Demon Grudge (Joint Training, R Jak, Hotaru Closed)

[Jak Halcom]

(OOC: Training for SP)

The sun shined brightly in Karakura town. People happily walked through the streets talking and shopping in the many shops that lined the streets. Parents walked with their children. Several seniors sat on the benches at the park. The birds flew over head singing their songs while squirrels and the like darted from tree to tree. It was a beautiful and peaceful day. It seemed that nothing could ruin this day.

Jak wore his usual attire of his black vest over his bare chest. Black finger less gloves with studded knuckles covered his hands. He wore a pair of shredded jeans and a pair of blue ad black sandals. His black hair was pushed by the wind that whistled past his pointed ears. He looked at the sidewalk with his crimson eyes trying not to draw any attention to himself. He was used to being shunned by strangers and gawked at, but this time it was different.

He glanced at his right arm. It was an angry, burning, red with heavy black chain circling around it. It was a mark of his heritage of his demon heritage. It has been surfacing more and more lately. People must have seen him using it the few time that he was practicing it. Word must have gotten out that he was some sort of monster. He could hear them whispering among each other. He could feel their eyes boring into his back and right arm.

He clenched his fist and teeth trying to remain calm. He knew that he would only prove them right if he reacted in anger. He tried so hard to be accepted in society. He even protected them from hollows, but were they thankful? Were they glad to have someone that would protect them against what they could not see? No, they were not. They only feared him. They loathed him thinking that he was the one that caused all the damages. 

The sky began to darken rapidly. This sudden change of lighting caused Jak to look up at the sky to see dark storm clouds rolling in. That was odd, he thought. The weather man never said anything about a storm. Not even in the weekly report. He shrugged and continued walking. Most people had the common sense to start heading indoors before the rain started. Jak just kept walking aimlessly. He didn't feel like acting like other people when he knew he wasn't one. 

The rain came down soon after catching Jak and a few other stragglers. The stragglers tried their best to cover themselves from the rain. Men escorting women tried to keep their partner try at the expense of their own comfort. It must be nice to be able to rely on someone. He shook his head as he kept walking. He was soon soaked by the intense rain. Lightning cracked down from the sky hitting the tall buildings or rolled from one cloud to another. The wind picked up becoming much more violent.

Something didn't seem right about this storm. It came far too suddenly and swiftly. This had to be a sign of something but what? Before he could contemplate on the thought several bolts of lightning struck the ground several yards away from him deafening him with several loud cracks of thunder. A portal opened up from the spot that the lightning hit. The first things to appear was a large arm covered in dorsal fin like blades. Large chains wrapped around the arm. Then another one which pulled the head and body of an akki out of the portal.

It stood over ten feet tall, and it's arms alone were the size of tree trunks. Three blades ran up all four sides of his arm with his fingers ending in sharp metal claws. The chains around its arms were also bladed at the end like barbed arrowheads. Each side of every link of the chains were spiked as well. This guy seemed to be made of blades. Blades ran down his back from the back of his neck to about mid back which then started several rows of blades curved around his abdomen like ribs on the outside. The only part of his body that didn't have any blades were his legs with the exception of one perturding over each knee.

The Akki looked around for a moment scowling menacingly. Its eyes were completely black without any pupils or irises. It's skin was an ash grey, and the metal of his blades were black. He seemed to smile a little bit as he noticed Jak. With a growling voice is spoke to him. His voice booming loudly. "I have finally found you son of Dulgier." It took a step closer to Jak who got into a fighting stance right away stepping back. He didn't know who this Dulgier was, but it seemed that this demon was willing to take his aggression out on him instead of his enemy.

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

(OOC: I would like to train for CTP please)

IC:
Hotaru Kuchiki found herself back in the human world from what seemed like the hundredth time. She was tired and just out of it. She was sent here on patrol. Though, to her squad, she never showed how she was feeling all the time right now. She made sure that for her job, she was there on time and did all of her duties to the best of her ability. She never let it show what was wrong. Only the other seated officers even guessed that something was wrong with her.

She would always get her job done as quickly and efficiently as possible. Then, when she was done, she went straight to the human world and ran herself ragged trying to find where Asmoskon had gone. She first went to Tokyo and tried to get some kind of reiatsu signature there. She couldn't find anything but a faint signature left over in the park where she last met him. She asked around his school and they told her where he lived.

They also wanted to know what was up with him. Once she got there, she found that the place was completely empty. There was nothing of him left there. She slowly walked around the apartment, looking over everything that she could tell he kept clean. How lonely he must've felt being all alone, with no family to rely on. If he would've just told her sooner about what was going on, things would be so much different then they were now...

