4 Fate

"Found you. Now you have nowhere left to run, you tasty little tidbits."

The voice from the Hollow was even more menacing now since it was up close and personal looming over them.

Jin ran into some unhappy things right now, knowing what was going to happen. At least that is what he thought.

Matsuri and Fujimaru were alone at the time this event was to happen. Now, he also ended up being dragged into this. That didn't bode well. But maybe he could get something out of this if he survives and gets lucky, that is.

He already saw Fujimaru stepping in front of Matsuri to protect her and preparing himself to fight the Hollow.

"Don't do anything stupid. We can still buy some time here.", said Matsuri to her brother in a low voice after seeing what he is doing.

She was right, but Fujimaru wouldn't agree to that. "But Matsuri.", he rebuked.

"Don't. Matsuri is right. I can also hear the battle outside. Our concern right now is to keep this guy busy without dying. The bad news is that he won't bother with us for long. So let's try to struggle as long as we can.", interrupted Jin both of them.

"Are you idiots? I can hear your conversation. You won't run anywhere and I got enough minions to keep your hopes at bay. Now let's begin the feast, shall we."

The Hollow finished his words in a very confident manner and now tried to grab Fujimaru. Matsuri cried out for him to be careful after seeing the hollow act.

'Crap, this is not going as planned. He is probably now eager to eat us fast. I need to do something and think fast. But what can I do?'

His brain turned all its cogs to hyperdrive now to find some sort of solutions. If he doesn't get an idea fast he will end up as food.

'Wait, don't I get hungry? Then it should be possible to cast Kido. But I don't know the chants. Fuck, no time to contemplate that. Better try something and die, than just standing around.'

With that thought in mind, he put his hands in front of himself and sorted his memories for a short and straightforward spell.

And he was right on time. When Matsuri pushed herself in front of Fujimaru to protect him, she nearly got stabbed by the hollows claw. But a bolt of bright lightning lit up and shot at the arm of the Hollow with incredible speed.

It hit and pushed the arm to the side. The damage to the Hollow was negligible, but with that interruption, Matsuri was only caught at her left shoulder instead of getting a fatal death-wound.

"Matsuri!" cried Fujimaru out and supported his sister that was now in his arms gritting her teeth in pain.

"Ha-...Hadou #4: Byakurai." Jin breathed heavily after reciting and actually succeeding in performing this demon art. But now his mind became very heavy. Not even the adrenalin that rushed inside him could help keep him awake any longer.

"What!? You little." The Hollow immediately realized what this little kid did and slapped him. That slap sent Jin to the ground and he didn't move anymore.

"Jin! Bastard, what have you done!?" Another shout was heard from Fujimaru after even Jin was attacked by this monster.

"Look what you have made me do. I wanted to eat and savor you little snacks. But now I had to injure two of you because you fought back. Do you know how much that decreases your flavor?"

"You little snacks are just too smart for your own good. Twin souls are such a rare cuisine. And then there was that third small snack. His soul felt so tasty that he would have become a great dessert. But now I won't have the luxury. And maybe it is better like this. Who would have known that one of you would use demon arts against me."

The Hollow started despising the trio for struggling. And at the moment, he even had such outright hate for them, that he even considered killing them all and be done with it.

So he lifted his arm once more to attack. But before he could execute his attack, he stopped.

"Tsk. It looks like some Soul Reapers are coming. And their spiritual pressure is overwhelming, too. Alright, you little brats. Remember my name. I am Mad Eater. I will find you someday and enjoy your souls. Until then you better don't die. It will be I who will be your end."

With that last sentence, the Hollow ran away and disappeared.

Shortly after that, two figures appeared nearby. They both wore white haori over their Shinigami uniform. That signified both of them were Captain level Shinigami.

The one that was here first had somewhat lengthy darkish red hair and the other who followed him a slight bit shorter haircut with disheveled blonde hair.

"Darn. It got away!" said the red-head.

"Yes, I also don't seem to sense it anymore," answered the blondie and looked a little bit disturbed by that fact.

"Help!" shouted Fujimaru to them.

Both Shinigami heard him and came over. Then the shock came over their faces. They saw Matsuri bleeding from her shoulder and Jin lying on the ground unconcious.

"Did the hollow attack you?" asked the red-head.

"Give me your sword!" shouted Fujimaru in anger and pleaded the Shinigami to hand his weapon over.

The red-head frowned immediately. "What!?"

"I am going to and make that Hollow pay!" Fujimaru explained himself and was still shouting in anger.

"Oh, boy. Kids these days.", the blonde men commented on the furious outrage.

"No, I will not give you my sword. The girl has probably risked her life for yours. And the boy even died for you. Now you want to throw it all away like this?" gave the red-head as a clear answer to him.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" questioned Fujimaru now and looked back to Matsuri and Jin.

"You didn't even notice that your friend there is dead? He is covered in blood and lying on the ground, isn't he?" asked the red-head back.

"That kid is not dead, Suzunami.", interrupted the blondie.

Suzunami just turned his head to the blondie with a little bit of surprise. "You sure about that, Urahara?"

"Very sure. But that girl, on the other hand, will die if she doesn't get treated. The wound is very deep. I am not even sure if it is possible to heal her.", Answered Urahara. While Jin did help in making it not as fatal, the wound was still fatal enough to endanger her life.

Hearing the men say that his sister would die, Fujimaru grabbed the red-heads haori and pleaded with tears in his eyes. "Please help my sister and Jin!"

The red-head Suzunami looked at Fujimaru and thought about it a little. After a short while, he sighed and looked at Urahara.

"Urahara, you take the boy on the ground and this boy here. I will carry the girl."

Those words made Fujimaru instantly happy. "So they are going to be alright?"

"Don't worry; they will be fine. And your sister will be up in no time."

Urahara only sighed somewhat about his decision. It had to be said that it was probably in vain to go and save the child. But he still nodded and helped out.

When he wanted to pick up the boy from the ground, he noticed that he was unconscious. No wonder Suzunami thought him dead. Then he saw some fresh burn marks on Jin his little hands.

"Boy, do you know how he got these burns?", asked Urahara to the only party able to answer. In this case it was Fujimaru.

"Oh, I think he got them when he fired that lightning? Come to think of it, that was amazing! Did he hurt himself badly?"

Both Urahara and Suzunami were surprised now after hearing that explanation.

"Interesting. Well, it looks like our little hero here just did something reckless and lost consciousness.", smiled Urahara now and picked him up.

Then he also picked up Fujimaru. "Where are we going?"

"My estate.", answered Suzunami and gently carried Matsuri.

Urahara nodded and followed suit.