| abstract
| - Kusaka flashed quickly towards the source of that mixture of shinigami and hollow Reiatsu. His senses couldn't be right, could they? "This guys at least on par with a Lieutenant...Kazuma won't stand much of a chance...unless he uses his head that is. He's good at that." Kusaka steeled himself regardless and ran the possibilities through his head. The Arrancar would sense his approach... but then, Kazuma's energy wasn't as high as his own. "Hey Kazuma, I need you to lower you're energy as much as possible. We're gonna jump this guy...well you are. I'm gonna have him concentrate on me." Nodding, Kazuma did as he was told, lowering his spiritual energy to the point it could barely even be recognized unless you knew what his energy felt like. Most wouldn't even pay him a second thought and that was exactly what Kusaka was planning on. Kusaka put Kazuma to the back of his mind, however, when he landed upon the sand a few feet from the Arrancar that left quite an indent. Rising slowly, he made himself look pretty angry and serious which wasn't hard. Just looking' at an Arrancar pissed him off. "A Shinigami?" He remarked angrily. "Perhaps you can help me then. You will tell me who killed my brother." This fellow had short cut blond hair, a black, intricate gauntlet on either hand and wore a revealing piece of chest armor. He wore a pair of red jeans and had several pieces of red cloth tied on his arms and shoulders. "Brother?" Kusaka remarked curiously. Images of the Arrancar they killed previously flashed through his mind, but he decided not to speak about that. "I didn't know hollows had brothers...or family for that matter. Now, explain to me why I would know your brother?" The Arrancar's lip curled up in a snarl. When he spoke, his tone was serious...and dangerous. This guy wasn't playing. "He was killed by Shinigami while attacking the Soul Society. If you know anything about those who killed him...then I will allow you to life in exchange for that information." Kusaka sighed and drew his zanpakuto. "Sorry, but I know nothing' about your brother." He lied. This guy was Shrieker's older brother. "As you can see, I'm no longer a part of the Soul Society or the Gotei 13. But...I do belong to a certain Agency that dislikes...well, you for lack of a better word." "Show him you know nothing about Arrancar. If he puts 2-and-2 together...!" The fellow assumed a ready stance with both hands raised to protect his face. "I hate all Shinigami with a passion, but I can be polite when it is needed. My name is Screamer and I'm here to find and kill the ones responsible for killing my brother." Even though he said he was angry, he certainly didn't sound it. The guy sounded as cool as the ice Yoshiro Kazuki made using his zanpakuto. Kusaka bowed his head in greeting. "My name's Kusaka Kori, wandering Shinigami and Hollow Bounty Hunter. Now, why do you feel like a damn Shinigami to me?" "Make the lie as convincing as possible." He thought as they psyched the other out. For the longest time, the two simply regarded one another, the wind blowing tiny grains of sand every which way. Kusaka slowly reached into his pocket and removed a single, silver coin. "When this hits the ground, we start." Tossing it into the wind, both warriors waited. One second. Two seconds. The wind blew slowly over each fighter as the coin spun in the air. With a small, metallic-like clink, both fighters shot forward and clashed! Kusaka blocked Screamer's right hand with his zanpakuto's edge acting' as a shield and caught his left punch with his free hand. Screamer, however, just grinned and twisted his body, his hand still gripped by Kusaka's, who he pulled through the air and hurled him down into the sand below! Recovering as he fell, Kusaka corrected himself and landed lightly as he raised his free hand. He wasn't much good with Kido beyond #31, so anything between 1 and there would have to do. "Hado 20: Kakusu Hando (Hide Hand)!" A wall of shimmering spiritual energy formed before Kusaka and several small, metal, bullet-like objects formed. Flicking several of them towards Screamer, Kusaka grinned as the Arrancar danced. Screamer either blocked them or avoided them and never once looked like he was in trouble of being' hit. "Can't you do better, Bounty Hunter?" He twisted those last words into an insult before he moved so quickly, Kusaka doubted if he even used Shunpo and punched through the wall of energy and struck Kusaka hard in the chest! As he flew backwards, the Shinigami collided with a dune of sand, kicking up sand, dust and forming a small dust cloud around the point of impact. Kazuma watched the battle with surprise, awe and a little fear. That Arrancar had just sent Kusaka flying as though he were a rag doll! It was uncanny to think of anyone being able to do that to either of his mentors, but here he had seen it with his own eyes. Flashing to the Arrancar's back, Kazuma struck down, but hit empty air instead. "W-what the...?" "Hmph! Another worthless Shinigami flea? Pathetic..." Screamer re-appeared beside Kazuma and laid his hand on the youngster's shoulder. Kazuma attempted to fight back, but Screamer avoided every one of his strikes and made it look easy as he did so. "Fleas should know there place." But Kazuma kept striking, no matter how futile the action was. "You are beginning to bore me, flea." "Then try this on for size!" Screamer looked to the heavens as Kusaka descended to strike him with enough force to send him trailing backwards a good twenty feet. "You call my friend a "flea" one more