The path of the blade [JT | Kimiko]

[Nakajima Kimiko]

The Shinigami's words echoed throughout the forest with great power. They would strike the nearby bamboo trees with fervor, almost causing them to be pushed away by the energy they contained, and they would be repeated in the area several times in the form of distant cries in the air. Some Humans in the area believed at this very moment that they heard them even while they remained within their homes, all of which were located a fair bit away from the forest, and they believed their significance to be the command of a local god demanding that its loyal servant eliminate a local demon standing before them. The story would, in the coming days, become a popular tale attached to the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove for many days to come, both in the Living World and the people of Seireitei scouting the city of Kyoto. None, of course, would understand its true significance, not even the most experienced patrols of this sector of Japan... except Kimiko, Kishi, and the condemned Rider. 

With a slightly-coarse throat, the Captain watched as her little speech bestowed into Kishi it's usual effects. She could see that, in spite of being incapable of speech and the damage it had received, the knight was ready to brave the skin beast on once more with the energy she expected from it. Moreover, it seemed as though it was ready to do so at all cost, going as far as to split his blade into two all so that he could better cut down the foe that was awaiting its coming with rage in its eyes. She was not very sure of if Kishi had decided to transform his weapon into a dual form in an attempt to replicate her style or to inspire itself with it... but the fact that it had done so was enough to cause her to grin brightly. "GOOOO!" She thus repeated, doing so with further energy again all so that she could see what Kishi had to offer to her with what she could only assume to be a suddenly-new style. What came next after her call was nothing short of a spectacle.

Kishi was naturally undermanned for this. It was weaker than the evolved Rider, and ultimately, the task of taking the creature was perhaps a little bit too much for it to handle. Sure, it had taken one of its eyes out, but one eye still remained, and the skin beast was not going to allow it to be destroyed as easily as the last, not by a long shot. Such was made evident by the way the creature immediately prepared to shoot a literal Cero blast towards the little bean, which was almost enough to cause Kimiko to intervene. Fortunately, however, she stayed put, and with that, the knight was able to showcase not only his skills, but also his tenacity in the process. Powered by Kimiko's energy, he would bravely face the creature, using both the strange movement technique of his kind and his blades to cut off the damaged leg of the skin beast. Then, only a few moments later... it would achieve the unthinkable by quite literally braving the creature's Cero blast.

With widened eyes, the Captain watched as the beam shot upward towards Kishi's previous position, shortly before the knight was able to use its movement technique. If it was not for her enhanced senses, she would have perhaps believed the friendly Hollow to have been annihilated by the Cero. However, right after the attack finished piercing the nightly heavens, Kishi reappeared before the creature's second eye and sliced it to bits. Once again, the damage was instantaneous. By the time the small Hollow was in safe distance, the eye - which had already been pierced moments before like its fallen brethren - would burst into another mess of disgusting fluids that would splatter onto the nearby grounds. Naturally, the terrible Rider would cry out again in pure pain and misery as all that was left of its eyes were now two deep craters, and thus, in a complete state of utter panic and agony, it would quickly move away, flailing its arms about in horror.

Kimiko was frozen. Everything that had just happened, from top to bottom, was beautiful. Kishi's utter bravery, its willingness to fight against this horrible creature, the execution of its attack... All of it was sublime. Never before, since the very moment she opened her dojo, had she seen such potential be showcased before her very eyes. Her recruits, her students, literally everyone she had seen thus far... None of them had the qualities that she had seen thus far from Kishi, those very things that she believed could allow them to reach further beyond in the realm of martial arts and of spiritual combat as a whole. On one hand, it only furthered the paradox of the Hollow's existence, turning it into an even greater anomaly than it already was. However, on the other hand, it proved that the best Shinigami did not need to only be a Shinigami in body. They also needed to be a Shinigami in spirit, a being solely dedicated to the safety of the Soul Society.

Standing there, she would gaze at the little bean's fallen body. It appeared as though the effort he needed to provide in order to sustain its movement tech had been too much for it to handle, and now it lied there in pain, unable to move. The fact that it had even gone so far while most likely knowing that it would make him suffer this much was shocking to Kimiko. She herself most likely couldn't have handled the pain, and so would not have attempted to brave it. She would have tried to avoid it, just like she has avoided the grand majority of the attacks that were thrown towards her general direction throughout her entire career as an officer of the Gotei 13. In a way, this little bean was downright  braver than she was. It was remarkable. Perhaps foolish, yes, especially given that it was now practically out of commission for the time being. For all they knew, in a proper full-fledged conflict, it would have met its end right then and there. Even so, it was remarkable nonetheless.

The officer's scarlet eyes would slowly turn towards Rider thereafter. As to be expected, now that its eyes were disabled, the skin beast appeared to be in an even greater pain. The wings which had begun to protrude from its back were slowly losing their shape, melting away into nothing as the creature's control over them was completely disabled. It continued to cry out from the extreme pain it apparently was suffering beneath the skin, showcasing this pain by violently waving its arms and remaining leg around, and overall trashing its surroundings in a very panicky fit. Bamboo trees were hit and sent barrelling across the forest, and the nearby railings which separated these trees from the roads were swiftly destroyed. As time passed, its movement decreased as its skin became heavier and heavier, preventing it from moving as quickly as before while it piled onto its bones. It was clear that it was slowly about to declare its defeat, if not unconsciously...

