Karakura Daze (NDE, PvP)

[Nakajima Kimiko]

Karakura Town, Western Tokyo, Japan. From an outsider's point of view, it is nothing more than a normal settlement with not much credited to its name. Its native population was fairly normal with the most of them typically growing up to become either office workers away from their birthplace or salesmen, there were not a whole lot of astounding touristic attractions gathering the crowds, and all in all, there was nothing about this place that really stood out. However, for those whose abilities extended beyond the limits of Human comprehension, this place was much more important. It was here that many a few battles took place, both of modest and intense importance, and it was also here that a few key individuals which shaped the world as it is known today happened to be born. The reason why that was? It was simple: this place was the current Jūreichi, the point in the Human world that possessed the highest concentration of spiritual beings. In other words, it is filled to the brim with apparitions waiting to be sent to their afterlife, be they normal Souls or maleficent Hollows.

Due to the sheer numbers of Hollows typically wandering around this city, the number of Shinigami wandering about in that region of the Living World was quite high, and so it was decided by the board of directors of Shin'ō Academy to prepare a trip to the region. It was a voluntary voyage which was scheduled every now and then at the school for the upcoming men and women of the Gotei 13 who wished to both learn more about the region itself and how an Unseated Officer's duties typically resemble while performing reconnaissance. Since Karakura Town was in the Living World, many students preferred not to go so that they could instead continue refining their skills at the Academy, which was another way for them to say that they really did not want to deal with the possibility of dealing with a dangerous Hollow. This was particularly noticeable today, as the activity was barely capable of registering the attendance of more than a few students. Among the grand total of three students who had decided to come, Kimiko was unsurprisingly one of them.

Although the basis of the reasoning as to why she was here could simply be summed up as a bland wish to come to get away from her thoroughly amazing Kidō classes, there was more to Kimiko's presence here than just a wish to get away from her terrible teacher. As much as she believed herself to have moved on from her time in the Living World, there was still a part of her that missed it and wished to see it again even if her time spent there wouldn't be in a place that she had visited before. Maybe coming back to it for a brief moment would allow her to think about it a little bit less than usual. It was admittedly a bandaid solution to a more complicated problem, but she really could not think of anything else that could do it aside from talking it out with someone, and honestly, she'd prefer not to go with the latter option.

Despite all of that, though, it was not hard for her to admit that the prospect of possibly fighting a Hollow was something that she was interested in as well. She very much doubted it was going to happen; after all, the Academy made sure to have a proper officer lead them through Karakura for safety. The woman, Sazaki Yumi, was an officer of the Thirteenth Division and she looked capable enough to defend herself against the typical Hollow, or at least that's what Kimiko thought upon seeing her. At least she looked a bit more serious than the other two members of her group which seemed to be a pair of twins who were more than ready to treat all of this as some sort of fun activity that would allow them to skip class. She's never seen them before in her class, so she had to assume that they were in another one, but with the way they blatantly chattered about skipping classes, she doubted she would have ever seen them there if they were.

In any case, the preparations of this trip were to be completed a few days later, and by then, they all were allowed to proceed through the Senkaimon. Using that thing for the first time was certainly an experience, but seeing the modern Human world again after two whole years of her new spiritual life had passed was... special, to say the least. "Ah..." she found herself sighing in a nostalgic fashion as she walked through the gate and ended up following the group onto the streets of what seemed to be a quiet residential neighborhood basking underneath the afternoon sun. As much as she has gotten used to Soul Society and her liking for it has gotten progressively higher, it was nice to see asphalt, bricked houses and street lights again. Of course, as she experienced this, the twins noticed this behavior of hers immediately and proceeded to grin just a little bit.

"Hehe, someone is nostalgic! We should bring back a souvenir! What do you think, Takumi?" One of the two lightly mocked with a pitched, almost childish tone which was enough to make anyone wonder how old he was. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how one would see it, his doppelganger did not seem to be bothered about this at all, as he in fact went as far as to nod and display an almost-identical smile to his twin. Nevertheless, though his behavior resembled the other's, something about him projected a calmer vibe.

"I don't see why not, Takeo, I don't see why not at all. We should bring back a pamphlet or two, maybe one of those trinkets from the store," he spoke in a similar tone with a nod, which was enough to make the two then snicker to themselves. Kimiko said nothing to them, though it was enough to cause her mood to drastically lessen from nostalgic joy to comically-blunt annoyance. Ugh. Those two idiots really had to come with them on this activity, huh? Now quite annoyed, the student looked up to Sazaki who was standing there in front of the group, her eyes analyzing the area. Just say something, please! Just something that could make those two idiots shut up and not ruin that moment of hers any further! Eventually, the Shinigami finally turned towards them and finally decided to speak to them with a light sigh.

"Nothing just yet. Good. Welcome to Karakura Town, you three! Honestly, I was really hoping that there would have been more of you," she told the members of the group with a friendly smile on her face. Thankfully, for the relief of Kimiko's own sanity, the twins finally decided to quiet down once she decided to finally speak up. "As I explained to you when we first met, we will follow the standard patrolling routes that have been set throughout the city. It should not take too long so long as you guys can keep up! We may encounter a few Souls along the way, so please let me handle everything if we do. If you see a Hollow, please make sure to tell me, alright? I'll dispatch it right away!" In response, the members of the group only nodded. It sounded like she had everything under control. "Alright, then let's go! I hope you guys have learned how to use Shunpo, because otherwise, you'll have to stick to the streets!"

And with that, they were off wandering rooftop after rooftop. Kimiko followed along with attention, trying her damnedest to not listen to the damn twins who kept chattering between them. At times, her sight would go on to have a good look at the surrounding area. Nothing seemed to be wrong so far. In fact, all things considered, this was actually a pretty normal patrol. Hopefully, for the sake of this activity, it will stay that way.

[Teresa]

Wandering throughout the sewers of Karakura was something that Teresa couldn’t accept, yes she had been forced to accept that disgusting area in order to hide herself from the overwhelming number of adversaries, now though she didn’t believe that to be a necessity. The thin bean pole like Hollow coming up from the tunnel system below the town. She’d only been down there since yesterday when she and dozens of others had infiltrated this world. Still thought the scent of that place was nearly as repugnant as the taste of a Hollow.

This was starting to get unbearable once again, the hunger that invested her soul. Teresa hadn’t expected it to get this bad so soon after gorging herself only yesterday. She’d only been a hollow for a short period of time, although her knowledge was slightly better than some others due to her memories of being within another, that didn’t give her much to go on due to her own lack of experience. She had to weigh the situation now. She was no longer trapped in that blasted desert with no food.

She was back in the human world where there was food everywhere! Still there was the possibility that those adversaries in black would be around, they’d showed up yesterday. Stopped her from continuing her feast. Stopped her from fighting off this damn pain. The hunger had subsided for a couple hours, her pain vanishing for the first time since her freedom. Something that she couldn’t stand to lose now. Living with constant hunger to the point of pain, unbearable and thus anyone who stops her feasting is unforgivable.

Almost ten hours, that’s all the time that she had managed to buy for herself. Just that little bit of peace from her pain. Each victim gave her about an hour which meant she had to find somewhere else that would possibly a large quantity of humans. It had to be humans. Teresa had thought about it, hypothesized before even managing to get back to the human world, she couldn’t eat other hollows, the taste was simply to vile. Once she got here though, drank the sweet nectar of flesh. It was more than apparent that the only source of sustenance for her were humans.

It turns out she had been partly right and wrong though. While she had definitely devoured enough that she considered it a victory for her and a loss for her adversaries, she learned that they tasted even better. The ones that fought against Hollows, cloaked in black, wielding swords. The taste of one she had swallowed yesterday. He’d been . . . euphoric. It hadn’t just been the taste of his flesh, it had to be the fact he was the adversary. A sense of superiority mixed with gluttony that Teresa could even feel now driving her towards the prospect of finding another.

She knew she was different, she was a Hollow regardless and thus needed to eat, but she was limited. She wouldn’t progress in the lonely, ice desert of the Hollows. She had to constantly live in risk by staying in the human world. Keep her mind strong to control her urges. Fight off the desire, the potential addiction. It was still early to show herself again, they could still be around or have more soldiers stationed and thus Teresa wasn’t going back to the same location. Different place, just a bit away.

“Get out, eat one or two than go back.”

