Shinji Arrives
Who: Hirako Shinji, Sarugaki Hiyori
What: Shinji arrives in the city and his inner hollow takes the moment of confusion to seize control.
Where: The ally between Tenement 4 and 5
When: Night
Rating:PG-13 violence language
Open: No
"You all were wonderful materials." Aizen had said as he raised his sword. Something happened then but Hirako Shinji didn't get to see, he was tumbling, hearing a voice in the back of his mind that wasn't his own (yet it was?) He closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable cut that would destroy him.
I'm sorry everybody, He thought regarding his friends scattered around him. All going through the same thing he was, all probably about to die, one way or another. When the final blow didn't come he opened his eyes again and was shocked to find himself no longer at the mercy of his traitorous lieutenant, but sitting on the polished wood step of a great spiral stair case.
"What the hell?" He said out loud, his own voice sounding alien to him, sounding tainted by the voice that spoke in his head. He looked up and could see no discernible end to the stair in that direction. He looked down, and while he could make out a clear exit in that direction just the sight of it sent a chill creeping up his spine, and the new darkness in his mind felt a thrill at his fear.
No question about it, I'm going up. He resolved and began in that direction, but the first few steps yielded a queer sensation under his feet.He looked down to identify this sensation and saw that with each step up he took the stairs shifted beneath him so that it seemed he hadn't moved at all. Weird, he thought, and tried to walk faster only to have the steps match his speed. With out further thought on the subject he took to the air and began running full speed, with generous use of shunpou, toward the pinnacle of this strange stair case.
After carrying on in that manner for nearly two hours, and covering a considerable distance, with still no sign of the top, Shinji grew tired and decided to take a break. The moment that his feet touched the smooth wood surface of the step beneath him, the stair case leapt into motion once again. It carried him quickly down, stopping only when it had deposited him in what he assumed was his original position on the steps.
Well, well, seems up isn't really an option. The voice sneered delightedly. Give up and go where it wants you to go.
If it means irritating you, Shinji sneered back, I'll sit right here til I starve to death. He was surprised that he'd managed to sound confident, he certainly didn't feel all that confident.
But there is a door down there, a door means civilization. the voice said reasonably yet still sneeringly. Shinji stubornly ignored it and continued to try and find a way up. Of course civilization will also put you closer to Soul Society, closer to getting your hands on Sousuke, but if you just want to die...
Shinji couldn't believe such a simple tacit had actually worked. His head filled with murderous thought aimed at his former leuitenant he stood and begen to decend the stairs. I hate to admit it but you've got a point. I'm doing this because I want to though, not because you talked me into it.
Now he had reached the door. He felt a dark dread lay just beyond it, but with a resolute face and a deep sigh he opened the door and stepped through.
Hirako Shinji tumbled into space, and landed hard on a pile of broken glass. He'd been confused and frightened, on the stair case but once he'd hit this new atmosphere the voice within grew stronger, and he grew angrier. The wound in his shoulder throbbed, and as he watched the blood ceased and white stuff, it looked like liquid bone, began to flow over and seal it. To his horror when it reached the peak of the wound it branched out and began covering his arm.
What the hell is happening to me? He wondered desperately.
Just relax, it'll be over soon, the cold voice whispered in his head. It was stronger now, it began to seep into his conscious mind. He felt as if a hole had opened in his heart, or rather the hole was his heart...
Dropping down on all fours he roared his hunger into the night. he stretch luxuriously in this place that seemed built for him. He sniffed the air. He coiled his legs beneath him and sprang into the night, leaving deep groves in the concrete from his claws, he was hungry after all and there were several tasty smelling things in this place.
For a moment, she caught a faint flare of reiatsu. A familiar faint flare of reiatsu. Eyes widening slightly, Hiyori raised her head, expression changing as she drew blond eyebrows together into a frown. It couldn't be...
Shinji..?
And yet, as she felt the energy signature flare again, this time angry and wild, tinged with the dark and potent flavour that she knew so well, there was no mistaking it. No mistaking that sense, that feeling. She knew him, knew him as well -- ok, better than -- she knew all of her comrades, and it wasn't as though she was about to just forget what his reiatsu felt like. Even if he WAS a stupid, dickface baldy.
