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| - Staggering forward in a near stupor, Kenji waved at his face lazily with his left hand and drank deeply from a bottle of water with his other. "Heat...rain is so underrated!" He complained under the beating rays of a sun that dominated the non-day sky. "Water," Kusaka pleaded. He was crawling on all fours, seeking shade like a wraith. Looking back towards the youngest member of the group, Kenji stopped. "Kazuma, you okay, pal?" "I miss the rain...I miss my bed...I'm bloody well on fire here, Kenji!" They would have laughed, but the heat sapped their strength and left them all but devoid of all except the will to move. And it didn't help things when you had angry hollow-like worms leaping from the dunes beneath your bloody feet to try and take a chunk outta ya. "Hey..." Kusaka said in a raspy tone. "Throw me some o' that water, Kenji. I'm dyin' here." Kenji snarled and clutched the water closely. "Over my dead body!" He said childishly. "Right, your dead body it is!" Kusaka called back. Kazuma sighed as the two "oldies" lunged at one-another and wrestled in a child-like manner on the desert floor, kicking up a mini-dust cloud as they threw fists and lashed out with feet. "Mine, mine, mine!" They repeated loudly. Kenji screamed like a girl when Kusaka sank his teeth into his arm. "That hurt you boar-ridin'-son-of-a-bachelor!" "Hey, you bad-mouthin' my Porkie!? No one bad-mouths Porkie!" "Kusaka yelled back, throwing an open-palm at Kenji's face. "Porkie" was the pet pig Kusaka owned back in the desert village a few miles away that the three lived in currently. Porkie was originally bought with the intention of fattening him up... but Kusaka grew attached to the little, smelly blighter and couldn't let him go. Ignoring their bickering (it happened all the time), Kazuma stepped over the next sand dune and looked ahead. He dropped his head and if his body didn't need the water, he was sure he'd be cryin' right now. Sand upon sand upon sand as far as the eye could see. "Umm... guys, I think we're lost again." This happened all the time too. "Kenji, I knew we shouldn't have taken that left turn at the last dune." "You buck-toothed pansy!" Kusaka slapped Kenji in the mouth. "Who you callin' buck-toothed!? You've got a face only a mother could love, and even then she cringes when she sees ya! No wonder your only friend's a pig!" "You wanna step over here and say that, big-guy?" Kusaka was in Kenji's face, eyes twitching at an incredible rate as they pushed with their heads. "I'd only kick your ass, pig-boy." Kenji retorted, thumping Kusaka on the top o' the head. Kazuma sighed and began walking away. "Well Kazuma, it's a beautiful day isn't it? Oh yes, Kazuma, one of the best! Those two are idiots, aren't they Kazuma? Oh certainly, Kazuma. You know, it would be great if a hollow burst from the sands." He thought sarcastically. The ground erupted beneath Kazuma and the youngster smiled eagerly as he grasped his zanpakuto tightly. "Ha! No sooner than ya speak the devil's name." The hollow was one of the many worm-like variety that frequented this area. This one in particular, however, was especially large. It must've felt those two bickering, because their spiritual energy was increasing at a steady rate. "They can do nothin' right..." Kazuma sighed again. Turning, he flashed toward the hollow... One of its smaller brethren burst from the ground, but Kazuma remained calm and breathed in, outstretching his left hand... "Purify with the blessings of water. Hado 5: Ryuusei (Running Water)!" Converting his spiritual energy into water, Kazuma hit the smaller hollow with enough force to send it hurtling back towards the sandy dune below, showering Kenji and Kusaka in the process with beautifully refreshing moisture. "There! You got your damn water, now give me a hand here!" Kazuma yelled, but they simply ignored him and continued their bickering. Kusaka twisted Kenji's ankle and Kenji pulled Kusaka's hair with a strangely happy grin on his face. Shifting his position to Kendō, Kazuma flashed forward again. The smaller hollow was slithering away on its belly when Kazuma split its skull with a single, powerful downward strike. Using whatever momentum he had left, the youngster hardened his spiritual energy (that was taught to him by good ol' Kenji) and kicked the hollows currently vanishing body toward the much larger one, hitting it with whatever remained. "Hado 29: Gekiryuu (Raging Stream)!" A much larger wave than the one produced by Hado 5: Ryuusai shot from Kazuma's hand with enough force to lift the giant worm-like hollow and sweep it off it's belly and onto its