... but then, the creature had a flash of violence. A spark of rage caused by the remnants of its bestial wrath. Letting out a scream which was louder than perhaps every thing that came out of its being since this battle began, it turned its covered skull towards Kishi and attempted one last maneuver. With a blast of spiritual pressure covering its disgusting form, it would press its arms and leg as powerfully as it could against the ground. This was done with such strength that the skin around its limbs began to bubble, as though whatever remained of the muscle underneath suddenly inflated for the occasion. Then, with one final roar, it pushed itself forward and sent its body flying towards Kishi. Its bulk crashed through several of the nearby bamboo trees which still stood between its position and the fallen knight's, but the strength that powered its launch prevented it from being stopped. The purpose behind this maneuver was clear: if it could not kill Kishi as it was, then it would sacrifice itself to bring an end to its life. It was an act of bestial murder-suicide.

Fortunately, it would never reach Kishi. Before it had completed half of its maneuver towards the little bean, the bean - should its gaze be turned towards the skin beast in the moment - will suddenly behold the back of Kimiko's haori. Where the yarrow rested, a voice would come, delivered in the moment before the beast's arrival. "You fought well, Kishi. That was the work of a true warrior," it congratulated the knight as its owner slowly bent down, with her swords both resting in their scabbards. "Let me reward your swordsmanship with this."

In the moment, it would almost appear as though time had stopped. The wind had ceased to blow, the trees did not creak any longer, and the noises which came from the city became mute. The world had come to a standstill, except for Kimiko and, potentially, Rider itself. As its bulk was slowed down to a crawl in the air, its covered eyes would find themselves pressed against the skin to stare deep into the Captain's. At first, its wrath remained unchallenged. That was, until it saw the woman open her mouth and let out a great roar. The pressure that was directed towards its self was such that it caused it to remain immobile in the air, its momentum brought to a complete stop. Then, suddenly...

"Hageshī Naku!"

Silence followed the Shinigami's shouting of the two words. No noise came from her, from the skin beast, or their surroundings, allowing Kishi to behold the scene in full view. Then, after three seconds passed, two thuds came from Kimiko. She had sheathed the both of her blades back into their scabbards. What followed the soft metallic noise was the sound of flesh being slowly cut apart. This sound came from Rider, whose body was now slowly beginning to drift apart. Parts of its flesh and bone slowly levitated away after having been cut into a thousand pieces, maintained as such only by spiritual energy and perhaps the vestiges of the creature's will flowing through its veins. Then, with a sick cacophony of blood and guts, the pieces all fell towards the ground. The only thing that remained from the being, somehow, was its head. It was the only thing that Kimiko had apparently decided to leave as is for the time being.

Rider had been thoroughly defeated. There was now nothing left of him but cut parts and a soul which was hanging by a thread. With this in mind, the Captain stood there, remaining near the fallen knight. For a moment, the earlier question that she was asking to herself would resurface, as the time was rife once more. It was weak. It could be killed in an instant. But instead of doing so, Kimiko would do something that a Shinigami like herself would usually be condemned to do. Indeed, instead of killing it... she would make way and present the cut body to Kishi. "Go ahead. Feed upon its soul and grow," she told it as she positioned herself away from it, giving it ample space to consume the fallen Rider. "I'm not going to take this victory away from you." 

Hopefully, this consumption will allow Kishi to mend its wounds to a certain extent.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Technique Used}
Technique Name: Hageshī Naku (激しい泣く, "Raging Cry")

Technique Type: Zanjutsu - Hohō | Single-Target Area of Effect

Technique Element: None

Usable by: Shinigami, Rogue, Vizard & Beast-Clansmen

Class: 1

Technique Reiatsu Cost: 800

Technique Description and Effects

A mixture combining both the efficiency Hageshī Hōkō and the "ranged" property of Tsukanoma Kanmeki meant to focus the brunt of the former technique onto a single target. The user takes a deep breath before grabbing the hilt of their weapon, then fueling it with reiatsu. Shortly after, they then let out a loud war cry in an attempt to surprise or immobilize a target with a burst of Spiritual Pressure before then unleashing several sword swings that are three times faster than a normal one all around a single target. This is done by moving so quickly through the use of multiple Shunpo jumps that the target would be unable to see the user appear before it, deliver it a multitude of attacks at once, then return to their previous position. Due to the concentration of this attack, this results in something almost akin to a small-scaled explosion all around the target, a discharge of cuts and slices that turn lesser targets into pieces in an instant if caught off-guard.


Drawbacks & Weaknesses

Much like Hageshī Hōkō, this technique can be exhausting to the user to a certain degree depending on when they actually decide to use it, as it requires a specific outburst of emotions that requires a minimal Strength of Will skill or a Calm Mind skill of 3. The fact that each attack delivered is essentially an Iaijutsu strike makes it so that it is also imperative for the user to possess a Iaijutsu skill and a Hohō skill of 3 so as to prevent any mistakes created during the attack. Usually, it is preferable to only use this technique in times of absolute need, seeing as the user must not only abide to the step technique limit per post while they are using it, but they also can only use it three times per thread with each use requiring a cooldown of three posts. Any more uses can lead to the complete destruction of the bone and muscles within the user's arm. A Speed stat of a minimum of 600 is also required to even execute it appropriately to begin with.


Made by: Nakajima Kimiko

Reserved? : Yes

[Deleted]

One way or another, the little knight had managed to prevail against an opponent naturally stronger than them through battle prowess, their sword techniques, and Kimiko's literal moral support. Emboldened by the presence of the Captain, Caballero had gone as far as to wreck their own body in an attempt to put an end to Rider... and lo and behold, they had actually pulled through. Filo managed to cut through Rider's second virulent eye, bringing forth another surge of fluids, blood and pus from it. If Rider's previous scream had already been harrowing, this one was nothing short of bone-chilling, as what appeared to be the two cores of its power had been completely eliminated. The monster flailed its arms about in sheer horror and desperation, knowing full well it had received a lethal wound and that it was at death's door.