Growling slightly to herself, the blond pushed herself to her feet with a scowl, hooking fingers into the pockets of her sweatsuit. Damn idiot Shinji. Whatever the hell was going on, he was either having fun without her, or he was fucking something up again. Stepping over to the window, brown eyes stared out at the heavy snowfall, large irregular flakes whirling in the icy wind, drifts already building up even farther. It was dangerous out there. But... annoying as he could be... it was Shinji. He was one of them. Scowling, Hiyori climbed up onto one of the many stacks of crates scattered around her warehouse, leveraging her shoulder against a dusty window. With a sharp creak as stiff metal shifted, the vaizard shoved the pane open. Scrambling out with a muttered curse, she made her way towards the feeling of the reiatsu, gritting her teeth and slipping into shunpou as she felt the raw power surge again. Something was wrong...
One scent in particular caught his attention. He grinned someone he knew.
"A little going away gift for you." He purred, as the small voice pleaded. He twitched excitedly as he jumped onto the roof of a nearby building, chunks of accumulated snow tumbling off of the eaves. He turned his head this way and that, trying to get a direction on the scent that wafted through the driving snow.
How sweet, dinner is being delivered. He grinned and settled down for the ambush.
She didn't know how, or why for that matter, but that didn't change the fact that not only was Shinji here, in this dark, twisted place, but something was wrong. It reminded her of the time years ago, when they'd all been so new at this, so unsure in where their path was going to take them, what was going to happen with them. And that fact chilled her to the bone, even more than the biting wind and blowing motes of icey precipitation. She knew that sense, that wild, raw twisting energy, the bitter edge that limned his reiatsu with an eerie gleam.
The Hollow. Which in and of itself didn't make sense. Not because it was strange to feel the taste/scent of Shinji's reiatsu mixed with the darker sense of the Hollow, but because right now... she couldn't feel Shinji hardly at all. And that actually sparked something akin to fear in her heart, something she ruthlessly damped down as she ran.
Shinji didn't lose his control, hadn't for years. But if he had.....
Growling again, she pushed off the concrete harder, shunpou speeding up and sending clouds of powdered white flying behind her as she streaked through the wintery cityscape. Whatever was going on, she had to figure it out. And if she needed to kick his stupid, hat-wearing ass.... well, then she'd just have to do it.
He repressed a gleeful snicker as he saw her coming into view, she looked different though. The red clothes she was wearing would only blend with her blood, he'd just have to spill it on that white undershirt. He felt the other one trying to struggle back into the fore-ground but in this place he'd have to do a lot better than that.
The cero formed at his fingertips as he watched, waiting for her, waiting til she was right underneath him.
Taking the bait? He sneered, you never were very bright.
"Scream for me little monkey!" He screamed delightedly as he fired the cero at the mouth of the ally, closing her in. He decided to make things more interesting, he drew the blade that hung from the remnants of his belt, the sword screamed at his touch and that delighted him more. He leaped, bearing down on her and laughing wickedly.
She hardly had any time to react before the cero crashed into the alleyway, sending debris and melted snow raining down on her. Thankfully, her reflexes were still sharp, and she managed to evade most of it with a lurid curse that turned into a startled exclamation as he bore down on her. It was all she could do to yank her sheathed zanpakutou around in front of her, gritting her teeth at the shrieking crash as metal bit into the saya, the force of his blow sending her skidding backwards. The snow didn't help, her feet slipping on the slick, icy pavement, digging into piled drifts as she slid back into them. Panting, she growled, scraping bangs out of her face to stare at him.
If she hadn't seen it for herself once before, she wouldn't have known it was him. But Shinji it was, the Shinji she'd seen years ago, the one she -- along with the others -- had fought against in those first few days, while they'd struggled to get control. But... it didn't make sense. Even before, over the century they'd spent in exile, she'd only seen Shinji lose his control a scant handful of times, and not once had he transformed this far. Scowling, she snarled at him, oblivious to the shudders of cold that were sliding across her skin, the redness that was rapidly appearing as the icy winds buffeted her exposed flesh.
"The fuck, Baldy. Quit playin' around, or I'll hafta kick yer ass all over again."
"You won't get the chance." He sneered. "Come on, show me what you can do."
He thrust his claws towards her face. His other hand brought the sword around, thrusting the tip down for her eyes. His sword hand hesitated, he looked to it and saw his armor receding. So as long as I hold this you can act out, is that it? He threw down the sword and felt the armor returning.
You're not getting this body back. he sneered.