Teresa told herself the game plan once again knowing that yesterday her reasoning skills nearly went completely out the window once she got the taste of blood. Coming up from the sewers Teresa lifted up the cap with a bit of difficulty and then climbed up and out, looking around to find cars parked on the side of the street. Everything around her appeared alien, she’d been gone for so long that none of the modern world was known. This place was nothing to her, but right now that was a good thing. Hearing the sounds of a bell Teresa is altered to a door down the road roughly fifty feet. Someone had just gone inside of a shop and Teresa now knew the location of her fast food.

SPOILER: Click to show

Strength: 50
Speed: 50
Spiritual Pressure: 50 (63)
Reiatsu Strength: 50 (63)
Light Aura: 15
Dark Aura: 85
Instincts: 75 (56)
Senses: 75 (56)
Energy Sensory: 0
Healing Expertise: 0

Anti-Stealth: 1
Battle Focus: 1
Illusion Resist:1
Pain Tolerance: 1
Battle Analysis: 1
Strength of Will: 1

[Nakajima Kimiko]

The group proceeded throughout the rooftops of Karakura Town again without issues at first. There were no threats in sight, no stray Hollow that happened to drift from Hueco Mundo into the Land of the Living for a quick fill, not even the cacophony of the city that Kimiko was herself so familiar with thanks to having been a resident of Tokyo back during her Human years. At times, the four of them would pass above a man who seemed to be heading off to work, and at other times, another was walking his dog around the area. If it was not for the presence of the Shinigami and the three academy students, it was fair to say that there was absolutely nothing abnormal here at a first glance. Even fairer still, it was almost shocking that such a peaceful neighborhood was considered to be this current era's Jūreichi. You'd think there would consequently be more spiritual activity around the many houses and apartments scattered about the city.

Nevertheless, for Kimiko, it was completely fine. To bask in this peace, in the silence of it all... It reminded her of the past where she was unaware of what lied beyond the veil of her Human form's demise. Although she loved the looks of the academy, of Seireitei and also Rukongai, she had to admit that it was not there that she had grown up in. Seeing cars drive onto the asphalt of the streets again, the concrete of the sidewalks, the bricks of modern contemporary homes standing below the many electrical wires which were held here and there, and the monotonous fabric that seemingly tied them all together was just nice, nostalgic even. In a way, to see it all again in her own eyes coupled with the fact that she most likely could not share this sight with any of her peers - who most likely died a long time ago - was almost painful.

Almost, because those damn twins kept talking to each other during the whole trip! With each set of rooftops crossed, one of them would have the audacity to leave out a comment or two about their surroundings. They were not good comments, mind you; most of the time, they would be puns, mindless observations or, worse yet, more teasing in an attempt to break Kimiko's nostalgic mood. "Ah, look, Takumi, a car! A big one at that! Its owner must be compensating for something, don't you think?" One would comment that one time, prompting a laughter from the other. Not even a few minutes later, said other would then let out as they passed over a liquor shop of sorts. "Oh, a liquor shop, how quaint. They must be selling great screwdrivers there, I am quite sure of it." The worst part about it is that every single comment seemingly prompted a sort of pride in the twins. It was as if they truly enjoyed what they were doing.

Unfortunately, Kimiko did not enjoy them; in fact, she loathed them. None of their comments were funny or even insightful to her, and truth be told, she really just wanted them to be quiet so that they could focus on the activity at hand. It was indeed true that this activity was allowing them to skip some of the classes they had today, and so one could somewhat take this whole thing lightly, but they were still in the Living World nonetheless. Even if they are accompanied by a Shinigami, there was nothing that guaranteed that they would return to Soul Society in the coming hours without any trouble brewing along the way. A Hollow may attack them at any time, for instance, or perhaps even worse things yet. Besides, isn't the whole point of this trip to remember the reconnaissance routes an officer must take on an hourly basis whenever they are stationed in Karakura Town for duty? All this incessant talking the twins have been doing with one another is only making them unable to pay any attention to said routes.

Truth be told, however, it's not like there was... well, anything else to do anyway. The more they proceeded, the more peaceful the area seemed to be in general, which was a bit odd for Kimiko. A lack of Hollow is not necessarily abnormal, but where are the Pluses? Surely, there must be a few wandering around, right? Additionally, upon having crossed much of the residential area in a mere few minutes, they kept avoiding the roads that she could swear led to a school which apparently was currently under repairs. Shouldn't they be going towards that school every now and then? As much as Kimiko didn't like to admit it, her country was, well, not quite fun for a lot of students, to put it bluntly. As such, it shouldn't really be surprising that such establishments be full of Pluses and thus a target for nearby Hollows. Eventually, the questions piled up a little bit too well, and soon, while ignoring the twins, the student would turn her head towards Yumi. Before she could ask her question, however, the Shinigami would simply chuckle, almost as if she was expecting those aforementioned questions to come along eventually.

"Ah, wow, I can't really hide it any longer, huh? Well, at least someone is paying attention!" She joked lightheartedly, then took an abrupt stop onto the rooftops, prompting the twins to yelp in surprise before slamming the brakes right before falling off the building they were currently standing on. After which, she turned towards Kimiko, paying no mind to the twins at all, then allowed her expression to take a more serious tone as she pointed towards the school building's direction. "There's been an attack recently on that school over there. A big one too. A Gillian and two Hollows decided to have fun eating a bunch of students while they were attending classes. We've sent a few Shinigami there to help, but the damage had already been done. It was... I'm sure we would have done more if we would have arrived a little bit faster."

The story made Kimiko's eyes widen a bit. Two Hollows just... entered a school and started eating a bunch of people just like that? Not Pluses, but actual Humans? How did it ever happen? Well, however it happened, it sure reminded her of what kind of monsters she was supposed to fight against now. "... Do we know how they look like?" The student at least decided to ask, honestly not wanting to criticize the slowness of Soul Society's deployment of Shinigami to the school in front of Yumi.

"The Gillian was a generic one, so we couldn't identify it very well, but the Hollows were more unique. We were able to give them names: Hela and Teresa. One was a sort of dragon while the other was this huge white... thing? Honestly, it's kind of hard to describe," Yumi explained before chuckling a little at that last sentence. Kimiko smiled a bit, but she did not find the fact to be very funny. "Anyway, all you need to know is that they should have gone back to Hueco Mundo with that Gillian by now. We shouldn't meet any one of them here."

"Then why is this white thing you are speaking of standing right there?" The second twin suddenly raised at that moment as he pointed towards something in the distance, causing Kimiko and Yumi both to stare at him with an incredulous gaze before looking towards where he was pointing. Frowning in confusion, Yumi approached the edge of the rooftop quickly before she briefly froze in shock. Right there and then, a good few blocks away, one of the two Hollows that she just mentioned before stood onto the street with its back turned towards them. It was not looking towards them, but it was clearly there, seemingly gazing at what seemed to be some kind of shop. They were far away, so unless that thing had great spiritual energy, they most likely could not see them... However, it being there had been enough to turn this seemingly-peaceful trip into something much more serious.

With a deep breath, Yumi would gaze at the Hollow as she tried to think of what to do. She had to think quickly: there were students here, people that she doubted could fight against such a monster. Not only that, but there didn't seem to be any other Shinigami in the area at the moment. She could try to contact her fellow officers of the Thirteenth Division to immediately return to Soul Society through the use of the Senkaimon, but leaving this Hollow unattended would be a grave breach of her duties as a Shinigami. As much as her main task as a member of Squad 13 may be to solely tend to traveling between the worlds, she still needed to eliminate any threat to Soul Society - and, by proxy, humanity - that dared show themselves in her sight. She had no choice.

"Nakajima-san," she said as she turned her head towards the student, "please stay here with these two until I come back. If I don't, retreat until backup comes to help you. This isn't a normal Hollow, so I don't want you three to be harmed." Her words were told with a rapid pace, enough so that it gave no time for Kimiko to argue with her and even less so for the twins who merely stared at everything that was going on with an uncertain look on their face. "What? You must be joking! You cannot fight this thing on your own!" The first twin immediately tried to raised, however, but by the time he had even started speaking, Yumi was already starting to move towards the Hollow, leaving the three on their own. "Hey! Hey!!"

In the meanwhile, the sight of Yumi charging forward towards the Hollow made Kimiko stare at it with widened eyes still. Damn it... Logistically, there really isn't anything they can do here. From what Yumi told them, this "Teresa" is strong, or at least strong enough to wander around a school long enough to eat a bunch of Humans and come out unscathed from whatever the Shinigami have had in the sparse amount of time they had at their disposal during the assault on the school. Sure, it was alone now, but there was nothing that guaranteed Yumi's victory. If they let her go out there and attack the Hollow on her own, then she might get herself severely wounded, or worse, downright killed. That, and although it was doubtful that no one within Soul Society was aware of their activity in this area, bringing Shinigami to assist them would take some time, and there was thus no way the three students were safe from harm anyway. If Yumi falls, Teresa will most likely immediately try to hunt them down, and even if she doesn't, another Hollow might just decide to attack them in the meantime.