From their position on the ground and still folded due to the damage they themselves had caused their own body, Caballero witnessed the monster continue to destroy the forest with what would hopefully be its last temper tantrum as the fleshy wings it had created started melting away into the same disgusting folds of reddened flesh. The rest of its skin cloak suffered the same deconstruction; it almost looked as if it was growing so thick and heavy that it was starting to crush the Hollow itself. Throughout this process, the monster was swatting away one bamboo tree after another, probably by accident. That did not make it any less dangerous, however: some of the trees it sent flying landed dangerously close to Caballero, and it was nothing short of a miracle that none of them fell on top of the little creature now that they were far too weak to keep themselves safe by cutting them. No, as of that time, all that they could do was watch and wish that Rider would die, once and for all.

But the monster would not give up that easily. No, cornered animals had a tendency to fight tooth and nail even when they were completely and utterly done. If it was going to die, then it might as well die while taking its predator with them. Hollows often followed the same logic, being the kind of predatorial, cannibalistic beasts that they were, and thus Rider turned its attention toward Caballero one last time in a fit of undying rage. The battle was still far from over, it seemed. Caballero slowly extended his arm via their class 8 Tendón technique again, bringing one of the two parts they had split Filo in closer to them. Not without excruciating pain, the little bean turned their body, still affected by Kimiko's bolstering of their Strength of Will. Not yet. They could not die just yet. The enemy was still at large, and it was their responsibility to stop it from causing any more harm than it already had. Driving Filo onto the ground, the little knight used it to slowly lift themselves up from the ground and back into a standing position. All the way through this endeavor, Caballero's body shook like a newborn fawn struggling to walk for the first time, but that still was not enough to stop the tiny knight rising back up to their tiny little feet. They were clearly in no state to swing Filo, let alone to fight. The searing pain was paired to a severe exhaustion that also resulted from overusing Úlcera, from which they would not be able to recover in time.

Perhaps delighting itself in this fact, Rider literally launched itself toward Caballero by performing yet another disgusting maneuver that took advantage of its lovecraftian physiology. It was not even an attack, it was just an attempt to crush Caballero under its own weight. A suicidal tactic, now that it knew itself dying. Caballero desperately commanded their body to move, but it outright refused. Hell, they could not even pull Filo back from the ground, and the other half of the blade had landed too far from the little Hollow to even consider taking it before the monster turned them into a Hollow pancake. The tiny bean did not lament their luck, did not cower, did not run. Instead, they faced the Hollow head on, still trying to get their sword off the ground. Not yet. Not yet! No true Shinigami would be defeated by this vile creature!

However, in the spur of the moment, the little knight might have forgotten one very important detail: that they were not alone. Rider had barely began its flight when a figure appeared right before them in a single instant. She was clad in a white haori: the haori of a Captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squadrons. Caballero looked up, taking in the sight as Kimiko congratulated them on a battle well fought. He could not continue fighting, but that did not matter anymore. She was there, and she would take care of Rider herself. Kimiko slowly bent down, placing both hands on her twin Zanpakuto. Caballero would have blinked, had they had any eyelids. After all, she had only used one of them at a time throughout their short-lived encounter.

"Let me reward your swordsmanship with this."

"Hageshī Naku!"

What was an instant for Caballero may have been multiple seconds for Kimiko or Rider. The little bean barely had any time to react before the master swordsman unleashed a godly technique on the monster, one that was far away from Caballero's reach. Her shouting its name out was the only clue the little knight had that it had been used at all, for he did not see anything. No movement, no strike, no attack, nothing. In the blink of an eye, both the forest and Rider itself had turned completely silent, only with 'thuds' that should have not come from anywhere in the stand-still scene Caballero saw. All seemed calm... until the moment Kimiko sheathed her Zanpakuto again. The sounds of blade effortlessly tearing through skin, mucle and bone followed suit. In a moment, Rider had been all but chopped into pieces that fell to the ground after lingering in position for a second, as it even the flesh was unaware that it had been cut.

Caballero was awestruck by the display, or rather, the apparent lack of a display. How had she moved so fast? How had she cut the Hollow so effortlessly, when it took everything they had to just survive against the monster? For the second time in their short life, the litlte Hollow was reminded, by a Captain of the Gotei 13 no less, of how low they were in the scale of power... and of how much room they still had to grow. In due time, they might be able to achieve a similar level of strength. In due time, they too might be able to become a sword for Soul Society and a shield for those that it protected. Of course, for the time being, they had just been terribly lucky to have survived that encounter. What if they had found Rider in the forest without having such a powerful ally?

The tiny being was pulled away from such questions and hypotheticals as Kimiko turned away, allowing Caballero to gain a full view of the broken mess that Rider had been reduced to. Or, rather, the extremely fine-cut mess that was the remains of its body. Then, Kimiko outright invited Caballero to eat the remains of their deceased foe and grow stronger by doing so. Normally, the Hollow instincts within Caballero would have not turned down such a meal, specially not after the extreme amount of damage they had sustained by trying to defeat it in the first place. However, in their current state, their delusions--or perhaps they were something else?--of Shinigami-hood ran stronger than ever, pushing down and outright drowning the hunger, at least for the time being.

As such, Caballero took an alternative. By focusing and compressing the already dense Reiatsu that formed their body to extreme levels, the little creature was partially invigorated--not enough to keep fighting, but enough to stand on their own without needing to use their blade as a crutch. Their body was still in deep pain, but it was more bearable now. With that, the little knight was able to pull their blade out of the dirt once again, and instead of moving toward the Hollow to consume its spirit, they outright refused to do so. Caballero pointed their blade at the slain foe and swung it in a downward swipe, letting their arm rest on the side. Then, they let go of Filo, and the blade dissolved into nothingness--the other half disappeared at the same time as well.