She teared up in that place and left as soon as she could. She then started to systematically search the rest of Tokyo. It took her the entire night, but she found no trace of him left. Tokyo definitely wasn't his home base anymore. She went back to Soul Society in time to go to work. She washed her face quickly before she started work that day and was good for the day. After that, she returned back to the human world and started looking through the rest of Japan.

She skipped Karakura Town on purpose. She figured that he could very well be there, but with everything else that went on in that town, she wasn't in the right state of mind to look there. Even though she drank the day she found out what she did to him, he promised herself she wouldn't do that again. Now, she was dedicated to find him and to fix her grave mistake. After a few months, she had finished searching Japan with no luck.

Now, she did still do her patrols when ordered. Though, while she patrolled for hollows, she was always on the lookout for Asmoskon's signature. She hadn't had any luck yet, but she knew she was bound to run into him again. At least, that's what she told herself when she ran herself ragged trying to find him. Tonight was one of those nights. She was called on patrol in Karakura Town and one of the first things she did was try to sense Asmoskon, as well as looking for hollows.

She was running along rooftops during the day when she sensed another familiar presence in the town. It was Jak. She smiled a little, remembering the man she tried her best to help train. She remembered he had told her to buy flowers the next time she was in town. So, she Shunpoed to the flower shop she dropped him off at. Once she got there, it seemed that the shop was closed for the day. Oh well, she just might have to do it next time.

She then yawned pretty loudly and rubbed at her eyes. She was tired, but she wasn't going to give up. She then looked up in the sky and it started to rain. The clouds quickly changed to black and it started to storm, lightning added with the rain. She sensed Jak again and started to head towards his location. She arrived at the rooftop of the building he was standing next to. From the last time they met, his arm looked completely different. Almost like it was angry.

Then, she watched the lightning get more violent. She had not seen a storm this bad in awhile. But, it was odd for a storm this powerful to just appear out of nowhere. It was then that she saw the lightning land in front of Jak and it created a portal. Out from the portal stepped a demon. He was huge, at least ten feet tall and what looked like completely made out of swords. She Shunpo'ed down to where he was and unsheathed her zanpaktou. "Hey Jak, would you like some help?"

[Jak Halcom]

Jak clenched his fist staring up at the demon. Who the hell was we, and who the hell was Dulgeir? Jak caught the figure of Hotaru appearing next to him. She must have felt the demon and decided to drop by. For once he was glad to see a shinigami. He knew he would need all the help he could get if he wanted to beat back this demon. The rain seemed to pour down harder at the presence of the demon. The flashes of lighting would brighten the area for a second allowing them to see the thing clearer. 

He turned to Hotaru with a slight smile on his face. Rain dripped from his chin and nose as they were both drenched by the down pour. "Though I hate to say it, I think I will need your help with this one." He turned back to the demon stepping forward. He knew that Hotaru was a pretty strong shinigami. He just hoped that together they were strong enough. 

"This does not concern you shinigami. I am here only for the son of Dulgeir. The rest of this pathetic town does not interest me in the slightest." Sot it would seem that the demon was not going change him mind. He wasn't intimidated in the slightest about facing a shinigami. Was it because he was just that confident in his strength, or was it because he never faced a shinigami before, and he is just underestimating her. If it was the latter, he would be in for a rude awakening.

"Fine, but tell me who you are first, and who is Dulgier, and why do you want to kill me?" Could this demon really know about the identity of his father? Was this Dulgier the reason he was cursed with this right arm, and was he that bad that even other demons wanted him dead? Jak's curiosity was now peeked, and he would not stop until he found answers. The demon laughed. It was a deep growling sound from the back of it's throat.

"You wield the power of us Akki, and you don't even know who your father is and what we are? Out of all the half breeds I am faced you are by far the most pathetic. I wish to kill you because you were born. Me and others like me are ashamed that some Akki refuse their power and mate with members of the lesser races. You are not suppose to exist and I intend to correct that mistake. The rest you don't need to know. For I, Kaldor, will end your existence!" Apparently he wasn't the smartest Akki, for he told Jak two things he wanted to know. He just neglected to tell him about his father. "And if the shinigami wants to get in our way, then I will kill her and the rest of their pathetic race!" 

With a loud roar, the Akki charged at the two. His footsteps thundered with each step leaving footprints in the street. It punched out at them trying to crush them with the sheer force of the punch, as well as shred them with the blades along his arm. He would mainly target Jak and fallow it with another punch coming down to crush him.