Dodging out of the way, she retreated slightly, an uncommon move for her. But it wasn't because she was afraid to fight him -- she wasn't -- it was because... he wasn't him. Twisting her wrist, she brought her blade up to bat his out of the way, the blade scraping against his hierro. Damn armour. Skidding backwards again, she crouched for a moment in the snow, watching him.
Fine, if he was going to be like this... well, then she'd just have to beat the hell out of him until he couldn't fight anymore. Gripping her sword in one hand, she held up her other hand in front of her face, feeling the reiatsu surge as the familiar white bone smoothness coalesced. Clenching fingers around the edge of the mask, she flashed him a feral grin.
"A'right Baldy... ya wanna play rough... then I'll play rough!"
Yanking the mask down, she pushed off, leaving a cloud of ice in her wake, blade slicing up towards him through the flying snow.
He jumped back, the blade missing his face by inches. He regarded the mask.
"Hm, that's a cute mask. Has someone new come out to play with me?" He said, as he landed and lunged forward, launching three balas in rapid succession. He jumped up and landed gracefully behind her. He grabbed her by the shoulders and held her in front of the energy balls.
"Don't worry they won't kill you," he whispered into her ear then licked it, "just tenderize you a little, so I don't have to chew so much."
She fought back the shudder, comprised mostly of revulsion, partly of cold, and partially of something else she couldn't place, and smirked. He really thought she was that easy to deal with?
"Don't think yer... gonna get the chance, dickface."
Twisting slightly, she curled her fingers slightly and wrenched her arm nearly out of it's socket, slamming the energy of the cero into his stomach. Let's see how he liked that. Using the opportunity to dodge the bala -- or at least, mostly dodge it, as the energy singed her hair and burned her shoulder and upper arm. Biting back a hiss of pain and a grimace at the scent of charred flesh, she took enough time to pause and think. She couldn't just fight like she usually did. It wasn't just the fucking blizzard she had to contend with now. There wasn't any Hachi here to put her arms back on, or work barriers and binding kidou. Not that she couldn't work a perfectly good kidou herself, she just... didn't like it.
But that was still preferable to possibly dying, at least that was the thought in her head as she spun, furiously muttering incantations before she let the binding spell fly at him. If she was lucky, it would pin him to the wall and she could... if necessary.... do what they'd all once sworn to do, should control falter.
The cero had taken him by surprise and knocked the wind out of him. He roared angrily and rushed forward again, but the kidou, kidou?had found its mark and carried him to the alley wall.
"Clever little girl." He said as he grasped the crackling energy and pulled it away from him, but this would have been more effective. He delved into his memories and found what he wanted.
"Bakudou no. 69 Rikujyokoro." He sent the spell flying. He grinned and began running charging her.
Her eyes widened as she tried to dodge, breath coming in a pained grunt as she slipped on the ice, faltered and felt ribs crack as the spell connected, fingers gripping at the crackling yellow beams, sword hilt still clutched tightly in one hand. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Sure, he was better at kidou than she was, but she sure as hell hadn't expected this form to actually USE it. Still trying to break the kidou, she coughed, tasting the coppery tang of blood in her throat.
That wasn't good. Coupled with the way her chest felt so constricted, she could guess that she had at least a couple of broken -- hell, they were probably shattered -- ribs and a collapsing lung. Stupid fucking baldy.... Gritting her teeth, she readied the blade as best she could, still barely able to move. If she was gonna die, she sure as hell wasn't gonna make it easy for him.
The hollow batted the sword away and grabbed her pinning her arms to her sides he sank his teeth into her shoulder, but before he could tear free that first savory morsel he felt the curious sensation of someone grabbing his ankle.
He was pulled down away from reality and into the confines of their shared mind. The hollow looked at HIM standing there blade naked in his hand.
"Oh, we were just getting to the good part." He hissed.
"Show is over." Shinji responded and charged.
On the outside, his body, now without a mind, could no longer sustain the kidou. He stumbled back from the sudden drain. He howled like a wounded animal and fired a cero as he retreated.
Her cry of pain at the teeth in her shoulder broke off in a choked grit of teeth. No. She would NOT cry out, not like that. If she was going to die, she wasn't going to give him the fucking satisfaction. And then suddenly... she felt the kidou vanish as teeth ripped their way free of her shoulder and clawed hands let go, her slight form dropping in a bloodied heap to the white-covered pavement, her shaking form rapidly gathering a dusty coat of white. Shakily, she dug the point of her sword into the thickening snow, levering herself up onto it with gritted teeth.