Outright ignoring the Hollow as it wasted away into nothingness, Caballero turned to Kimiko instead. It hurt every fiber of their body to do so given the damage, but the little bean still forced themselves to lower their oversized mask in a deep bow. This was not only done out of respect: there was far too much they had to be thankful to Kimiko for. After all, she had just saved their life. Of course, the little Hollow had nowhere to go now, and they were in no state to fend off another threat by themselves. Now that Rider was gone, Kimiko's mission was complete as well. Whether she would choose to continue spending her time with Caballero or report back to headquarters would be her choice; delusions aside, Caballero was not fettered by the responsibilities of a Shinigami, so they could affort to remain there for as long as they wanted.

Of course, should she choose to go, she might meet some resistance from a reticent little Hollow not wanting to let their newest friend go away so soon, but it would be easy enough to convince them that it was necessary. After all, they knew a Captain's might may be needed elsewhere.

OOC:

• Reiatsu: 425 -50[Class 7 Focalizar]
• Caballero did NOT consume the Hollow.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Focalizar}Technique Name: Focalizar [Focus]

Technique Class: Equal to Caballero's maximum class (7-1). Paid up to class 5

Technique Type: Hollow [Custom]

Technique Cost: 50 +50 per class above 7

Description: A technique based on the nature of the extremely dense Reiatsu that comprises Caballero's body. Through sheer strength of will, Caballero can compress this dense Reiatsu even more, repairing and rebuilding their body and giving them access to three uses of techniques named "Focus:" (which would be unusable otherwise) or enhanced effects on their normal ones, in any combination. Healing ability is directly proportional to the technique's class and Caballero's Healing Expertise stat. When purging harmful effects, however, Caballero's Reiatsu Strength will be used in the clash to overcome said effect.

Drawbacks: No other offensive action can be taken in the same post Focus is used. Only three enhanced techniques can be used before Focus needs to be reused. Only certain custom Hollow techniques, as as well as the basic versions of Cero and Bala, can be enhanced via Focus; this must be explicitly stated in the technique description. Healing via Focus can only ever affect Caballero.

[Nakajima Kimiko]

Kimiko was aware that what she was doing was risky. Although her knowledge on Hollow physiology was somewhat limited to its very basics, she knew that the creatures of Hueco Mundo grew in accordance to the number and power of the souls they ate. It was unclear as to what Rider was supposed to be, even if he acted very similarly to a Hollow, but it was strong. Thus, it was entirely possible that the little knight would become not-so-little once he would consume the skin beast and take in the strength of its soul. Not-so-little, as in turn into a mindless Gillian that will go about rampaging throughout the city of Kyoto with whatever it will find at its disposal, all the while potentially thinking that it was somehow fighting Hollows while doing so. Frankly, given its current attitude, that could very well be a possibility, and it was needless to say that such an event would be quite a disaster, one that the Soul Society did not really need to deal with right about now. Or ever, really.

Yet the Captain did not mind that possibility. In her eyes, this was a risk that she was willing to take, if not to see how Kishi would fare upon reaching a higher stage of evolution as a Hollow. The knight was strong, yes, with a very powerful will fueling its every move, but these values were created by a delusion. It believed itself a Shinigami and not a Hollow, something which was in of itself quite wrong. Perhaps this delusion will remain intact for as long as it remains as it is now, meaning as a Stray with minimal strength to showcase to others, but once it grows in power, it will begin to see more clearly and thus act differently. If this happens in this moment, if the little bean turns into a grander beast and so much as attempt to willingly reduce Kyoto to waste so as to satiate its infinite hunger, then Kimiko will slay it. Such a thing would be disappointing, but when it unfortunately came to this particular context, she would not need to hesitate again.

Fortunately, she did not need to so much as consider this possibility, for Kishi did something she did not expect it to do. Instead of consuming Rider's soul, it simply... refused to do so. There was seemingly no hesitation or resistance from its body, no clear sign of hunger and the pain that came from it. It just ignored the pieces of the skin beast, and appeared to circumvent the need to consume the soul to mend its wounds by using some kind of technique to achieve a similar, yet weaker result, all the while making use of its limited communicative skill to tell Kimiko that she could finish off Rider in its place. This was made apparently evident by the fact that it willingly discarded its weapons, allowing them to disappear into a fine veil of spirit particles which trailed down into the bamboo forest, and thus rendering it practically unable to safely feed onto the defeated creature due to its lack of digits. Well, at least in Kimiko's eyes, that was.

Once this decision was achieved, Kimiko could only stare back at the creature with a look of shock and awe. Again, she was left astonished, so much so that she was able to mutter a word in the moment. Was this creature's will so powerful that it allowed it to naturally resist its infinite hunger? Was its delusion so prevalent, so persistent, that it demanded it to not actually interact with the world as a Hollow, but solely as a Shinigami, to the point that it automatically forsook the need to feed? This couldn't be. Hollows, by nature, should not be capable of such a feat at such a level, let alone even think about it... and yet, here Kishi was, a living proof of how strong Strays could truly be if they put their mind into it. At this point, the Shinigami almost found herself laughing in disbelief. However, out of sheer respect, she merely smiled and bowed back to the little bean. "Alright then, Kishi. Suit yourself," she would tell it in the moment, then began to move towards Rider. It would not take much for the knight to realize how proud of it she was then, even though it technically was not one of her students.