All of that information was enough to cause Kimiko's mind to swerve a bit. This... This was a lot. She was just a student, not even an official Shinigami, and so she had never actually seen a true Hollow in her life. The only things that she had seen of them were depictions of creatures of black wearing white grinning masks of chaos and destruction... and yet, despite this, she felt a sort of excitement in her heart. All she had truly fought against outside of spars were wooden dummies, nothing more, nothing less, and that can hardly qualify as combat experience, and yet there was a part of her that wanted to follow Yumi into battle. She, a lowly student of all things, wanted to battle this Hollow of proper flesh and bone, see if the skills that she has acquired from Celes and her constant training have brought her to a standard equal to its. It caused her Spiritual Pressure to rise a bit, to pulse with the need for battle that followed her every step.

"... You two stay here," she found herself letting out in front of the twins before then jumping down onto the street with a grunt before starting to run towards the Hollow, much to the twins' horror who she already could hear complaining in the distance. There was no time for her to deal with her: she had to assist Yumi... or rather...

... she needs to see what kind of battle awaits her onto her path as a Shinigami.

[Teresa]

Moving across the dark grey colored stream of stone that made up the road in this city, Teresa could pick up the scent of human. The twinge of the scent was something that she hadn’t even picked up on during her first feast. She’d been oblivious to the natural dirty scent that humans give off. The scent that she had given off. Teresa for a moment as she finished stepping off of the road had a flash of realization. She was doing almost exactly the same thing that had happened to her. She had been a human soul that had been devoured by a hollow. Trapped inside of someone else for longer than she even knew. She had done the same thing already to those humans, was it alright to do it again.

The thin tree branch looking Hollow of bone white color didn’t give long for these thoughts to run wild throughout her mind. The hunger that she was pledged with at the moment was growing now due to the scent of a human nearby. Teresa had to make up her mind now that she was aware of her actions. Was she going to continue to curb her hunger for a while while entrapping the soul of another within herself? Was it alright for her to sentence others to the very fate that she had only just recently been freed from? Questions that given the severity should have demanded a lengthy discussion with oneself, Teresa though had made this decision weeks ago.

She knew what she was now, she was no longer human. The little girl that she had been, living in a little village, dreams so large that they filled the sky, was dead for so long that the very world she had lived in no longer existed. Just like the human world she had to adapt, change, EVOLVE. So the semblance of remorse, hesitation, regret such negative emotions, Teresa doing everything she can pushed these aspects down deeper than her hunger. Burying them deep inside herself where she would no longer feel them. She had to be something different in order to become what she sought.

Now on the other side of the paved river Teresa walks through the open doorway of a small clothing shop. An expensive little shop with some nice summer clothing mainly centered for females. Various stations of dresses and such put throughout the shop that Teresa glanced over looking past them for her prey. This shop despite being small with a fairly low ceiling was very cluttered which made movement very restricted. Teresa knew she couldn’t be seen by her prey, but if she knocked over things it’d alert them all the same.

It only took another few moments for Teresa to wiggle her way through the small spaces in the shop in order to find the human. A casual young man working inside the shop, restocking certain clothing sections on a wall. Teresa could only see him from behind, but couldn’t perceive the hum he was emitting. The joyful little noise was something the young man was doing as he contemplated his excitement at the date he was to undergo in just a few hours. Teresa though couldn’t hear that noise over the pain of her hunger.

Placing her hand on the shoulder of this human Teresa leans forward until her face is directly behind his head. Her mask cracked open like an egg shell in a large upwards crescent revealing her mouth. Opening just enough that her rows of fangs were only barely visible as she whispers to the man. “Don’t move.” The only thing that escapes Teresa's mouth as she’s guided by her hunger. Unaware of her own actions against the human male in that moment. Teresa simply opens her mouth and bites down ending the man in a manner similar to a large shark.

By the time the reaper gets to the shop she’d most likely enter inside and see nothing beyond the norm. It would take the effort of her actually getting inside and looking around to the back left side to see the blood of the male on the wall. Squirting from his wounds although his essence hadn’t spread far from his remains. The reaper would hear the sounds of Teresa breaking bone, pulling apart ligaments, biting and chewing through muscle and flesh. She’d only see the sight of a thin Hollow painted crimson in the blood of a victim as it feverishly eats away at the lost.

Consumed: Class 8 Human

[Nakajima Kimiko]

Yumi ran as fast as she could towards Teresa's destination, or at least as much as her legs could allow it. The smile that she once seemed to consistently hold - the very same which represented the amicable and friendly personality that the students she was escorting through Karakura Town that she was showing to them - had now instead faded away for a more serious gaze directed right towards the clothing store the Hollow seemed to be heading towards. Each step she took towards the clothing store was fueled by her resolve to accomplish the elementary task of the Shinigami, but along with it could also be felt the stress and panic most often tied to the rookies of the Thirteenth Division. Naturally, there were many elements which explained her change of tone, but of course, the presence of the Hollow itself was the main reason which dwarfed all of the others.

How could Teresa be here, in Karakura, at this time of day, without anybody else present to recon the area? Considering what happened to the school only but a recent time ago, the Sixth Division should have had their hands full, and yet it almost appeared as though they hadn't even assigned a single officer to the area for reconnaissance. Had Teresa eaten them all? Surely, that cannot be right... Was it Hela? The same Gillian from before? Another Hollow, perhaps, or worse, an Arrancar? At this point, there was no way to tell: the only thing that mattered was that this was a disaster in the making that needed to be quelled before a needless amount of Human lives are lost yet again. If this particular Hollow is allowed to eat any more souls, it will only accelerate its evolution into a Gillian, and that is definitely not something that anybody wants to deal with.

In any case, the officer was eventually able to reach the store. She had ran as quickly as she could, but unfortunately, despite her speed, the shortened distance between Teresa and her destination allowed her to enter the property before she could. The sight of the women's clothing slightly caught her eye for a split-second, seeing as she admittedly found some of the sets from this era of humanity to be rather charming, but she eventually focused back on the task at hand. It did not take long for her, after that, to hear strange noises coming from the back of the shop, and it took even less for her to identify what could possibly exhume such disgusting sounds. Damn it... she had been too late. With a deep breath, she unsheathed her weapon and stepped forward in an attempt to get a better view at what was happening. By the time she'd near the scene, the only thing she could do then is look away.

Unfortunately, as to be expected at this time of the day, an employee was present in the store. The keyword here being "was", for they were now definitely not of this world any longer. Judging by what remained, what once appeared to be a healthy young individual now only remained a half-devoured corpse whose soul had long been eaten by Teresa who was standing above him clad in their blood. It was a terrible sight, one that Yumi could have honestly lived without, but unfortunately, mangled bodies such as this one are not uncommon to the sight of a Shinigami. All she could do now for this poor Human was to simply pray that their death had been quick and painless, something which the monstrous Hollow had at least allowed from the looks of it. Unfortunately, the fact that it did meant another thing: that the Hollow was so hungry that it ate its victim as quickly as it possibly could.

Either way, it did not matter. What did was that the Hollow now already had another victim's blood on its hands, and that Yumi was not going to allow this to continue. As such, once she recovered from the sight of the employee's torn flesh and damaged bones, she quickly raised her left hand towards Teresa and shouted: 'Bakudō #4: Hainawa!" As she cast the incantation, reishi started forming in front of her hand before launching itself towards the humanoid monster in the form of an elongated robe of scarlet which immediately attempted to entangle itself around the monster. Once she considered the Hollow to be sufficiently entrapped by both the robe and the low ceiling of the clothing store, she then raised two fingers near her chest before taking a step back from the Hollow as the one furthest above the other started sparkling with electricity. "Arise god of thunder! Awake mother of storms! Unleash the lighting on the sinners! Hadō #4: Byakurai!"

The spells were not strong. They were in the lower numbers, were not particularly composed of powerful reishi or reiatsu, and Yumi was not quite an amazing caster. In all seriousness, she doubted that it would be enough to kill the beast, let alone seriously harm it. However, it would most likely give Soul Society enough time to plan out what to do, send a backup squad and intercept the creature before it either attempts to eat another Human or a wandering Plus who happens to be in the area, or flees. Unfortunately, in her focus, she forgot to take into account the very one thing that was most likely going to bite her in her behind.

That thing was Kimiko's presence in the shop.

