9 Shunsui's True Zanpakutō

Jūshirō ran over to Takashi. Takashi was very close to death, and Jūshirō was reminded of something.

'When I was dying, you saved my life. Now, it's time for me to repay you.'

His hands glowed green, and Takashi's body started visibly healing. His skin and arms were growing back, but his injuries were too severe. Jūshirō spat out blood, as this healing was too hard on his frail body.

'No, I can't let him die! He was my first friend, and saved my life. What kind of person would I be if I let him die.'

Jūshirō seemed to have made up his mind. He closed his eyes.

'Help me, Mimihagi!"

Jūshirō's shadow suddenly started twisting around until it formed the shape of a hand. The hand shot forward and wrapped around Takashi. A green light appeared, and started growing more and more intense. When the light dissipated, Takashi was completely healed. Jūshirō had used all his power and collapsed next to Takashi. When the others arrived, they found the two lying on the ground with a peaceful look on their faces.

"Pick him up and follow me."

Shunsui picked Takashi up while the black-haired girl picked Jūshirō up. They walked for a bit until they found a small cave. They dragged the two inside then stood guard outside.

Five hours passed, and the black-haired girl was growing worried.

"We only have ten hours left, and we're still quite far from the top. If we don't get going, we won't be able to make it."

"If you want to go, be my guest. I'm staying here with my friends."

The black-haired girl decided to stay with them, as she was not strong enough to make it to the top by herself.

Another three hours passed and the girl was getting seriously worried. She had just made up her mind to leave when a hollow appeared in front of the cave. It looked like a bull, with a beefy body, and thick horns around its head. Its Reiatsu was incredible, and was far stronger than the hollows they had met earlier.

"Today's such a great day. I've already eaten four humans, and here are four more."

Shunsui said nothing, merely preparing his Zanpakutō.

The hollow snorted.

"Do you really think you'll be able to defeat me?"

The hollow charged at Shunsui, and he was thrown into the wall. The hollow stood over Jūshirō and Takashi, but Shunsui shot several Hadō to annoy the hollow.

"Looks like I'll have to kill you first."

The hollow charged, and Shunsui tried to defend. The hollow crashed into Shunsui, smashing him through the cave wall, until they were out. The hollow was finally away from his friends, so Shunsui didn't need to keep his friends safe. He started fighting with the hollow.

The black-haired girl was back in the cave, paralyzed with fear.

'Move, move, move! I can't die here! I need to live!'

She managed to shake off her fear, and walked over to the hole the hollow created. She saw Shunsui getting beat up by the hollow.

'Kyōraku is so much stronger than I am, but he's being defeated by the hollow. If I join, I'll end up dead. He's managing to keep the hollow company, so I can escape. Yeah, the most important thing is my life. My life is the most important. If I leave now, I should be able to escape. Yeah, that's a good idea.'

Shunsui saw the black-haired girl peer out of the hole, before turning around and leaving. He felt anger at her escaping during this time of crisis, but he also felt disappointment. He never expected her to be helpful, but she could've at least used Kidō to support him.

He stopped thinking about her and focused on the battle. The hollow outclassed him in every aspect except for intelligence, but the gap was too wide for Shunsui to win. The way he was right now, it was impossible for him to win. All he could do is stall for time, and hope that someone will come help them.

They battled for a bit longer, and Shunsui was bleeding all over the ground, yet he still got up time after time. The hollow was just playing with Shunsui.

"Why don't you leave? I promise I won't hurt you if you do that."

"I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"I can't let you hurt my friends."

"Then it looks like this is the end."

The hollow charged with all its power. Shunsui defended with his Zanpakutō, but he was too weak. He was slowly getting pushed back.

"Why bother defending? You already know how weak you are."

Shunsui didn't bother responding.

'I can't lose, but how can I win? It is far stronger than I am.'

