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.
Having made a trip down into the woods, Kaki frowned. The sun couldn't manage to break through the clouds, giving the day quite a bleak appearance. Everything was covered in a gray hue, color was eaten away by the despairing sky. The clouds would be weeping soon, Kaki could see this. And she stayed out because it felt safer than her mountainous abode.
Sitting in a tree in one of the parks, abandoned due to the certainty of rain, Kaki let a faint smile fall onto her face before she sank her head into her scarf, almost glad that it would be raining soon. If it rained soon, if she wept, no one would notice. That was what she was hoping for.
The fact that Kaki had gone so long without a fight was a blessing, the fact that her hollow had stayed mostly quiet more so. She smiled as she leaned against the trunk of the tree, a sad smile. No light broke through the leaves to shine upon her light face, nothing to highlight a melancholy gaze she wore.
Contemplation was the name of this game; Kaki was thinking through her life, summarizing it in her mind. She was born. She killed her parents. She ran away from home. She found her zanpakuto, she joined the shinigami academy. She left after five years. She hid in the mountains. She remained in solitude.
And just recently, she'd sensed a reiatsu multiple times. Wandering. As if looking for someone, that reiatsu left from place to place. In some cases, she had even felt it spike, indicating a fight had taken place. She wondered if it was just a patrolling shinigami, or if there was another rogue. Someone with a nomadic disposition, unable to stay still.
Or maybe they were unable to stay still because...
"Huh?"
...if they didn't they would die.
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
Those were the things Hotaru had gained over the course of the past few weeks. Decisiveness was first and she had gained that in the middle of her search for Kaki.
Next was Anger, and she had gained this after her meeting with Samyeru Fenir. They had began on neutral grounds, moved to friendly grounds, but ultimately she decided that he was an enemy and not to be trusted.
Lastly was vigor, and she had gained it after the battle with Areno and Daigoro. They had came to arrest her, but failed after the assistance of Samuii Verano. After she told her that she should go ahead and kill Kaki a newfound vigor was placed within her soul.
Currently she was walking around in Karakura Town. She had felt that she would never find Kaki when she walked past a tree. She looked up and saw a woman with green hair, and red eyes.
It looked vaguely familiar but she let it go and continued walking.
The child in the tree couldn't help but watch the girl walk past. Somehow she seemed familiar, and Kaki almost felt guilty for being unsure if she knew this one or not. Had she been feeling social and not like crying, she might have said hello. No, as she heard a crack of thunder, hello was the last thing on her mind.
First, she stumbled out of the tree, her zanpakuto sheathed in jade following, hitting her on the head after she landed flat on her face. "Itai," she grumbled. She peeked up, leaning against the tree again.
She could tell this one was a shinigami, but she didn't wear the robes of a shinigami. Instead she wore a kimono, a brilliant yellow that stuck out like a sore thumb among the gray sky and bleak surroundings, covered with pieces of 'candy' sewn into the fabric. And that reiatsu was so eerily similar that it drove her mad.
She knew this person, she really did. A stinging sensation could be felt in the back of her mind, guilt, once again. Her eyes lowered, and then raised again. She would keep her around just long enough to figure out what she was doing, and if she should know who this person was.
"Nasty weather we've been having, isn't it?" Kaki asked with a sad smile. She stared at the girl who was walking, scooping up her zanpakuto and dusting it off before setting it back down beside her. "Not fun to be stuck in... Haha..."
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
Lost in her thoughts about her sister and parents, Hotaru didn't react immediately after the woman commented about the weather. Slowly she looked upward and let out a wide frown. A moment ago it had been just a tad windy, but know it was thundering.
For a split-second, much too fast for Hotaru to really incline the meaning, she had the feeling like the scenery was supposed to happen. It was eerie, and she let out a delicate shiver.
She forced out a smile toward the girl, but it was still sad. She drew in a breath, and then began to answer.
"Yes it is becoming quite ugly out, better get in shelter soon," she spoke with a soft concern.
She began to look at the woman's rather...un sanitary attire. Most of it was tattered and it was a wonder she covered anything in them. It was clear she was a shinigami, what with her zanpakuto but something bugged Hotaru.
She started with her Reiatsu Pressure, it was like a shinigami's, but..tainted somehow.
She shook her head and moved on to the article that bugged her the most.
Eyes.
Her eyes were almost a mirror image of Hotaru's, and both a beautiful scarlet red. She felt as if she knew the woman, but it couldn't be possible. She remembered everybody's face, as well as their reiatsu pressure.
Her eyes began to bore into the woman's, as another crackle of thunder erupted followed by a flash of thunder. An ominous wind passed by simultaneously, and Hotaru let out another shiver.
"Not much better where I live; clouds are too close," Kaki responded with an averted gaze, turning it to the side. It was almost painful to look this girl in the eyes, she felt as if she would break out in tears. Why did she look so damn familiar? Why did she seem almost like a long lost... sister?