---

A bright blue light of thunder then shone powerfully from within the shop, one so strong that it was seen by both civilians which passed by it and Kimiko who was just outside by the time she started hearing Yumi casting spells. The student was not able to see the corpse of the employee, but judging by Yumi's immediate attempt to finish off the Hollow with such spells, it was clear that something had happened in there and that the officer had been too late. Again, she found herself not quite sure of what to do. She wanted to go in there to assist Yumi, but on the other hand, her inexperience was keeping her from proceeding. Yes, her inexperience, not fear. Oddly enough, she did not actually possessed any fear for her life at the moment. In fact, for all sense and purposes, she just wanted to rush in and attack the Hollow... and yet, she could not move.

Clenching her teeth, the student took her scabbard out of her obi sash and held it with both hands as she took a moment to both chase away the stress, quell her excitement and reflect on what to do. Easy now... Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale... No... No, it's not working. Even after she attempted to calm herself down, it was not working. Not even her Spiritual Pressure was able to decrease the power of its pulse. She just wanted to go in there and fight. This is insane, her thoughts rambled then as she clenched her teeth behind her closed lips. I should be out there waiting with the others... I shouldn't be here... then why...  am I...? As the thoughts continue to ramble on in her head, however, she continued becoming more and more excited. Yes, she was scared, but the excitement within her heart was almost overpowering. It was the same feeling she felt before starting a tournament, the same feeling she held before rushing along to fight a professional fighter. The thrills that she held then were back in full force here, even more so than back when she had that spar with that officer from the Eleventh Division and her training sessions with Celes. 

Her thoughts were immediately silenced once she stood in front of the shop with eyes widened with excitement, two crimson orbs that stared straight at whatever kind of fight had begun in there. She did not know if Yumi was okay, and in all honesty, she wasn't sure if she cared anymore. Really, she just wanted to fight now. That was all there was to it. "... Hey! Teresa!" She eventually called towards the Hollow in an attempt to downright interrupt whatever she was about to do to Yumi. Once this was done, she then stood straight and bowed towards the creature. "I am Nakajima Kimiko, second-year student of Shin'ō Academy! I don't care about what's going to happen next... Let's just have a great fight!" If her words were not enough to grab Teresa's attention, the rise in her Spiritual Pressure would surely be enough to do so. For a student, it was an impressive amount... but for a Hollow, it was less so impressive and more-so instead delicious-looking.

Either way, this is going to be one hell of a fight.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats & Skills}

Note: Due to Kimiko's "Fighter Version 2" Type and her being Rank 1, she receives a +35% bonus in both Speed and Spiritual Pressure, and a -25% penalty in Strength and Reiatsu Strength. This Type also prevents her from ever raising Healing Expertise above 0 and Energy Sensory above 50.

Statistics

Physical	Spiritual		Sensory	Miscellaneous
Strength: 68 (90-22) Speed: 256 (190+66)	Reiatsu Strength: 30 (40-10) Spiritual Pressure: 297 (220+77)		Instincts: 150 Senses: 100 Energy Sensory: 25	Light Aura: 65 Dark Aura: 35 Healing Expertise: 0

Skills

Mental	Battle		Body	Utility
Analyzing: 1 Lack of Fear: 1 Learning: 1 Strength of Will: 1	Weapon - Katana: 1 Martial Art - Hakuda: 1 Battle Analysis: 1 Battle Focus: 1		Acrobatics: 1 Focused Eye: 1	N/A

[Teresa]

Food, food , food. Finally she had some flesh, meat, something that wasn’t just revolting. Savoryingthe taste was something that Teresa couldn’t allow right now, she’d gone too long it seemed yet too long had only been little more than a day. Was she to eat someone every day while in the human world? She’d gone roughly two full weeks in that bleak desert of white without being able to eat a single thing, she’d been on the verge of what felt like death from starvation yet she had survived all the same. This right now felt worse, like being forced to starve while beautiful food was served to others in front of you. This place was the perfect environment to feed, to grow strong yet it was just as much a curse as that damned desert, something that Teresa was starting to realize. Her body drenched in the blood of her victim, Teresa had eaten like a child in a rush shoving everything down her mouth as fast as possible in order to just find the next meal.

Thankfully though this proved to help her all the same even if there was no other human to devour right away. No right now there was another adversary. A female in black with a sword drawn on her already. “This world . . I must thrive here. I must survive here. I must claim it here.” Teresa whispers softly as she stands turning to the adversary as she makes the realization of what staying in the human world will really be like for her. This place isn’t like the desert, not just due to the plentiful food supply that she could devour and grow. This world, this place is under constant protection from the very foe that seeks to eliminate her now. To return her to powerlessness, to strip away that which now makes her powerful.

Staying here meant that she’d have to face them all the time, to be ever present, always aware. Combat could commence at any time, something far more unpredictable than her hunger. If she stayed here the little girl that couldn’t define herself the one that sought out adventure, dreamed of becoming someone important. All those dreams would become true because she’d be forced to succeed against those that wished her dead. An even more tasteful supply of food constantly comes to her with the false hope of stopping her only to push her closer to her evolution. That fool she’d been in had hid from them. It’d taken so long for him to obtain any sense of power and then he’d failed, she’d seen how that worked out and thus wouldn’t walk down the same path.

The adversary began to speak, extending out her hand towards Teresa in what the Hollow could only assume was some sort of magic. She didn’t know what sort of thing was about to happen. She could only recall brief flashes from when she had been inside the fool, but nothing that could help her in predicting what was about to happen. She’d see some of the adversaries using magic against the tower like Hollow, but again nothing that she knew to help her right now. Light became visible after a moment and Teresa rushed forward closing the distance right as the spell was unleashed. Entangling Teresa and the adversary due the close proximity between them now. Teresa’s right hand, having been raised up as she got close now, is placed on Yumi’s forehead.

Searching for that sensation, that feeling that she had experienced just a minute ago with the store employee Teresa exerts her will onto the adversary. “Stay still.” Teresa wasn’t sure how long this light rope was going to last, but one thing she was almost certain about was that her adversaries were almost never alone. Almost always there was another or a few in a group which meant that this one wasn’t the only one in the area. There was a good chance another would be along soon. If she ate this adversary right now, but the light didn’t go away, she’d be helpless. She could already feel her body constricted. The scent of her body right up against Teresa was intoxicating. Teresa could feel the hunger in her soul begin to thrash in anticipation. She’d just devoured a young adult entirely and yet her hunger hadn’t been satiated in the least it seemed.

Pushing the long sharp claw-like nail on her right index finger against the forehead of this adversary Teresa could feel the density of her skull. How much pressure she’d need to use in order to just puncture it like a little balloon. “No can’t kill, not yet.” Teresa whispers frantically yet her touch becomes aggressive. Her claw digging into the skin went deep enough after a moment that blood began to flow out. Her mask already cracked open, Teresa opens her mouth allowing her long tongue to maneuver through the rows of fangs that lace the interior of her mouth. Licking the blood from the face of her adversary before it can even flow down between her eyes. The taste invigorating Teresa like a young child experiencing liquid sugar for the first time. Her body begins to quiver in anticipation even further as her reason fights through her hunger.

After several seconds pass though Teresa’s nature as a Hollow overwhelms her reason as an individual resulting in her largemouth enclosing around the throat of her adversary. Teresa can hear something escaping from the lips of the adversary for a moment as she embraces the warmth of blood cascading down her throat. Bursting waves of flavor rich in something almost addictive race down Teresa’s tongue as she hears the sound of something loud next to her head. Pulling back the Hollow sees for, but a moment light of bright blue near the finger of this woman. Turning her head Teresa finds a small hole in the ceiling. “Lightning? Interesting.”

Such a thing was unknown to her until now. Teresa had seen a few brief displays of magic that involved light like the rope that was binding her now. Never anything as astonishing as manifesting lighting itself. The spear of God himself, something that although Teresa hadn’t given it any thought would have proclaimed impossible to command. This though was proof that even someone as weak as this adversary could bring down the spear of God. Teresa tightens her bite causing further damage to the reaper’s throat and after another moment passes Teresa feels the rope around her break apart.

The meal was one that Teresa relished in for a few moments before the voice of someone else only a few feet away snapped her back from the state of mild euphoria she had been experiencing. Pulling her head back with a snap allowed Teresa to bite off virtually the entire front half of the reaper’s throat. Chewing it a few times and then swallowing the flesh entirely. This other person was female as well, just like she had fought though it was another adversary. This one though spoke, a lot more than any of the others she’s run into so far. Coming right out and declaring that she wanted nothing more than a good fight.

