Magical Heartstrings - Bleach X Fairy Tail Fanfic

Chapter 32 - Friend or Foe?

This chapter is dedicated to Akiko_Ichimaru! Happy reading! ^^

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Airi pov:

"The air is getting thicker and thicker. Nee san, I'm uneasy." Hanataro gripped my hand tighter.

We were getting close to the source of reiatsu and I too could feel the slow increase of pressure in the air. Whoever the person was, he or she wasn't worried about keeping their reiatsu to minimum. Either that or the person was deliberately letting others sense the reiatsu to intimidate them. And I have to say, they were doing a good job.

"I know, Hanataro. I'm feeling even more uneasy because this reiatsu feels somewhat familiar." I narrowed my eyes as I stared into the pitch blackness in front of us.

"Familiar? Is it someone from Soul Society?" Hanataro asked, hopeful.

"No....definitely not. And it's not anyone from Karakura Town either. That's the reason why I don't understand why I feel like I've felt this presence before."

Who could it be? Was it someone I had met a long time ago? Perhaps someone I don't remember....someone I had fought against or Ichi nii had fought against or someone in Soul Society had fought against. It was too familiar to my liking. But I couldn't figure out who it was.

"Don't worry, Ai chan! If it's someone you think you've met before, maybe the person isn't an enemy." Lector chimed. I looked at him and gave him a half hearted smile, hoping that his words would magically become true.

"I hope it is as you you say, Lector. I really don't want to fight against this person....whoever he or she is." I mumbled.

A few more minutes of walking, and we came to some sort of open door. The space beyond the door was well lit and as we stepped in, every bit of darkness that we had been walking through, disappeared. This place was a big room with huge crystal protrusions from the floor. There were big windows through which natural light entered and reflected off the crystals to give brilliant colors on the walls. It was surprising that we could see beautiful meadows from the windows despite the fact that we had been walking in pitch darkness several feet below natural ground level.

"This place is strange." Sting mumbled from beside me.

I narrowed my eyes and looked around, trying to find the source of reiatsu. It was moving in this room but I couldn't see who it was because of the rocks. My eyes followed the direction of movement though, figuring out what the person was trying to do.

It looked like the person was just randomly walking around. His pace was slow and in no particular direction.

I narrowed my eyes further when I sensed another source of reiatsu going toward the stronger one. Even though this second source was weak, it had the same wavelength as the stronger one.

But it was like the weaker one was sneaking up on the other. Their movements were slow, stopping every now and then and waiting for movement from the stronger one. With every change in direction the stronger made, the weaker crept up from behind.

"Airi? What's going on?" Sting asked, noticing how alert I was.

"Shh. Quiet." I just shushed him and continued to keep track of both reiatsus.

A few more seconds passed and the weaker reiatsu ran towards the stronger one. As they collided, we heard a startled yelp and cough. Their reiatsu shot up making my heart nearly break out of my ribs in alarm.

Not wasting another moment, I shoved Sting and Hanataro behind me as I drew my katana out. "Bankai! Tenshashugo Tenjú!"

I held up my blade defensively. My breathing and heart rate had picked up and I was nervous. I had broken out into a sweat too. Despite the tight grip I had on my katana, I was trembling. I felt like the energy had drained out of me in an instant because I was so struck by one instant of fear. My jaw was clenched to make sure my teeth didn't chatter from the way my whole body was shuddering.