LadyAnnaLee

Bleach - Resonant Souls

Sara’s frustration could be heard as she loudly swore, “Not this flipping nonsense again!”

She was scared, terrified even, but right now her irritation, or possibly rage, overtook her. Logically she knew that all being angry would do was cloud her mind, making it difficult to fight, but she wasn’t sure that she cared. She didn’t want to do this stupid reality bending maze nonsense two nights in a row! Especially when she was tired from the battle she had just come from. Especially when she needed whatever resources she had left for the fight at the park. She wanted to be angry. Did Hollows really have nothing better to do than cause trouble? Okay, she supposed that was kind of the point of Hollows? But had Veilcaller really healed enough to be out and about so soon?

The voice came from the back of her mind, “Sara! Calm the flip down!”

Ah! Her Zanpakutō was angry too. And as loathe as Sara was to admit it, their anger was just a little bit more valid. Sara’s wasn’t doing anything productive. It was just distracting her from the threat. Her Zanpakutō’s angry served to snap Sara’s attention back to where it should be. The young substitute took a few deep breaths and readjusted her grip. She held the blade in a harsh diagonal line across her chest as she slowly turned. Her right hand gripped the hilt while her left index and middle fingers rested on the blade just below the hilt. That was the stupidest position when it came to combat, but back at the house she had cast the Kido along her blade and that had felt right. It was probably the placebo effect. That didn’t change the fact that Sara would take whatever advantage she could. It had only been one night. While her determination might have increased, determination didn’t win fights. She had only survived thanks to Hayasegawa’s interference. The Shinigami had to take the others to the park. Sara’s’ skills and abilities had increased enough to do this on her own. And it was just her and her Zanpakutō. One new Kido spell wasn’t nearly enough to make this a fair fight.

Still Sara didn’t run as she narrowed her eyes, “I don’t have time for this coward. Are you just going to hide all night Hollow? Or are we going to have a proper fight this time? Tick Tock. Clock is ticking.”

Bleach - Resonant Souls

Sara shakily smiled up at Hayasegawa as the woman came over. At least the proper Shinigami wasn’t chiding her for crying again. The younger girl wasn’t sure that the older woman was being honest or not, but the twins were okay and both Hollows were dead. That would have to be enough for now. Sara stemmed the last of her tears with her sleeves as she contemplated going to bed. Yes, they still had to go see Tatsuha to debrief, but hopefully that wouldn’t take too long. She wanted to wash her face and crawl into bed, maybe even wake up in time to join the Tachibanas for breakfast, that would be two days in a row. Himari, her stepmother, would probably a. be excited. and b. concerned about the sudden change in character and routine. But Sara wanted some normalcy after two difficult Hollow fights, two days in a row.

Then her Soul Pager buzzed and Sara read the message with some sort of cross of horror and exhaustion. She couldn’t … she didn’t … she wouldn’t. She couldn’t go! She was exhausted, burnt out, she had used too much Reiatsu during that last fight, and her bones felt like jelly. There was no way that she would be of any kind of use in a fight. She would probably just get in the way. She didn’t’ want to! She was tired, she felt terrible after crying, not to mention drained. Crying never really solved anything, and right now she could fathom moving from this spot on the curb, unless it was to go to bed. She wouldn’t … she wouldn’t … she wouldn’t. She suddenly stood. Sara’s grip on her Zanpakutō tightened. She squared her shoulders. She would! She could barely fight. She could barely even stand; she didn’t want to stand, but she would.

That voice in the back of her mind, her Zanpakutō spirit, gave calm reassurance, “It’s just another fight. Just another dance. You can do this. I’ll be right here. We can do this. Together.”

Sara’s voice was shaky, but still left no room for doubt, “I’m still in okayish condition. I’ll go on a head while the rest of you get patched up.” She nodded once, “I’ll meet you there.”

Then she turned to hurry off. She didn’t run. If she wanted any energy at all by the time she got there, she couldn’t afford to run, but she didn’t lollygag either. She had made her decision. It was probably a stupid decision, but Sara could feel it in her bones, her heart, her soul, that it was the right decision to make. There was no time to question, no time to doubt, no time to give herself a chance to talk herself out of it. She was scared, yes, she wanted nothing more than to run far, far away, maybe even all the way back home to the States with the too hot pavement and lack of shade. But she couldn’t run now. She didn’t even really want to run now. She wouldn’t run now. One careful step at a time she headed towards the park and whatever disaster waited there.

Bleach - Resonant Souls

Sara looked up with a half-crazed look in her eyes as Hayasegawa landed next to them. The adrenaline must not have completely worn off because as Darius and Tony appeared behind the true Shinigami, Sara practically whipped her sword out in front of her body. Then her brain caught up with the rest of her body, and she knew who they were, allies, comrades, potential friends. Sara dropped her katana, so it pointed at the ground, but she didn’t loosen her grip. The twins were safe. Hayasegawa said Tatsuha said it was all over, but it didn’t feel over. Not to her mind, not to her body, not to her soul. Hopefully she wouldn’t start crying again. She wasn’t sure what Hayasegawa would think of her if she started crying two battles in a row.