“Not a fight, just a killing.”

Shinigami: (Class 8) Devoured

[Nakajima Kimiko]

Sazaki Yumi, Shinigami of the Thirteenth Division, had always been a careful individual even back at the Academy. Among the students of her class, she was one of the best due to both her utmost diligence and carefulness. Her prudence, fueled by her patience, allowed her to employ particular strategies for all targets that she faced in her life. She prepared for all possibilities of battle, prepared for all possible encounters she could imagine, and therefore was often crowned as a bright officer with an even-brighter future ahead of her. Her assignment to the Thirteenth Division was only seen as a temporary thing, a gap to fill so as to allow the Division to grow in numbers once again before she could then be moved to a more-fitting position. Yumi herself was aware of that, and she was also aware that should her performance be noted, she would have eventually been moved to another squad by the next year or two.

Unfortunately, despite her past experiences, carefulness could only bring her so far before she had to discard it, and it was coincidentally that very moment she decided to do so that brought her to her ultimate demise. Without care or even a plan in mind, she rushed in to attack Teresa. It had been a noble endeavor; after all, she believed to have done so solely to respect the sacred right of the Shinigami while also consequently defending the lives of the students that had been put under her care. Discarding the possibility of one of the students somehow being capable of facing the creature head-on, there was no way that any of them would be able to survive against them. If there was someone who could possibly take Teresa out, it was a full-fledged Shinigami. However, as noble as that thought may have been, there was only so much she could do to a creature that she herself knew outclassed her.

In that matter of a few seconds, all of the potential Yumi may have had was viciously snatched away from the world by the horrors of war. Thoroughly ridiculed to the core, the officer could barely do anything as her own attack was used against her in such a way that she was left physically stuck against the creature, unable to move from her bindings. It gave it enough time to use an ability of which she had no knowledge of which both left her stunned and unable to do anything to defend herself, leaving to just stand there with her eyes wide open in shock. There was nothing worthwhile that she could do to get herself out of this situation. For all sense and purposes, she had been thoroughly defeated in an incredibly-short amount of time and there was no one in the vicinity that could possibly save her from the fate that she has set upon her being.

... Damn it... No!  Her thoughts screamed at that moment as she attempted to force herself to move as both tears of panic and the blood that spilled from her forehead started blurring her vision. Breaking through her trance of ridicule, she attempted then to cast her Byakurai spell, uncaring of the fact that her arm was currently stuck against the Hollow's bloodied skin. Even after the lightning bolt shot forward and missed the creature's head, she tried to shoot it again. She was not going to lose! SHE WAS NOT GOING TO LOSE! NOT HERE! "Byakurai! Byakurai! BYAKURAI!" She screamed in frustration as bolts flew one by one from her fingers, with each of them unfortunately continuing to miss Teresa's head due to the positioning of her fingers and the pain that was slowly becoming more and more overwhelming within her throat. At this point, she was somehow attempting to defy the beast's ability and curiosity, almost as if she had the full intent of spitting all over whatever childish game the creature thought it was playing. It was an act of rage, one that was completely unfamiliar to her up until this point. "BYAKURAI! BYAKURAI! BYAKUR-!"

Eventually, the pain that was previously erupting from her throat suddenly ceased with a disgusting noise. Incredulous, the Shinigami froze for a second, simply standing there as her spiritual brain attempting to properly comprehend the information that was being emitted from her throat, or lack there of, and soon, her mind started shutting down from both the shock and horror of the situation. Slowly, she stumbled forward as she was freed from her terrible embrace, her willpower somehow still capable of fueling her legs with power, and then she crumbled into the ground by the remains of the shop's employee. The final vision that she witnessed before her soul left her being was the sight of one of the students that she was supposed to protect standing at the very doors of the shop quite literally threatening the monster with a "good fight', and the only thing that she could think of then was the simplest of phrases:

... I should have been more careful...

---

Kimiko's eyes had seen everything that had occurred at that precise moment. They had seen Yumi's final effort to blast Teresa with Kidō as much as she possibly could, seen the monster tear through her throat without mercy and then seen it turn towards her to acknowledge her presence. They were wide with shock and awe, struck by the mindless and terrible violence of it all, and for a moment, the student almost felt frozen, fleeting quietly in the air. It was almost as if everything had slowed down. The guide, the person she had previously been conversing with, had been taken down. Only about a few minutes ago, she was following her around Karakura Town and listening to her advises, and now she was dead. There was no way anyone from the Fourth Division would ever arrive in time to save her, and no matter what may be done, her soul has already been devoured by Teresa.

Normally, this realization alone should have been enough to get anybody in her position to immediately flee the premises, to try to preserve one's life. However, instead of doing just that to Kimiko, it instead was twisted into a burst of utter excitement. This Hollow... had killed a Shinigami... It had done so the exact same way she had died too, by depriving her of her ability to breathe, but not in a cowardly fashion, no... Therefore... this most likely meant that it was stronger than anybody else she has previously fought. Maybe it was the adrenaline that was making her think this way, maybe it was a wish of fighting such a terrible monster buried deep into her being that had decided to surface, but all she knew was that her mind and soul both did not want to leave. No, they wanted to fight. They wanted that fight, even if that monster merely thought of it as nothing more than a simple killing.

As such, the moment the beast was done talking, Kimiko rushed towards her at her full speed of 256. Her eyes were glaring at the beast excitedly in an almost-disturbing fashion, seemingly deadly focused onto her as it analyzed her from top to bottom. Teresa. Hollow. Category? A stronger Stray. Bipedal humanoid with long limbs, horns and a hidden visage. If she was able to kill Yumi so effortlessly, then that means she must be able to protect herself against the spiritual damage that was generated by the fallen Shinigami rather efficiently, meaning her skin must be resistant. Judging by the area and her height, her movement will most likely be impeded, since she can at the moment barely stand appropriately. There were a lot of shelves and clothing apparatus set all around the shop, but ultimately, they would not quite matter to Teresa who will most likely be able to smash them away at her leisure. All in all, so long as she remains in here, Kimiko has the advantage.

Quickly then, the swordswoman rushed towards the monster without any hesitation, allowing the nerves that she usually only uses during her spars with Celes to take over. Holding onto her scabbard with her left hand, she held the handle of her Asauchi with her right hand as she grew closer and closer to the beast, and by the time she neared it, she immediately unsheathed the sword in a diagonal Iaijutsu strike towards Teresa's arm in an attempt to amputate her, then followed by a quick sheathing of her blade and another unsheathed strike towards the other arm. As she attacked so swiftly, she would make sure to not get caught by any attack from the Hollow, her eyes still dead set onto her during the whole thing. It does not matter whether the beast wants a killing or a fight: Kimiko has made up her mind a long time ago as to how similar those words would be when fighting Hollows.

[Teresa]

The flavor burst across her tongue, pouring down her throat. A warm torrent of liquid cascading down almost as if Teresa was attempting to minimize a waterfall. Normally she drank a decent amount of the blood then would chew and swallow the flesh of her prey. This reaper though was different, Teresa could hear her life slowly fading away as her blood was stolen from her. The blood was almost intoxicating yet when Yumi finally passed the flavor reached a new level. The taste of her soul, her essence was devoured and Teresa was given a taste she’d only experienced a few times so far. Better than flesh and blood, the flavor of a soul stood at the apex.

As for what was happening now that the most important part of her meal was finished, well another meal came right up to her plate. This one looked more confident through something that Teresa picked up on right away. Another reaper ready to pull their sword on her. Teresa had to wonder if this one would be as strong as the one that had just tried to cast such magic or the one in the bathroom who had been fast enough to actually hurt her.

She got her answer almost right away when the reaper rushed her, moving at a speed similar to the reaper that had attacked her when she first got to the human world. That reaper had been too fast for Teresa to react to, not due to the speed alone though, but the surprise she caused with how superior she had been to the normal reapers that Teresa had seen up to that point. This one would have accomplished the same if Teresa hadn’t been anticipating the possibility of her being a threat like that first one.

Hopping backwards Teresa manages to barely evade the slash of the reaper’s sword, feeling the difference in the air touch against her bone line arm. She’d only barely managed to avoid injury, so close in fact that Teresa was only certain of the fact due to her own lack of pain. One thing was clear now though, Teresa couldn’t beat this reaper. She held not one, but two major advantages at the moment. The first being her weapon. While Teresa possessed her claws, she wasn’t very good at fighting with her hands. The second was her speed, an aspect that outclassed Teresa vastly.

“Have to touch her.”