Jak needed to be fast on his feet in order to avoid it's attacks. Jak moved to the left of the first punch using his chain around his arm to block the blades that could still reach him as he moved. He saw the second punch coming down from above him, and rolled on the wet road just enough to avoid being crushed. Jak gathered a spirit bolt and both hand and launched them at the demon hitting him in the chest with both. Smoke would obscure the demon partially only to disperse to find that he was hardly damaged by them.

Spirit Bolts 2X  1350-100=1250

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Once Hotaru appeared, she knew immediately that Jak had noticed her. He smiled a little towards her, saying that he would need her help on this one. She smiled back and nodded. "I figured once I saw this huge demon. Though, when I sensed you were around, I tried the flower shop first. I'll have to get my flower bouquet after this fight, if you don't mind." She then looked at the demon again and took a deep breath.

This fight was going to get interesting, especially when the demon addressed her. He said that whatever this issue was didn't concern her, since the rest of the town didn't interest him either. He was just there for the son of Dulgeir, which she assumed was Jak. She had never heard of this Dulgeir person, but she assumed that he was related to Jak in a way. Since she didn't know anything about his family history, she wouldn't have the faintest idea.

He then asked the questions that she wanted answered. She was trying to think back on what she read about Akkis in the books in the Kuchiki Manor library. She was racking her brain why Jak, I'm sure, was just curious about the man this demon kept mentioning. She got into her fighting stance while thinking on it. Her feet were shoulder width apart, knees bent. Her zanpaktou's tip was near her left shoulder, hilt towards her right hip.

She then remembered that Akkis could give up their power. If they bred with another race, they created half breeds, which she had thought Jak was, due to his red arm in chains. She guessed that she was right about that now. But, the demon then agreed with her on that point. His father was Dulgier, an Akki, which makes Jak a half breed. It seemed Akkis thought of the other races as 'lesser' to them, since Jak was a mistake that never should've been made.

He then said he would kill her if she wanted to get in the way. Oh, she was getting in the way. She would not let a friend of hers get beat down like this without any back up whatsoever. The Akki charged, leaving footprints in concrete. It was impressive, but when he punched out, since she saw Jak move to the left, she moved to the right, ducking his fist in the process. The Akki was quick, but she noticed what he was going to do next.

He was going to try to punch Jak again. It seemed like this demon was going to keep most of his attention on Jak, at least for the time being. She figured that she might be able to get him from behind, while he was distracted. She continued to run around the beast, hoping to get a few slashes on his back. She ran and then shunpo'ed onto his back. Since her sword was still in her stance position, she slashed diagonally left to right, in the hopes of wounding the beast.

[Jak Halcom]

The demon growled in pain as his back arched from the cut. There was a pretty long cut on his back, but factoring the size of the thing it might as well have been a paper cut. He turned around with a fast backhand punch blades leading the way. He was ready to tear the foolish shinigami in too for her interference. Her and her entire race would freeze once this was over. He would try to grab her with his right hand and slam her into the ground which he would then crush her under his massive three toed foot.

Jak didn't hesitate in conjuring more spirit bolts. He threw them out, but they soon stopped just hovering in place. He ran around the Akki as fast as he could launching his bolts as fast as possible. Soon twenty four spheres of crimson energy surrounded the large demon. Jak thrust his hands out to the demon which caused all the bolts to fly at him at once. The demon took them all smoke covering his large form. Jak ran and grabbed Hotaru who no doubt dodged the Akki's attacks.

"Come on, we can't fight here." He told her as he pulled her after him. He had to try and take this fight out of the city. There were too many people. Too many innocent people that would get caught in the cross fire of the combatants. He couldn't stay or even live with himself with that on his conscience. They got several dozen yards away before the Akki appeared from the smoke in persuit of the two lesser beings.

"You cannot hide from me boy!" He shouted as he drew his right fist back. The blades on it's arms began to glow a bluish white. He punched forward and a blade of ice flew at them. It froze the very ground that it passed over slicing just between Jak and Hotaru. Jak looked back seeeing the Akki pull back his left hand for another attack. This one was targeting Jak specifically. Jak managed to roll under it feeling the bite of the cold that it left behind. 

Jak looked up seeing it hit a building and slice right through the wall and window like it was tissue paper. Not only that, but the inside had exploded from the impact leaving shattered furniture and large icicles jutting out like spikes all over the place. Neither of them needed to be told that it would be nasty to be hit by one of those. The Akki ran after them with it's large, thundering strides. They would need a lot more space, if they hoped to take it out with minimum casualties. 