With this matter settled, she would eventually find herself standing over the remains of the skin beast. Her gaze would wander from one piece to another before she would find the head, the very part of the creature she had kept intact while she executed her attack a minute or so ago. As she looked down, her expression grew more serious. Somehow, despite the colossal damage it received, it was still breathing. "Still alive, huh?" She noted aloud before examining the head, wanting to get a good view of her opponent's face before finishing it off. While doing so, however, she would realize that a part of the head had been damaged, though not by her own making. Around its mouth were heavy burn marks, cinders left by spiritual energy. This burn was such that it caused some of the skin previously covering its face to disintegrate, leaving behind what appeared to be the insides of its cheeks. The Cero... It must have shot that beam from inside the skin and caused damage to itself in the process. How gruesome.

By that point, the Captain admittedly had enough of the creature's body horror. Its very visible pain was beginning to bother her rather immensely, and if this continued to go on, she would most likely remember this thing for a very long time. Unfortunately, though, something else would cause her to do that. Unbeknownst of her, even though it had lost the majority of its body to Kimiko's technique, it could still actually use its vocal cords. How it was able to do so was irrelevant in the moment to the Captain. What instead was were the words that came out of the hole left by the burned-off skin. "Damn... you..." it muttered roughly, coarsely, as though speaking through the pain. The expression on its face, by then, had softened into an expression of acceptance. But there was no acceptance in his words. Not to Kimiko. There was rather only misery and failure, both condemnation and regret. "Damn you... Chiba... Chi... mon..." 

And with that, the creature took one last breath before its body completely ceased functioning. Its life, as wicked as it had become, had come to an end, finished by the work Kimiko's Zanpakuto. Taking note of this, the officer would take a step back and watch as its body would begin to slowly evaporate into spirit particles, much like how the bodies of fallen Hollows would after their defeat. She'd watch the particles head up towards the bright moon above, doing so with visible respect for the soul she and Kishi had liberated from torment. She was not sure of where this person was going to go once it would reach the Soul Society, but she hoped that - for its sake and for the great pain it had endured in this form - it would be allowed to settle in the higher districts of the Soul Society rather than the lowest. To survive such agony needed some kind of reward, and to be cast into the warzone that are the lower districts of Rukongai would not be fair for this person.

This process would take some time, and for a moment, it would appear to reach its end as well. However, as Kimiko would look down, she would find herself becoming confused. Rider's body... It had not completely disappeared. In fact, it appeared as though only the skin it worn had been removed from existence, leaving behind what remained of the skeleton underneath. Only, it wasn't a skeleton. Frowning in both shock and frustration, the woman quickly moved forward back towards the creature's head before clenching her teeth. "You gotta be shitting me," she swore now that she had a good view of what had been under the skin during all this time. It might have appeared this way at a glance, but it was quite clear that, shortly before Kimiko cut it to death, that it was more alive than one. With the exception of its missing eyes, this thing had muscle and blood. For as awful as it appeared to be, there was no mistaking it. She was looking at a male Human corpse.

So she was right. This Hollow wasn't really a Hollow, and was instead something else entirely. But if so, what the hell was it?! Was it something that was created by the people of the Living World? Was it an experiment, and was this Chiba Chimon - whoever or whatever the corpse had said upon its defeat - responsible for its transformation? The questions. Ugh, she could feel the questions come back. Just as she had begun to fully reject the ones surrounding Kishi, there was now another row of interrogations that had decided to take their place. Whatever this thing was... she could at least tell that it was, somehow, a Human that had been modified in one way or another to act the way it did. No, it was worse than that. It was a Human that, unlike a Hollow, was fully conscious during its transformation and was thus a victim of some twisted event that happened to it. For all she knew now, it was possible that it was acting so angrily not out of instincts, but rather out of a wish to truly kill itself, to force the Captain to put an end to its misery even though it had hesitated at first.

There was anger then. Wrath, fury. They all began to spread in her heart like a raging fire, enough so that it caused the spiritual energy around her to flare. It would slightly press against her surroundings, becoming more and more powerful as the entire area would begin to feel the intensity of her emotions. Even the trees were beginning to echo her thoughts. How dare they! How dare this Chiba Chimon do something like this! How dare they make her regret she and Kishi's victory!

Oh, right. Kishi.

As quickly as her spiritual energy had arisen, it fell down and the surroundings were spared any further pressure. No one was harmed in this process, not even Kishi, but it was clear that if the pressure had arisen any further, not much would have been left of the area. Silent, she would continue staring at the body parts before she took a deep breath and looked over her shoulder towards the little knight. "I'm sorry. I just... got angry," she apologized, appearing regretful in the moment before looking back at the body. Someone needed to come clean this up. If this body was truly of Human origin, the people of Kyoto will most likely find it soon, and if they do, this whole thing will become an even greater mess. Tch. Annoyed, she would pull out what appeared to be a cellphone from one of her pockets - the flipping kind most popular ages ago within the Living World - and aim its front towards the remains of the Hollow. "How do you use this thing again...?" She muttered then mostly to herself, confused for a moment before she would eventually figure it all out.

A few pictures of the remains would be taken with the device. The head, the arm, the leg, all of them. Together, the pictures would be grouped into one folder located on the phone, with a title associated to it. "Rider case" would be its name. For now, she would not send in the details just yet, mainly because she wanted to remain with the little bean for the time being. However, once she would leave this place, she would make sure to contact Squad 12 about all of this so they can come study the body. As gruesome as it all was, she needed confirmation on this thing, something that would allow her to learn more about its origins in one way or another without having to resort to mere guesses and assumptions. If it is indeed a mutation of some kind, something that occurred because of something that somehow modified this man's body into what it became, then they needed to know where it came from. Whoever was responsible for this would most likely not stop with this one.

