispa grimaced; wrapped around his waist, his sword was effectively out of reach.

Back with Legawa's corpse, the Shinigami would feel another flair of reiatsu, dominating another familiar one that seemed much weaker than it had a few moments before as it'd clashed with the captain.

the Hideout

Soul Society​

Shinji sprinted for all he was worth. The lieutenant's aura was getting stronger, so much stronger. Yet, it seemed to be coming from behind a small disregarded door in perhaps the worst section of the whole Soul Society. Curious, but determined to locate the erstwhile woman, he shoved the door open.

The action smacked Renji in the back of the head where he was sitting. Leaping to his feet, the redhead used a string of curses and challenges to make the 11th Division blush. Shinji paused, taking stock of the very odd group he now faced. At least, until he spotted his target.

"Lieutenant! Glad you're ok! You're captain really needs you!"

 

[Nemopedia]

Libre Baskerville; Open Sans;

Mai Himura & Setsuko Hayashi

Art by: Aoi Oata

It happened in yet another flash. The same pressure rose up once more, fear nestling into Mai's heart as she worried that it was coming back for more. Slowly, steadily, the reiatsu grew before it was cut down by another, equally as large, perhaps even bigger, but as unfamiliar as the other. The soul reaper had never met either soul pressures and there weren't many in Soul Society with a reiatsu this large.

Gasping the female turned around, eyes focussed into the direction of the blood, from where the collision between the two pressures had happened. "That…" the female mumbled, regretting not running down the road to observe. It had been her duty, was still her job, but…

Eyes glancing over to the fallen Captain the third seat was in conflict. There was too much uncertain. Too much danger. One captain had already fallen and who knows what the new presence was to bring more?

"We should hurry back," Mai spoke to the two other seated members. A captain had fallen. Soul Society had to be warned.

It took Setsuko a moment to respond to Mai. Conflict written on her face as she looked down at her fallen captain. A desire for vengeance and fear was mixed into her expression, eyebrows furrowed as guilt took over, a fist clenching in frustration. The third seat could imagine what thoughts were running through Setsuko's mind.

"Shouldn't we check out those reiatsu?" Setsuko finally asked Mai. "The more information we can bring back, the better." Setsuko's hand went towards her sword, hand resting on its hilt as she readied herself for the decision of the third seat. A difficult one as Mai was just as scared and uncertain. Did she want to deny the female the opportunity to honour her captain one last time?

"They'd be better prepared if they knew what they were dealing with. Anything with the power to kill a captain should not be taken lightly."

Meeting the eyes of Setsuko Mai nodded, agreeing with what the other soul reaper said. Information would be to their advantage. However, she couldn't send Setsuko. Not in her grief. "I will go. You and Hinata head back with the captain," Mai spoke, another frown setting between her brows. Turning towards the trail of blood the killer had left Mai decided that it was only right that she went.

"I can't recognise the remaining force, but we must ensure that the news will reach the other division captains," the third seat continued unable to discern whether the reiatsu she felt was in their favour or against them. It had slayed whatever entity had disgraced their captain, but it was as unknown as the aggressor of the scene.

Setsuko started to disagree but bit her tongue instead nodding her head. "I think that makes sense," she complied to Mai's orders, understanding that she wasn't in the right mindset to hunt any further. "I'll take Captain Legawa's body back, and we'll inform the rest of the Gotei 13." The female bit her lip, pausing for a bit as if contemplating what she was to say next.

"Just...don't end up like the Captain, okay? The Ninth division is going to fall out of order after this, and we don't need the same thing for your division."

As Setsuko spoke, she lifted her Captain's corpse, unbothered by the blood staining her black shihakusho. "Don't take any risks. I'll come back as soon as I can."

"I will try," Mai sighed back, glad that the female didn't argue back however much she wanted to. Giving the quiet Hinata one more nod the third seat split her path, down the path of the unknown.

Concealing her presence the female flash-stepped her way down the road, until she passed a few blocks near to where she had measured the bursts of reiatsu before. Another scene of blood, but this time it was the disintegrating corpse of a hollow. Freezing Mai stared at the grotesque being, breath hitching in her throat as she watched its mask fall.

Again the souls of the consumed called out for her, bidding for her to release them from their terror. Terror struck through the female as she reached for her sword, praying that she was still in time for the rite.

It didn't matter, before her sword was unsheathed the hollow had disappeared. When the mask fell the condemned souls shackled within disappeared. The presence faded away, leaving no trace as if it had never existed. As if the sight she had just witnessed had just been a bad dream, leaving only one single figure calm and steady, almost as if he was bored with the scene.

"Who are you?" Mai finally spoke, noting his strange clothes and uncommon appearance. There was a flash of blue near his hand that also disappeared, a charm dangling around his wrist. This was a stranger with a warm body. A human stranger, but how did he get here? Soul Society was secured and no living member of the other world could pass through unless they had died and gone through a rite. It just didn't make any sense.

"What did you do to that hollow?" she continued, tone clipped. What terrifying power did this stranger possess to be able to eradicate a hollow so easily? What secrets had he unlocked to even slay the souls of those that the hollow had eaten? The female stood still, praying that answers would be given and that she didn't have to engage in a fight as she hid her fears. Mai had no faith that she would win this, but she was prepared.

Collab with @SkittlesAndSpike