Spirit Bolt Barrage 1250-150=1100

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru was surprised that the blade even landed on his skin. She figured that he was fast enough to avoid her blade, but she guessed his single mindedness distracted him enough so she could land her attack on him. He growled loudly from the strike and she wasn't surprised at what happened next. He quickly turned around and was using his right hand in a back handed punch to try to get to her, like a person swatting at a gnat.

Thankfully, when she saw him turning around and saw the movement of his arm, she jumped off his back and onto the ground. She landed on the ground in a roll. She was sure that the fall itself wouldn't have caused her too much harm, but she did the roll anyway, out of habit and to just make sure she didn't get a stupid injury that could've been avoided. Once she landed, she watched Jak surround the demon with red energy balls before sending them all towards him.

So, it seemed that Jak finally awoke to his power. It was nice to finally see that he could use more power than his fists. But, the balls didn't seem to work as well and Jak quickly appeared next to her, saying that they couldn't fight here. He grabbed her hand and he pulled her along, running away from the demon. After she started running, she let go of Jak's hand. She understood why he wanted to get away from this area. There were too many people here.

It was too many innocent people there to get her for her liking as well. She was glad that they were thinking on the same terms. She didn't use her full speed, just enough to keep up with Jak. After they were a good distance away, she could hear and sense the Akki demon behind them. It yelled at them, saying that Jak couldn't hide from him. She was pretty sure that he wasn't trying to hide, but to each their own.

She quickly looked back to gauge just how far away the demon was. It was then she saw the blades on his right arm glow a bluish white. She was hoping that Jak would start to run faster, because she started to pick up the pace a bit, trying to make sure that the strike didn't hit her. The next thing she knew, a huge slice attack went in between Jak and Hotaru. She looked at the ground and the attack even froze the ground. It wasn't good.

She knew that sooner or later, this demon was going to start to focus on Jak again. Right when she thought that, she did a side glance towards Jak and noticed that he was rolling on the ground. She saw the ice attack fly right over him and watched it as it was heading towards a building and the attack cleaved the building in two. They were still too close to people for her taste. She wanted to hold off on her Shikai until they were clear and to save it in case she needed it later in the fight.

[Jak Halcom]

Jak ran as fast as he could looking back over his shoulder every now and then to make sure that the Akki wasn't catching up too fast. They managed to make it to the outskirts of Karakura town. Here the fields were much larger, and the houses and buildings were much more sporadic. This was a much better place to fight. Jak turned to face the Akki, but to Jak's surprise, he was closer than he thought.

The Akki had caught up with him and grabbed him in one of his large hands picking Jak up off the ground. Jak struggled in the demon's grasp before his arm started to erupt into blames. Fire flew in every direction as his arm got even hotter. Jak pulled his arm back and punched out at the demon's face making a solid connection to its jaw. The force of the punch and the resulting explosion forced the Akki to let go of Jak and sent Jak flying back.

Jak hit the ground, and quickly rolled back up to his feet. The explosion jarred him, but he was still able to fight. He decided that now was the time to use his transformation. For a moment he wondered how Hotaru would react to seeing him transform, but he then thought that right now the biggest thing was to stop this Akki. Who knew how many other Nakabakki he was responsible for killing. The thought alone made him angry.

His arm burned as the heat slowly started to seep throughout his body. The area around his feet was scorched with fire. He slowly grew another foot in height and his muscles bulked up even more. Underneath his arms were two bulges before another pair of arms sprouted from his torso. A pair of gauntlets covered Jak's upper pair of hands with four blades surrounding each hand pointing to his opponent. His hair turned completely white, and his skin the same color as his right arm. A pair of horns curved around his head stopping around his cheek bones.

Jak popped his neck, as well as all four sets of knuckles. He ran right at the enemy Akki his two right arms pulled back. It seemed that the Akki wasn't prepared for him to go into his Saisei Oni. Jak managed to hit the Akki with a hard under punch from his lower fist, and a upper cut like cut from his blades. The blades raked across the thing's chest. Then Jak kicked it away. Jak then looked to Hotaru. It was unclear if he recognized her or not in that form, but neither would have time to contemplate about it.

The Akki growled getting to it's feet. He was starting to undergo his own transformation. The Akki's body was becomeing more crystal like. The area around the Akki was getting colder by the second. Ice spikes pertruted where the blades once were. On the back of the akki was a great sword made entirely of ice. Both sides of the blade had serrated edges and shown a deathly blue. The akki stabbed it into the ground Sending large icicles at both Jak and Hotaru.

