Post by Nakajima Kimiko on Jan 30, 2023 14:32:52 GMT -5
The world appeared to slow down in Kimiko's eyes as her blades were launched towards the bats. In this moment, disconnected from all, she could not see any colors and could not hear anything from her surroundings. The cars nearest to her position - the ones that had been crushed and forced to explode under the weight of the Captain's spiritual pressure - were now burning silently with a colorless flame, paving the way for the dead path of destruction which followed the swordswoman. The distant cries of the Humans fleeing in the distance from the terrible cry she had unleashed a few minutes prior were long, long gone, and so were the constant beeps of various cars attempting to flee the area. She could not even hear the bats generated by Camila, quite frankly. But there was no need. She did not need to hear anything. She only needed to see her blades descent upon what her opponent had created, and hear the toll of her blades as they laid them all to rest.
Though they were bloody constructs in aspect, the bats were able to be damaged by Kimiko's weapons and the mysterious afterimage that she had generated, and so many of them were cut into pieces. It was unclear to the Captain how many of the bats she had slain, but none of them were so much as capable of even touching her. No, the only thing that came from them which was capable of reaching her was the very blood that formed them. The amount of blood that came from them was such that it was enough to turn her stark-white haori into a crimson red. It was messy, but it was not something that the Captain was not used to by this point; after all, cutting down her enemies was a core part of her line of work, and it so happened that blood typically surges from said enemies when they are cut. As such, once the bats were dispatched, she swiftly swiped the blood off her blades and turned towards Camila to proceed with her plan.
As the execution of this plan was as swift as she could possibly make it out to be, the superior officer failed to realize that there was something wrong with her opponent. It was only once she had cut her and Taishokukane had pierced her with his blade from behind that she fully understood the extent of the damage Camila had received. With surprise, she found herself staring at a heavily-damaged ex-Shinigami who appeared to be barely conscious. Her body sported many horrible cuts, many of which would most likely need an extensive amount of time before healing completely, and her right arm had simply been dismembered. That was not even mentioning the blade was currently piercing her from behind. Frowning, Kimiko would stare at Camila, waiting to see if she was going to do anything in particular here, seeing as she was after all a blood-wielder. Taishokukane would do the same. However, the both of them would eventually realize that the battle was over.
"Hmph, pathetic," the projection of the Zanpakuto spirit would grunt before expertly removing the blade from the woman. There was no respect in his action or even so much as care for the fact his attack had potentially killed Camila. Instead, there was only something akin to mild frustration. It was as though he had been expecting more from the blood-wielder, especially given that he had been summoned here to fight at Kimiko's side. However, at the same time, he also seemed slightly relieved. With a sharp gaze, he watched in silence as the blood-wielder fell on her knees and then collapsed. Once this process was completed, he returned the blade to his scabbard and raised his gaze towards Kimiko. "It appears that my business here is concluded."
"Yeah, it looks like it," Kimiko would quickly respond as she watched over Camila's body. As she did so, the black and white "ink" in the near vicinity slowly began to dissipate, and with their leave, the audible and visible properties of their surroundings would reappear. It was a gradual process, one that was far from immediate, but eventually, the creaking of the cars' flames as well as the distant screaming of the New Yorkers could be heard. Her eyes would quickly glance towards her surroundings, then to her blades. With their forms now Sealed anew, the "ink" which was once covering them would be gone, leaving only but a normal blades behind their wake. Sighing, she wiped the blood off the blades once more, then with a quick spin, she returned them to their scabbards. For a moment, she would remain silent as she analyzed the situation, seemingly feeling rather regretful. However, before Taishokukane could comment on the matter, she would quickly ask him with a serious tone: "What the hell happened? I thought you said there was no way she could come back so long as I remained happy!"
The words were somewhat accusatory, but Taishokukane remained calm, mainly because the both of them shared the same question. Frankly, her impatience was to be expected. It had been quite the time since she had felt the presence of her Inner Hollow, so much so that she had learned to live with the fact that she was perhaps never going to appear again. He would remain quiet as he considered the situation before he eventually arrived to a conclusion. "I cannot quite say, but she was very clearly manifested when you received that wound. Perhaps that has damaged your happiness." He would point towards Kimiko's forehead as he spoke, which was still somewhat bleeding. Being reminded of the wound's existence was enough to cause the Captain to somewhat wince now that the adrenaline was starting to wear off. "Whatever the case may be, finish your matters here and return to Seireitei. We will discuss this with the old man later."
And with that, the projection would be severed, and thus the blunt Zanpakuto spirit would vanish, leaving Kimiko alone with Camila's body. Upon his leave, the Captain would let out a brief sigh, then look down towards the blood-wielder with disappointment. At first, she believed her to be dead due to the severity of her wounds, which was almost enough to make her cut one of the nearest vehicles in two out of anger at herself. She hadn't wished to actually kill the girl, just finish the fight now so that her Inner Hollow wouldn't be able to return so easily, but it seemed like she had gone way too far in the act, and this realization was beginning to frustrate her. In fact, this frustration was such that it brought her an audible "Damn it" out of her. Yet very shortly after those words came out of here, something strange would occur... and in a moment's notice, her disappointment would be gone to be instead initially replaced with surprise, relief, then focus.
Somehow, Camila's body found itself turning onto its back with its wounds sealed before then staring right at Kimiko. Its face was covered by what appeared to be some kind of mask, and soon enough, from this mask came a voice. Well, two voices, actually. It was a rather strange thing to hear, but the Captain was able to figure out what this was all about rather rapidly. She was talking to an Inner Hollow. Camila's Inner Hollow, more precisely. "I bet you know very well that I didn't have a choice. If it wasn't for that, I would have let her fight me a little longer." A huff would come from here as she shook her head, both out of disbelief and, frankly, annoyance that she even had to speak to something that was most likely tormenting what she now considered as her rival. Though Camila had not understood her earlier struggles, Kimiko very much doubted this thing didn't. A Inner Hollow most likely is very well aware of the workings of another one of its kind. "Thanks for healing her, though. I didn't know cutting down those bats would mess her up like that."
Once she spoke her words, she then went to listen to the Inner Hollow a little bit further, who she was now starting to presume was the man that was accompanying Camila not that long ago. From the looks of it, this fight was not going to proceed any further. Even if Camila was now healed, the creature simply didn't possess enough strength to continue, and so both he and Camila were now at Kimiko's mercy. The Captain took note of this, and unsurprisingly, she would not go on to actually kill her opponent. There was no use for that in her eyes. Instead, she approached the nearest undamaged car, hopped onto the hood, then sat down with one leg crossed and the other pressed onto the street below. "Fine, we can talk. I don't really wanna kill you, and to be honest, I've got a few questions to ask." Her eyes went towards the fallen Humans that were still lying on the street. She will have to purify them later. "First of... how come you guys are alive, exactly? Celes never told me directly, but I thought Camila got herself killed."