With the Captains suffering casualties and heavy injuries on their side, all hope seemed to be lost... until Shinji Hirako appeared, along with the rest of the former Shinigami. Though the aid of the Vizards certainly helped to draw the battle in their favor, it seemed Aizen's power alone proved too much for them.
With a smile, Toshioni held his ground. He had already put distance between himself and Roy with his usage of Hirenkyaku. Taking deep breaths, the young Quincy saw that his side kick had hit its target. Not only that, but his mentor was clutching his side a little. Wow, he really was good at this. There wasn't that much of a skill gap between them in hand to hand combat. Of course, whatever skill Toshioni had was still rough; Roy probably knew about twenty ways to dismember him.
The smile on his face faded when Roy again summoned his bow. Shit, this again? Staggering a little, he tried to start moving to his left. His pulsating reiastu gave him small bursts of energy but that wouldn't be enough. He would have to use Hirenkyaku to dodge the barrage of arrows that were currently being shot at him. Dylandy-sensei really didn't hold back against him. Shit.
Grinding his teeth, Toshioni felt his reiastu push him to carry him further. It was an extremely sloppy Hirenkyaku, but it worked. He strung together several of these half-ass Hirenkyaku to place himself inevitably at Roy's right side. He hadn't just avoided the barrage, he had also made a flanking attempt to the older Quincy. As he had used Hirenkyaku he had made a semi-circle to place him only a few feet away from his mentor.
Using the momentum, Toshioni pivoted all the way around on his heel as he slid towards Roy. As he did this, he moved his arms with him such that they could gain momentum. He was biting his lip so hard that it drew blood. The pain allowed him to focus on controlling his unstable reiastu. It spiked during the pivot and it actually maintained itself for what would ensue.
Once he had completed this pivot that occurred in a fraction of a second, he shot out both palms forward. This was much like his earlier attack on Roy's stomach which had been swatted aside so easily. This one had a bit more bite with the young Quincy's reiastu completely backing it. He wanted to draw back and retreat, but he couldn't. His arms were too tired; he wasn't lasting much longer.
Roy had expected the attack, he knew that the boy would try to flank him, and Roy had prepared for such a tactic. HE could feel the force behind the attack before he could even land it. Roy wouldn't let it land on him, he couldn't. That kind of attack would do more damage then Toshioni's other attacks. Releasing his bow, Roy did an impressive dodge maneuver only seen in kung fu movies.
Placing his right hand on the boy's head, Roy used the momentum to cartwheel over him as Toshioni shot his hands forward. Spinning in the air above the boy, Roy could see the blood dripping from his mouth. Toshioni had been biting his lip to focus, a habit he had seen in younger soldiers when they tried to shoot a man.
By the way Toshioni stood where Roy once was, he could tell he was at his limit. No more hand to hand, Toshioni needed to release the reiastu that was still inside him. "Alright, form your bow and fire as many arrows you can in the air." Roy ordered as he stayed on guard, believing that the boy might try to attack once more. If he fainted, Roy was ready to catch him.
His breaths became more and more labored after Roy dodged his attack. This was due mainly to Roy's added weight to him as he flipped over him. His knees began to wobble extensively. Shit, he wasn't going to be able to stand for much longer. Toshioni was a little disappointed in himself; he didn't realize how long he had been training.
He tried to take a step forward, and his left leg almost gave out on him. Doubling over, he tried to take slower breaths to steady himself. It was to no avail; he was shaking too furiously. He faintly heard his mentor tell him to fire as many arrows as he could. He nodded slightly and breathed a quick "Hai". He continued to shake as he straightened up a little.
Raising his trembling arm, he knew he wouldn't be able to fire many arrows. His reiastu was still pulsating, but its radius was a mere fraction of what it had been earlier. Biting his lip again, his bow began to appear slightly. It only fluttered in and out of existence, pulsating like his reiastu. He moved his other hand and pulled back one meager arrow. He fired it into the ground and moved to do so again. He fired only a handful more before his pulsating reiastu stopped altogether.
As this happened, Toshioni fell forward. He didn't have the strength required to stop himself at all. He just continued to fall as he inevitably blacked out. As his eyes closed he was able to say one word.
It seemed the latter was what would happen to Toshioni, the boy had exhausted a lot of reiastu, and had started to faint. Roy, being responsible for this, he quickly made his way in front of the boy and caught him as he fell. Roy held him by one arm, letting Toshioni rest for a moment as his eyes fell shot. "You did good." Was all he said as the world around Toshioni blacked out.
After a moment of carrying the young man back to the school, to which he took him to his office, and placed him on the couch. The boy would be out of it for some time, so Roy placed a cool rag over his forehead, and started to cook on his hot plate.