Though Teresa realized that perhaps she could do to this reaper what she had been able to accomplish against the first. If she could get a hand on her, then she could make her stop. If she could make her stop then she could kill her in one blow. Someone as strong as her had to be tasty, right? Not ready to give up and run just yet due to this realization Teresa reaches out her long thin arms possessing range roughly the same as the reaper with her sword.

She didn’t get much of a chance though as the reaper delivered a second slash just after the first one managing to cut her arm at the bicep area fairly deep. Pain overwhelming Teresa’s normally calm mind. The movement of her arm ceases forward as she reflexively tries to pull back away from the Shinigami. She’d lost the first exchange and was wounded now. She’d have to do something fast otherwise the rest of her body was going to face the same sort of wound.

[Nakajima Kimiko]

Kimiko's mind was in how one would refer to as a sort of haze, a cloud that numbed the senses that she usually kept for social interactions. Her eyes were wide, almost painfully so, and dead-focused onto her target, and her hand was clenched tightly around the grip of her blade. There was no hesitation, no visible remorse, not even a shred of care for the fallen in her movement or even her facial expression. All there was was excitement, blood thirst and perhaps even a cruel rendition of Human curiosity. Most students of the Academy typically tended to never wish to fight a Hollow before their studies come to an end, and even some beginner officers of the Shinigami happen to at times desire to never face the beasts and instead enjoy tranquility amidst the Seiretei. However, in this very student, all there was nothing of that sort. No, all there was was a pure, unadulterated longing for battle, no longer a simple want but rather almost a need, a necessity.

Logistically, the swordsman was very aware that none of the moves that she was making at the moment were remotely rational. They were careless, selfless and potentially self-damaging to her career as a Shinigami. Again, the logical thing that needed to be done here was to await backup from Soul Society now that their guide had fallen to the hands of the Hollow, not blindly rush into the fray without even a shred of information about what this monster was even capable of; after all, Yumi's death proved that carelessness and a lack of understanding of the enemy could lead to an instantaneous defeat. And yet, she moved forward. She wanted to see how she could fare against this monster, wanted to see how far she could go after it had shown such a good first impression. It reminded her of those times back at the arcades, those times where she'd fight against a new face there and see what they were all about after hearing of their prowess. She just could not help it.

With that in mind, Kimiko's feet brought her forward with her Spiritual Pressure following her in toe. It was too weak to destroy anything let alone even apply pressure to its surroundings, but its effect were there as well as the intent behind it. This intent also fueled her blade which was driven forward to strike twice at Teresa. The first swipe missed, barely able to reach the beast as it moved backwards to avoid the sword's cutting edge, but the second was able to slice through a noticeable amount of one of the monster's biceps just as it attempted to try to touch Kimiko. Naturally, seeing herself get first blood in this battle satisfied the swordsman quite a fair bit. Much like she previously realized, it would seem that she truly had the advantage here, and it seemed that the result of her training with Celes was finally taking shape in true battle. However, she had to admit that she found it odd that the creature even so much as attempted to touch her the way it did. Maybe there's enough strength in those bony arms of hers to allow for a powerful grip.

Her first attacks now complete, the girl would maintain her focus onto the beast as she swiped the Hollow blood away from her blade onto the nearby shelves of the store, then sheathed her blade back in its scabbard rather rapidly. Once done, she crouched forward to prepare for another attack. Now that first blood has been drawn, the student almost seemed to be more excited than ever before. They have only just begun this fight, and yet she was already learning quite a fair on what this kind of Hollow can do. "So you like grabbing people? Is that your thing? Are you a grappler?" The adrenaline in her veins brought her to ask then excitedly in a veiled attempt to gather more information from the beast, or rather to simply blow off some steam so as to not be overwhelmed by her own blood lust. It did not even seem, from the way she asked those questions, that she even wanted an answer for any of them. "Come on! Don't hesitate, don't run away! Show me what you can do! Show me what Hollows are all about!" 

What was she doing...? Why was she acting so crazily? It was unlike her, unlike how she always faced her previous enemies. She could barely even comprehend how insane the words that came out of her mouth even sounded like. Who was she trying to be right now? M. Buffalo with his insane antics about wanting his opponents to show him their power? No... his words were calm and composed in comparison to hers, which were almost frantic, really. They all came out naturally, of course: she never actually willingly chose to speak them aloud, and so she was a bit glad that no one around was able to hear talk in such a fashion. Was it the stress? The fear of death potentially whisking her away in this very moment, unlike all those spars she's participated in against Celes, Shawn and a bunch of other people in her classes? She didn't know. She couldn't know, in all seriousness, for her mind was currently just too focused onto the battle at hand.

The very moment she finished talking, she rushed forward towards Teresa at full speed once more. So this thing potentially has a liking for grabbing, huh? Alright, then all she needs to do is to disable the very weapon grapplers tend to rely on. Once she would near the Hollow, the student would raise her Asauchi's scabbard before delivering two vertical Iaijutsu strikes towards its left hand, one going down and the other going up. If it won't amputate the hand, then such harm will at least render it useless enough to forbid the Hollow from ever trying to grab her again with that hand for the remainder of this fight.

[Teresa]

Teresa watched as the sword this adversary was using grace by her on the first swing, the knowledge of distance something that Teresa recognized now. She knew the reach of the sword against her now which would aid her in dealing with this adversary just like the last one. What she didn’t account for though was the immersive speed that this adversary could move her body at. Not just her arms which controlled her sword that was now used to slice through the bone like armor on her flesh.

Blood spraying from the wound for a moment only to then luring out from the rather deep wound, one that mirrored the wound she’d been inflicted by the first adversary in black. That one had attacked her when Teresa had been devouring young men, cutting her all the same, unlike that time though Teresa wasn’t going to flee right away. This adversary was very similar to the first one yet there was something different all the same, Teresa wasn’t quite sure about it, but regardless she felt as if she had a better chance against this one than the first one who’d attacked her.

Although Teresa could feel the sting of the wound, what happened next wasn’t what she had expected. She had been anticipating this adversary to rush her and place further pressure by unleashing additional swings of her sword. Instead the adversary stayed put making a show of getting the blood off her sword and then sheathing it again. Teresa, unfamiliar with combat style, couldn't comprehend what was going on. All she knew right now was that this idiot could cut her again right now.

The adversary spoke once again, but what she said made little sense to Teresa. What did grabbing people have to do with surviving? Was she asking if that’s how she fought? Who only grabs people in a fight, can you even win like that? Teresa had to weigh her options though was this someone she could really beat without the element of surprise? Almost everyone that she’d devoured so far had been unable to see her or she’d snuck up on from behind. Neither was an option and until most Hollow she didn’t have anything beyond her claws to cause real damage.

Teresa had to think of something although she didn’t get much time to do so. The adversary rushed towards her again so fast that Teresa could only see a blur. Pushing through the fear that seemed to swell in her stomach Teresa doesn’t back down or away instead taking a step forward. Acting in a reckless manner fueled by the inexperience of a novice, Teresa causes the Shinigami to slam into her. The result being Teresa getting forced backwards off her feet and onto the ground although evading the edge of the adversary’s sword. It was clear now, bringing down this adversary is something beyond her current power.

[Nakajima Kimiko]

Kimiko could see that she had stricken confusion into the heart of the Hollow with her raving about grapplers. Instead of lunging at her as she spoke, it instead merely stared at her as though it was attempting to understand what she was saying. Of course, it was not necessarily thinking about such things, but that was what the student simply believed. Either way, she could not blame it in the slightest for being so confused: what she was saying could not be understood at all out of context unless she was talking to a fighting game expert or someone who is somehow a real grappler, something which she has so far yet to actually see outside of wrestling and everybody knows by now that wrestling is fake. Teresa could have potentially understood the terms if its Human self had died recently much like Kimiko and perhaps a whole bunch of more recent Shinigami, but judging by its wild attitude, it was clear that it had lived for at least long enough to become a bit more feral.

Anyway, it's not like she would have understood why she was mentioning those terms in the first place if she would have been Teresa right now. Again, what was she doing? Why was she even talking so frantically? Maybe it was the stress that was getting to her? That in of itself wouldn't be too surprising; after all, this was her first true battle with one of those creatures and she hadn't expected in the slightest to fight one today, much less on her very own. If it is just the matter of stress, though, then she should have been acting like this against Celes and Tsukuyomi as well... and yet, back then, she was able to keep her excitement under control. Perhaps it is the threat of death, then, that is making her act so strangely. In any case, no matter where all of this excitement may be coming from, she needs to keep it under control. It is just talk now, but if she ever loses further grip over it, she may do something stupid enough to give the Hollow an opening, and there's nothing that guarantees she will be able to survive this encounter should that happen.