Jak jumped high into the air avoiding them. He landed to the right of the Akki. His body was now covered in flames. It has become a battle of fire and ice. He remembered that Hotaru had a fire type zanpakuto, maybe they had an element advantage against the demon. Jak would focus the flames into each of the blades and launch two slashes of fire at it. They hit sending steam into the air and pushed the Akki back even further.

Saisei Oni 1100-300=800

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru was keeping up with Jak, and she also was checking every now and then. It seems that they both had the idea of trying to get as far away from the people of Karakura Town as possible before they started to fight this beast seriously. She just hoped that they would be enough to defeat this beast. Once they reached the outskirts of the town, Jak stopped running once they hit a big, open field. Hotaru stopped with him and turned to face the beast as well.

Though, once she turned around, she was surprised that the Akki was already there and grabbed Jak. But, honestly, why should she be surprised? It was an Akki demon, the strongest demons that come out of Hell, so it really shouldn't be a surprise that he could easily outrun them. The real question she should've asked is why he let them run this far before actually starting an attack. But, she needed to try to help Jak.

Or did she? Once she was getting herself ready to fight, she watched as Jak punched the demon in the face with his red arm. Though, now that arm was on fire. She knew that red color had to come from a power like that. It seems that Jak had more power than she even though he had. She got into her normal fighting stance, with her feet shoulder width apart, knees bent and her sword in its usual configuration. She took a breath while Jak landed.

The explosion that happened when he hit the demon caused him to fly backwards, rolling up to his feet after he landed. Once he did, she felt his reiatsu signature change slightly. She knew that something was going to happen with him, but she kept an eye on the Akki. It was still reeling from the blow. While it was still off guard, she quickly ran up to it and slashed at its left leg then the right leg. She ran back to where they were and saw something different.

Once she got back from her attack, Jak had changed. He had gained another set of arms, grew a foot, was completely red with horns and gauntlets on his upper hands only. She knew from her readings that the half breeds had power from their Akki demon parent as well as the other race. So, she finally saw a demon's release. It wouldn't be as strong as the current demon's but still fairly impressive.

She decided that it was her turn to release. She grabbed her scabbard in her left hand and zanpaktou in her right and said, "Burn, Rivu~aiasan!" She started to run towards the demon while her zanpaktou changed. She was running next to demon Jak. When she got to the Akki demon, her zanpaktou changed to her flaming sword and her sheathe had changed into her cannon. Jak was punching the demon, while Hotaru's cannon was spewing her liquid at it.

While she was still close to it, she spun her zanpaktou into a cone shape, adding liquid with her cannon. Once it was ready, she lit it on fire, sent it towards the demon and yelled, "Doragonburesu!" Once her dragon breath was heading towards it, she landed and jumped backwards. She hoped that her attack would land on the beast. She then watched this demon transform. She felt the air around them get colder while the Akki was turning more crystalline.

She watched as the blades turned to ice spikes and the ice sword was a nice touch. But, when he stabbed it into the ground and the ice spikes was heading towards them, she avoided. She didn't know if her fire would be enough to stop the ice. But, while avoiding, she shot liquid out of her cannon at the spikes. She then lit that liquid on fire and the liquid that might've hit the Akki earlier as well. She just hoped her fire would melt the ice.

She looked towards Jak, who landed closer to the demon. She ran up towards the demon's left side, about the same distance away as demon Jak was. He was literally on fire and her sword was on fire. Hopefully, their fire could melt the demon and they would be done with it soon. She got one of her grenades ready, letting it form in her left hand. She watched Jak start to focus his flames into an attack. She threw one of her grenades and yelled, "Kasai shuryūdan!" She threw her grenade at it right when Jak launched his attack. If it landed on him, it would immediately explode into fire.

[Jak Halcom]

Jak continued his forward attack punching the demon's crystal body and cutting at it with his blades. He and the demon seemed to just be trading blows. Yes Jak's body was tough in this form, but it was far from indestructible. He felt the pain of each blow while dodging the large ice blade. He just wasn't as strong as the demon. He didn't have near the battle experience the the beast before him had, and it showed. 

The Akki formed an several icicle darts and threw them at Jak while they were still in close range. They all hit him in the chest though thankfully they didn't hit anything vital. Jak ignored the pain the best he was able to, as he saw the incoming grenade. He leaped back pulling the darts out of his chest. He threw them away since the Akki's power kept them for melting like normal ice would. They would melt eventually, but with the Akki so close they would be around for a while even while on fire. The grenade struck the demon the force sending him to the ground. 