After an hour or so, Roy had completed a hearty lunch for Toshioni. An Irish stew brewed on the hot plate, a loaf of bread warming nearby, and Roy managed to find a couple of sodas in his mini fridge in his draw. He'll need to stock up on more and added it to his list of groceries.
Looking at the time, Roy decided that Toshioni rested enough and found some smelling salt to wave under Toshioni's nose. That would certainly get him up. "Raise and shine."
Toshioni barely heard what Roy had said to him. By that time every system was pretty much shutting down from exhaustion as he delved into the deepest sleep he had ever really known. In this sleep he had a single dream. It didn't really make that much sense but dreams never typically did. In this dream he was fighting. He wasn't fighting Roy, or anyone he really knew. He was fighting a silhouette at first. It mirrored his movements and was actually getting the best of him.
Then, the black covering bled away to reveal Xuan. He was still looking rather human and hadn't used his Resurrección yet. That would explain why the fight had actually been a little bit back and forth. The white haired Arrancar now used his whip to attack the young Quincy. He dodged this attack but got hit by his poison-needle attack thing that Xuan had used in their actual fight. Exhaling sharply, he tried to deal with the pain. This was easier said than done as he had been hit with all five needles. He shot a couple arrows at Xuan; a few of them even hit. The Arrancar even began to bleed. But now, he raised his whip and did that thing where he released.
But, this was where the dream began to really stop making sense. Instead of taking his scorpion-like form...Xuan turned into...well...him. He looked exactly like Toshioni with a few exceptions. His skin was...extremely pale, barren of all color. His eyes were black except for the irises which were still brown. And he had two horns coming off of his head. Like those of a bull which were pointed forward. This was Toshioni...as an Arrancar.
The Arrancar Toshioni didn't waste any time. He quickly charged at his Quincy counterpart and swung what looked like a Seele Schneider at him. However, it wasn't blue like a normal Seele Schneider; it was black and seemed to be quite solid. Toshioni blocked the overhanded attack with his own Seele Schneider but he felt his whole body protest when their blades met. The Arrancar was so much stronger than him. His knees buckled under the force of the attack. The Arrancar simply laughed at him; it was horrifying the power difference between them. There was absolutely no way Toshioni could escape the wrath of this being. He was going to die here.
About this time, he smelled something most unpleasant and heard his mentor speak to him. "Raise and shine." Wait...Roy wasn't here. What the hell was all this? He inhaled deeply and a foul odor pervaded this dream and he became conscious once more. Toshioni hadn't quite distinguished the difference between reality and dream when he had woken up. As such, he thrashed about violently on the couch that he actually fell off of it. Throughout this whole seizure-like action, he had been screaming. All he remembered was himself as an Arrancar. Scary shit.
He trembled a little on the floor and looked around. He was in Roy's office. Sitting up, he looked up at the older Quincy. Wait, had all of that been a dream? A hallucination? Either way, he was safe from it now. He was safe now. Roy wouldn't let anything happen to him. Standing slowly, he sat on the couch and breathed slowly.
"When did I get here Dylandy-sensei?" As he spoke, his nostrils were filled with a much more pleasant aroma than the smelling salt. It smelled like...food. He looked around and saw a hot plate. His stomach growled a little at this. It agreed upon his hunger. "And what is that smell?"
He didn't know what was on Toshioni's mind but the way he tossed and turned, it must have been bad. A nightmare most likely, but he'll talk about that later.
"When did I get here Dylandy-sensei?"
Roy handed Toshioni a bowl of the stew and ripped a piece of the baguette he had ready before he sat down. "About an hour ago, you passed out from using all your reiastu." Roy explained as he started to eat his own stew. He loved making this, it reminded him of his mother.
"And what is that smell?"
He smiled at this question, he prided himself in cooking. All his lady friends enjoyed breakfast that he made for them after all. "An old family recipe, Irish Stew. My mother always said it would put meat on your bones and revitalize you soul." Typically she was right, it did put meat on his bones and it warmed his heart every time he felt like reminiscing.
As Roy ate, he looked up at Toshioni from time to time. The counselor in him was kicking in now. "Wanna talk about your dream?" Asking with a bit of concern in his voice. He wouldn't press the matter if Toshioni refused, but it would be good to get it off his chest. He ripped a small piece of his half of the baguette and dipped it in the thick stew for flavor.
Toshioni eyed over the soup a little before shrugging and trying some. It was...different; he kind of liked it. Toshioni was not one for soup typically but he actually enjoyed this. It was no sushi by any means, but it would do. He smiled a little at Roy as he took a piece of the bread. It too was pretty good. It was a little different. He would have to learn some of these recipes. Cooking the same meals for himself got monotonous.