Coming to this conclusion, Kimiko thus took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down. Come on, that's right, just breath... Even if it is nothing more than a simple stress-relieving technique, it will at least be enough to keep from going on a mindless chain of attacks that will only get herself killed rather than the Hollow. She does not know how Yumi died, but all the screaming she was hearing earlier from the store most likely alluded to the fact that the Shinigami allowed herself to completely lose her composure to a self-destructing point. If she - a full and proper officer who had graduated from the Academy and had therefore trained to reach the position she was previously assigned to - got herself killed in such a ridiculously-reductive fashion, then the same can happen to her, a mere second-year student who only knew how to handle a sword somewhat better than everybody else at the school. If anything, the probability of her being befitted with such a terrible fate is higher than Yumi's. So she needs to square up, control herself and all that damned adrenaline reaching for her brain, and breathe.

Where was she? Right. The Hollow. Well, at least the creature didn't bother to attack her at all while she was doing all that thinking of hers. By the time she was done calming down, it was still just standing there, bleeding from its injuries. It hadn't even bothered to even mutter an answer to Kimiko, something which at least somewhat amused her, alleviating her situation just a little bit. She could understand the creature not comprehending a single thing about the questions she just asked it, but she had at least somewhat expected it to reply to her. "What...? Was that too much to ask...? Either that... or I was right after all," She found herself taunting again with a trembling smile, yet not as intensely as before, as she was trying her best to not let that previous outburst of hers happen again. It was difficult, but she could do it: all she needed to do was focus on the creature's movement and be done with this battle as quickly as possible. "Don't run away."

As she repeated that order both to the Hollow and even herself at this point, the student then rushed forward. Since the creature had not answered her at all, there were only three things that could be currently happening in its head: either it was stricken with fear, it had a plan, or it was trying to formulate a plan out of fear. Whatever line of thought was currently dancing around the creature's mind, it was clear that it was going to eventually do something out of panic much like how many students she has sparred would after being cornered in such a way. Turns out that that line of thought of hers was right, for the moment she rushed towards the creature with her Asauchi prepared to cut the creature again, Teresa would defiantly move its body forward towards her in an attempt to slam right into her. Given its limited environment and the lack of movement options offered to it, it was not a bad move for such a beast to conjure. However, Kimiko's reflexes were by now refined enough to see something like this coming.

"Tch!" The student hissed as she moved to the creature's right as it attempted to slam into her, dodging at the opportune time to make sure its body would not touch her. Rather, what it would touch would be her blade, which would be unleashed out of its scabbard once more to attempt to slash at the creature's side. Once it would be done, Kimiko would land against a nearby clothing rack, causing it to be sent crashing onto the floor rather violently in the process. Should the blade have ever reached the Hollow, the rack then be covered in Hollow blood as the student would process that same swiping motion from earlier before sheathing her blade. What she had done was a good move if it was successful... but she was standing behind the Hollow, and before the creature was the shop's door. If it was fast enough, it could actually run away, causing her to clench her teeth and rush at it again in an attempt to launch an horizontal Iaijutsu slash towards its feet. Dismembering at least one leg, or at least heavily damaging it, could prevent it from leaving.

As for the Hollow, it could now see two figures standing on a rooftop through the door... two figures sporting bright blonde hair and student robes just like Kimiko.

---

Just outside the shop onto a nearby rooftop, the two twins watched with widened eyes what was unfolding within the clothing shop. The first's gaze was filled with horror and fright, unable to comprehend why this was happening to them, while the other's was instead more worried as he tried his best to keep his stress under control. How the hell did any of this happen? This was supposed to be nothing more than a tour, a way for them to skip those pesky classes with Ms. Tremblay! And yet, it seems now that this entire activity has now turned into a murder scene, all because one particularly-powerful Hollow just suddenly decided to show up and do its horrible thing. Worse yet, their only viable line of defense has been killed, and now their very last line of defense was a second-year student. Prodigy or not, she's still a student, not a proper Shinigami! Does she even know how to use Konsō? Who knows!

"This is insane!" The first twin eventually exclaimed as he tried to see what was going on in there just to confirm that Kimiko wasn't dead. "Takumi, what are we going to do if she dies? We didn't come here to die to a Hollow!"

"And die to a Hollow, we shall not, Takeo!" The second twin responded to his brother with a harsh tone so as to forcefully calm his brother down. "Nakajima-san is a gifted swordswoman. I have seen her do battle countless times at the courtyard with her fellow classmates. If she can duel for so long, then she may achieve a miracle here."

"But that's different! Fighting some chump at the school isn't the same as fighting a Hollow! We can do that too!"

"Oh, your self-confidence blinds your confidence in others, Takeo," he sighed with a shake of the head before gazing at the battle again with a deep breath. "If she cannot beat this Hollow, we will have to restrain its weakened body and await help from Soul Society. I doubt they are unaware of our problem. A few minutes shall be enough for at least a small squadron to arrive and give us aid."

"... I hope you're right, Takumi. I hope you're right."

[Teresa]

Stepping forward in order to prevent herself from suffering the bite of the sword was the only method that Teresa could conceive of in the moment yet it seemed that wasn’t enough, as the adversary that she was facing down this time seemed more experienced than the last. Managing to get around Teresa and draw her sword once again in the same sort of strange attack. The bite of the blade was an intense one that Teresa could feel immediately in her right side. Below her arm in the middle of her torso that would normally cause a human to be labeled in critical condition.

Blood spraying from the wound that had been inflicted through the bone-like armor that covered her body. Teresa screeched out involuntarily from the intense pain that overwhelmed the rest of her senses. Falling forward to the floor of the room Teresa feels the sturdiness of the floor beneath her. This has marked the conflict against this adversary to be as fruitless as attempting to push through the floor. The wound that she now had to deal with was one that Teresa hadn’t experienced in the past, one that would keep her from doing her best.

In an act of desperate feral survival Teresa manages to slip through the fabric of the dimension via Ulcera. Seeming to fall through the floor itself leaving only a small puddle of her green blood on the floor where she had been stationary. A moment later Teresa felt the heat of the sun on her back, dropping a few inches into the roof of the very building she had just been inside of. Placing her hands in front of her she pushed herself up wincing in pain at the wound on her side. The actual movement of her body caused her blood to leak from the wound just a bit faster.

Looking around for a moment Teresa after a second sees the figures off in the distance. It wasn’t a vast one which was perhaps the entire reason she’d noticed them in the first place, but she’d seen them all the same. Two more adversaries on a roof across the street. “Seems I’ve no choice.” Teresa speaks to herself coming to the conclusion that she really doesn’t have chance now and must retreat back to her hiding place in order to survival. Going ahead with that decision Teresa begins to walk away from the adversaries towards the oppose end of the roof she was on.

Remaining Reiatsu: 580/630
Ulcera: -50

[Nakajima Kimiko]

Kimiko's blade tore through the armor that covered Teresa's side in the very way one would imagine it would. Although the strength that the student had given to her attack could not really be classified as being necessarily powerful, it would seem that it was just enough to allow the blade to break through the Hollow's resistant shell and violently cut the skin that lied beneath it. The result of this slashing, for all sense and purposes, was rather unsurprising: the Hollow could only do so much as screech in response to the attack as its viridescent blood was spilled onto the floor and the nearby clothing racks. It was a violent sight, to say the least, one that was made so much more violent from the sheer strength of the beast's unconscious cry as it fell down. Even a passerby just outside the shop who was seen being briefly curious about what was happening inside was left frozen and eventually started to run away as quickly as they could upon hearing the faint echo of the Hollow's scream reaching for their minimal connection to the spiritual world.

The student's eyes could only gaze in confusion at the Hollow as it fell in a brief moment of hesitation. She wasn't quite sure of what to say about whatever was happening before her. From the looks of it, it looks like she has landed what would theoretically be a critical blow to a Human. She was no expert at all in the Human anatomy unlike her father, but anything that slashes deeply at one's side can penetrate important organs, such as the stomach and the lungs. Therefore, in a battle against a Human, this should have automatically granted her victory... but against a Hollow? That, she simply was not sure. It was easy to say that a hit like that could kill a Human, but spiritual entities such as Shinigami are generally more resistant. As such, it was possible that the hit she had landed could have simply caused nothing to the Hollow and that it was just playing games with her. In all fairness, though, the Hollow has been somewhat honest with her thus far... so perhaps this was legitimate... meaning that she had... won?