Jak took the opportunity to use his burst movement to quickly leap high into the air and come down putting his feet into the Akki's gut. The force of the jump and gravity combined with his strength knocked the wind out of the Akki. Jak smiled as he pulled his arms back and hit it with a barrage of punches. He didn't want to give the Akki any chance to recover and cause any more damage. Jak felt the Akki get up dispite his punches and weight.

The Akki easily flipped them over putting Jak on his back. The Akki stood over him placing a foot on Jak's chest to keep him in place. He started to form an Ice barrier with a six foot radius around him and Jak in an attempt to kept the shinigami out. Even he was having a hard time with them combining their efforts against him. He would need to take them out one at a time. As the barrier went up, he was crushing Jak under his foot, who was trying desperately to punch the leg off. 

Jak summoned his flames again turning himself on fire. He tried to make himself as hot as possible. He would not make it easy for the Akki to finish him off. The Akki showed signs of discomfort, but was ignoring the pain of the burning flames. Jak gathered his flames in his blades launching them at the Akki's face. That got him off Jak.

The Akki recalled back holding his hands over his eyes, as the fire managed to scorch them. Jak got up gasping for air. His ribs were cracked and bruised making it hard for him to move. He was persistant though. He jumped on the Akki and grabbed the ice spikes punching wildly. He had no plan now. He just wanted to cause as much pain to the Akki as he could. He was starting to go bezerk now.

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru watched as her dragon breath attack scorched the beast. She was hoping that her aim had gotten better since she's been using her grenades more and more. There was also one thing that the demon seemed to either not notice or even avoid. It was her liquid. She assumed that it was so fixated on Jak, getting hit with liquid wouldn't be such a big deal to it, since it was a demon from hell. It was not so in this case.

While she threw the grenade, she kept an eye out on Jak. She didn't want to ignite the liquid on the demon's body when he was so close to it. He might accidentally catch fire as well. It probably wouldn't do him too much harm, but she wanted to avoid it as much as possible. She watched Jak land hit after hit on the demon and it wasn't going very well. She could tell that he was starting to feel pain from his attacks. She ran in.

She saw Jak get hit by several darts that the Akki himself made. When he got hit, he fell backwards a bit. It was then that her grenade hit it and it exploded, casting flames on the beast. Thankfully, she hadn't run in close enough to be in range of the blast. Since Jak was free and clear, she concentrated on the liquid that had hit the Akki and ignited it, lighting the demon on fire. There was no way he could put the fire out. Wiping at it would make it worse for him.

She just hoped that this fire was enough to melt at least part of the Akki. The demon was already sent to the ground by her grenade. The fire that ignited on its body just made its pain worse. She continued to run in and she slashed at the Akki's right leg with her fire sword when she saw Jak come in from above with her peripheral vision. He landed on the Akki's gut, knocking the wind right out of the beast. Hotaru smiled. Jak had learned a few things after all.

Jak then started to throw punch after punch into the gut of this demon. Hotaru started to run around towards the back of the beast. If Jak could keep him distracted by a frontal assault, it would make it easier for her to try to attack him from the back. But, before she had the chance to get in a good enough position to strike, the Akki started to get up. Jak was still railing on him, but it didn't phase the demon one bit. This wasn't going to turn out well.

It was then that the Akki flipped Jak, putting a foot on his chest and started to form something of an ice barrier. Hotaru saw what he was doing, this demon wasn't an idiot. Jak didn't have the battle experience that she did, and so, he wanted to separate the two, so he would be able to deal with Jak alone and take him out. He would then deal with her. But, this demon also didn't notice how close Hotaru still was. If he went through with this, she would be in this barrier too.

It would completely defeat the purpose of what he was doing. While the Akki was bent over Jak, she ran around to its back. She could see Jak fighting with everything he had to get its foot off of him. She prepared an attack. She let extra liquid drip off her blade, slashing it in front of her, right shoulder to left hip. She then shot out liquid from her cannon, left shoulder to right hip. She then did a horizontal slash behind it, making the X move towards the Akki.

She yelled "X-sen surasshu!", lighting the slash on fire as it made its way towards the Akki. She noticed that Jak had put himself on fire again, trying to burn its foot so bad that it would have to get off. But right when her slash would connect with the beast, she saw two fire slashes that Jak made hit the Akki in the face, making it take its foot off Jak, and losing the concentration to keep the ice barrier going.