back. "Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Hado 33: Sōkatsui!" The energy cut the hollow clean in two before erupting into a descent sized explosion that reduced the rest of it to a smoldering carcass. The remains of the charred hollow was suddenly struck by a large, white-colored wave attack and Kusaka landed lightly beside Kazuma, drenched from head-to-toe in the water created by Kazuma's Kidō. "Here, I refilled a bottle for ya, kid." Kenji landed then and bumped fists with Kusaka. "That was a nice work out for ya, right Kazuma? Thought you'd be fit for one of them on your own. Guess I was right." "Wait, what? You guys planned this!?" Kazuma exclaimed loudly. "So that's why you kept increasing' your spiritual energy." "Exactly," Kusaka interjected, pointing his finger. "We sensed him clocking' us and decided we'd let you handle him. You're Kido skills are top notch, kid." Kazuma raised his eyebrow and punched his friend lightly on the arm. "Thanks for the compliment and all, but c'mon, Kusaka, do you hafta call me kid all the time?" He said somewhat sadly. "Yup." Both older Shinigami answered with a fool grin apiece. Kusaka ruffled the youngster's hair and tapped his head gently before grinning. "You're gonna go far, kid." The ground suddenly erupted with untold number of hollow, all varying in size. "Guess we pissed 'em off a little, eh Kusaka?" Kenji said hefting the katana blade of Aoi Inazuma. "Kusaka, Kazuma, time for a little competition! Still remember the numbers from last time?" "Oh yeah, dude!" Kusaka practically intoned. "I would never forget beating' ya. I killed seventeen more, right?" "Hey, I only killed six less than Kenji did." Kazuma said excitedly. "Team brawl like the time before last, or free-for-all?" He cracked his knuckles eagerly. With a wry grin, Kenji began proceedings by severing one of those worm-like hollow at the waist. "It's a free-for-all brawl, lads! Take your pick of the bounty, 'cause we get more for killing' more!" The three were currently working for a Shinigami Agency, which was completely separated from the Gotei 13 that specialized in tracking down rare and hard-to-kill hollow. They'd already killed a massive turtle-like hollow about three weeks back that had a shell as hard as that damn Arrancar Shrieker's Hierro! It fell only because they managed to flip it and attack the weak spot on its belly. And it didn't help Kenji's eardrums when Kusaka was the one doing the killing'. Flashing upwards quickly, Kusaka brought down three hollow with a single Rei Furashuu before turning to sweep his right foot through anther's waist. His skills in hand-to-hand combat, which were far from impressive when he was still in the Soul Society had furthered a good bit and that was mainly because he and Kenji bickered more times than not. "Kenji, I'm on four already!" "What? I'm on nineteen!" He said loudly before swatting another hollow like a fly. "Oops, make that twenty!" "Twenty!? I ain't being' beat by some spiky-haired chimp!" Descending extremely quickly into a small group of hollow, Kusaka wrapped his Rei Furashuu around the blade and smashed it down, creating a massive omni-directional blast that felled any hollow caught in the epicenter! "Haha! How's that for ya, Mr. I killed twenty hollow?" He said with a face. "I got about thirty with that one." "Do you two always hafta act like such children? It's laughable." Kazuma shredded a hollow using a swordsmanship skill Kenji taught him. "Saidanodori," He thought as the hollow fell into teeny tiny pieces. Turning quickly, the young Shinigami spied a group of roughly ten hollow all grouped tightly together. "Hado 22: Kaku'seigi (Stone Justice)!" Large portions of earth rose from the dunes below and sharpened under Kazuma's spiritual energy. As he slashed his sword down vertically, the stone shards flew forward and shredded the amassed hollow. "Kenji, I just got ten in a row!" "Now you're gettin' the hang of it, Kazuma! But, let me show you how...it's done!" Kenji moved so swiftly he left four tangible after-images behind that soon became as whole as the man that left them when he charged them with lightning energy to form his clones. All struck out, culling by the group-full! "Hey, Kusaka! Sending one your way, bro! Take out your bat and take a swing!" Kenji snapped the hollows neck with a kick that sent it flying toward Kusaka who flashed above it and slammed it down to the ground below with a double kick! "YES! That, folks, is how it is done!" The three continued fighting until not a hollow was left, Kazuma showering them with water every now and then to stop them shriveling under the extreme heat and blowing away.
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