After she was done taking the pictures, she would let out a sigh and stare at the body again. Then, she would look back towards Kishi. A part of her was regretful upon focusing on it again, namely because she had showed her anger to it. The knight did not deserve this moment to end with that. As such, she would cross her arms and attempt to calm down with a smirk. "Usually, I would've already been heading back. I bet my students are already waiting for me at the dojo... But you caught my attention, Kishi," she told it then before she walked back up to it. Then, she would give him a determinate gaze. "How would you feel about leaving this thing alone and learning a little more about the basics of our school?"

[Deleted]

After Caballero had outright refused to consume the Hollow, desdain and contempt toward the beast that was Rider filling every inch of their body, Kimiko smiled at them, and outright returned the bow. Immediately, Caballero went into a panic, jumping up and down and further injuring themselves while making negative gestures with both hands. A Captain of the Gotei 13, bowing to them?! No, no, no, Kimiko should not be doing that! After all, they had only been following her orders, which was expected of a lowly Unseated like them. It was anything but appropriate! Of course, it would be silly to deny that a large part of the little Hollow was positively giddy to be receiving such praise from one of their heroes, but they still needed to keep things proper.

Kimiko then moved toward Rider's trounced remains, under the watchful gaze of Caballero. Not that they would be able to further act in lieu of their Captain, what with them being half broken as they were. From that distance, they were unable to hear whatever it was that she said, or that Rider spoke back. Their senses were not fine enough to allow for that. Instead, all they could wonder was just how in the world was a dead enemy still speaking, which should have set them off into battle mode again if not for the fact that Kimiko could very well chop the monster into even more pieces. Thus, they simply stayed back and allowed their superior to handle Rider's last moments before its body stopped moving altogether. Then, it began to dissolve into spiritual particles that began floating away toward the moon presiding the sky. Caballero did not bow their head, for respect was reserved to those that deserved it, but they still wished the creature would find peace, finally free from its monstrous hunger, the emptiness, the-

"You gotta be shitting me."

That curse, Caballero did hear. Curious, the little Hollow approached as quickly as their currently pitiful state allowed them to. By instinct, they softly grabbed on the side of Kimiko's uniform as they, too, looked at the remains of the monster. Only those were not a Hollow's remains: Hollows definitely did not leave behind human skeletons when they died. Now, Caballero was not an expert on physiology or anatomy, and their knowledge was limited to that of battle. But they could tell that what they had just chopped into tiny pieces was not one of the foul monsters that Soul Society sought to purge.

Caballero did not understand the situation, so they looked up to Kimiko. Instead of the friendly Captain they had seen before, they saw the face of rage and anger. Once again, Kimiko let out her spiritual pressure, immediately making Caballero let go of her uniform and brace for impact, as if that would make them fare any better against the unrestrained might of a Captain. They knew that as a Shinigami, she would never turn her blades on them, but there was something about seeing your superiors so angry that the air around them became heavy. Caballero's shoulders began to struggle and falter against the weight, and they just did their best to keep looking up at Kimiko to figure out what had gotten her so riled up. Perhaps it was another enemy, a stronger foe to defeat?

Before they could ponder on that for long, the pressure on his body faded as quickly as it had appeared. The little creature could breathe with ease once again, although the mechanics on how Caballero actually took air in were alien at best and dubious at worst. The Captain quickly offered them an apology for the scare and the surprise, but really, there was no need to. So utterly deluded, the little knight never thought for a second that they could be the recipient of Kimiko's angry Spiritual Pressure; they had just been unfortunate to be on the way. She then pulled a strange artifact that Caballero could very mildly map to the ones many humans had on their ears or in front of them as they walked through the streets, when they were sitting for rest, or at any chance, really. How strange were these humans, huh? Kimiko did something with the flip-phone, and all the while Caballero stared in awe as if this was some magnificent Shinigami ritual that they had been uninformed about. Perhaps being given that artifact was the hallmark of a Captain, just like the white haori? So many important questions for them to seek answers to.

Once the post-battle cleanup had been handled and Kimiko had snapped the necessary pictures to document her case, she put the cellphone away and looked back at Caballero. The little bean was waiting for some orders, or anything of the sort, but it really looked like they were finally off duty once again. The child-like Hollow had seemingly calmed down from their efforts to destroy and purge their foe, now that the enemy had finally been neutralized. They no longer displayed the reckless, almost suicidal behavior that, admittedly, may have been in part due to Kimiko bolstering their own willpower to levels previously unheard of. Now that they were back to their usual self, the little knight could feel the full brunt of the pain that still remained even after using Focalizar. It would definitely take a little while for them to get back into their usual groove, to be able to defend themselves in case anyone else attacked.

Kimiko then said that, usually, she would be heading back already, which immediately left a sinking feeling in Caballero. They probably should have waited for the second part of the phrase, because she then lifted them up again by saying that they had piqued her interest. The Captain, a master swordsman, went as far as to offer Caballero a better, more proper introduction to the techniques of her school. Needless to say, the little Hollow was ecstatic to hear this, and jumped up and down once again in excitement... only for the jolts of pain to send them to their 'knees'. Yeah, Caballero was not going to be picking up a sword, at least not for a little while.

Instead, the two of them would wait for a little while in the bamboo forest as the night continued its course. Throughout this time, Caballero would remain silent, but not uncommunicative. They took the chance to share the ever-exciting chapters of their story with a Captain that was most likely indulging them, but they were far too invested to realize. As such, the little Hollow went on to mime and even draw some of the scenes that had been key in their life: how they had escaped from the big, bad Hollows in Hueco Mundo, how they had befriended both Akira and a human woman to defeat a Hollow, how they had tried to defend the humans from Colina--and surprisingly live to tell the tale, just because of her taking pity and interest in them.