The Akki was definitely in pain, putting his hands over his eyes. It seemed like Jak's attack hit home on its face. It was a good shot, to be sure. Jak was slow to get up. It was obvious to her that he was pretty hurt from the pressure of the demon's foot on his chest, but just like he always did, he brushed it off and just started to go crazy on the demon. He jumped up on it and just wailed into it. She could tell that his anger was going to get the best of him.

She also had to make sure that the fire on the demon's body didn't go up high enough to burn Jak. He's been burned by her fire already and she didn't want it to happen a second time. Since she was still oriented behind the demon, she moved off a little to the right, to see exactly where Jak was. He was dead center of this beast, punching pretty much in its gut. She was going to try something, but she just had to make sure she wasn't going to cut Jak.

She quickly got back behind the beast and started to half jump/half run up its body. Once she got halfway up its back, she used all her strength to jump off and up as high as she could. While Jak was punching into the beast, she drew her zanpaktou in front of her and when she landed, her zanpaktou would, hopefully, cut through the beast. She would add liquid from her cannon, on fire, so it would look like a fire slash would completely cut the Akki from head to toe, if her attack would hit.

[Jak Halcom]

The Akki had lost track of the shinigami for just a moment, but that moment was enough for her to get behind him again and keep attacking him staying close so that the barrier was formed while she was inside. He knew that he was done now. The flames that the shinigami produced burned his flesh, despite the freezing cold that shielded his body. He had underestimated the two of them, they were more formidably than he thought. 

The punches of the half breed were know starting to hurt. Too many punches were landing home on the same spot over, and over again. Jak kept hammering his fists into the body of the Akki. His blades racked against the flesh of the Akki, as well as defending him from the ice blades of the Akki.

The Akki was just focusing on Jak now. He knew that he was going to die in this miserable world. He will die knowing that he brought one more half breed down with him. He managed to grab Jak and slam him into the ground grabbing his large blade raising it to skewer the smaller demon. Something caught its eye and he looked up seeing the Shinigami coming down on him bringing her blade down on him.

The Akki stopped once Hotaru was finished with her attack. He stood there dropping the large ice sword which shattered when it hit the ground. Jak kicked from the ground sending the Akki back as it fell to the ground with a heavy thud. The barrier that was erected around them fell since the Akki was now dead. Jak stood up reverting back to his normal form. He panted exhausted. He fell to the ground on one knee, as the ice shattered around them.

He turned facing Hotaru with a slight smile on his face. He struggled to stand. His legs wobbled violently. Why was it that when Hotaru showed up, Jak ended up exhausted beyond all reason. "Hey you want those flowers now?" He asked taking a few tentative steps back to Karakura town. 

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru was watching the fight play out between Jak and the demon while she fought. She noticed that the barrier had been erected, but sadly for the demon, she had stayed close enough to get trapped inside with them. The demon was powerful, but obviously not as smart as she thought it would be. It was a shame. But, it mattered not to her, a fight was still a fight. She did want to ask Jak a few things after this fight was over.

She watched Jak keep punching in the same spot over and over again. It was a good strategy for sure. If he kept doing that, the barrier around the demon would eventually break, allowing him to actually hurt the demon. Her flames were doing their job, burning the demon's flesh like no other fire could. She could see that the Akki was actually starting to feel pain from Jak's blows due to the body language it was exhibiting.

When she saw that, she knew that the fight was nearing its end. Even with strong opponents, there is only so much damage one being can take. Everything had a threshold for pain, even demons. It seemed like the demon had reached its threshold and then some. Jak kept fighting, using all four arms to beat the demon. Hotaru was readying her big slice attack when she saw the demon grab him and slam him into the ground. It was her signal to strike.

The demon continued with its attack, but after her strike, the Akki demon stopped. Its sword fell from its grip and shattered upon impact with the ground while Jak kicked it off of him. It fell to the ground heavily and the barrier that it made of ice shattered. It was obvious that they had won and the demon was dead. She had never fought a demon quite this powerful before, so it was a very nice change of pace for her.

She took a deep breath and let her zanpaktou Rivu~aiasan go back to its sealed state. Her sheath was now in her left hand and she quickly wiped the blade clean on her uniform and resheathed it. She would give her zanpaktou a better cleaning once she got back to Soul Society. She then reattached her zanpaktou to her waistband and rolled her shoulders, loosening up a little bit from that fight. She then looked over to see Jak down on one knee.

It seems that he had fought to the point of exhaustion again. It was the way he fought. She was sure, though, once he got stronger that this would be happening less and less. She walked over and he looked her way, getting up with wobbly legs. She held her right arm out in case he needed the support. He then asked her if she wanted the flowers now. She smiled and nodded towards him. "Of course, Jak. Let's head that way now." She kept her arm out in case he needed it as they both walked towards Karakura town and the flower shop.