As she thought of this, a wave of relief soon started to wash over her inexperienced mind, though she quickly tried to push it away. No, she has not won this at all just yet. If she wants this battle to truly end, then she must complete one last step before she can get herself and those annoying twins out of this mess: destroy the creature's mask. Hollows do not perish if they do not lose their masks; at this point, that was just general knowledge amongst both the students of the Academy and the Shinigami of Gotei 13. She might not have a Zanpakuto just yet, but an Asauchi certainly could do the job on its own so long as she can get it to cause Teresa's mask to crack. Once a crack is formed, all that she would do after that would be to hit the mask again on that same crack until it is destroyed. Only after that would she then be allowed to accept victory.

With that in mind, the Shinigami's gaze then frowned as a scoff escaped her lips as she swiped the blood off of her blade yet again before sheathing it in its scabbard. As much as that was said, she had still somewhat expected something more out of this Hollow. For all that talk of monstrous soul-eating abominations, they really did seem to not be as interesting as she had once thought of them to be. "Seriously...? That was what took you down? That's so... lame," she commented then as she approached the Hollow with her scabbard slightly shaking in her hand, speaking again out of stress and inexperience more than anything else as she trailed by some of the fallen clothing racks. If it was not for that, her Spiritual Pressure and excitement would have started plunging down a long time ago. "Nevermind... You're not a grappler. Grapplers can at least take some hits before being defeated." Her step then became quick as she reached for the creature's mask, eyes wide and ready for the kill. "I expected better from you."

Unfortunately for her, before her blade could even be unsheathed from its scabbard, Teresa then sunk into the floor.

Kimiko would stand there for a moment as the beast simply disappeared right before she could have finished her off. In that moment, she was at first confused again, unable to understand what had happened, though as the question started to pile in her head, her expression grew from a confused frown to a furious glare. Teresa... had ran away. More specifically, she had used a common ability of the Hollow, Ulcera, to run away. It was something that she had read about at the Academy, though she had never once thought she would see it in action in such a pitiful manner. After all the requests she has given to the beast, after all this time she had hoped to see something good out of this battle with a Hollow, this was how it was going to conclude. Her teeth slowly clenched against one another in anger as she started to understand what was happening. "YOU COWARD!" She shouted loudly as she turned and started running out of the store. "I TOLD YOU TO NOT RUN AWAY!"

With a vicious gleam in her eyes, all that relief she had felt back when she was about to finish the beast had gone. She could not believe such a scary monster could dare to be so cowardly. As much as she could find herself to care about Yumi's death to this creature, she found it incredibly distasteful that this thing was what killed the officer. No way was there any skill involved in her death: it must have been luck and luck alone that allowed it to triumph against the Shinigami. Such an insult truly could not be swallowed so easily by the student, and so in her anger, she rushed out of the clothing store and started looking left and right to see where it had gone. All she could see were cars trying their best to drive away from the scene, morbidly-curious onlookers who were trying to understand what was going on and one mortified child who was staring at her as though she was some sort of demonic apparition. As painful as that child's fear of her may have normally been to Kimiko, it was hard to tell if she really cared right about now.

Eventually, she started hearing noise coming from the roof of the clothing shop. She had no idea of what the noise was, but guessing that it was Teresa, she would quickly use Shunpo to get on top of the rooftop as quickly as possible. Once there, she saw the creature attempting to walk away from the battle. It was very clear that it had no intention of fighting Kimiko any longer, or anybody else for that matter. Seeing it so eager to welcome such a selfish mentality made the student's eyes widen further. "COME BACK HERE!" She shouted again, her voice booming across the rooftops of Karakura as she was about to take a step forward towards Teresa and intercept its course. However, before she could do so, the twins then appeared in front of her with Shunpo, causing her to stop and huff. The first twin looked shocked and horrified by everything that was happening while the other was now giving Kimiko a stern look. "What are you doing?!" She unconsciously told them in her rage.

"We are stopping you. This is going too far," Takumi spoke with a calm tone as he kept an eye on Teresa.

"Too far...? What...?!" Kimiko could only balk in shock at her fellow student's words, almost as if she couldn't comprehend the very meaning of his argument.

"Yes, too far. I do not know if you have noticed it yourself, but you are allowing your anger to consume you. Our guide just lost her life battling this foe. Do you not think it might be leading you into a trap?" He tried to reason with her as the other twin simply stood there in shock, silent. It was clear that the reason why they hadn't gone to take care of the Hollow themselves was because Takumi didn't want to leave his brother behind. It would have been more heartfelt for Kimiko if it wasn't for all of the mixed feelings she had about what was told to her.

"I don't... I..." the swordswoman would stand there in confusion for a moment before the tension in her bones slowly started to be lifted away from her being. Anger became realization, and realization became shame. Damn it, he was right... Yumi practically died because she was caught in a trap her expertise could not get her out of. If she would have chased this Hollow any further, she could had been caught red-handed and killed; after all, there was no way to tell where Teresa was going. For all she knew, it could have been leading her into a trap specifically tailored for her. In her anger, she had almost allowed her emotions to take control of her fate and lead her to her potential doom. In her anger, her cool and her experience had practically vanished from existence, so much so that she needed the words of a person she didn't even really like to forcefully drag her back to reality. Ashamed by this fact, she looked away from Takumi then, clenching her fists as she tried to chase the frustration away. "Right... That... makes sense... but we can't just let it leave! We need to stop it!"

"It is not our duty to defeat it. We may be aspiring to become Shinigami, but we are not Shinigami just yet," Takumi reminded her then with a stern frown before sighing. "As much as I am aware of the danger it may represent to the people of this town, the Shinigami who are stationed here will be the ones who will resolve this matter, not us."

"You... God, this is so...!" She could only let out then in frustration in response to the words the man just said, then let out a heavy sigh. No, there was no way she could beat that argument, not now in this current emotional state. She was too frustrated and annoyed to be capable of arguing with such a bureaucratic response. "Screw you." After she ushered that, she then looked on to Teresa with eyes that could kill.

This time, it gets to leave and recuperate, but they will surely meet again... and if they ever do, it better become stronger so that it doesn't run away like this again.

Or never again, for that matter.

[Teresa]

Moving across the roof of the building step by step Teresa gets closer to the edge. Although she’d been in Karakura for a few weeks now, the Hollow truly had no idea how to tell what was around her. The layout of the city, the movements she’d need to take in order to get back the way she came. All she had learned in the few weeks that she’d been here was the entrance to the safe underbelly. That’s where she was heading now to the solid black river that lines the streets of this place.

As she reached the she of the building Teresa heard the screaming of the adversary. Turning her back to gaze back she saw the adversary standing with two others. Although provision was being thrown at her Teresa was reassured now that she had made the right decision. Escape was the best choice for her right now. She was injured and outnumbered. Survival didn’t mean victory and right now she needed to survive above all else. She hadn’t gotten much to eat, but it couldn’t be helped now. She’d have to deal with the pain of her wound while the pain of hunger built up.

Getting down from the she of the building and walking along the road until after a minute Teresa finds a manhole cover. Pulling it up and to the side the tall Hollow drops down into the sewer the stench of the underbelly hitting her hard like a metal covered hand. Even after weeks of living in the stench it still proved to be something that even a Hollow can’t stand. Pain begins to radiate throughout Teresa as she begins to move through the sewer tunnels. Not from the kind that had been inflicted upon her by the adversary though. No this pain from what she could feel stemmed from her core.

The pain was different from what she experienced while hungry. That always felt as if her stomach was trying to pull the rest of her in, devouring herself in order to fend off the intense need to eat. This was different; this felt like something was being cut, torn, pulled apart yet it was everything. Her entirety hurt to the point that she falls to her knees then to the ground a moment later. Her reiatsu begins to pulsate out of control, radiating like some sort of strobe light.

Releasing a deafening howl of pain Teresa’s head is flung back as her form shifts. The pure white tree shaped figure of bone armor and sharp claws melds together in a twisting form of flesh breaking down into the spiritual essence of her soul. For a moment Teresa is nothing more than a meld of reiatsu deformed yet not yet reformed. Stretching, growing and through it all losing herself. After a few moments pass Teresa is reformed, evolved into Gillian at the expense of something she can’t quite tell.

[Deleted]

Alrighty~! So, for thread rewards;

For winning the fight, and writing 70 paragraphs, Kimiko'll be walking away with 800 TP!

And for writing 43 paragraphs, with one Class 8 Human and one Class 8 Shini consumed, you'll be walking away with 590 TP! Keep in mind that 430 of that TP, if used for CTP, will only count as half of what you spend for it~!