Heroes

Chapter Thirty-Eight

I knew Ichigo was usually an immature, egotistic idiot who would fight anyone who so much as insulted him, but his reaction surprised me.

“Hell no!” he said bluntly, jerking his head to the side. “I’m not gonna fight you! Obviously you have some kind of Shinigami complex or something, but talk to your psychiatrist about that; it’s no problem of mine.”

“So what?” Ishida challenged. “Scared? Oh wait, no…it’s about Miss Kuchiki.”

“What about Rukia?” Tara interjected angrily.

“Since Kurosaki is a Substitute Shinigami, you need her for everything. Without her, you can’t do as much as wipe your nose.”

Ichigo’s fist clenched and his breath hastened. “What…Quincy?” He grabbed Kon (in pill form) out of his front pocket and popped the pill, transforming him into a Soul Reaper. “So what’s this game of yours?”

Ishida scoffed. “I figured it would be obvious. A Hollow-exterminating contest.”

Ichigo scoffed. “And just why would I do that?” 

Ishida sighed, pulling out a small, TUMS-like pill from his pocket. “Because if I set off this Hollow bait and end up missing a monster, someone’s soul could get eaten.”

“Hold it!” I yelled, putting a hand out to each of them. “Are you freaking insane, Ishida? People could get hurt!”

He adjusted his glasses firmly. “Not if I get to them all firs--”

“STOP ACTING LIKE A CHILD!” I shrieked, making him be quiet. “Who cares who can kill the most Hollows! The thing is, Ishida, we know what happens to the souls of Hollows once you exterminate them, and I refuse to let that happen to innocent souls!”

“How are they innocent?!” Ishida yelled. “If they were innocent, then they wouldn’t be Hollows, now would they?”

I sighed angrily. “You’re such a dipshit, ya know? Talking all big and bad like you know every damn thing in the world, but you don’t even know what a Hollow is?!” I took a deep breath, restraining myself from seriously kicking his ass to next Tuesday. “When a soul is left unattended for too long without being Konso-ed, it becomes a Hollow. Or if someone is evil, they become a Hollow. But those that are evil, when Konso-ed, are handed to Hell, not forgiven like your Quincy folklore says. But when your arrow pierces them, they just cease to exist. They aren’t forgiven. They’re annihilated. And I can’t stand to see innocent souls be punished like that. It’s not fair.”

“She’s right,” Tara said. “You can’t punish the innocent. Plus, how does it make you feel to know that ninety-percent of those Hollows you killed did nothing wrong? I mean really, get the fuck over yourself.”

We all marveled for a moment about Tara cursing, but it was a short-lived astoundation, for suddenly there was a huge hit of spiritual pressure. 

“Wha--” I cowered, almost being knocked to the ground. “What the hell is that?”

“Two Huge Hollows,” Ishida clarified. “One in the park, one by the school. Powerful ones.”

“Okay, let’s split,” I said. “Get more ground covered. Ishida, you go with me to the school. Tara, you go with Kurosaki and head to the park. We gotta get these things killed before someone gets hurt.”

They swiftly nodded in agreement and we headed to our destinations as quick as our feet could carry us. Because Ishida was a huge race-cheater (he freaking Quincy flash-stepped), he had to grab onto me and prettymuch drag me there so we could get there with haste. When we arrived it was a freaky sight.