Fate (A Bleach Fanfiction)

Chapter 125: Clash! Kenpachi Zaraki vs. Maki Ichinose!

3rd person's pov

A large explosion shook the entire Seireitei, enough that people were thinking that it was a large earthquake. Feeling an immense drop in pressure, Toshiro became extremely terrified when he realized that it was Kuroki's reiatsu. "Oh god... Captain." Rangiku started, she stared out into the forest becoming concerned when they saw the large cloud of smoke in the sky. Jushiro looked to Toshiro, becoming worried for everyone's sake as Ichigo and his friends arrived. "Did you all see that?!" Orihime called out to them, "Yeah..." Rangiku nodded, turning her head to them. "What was that? Who else is fighting?" Chad asked, looking to Jushiro and Toshiro. The three of them became quiet not sure how to tell Ichigo what's really been going on, "Guys, what's going on? Why have I been feeling crazy amounts of reiatsu coming from my sister and Mitsuo?" Ichigo looked to the three adults standing before him, concern laced in his voice.

"Ichigo.. Kuroki.. She got out."

"What do you mean she got out?" Uryu asked.

"She got out of the room.. When Rukia woke up, she went to see Kuroki. Then Rukia was suddenly summoned elsewhere and Kuroki managed to slip out when nobody was watching." Rangiku started explaining. "But I thought Rui was watching her." Uryu said, "He was." Ichigo said, his voice hardening. "And he was.. Rui had stepped away for an errand. But he was coming back to bring Kuroki food when he realized that she was gone. They went looking for her.." Jushiro finished, looking to Ichigo. He stood silent for a moment, taking in the news which he just couldn't believe. "You mean to tell me, my sister slipped out of a locked room when nobody was watching because everybody was just TOO BUSY TO MAKE SURE SHE DIDN'T LEAVE?!!" He snapped loudly, startling everyone around him except Chad. "Listen, they found her.. But you're not gonna like where she ended up." Rangiku shook her head, "Where did she go?" Ichigo questioned, "She went looking for Renji and Rei.. And since those two were tailing Mitsuo... She went after them.. And she found them and Mitsuo. Apparently, Rui went after her. What's crazy is that Rei sent a page that Ishihara was here as well." Toshiro said, "What?" Uryu stood shocked, "What do you mean he's here? How could he be here? He has no soul reaper powers." Ichigo looked incredibly confused, he wasn't too sure of what to think. "We don't know the full story but apparently he does have soul reaper powers. Much like you and Kuroki. The problem is that he is trying to fight against Mitsuo." Jushiro explained, "Why didn't anybody tell me earlier about this?!! I could have stopped my sister!!" Ichigo shouted, "You couldn't have stopped her. By the time we found out she had gone, you were already off fighting Kariya." Toshiro explained, making Ichigo sigh and shake his head. "I have to go find her." Ichigo went to leave, but he was stopped when Maki Ichinose suddenly appeared. "You." Ichigo sneered, "If you think that I'll just let you get to Kariya, then you are wrong." Maki sneered, glaring harshly at them. "And how do you think you are going to stop us when we have you heavily outnumbered?" Toshiro questioned, adding to criticize his overconfidence.

"Rangiku, I need you to go with Captain Ukitake and check on the others." Toshiro ordered, but Rangiku protested but Toshiro reminds her that the Bount have been steadily increasing their power by absorbing Reishi ever since they arrived even if the Seireitei itself is not in immediate danger. With Rangiku acknowledging this and telling Jushiro to come with her, Ichinose asserts that none of them are going anywhere and releases his Shikai, Nijigasumi, causing his blade to shine brilliantly. As Ichigo and his friends reel back in surprise and find themselves blinded by the bright light, Toshiro rushes forward and stabs at Ichinose with his own Zanpakutō, only for Ichinose to be revealed to be an illusion that fades away around the blade, prompting a confused Toshiro to look back and see himself cut off from the rest of the group by a flat yellow-white light engulfing the area around Toshiro. Though still perplexed by this, Hitsugaya sees Ichinose running toward him and angrily moves to clash with him. Suddenly, Toshiro finds himself crossing blades with an equally flabbergasted Jushiro and pulls back his Zanpakutō. Upon being asked by Hitsugaya where he came from, Jushiro returns the question and explains that he was certain Ichinose was attacking him before it turned out to be Hitsugaya, who is left shocked by this.

"What the hell is going on?" Ichigo wondered. "Ichigo, don't get reckless. Otherwise, we'll end up attacking each other."

"Orihime, be careful. Any form of movement in this case could be really dangerous." Kurodo informed Orihime, "This must be the power of Ichinose's Zanpakutō, am I right?" Toshiro deduced, looking at him. "That's correct. Nijigasumi is a blade of light that reflects and refracts through the air around my enemies to create a new space." He explained.

Meanwhile....

Renji groaned, sitting up as he rubbed his eyes as his ears were ringing. He could barely hear something which was being shouted by Rui, as a  figure suddenly appeared in front of Renji. Rukia was already up and trying to do damage control since they had been close to a small town of the district. Rui and Rei were helping her getting civilians away from the area, while Ishihara was trying to look for Kuroki. Toshihiro had set off to find Renji, who had been blown a bit further back into town than any of them. "Renji!" That figure turned out to be Toshihiro, who was slightly wounded from the blast. "Renji, are you alright?" He asked, placing a hand on Renji's shoulder. "Where is she?" Renji asked, "Where is Kuro?!" He panicked, looking up at Toshihiro. "Calm down, we will find her. Now, are you hurt?" He pulled Renji to his feet, the two coughing from the dust in the air. "No, I'm fine. Where are the others?" He asked, looking around as the air cleared up.

"Rukia, Rei and Rui are evacuating the area. We were near a village the whole time, so they caught in the explosion before we could get them away from here. Yukio is somewhere around here and Ishihara is looking for Kuroki right now." He explained, "Let's go find-"

"I found her!!" Everyone's heads snapped over to their left, hearing Ishihara and Yukio's shout. Rui pushed for Rukia and Rei to go check on the two of them, while Toshihiro and Renji rushed over to the two. They had found Kuroki pinned under a shed, which had collapsed when she was thrown into it. The four of them caught up to Yukio and Ishihara in no time, all of them taken back by the state they found her in. "Oh god." Rukia gasped, Kuroki's wounds were open and she was unconscious. "Kuro!!" Renji immediately dived in, pulling wood off of his girlfriend. Toshihiro joined in, the two pulling the boards off as Rui appeared with bandages. "Come on, we gotta wrap her wounds." Renji picked Kuroki's body up carefully, beating himself up silently in his head as they started to treat her wounds. "Where is Mitsuo?" Ishihara finally noticed that Mitsuo was nowhere in sight, which made him worry.

"He's gone." Rui spoke.

"Gone?"

"Gone. He's gone for good."

"Meaning what exactly?" Renji questioned, looking up at him.

"Either he's dead. Or he found a way to go back to my realm. Either way, he's gone. Which means.."

"You can go back home." Rukia smiled sadly, "I will go back home when our fight with Kariya is done. Something tells me that it is far from over. I'm not leaving you all without one less person to help stop him." Rui said, smiling at the group. "Thank you, Rui." Yukio smiled, "It's no problem." He smiled back, "Let's get Kuro to Captain Unohana. She can help her." Renji picked up Kuroki carefully, still upset with letting this happen and the group headed to the fourth division.