No, no, that couldn't be possible. Kaki's sister was probably respected and revered back in Soul Society. She couldn't imagine her sister being just as alone as she was, albeit, likely less afraid. This was a coincidence, she decided, nothing more and nothing less. It was a ridiculous thought.
The first few drops of rain began to fall, striking the ground and the heads of the two girls, one drop landing on Kaki's nose, cool, dripping off slowly. A few more drops fell, licking at the girls as the thoughts ran through Kaki's mind.
This girl couldn't be a vizard, her reiatsu was far too pure. She couldn't be a hollow, her reiatsu was too much like a shinigami's. So she was a rogue then. She couldn't possibly be anything else, Kaki decided. She knew the feeling of not having a place to return to, as her own abode was not even hers. It was a place, open to the universe that she had inhabited.
Rain fell on Hotaru's head, each drop damping her black hair and yellow kimono. The sweets that were sewed in would soon need to be replaced if she were to stay in the rain, but she didn't move.
Something about this girl's eyes kept bugging her. Having the same color has hers could just be a coincidence, it had to be.
She listened to the girl talk about her where she lived, somewhere up high was her guess. Perhaps the nearby mountains, it would explain her dirty appearance.
"Yes, it can be dangerous during storms like this; never know what could happen." She kept her investigative stare as she spoke back. Her voice seemed calm, but she was beginning to become suspicious.
What was this feeling she had, she can't remember this girl, but somehow she was familiar. She couldn't shake this feeling, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't recall where she had seen this girl.
The wind swept through again, blowing some leaves of he ground, and they gently flew pass Hotaru's face. She shivered once more as the leaves went by.
"So, um," Kaki tried, scooching closer to the trunk of the tree so that the raindrops wouldn't pelt her like they were pelting the elder. She smiled nervously. Why was this so strange? It didn't feel like it was something Kaki had to be afraid of, and yet it did. It felt as though lightning would strike from the girl's crimson eyes and pierce her heart. It felt as though her stare alone would murder her.
"Oh, um, my name's Kaki," she added, running a hand through her hair and closing her eyes in a slight smile. It should be said at some point, she decided. "Aosawa Kaki. You?"
She didn't know that this could be the trigger for the elder shinigami. She didn't know that this could mean the end for her. She didn't know how dangerous the word 'Aosawa' was at this very moment. The girl before her was indeed, Hotaru, an Aosawa. She was Kaki's sister--no, half sister. They were so alike and yet so very different; they were both alone in the world, and yet, one was gentle and the other was out...
Thunder cracked and lightning flashed behind the head of the eldest of the Aosawa sisters.
... For revenge.
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
The lightning struck from behind Hotaru, the thunder roared, and Hotaru's rage hint it's maximum level. After so many searches, so many encounters, the one time she hadn't really been trying to find Kaki she literally falls in her lap.
Grabbing her the hilt of her zanpakuto, quickly unsheathing it, "DIVIDE, CHIIKA!" and yelled it's release command. Her zanpakuto quickly changed into a buyoh, a traditional parasol with many beautiful flowers printed on it.
She charged at Kaki with all the rage he was feeling at this moment. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, KAKI! AFTER SO MANY FAILED SEARCHES I FINALLY HAVE YOU IN MY GRASP!" She yelled at Kaki has she stabbed for Kaki's heart. Her eyes burned with the hate she felt at this moment, the hate that had been building all this time.
The girl's crimson eyes widened as she saw the elder's face contort with rage; torturous folds of flesh, outlined with reddened cheeks and raindrops covered the elder's face. Kaki didn't even know why; but the lightning seemed to be the que for this one. As her face turned black before the back-lit skies, Kaki realized she was in danger; the elder released her zanpakuto and screamed at her.
"Wha-!" Kaki screamed as the girl slammed her zanpakuto forward, right towards her heart. She fell backwards, slamming into the trunk of the tree. It wasn't enough to fully dodge the attack, the spike on the end of the parasol managed to hook onto her scarf and tear through it, just skimming past the flesh on her neck. "What are you doing?"
"What are you talking abou-?" She didn't know what to do; she ran. She turned the other way, stumbling as she scooped up her own zanpakuto and leapt forward--the more distance she could put between her and this one the better.
"I don't even know who you are!"
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
"GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT ME!" She yelled has she chased after the fleeing Kaki. She felt insulted that Kaki fled instead of staying to fight. However this was nothing compared to what she felt once that last statement was heard.
< "I don't even know who you are!" >
Those words pierced through the rage filled mind that was Hotaru's. This was something far beyond an insult, it was disgraceful. "HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT. AFTER YOU KILLED MY FATHER, YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT NOT TO REMEMBER ME."
She charged at Kaki with even more rage then when she started. She swung her Zanpakuto with a horizontal wave, reaistu collecting at the center of the parasol. "Kyoushuu no Hana." She said as a large pink blast moved toward Kaki, she was just close enough for it not to kill Kaki, that would be Hoatru's pleasure alone.