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.
Pain coursed through the girl's being, though it wasn't from the blast yet; that hadn't struck her yet. Who was this girl?! What was she talking about?! Was she talking about... Kaki's father. And her mother. That's right.
She remembered; she was so young when it had happened. She had been consumed by her hollow at the time, unable to control herself. She tore through the man, and his wife. Her own parents had been slaughtered and she was helpless to stop it, despite it being her own fault.
But was this really her sister? No, it couldn't be.
She turned in an attempt to catch a glimpse of her persuer, only to find that the girl was firing off an attack towards her. Kaki's eyes widened as the blast grew from a pale pink to a golden yellow and brushed too close to her arm, bursting in a beautiful but deadly explosion.
Pain shot through her right side; she groaned as she fell back onto the ground, nearly dropping her zanpakuto. She didn't though, she held onto it. It wasn't so much because she was going to fight back as it was that she was afraid to leave her only companion behind.
"Y-you," she breathed. "Are you... onee-chan?" No doubt the use of the honorific 'chan' would set off another burst of rage in the elder, but Kaki couldn't help it. Hate was not held for this girl; she couldn't. Was this seriously her sister? "W-what's your name?"
She couldn't be sure; she had to know. If the shinigamid didn't tell her vizard sister, she would forever remain in the dark. If this wasn't Hotaru, Kaki decided she would fight. If it was, she would flee. She wouldn't fight her own sister, let alone harm her.
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
An impish smirk escaped Hotaru's face has she watched her attack do its job, but this was short lived. She shouldn't show such a face now of all time, when she would finally get what she has searched for all this time.
All the sacrifices, the bonds she cut, the people she hurt. She walked over to Kaki, now in pain from her attack, she was enjoying the her face of anguish only to have the moment ruined by with a single question. "DON'T EVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN." She yelled at Kaki, grabbing her head with her free hand.
It caused so many mix feelings, like when she encountered Samyeru that day in the woods. The flash back to a happy family having fun during a spring day. She looked toward Kaki, enraged by the question, still disgusted.
"My name, MY NAME!" She started has she looked in the pain filled eyes of Kaki. "My name is Hotaru Aosawa, the daughter of Jirou Aosawa the man you MURDERED!" She brought her zanpakuto above her head and brought it down on Kaki. She wanted to end this girls life with every ounce of her being, trying for the heart once more.
Sure enough, Kaki's question triggered unimaginable rage in the eyes of the elder. She reached forward, she grabbed Kaki by the forehead and screamed at her. She dropped her back onto the ground, letting the girl land with a thud and a squeak. It scared her. She was terrified of this; her own sister... was this truly her sister?
Are you going to use my power yet, baka?
Are you going to fight? Aosawa-san?
Both voices rang within her mind and she felt tears welling up in her eyes. They weren't tears from pain, but from sorrow; from woe. Kanashi was such a bittersweet companion. The elder brought her buyoh up above her head, and Kaki just frowned.
"I," she mumbled, reaching for her zanpakuto with her left hand. It was uncomfortable, and it wasn't something she wanted to do. It wasn't her dominant hand, so it felt extremely alien to the tiny girl. But she needed to do it.
Sheath and all, she stopped one spine from piercing her skull and it slipped off of the jade sheath and sliced the skin on Kaki's forehead, stopping inches away from her nose. "I won't... I can't fight you."
On that note, she extended her free arm, wincing as she did so. "Bakudo number nine: Geki."
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
With her attacked block, Hotaru thought that Kaki got the nerve to fight back, this however was not the case. She basically told her she was going to fight back, and when Hotaru was going to push harder on her buyoh, but this was stopped when the red light engulfed Hotaru.
"What!?" She questioned like she didn't already know what was happening. She heard the kido spell being spoken, rage building with every second she couldn't move.
"FIGHT ME!" She yelled has she tried to break from the spell. Struggling with every ounce of hate she had. "FIGHT ME YOU COWARD!" Her Crimson eyes stared deep into Kaki's as if she was trying to burn her very soul. Her face red with anger almost has red s the light that bounded her to her current position.
The venom-filled gaze tore into Kaki, but she wasn't just going to stay there beneath her weapon while she tore apart at her. Even paused, Kaki wasn't sure how long that kido would hold. But still--she couldn't just stand there in this position. She still hadn't fully recovered from the shock to begin with, she still wasn't possessing a fighting spirit. She was scared. Why would her own sister attack her? She needed to think--this she knew.
"I don't want to fight, onee-san," Kaki mumbled as she pushed the rain-soaked buyoh off of her. She wasted no time in rolling around and proceeding to run, her bare feet pressing against the soaked and spongey ground. She turned her head back, letting the tears that had been welling up in her eyes escape; they wouldn't show through the rain. Another flash of lightning cracked behind Hotaru, and Kaki gulped. She had to figure something out.
That kido wouldn't hold up forever--after a certain distance Kaki was sure that it would break down and become easy as taking a step forward to escape from. Before she made it to the street of the human world, she frowned as she turned her head and said, "Hotaru-san..."
She frowned deeper. "I've had enough fighting," she shouted. "I'm not fighting my own sister--much less hurting her! I don't care if you hate me!" This was a lie. She did care that her sister hated her. It burned deep down, it showed in her eyes. But she couldn't just say it hurt, and maybe her words weren't correct, but Kaki wasn't about to go back on not fighting her own sister--even her half-sister.
She stopped at the sidewalk, turning, wakizashi in hand. To compensate for her lie, she let a faint smile grow onto her features. "I... I'm happy you're alive, even if it's hard to accept that my own onee-san wants to kill me."
