Fighting Byakuya

*Author Note*

Sorry for the delay, I planned to post this on Monday :/

This is the continuation of the last chapter. There will be a regular chapter on Sunday like always.

*End of Author Note*

A few hours later, Abarai Renji was not having a good time. He and his captain, Kuchiki Byakuya, were sent to the world of the living to capture Kuchiki Rukia for the crime of giving her Shinigami powers to a human.

Although Renji wasn't entirely sure why that was a problem, he would simply follow his orders for now. Apparently, Rukia would be executed after she was brought back to Soul Society, which didn't sit well with Renji at all since he considered Rukia to be his friend. However, he decided to agree to this mission anyway since he was certain that the next to him, Byakuya Kuchiki, would prevent Rukia from getting sentenced to death. Since he was Rukia's big brother, a captain, and the head of a noble clan, Renji was confident that this would end with a slap on the wrist for Rukia.

Finding Rukia went reasonably well, but this is where things took a weird turn. Just when he was about to capture her, a Quincy of all people interrupted him, claiming he was Rukia's classmate.

Anyway, although Renji was rather surprised due to meeting a supposedly extinct race, he still fought and won rather quickly. However, he was just about to finish the Quincy of when another person intervened; a Shinigami.

Although Renji was surprised at how big the Shinigami's sword was, he quickly shoved that issue aside when he realized that the person in front of him was likely the one who had taken Rukia's power. Although his primary mission was capturing Rukia, killing the one who got her power was also part of it. Unlike with Rukia, Renji had no qualms about killing the unknown human in front of him.

After introducing himself as Kurosaki Ichigo, the fight between the two people started, and Renji pretty much overwhelmed his opponent, only receiving a small gash on his shin while he was careless. Following that, Renji called out the real name of his sword, Zabimaru, causing it to transform under the bewildered eyes of Ichigo, who didn't even know that Zanpakutō could change their forms.

Following this transformation, Renjiy proceeded to completely overwhelm Ichigo, easily dealing an almost fatal wound.

However, this was where Renji's bad time began. While he was mocking his opponent, ridiculous amounts of Spiritual Power started radiating out of his foe. The Spiritual Pressure alone almost pushed him to the ground, and before he knew what was going on, a large gash appeared on his shoulder, resulting in his weapon falling to the ground.

"Impossible."

As these words left Renji's mouth, Ichigo's blade appeared in front of his face. Although he could see, he couldn't dodge due to his previous injury.

'Will I really die at the hands of an amateur that only could fight me due to his absurd Spiritual Power?'

However, just when Ichigo's blade was about to hit him, something flickered between the duo before vanishing again. Ichigo and Renji both looked at Ichigo's sword, that now had its top half missing in bewilderment.

Ichigo quickly scanned his surroundings and noticed another Shinigami standing not too far away from him with the top half of Ichigo's sword in his hand. He was so focused on Renji, that he didn't even notice that there was a second Shinigami.

'W-What just happened? I couldn't see him move at all.'

The other Shinigami, Kuchiki Byakuya, drew his blade, and before Ichigo understood what had happened, Byakuya appeared next to him and vanished yet again, appearing behind Ichigo.

Blood splattered as a big wound appeared on Ichigo's chest, causing him to fall to the ground.

'What was that!? I didn't see anything! I didn't see how he unsheathed his sword nor when or how he attacked me! What's with that speed!?'

While Ichigo was getting somewhat delirious due to his fresh wound, Rukia was torn between checking Ichigo's condition or ignoring him. Frankly, even if she were to check his condition, she couldn't do anything for him, and if she were to show sympathy, Ichigo's situation might get even more complicated. However, before she could make a decision, she heard a playful voice.

"Ara, ara~ Such a deep penetration in the middle of the street, how naughty~"

"Yuna!?"

"Hehe, the one and only~"

While roaming through the city, Yuna felt a powerful burst of Spiritual Pressure that felt similar to Ichigo's but was much stronger, so she decided to investigate the matter. When she arrived at the correct location, she could only shake her head at the mess in front of her.

A familiar presence was yet again stalking Ichigo. Kisuke and his merry band were lurking in some nearby bushes, and Ichigo just had his torso impaled by someone rather fast.

"Yuna, stay away; this has nothing to do with you!"

Hearing Rukia's warning, Yuna could only shake her head as she leisurely approached Ichigo's body.

"Well, you seem to have a hole in your chest. Have you become a Hollow?"

Instead of answering Yuna's teasing words, Ichigo glared at her weakly, making her chuckle in amusement.

'Almost unconscious but still glaring at people, huh? Pretty good resolve. Oh well, jokes aside, his condition is pretty bad, but nothing that can't be solved with some medical care. I'm not an expert, but I think he might lose his Shinigami powers. Well, it's not like it were his anyway.'

"Anyway, let's resolve this, shall we? Here is my offer: You hand over Rukia, and then you may leave."

As Yuna made her offer, she pointed her sword at Byakuya, whose eyebrows rose. He was not expecting Yuna to act this arrogant. He was just about to draw his sword and attack when someone else moved first.

"What do you think you are doing? Aren't you just a mere human? Don't point your sword at my esteemed brother. Know your place."

As these words left Rukia's mouth, she walked in between Yuna and Byakuya and looked at Yuna with arrogance.

It was rather apparent that Rukia wanted to stop Yuna from fighting by acting arrogantly and dismissing her, but Yuna couldn't care less about Rukia's considerations.

"Know my place? I'm fully aware of my place."

As she said that, she started moving her Spiritual Power resulting in the ground beneath her cracking as powerful Spiritual Pressure radiated out of her body, making Rukia choke.

"I am above all and beneath none."