Shunsui's empty hand was preparing Kidō when he suddenly felt something appear there, and when it appeared, it was like he had become whole. When he got his Zanpakutō, he had always felt like there was something missing, a part that was gone. It wasn't only him. When he fought the Captain-Commander, the Captain-Commander remarked that he had a very strange fighting style. He would leave plenty of openings like he was expecting something else to fill them in. Even with all this, Shunsui was still able to survive, which was a testament to his talent and hard work, but now that he felt complete, his power erupted. He drove the sword in his hand through the hollow's eye, and the hollow roared. They seperated and Shunsui looked at his hands, each one holding their own sword.

"So this is the true form of my Zanpakutō. Not one sword but two."

The two charged at each other again, and Shunsui blocked the hollow's attack with his Zanpakutō. The hollow was still stronger, and Shunsui's Zanpakutō was trembling when Shunsui followed his instincts and placed his second sword behind his first, supporting it. The Zanpakutō stopped trembling, and Shunsui was finally able to fight back. All the openings that the hollow had exploited before were gone now. The second sword seemed to fill in all the problems that Shunsui had before.

"What? How can one sword change the entire course of the battle? I refuse to accept this."

The hollow was getting beat up, and was getting desperate. It suddenly thought of a genius idea. It turned around and charged towards the cave. It was planning to take the other two as hostages, and Shunsui could clearly see that.

'Hahaha. The boy may be stronger now with a second sword, but I'm still faster. Once I take his friends hostage, he'll have no choice but to give up.'

Shunsui saw the hollow running to his friends, but he wasn't worried. He dispelled one of his swords and pointed his free hand at the hollow.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hadō #31, Shakkahō!"

A red beam shot out from his palm and pierced through the hollows head, and it's momentum carried the dead body into the hole.

"It's finally over."

Shunsui sat down to recover, and once he was finished he searched for the black-haired girl. The battle hadn't been long, only a few minutes, and the black-haired girl hadn't gone far. He found her slowly climbing the mountain. He started looking for a hollow and quickly found one. It was weaker than him, slightly stronger than the black-haired girl. He appeared in front of it and let it attack him once. Then he led the hollow around. When they got close to the black-haired girl's location, Shunsui disappeared. The hollow was extremely confused, but it sensed another human nearby, and quickly forgot about Shunsui.

The black-haired girl was traveling slowly when she sensed something to the side. She dodged and a claw sliced through the spot she was just standing at. She started fighting back, but quickly realized that the hollow was too strong for her. She tried to escape, but was suddenly kicked and thrown back towards the hollow.

"What?"

She saw that Shunsui was the one who kicked her.

"Why did you kick me?"

Shunsui didn't respond, but whenever the black-haired girl tried to escape, he would block off her path. She was slowly losing against the hollow.

"Why are you doing this? Let me go!"

Shunsui stayed silent. She looked at his eyes, and saw nothing but darkness. She shivered even with a wind breeze blowing around them. She was pulled out of her thoughts by a claw swinging through the air.

They battled for a bit longer, and the girl was about to be defeated.

"Please, please, please!! Don't do this! Let me go!"

The hollow knocked the girl's Zanpakutō out of her hands and pounced on her.

"No!! No!! Save me! Please save me!! I'll do anything you want, just save me!!"

The hollow started munching on her legs and she started screaming.

"Save me, save me, save me!!!!!"

Shunsui stood there, unmoving.

"Why are you doing this? What did I do wrong? Why, why, why!!"

The hollow had finished with her legs and was now on her torso, but Shinigami have exceptional endurance, so she was still alive.

"Was it because I escaped earlier? I promise never to do that again. I will be your shield for as long as I live!"

Shunsui felt a pang of remorse.

'What would Jūshirō do? He would save her and give her another chance.'

Shunsui stared at the direction of the cave.

'This is for you, Jūshirō.'

He swung his sword and split the hollow in half.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you."

She kept on babbling, and Shunsui gestured for her to be quiet.

"Let's return."