Hollow Hunter: a Bleach Fan Fiction

23: Back to Normal

Evie

It wasn't fair! Hanbu was going to die, just so I could get my powers back?! Powers aren't worth another life! I want powers to save lives!

I glanced at Hanbu. He had a serious look on his face, but I could see that he was hiding his feeling of dread. He's about to die for crying out loud!

I glanced at Ichigo. I could see that he was excited, and for a second, anger flared inside me. But only for a second. I reminded myself that I hadn't told Ichigo, Orihime, Chad or Uryu that Hanbu was going to die. I couldn't bring myself to tell them. It wasn't my place, either.

We quickly arrived in the World of the Living, Kisuke's basement to be exact.

The man himself stared at us in surprise. "Back so soon?" He stood up.

"Can we get started?" Hanbu asked irritably.

"You're still a perfect being," Kisuke commented.

Hanbu winced.

Kisuke laughed. "Everyone, go head upstairs. Hanbu, you stay with me. I want to speak with you."

I climbed into my body and we all started walking out of the basement, save for Hanbu. I glanced back at him. He looked really nervous, but sad at the same time. I wanted to stay and comfort him, but... I just knew that if I did that, it would only make this harder on him.

Once we were upstairs, we were greeted by Yoruichi. "Took you long enough," she stated simply.

I blinked back my surprise, but no one else reacted, like they were expecting this.

We sat down, not really sure what we were going to do. Kisuke was in charge here.

"Why is Hanbu so sad?" Orihime suddenly asked, shattering the silence.

Rukia glanced at me. I only looked down, clenching my fists tightly. She sighed, knowing I didn't want to be the one to break the news. "Hanbu is still a perfect being," she began. "In order to restore Ichigo and Evie's powers, we need all of the shard's of Rachel. Hanbu has the last one."

Realization dawned on everyone's faces, except for those of us who were already aware of this: me, Rachel, Rukia and apparently Yoruichi.

Rachel put her hand on my shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. For a second, I forgot that it wasn't Yajimaru, and it took everything I had to not flinch.

"This isn't fair!" Ichigo exclaimed. "I don't want my powers back if it means losing someone!" He glanced at me. "Oh... Uh, sorry Evie."

I sighed. "I know. I feel the same way..."

We sat in silence. No one wanted to speak. This new information hung in the air, causing a cloud of depression.

About fifteen minutes later, Kisuke and Hanbu entered the room.

We all stared at Hanbu in shock. He didn't have white hair anymore, and he was happy, relieved.

"W-what's g-going on?" I stuttered.

Kisuke laughed at our shock. "What? You thought I'd let a teammate die for our benefit? I found a way to remove the shard without killing him."

I suddenly jumped up and pounced on both of them. "I'm so glad," I whispered, my eyes sparkling with unshed tears.

Everyone laughed.

"We better get started," Rachel said once we quieted down. "My hold on Yajimaru will only last so long."

"Let's blow this Popsicle stand!" Michelle exclaimed from Ichigo's mouth.

"Alright," Kisuke nodded. "Everyone, we need to clear this room."

Once everything and everyone was out of the room, Kisuke took out some chalk and began drawing two circles, one inside the other. After the circles, he began to draw some runes inside. What they meant? I had no idea.

"Done." Kisuke straightened, admiring his artwork. "Rachel, Ichigo, Evie? Get comfortable inside the circle."

The three of us walked back in the room, while Kisuke stood to the side, just outside the outer circle. We sat down, cross legged.

"How will we prevent Yajimaru from escaping?" Uryu asked.

"Bakudo number 9, Horin!" Rukia suddenly shouted. A yellow rope like spell with an orange hue shot from her extended palm. The rope shot straight at Rachel. "Will that effect the ritual?"

Kisuke shook his head. "Nope. Now, to begin." He clapped his hands together and put it at the end of the circle. Blue lightning seemed to emit from his hand, and went around the end of the circle.

Once again, me and Ichigo screamed out from the pain, Rachel's screams in perfect harmony with ours.

Darkness engulfed me.

Ichigo

I groaned.

I just love being an experiment for alchemy...

My eyes fluttered open. I looked over to the right to see Yajimaru unconscious, still trapped in the kido. There were no more blue lines pulsing throughout his body, and his hair was back to brown.

I glanced to the left to see Evie still unconscious, looking peaceful. She even had a small smile on her lips.

'Zangetsu?' I thought.

Welcome back, Ichigo.

I sighed in relief. It was nice having my powers back to normal.

I sat up. My conscious friends looked relived.

"Did it work?" Chad asked.

I clenched my hand, once again, able to sense all of the spiritual pressure of those that helped me gain my powers again. Except this time, I could sense some of Evie's spirit energy.

"Yeah," I said, a small smile spreading as I stood up. "I got my powers back." It was nice no longer having to wear a fingerless glove.

Kisuke sighed in relief. "Good. I wasn't sure if that was actually going to work."

"Are you serious?" A voice groaned from behind me. We turned to see Evie sitting, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

Evie stood up and we stepped out of the room.

"It's good to have my powers back," Evie commented.

I nodded in agreement.

"I would beg to differ," Yajimaru spoke from behind us.

Evie immediately went into the defence position. "You're out numbered. You don't stand a chance."

Yajimaru laughed harshly and easily broke the kido chaining him. He stood up. "I could take you on easily, despite me being only a half-being."

Evie's fingerless gloves unraveled and wrapped around her body.

Kisuke coughed to catch their attention. "If you're going to fight, can you at least do it where you won't destroy my shop?"