Not good. She'd lost more blood than she'd realized, and it didn't help that she could feel her own mask chipping away, the Hollow's power fading as she tried in vain to hold onto it. Raising her head, she blinked hazily through a blinding whiteout of snow, and caught a glimpse of him just long enough for the cero to hit her directly in the face, the energy striking and shattering the remains of her mask, sending her small body flying backwards to slam into the brick wall with a sickening thud before sliding down into a snowdrift, a silent heap of red fabric and blond hair.
The hollow without saw his prey take the hit and doubled back. He loomed over her and sniffed cautiously.
Shinji and the hollow clashed in the sky with the pyramid pointing accusingly at them and the desert looking ready to fall at any moment. Shinji looked across the crossed swords at the hollow wearing his face, grinning HIS grin.
"Even if you beat me here it's too late to save her." The hollow cackled. Shinji kicked, connecting with the hollow's stomach and then slashed vertically up, cutting the hollow's chest shallowly.
"If she dies you're going to wish I'd killed you." Shinji bellowed and thrust savagely, there was the repulsive sound of metal grinding against metal and then the satisfying thunk of the blade sinking into flesh.
The Hollow looked wide eyed at him for a moment, then grinned and shrugged.
"I'll be back, you'd better be ready. She won't be around to buy you time when next we meet." The hollow said as it dissolved.
The outer hollow straightened up abruptly and a vertical crack appeared up it chest. The armor fell to the left and right, leaving just Shinji in his haori and shihakushou, the mask remained. He felt he needed to lie down but he fought that down and knelt down next to Hiyori.
"Thank you, Retsu." He said, almost as a prayer, as he began working the highest level healing Kidou he could recall.
Hours seemed to pass before the worst of Hiyori's wounds finally closed, his efforts constantly thwarted by the angry roar of the storm around them, the freezing cold that was rapidly sapping warmth and life from her. He left scrapes and bruises to nature as he could no longer fight back the exhaustion. He collapsed, sprawling across Hiyori's small body, the snow beginning to pile up around and over them.
What: Shinji arrives in the city and his inner hollow takes the moment of confusion to seize control.
Where: The ally between Tenement 4 and 5
When: Night
Rating:PG-13 violence language
Open: No
"You all were wonderful materials." Aizen had said as he raised his sword. Something happened then but Hirako Shinji didn't get to see, he was tumbling, hearing a voice in the back of his mind that wasn't his own (yet it was?) He closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable cut that would destroy him.
I'm sorry everybody, He thought regarding his friends scattered around him. All going through the same thing he was, all probably about to die, one way or another. When the final blow didn't come he opened his eyes again and was shocked to find himself no longer at the mercy of his traitorous lieutenant, but sitting on the polished wood step of a great spiral stair case.
"What the hell?" He said out loud, his own voice sounding alien to him, sounding tainted by the voice that spoke in his head. He looked up and could see no discernible end to the stair in that direction. He looked down, and while he could make out a clear exit in that direction just the sight of it sent a chill creeping up his spine, and the new darkness in his mind felt a thrill at his fear.
No question about it, I'm going up. He resolved and began in that direction, but the first few steps yielded a queer sensation under his feet.He looked down to identify this sensation and saw that with each step up he took the stairs shifted beneath him so that it seemed he hadn't moved at all. Weird, he thought, and tried to walk faster only to have the steps match his speed. With out further thought on the subject he took to the air and began running full speed, with generous use of shunpou, toward the pinnacle of this strange stair case.
After carrying on in that manner for nearly two hours, and covering a considerable distance, with still no sign of the top, Shinji grew tired and decided to take a break. The moment that his feet touched the smooth wood surface of the step beneath him, the stair case leapt into motion once again. It carried him quickly down, stopping only when it had deposited him in what he assumed was his original position on the steps.
Well, well, seems up isn't really an option. The voice sneered delightedly. Give up and go where it wants you to go.
If it means irritating you, Shinji sneered back, I'll sit right here til I starve to death. He was surprised that he'd managed to sound confident, he certainly didn't feel all that confident.