"About an hour ago, you passed out from using all your reiastu."
"Really? I thought that using all my reiastu would...you know...kill me." He shrugged a little. Now he knew. He continued eating until his stew was all gone and his bread had vanished. He nodded slightly as Roy told him that it was an Irish family recipe. That's what it was. "Dylandy" sounded like an Irish name, after all. That would also explain why this stew tasted so different. Nodding to himself, Toshioni figured that the Irish probably had a different spice palate.
He chuckled a little as Roy said what his mother had told him. His own mother would never had said anything like that. She would've simply told him that it was food and it was good for him. Roy's mother had been more colorful with her attempts to get her child to eat his food. For a moment, he wished that he had had something like that in his own childhood. Maybe he would've if his mother didn't have to play both fields as a parent.
"Wanna talk about your dream?"
Toshioni scratched the back of his head nervously and looked at Dylandy-sensei with a weird expression. He really was kind of uneasy about it. But, if anyone could help, it was probably this man. He was his mentor and he knew a lot about being a Quincy and shit.
"I don't care to tell you Dylandy-sensei, but are you sure you really want to hear? It was a dream, after all. Those tend to be a little messed up as far as standards of normalcy go."
As the two men ate, Roy had hoped that Toshioni would have just talked about, but like a typical teenager he was reluctant to do so. Holding his hand out to collect the bowl for another go.
He went ahead and poured Toshioni another bowl, handing it to him as he sat back down. "Dreams are the royal road to the unconscious." Roy answered quoting some Freud at the young man. The chances that he would know any Freud was doubtful, but it may encourage the man to talk.
He finished his food, Roy put the bowl down, and crossed his leg. Certainly Roy can decode the dream Toshioni had dreamt, it was part of his training as a counselor. "You can trust me, nothing will leave this room."
At that he looked away. Toshioni really didn't want to talk about his dream. The more he thought about it, the more he was convinced that his dream was just silly. He would never be an Arrancar...ever. That just wasn't something that happened to people like him. There was no way. But...there was a lingering notion in his subconscious. It urged him to tell his mentor; it begged him to get it out in the open. He couldn't deny this notion any longer. Nodding, slightly, he looked up at Roy and played with the bowl of soup in his hands.
"Okay. Well, here goes. It started out I was fighting this black silhouette in some kind of dreamscape. Then the blackness melted away and it turned out to be Xuan...ermmmmm...an Arrancar that I fought. The fight was working out pretty much like our last in that we were pretty evenly matched. Then he went to use his Resurreccion. Then things got really crazy. Instead of becoming his usual form he turned into...me. Except, this wasn't me; it was an Arrancar version of me. It had really pale skin and black eyes with my same irises. Also, it had bull-horns or something that were pointed forward."
"After it transformed it didn't waste much time. It rushed at me and attacked with a black Seele Schneider. It was so strong. My whole body protested to blocking against him. I had to take a knee to avoid being broken in half and it simply laughed at me. If you hadn't woken me up when you did, that thing would've killed me."
With that, he looked down at his soup. He had been stirring it the whole time he had explained his dream. Breathing in deeply, he raised his spoon and took a mouthful of the soup. It wasn't as hot but it was still warm. The soup tasted just as good and he smiled a bit as he pulled the spoon out of his mouth. Continuing to eat, he looked out the window. It was getting late. Shit, he should be going home soon or something. His mother knew he was training but she would begin to worry if he wasn't home at a decent hour.
Such a dark dream, one full of fear and uncertainty, Roy had a dream similar to that during his encounters with the unknown. It is not something that can be easily written off and as much as Roy hated to admit it, Toshioni would have to face his fears on his own. Placing his empty bowl on the desk behind him, Roy uncrossed his legs, and leaned forward while putting his hands together. "Toshioni, it seems that after that fight you've experience some post-traumatic stress. It's understandable of course, that was the first time you really fought something like an Arrancar, correct?" Roy needed some information on this subject, it would better help him help Toshioni.
The way Toshioni looked out the window, Roy figured what must be on his mind. He looked at his watch and it was getting pretty late for him to stay with Roy. With the way rumors spread in this school, some people might think that Toshioni confessed his undying love for Roy. Can't have that.
Getting up, Roy knew what needed to be done. Switching off the hotplate and putting the stew back in his mini fridge, Roy started to get things ready for his departure. "Alright, time to go home. I'll give you a lift." Roy said, grabbing a spare helmet from on the shelf and tossed his way. Grabbing his own helmet and his jacket, Roy headed toward the door.
"We'll talk more on the subject of your dream next time. In know we can work through this."