The main mediums for such communication would be Caballero gesticulating and using Tendón to create crude stand-ins for puppets, or them drawing on the bark of the felled bamboo trees as best as they could. Once they reached their encounter with Celes, Caballero thought that, as Captains, they might know each other. Thus, they painted themselves and the motherly yet extremely powerful woman with a bit more detail, and then went to show Kimiko the full meaning by tapping on her white haori and pointing at the picture. Since the stick figure had longer hair--and strong arms--, it might not be out of this world to think that Kimiko may recognize the Captain of the Tenth in that crude image.

In the end, enough time had passed that Caballero had recovered from the overexertion of misusing Úlcera, and had summoned Filo back to their hands. Since they would be drilling the techniques of the Nijukan, they chose to keep it as one single blade unless instructed otherwise by their new mentor. Needless to say, the overly excited Hollow quickly thought back to their previous lesson, and attempted to mimic Kimiko's stance while holding the blade at their hip. Sure, the Iaido stance still needed some work, and they would need to practice a bit more to get used to this new style, but they had only just begun the journey. Unburdened by ego, since they were unable to perform any kind of self-reflection--they would find out a very crude reality about themselves otherwise--Caballero would look up inquisitively, awaiting for further instructions or corrections to their technique. Kimiko had just found perhaps the most willing of students in a completely unexpected place, and now it was just a matter of making good use of that spare time before they had to part ways. Whatever the Captain had to teach them, Caballero would be eternally grateful for it, as this would help them save more people and purge even more Hollows before they became troublesome.

[Nakajima Kimiko]

Spiritual pressure is a fickle thing for Kimiko to manage. It always has been, ever since the amount of reiatsu within her has grown so exponentially during her Academy years. Even though she was now a Captain, she has always had a hard time properly managing it. She couldn't finely control it like the others who graduated from the Shinigami school and thus use it to create maneuvers tuned for the occasion; instead, she could only hold it within her or outright let it flow out of her. It was entirely possible the thing that was responsible for this lack of control was her Inner Hollow in one way or another, though there was nothing that confirmed it, and ultimately, it didn't really matter nowadays. What instead mattered was that she needed to always keep her energy in check... something which she admittedly sometimes couldn't do, especially whenever she was angry or simply battling an opponent that is interesting to her.

Knowing this, she was glad to see that she had the time to stop her energy before it had risen too far. Should it had risen to the point it usually reached whenever she became angry, Rider's cut body parts would have easily been crushed into a mess of overflowing blood and destroyed guts that would have been useless to recover, and Kishi could have died a rather horrible death that it did not deserve. Needless to say, the Captain did not wish for any of those two things to occur, especially the latter, given how long it had taken her to actually decide to spare the little bean. It was why, upon looking back towards the knight, she was so relieved to see that it was okay, even if she regretted to have unconsciously hurt it in the first place. Surprisingly, it wasn't angry at her either for what she had done. However, perhaps she shouldn't be so surprised; after all, it had been quite friendly to her ever since they've met, and it was somewhat difficult to tell what emotion it was displaying due to its mask and inability to talk.

In any case, once the moment had passed, she would finish taking pictures of Rider's remains before then turning her attention towards the little bean so that she could make her offer. As to be expected, it would seem that the knight was more than happy to hear that she was actually going to give it some more of her time in order to train it, enough so that it began to jump up and down again like a child about to open their Christmas gift. How this little guy could be so adorable, at this point, Kimiko wasn't sure. However, she admittedly was starting to feel her heart warm a little upon witnessing its excitement once more. It reminded her of the little ones she taught lessons to back at Nijūkan, small boys and girls who came from the 40th districts in hopes of learning more about how to fight against Hollows. With that said, that warmth of hers would be tampered once she would witness the poor Kishi almost fall onto its knees. "Oh, yeah... You should probably recover first before doing anything," she concluded then with an awkward drop of swear running down the right side of her head before she then brightened up. "Well, alright! I'll show you some of the techniques in the meantime!"

And with that, the two of them would find themselves moving away from the fallen skin beast, leaving its remains there for the time being. The two of them would walk through the extensive bamboo forest until they found a clearing. It was located much further away from the main path, and it was somewhat difficult to spot, in part because it was small and could only be referred to as a clearing mainly because the trees had grown in a manner that allowed for two beings to move well-enough between them. It was a good spot. Here, they would be undisturbed by both Humans and Hollows, and since she was in the area, patrols would most likely keep away until she leaves. In other words, it was the perfect place for her to spend time with the little Kishi, as limited as her time may potentially be in hindsight. Thankfully, it appeared as though the little bean was going to make sure that they use the most of this time as much as they possibly could.

For the next few hours, the Captain would find herself simply spending her time with the friendly Hollow. She would watch its miming work with both curiosity and interest, giving them quite a fair bit of her attention as she tried to understand it all to the best of her ability. Turns out, even though they were relatively young for a creature of the dark, they had gone through a number of interesting adventures. Its escape from what appeared to be other Hollows, its takedown of another Hollow with the help of two other beings who appeared to be more so Human than anything else, its attempt to protect other Humans from what appeared to be another Human... There was a lot in there. The one that caught Kimiko's eye the most, however, was the bean's meeting with what appeared to be another Shinigami. The officer in question appeared to be a Captain from Kishi's perspective, with long hair and somewhat bulky arms. They also had what appeared to be more motherly traits. This realization almost made me Kimiko laugh in the moment as she expressed herself to the Hollow. There was no doubt it. That was Celes, the Captain of the Tenth. "So you met my mentor!" She would tell it then, pleasantly surprised.