[Jak Halcom]

Jak leaned on her in order to catch himself every now and then, but for the most part he carried himself under his own power. His legs were wobbly, and each breath he took caused sharp pains all throughout his torso from his many cracked ribs. He was covered in cuts and bruises, but overall he will live. That was defiantly be a story no one would believe. That he and a Shinigami fought off a demon from hell and lived.

The walk was longer than he would like, but that was mainly due to his ribs. His arms were fine if not incredibly soar. He was sure that he was in worse shape than Hotaru was. Then again she had centuries of experience and practice to hone her skills with, he on the other had had only about two decades if that. He grunted every now and then, but that just showed that his breathing wasn't impaired.

They reached the flower shop after a few hours of walking. The storm had stopped as suddenly as it appeared and was moving on its way. The rain left the roads slippery and wet causing Jak to slip a couple of times. He always had Hotaru to catch him though. He unlocked the door to the shop and went inside after Hotaru.

After turning on the lights, he went straight to work picking out the flowers that he would need to make her bouquet. He felt that she was the kind that liked a voriaty of colors. He chose a couple of rouses for their deep red color. Some light blue flowers, and yellow ones. He expertly arranged them with only his left arm, as fast and precise as anyone using both hands. He didn't want to burn the flowers after all.

In only a few minutes, he had a beautiful bouquet of flowers in a nice vase ready for her. It looked absolutly stunning if he said so himself. Each color was expertly placed evenly throughout the arrangement. No one color over powered the rest. Each one working in some way to bring the arrangement together. He smiled walking to the door and opening it for her to leave with her gift from him.

"Maybe next time we meet, there won't be any violence." He said with a light laugh which sent another wave of pain through his body. He waved her good bye and offered his farewells as he closed the door. He made his way up to his apartment to get some rest. He will need it this time, but the ribs will take quite some time to heal.

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru watched as Jak leaned on her when he needed to. She figured that he might, based off of the battle that they just fought. She really wasn't too worse for wear, since the demon was mainly focusing on Jak. She got away with some cuts and scrapes, but nothing as serious as Jak. She watched him while they walked, making sure that her arm was out when he needed it the most. She didn't want him to just fall over for no reason.

She could tell that the more they walked, the more pain he seemed to be in. When he would go to her for support, she would try to do a quick visual scan on him to see how he was fairing and would get the chance to lightly touch his rib area, since the demon pretty much put all its pressure on his chest, she figured that that was where most of the damage was on Jak. She was correct in her assumption. She felt something not right there when she touched.

She wasn't an expert in anything with healing, but she would compare his ribs to hers and she knew that a few of them seemed off in placement. When she felt some, she was actually feeling a bit of a crack in some of them. It definitely wasn't a good sign. He did start to grunt while he was breathing, she assumed due to his cracked ribs. It was times like these that she wished she was a part of the Fourth Division and could just immediately heal people.

After walking for awhile, she could see his flower shop coming into view. When they actually got back into the city of Karakura, all the rain that had fallen due to the opening of the demon's portal made the roads fairly slick. Hotaru picked her way through the streets to make sure that she wouldn't fall. But, Jak, being in a weakened state, slipped a few times. Thankfully, she was able to go over and catch him before he would completely fall down. She didn't want him hurt worse, since it would make her feel worse.

When they made it to the front door, Jak unlocked it and let Hotaru go in first like a true gentleman. She nodded her thanks to him and walked into the shop. She had a nice look around the shop while she watched Jak pick out some flowers for her bouquet. She was curious how well he was at making bouquets, since he boasted his own skill. It didn't take him that long to actually pick out the flowers that he wanted to use for it.

She watched with some amazement as he quickly made the bouquet with one arm. It made sense, since his right arm would probably catch the flowers on fire. He was easily able to work with one arm though, so he had obviously done this many, many times to get so good at it. When he was done, he smiled at her and walked her towards the door. The bouquet was beautiful and she smiled back, saying her thanks to him.

She answered his statement. "I hope for the same Jak, but you can never know in this town. It's one of the many things that I've learned here." She waved back towards him as she left the shop, said good-bye and started walking off her with bouquet. She opened the spirit gates and walked back into Soul Society. While she walked to her barracks room, she ignored what everyone else said. She put her bouquet on her desk and started to clean her zanpaktou.

[Zou ۞]

+400 TP