Byakuya couldn't help but frown when he felt Yuna's Spiritual Pressure washing over him. It was far stronger than a human had any right to have. Nevertheless, he didn't care too much about that, as Ichigo had already demonstrated that just having a lot of Spiritual Power wasn't enough to win against Byakuya.

So, Byakuya decided to end this farce already, drew his sword, and vanished from his position.

"Big brother, STOP!"

*Clang*

He ignored Rukia's scream and attacked Yuna in the same way he had previously defeated Ichigo, but instead of his sword cutting into flesh, the sound of two blades colliding was heard.

"Fancy movement technique you have there. What's it called?"

Although Byakuya was shocked that his blade was stopped, he still answered Yuna's inquiry with a calm indifferent voice.

"It's called [Flash Step]."

"Hee~ [Flash Step], huh? In that case, allow me to steal it~"

Before Byakuya could react, Yuna vanished just like he had previously done and appeared behind him, her sword already piercing towards his back. For the first time since he came to the human words, Byakuya was genuinely shocked as his eyes widened in surprise. Nevertheless, he wasn't a captain for nothing and managed to expertly block Yuna's strike and retreat a few steps.

"Just now, you used [Flash Step], didn't you? How is that possible?"

Yuna chuckled in amusement as she vanished, again and again, followed by her reappearing a few meters away, seemingly moving smoother with every iteration.

"Well, I'm a genius, so this is only natural."

Byakuya looked at her like she was an idiot for a few seconds before shaking his head to get rid of his idle thoughts. He was considered a genius in his youth as well, but it took him around a week to get proper mastery over [Flash Step]. So, he decided to shelve that matter for later.

"Very well, whatever it is, it doesn't matter. It seems like I have to get a little serious."

As Byakuyasaid that, he lifted his sword and pointed the tip upwards while holding it in both hands.

"[Scatter, Senbonzakura]"

Byakuya's sword suddenly started shining as it divided itself into thousands of small cherry blossom-like blads that freely danced in the air.

"Oh? Your sword transformed? How interesting~"

When Yuna arrived here, Renji's sword was already in its transformed state, so this was the first time she was a Shinigami's sword transforming, immediately making her curious.

However, she didn't have much time to inspect what had happed as Byakuya pointed his now bladeless sword hilt at her, forcing her to dodge a shower of small sharp blades in the form of Sakura petals.

She expertly moved through the countless attacks at a steady pace, seemingly already used to such a complex attack pattern, and arrived in front of Byakuya only a few seconds later.

Yet again, Byakuya was surprised, this time due to how easily Yuna managed to read his attack and shorten the distance. As Yuna slashed her sword down, a heap of petals appeared in front of Byakuya and slowed down Yuna's sword, giving him just enough time to dodge the strike.

Despite keeping his stoic face, Byakuya was quite shocked that Yuna could still keep up with him even after he released his sword by calling its name. Although it wasn't as bad as the people from the 11th Division in Sereitei, who only worship strength, Byakuya was someone who could respect the strong. Especially if it was a simple human that managed to reach such heights. So, he decided to put a little more effort into this to not dismiss the struggle the human in front of him undoubtedly put into growing stronger.

"Calling you a genius would be an insult. You are a monster."

Yuna chuckled in amusement when she heard Byakuya's claim before simply nodding her head in agreement.

"Yeah, this isn't the first time I'm called that."

Byakuya pondered his next move a little before deciding that there was no point in delaying the inevitable any longer. He might be able to win this by just releasing his sword, but that fight would take a long time, and he would rather get this over with. So, his sword reformed, as all the sakura petals vanished. He was just about to activate his sword's second form when Yuna did something he didn't expect: She sheathed her sword, seemingly not intending to continue fighting.

"What are you doing? Why are you putting away your sword?"

Hearing Byakuya's question, Yuna could only shake her head with a wry smile on her face.

"You have a seal on you that restricts your power, right? I would say around one-fifth. Defeating you in that kind of state is meaningless, and if I had to fight you at full power, this town would probably vanish. So, take Rukia with you and leave. I would rather give Ichigo here some medical aid and rescue Rukia after his life is out of danger."

"Rescue Rukia? Do you genuinely think you can get her back after she entered prison in Soul Society?"

Yuna laughed out loud as a face-splitting grin appeared on her face. Byakuya couldn't help but take a step back when he saw her insanity-ridden facial expression as cold sweat flowed down his back like a river.

"Hehe, doesn't it make the situation more fun when the odds seem to be stacked against you? I'm looking forward to it, hahaha!"

A shiver went through Byakuya's spine as he sheathed his sword as well. He briefly pondered if he should get rid of Yuna here and now but decided against it. Killing humans that weren't blocking his way was beyond his pride as a noble. He realized that she might pose a threat someday, but that was not something he would have to deal with now.

"Very well, we are leaving."

Yuna nodded in approval when she saw Byakuya quickly making a decision and focused her attention on Ichigo, who had gotten visibly paler. She was just about to tend to him when she remembered something else.

"Oh yeah, Byakuya, right? Haven't you forgotten something?"

"Forgotten? I don't think so."

As soon as he heard Yuna's questions, he put his attention back on Yuna, but no matter how he thought about it, he hadn't forgotten anything.

"Nonono, I'm certain you have forgotten something. And that something is..."

Yuna dramatically raised her right hand, drawing attention from everyone present, and moments later...

"...your farewell present~"

*Snap*

*Splat*

Before Byakuya could realize what was going on, a cake smacked him in the face, utterly dumbfounding him. He hastily wiped it away to look at Yuna, but she was already gone.

"What was that all about?"

Rukia and Renji, who were both dumbfounded while they tried to suppress their laughter, decided not to comment on that question.