𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒍𝒚 (𝑲𝒖𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒂𝒌𝒊) 𝑬𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 »« 𝙱𝙻𝙴𝙰𝙲𝙷/ᴋɴʏ

vii.

    "This is a horrible plan!" Uryū hisses venomously as Ichigo adjusts his footing. Ichigo gives the Quincy a look, ignoring the shocks of... whatever Quincy arrow was made of coursing through his body.

  "Do you have a better idea? We need to break the mask to defeat the Hollow, and unless I'm mistaken, neither of us can fly!" Ichigo states with a small glare and flushed cheeks.

  He sat crouched on top of an arrow, his wild power making it large enough to sit comfortably on top. He had his zanpakutō off to the side, parallel to the arrow.

  "Do you have a way to get down?" Uryū asks, slowly lifting his bow. He draws back the arrow, aiming up at the Hollow walking out of the hole it had made in the sky.

  "...I'll figure it out. We need to fight the Hollow first." Ichigo looks up at the Hollow with a narrowed gaze.

  Uryū doesn't say anything as he focuses on the Hollow. He sighs quietly, ignoring how his fingertips split and bleed from the amount of power he was controlling.

  "Are you ready?" Uryū watches the Hollow slowly open its mouth. Ichigo nods his head, adjusting himself one last time.

  "Now!" Ichigo sucks in a sharp breath at the sudden pull of gravity. Everything blurs as the arrow shears through the air faster than Ichigo expected. He lifts his zanpakutō above his head, steadily getting closer to the ginormous Hollow.

  "KUROSAKI ICHIGO!" The familiar screech makes Ichigo wince. He's so dead if that's who he thinks it is.

  "Flower Breathing." His hands tighten around the hilt. "Fourth Form: Crimson Hanagoromo!"

  Ichigo watches his blade twist and curve into the Hollow's mask, slicing a quarter of it before it drags through the arm. He couldn't hear anything past the earsplitting screech that follows after.

  A warm iron taste wells up from Ichigo's throat. The electrifying blue fades from Ichigo as he falls, taking his own power with it. Everything darkens behind the stars that appear in his eyes. Tawny eyes flutter close with blood flying out of his mouth.

•••

    Ichigo opens his eyes with a deep breath. He stared up at the dark storm clouds slowly ambling their way up. Rays of crimson sunlight shone through the cracks and holes that lay scattered across the entire expanse of clouds. He blinks when he realizes that he was laying on his back, not on his side.

  Ichigo blinks again and slowly sits up. The skyscraper he was sitting on is what he notices next. He was sitting on the side of a skyscraper... He glances around, trying to gather his bearings, trying to see if he recognizes anything around him to tell him where he was.

  Endless skyscrapers across the expanse of the vertical sky. They were all different heights and sizes, but every single one of them were old and covered in overgrown nature. All of them were completely overrun by large roots and many had completely broken off from themselves, only to be barely held together by those roots.

  At the bottom–well, at the ground, hundreds, probably even thousands of wisteria trees proudly stood amidst the abandoned skyscrapers. Their roots were what had overrun all of the skyscrapers. Along the tree roots, like vines, were blossoming orange and pink flowers–orange peonies, pink lilies, light pink roses and... and orange calla lilies. He even sees a rare spot of white orchids or two in the mix of colorful flowers.