But there is a door down there, a door means civilization. the voice said reasonably yet still sneeringly. Shinji stubornly ignored it and continued to try and find a way up. Of course civilization will also put you closer to Soul Society, closer to getting your hands on Sousuke, but if you just want to die...
Shinji couldn't believe such a simple tacit had actually worked. His head filled with murderous thought aimed at his former leuitenant he stood and begen to decend the stairs. I hate to admit it but you've got a point. I'm doing this because I want to though, not because you talked me into it.
Now he had reached the door. He felt a dark dread lay just beyond it, but with a resolute face and a deep sigh he opened the door and stepped through.
Hirako Shinji tumbled into space, and landed hard on a pile of broken glass. He'd been confused and frightened, on the stair case but once he'd hit this new atmosphere the voice within grew stronger, and he grew angrier. The wound in his shoulder throbbed, and as he watched the blood ceased and white stuff, it looked like liquid bone, began to flow over and seal it. To his horror when it reached the peak of the wound it branched out and began covering his arm.
What the hell is happening to me? He wondered desperately.
Just relax, it'll be over soon, the cold voice whispered in his head. It was stronger now, it began to seep into his conscious mind. He felt as if a hole had opened in his heart, or rather the hole was his heart...
Dropping down on all fours he roared his hunger into the night. he stretch luxuriously in this place that seemed built for him. He sniffed the air. He coiled his legs beneath him and sprang into the night, leaving deep groves in the concrete from his claws, he was hungry after all and there were several tasty smelling things in this place.
For a moment, she caught a faint flare of reiatsu. A familiar faint flare of reiatsu. Eyes widening slightly, Hiyori raised her head, expression changing as she drew blond eyebrows together into a frown. It couldn't be...
Shinji..?
And yet, as she felt the energy signature flare again, this time angry and wild, tinged with the dark and potent flavour that she knew so well, there was no mistaking it. No mistaking that sense, that feeling. She knew him, knew him as well -- ok, better than -- she knew all of her comrades, and it wasn't as though she was about to just forget what his reiatsu felt like. Even if he WAS a stupid, dickface baldy.
Growling slightly to herself, the blond pushed herself to her feet with a scowl, hooking fingers into the pockets of her sweatsuit. Damn idiot Shinji. Whatever the hell was going on, he was either having fun without her, or he was fucking something up again. Stepping over to the window, brown eyes stared out at the heavy snowfall, large irregular flakes whirling in the icy wind, drifts already building up even farther. It was dangerous out there. But... annoying as he could be... it was Shinji. He was one of them. Scowling, Hiyori climbed up onto one of the many stacks of crates scattered around her warehouse, leveraging her shoulder against a dusty window. With a sharp creak as stiff metal shifted, the vaizard shoved the pane open. Scrambling out with a muttered curse, she made her way towards the feeling of the reiatsu, gritting her teeth and slipping into shunpou as she felt the raw power surge again. Something was wrong...
One scent in particular caught his attention. He grinned someone he knew.
"A little going away gift for you." He purred, as the small voice pleaded. He twitched excitedly as he jumped onto the roof of a nearby building, chunks of accumulated snow tumbling off of the eaves. He turned his head this way and that, trying to get a direction on the scent that wafted through the driving snow.
How sweet, dinner is being delivered. He grinned and settled down for the ambush.
She didn't know how, or why for that matter, but that didn't change the fact that not only was Shinji here, in this dark, twisted place, but something was wrong. It reminded her of the time years ago, when they'd all been so new at this, so unsure in where their path was going to take them, what was going to happen with them. And that fact chilled her to the bone, even more than the biting wind and blowing motes of icey precipitation. She knew that sense, that wild, raw twisting energy, the bitter edge that limned his reiatsu with an eerie gleam.
The Hollow. Which in and of itself didn't make sense. Not because it was strange to feel the taste/scent of Shinji's reiatsu mixed with the darker sense of the Hollow, but because right now... she couldn't feel Shinji hardly at all. And that actually sparked something akin to fear in her heart, something she ruthlessly damped down as she ran.
Shinji didn't lose his control, hadn't for years. But if he had.....
Growling again, she pushed off the concrete harder, shunpou speeding up and sending clouds of powdered white flying behind her as she streaked through the wintery cityscape. Whatever was going on, she had to figure it out. And if she needed to kick his stupid, hat-wearing ass.... well, then she'd just have to do it.