time, and I'll-" "Do what? You're still just a flea compared to my power. You're stronger than the flea behind you, but you're still a flea." Screamer interjected quickly. "As I was saying," Kusaka replied, completely calm. "You call him a flea one more time and the gloves come of. How idiotic of you to even believe that I'm fighting' you even half-seriously. It's insulting." Kusaka's eyes were hard and angry, his Reiatsu as firm as his tone. "You're choice, scumbag." Screamer chuckled below his breathe and began walking slowly towards the two Shinigami. "Please, you have no idea how powerful I am. Arrancar's are more powerful than the hollow you hunt for a living. The difference in our power is like the gap between heaven and earth. Just like the gap between your power and my own. No matter how much you bark or claw at the moon's reflection, the moon will always be out of your reach." Kusaka laughed at that himself. "My zanpakuto might disagree. You wanna find out, Arrancar? I didn't know they gave names to glorified hollow." Kusaka's sudden increase in spiritual energy was accompanied by a pitch black aura that emanated from his entire being. "I should probably tell you that I ain't a normal Shinigami. Tell me how much you know about the Gotei 13's ranks." Screamer wasn't amused by the question, but played along anyway. "I know that you consider your strongest fleas to be Captains and lesser fleas to be Lieutenants. Why, which level of flea were you?" His tone was mocking. "I'd be considered sorta a halfway kinda guy...and I believe I warned you..." Kusaka flowed through such a complex mixture of flash steps, that Kazuma could barely even guess what they all where let alone follow it. "Senka." Was the only word Kusaka spoke. Screamer, apart from being physically surprised, turned and somehow managed to throw the slash that would have sealed away his powers and instead forced Kusaka's blade to pierce through the right side of his chest instead. "Miserable Shinigami worm!" Screamer said as blood came from his mouth and chest. "How dare you injure me!?" Kusaka simply smirked. "Oh, I'm a worm, now? Hey Kazuma, I'm evolving, watch me grow!" He laughed, but in seconds was back to his previous serious self. "You're a fool, Screamer. Never underestimate your opponent. That's one of the iron-clad rules of battle." "Another is that you don't stand there flapping your gums!" Shrieker swiped his hand and sent Kusaka flying into another dune, but he simply stopped himself mid-flight and stood tall. Kusaka whipped the blood from his mouth and stared Screamer down. "Kazuma...stand back." "No chance! I can't let you fight him alone! C'mon, I'm stronger since my last fight. Please, Kusaka, let me fight." Kazuma's eyes were intent, his aura steady. He was ready for this, no matter how much Kusaka didn't think so. "...Fine, but you'd better be careful, kid. Don't worry about how strong he is, just focus on avoiding him. Think about how hard he hit ya after ya get hit." Kusaka said simply. "Okay, I'm gonna lay us down some cover. Remember the Kidō trick?" Kazuma made water using Hado 5: Ryuusai and super-boiled it with a Shakkahō spell to create the necessary moisture in the air to create misty conditions. "We're in a desert, though, so that won't last long." Kusaka nodded, thankful for any advantage. "Just keep enough moisture about the place and we'll do fine. Here he comes!" Kusaka palm-thrusted Kazuma gently to the side and clashed fiercely with Screamer! Knocking Kusaka's zanpakuto downwards with a kick, Screamer prepared a point-blank Cero! Kazuma, however, forced the beam-attack to shot away from his mentor when he kicked Screamer's arm. The blast was enough to reduce a sand dune to nothing more than a crater. Smirking, Kusaka drew his left arm back and hardened the spiritual energy around it before slamming it into Screamer's chest with concussive force! Reaching out, he grabbed Kazuma's hand and spinned him 'round thrice before releasing him towards the still stunned Arrancar. Kazuma, using the momentum from Kusaka's spin, performed the swordsmanship skill Saidanodori to make multiple small lacerations on Screamer's hardened skin. Rolling to a halt, Kazuma turned and grinned. Drawing a triangle with his finger, Kazuma spoke, "Bakudo 31: Shitotsu Sansen!" Three pins of light shot from the triangle and pinned Screamer to the Kidō barrier Kusaka just formed. Kusaka grinned and readied his zanpakuto. Feeding his spiritual energy into the tip, Kusaka prepared his Rei Furashuu! Screamer, however, was far from done. But he had the disadvantage of numbers. Releasing a powerful Cero with enough strength to completely blow away Kusaka's Kidō wall, Screamer flicked the sky and opened a Garganta to absorb Kusaka's Rei Furashuu. As the attack dissipated in the blackness of the tunnel, Screamer moved into it and fired a good-bye Cero to prevent the Shinigami from following him. He departed with the words, "I'll make all Shinigami pay." Kusaka kept his gaze fixed on the Garganta, even when he grabbed Kazuma by the scarf to pull him out of the way. "...Well that didn't exactly go well." Kazuma sighed as Kusaka held him by the scarf. "You can let go now, Kusaka." And he did. "That's better. But now what? Kenji ain't gonna be too happy when we tell him we ran into an Arrancar, will he?" "No, he won't." Kusaka answered truthfully. "Who the Arrancar was is what troubles me, kid. Shrieker had allies, and I'm starting' to think Screamer's just the tip of the iceberg."
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)