In an effort to stem the tears she gave the other woman a shaky smile, “Yeah, we do make a pretty good team.” She held out her hand for the other woman to shake, “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Sara.”

In the back of her mind, Sara realized that she wasn’t completely sure what the correct social custom for introducing herself in Japan was. Hopefully the other woman wouldn’t be too offended if Sara had gotten it wrong. It was just that the high schooler was worn out, tired, and ready to go to bed. Or maybe just cry again. She didn’t have the energy to worry about the precise introductions right now. She absently looked over at the boys. All the substitutes were here. Tony, Bakuto, and Darius looked like they had been through the ringer. She and Rei didn’t look much better. At least the boys had something to show for it.

Sara nodded as she acknowledged Hayasegawa’s order. She wasn’t entirely sure how she could prepare to do see Tatsuha. She supposed that she should put her sword away, but she couldn’t make her grip loosen. She should also probably not sit down, but before she knew what had happened, Sara found her self sitting on the nearby curb. Then, either to her shame or relief, she wasn’t sure which, the youngest of the group started to cry again. It wasn’t sobbing, but it wasn’t pretty either. Sara pressed her eyes to her knees to stem the tears. That was one good thing about the uniform. There was plenty of material to absorb tears as Sara cried out her tension once again.

Bleach - Resonant Souls

Sara couldn’t pull her gaze away from Bakuto as he used his spear drill Zanpakutō to completely destroy the Hollow. Sara still wasn’t sure what had happened. She stared at the man as he came over to join them. She didn’t know if she was shocked, impressed, or worried. He had been injured before he had used his Shi Kai. Would those injuries return if his Zanpakutō returned to normal? Sealed State? Katana Form? Was he okay? She didn’t think she would be if she had suddenly destroyed a Hollow that had injured her that badly. She wasn’t sure that she was okay, so she wasn’t sure Bakuto could be.

That voice came again, “Sara! The twins.”

Sara swore as she turned from Bakuto and quickly headed to the window to look in on the twins. They looked fine and a quick use of her spiritual sense didn’t reveal any more Hollows. She thought that she, Bakuto, and the other woman might have eliminated all the dangers that had been in the area. Well, mostly Bakuto. Sara felt her heart finally start to slow down. She had been running on adrenaline for what felt like forever and now she was exhausted. She slowly returned to her fellow Substitutes as she finally fetched out her Soul Pager. Less time had passed than she had thought. How had it been so short a time.

She smiled shakily as she attempted and failed to laugh lightheartedly, “I think you got them all. Thank you for that. Her frazzled voice gained just a hint of concern, “Are you okay Bakuto?” She should him the Pager, ““I’m going to text Hayasegawa or Tatsuha. I think the emergency is over, but you probably need medical attention. You got hurt pretty bad. Do you have a preference for who I text?”

Bleach - Resonant Souls

Sara managed to get some distance between here and the Hollow as Bakuto’s reckless actions gave her a chance to drop her Kido and move away. Since no one else seemed inclined to follow what she that was a perfectly reasonable request to push the emergency button she reached into the sash on her waist to pull out her Soul Pager. Only to stop as Bakuto suddenly froze. What was that idiot doing now!? Did anyone have any sense? Did she have any sense? Questions for another time. Swearing, Sara shoved her Soul Pager back into her uniform and moved to defend her teammate.

Only to stop as the man screamed out what sounded like a name. Sara’s eyes went impossibly wide as the shape of his Zanpakutō changed. Well, that was interesting. She had heard about this, Shi Kai, at training earlier in the day. She was under the impression that it was a rare thing, and if they did get Shi Kai, it would be a long time coming. Then again, they weren’t Shinigami, not really. They were Substitutes and she had a slightly annoying feeling that Substitutes were a newish sort of thing. Who knew how things really worked.

“SARA!”

She cursed again as she used just a pinch of Reiryoku to increase her dodging speed to get out of the way of Bakuto’s reckless and wild fighting style. The spear, which had a specific name, Sara just couldn’t think of it at the moment, seemed like the perfect weapon for Bakuto. Or maybe she was imagining things or seeing things that weren’t quite there. It was just Bakuto was … brash. Maybe aggressive was a better word. He went all out, staying on the offensive, not really giving much thought to defense. A spear seemed fitting. Especially a spear that appeared to be collecting energy somehow. Then the spear tip started to rotate.

Sara whispered to herself, “A spear that turns into a drill. Right. That makes complete sense.

“SARA!”