He repressed a gleeful snicker as he saw her coming into view, she looked different though. The red clothes she was wearing would only blend with her blood, he'd just have to spill it on that white undershirt. He felt the other one trying to struggle back into the fore-ground but in this place he'd have to do a lot better than that.
The cero formed at his fingertips as he watched, waiting for her, waiting til she was right underneath him.
Taking the bait? He sneered, you never were very bright.
"Scream for me little monkey!" He screamed delightedly as he fired the cero at the mouth of the ally, closing her in. He decided to make things more interesting, he drew the blade that hung from the remnants of his belt, the sword screamed at his touch and that delighted him more. He leaped, bearing down on her and laughing wickedly.
She hardly had any time to react before the cero crashed into the alleyway, sending debris and melted snow raining down on her. Thankfully, her reflexes were still sharp, and she managed to evade most of it with a lurid curse that turned into a startled exclamation as he bore down on her. It was all she could do to yank her sheathed zanpakutou around in front of her, gritting her teeth at the shrieking crash as metal bit into the saya, the force of his blow sending her skidding backwards. The snow didn't help, her feet slipping on the slick, icy pavement, digging into piled drifts as she slid back into them. Panting, she growled, scraping bangs out of her face to stare at him.
If she hadn't seen it for herself once before, she wouldn't have known it was him. But Shinji it was, the Shinji she'd seen years ago, the one she -- along with the others -- had fought against in those first few days, while they'd struggled to get control. But... it didn't make sense. Even before, over the century they'd spent in exile, she'd only seen Shinji lose his control a scant handful of times, and not once had he transformed this far. Scowling, she snarled at him, oblivious to the shudders of cold that were sliding across her skin, the redness that was rapidly appearing as the icy winds buffeted her exposed flesh.
"The fuck, Baldy. Quit playin' around, or I'll hafta kick yer ass all over again."
"You won't get the chance." He sneered. "Come on, show me what you can do."
He thrust his claws towards her face. His other hand brought the sword around, thrusting the tip down for her eyes. His sword hand hesitated, he looked to it and saw his armor receding. So as long as I hold this you can act out, is that it? He threw down the sword and felt the armor returning.
You're not getting this body back. he sneered.
Dodging out of the way, she retreated slightly, an uncommon move for her. But it wasn't because she was afraid to fight him -- she wasn't -- it was because... he wasn't him. Twisting her wrist, she brought her blade up to bat his out of the way, the blade scraping against his hierro. Damn armour. Skidding backwards again, she crouched for a moment in the snow, watching him.
Fine, if he was going to be like this... well, then she'd just have to beat the hell out of him until he couldn't fight anymore. Gripping her sword in one hand, she held up her other hand in front of her face, feeling the reiatsu surge as the familiar white bone smoothness coalesced. Clenching fingers around the edge of the mask, she flashed him a feral grin.
"A'right Baldy... ya wanna play rough... then I'll play rough!"
Yanking the mask down, she pushed off, leaving a cloud of ice in her wake, blade slicing up towards him through the flying snow.
He jumped back, the blade missing his face by inches. He regarded the mask.
"Hm, that's a cute mask. Has someone new come out to play with me?" He said, as he landed and lunged forward, launching three balas in rapid succession. He jumped up and landed gracefully behind her. He grabbed her by the shoulders and held her in front of the energy balls.
"Don't worry they won't kill you," he whispered into her ear then licked it, "just tenderize you a little, so I don't have to chew so much."
She fought back the shudder, comprised mostly of revulsion, partly of cold, and partially of something else she couldn't place, and smirked. He really thought she was that easy to deal with?
"Don't think yer... gonna get the chance, dickface."
Twisting slightly, she curled her fingers slightly and wrenched her arm nearly out of it's socket, slamming the energy of the cero into his stomach. Let's see how he liked that. Using the opportunity to dodge the bala -- or at least, mostly dodge it, as the energy singed her hair and burned her shoulder and upper arm. Biting back a hiss of pain and a grimace at the scent of charred flesh, she took enough time to pause and think. She couldn't just fight like she usually did. It wasn't just the fucking blizzard she had to contend with now. There wasn't any Hachi here to put her arms back on, or work barriers and binding kidou. Not that she couldn't work a perfectly good kidou herself, she just... didn't like it.
But that was still preferable to possibly dying, at least that was the thought in her head as she spun, furiously muttering incantations before she let the binding spell fly at him. If she was lucky, it would pin him to the wall and she could... if necessary.... do what they'd all once sworn to do, should control falter.