That was the cue to turn and dart from the scene, insults free to be hurled, and free to burn like fireballs against the girl's back. As she ran, she made note of the damage that Hotaru had been done. There was a cut above her forehead, leaking blood, and there was a large burn across her right side. Hotaru had been far stronger than her. She couldn't just stand around and wait for Hotaru to kill her.
She's right. You are a coward.
Aosawa-san... so very much like a child you are.
Gomen, senpai.
She had scarcely made it across the road before stealing one last glance at her elder sister. "Gomen, onee... onee-san."
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
Hotaru watched Kaki get up from where she laid. Her eyes still filled with fire and burned hotter once she was referred to has onee-san again. "YOU NO LONGER HAVE THE RIGHT TO CALL ME THAT." She yelled at Kaki with the poison of her words. Hate filled poison that would only grow harsher with every word that escapes her mouth.
The flash of lightning behind Hotaru, and she watched Kaki stop to face her. She was so disgusted with her words, she should have stayed an fought. "I DO HATE YOU, I HATE YOU FROM THE VERY DEPTH OF MY SOUL." She spoke the truth has if she had rehearsed this very moment. Everything about this encounter seemed to play out like a stage play written in the Shakespearean era.
She could feel the spell weakening, she could move her shoulders now, her struggling became more noticeable. She stopped for only a moment when Kaki spoke once more, she was confused with this statement, but it only added to her anger. "COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT ME." She shouted back has Kaki turned once more to look at Hotaru. Many things were going through Hotaru's head. Anger and sadness for not getting her vengeance on Kaki. She felt disgusted that she had to she a name with such a coward, running from a fight like that brings shame to the name.
"Gomen," Kaki whispered once more, continuing to run down the rain-drenched streets. Something clicked in her mind though; she felt two reiatsu approaching. Stronger than hers and stronger than Hotaru's, they were the reiatsu of shinigami! What if Hotaru was being chased by shinigami?
The thought of losing her sister, even if her sister was filled with hatred for her, filled her with woe and dread. But she wasn't about to lose Hotaru; she turned around a building and darted out of the park, into the woods. The rain didn't matter. All that mattered was that she kept those reiatsu away from her sister. "I won't screw up again."
Of course you will![/i][/color]
{Exit}
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
Up in one of the taller trees, the single arrancar stood, watching. She had taken time out of her nonexistent schedule for this, and she better be rewarded with some sort of entertainment. Preferably a massacre.
She spotted the two figures, looking abnormally small from her height. They were just...talking. Samuii frowned as Hotaru, the one she had met earlier, made small talk with the other one. But as she identified the other's reiatsu, the frown was replaced with a small grin. A mix of hollow and shinigami...that one was a Vizard, meaning that unknowingly, Hotaru was talking to the same person she wanted dead. It was ironic, really, and they looked so cute together. But irony made life so much more interesting.
When Hotaru finally realized that her sister was, literally, right under her nose, Samuii leapt off her tree and landed on the branch of another one, shorter and closer to the scene. She sat watching with a small smirk as Hotaru lashed out at the smaller figure with every ounce of hatred, anger and sorrow inside her. It was all very amusing...maybe it was a good idea to help out after all. But there was one little problem.
The short one refused to fight.
If anyone could see her, Samuii's irritation was obvious as she ran her hand through her hair. It wasn't as entertaining if one refused to draw their blade. It wasn't a battle, it was just, well, killing people, and it was boring to watch. Her dissapointment only grew as the Vizard managed to trap Hotaru in one of those Kido things, rendering her useless. This wasn't how it was supposed to be! Hotaru was supposed to kill her sister, and then get caught by Gorokun and Samuii lives happily ever after. The third part couldn't happen, if the first part failed.
When the short one ran off, she vented her irritation by punching the tree she was on, causing it to crack and fall. But not on her, because she sonidoed right in front of the immobilized shinigami.
"What was that?" she asked in frustration, "Did she just run away? What happened to killing? Remember that? You're supposed to kill her."
The spell was finally wearing off, and just in time for a certain Arrancar to pop in. Hotaru wasn't in a very good mood at the moment and she didn't need someone to question the method to her madness. "Don't you think I know that." She said with her obvious frustration about the current events.
She was able to move now seeing has the spell finally faded. She tried to find Kaki's reiastu but to no avail. "Why are you even here? Don't you have anything better to do?" She asked has she held her zanpakuto is anger. The shameful act that her sister has done just sicken her. She felt even worst about how close she was to finally getting her vengeance. Her disappointment clearly visible on her face.
Samuii was about to break something. How dare this tiny, pathetic little shinigami talk back to her? And to think she actually thought this would be fun.
"Why you little-"
She stopped in the middle of a sentence. Lashing out and killing Hotaru herself wouldn't be as entertaining, compared to watching Hotaru's own species doing the deed for her. But that didn't mean she couldn't...knock some sense back into her. Yes, maybe that's what she should do, because clearly, she forgot how to use her sword properly.
"Well, I came because you obviously forgot how to kill." she replied in a fake calm, "Because this," she swiftly flicked her sword out of the sheath and rammed the butt end of the hilt into Hotaru's stomach. Then, she sonidoed behind her and aimed her elbow right behind the shinigami's neck. "That is how you fight. And with this," she said, completely drawing her katana. Without warning, the arrancar began randomly slashing at the shinigami, yet each strike was held back so it wouldn't kill her, just cause some bleeding (after all, dead shinigami was a boring shinigami)"You make the kill. Got it?"
Samuii flicked her sword and resheathed it, saying nothing more.