Her Zanpakutō’s second warning came just in time for her to dive to the ground away from the fight that Bakuto had unwittingly monopolized. There was a clash of some loud noise, and Sara didn’t see clearly what was happening. You know what. Bakuto could have the Hollow. He could have the whole damn fight. He actually seemed to have this covered. If the Hollow somehow survived that attack she would be greatly surprised. This was Shi Kai? Did she want it? Each Shi Kai was unique, right? What exactly was Shi Kai? Was there a way to get a better answer than what they had been told yesterday?

Bleach - Resonant Souls

Sara’s eyes went impossibly wide as she watched Bakuto do something truly idiotic. She knew that he was brash, rash, and bordered the line between confident and arrogant, but hadn’t thought he was truly stupid! Yet that was the only explanation she could come with for why he would stick his arm down a Hollow’s throat! Had she ever done something so mind-blowingly stupid? How could she prevent herself from doing something so bafflingly idiotic in the future. He really was lucky that both her and the other woman’s Kido had hit the monster to pull it off him. As it was, Sara did not envy that arm injury. It would take massive about of healing that no one in this battle had the skills or time to do.

The voice again, “Sara! Worry about idiots later! Focus please!”

She gave her head a quick shake, her voice just a little bit shaky, “Right! Focus!"

She tried to take a more objective look at the battle. The snake-like Hollow was chasing after Bakuto. Was it intelligent that it knew that Bakuto was the weakest link now, or just instincts? Did it matter? Sara couldn’t really see the other woman from where she was for the moment. Sara herself almost fired off another offensive Kido, before remembering just a few moments before when all her Byakurai hadn’t done any real damage. It had just managed to get the Hollow off Bakuto. It hadn’t even managed to get Bakuto free of its attention. One teammate was injured, none of them had much practice working together, and this Hollow was certainly different from most other Hollows she had seen before. They needed a knew plan than just attacking all out. But she could only think of one.

That decision made she held her Zanpakutō in a slash across her body with her palm spread out behind the blade, “Bado Hainawa!” As the Kido raced out, she hoped it caught the Hollow and that she was strong enough to pin it down just a moment. She then called out, “Someone push their emergency button!”

Bleach - Resonant Souls

Sara heard Bakuto’s warning and saw the Hollow emerge at roughly the same time. Well, close enough that it counted as the same time. For a brief moment, her mind descended into wordless, panicked screaming before another adrenaline rush cleared her mind and had her body moving before her ming could process that it was moving. She fell backwards into a flip with just enough Reiryoku in it that it cast her slightly further back than a normal flip would. That gave her enough time to get up and take a few precious seconds to come up with a plan. It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was a plan. Without thinking about why she was doing it the way she was about to do it, Sara placed two of her fingers on the back of her Zanpakutō’s blade just past the hilt.

Then she slid her fingers down the steel with almost cold fury in her voice, “Hadō Byakurai.”

The shocking lightning of the Kidō raced down her blade, engulfing it in electricity before blasting towards the Hollow. Sara had chosen the old spell, rather than the one that she had learned earlier in the day because she had better control of this one. Running it down her Zanpakutō seemed to help with its accuracy, but that was probably the placebo effect. She didn’t want to hurt Bakuto, who was rushing towards the Hollow. She had already hurt the other woman, and even mildly, that had been unacceptable. Still, she had to do something with a Hollow that size heading towards her. Vaguely, in the back of her mind, that didn’t really register, there was relief that she had gotten to a space with more room. If that Hollow had decided to stay in the alley, there would be no room to fight. Now there was room to move.

She could also hear the voice in her head, a steady chant, like counting for dancing, “One. Two. Three. Four. One. Two. Three. Four.”

Bleach - Resonant Souls

Sara wanted to curse out loud as she failed to lure the Hollow to the open space. Instead, it darted further into the ally. Luckily Rei was paying attention and managed to fire off a quick barrage of Kido. From where she was standing, she couldn’t see if Rei managed to get it. She did see Bakuto fall down from the roof and land in a different spot than where Rei was firing. She couldn’t get a good view of that either. Was he attacking the same Hollow Rei was, or was it a different Hollow all together? She wasn’t sure what option was worse.

Sara hissed though her teeth. She had made a bad decision when darting out into the main street. It had seemed like a good decision at the time, but it had instantly backfired. She couldn’t see what was going on and diving back in was a sure way to ensure friendly fire. Given the tight quarters, it felt like there were too many chefs in the kitchen. Was there a Japanese equivalent to the American phrase? She wasn’t sure and didn’t want to really wonder about that now. She had to figure out some way to help. Quickly, before her allies got hurt.

The same almost eerie voice filled her mind, “Steady Sara.”