The cero had taken him by surprise and knocked the wind out of him. He roared angrily and rushed forward again, but the kidou, kidou?had found its mark and carried him to the alley wall.
"Clever little girl." He said as he grasped the crackling energy and pulled it away from him, but this would have been more effective. He delved into his memories and found what he wanted.
"Bakudou no. 69 Rikujyokoro." He sent the spell flying. He grinned and began running charging her.
Her eyes widened as she tried to dodge, breath coming in a pained grunt as she slipped on the ice, faltered and felt ribs crack as the spell connected, fingers gripping at the crackling yellow beams, sword hilt still clutched tightly in one hand. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Sure, he was better at kidou than she was, but she sure as hell hadn't expected this form to actually USE it. Still trying to break the kidou, she coughed, tasting the coppery tang of blood in her throat.
That wasn't good. Coupled with the way her chest felt so constricted, she could guess that she had at least a couple of broken -- hell, they were probably shattered -- ribs and a collapsing lung. Stupid fucking baldy.... Gritting her teeth, she readied the blade as best she could, still barely able to move. If she was gonna die, she sure as hell wasn't gonna make it easy for him.
The hollow batted the sword away and grabbed her pinning her arms to her sides he sank his teeth into her shoulder, but before he could tear free that first savory morsel he felt the curious sensation of someone grabbing his ankle.
He was pulled down away from reality and into the confines of their shared mind. The hollow looked at HIM standing there blade naked in his hand.
"Oh, we were just getting to the good part." He hissed.
"Show is over." Shinji responded and charged.
On the outside, his body, now without a mind, could no longer sustain the kidou. He stumbled back from the sudden drain. He howled like a wounded animal and fired a cero as he retreated.
Her cry of pain at the teeth in her shoulder broke off in a choked grit of teeth. No. She would NOT cry out, not like that. If she was going to die, she wasn't going to give him the fucking satisfaction. And then suddenly... she felt the kidou vanish as teeth ripped their way free of her shoulder and clawed hands let go, her slight form dropping in a bloodied heap to the white-covered pavement, her shaking form rapidly gathering a dusty coat of white. Shakily, she dug the point of her sword into the thickening snow, levering herself up onto it with gritted teeth.
Not good. She'd lost more blood than she'd realized, and it didn't help that she could feel her own mask chipping away, the Hollow's power fading as she tried in vain to hold onto it. Raising her head, she blinked hazily through a blinding whiteout of snow, and caught a glimpse of him just long enough for the cero to hit her directly in the face, the energy striking and shattering the remains of her mask, sending her small body flying backwards to slam into the brick wall with a sickening thud before sliding down into a snowdrift, a silent heap of red fabric and blond hair.
The hollow without saw his prey take the hit and doubled back. He loomed over her and sniffed cautiously.
Shinji and the hollow clashed in the sky with the pyramid pointing accusingly at them and the desert looking ready to fall at any moment. Shinji looked across the crossed swords at the hollow wearing his face, grinning HIS grin.
"Even if you beat me here it's too late to save her." The hollow cackled. Shinji kicked, connecting with the hollow's stomach and then slashed vertically up, cutting the hollow's chest shallowly.
"If she dies you're going to wish I'd killed you." Shinji bellowed and thrust savagely, there was the repulsive sound of metal grinding against metal and then the satisfying thunk of the blade sinking into flesh.
The Hollow looked wide eyed at him for a moment, then grinned and shrugged.
"I'll be back, you'd better be ready. She won't be around to buy you time when next we meet." The hollow said as it dissolved.
The outer hollow straightened up abruptly and a vertical crack appeared up it chest. The armor fell to the left and right, leaving just Shinji in his haori and shihakushou, the mask remained. He felt he needed to lie down but he fought that down and knelt down next to Hiyori.
"Thank you, Retsu." He said, almost as a prayer, as he began working the highest level healing Kidou he could recall.
Hours seemed to pass before the worst of Hiyori's wounds finally closed, his efforts constantly thwarted by the angry roar of the storm around them, the freezing cold that was rapidly sapping warmth and life from her. He left scrapes and bruises to nature as he could no longer fight back the exhaustion. He collapsed, sprawling across Hiyori's small body, the snow beginning to pile up around and over them.