Bleach: The Ryoka

Chapter 4: Incidents

    Night falls on the Soul Society. Everyone goes to bed for the night and they wait for the morning to come. However, the Soul Reapers know no sleep especially in such a state of emergency that has been put into effect a few hours earlier when word got around that the supposed ryoka broke into the Seireitei by breaking through the Sekkiseki walls. Groups of active Soul Reapers are roaming the winding, maze-like streets of the Soul Society hoping to search out the culprit. Yet as much as they will look over the Seireitei many times over, they have no luck finding any suspicious person that could be the ryoka.

    Back at the Northern Wall of the Seireitei, Yoruichi and Soi Fon are overlooking the clean-up of the wreckage caused by the huge and powerful kido blast that broke through the Sekkiseki wall. Luckily for everyone that there were no casualties or injuries--just property damage.

    Soi Fon says, "It's pretty amazing that in all of this destruction that no one was even hurt. It's still pretty farfetched as well that someone was able to even blast his or her way through the Seireitei wall!" She slams her fist against a nearby wall of a building that she and Yoruichi are standing by. "How is it possible?" Soi Fon asks. "Sekkiseki is supposed to repel all spiritual energy no matter how strong it is!" Yoruichi is staying quiet while watching the clean-up crew clear out the rubble and starting to rebuild the buildings.

    "Nothing is as invincible as they sound Soi Fon," she finally says. "Everything and everyone has a weak spot." Soi Fon turns to look at her former mentor.

    After a pause Soi Fon then intercedes, "Lady Yoruichi? About earlier..." Yoruichi turns around to look at her as she speaks. Soi Fon continues, "Earlier you were saying about something that happened in the world of the living." Yoruichi then recalls that she was telling her about Haru and how he disappeared without a trace.

    Seeing no reason to hide it from Soi Fon, Yoruichi tells her of how she first met Haru, his journey to become a Soul Reaper, and his supposed abduction by Aizen. It took her a few minutes to tell Soi Fon everything she knew about Haru.

    Soi Fon puts her hand on her chin and says, "You actually believe there could be a connection between the ryoka and the kidnapping of this new acquaintance of yours, Lady Yoruichi?"

    "Of course it's what I think," Yoruichi assures Soi Fon, "but I'm not for sure yet." She leans against the wall and looks up at the night sky. Yoruichi starts to wonder how Haru is doing and where he could be now.

    Soi Fon sees that she looks worried and says, "Lady Yoruichi I'm sure things will turn out fine." Her head turns away from Yoruichi because she usually doesn't say anything like that; well, recently that is.

    Then suddenly a collision between two spiritual pressures ring across the atmosphere. Yoruichi, Soi Fon, and all Soul Reapers can feel it.

    Soi Fon interjects, "It's that ryoka again! This time one of our own is fighting it, but whom?"

    Yoruichi hears the Soul Reapers that are cleaning up the rubble behind her saying that one of the spiritual pressures belongs to an Ikkaku Madarame and Yoruichi remembers him. The more she feels the spiritual pressures, the more it comes to her attention that the other force Ikkaku is fighting has a very familiar presence. Her eyes narrow when this comes to her. The spiritual pressures then stop and the air is quiet again.

    Yoruichi immediately shunpos south from the Northern Wall towards the location of the spiritual pressures. In no time at all she arrives at what appears to be the scene of a battle. Structures have crumbled and the ground is scarred. Yoruichi looks around for any survivors. Soi Fon appears out of shunpo behind her and views the wreckage.

    "It's just like back at the Northern Wall," she states. "Only instead of a crater it's all a battlefield." The two walk around some more. Eventually they come across a bald man with some red eyeliner at the outer corners of his eyes buried under a pile of rubble that was once a wall. This is Ikkaku Madarame that they have found.

    Later a group of Soul Reapers that specialize in medicine arrive and they treat Ikkaku of any injuries he received from his opponent. It is discovered that Ikkaku only got bruises and a few broken bones here and there and he is in no immediate peril at all.

    Yoruichi and Soi Fon both receive statements from a Soul Reaper named Hanataro Yamada who is the head of the healers. He tells them that Ikkaku told them who he had fought and what he looks like. The description given of the enemy is that it's a male in his teens, has shaggy brown hair, blue eyes, and appears to be wearing something exactly like a Soul Reaper uniform except the sleeves are going above his elbows. Yoruichi finds herself shocked from the description given because she only knows one other person in her whole life that fits it... and last time she checked he was apparently forcefully taken to Hueco Mundo.

    Hanataro also informs them that Ikkaku said that his opponent did have a weapon that appeared to be a zanpakuto, but he never used it at all and only used his fists. This reassures Yoruichi that it's got to be who she's thinking of: Haru. He's been very excellent with hand-to-hand combat in the week he's been a Soul Reaper.

    Still it doesn't add things up for her. Haru gets kidnapped, a ryoka breaks into the Soul Society and the Seireitei, and Ikkaku claims the ryoka could be Haru. So many possible conclusions are running through Yoruichi's mind with the events that have occurred.

    Soi Fon walks back to her after having a little talk with Ikkaku.

    She tells Yoruichi, "From his story our ryoka is now heading even more south, and if we want him alive we got to move fast and now."

    Yoruichi asks, "Is there a hurry Soi Fon?"

    "Yes," she replies. "Our key witness just told his captain, Zaraki Kenpachi, about the ryoka and now he went off after him looking for the fight of his life." Yoruichi remembers the battle-loving Kenpachi who is known for looking for powerful people to just fight.

    "Then let's go now!" Yoruichi commands. She and Soi Fon shunpos south from the scene of the battle. They have gone for a couple of miles under about 15 seconds when Yoruichi has a bad feeling about something and stops. Soi Fon stops ahead of her when she notices and goes back to her.

    "Lady Yoruichi?" Soi Fon curiously asks. "Is something the matter?"

    Yoruichi answers, "I don't know... I'm getting a bad feeling about something." She looks out ahead in front of her at the quiet Seireitei that stands before them.

    A few moments later two very large colored spiritual pressures appear far from Yoruichi and Soi Fon. The pressures are of a very high magnitude and really should not be taken too lightly. They move towards each other. Once they touch one another, the collision creates a huge spiritual shock wave.

    Soi Fon exclaims, "These spiritual pressures are incredible!" She attempts to maintain her position from the shock wave. "One of them is Captain Kenpachi's, that's for sure! And I recognize the other one from the battle Ikkaku had! That's the ryoka!"

    After the spiritual pressures dissipate, Yoruichi and Soi Fon shunpo as fast as they can to the sight of the fight. When they get there, they find a repeat of the Northern Wall and Ikkaku's battle, except they're now combined. There is a crater and the signs of a sword fight as well. The two look down in the center of the crater and they discover a large man wearing not only a Soul Reaper's uniform, but a white sleeveless hiyori too over it. Well at least it was white. Now it's stained red from blood that has seeped from cuts and gashes that cover his unconscious body from head to toe.

    Soi Fon stammers, "I... I don't believe it... the ryoka defeated him?!"