Right. Adrenaline was useful for making her reflexes sharp, but it wouldn’t do for that to turn to panic. She held her Zanpakutō out in front of her, both hands in clasped around the hilt. Then she let her eyes slip close. In. Out. In out. She let her breathing steady and her racing heart calm. Was that the best thing to do? She wasn’t sure. But it was the only thing she could do right now. She didn’t allow herself long though, before opening her eyes and shifting back into a proper combat stance. She wasn’t as steady as she liked, but Sara figured that it would have to do.

Bleach - Resonant Souls

Sara was upset that her spell had hit the other woman and was relieved to see that it didn’t appear to do much damage. Not that there was much time to think about that as the Hollow suddenly appeared next to her. Sara’s eyes went wide as she stumbled back and lashed out with her Zanpakutō. She was just lucky enough to avoid the other woman’s blast. For once she thanked the fact that she didn’t have much in the way in proper sword skilled yet. However, as she narrowly avoided both her partner and the Hollow with an almost elegant backflip, Sara realized that a narrow alleyway was not the best place for this fight. There wasn’t actually much room to move.

During her backflip she saw something from the corner of her eye, and snice it seemed the current Hollow was occupied she looked at where she had seen just a flick of movement. It could have been a trick. She was on high alert and adrenaline did funny things to the brain. Her eyes flashed over the alley and then landed on Bakuto. Why was he just sulking on a rooftop? She resisted the urge to yell at him. She didn’t want to draw even more attention to this cramped fight. What they really needed was space. Abandoning her ally for a moment she rushed to the main street.

Turning back to face the threat she fired off again, “ Hado Byakurai!”

She didn’t put as much power into this blast, and she took the time to aim properly. If she was lucky the Hollow would come after her and the open street, giving her more room to move. Yes, the Hollow would have more room to move, but it was two against one. Maybe three against one. Unless … Bakuto had seen the slither too. If there was more than one Hollow, that would make Bakuto’s sulking make sense. No matter, she needed to finish this fight quickly and get to the twins. That was her only real priority. Sara had to focus on the here and now.

She took the stance Tatsuha spent far too long trying to drill into her head. Feet shoulder width apart, one slightly in front of the other, shoulders square, Zanpakutō in both hands pointed out and slightly across her body. She couldn’t afford to waste all her Reiatsu at the start of the fight. That had been her mistake last night. She was going to rely on her swordsmanship and gymnastics for now. She may prefer staying back and taking a long-range approach, that was what she was good at. But she had just set herself up as bait to get her and her allies more room to move. She had to be ready for the consequences of those actions.

Bleach - Resonant Souls

Sara jumped and tried not to scream as the other woman approached her. They hadn’t been formally introduced, and she hadn’t interacted with the other Substitute. She had worked with Tatsuha while Sara had been with Hayasegawa. Still Sara wasn’t sure she liked the other woman. They had just met, and she was mocking her? Sara didn’t even know this girl. Sara had to admit that the evaluation of her sneakiness was fair, but did she have to be mean about it? This was why Sara ignored most people. It prevented people from being mean to her and her from being mean to other people.

Sara found herself speaking without thinking through it clearly, “I wasn’t talking to myself. I don’t know you and you don’t know me. Keep your assumptions to yourself until you do.” She jerked her head down the slight alley between the houses, “If you really want to be backup, let’s go.”

With that Sara hurried off, she was slightly shocked, dismayed, and unsure of what had just happened. Her voice had been cooler than she had meant and what was she even thinking, saying that in the first place? She gripped her Zanpakutō tighter, making her already white knuckles even paler. Sara couldn’t worry about that now. She had felt something earlier. She knew she had felt something earlier. Where had it gone? Could it have lost interest or moved on? That couldn’t be right. She would have felt it leaving, wouldn’t, have she? Something wasn’t right, but she didn’t know what and that made her doubly uneasy. How much tighter could one person hold the hilt of a sword.

Then she heard a cry, and her paranoia had her flipping around and using her free hand to fire off, “ Hado Byakurai!”

She kept her aim bad and wide on purpose. She didn’t want to hit the other woman even if she was rude. She managed to draw her Zanpakutō at some point and even managed to hold it in a fairly respectable defensive position across her body. Her free hand was still extended, ready to fire off another spell. Her nerves were wire tight and she knew she was twitchy. Then she heard another sound, this one coming from the house! Sara’s neck whipped around, and she took two steps in that direction, her only thought to protect the twins. Then she stopped and turned back to her ally and the new revealed Hollow. She didn’t like it, not one little bit, but she couldn’t just leave the other substitute alone. Who knew what the Hollow could do? Who knew? That sound could just be someone getting up to get water and her running to them would just make them a target. Right now, the best thing to do would be to finish this Hollow quickly and then rush to investigate. At least Sara hoped it was the right thing to do to do.

A soft barely heard voice, “Steady Sara.” She gripped her Zanpakutō tighter and tried to even out her breathing “We are stronger today then we were yesterday. Steady.”