These retelling of events would go on for some time, perhaps almost an hour at best. Even though it was somewhat crude and very simple, Kimiko could understand the brunt of it, and it was enough to make her realize that Kishi was quite the tough creature. The fact that it had survived for so long with great tenacity was truly remarkable, and once again, the Captain was proven that the choice she had taken was a right one. If Humans could trust it, and more importantly, if Celes could trust it... then this Hollow truly was not a Hollow at heart, but rather a Shinigami. At least, for the time being. In so doing, once the retelling came to an end, it was a pleasure for her to then show it some of the various lessons given to beginners at her school. She wanted to see where it could go now that it had proven its worth to her, and what it could become in the near future as a higher member of Hollowkind. Who knows? Perhaps, through its actions, something will change in the hearts of those who govern the Soul Society and Las Noches alike.

The training would last for about two hours, the both which Kimiko had not notice passing. She would teach them the lessons with great patience and anticipation, enjoying her new student's willingness to learn and skill. There were a few times during which it found itself struggling to properly execute the Iaijutsu technique, but that was fine; after all, there was simply no way it would have gotten it right the first time. During this training session, the Captain would take the time to pull out the device she had used before and send the pictures she had taken of Rider to the Gotei 13's main responders. These pictures would come with text messages containing a simple request: retrieve these parts ASAP, bring them to Squad 12 for analysis. Her heightened speed allowed her to send the message in-between her analysis of Kishi's swings, allowing her to communicate with the responders as quickly as possible without being seen by the bean.

She had no real idea of what the scientists of the Soul Society were going to do with these parts. Frankly, for all she knew, it was entirely possible that they would be unable to understand what had been done to the body, and that therefore, this whole retrieving process could simply be a complete waste of time for both the officers who will come retrieve the parts and the people of the Twelfth. However, she felt that this analysis needed to be achieved. They needed to understand what had happened to the man that was Rider all along, and they needed to at least know who was responsible for this in order to prevent this from happening again. The "Chiba Chimon" name Rider had let out before it fully passed away was a hint, but one name would not be enough to get the full picture behind Rider's mutilated body. For all they knew, this was not the work of a single man. It could have been the work of tens, of hundreds, if not thousands of different individuals.

Only time will tell if this little investigation will be fruitful for them all.

---

Far away from the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, far beneath the city of Tokyo, various individuals watched. They - in their coats of white branded with what appeared to be some sort of corporate logo - sat onto a series of office chairs placed before a series of terminals and monitors on a wall. Some had glasses, some didn't, but their eyes were all fixated on a single greater screen placed at the very center of the wall. It showcased the body parts of the fallen Rider from above, with the smaller monitors by the side of the screen displaying closer angles of the scene. Each angle was identified with a tag, with each of those tags beginning with the name "Suijin". In total, there appeared to be five tags in total, as displayed by a nearby computer screen currently being handled by one of the coated individuals. The screen in question also displayed a number of different statistics connected to each tag, with the most prominent ones being two numbers. At a glance, it was unclear what they both meant. However, this knowledge appeared to be instinctive to the observers, as they appeared to barely question them.

Behind the coated individuals stood a single man. Unlike the others, his attire was more suited for the office, as he wore a suit and a tie. However, like many of the others, he too wore glasses, and his black hair had been combed back much like the hair of the other men in the room. He was younger, at the best in his twenties. However, he had a massive scar on his left cheek, one that had apparently left by some kind of blade a time ago. It was needless to say that the presence of this car caused him to appear much more intimidating than the rest of the people in the room, though to the others, it did not seem as though that was the only thing that made them slightly afraid of him. Regardless, he did not pay attention to their fear, instead keeping his eyes on the screen alongside the rest of the others in silence.

The silence would continue to stand in the room until, eventually, a single voice would resonate from the speakers of the screen on the wall. The voice was loud and clear, enough so that it was heard across the room, though its origin had been distorted by what appeared to be a radio filter:

"SUIJIN 1 TO SKYBOUND ALPHA. NO VITAL SIGNS DETECTED FROM ONI-32. REQUESTING RETRIEVAL. OVER."

The man's expression, a constant serious frown, did not change upon hearing the words. Instead, he turned his gaze towards one of the coated individuals, a woman who would press on a button and grab a nearby microphone before speaking into it. "Roger Suijin 1, standby for further directives. Over," she would tell the owner with the distorted voice. Once done, she would let go of the button before turning her head over her shoulder towards the scarred man. "What should we do now, Chimon?"  

For a moment, the one with the scar would remain silent, as though considering what they were supposed to do now that Oni-32 had been taken down. There was a split-second during which he appeared to be about to say something, a phrase which would most likely be connected to the standard protocols related to such instances. However, just before his mouth would open, he stopped himself. Then, with a deeper frown, he told the woman: "Leave it. A failure is a failure. It is of no importance to us whether the Shinigami understand its existence or not." He would then turn his back to the team of coated men and women before he began to walk towards a nearby door. "See that this unit is safely returned to headquarters. I will contact our subsidiary immediately."

The man would then exit the room, and with the door closed once more, the men and women would find themselves looking at each other with looks of worry, but also anticipation. Eventually, the earlier woman would press on the button of the microphone and speak once more: "Skybound Alpha to Suijin 1, request denied. Maintain cloak field and proceed to nearest exfiltration point. Over."

"... SOLID COPY SKYBOUND ALPHA. PROCEEDING TO EXFIL. ETA: 5 MINUTES. OVER AND OUT."

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[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

230 paragraphs = 1,150 TP for both participants